Nightfall

"Say what?"

Without turning around, the young girl in black hair spoke in a much steadier manner. Thus, she looked unusually calm, as if no sentiment could be felt from her.

Zhuo Zhihua and Cat Girl glanced at each other and both felt helpless. Zhuo Zhihua paced a few steps forward and said in a low voice, "I think the Divine Hall won’t be so partial to the Yuelun Kingdom if they know that the Hill Master is here."

The girl picked up her brush again and silently wrote on the desk. Then she said, "Now that we are summoned by the edict of the Divine Hall to help the Yan Kingdom, it’s a natural thing to accept an assignment. How could it be called as being partial?"

Zhuo Zhihua worriedly said, "That palace is deep in the Wilderness. If we meet horse gangs, guerrillas or some people with malicious intentions when we escort the provisions and fodder, what should we do?"

Raising her brush and then dipping it for more ink, the young girl in black hair gently said, "So what?"

Having accompanied her in the Ink Lake for many years, Zhuo Zhihua knew this was her temperament. She was just addicted to books and calligraphy and cared little about most of worldly things, but she wasn’t cold nor unfeeling. However, the students of Black Ink Garden were facing an extremely dangerous situation right now. As the only person who could redeem the situation, she couldn’t keep being unaffected like this.

Zhuo Zhihua, with slightly clenched fists and severely looking at her long black hair, said, "If Hill Master doesn’t speak for us, we may die in the Wilderness. Maybe you could survive, but I would definitely die and so would Cat Girl. If that happens, those shameless and insidious people would feel happy and joyful about our deaths. The Yuelun Kingdom, which always wants to bully and oppress the people of our Great River Kingdom, may even celebrate it across the country."

The black haired young girl beside the desk put the brush with full ink back on the inkstone. After a short silence, she placed her hands into her sleeves and peacefully said, "Why would we die?"

Listening to her words which were as usual, Zhuo Zhihua became more anxious and said with a helpless smile, "Because we are not strong enough to rival our enemies."

The black haired young girl calmly said, "If all students of our Black Ink Garden improve their states and then become cultivators of the Seethrough State, or we have another Grand Cultivator in the Knowing Destiny State like our master, who would dare be so rude to us, even if we are deep in the Wilderness? Who would dare frame us with such absurd tricks?"

Zhuo Zhihua was shocked and didn’t know why she said these words at this time.

"The students of the Black Ink Garden are not powerful, so we are always bullied by other people and will be afraid of death when facing such kind of situations. If we are strong enough, we won’t be fearful nor would we be bullied by others."

The voice black haired young girl was straight and smooth, like a thin ice on the lake surface, without any fluctuations.

"If one wants to become powerful, it’s necessary to have the guts to face difficult experiences. Why no one in the world dares to look down on the Academy of Chang’an? Because even their common students have to take part in battlefield practice and accept the life-or-death tests in the most dangerous places."

"When facing trouble, don’t always count on me to speak for you. In the eyes of worldly people and you guys, maybe I have some reputation. However, you don’t know that in this world, reputation is the most powerless thing. Strength, just like ink, is alwas only relative to itself."

Standing beside Zhuo Zhihua, Cat Girl looked at the young girl in black hair and confusedly asked with frowning eyebrows, "But Senior Sister, your state is already so high, is it not powerful enough?"

"The top of the Seethrough state...it indeed sounds seemingly powerful."

The black haired young girl peacefully said, "Wang Jinglue of Tang is named Invincible under the Knowing Destiny state; Prince Long Qing is just one step away from the Knowing Destiny state; the Tao Addict Ye Hongyu, she could even make Prince Long Qing fear. Compared with them, is the top of the Seethrough state something powerful?"

Those three people were the mightiest figures in the younger generation. Her calm and placid mention was not only a warning to her peers, but also revealed her estimation that she naturally had a qualification to compete with these three people.

Listening to her statement, Cat Girl stretched her tongue out and said, "Senior Sister, your analysis is unreasonable. Even if the three people have a high cultivation state, they are also similar to you. If we are speaking of those stronger figures... maybe we can consider only those Grand Cultivators of the Knowing Destiny State. However, those Grand Cultivators are rarely seen in front of us, because they are the Great Divine Priests of the Divine Hall or great masters of different sects. Perhaps a common person would never have a chance to see any of them in his whole life."

What the little girl said was indeed right. The Grand Cultivators of the Knowing Destiny State were like celestial dragons in the world, which were known but unseen by common people. Sometimes they would appear in the clouds, and then they would suddenly hide in deep mountains. So it was very difficult to encounter them.

If these remarks were heard by Ning Que, he definitely wouldn’t agree. Those people whom he contacted and consulted with every day, like Second Brother who wore a wooden club over his head, Chen Pipi who fought for crab porridge with him, his master who stayed in the brothel every day, Chao Xiaoshu who had gone travelling, the Master of the Nation, the emperor’s younger brother, Professor Huang He, not to mention the Headmaster of Academy and his Eldest Brother whom he had yet to meet...

