The hot spring in the snow made a gurgling sound. It was impossible for there to be fish in the slightly hot water, so it was the air hole that was spitting bubbles. Ning Que thought about how his Headmaster had melted into the hot spring without missing such a detail. Thinking about his previous vigilance and uneasiness, his emotions became more and more complicated. He was silent for a long time.
Sangsang felt the change in his mood. She held his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder. She did not speak as she had done in the past years, but made sure that he could confirm her existence when he was sad or sad.
After her hair was cut short, it was no longer as yellow and thin as when she was a child. It had become darker, and now it was wet and stuck to her cheeks, which made her look more beautiful.
Because of the silence and strange emotions in the hot spring, and the unknown fear of parting, Ning Que felt that his arms were very empty. He wanted to hug her, so he held Sangsang tightly in his arms.
The two hugged each other in the hot spring, and then they began to kiss and touch.
"You are not married yet, right?"
At this moment, the Headmaster's voice came from the hot spring next door.
Sangsang was awakened and quickly left his arms. She lifted the towel that had slipped out of her arms and put it on her slightly bulging chest. Her face was slightly red, not knowing whether it was because of shyness or heat.
Ning Que turned to look at Empress Snow and shouted, "You approved the engagement."
The Headmaster said, "Engagement and marriage are two different concepts."
Ning Que said, "Isn't it just a procedure of bowing to Heaven and Earth? It's a snowy night. I'll just say goodbye to her. "
The Headmaster said, "Why do you need to bow to Heaven and Earth when I'm here? And Haotian, it may not like the two of you to really get married. "
Ning Que laughed. He thought that Sangsang was the daughter of Yama. It was indeed inappropriate for him to get Haotian's blessing and approval when he married her.
Then he suddenly thought of the worry he had mentioned to Sangsang before. He thought silently, "Could it be that the Headmaster had already confirmed the uneasiness in advance, so he wanted to see me get married before he left?"
…
…
The stars in the night sky became brighter. In the bay by the Snow Sea, the white mist was rising. There were no red candles and no receptionists. There was only the Headmaster standing on the pile of snow and a pair of children kneeling under it.
This scene was like a fairyland, but it was a pity that the three people in the fairyland were not dressed neatly. They did not seem to have anything to do with the legendary immortals.
The Headmaster was wrapped in a large towel. It was freezing cold, but his body was still steaming like a boiled fish. The water dripping from the edge of the towel froze when it touched the ground.
Ning Que and Sangsang knelt under the snow and kowtowed three times to the Headmaster of the Academy.
They straightened up with snow on their foreheads, only to find that the Headmaster was no longer on the pile of snow. There was only a wet towel that was about to be frozen.
The Headmaster's voice came from the depths of the Snow Sea along with the sound of horse hooves.
"Have a good time in the bridal room. No one will disturb you. I'm going out on horseback to play for a while."
…
…
It was a silent night.
When Ning Que woke up, it was still dark outside. He thought for a while and realized that the Hot Sea was almost in the Everlasting Night. It was difficult to see the sun.
Sangsang was still sleeping. She seemed to be dreaming of something. She arched her head in his arms and grinned, showing two white front teeth. She looked as cute as a gray rabbit.
There was an extremely fragrant smell outside the tent.
Ning Que knew that his teacher was back. He quickly woke Sangsang up and began to wash and dress.
The Headmaster used the leftover peony fish bones from last night to make a pot of fish porridge.
Sangsang lifted the heavy blanket and walked out of the tent. She could not help but shiver in the cold wind. She walked to the pot and took over the cooking from the Headmaster's hands. Her slightly shy expression gradually turned into calmness.
Compared to Sangsang's calmness, Ning Que had a silly smile on his face for a long time. He was still smiling even when Sangsang went to the hot spring to clean up the dishes.
The Headmaster picked up the tail bone of the peony fish and looked at him. He said, "You are only in your early twenties. Why do I feel like you are an old house on fire?"
Ning Que coughed and said, "We have been together for more than ten years. It's not as exaggerated as you say."
The Headmaster suddenly lowered his voice and asked curiously, "How do you feel?"
Ning Que looked at the fish tail bone in his hand and said helplessly, "Look at you now. You don't look like the Headmaster of the Academy. You can't be disrespectful just because you are old, right? "
The Headmaster threw the fish bone into the snow and said, "It's not that I don't have a voyeuristic fetish. It's just that you are too rare. You should know that your bridal room with her will definitely be recorded in the history books. So you have to remember the details."
Ning Que did not understand what the Headmaster meant. He was also a little tired, so he went to sleep again.
The Big Black Horse was also taking a nap in the tent. It had galloped for hundreds of miles on the Snow Sea last night and was very tired. It also felt very ashamed. Although the Headmaster was not an ordinary person, it was still shameful to be ridden by a naked old man for a whole night.
…
…
At noon, the Hot Sea was still dark and the sun could not be found. They left the settlement abandoned by the Desolate Man's tribe and continued to head north.
