Standing on the edge of the cliff and looking at the clouds, Ning Que rarely said such serious words. At first, he hesitated because he was talking to the Eldest Brother, but then it became smoother and smoother.
"What others don't want me to do, what the law of the Tang Empire forbids me to do, and what morality forbids me to do, does it have anything to do with me?"
The Eldest Brother shook his head and said, "But … there is no absolute freedom in the world. Everything, even the spirit, has its limits. If your freedom interferes with the freedom of others, or even the whole world is not free, then no one will let you be free."
Ning Que said, "But you should have as much as you can."
The Eldest Brother was puzzled and asked, "Why do you have to have more?"
Ning Que said, "These things are no different from silver. They are all good things. Since they are good things, of course, the more the better. I don't believe in the saying that it is better to have nothing than to have too much."
The Eldest Brother said, "But it requires absolute power. If you want to have the whole world, you need to have the power to match it. I have never seen such a person in my life."
Ning Que said, "Senior Brother, you are right. That is why we cultivate and why we become stronger."
The Eldest Brother's voice was slightly bitter and he said helplessly, "That is not what I mean."
Ning Que said with a smile, "Although we can't achieve it, we must yearn for it."
The Eldest Brother looked at him and said, "You want to have absolute freedom, but you don't have the power to match it. That is why you came back to the Academy today. Do you want to see the Headmaster?"
Ning Que looked at the clouds on the edge of the cliff and said, "I don't know what I will ask the Headmaster if I see him. But since the Headmaster doesn't want to see me, I have to think about these questions myself."
Eldest Brother thought of what Ye Su had said in front of the small Taoist temple in Chang 'an. He also thought of the black line in the past. He looked at Ning Que's thoughtful face and could not help but sigh softly. He felt that the mountain wind passing through the cliffs suddenly became a little cold.
"Different people have different freedom. Once these freedoms conflict with each other, there will be disputes. The law of the Tang Empire or the West-Hill Scriptures are the rules to solve these disputes."
He looked at Ning Que and said calmly, "The Academy believes that the law of the Tang Empire is the most important thing in order to prevent the world from falling into chaos. No one can violate it, not even me. And as a disciple of the Academy, I will take the initiative to maintain the dignity of the law of the Tang Empire. I hope you can clearly understand this."
Ning Que was not surprised to hear Eldest Brother's warning and nodded.
Eldest Brother looked at him and suddenly asked curiously, "What are you going to do next?"
Ning Que was silent for a long time and then said, "I don't know either."
Eldest Senior Brother asked in confusion, "Then what Junior Brother said to me earlier …"
Ning Que turned to look at him and said, "Senior Brother, I didn't say those words to ask for your consent or help. I just want to say that your idea is wrong."
Eldest Brother stared at him blankly for a long time, and then sighed with emotion, "Youngest Brother, you are indeed better than me, better than Jun Mo."
Suddenly, a thin and long shadow appeared on the precipice.
No one knew when Second Brother came here. He stepped on the wisteria that was about to rot on the ground and walked to the two people on the precipice. He looked at Ning Que with a stern expression and said, "Younger Brother, you are right. The most important meaning of life is not victory, but fighting. So if you want to fight, then fight."
Ning Que looked at him and suddenly laughed. He said, "Second Brother, you are also wrong."
Eldest Brother and Second Brother were stunned at the same time. They thought that Youngest Brother was indeed extraordinary and dared to point out the two Senior Brothers' mistakes at the same time. It should be known that no one in the back of the mountain of the Academy had dared to do so over the years.
Ning Que said calmly, "The most important meaning of life is not to fight."
Second Brother frowned and said, "Then what is it?"
Ning Que said, "It is to fight and then … win."
…
…
Standing at the edge of the precipice, looking at the fading figure on the precipice and the corner of the black Academy uniform blown by the autumn wind, Mr. First and Mr. Second, the most powerful people in the back of the mountain of the Academy, were silent for a long time, as if they were still thinking about Ning Que's previous words and the hidden attitude in them.
Second Brother sighed and said, "Everyone thinks that Youngest Brother has the lowest state in the Academy. But now it seems that his state is actually higher than ours."
The state mentioned here did not refer to the state of cultivation, but the state of mind.
The Headmaster of the Academy walked out of the cliff cave.
Eldest Brother and Second Brother stood on both sides and bowed respectfully.
The Headmaster of the Academy walked to the edge of the cliff and watched Ning Que walk down the stone path and disappear into the narrow gorge. His two white eyebrows slowly floated up and he smiled slightly, as if he was very satisfied with his youngest disciple.
Eldest Brother asked in distress, "Teacher, can hatred really not be eliminated?"
The Headmaster said, "Strong emotions such as love and hatred are the difference between human beings and beasts. It is the key to prove that one is a human being. If one can even get rid of these, what difference is there between him and beasts? People often say that those who do not hate lightly are usually ungrateful. This is the truth. "
"Silly boy, there is no way to eliminate this feeling and this hatred will never end. How can it be so easily erased? The most important question is, why do we want to eliminate it? "
The Headmaster of the Academy's words still could not help Eldest Brother get rid of this lost emotion. After he left the small town, he had been living in the back of the mountain of the Academy. When he traveled around the world, he served the Headmaster. Occasionally, he traveled alone and had his own tasks. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed that he had no real experience in the world of mortals.
