Nightfall

After the banquet, Second Brother walked to Ning Que"s side and said, "The Sword Master from the South Jin Kingdom is still waiting for you outside. Since this is over, when will you head out?"

Ning Que smiled and said, "Since no one knows that I have left the cliff cave, there is no rush. Just let him wait. Let me rest for a couple of days."

Second Brother did not get angry, even though Ning Que"s words were rather shameless. He just indifferently looked at Ning Que and said, "I have already informed the front courtyard instructor about the end of your seclusion. Don"t even think about trying to stall for time. Settle this issue quickly. How could you let Liu Bai"s brother continue to sit outside the Academy"s door?"

Ning Que thought to himself about how it had taken great efforts for him to get out of that secluded cliff cave. He only had enough time to grab some food, he hadn"t even gotten the chance to take a shower yet. How could Second Brother be so heartless as to involve him in a fierce battle without a break?

Ning Que grew angry, but he was wary enough to not show it in his face. He looked at Second Brother and said aggrievedly, "Alright, I"m going to see the idiot right now."

Chen Pipi came up to him worriedly after Second Brother left and said, "What are you going to do? That guy had been waiting for you outside the Academy in all the days when you were imprisoned in the cliff cave. His state and ability seem to have improved since he first came here. I think you might not be able to defeat him."

"I don"t care that much. Let me first have some rest."

Ning Que looked at Second Brother"s disappearing figure, and his facial expression grew impudent. He taunted the retreating figure in a low voice, "Now that the Headmaster is back, do you think you can frighten me?"

Chen Pipi laughed and said, "That is true. If Second Brother tries to discipline us as sternly as before, we can complain to our teacher. However, what you don"t know is that our teacher never bothers with matters like this. He usually stays silent and plays dumb. However, we may mislead Eldest Brother into thinking that our teacher has made his judgment, and so make him help us against Second Brother. Other than for rare issues like your matrimonial affairs, Second Brother would never dare to go against Eldest Brother."

Chen Pipi"s statement was rather convoluted. Ning Que fell silent for a moment before he lamented, "I never expected you to be almost as shameless as me."

Chen Pipi was about to strike back when he suddenly wiped off the flippant look on his face. He placed his hands behind his back and told Ning Que blandly, "You are my Younger Brother. I shall not argue with you."

Ning Que was surprised for a moment, but then he heard the sound of footsteps behind him and spotted Tang Xiaotang from the corner of his eyes. With a mocking

smile, he told Chen Pipi, "You really have guts, huh?"

Chen Pipi did not dare to look at him, but looked at Tang Xiaotang instead.

Tang Xiaotang did not mind him at all. She walked straight towards Ning Que and said in a crisp voice, "Ning..."

The girl thought of something just as the word emerged from her lips, and she shyly held her tongue.

She looked around to make sure that teacher Yu Lian was not around, and only then she patted her chest to calm herself. She cutely put her tongue out and continued, "Youngest Uncle, I want to take Sangsang out to play."

In the early morning, there was a gentle spring rain in the back of the mountain of the Academy.

Tang Xiaotang wanted to take Sangsang with her into the mountains to pick fresh mushrooms.

Ning Que glanced at Sangsang and thought back to how the little girl had accompanied him in the cliff cave for the past three months. Even though she could leave the mountains and walk around occasionally, she must have felt stifled. He patted her head and said, "Go ahead."

Chen Pipi returned to Ning Que"s side as he watched the two girls walking up the mountains, hand in hand. Thinking of their lives in the future, he emotionally said, "They have become good friends now. Should we start communicating better now so that we won"t be tortured too badly once we get married?"

"You good for nothing."

Ning Que looked at him disdainfully and said, "I"ve always been the one in charge of my household. Come and discuss these issues with me if and when you can get Tang Xiaotang to wash your feet."

With that, he turned and walked towards the mirror lake.

Chen Pipi shouted at his back, "What are you going to do? Be careful not to run into Second Brother."

Ning Que was furious. Chen Pipi"s yelling was so loud, wouldn"t Second Brother hear it?

He turned around and yelled back at Chen Pipi, who was just three steps away. He shouted as if he was talking to a farmer on the opposite cliff, in a bright and clear voice that reverberated throughout the back of the mountain.

"I will check the goods!

goods! Don"t worry! I won"t tell Tang Xiaotang about that thing! Can you hear me?"

Chen Pipi couldn"t even pretend that he hadn"t heard it, as bitterness welled up. Considering how Second Brother, Third Sister, and even Tang Xiaotang had probably heard Ning Que"s shameless lies as well, he wanted to dig a hole in the gra.s.s and jump into it.

It was an ordinary looking podao.

The dark slender podao looked like the palace"s cornice in the dark. The lines were curved and smooth and the blade reflected light. The long handle that was designed for a two-handed hold had fine hemp rope tied over it. Just by its appearance, it looked no different from one of the three original podaos.

But Ning Que knew that it was a brand new knife when he held it.

There was an entirely different feeling that came from the knife in his hands. The long slender podao was heavy beyond imagination, disproportionate to its size and length.

One could imagine how dense the blade was by its weight. And naturally, one could guess how strong it was.

"You said you wanted to make the three blades into one, so I combined all three of them into this single podao."

Sixth Brother looked at the podao in Ning Que"s hands as if he was looking at his child. He said with a tense expression, "I thought it would be an easy task, but it turned out to be very difficult. Melting them into a single mold was easy, but hammering it into shape was the difficult part."

