Nightfall

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

The professor’s eyes brightened slightly, and the tenseness in her brows lightened. She looked at the stairwell calmly, only to find that the one arriving was not that student, but another who looked flighty.

Chu Youxian walked upstairs nervously. He had once fainted upstairs and have heard of the numerous painful experience of his peers. Even someone like Xie Chengyun would vomit blood in the middle of the night after reading it. The various rumors surrounding the book upstairs were as scary as the underworld and it frightened him badly.

He bowed deeply, looking extremely cowardly as he walked towards the eastern windows and spoke respectfully to the female professor.

She furrowed her brows slightly and smiled at him in a peaceful manner, “So he’s sick… And he even thought of informing me. That child is really so lovely and polite. Please pass on my word and tell him to rest well and recuperate.”

Xie Chengyun, the third young master of the South Jin Kingdom has given up on studying cultivation upstairs. Now that a certain someone had taken medical leave, the second floor of the old library was even quieter than usual. No one came upstairs for days. The female professor who was used to this peace and quiet in the place lowered her head and practiced her calligraphy in lower script. Outside, the spring breeze followed the eastern windows to the west while the blossoming trees waved outside the windows.

But there was someone who was not aware that the lad had taken medical leave.

In the dead of the night, the stars shone into the old library, casting a silver glow on the wooden floors. The carvings on the shelves at the end row glimmered before opening silently. Chen Pipi squeezed through it with great difficulty. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with a damp handkerchief as he walked slowly towards the shelf.

His chubby hand picked out the thin book. Chen Pipi flipped through the book randomly. The sheet of paper that he had left in it was still there. No one had touched it nor left behind any words. His eyelids twitched as he mumbled angrily in a low voice. “How many days has it been, why has it not been read? I, the mighty genius have gone against the rules of the Academy to teach you and you did not treasure it!”

This situation was rather odd in any case.

Chen Pipi has always held himself by the standards of a genius. He had always thought that geniuses had to do things differently. For example, Eldest Brother always had that annoying smile on his face and he liked to drink straight from the lakes and rivers. Second Brother liked wearing that weird tall hat and lecture sternly to the female students of the Academy on psychology. Teacher had even more weird quirks. So he always wanted to do things that geniuses should do. Things that could be written in the history books of the Academy. Great things. For example, teaching a poor soul against the Academy rules. He would leave behind thoughtless words that would change somebody’s life.

He would not care too much of course, since it was a sudden decision. Whether the poor soul would understand and digest the comments he wrote on the paper regarding ‘Primary exploration on Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow’ was not something he considered important. However, when he returned to look at the reply on the second night to find that his comments had been unanswered, he turned serious.

…

…

Ning Que’s fever subsided the same day the spring rain stopped. It was under Sangsang’s glare and coercion, that he had a messenger inform Chu Youxian to request for five days of sick leave on his behalf.

He had hot and spicy noodles with fried egg and chicken and potato stew every day and wasn’t allowed to touch his ink and paper. He wasn’t allowed to sharpen his swords nor practice his sword fighting skills. He wasn’t allowed to visit the House of Red-Sleeves to drink and relax. He was only allowed to sit in his chair and lay in bed to recuperate. Ning Que’s previously pale face had attained a healthy glow over the past five days. His face was no longer haggard and his cheeks have rounded off, the slight bounce of it making him look adorable.

“I’m going to puke if I eat anymore hot and spicy noodles.”

He pushed away the large bowl before him determinedly, disregarding Sangsang’s glare. Stealing two buns from her bowl, and retrieving two vinegar soaked turnips, he slurped them up with the remaining half of her porridge before walking out of the shop. He said, “I’m going to run away from home if you cook chicken and potato stew for dinner.”

Sangsang held up his bowl of untouched sour and spicy noodles and looked at the thin slices of beef floating in it. She thought to herself, “why are you turning up your nose at good food? Would you get to eat something like this in Wei?”

All the horse drawn carriages rented by the students of the Academy would have an obvious sign on them indicating so. It goes without saying that you’d need documentation for it. Ning Que went through the Southern gates of Chang’an towards the Academy beneath the mountain.

Dawn was just breaking.