As far as Ning Que knew, the northernmost point of the world that humans had reached was this cold region in the extreme north, which was the northern edge of the Hot Sea. So he was very curious about what the world in the north looked like. He also did not understand why so many powerful humans in history had not explored the north of the Hot Sea.
Until he saw the Snow-capped Peak.
When he was at the Hot Sea yesterday, he had looked to the north but did not see anything. However, not far from the Hot Sea today, the Snow-capped Peak came into his sight. It was as if he had bumped into it, which was extremely strange.
The Snow-capped Peak was steep and towering, emitting a faint light under the starlight. It was unknown how high it was. Looking from the snowfield, it seemed that the peak was about to pierce the night sky.
Ning Que had been to many famous mountains and rivers. The most famous and dangerous one was naturally the northern foot of Min Mountain, or Tianqi Mountains. However, compared to this Snow-capped Peak, Tianqi Mountain was much shorter.
"If you go north from any place in the south, you will reach this Snow-capped Peak as long as you keep walking."
The Headmaster looked up at the Snow-capped Peak under the starlight and said, "When the Hot Sea was full of sunshine, this Snow-capped Peak would look even more spectacular. No one could climb it with human strength alone. So this is the northernmost point."
Ning Que noticed two key points in this sentence. First, no matter where you went north, you would reach the Snow-capped Peak. Second, no one could climb it with human strength alone.
Then could anyone who could climb it still be considered a human?
When the black horse carriage appeared on the other side of the Snow-capped Peak, in front of a dark sea, Ning Que looked at the tall back of the Headmaster and thought about this question.
It was a vast sea.
The reason why the sea was black was because there was no blue sky and no sunlight. Although the stars were clearer and brighter, there were fewer of them.
Ning Que knew that what he saw was a place that had never been recorded in any ancient books. So he was very shocked. What shocked him even more was that there was a ship in this black sea.
This ship was so big that the Big Black Horse could gallop on the deck.
Ning Que stood by the side of the ship and looked at the Snow-capped Peak under the night sky. He was shocked speechless.
The Headmaster walked to his side and looked up at the dark night sky. He said, "The night begins here and gradually spreads to the south."
Ning Que looked at him and asked, "Teacher, this ship is …"
The Headmaster said, "Many years ago, I was worried that Haotian would find me and eat me. I kept thinking about how to escape and hide. I thought that since this was the beginning of the night, it should be the closest to the Underworld. The Yama King's power was the strongest and Haotian's power could hardly reach here. So I built a big boat here and prepared to escape here if Haotian came to eat me. I would ride the boat on the black sea and never go out."
Ning Que was stunned. Through these words, he could imagine how anxious and uneasy the Headmaster had been living in Haotian's world for the past thousand years.
"Later, I became stronger and no longer had to worry about being found and eaten by Haotian. Naturally, this boat was useless. However, I suddenly found that the night here was very clean and suitable for stargazing, so I came back again. I really took a boat trip to the depths of the ocean once. I didn't expect that trip to let me discover some very interesting things."
"What is it?"
"This world is not flat."
"Teacher, I don't understand what you mean."
"I brought you to this ship to let you understand."
"Understand what?"
The Headmaster said, "Why do I have to fight against Heaven? Because Haotian wants to eat me. But even the Drunkard and the Butcher could hide for so many years. I can do the same. If worst comes to worst, I can close my eyes and die like Buddha. The reason why I have to fight against Heaven is because I think there is something more important. "
"What is it?"
"When I was at the back of the mountain of the Academy, I said that I had seen sunsets and sunrises in many places in this world, including this ocean. At that time, there was a sunrise here. Under the sunlight, this ocean was transparent and looked like an endless abyss. The sun set in this ocean."
"You said that the moon is a reflection of the sun. I said that the sun does not really rise and set. I even said that if this world was a ball, it would be easy. Now it seems that at least what I said before is that this sun is fake."
"Other than watching the sun, I have also watched the stars. I have watched the stars at the back of the mountain of the Academy and on this big ship. Because there are fewer stars here and they are bright and clear. I told you that no matter how many years ago or how many years later, these stars have always stayed in their original positions and have not changed at all …"
"Later on, you made a stargazing mirror. When you looked in the mirror, the size of the stars did not change, unlike people and scenery that can be magnified. This means that the positions of the stars in the night sky are fixed. They are infinitely far away from the ground but infinitely close. It cannot be measured by distance. "
"Teacher, can you make it simpler?"
"Simply put, this is a closed world."
"More simpler?"
"This is a world without boundaries."
"Didn't you say that it is closed?"
"Only when there is no boundary and it is always connected can it be considered closed."
"The night sky where the stars are is not the boundary?"
"No one can touch it, so it is not the real boundary. It is just the boundary in your eyes and heart."
"Teacher, the more you say, the more confused I am."
"Haotian doesn't want the boundary to be broken, so it refuses to let people see the boundary."
"So?"
"So it proves that this is a closed world."
"You are back to it."
"Yes, just like this world."
…
(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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