Combining the podaos into one meant that he had to integrate three times the amount of metal into the original volume of one. Ning Que couldn"t imagine how it might be possible unless it was hammered more than a thousand times. He couldn"t help but feel grateful to his Sixth Brother.

Sixth Brother handed over a scabbard made of leather and said, "The talisman lines on the blade are the same ones that you designed. But Fourth Brother said it would be best if you engraved it personally."

Ning Que profusely thanked his Sixth Brother, then prepared to carve the talisman. It was quite simple after the experience of crafting the Primordial Thirteen Arrows.

However, he got distracted by a thought. After a moment of silence, he sheathed the heavy podao back in its scabbard and looked to his Sixth Brother. "Let"s do it later." He said.

"It"s your weapon, so you get the final say."

Sixth Brother said, "Youngest Brother, I have just one

just one thing to ask of you. I am very satisfied with this blade. If you want to name it, please think of a good name."

Ning Que stiffened as he recalled how he had developed the talisman arrows together with him. He remembered the various eccentric names he had proposed, such as "Silver Arrows", "Cloud Piercing Arrows", and "Primordial Thirteen Arrows", then immediately understood Sixth Brother"s concern. Feeling a sense of camaraderie, he said determinedly, "Rest a.s.sured, Senior Brother. I will have teacher name it."

Sixth Brother hesitated for a moment, then said, "Youngest Brother, actually... our teacher is not very good at giving names either."

The two brothers stared at each other. Eventually, they decided to abandon the issue of naming the sword for the moment.

Ning Que opened the box and saw the other object that he had asked Sixth Brother to make. He said happily, "I never imagined it could be so well polished. What material did you use?"

"Making this gadget wasn"t very difficult," Sixth Brother said, "I asked the department of works for the black crystals to make the frames. There are three pairs here, including one extra."

Ning Que wanted as many of them as possible. He suddenly recalled something. He looked around him to make sure that Sangsang was not around. Then, he went up to Sixth Brother and whispered in his ear.

Sixth Brother frowned and asked with a confused look, "Transparent crystals are easy to come by, it"s not difficult even if you ask for a flawless one. However, why must it have such a small curvature if it is just for keeping out the dust? It"ll be difficult to polish and carve such a crystal, and the final quality of the product cannot be guaranteed even if we were to use water to polish it."

Ning Que hesitated for a moment before saying, "I have a friend with bad eyesight. Her vision is a little blurry, and wearing this can help to improve her situation."

Sixth Brother was slightly surprised. After a moment of thought, he felt that his Youngest Brother was indeed a genius to have such incredible ideas. He could even cure poor vision!

Just as he was about to continue his questioning to find out how a transparent crystal with such a curvature could help those with poor vision, the heavy leather curtains were pushed open and Fourth Brother walked in.

Fourth Brother looked over the knife on Ning Que"s back and asked, "Have you carved the talisman?"

Sixth Brother shook his head.

Ning Que explained, "I have something to do in a bit, I will carve it later."

Fourth Brother frowned slightly as he said, "So you are aware that you have something to do? Second Brother told you to quickly settle the issue, so what are you still doing here? Even though that crowd that gathered to watch the show can"t enter the back of the mountain, I still feel uncomfortable just thinking about all the random people surrounding the Academy"s doors."

Ning Que grumbled to himself about how Fourth Brother cursed him to fight for his life just because his senior brother felt uncomfortable. Those Senior Brothers would, of course, feel that even this young powerhouse from the South Jin Kingdom was nothing more than an insignificant bug. Yet, that man was still the younger brother of Liu Bai, the Sage of Sword, and Ning Que might not necessarily be able to defeat him.

He looked over at Fourth Brother, who was walking towards the Sandbox. He asked tentatively, "Senior Brother, where is Second Brother?"

Fourth Brother impatiently waved his hand, gesturing for him to quickly settle the matter at the Academy"s side door. He replied, "Second Brother went fis.h.i.+ng together with teacher at the West Lake."

Senior Brother could both enjoy the scenery and the fun of fis.h.i.+ng at the West Lake. He could even accompany and take the opportunity to flatter their teacher. How blissful that was! However, I have to fight by the Academy"s side door and struggle like a fish on a hook.

Ning Que felt that it was really unfair and was reluctant to leave the back of the mountain. However, he was also worried that he would run into Second Brother if he stayed. That was more dangerous than dueling the younger brother of the Sage of Sword.

He suddenly recalled that the most dangerous place was often also the safest. He followed the sounds of the waterfall and stealthily walked over to Second Brother"s yard. He placed his hands on the low courtyard walls and stuck his head over to look in. He only relaxed once he was sure that the scary big white goose was not around.

Ning Que casually pushed the doors open after brus.h.i.+ng off the dirt on his hands. He saw the young and cute little servant in the house and said in a highly pleasing manner, "I want to bathe and sleep. Is there any hot water?"

The little servant innocently stared at him with wide eyes.

Everyone in the Academy knew that a young powerhouse from the South Jin Kingdom had issued Ning Que a challenge. Furthermore, that person was sitting on a futon at the Academy"s side door and had waited for Ning Que for three whole months.

The powerhouse from the South Jin Kingdom had been battered by the winds and scorched by the sun. He had been soaked in the rain and covered in dust. He had suffered aplenty in the past three months, and his sufferings might even be worse than Ning Que"s, who had been in seclusion in the cliff cave. Ning Que knew of this very well, but did not immediately respond to the challenge after coming out of seclusion. He even had the mood to bathe and sleep instead?