There was an unavoidable commotion as he stepped foot into the class. It didn’t matter whether they were close friends or not, the students came up to him to ask about his health after his return from sick leave. Ning Que smiled at the crowd, all the while seizing them up. He realized that other than Chu Youxian who was genuinely concerned, Situ Yilan and Jin Wucai were genuinely worried too.

The subject of the day was literature and the topic they were discussing was the literature of South Jin Kingdom and the appreciation and analysis of various works. Ning Que who was good at calligraphy, should by right be interested in this. However, no matter in his previous life or now, he was only excited looking at the characters. The characters that formed the sentences and lines that made up poetry and works bored him to tears. He listened to the class half-heartedly and when the dismissal bell rang, he answered the instructor politely before rushing out of class and towards the mess hall.

He had two portions of lunch and walked three rounds around the wetland as usual. The other students who had been watching him could not suppress their curiosity and thought to themselves, third young master Xie had given up on getting into the second floor after vomiting blood for an entire night while Ning Que had returned to the Academy looking like nothing happened after he was gravely ill for days.

At the doors to the old library, Chu Youxian peered at his face worriedly and asked, “Are you still going upstairs?”

“Yes, I’ve to make up for lost time.” He answered.

Chu Youxian shook his head helplessly. He looked at Ning Que like he was a mad man and said, “have you not vomited enough?”

“I’ve gotten used to it.”

Ning Que answered smilingly before he was startled by his own words. He wondered why this conversation seemed so familiar, especially his reply. He seemed to have heard or read it somewhere.

He walked up to the second floor, but was not in a hurry to find the thin book on the shelf. Instead, he adjusted his student robes and walked serenely towards the eastern windows and bowed respectfully at the female professor. He said softly, “Student is back. ”

The female professor looked up at him and asked, “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine.” Ning Que touched his slightly chubby face and said, “I’ve worried teacher. I apologize.”

“I wasn’t very worried.” She smiled, “I’ve been copying books on the second floor for seven years and I’m used to the peace and quiet. But it’s nice to have someone nearby keeping me company in the silence silently.”

Ning Que grinned, “I’ll try to stay on the second floor for a bit longer.”

The female instructor smiled and waved, dismissing him.

Ning Que clasped his hands together in respect before turning to leave. He walked to the shelf and retrieved the thin book without looking. He was now familiar with the position of the book and could find it even blindfolded. It was a pity he could never remember the contents of the book.

He sighed silently and opened the book, retrieving the sheet of paper he stuck inside. He knew he must have left off at that point in the book. He knew that these little tricks of his were futile. He would always be reading the book for the first time.

His brows knitted suddenly. He held up the sheet of paper against the window and found it riddled with black markings. “Did I write so much the last time?” he thought to himself.

He flipped the sheet of paper to the back to see that someone had written all over the sheet in tiny regular script. The person who written the message scrupulously in tiny script. The characters were each the size of a rice grain, but held plenty of swagger, looking full of itself.

Ning Que looked at the paper in shock before reading the message silently.

“Poor sod, don’t believe in the sayings that the mountain you see isn’t a mountain. Objects that exist are real. For example, the words in this book is more real than my pride and conceitedness at this moment.”

“It is just that when the words reflect the lights from the outside into your eyes, and… the light on the paper is already an explanation. Your eyes seeing it is another… Objectivity is like a beautiful, naked woman. When you look at her lecherously, thinking about how beautiful she is and how much you want her… it doesn’t matter whether she is a nun from the Great River Country of Ye Hongyu from West-Hill Divine Palace.”

The warm spring breeze swirled both inside and outside the building. The sun made its way towards the west, turning gold and red. The male insects bathed in the glow of the setting sun started singing and flapping their wings to display their prowess to the opposite sex. On the occasion when the breeze was strong, the singing would stop. To the ears of these strong male insects, the sound of the strong winds was like that of thunder.

In the building beside the bookshelf, Ning Que looked at the words on the paper, shell-shocked. He sat there like a statue for a long long time. The tiny script on the paper was like thunder in his head, and it crashed unendingly.

After a moment, he flipped open the book with shaky fingers. His gaze landed lightly on the text before moving away. There excitement bubbling within him could barely be suppressed. With the help of the words on the sheet of paper, he could find out where the doorway was even if he didn’t know what laid behind it.

…