Eldest Brother sighed and said, "But when will revenge ever end?"
The Headmaster of the Academy frowned slightly and said unhappily, "I told you long ago not to read those useless, boring, tasteless, and shameless scriptures of Buddhism. Now it seems that you are really confused."
Eldest Brother smiled bitterly, but in his heart, he thought that those scriptures were indeed interesting.
The Headmaster of the Academy said, "Jun Mo, explain to your Senior Brother when will revenge ever end, lest he burrows into the pile of old books again and can't climb out for three or four years."
Second Brother answered in a low voice and looked at Eldest Brother seriously. He said, "Senior Brother, if you don't want revenge to ever end, then you should kill all your enemies and cut the weeds at the roots. In this way, there will only be a few ghosts left in the world who can't take revenge, and the story of hatred will end here."
This simple and plain words did not move Eldest Brother, but made him smile bitterly. He thought that such a method sounded like a villain and should not come from the Academy.
Second Brother did not dare to guess Eldest Brother's mood at this time. He turned to look at the Headmaster of the Academy and said calmly, "Teacher, since Youngest Brother can't find evidence that Xia Hou violated the law of the Tang Empire, what will he do?"
The autumn wind blew on the Headmaster's black robe. He looked at the distant Chang 'an City and said with a smile, "I don't know either, but Ning Que will probably give us a surprise."
…
…
Two years ago, the Tang censor Zhang Yiqi died mysteriously outside the House of Red Sleeves. At that time, it did not attract much attention. After the censor's wife's crying was suppressed by the prefectural magistrate of Chang 'an City, Shangguan Yangyu, the case was closed. It was not until Lin Ling, the Psyche Master of the Northern Army of the Tang Empire sneaked into Chang' an City to investigate and found the iron nail in the censor's body that the case was rediscovered by some bigwigs.
Later, with the death of Chen Zixian, Yan Suqing and others, especially Gu Xi's death in Tuyang City, and the death of Huang Xing and Yu Shuizhu on the rainy street, the Tang Empire's military and many forces began to suspect Ning Que. However, just like His Majesty could not punish Xia Hou many years ago, no one dared to accuse this student of the Second floor of the Academy and the core disciple of the Headmaster of the Academy without evidence.
Just because there was no evidence, it did not mean that it was not true. The rumors about Ning Que's identity had spread among the upper class of Chang 'an City, even out of the country. Many people firmly believed that he was the son of Lin Guangyuan, the Xuanwei General who died tragically because of treason.
Therefore, many people were guessing what Xia Hou would do when he was about to retire and return to Chang 'an to take revenge after enduring for so many years.
The old Minister of Offerings from a prominent family in Qinghe County came and hid in the censor's mansion. He squinted his deep and old eyes, calmly and attentively watching the direction of the wind in Chang 'an City, guessing what might have happened.
The Tang Empire's military was vigilantly watching the movements by the Yanming Lake. General Xu Shi stood on the small building and looked indifferently at Chang 'an City. As long as there was any unusual movement, he would not care about the Academy and would directly send powerful cavalry to capture or kill Ning Que, because he was above the law of the Tang Empire.
The people in the palace were also watching and guessing.
Even Ye Su, the successor of the Zhishou Abbey, came to Chang 'an City.
These bigwigs all had rare wisdom and strategies in the world. They had terrifying intelligence sources and subordinates. However, even they could not predict Ning Que's next step.
Although Ning Que's state had improved by leaps and bounds and he was already at the peak of the Seethrough State, he was still weak compared to General Xia Hou, who was at the Peak State of Martial Arts. Therefore, he could not assassinate him.
No one had ever been able to find Xia Hou's crimes and evidence. When those who had participated in the incident died one by one in Ning Que's hands, it was even more hopeless for him to reverse the verdict for the Xuanwei General's Mansion and use the law of the Tang Empire to bring Xia Hou down.
The most important problem was that both the Emperor and the Academy were willing to see Xia Hou retire peacefully. Even if they did not stop Ning Que, they would definitely not help him.
The dangers in Jianghu could not touch Xia Hou's clothes, and the plots in the court could not touch Xia Hou's indifferent expression. Ning Que could not assassinate Xia Hou, so what could he do?
After countless calculations, including the reactions of the Academy, the imperial court, and the West-Hill, the bigwigs in Chang 'an City finally came to a conclusion that made them feel at ease.
Ning Que could do nothing.
At least in this winter.
It was still late autumn, and the cold winter had not arrived.
General Xia Hou would leave the imperial court in the middle of winter.
Ning Que cultivated silently by the Yanming Lake, waiting for the arrival of winter.
One day, the yellow leaves fell like rain.
Ning Que sat under a balding tree, and his knees were full of withered leaves.
Ye Hongyu put down the scroll in her hand and looked at him. She said, "Even if you hide the fact that you have joined the Devil until the end and turn it into a trump card, you can only scare Xia Hou and not kill him."
Ning Que looked at her and said, "I don't know what you are talking about."
…
…
(Fight and then win … You can change victory to victory. This was Lin Hai's original words. He posted it on Weibo. I liked it very much, so I stole it.) (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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