Grand Cultivators of the Knowing Destiny State? What was the difference between them and those cabbages seen everywhere in the field?

The black haired young girl had made up her mind, so other girls of the Great River Kingdom could only keep their many thoughts to themselves and made preparations to set off. However, Zhuo Zhihua, standing beside the river lake, unavoidably showed a worrying expression, as she looked at the distant, mysterious and dangerous Wilderness where there clouds were gathering and winter snow fell.

They came from the southern continent and had never been to the Wilderness before. They had not yet experienced the food, climate, geography and culture of the Wilderness. Although the united army assisting Yan sent tour guides for them, how could they be reliable? Who wouldn’t feel scared when having to enter a totally unknown world without any assistance of external forces and their own sect?"

Cat Girl, who was still very young, cared less about these things. She was angry at the unfairness of the Divine Hall and the impudence of the Yuelun Kingdom, but she wasn’t afraid of entering the Wilderness. She believed that there wasn’t a real danger as long as her Senior Sister was with her, so she still had the mood to remember the Osmanthus Cake made by the Lotus Store in Chang’an. In addition, she trotted along the river and said goodbye to Ning Que on such a snowy day.

After listening to her about what the students of the Black Ink Garden faced, Ning Que kept silent for a while and then smiled at the little red-faced girl. His soft smile was filled with many hidden emotions, such as a kind of self-praise.

Cat Girl looked at him and suddenly said, "Senior Brother, you smile so horribly."

Ning Que was shocked and asked, "Is my smile not gentle, honest, kind and natural?"

Cat Girl laughed with a "GeGe" sound, which went along the river lake and caused several snowflakes to fall down.

Ning Que looked at her, trying to make his smile look more casual and kind. Then he said with an even more casual and kind tone, "It’s such a coincidence that I also need to enter the Wilderness for some affairs."

With her eyes glistening, Cat Girl looked at him and said, "Senior Brother also needs to enter the Wilderness?"

"Yes."

Cat Girl exclaimed with worship, "You going alone? You are so amazing!"

"I am familiar with the Wilderness."

Ning Que, who succeeded in winning the little girl’s trust with Osmanthus Cake, slightly smiled. He recalled his experience as a travel guide in the Wilderness last spring. It seemed that this winter he would be a guide again while returning to the Wilderness.

Ning Que successfully guessed that the young girls of the Great River Kingdom may have been discriminated and suppressed, but the guessing actually relied more on luck, rather than analysis. He wasn’t a celestial from the heavens, so it was impossible that everything happened as he thought.

Cat Girl took him to the camp of the Black Ink Garden and told Zhuo Zhihua about his plan of tagging along. Zhuo Zhihua slightly frowned and confusedly asked Ning Que, "It seems inconvenient, since Senior Brother Zhong is a student of the Academy."

In most stories told in novels, when you intended to go somewhere and suddenly encountered someone who happened to have the same route as yours, the person was perhaps an evil guy or a fugitive. As long as you had some life experiences, not like the naive and innocent Cat Girl, you would certainly feel that something wrong was hidden behind this kind of coincidence.

Ning Que was a Tang man that the Great River Kingdom people liked, and he was a student of the Academy. In addition, the relation between the young girls of the Great River Kingdom and Ning Que gradually became close after they shared food these days. What’s more, he saved them by attacking a monk from the White Tower Temple. Considering these things, Zhuo Zhihua wouldn’t like to connect anything evil with Ning Que, so she chose a roundabout way to refuse him.

Ning Que asked, "Why is it inconvenient? Are you worried that the Divine Hall would be displeased if they know a Tang man was mixed in?"

Zhuo Zhihua slightly lowered her head, which meant ’Yes’.

Ning Que laughed and said, "It could be solved if I dress up as a student of the Black Ink Garden."

Looking at the students of the Black Ink Garden who were packing up their luggage not far away from him, Ning Que couldn’t believe that the Master of Calligraphy would be at ease to send a group of inexperienced young boys and girls to frontier fortress for practice.

"Since you’re just sending provisions to the Wilderness, I think nobody would care to inspect me in the group during the journey. As to my identity being exposed... I think the younger brothers and sisters of Black Ink Garden are worth trusting."

His tone was peaceful and gentle, but it had an irresistible force. This was the power of words. He directly skipped the reason why he went there, and just talked about something of the joint journey, leaving the core of the discussion behind.

Zhuo Zhihua couldn’t say a word and didn’t know how to answer. She thought that if she refused the seemingly warm-hearted senior brother of the Academy in a tough voice, it might offend him.

Ning Que smilingly looked at her and said, "Is there another problem?"

Right at that moment, a peaceful but tough voice was heard from behind a yellow cloth curtain.

"The problem is the reason why you need go to the Wilderness."

The yellow cloth curtain was raised, and the young girl in white slowly walked out. Her white clothes, black hair and that wide blue cotton belt around her waist made the whole dressing plainer and neater.

Ning Que recognized that she was the young girl who stood by the lake and quietly viewed the lake scenery that morning. Without saying more, he just smilingly bowed in greeting, with hands folded in front.

The black hair of the young girl in white was randomly but neatly spread on her shoulder. Below her long and slightly sparse eyelashes, her peaceful eyes seemingly looked at somewhere without a precise focus. She looked a little indifferent, with no expression on her round white face. Her thin and red lips were like a straight line, as if her expression was made of wood.

No matter her eyes, complexion or expression, none of these could be said to be of unrivalled beauty, but she looked very beautiful when all these features were combined together. Ning Que, whose adjective stock was scanty in his brain, only could quietly look at her and highly praised her in his deep heart, after failing to think of more precise words.

The most attracting part was her eyes, which didn’t shift or move but no one knew the point she was looking at. Therefore, she appeared a little dull and indifferent. Ning Que spent a long time retracting his sight from her eyes, to then pay attention to other details.

There was a lovely pink hairpin in her black hair. Due to the cold weather, her nose was slightly red. This kind of loveliness, after all, diluted her dullness and indifference to a certain degree.

He repeated the girl’s question, "Why am I going to the Wilderness?"

The young girl in white was waiting for his answer silently, with her eyes seemingly on him, or the tree behind him.

Ning Que felt a little displeased due to her scorn which seemingly hid behind her eyes, and then he said, "Why go there? Because I was very bored in the Dongsheng Stockaded Village. What about this reason?"

Obviously, it was aimed as a taunt.

However, the young girl in white wasn’t irritated, and still kept staring at him, or at the tree behind him.

Ning Que suddenly felt that, aside from Sangsang, there was another girl who could defeat him in this world. He just helplessly shook his head and self-mockingly laughed, "I admit that it’s certainly not a good excuse, but I believe you should also believe that I wouldn’t hurt you.

"I am familiar with the Wilderness, so I can give you some convenience to a certain degree if I go with you. For me, I need you to help me cover my identity. Therefore, a joint travel is a win-win choice."

The young girl in white finally said a second sentence, but it was the same as the first one in essence.

"Why?"

Ning Que gently said, "Our two countries have maintained a good relationship for generations, so it is a natural thing to join hands between the Academy and the Black Ink Garden."

The young girl’s third sentence was the same question, without any change whether it was expression or tone.

"Why?"

After seeing her keeping silence for a long time, Ning Que was defeated in the end, and then he hinted at Zhuo Zhihua to take Cat Girl away. When only he and the black haired young girl were there, he carefully explained, "The Divine Hall was interested in the Wilderness and the Desolate Men, so was my Tang country. In this case, the Academy needs to make its voice heard after all."

The young girl asked without any expression, "Why would you hide your identity?"

Ning Que explained with a sigh, "Because the Academy just wants to have a look. Besides... I am a senior secret agent of the imperial court. Of course, a secret agent should execute tasks in secret."

The latter part of the sentence was obviously plain blabber, but for some unknown reasons, the nonsense unexpectedly made the girl in white believe his words. With her long and sparse eyelashes slightly blinking, she continued asking, "What’s the benefit for my group?"

"I represent the Academy, so no matter the Divine Hall or the Yuelun Kingdom, they will restrain themselves more or less if they want to oppress or bully your team."

The young girl slowly shook her head and said, "They won’t be afraid if you hide your identity."

After thinking for a while, Ning Que looked at her eyes and said, "If we are in a deadlock situation, I naturally won’t keep concealing my identity. In addition, I believe that for the sake of the Black Ink Garden’s self-esteem, only in that situation would you want my assistance."

The young girl slowly removed her eyes and looked at the trees by the lake, or the thin ice on the lake surface. Then she said, "Why should I trust you?"

Ning Que replied, "The Academy is worth trusting."

The young girl turned around and quietly looked at his chest and said, "OK."

...

...

"What’s your name?"

"Mo Shanshan."

"Mo Shanshan from Mogan Mountain."

Ning Que thought, was that mountain behind Black Ink Garden named Mogan Mountain? (’Mogan’ means ’Ink was dry’ in Chinese.) If the ink was dry, how could Lord Wang, the Master of Calligraphy, practice calligraphy? Wouldn’t that famous Calligraphy Addict cry due to worry?

"The Academy’s Zhong..." From some unknown reasons, he didn’t want the name ’Zhong Dajun’ to be called from the lips of the young girl in white. So he added, "I’m ranked thirteenth. You can call me ’Thirteen’."

The young girl Mo Shanshan made a step forward and looked at his face at a very near distance.

Looking at the nice little face near him, Ning Que felt very embarrassed.

After observing the slightest expressions on her face, Ning Que was sure that she really didn’t know who he was...

The young girl Mo Shanshan nodded and patted him on the shoulder like an elder, and then turned around to leave.

He had no idea that whether she was satisfied or not.

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