Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Ning Que woke up only to find himself lying on a cold and firm rock bed. Apart from the grating, it seemed the walls, the table, and chairs were all made of rocks in this room. This setting looked familiar. However, it was not until he saw the tiny window he realized it was the Secluded Pavilion under the cliffs in Peach Mountain. He visited from the other side of the window once. At this moment, it was Chen Pipi who had escaped and he was the imprisoned one instead.
He tried to sense his Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow only to find it chained up by Sangsang with an unbelievable method. He was weaker than an ordinary man now and there was no way for him to escape from this prison. Therefore, he chose not to look at the seemingly thin wooden fence. Instead, he stared into the sky outside the tiny window in a silence.
He was exhausted and almost at the edge of physical and mental breakdown. While he desperately needed a rest, he just could not sleep. Although his body seemed to be in a good condition, the tortures he underwent inside the Divine Hall of Light and the pain of slow slicing was distinctively recorded by his body.
He lay his arms on the rock bed. Even though he dared not to move, they still trembled in pain. His back and hip were also suffering from burning pain from lying down.
As pain had left him with restlessness, he tried to make good use of his time thinking it through. But regretfully, his thinking only gave him more restlessness.
In the Academy’s plan, he should first conquer or control Sangsang, then bring her out of the Divine Halls of West Hill, and finally go back to Chang’an. That was because she was the only one who could fully restore the God-Stunning Array.
Before coming to Peach Mountain, he was prepared for a cruel battle with Haotian. But it was to his astonishment that the battle could be so difficult and painful that he was not even able to make the first step.
There was not something wrong with the Academy’s plan. The magnificent Tianqi in the front yard of Peach Mountain was already proof that Ning Que was the only one who had a chance to win against Haotian.
However, no one in the human world had any experience fighting against Haotian. Ning Que and his Brothers and Sisters had planned for months and prepared for various possibilities. What they did not realize was that the gap between Haotian and human beings would be so vast that even their natal bonds were not good enough for Ning Que to take control.
Fortunately, the Academy did not lose either. As long as Ning Que was alive, they still has a chance to win an unexpected victory. The battle between Haotian and human beings had come to a strategic stalemate. The turning point would occur when one of them could find a way out.
Ning Que did not know for how long he had passed out or what had happened during his coma. After making sure that no one was coming to interrogate him, he closed his eyes and started recalling what had happened in the Divine Hall of Light that night. He went through every bloody and brutal moment he had suffered in detail.
He was tortured inhumanely that night. Even thinking about it brought pain. However, he insisted on recalling every single detail, not because he enjoyed being tortured, but because he wanted to learn from it.
Those invisible blades Sangsang drew on him were all based on the most basic rules for the flow of space. Each wound she gave him was a rare teaching.
Ning Que controlled the Divine Talismans. Whether it was the Two Talisman or Yi Talisman, they all followed the rules for the flow of space. It was a rare opportunity to learn these rules from Haotian and he did not want to miss it.
He could still feel the remaining pain caused by those blades, and could barely pull back his consciousness. However, he kept his eyes closed and tried hard to recall and learn from those memories. He could not waste any chance to learn and elevate his skills even from failure and anguish. That was how he had become so powerful.
With his eyes closed, he recalled his experience that night. Pulling together the memories of the rules of dividing space, he quivered his fingers on the rock bed. His fingers seemed to be trembling unintentionally. But actually he was trying to imitate the talismans.
Ning Que lay on the rock bed for a long time until the light faded outside the rock grating. Someone brought him fresh water and simple dishes during that time, but nothing else happened.
Gurgling sounds from the stomach awoke him from contemplation. He looked around the secluded cell and rebuilt his talismans in his mind again to make sure that his skills of drawing the Two Talisman and Yi Talisman had improved. His eyes brightened and lips lifted with a satisfied smile. Suffering does pay off sometimes, he thought.
He made an effort to sit straight and pushed against the rock bed to stand up. Upon such a simple movement, he felt as if his muscles were about to crack again and his legs trembled in pain.
He made it to the rock table and started his dinner quietly. He did not know how long this battle would last. Therefore he had to make sure to restore enough strength so that
he would survive.
Even if it was merely an illusion of being able to survive, he needed strength.
His dinner was plain rice with vegetables and tofu on top. There was nothing tasty but he found them delicious as if he was enjoying the finest feast that his Master treated him years ago.
Upon finishing his meal, he felt satisfied and refreshed. He even felt some relief from the remaining pains on his body.
He wanted to drink some fresh water after the meal, but when he held up the bowl of water and lifted it toward his lips, he suddenly realized something which immediately drained the colors from his face.
The pain engulfed him again even more distinctively than ever.
With trembling hands, he put the bowl of water back on the rock table, managed to stand up holding the table and moved to the chamber pot at a corner of the cell.
The chamber pot was clean. There was some clear water inside that looked like a mirror.
He stood there in front of the chamber pot and looked into the reflection of his withered face on the water. There was a long silence.
He did not loosen his pants or did anything else, but rather just stood there and stared. Then he moved back to the rock bed with painstaking steps and sat down very slowly.
Upon sitting on the freezing rock bed his face distorted because of the sharp pain coming from in-between his legs. He almost passed out again.
He panted in pain until he finally got used to it after a long while. He calmed down somehow but heavy breaths heaved his chest in both fear and anger.
He knew his body well and realized what had happened without loosening his pants. He looked down in-between his legs and said to himself with frustration, “You will grow back, won’t you?”
After a pause, he affirmed, “You must grow back.”
People said it was had to gather spilled water, to reconnect cut hair or to fix a shattered mirror. However, being hard was different from being impossible. However, it was not something he could decide. It depended on the woman who was inside the Divine Hall of Light.
After a long silence, he suddenly sensed some ridiculousness and bursted into laughter. However his laughter froze within a few seconds because it was indeed not funny at all.
The person inside the Divine Hall of Light did not feel any human emotions. She had no pity on him because she was no longer Sangsang but Haotian. Only the pain in-between his legs was reminding him of a slightest chance of winning this battle. It was a slight and painful chance, too unbearable and wretched for any man to take.
Now that he had paid such a bitter price, he had to win something in return.
Ning Que looked into the night sky outside the rock grating and remembered the pain he had undergone. It drew some inspiration on his Ocean of Consciousness and bestowed some indescribably divine beauty to the talisman he had been composing.
In terms of cultivation, he had come to a crucial moment. If he could comprehend Haotian’s command of basic rules for the flow of space, he could make a huge leap on this way to drawing a perfect People Talisman.
Since Haotian took his humane part from him, he had to try drawing the character by himself.
At that moment, light mist poured in from the rock window.
Ning Que’s pupils contrasted slightly. He had once visited the Secluded Pavilion during the night, so he knew that the reluctance and resentment psyche of numerous previous strong cultivators from the Divine Halls of West Hill was in the mist. Even if he were his strongest self, he would not be able to withstand it and would have to seek for refuge in the moonlight. Now with his Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow chained up, he was nothing but a wastrel.
And there was something far more important than staying away from the harm of the night mist. It was a crucial moment for him to comprehend Talisman Taoism. He would never know when such a rare opportunity could fall onto him again if he missed this one.
However, he knew clearly that the mist was her way of stopping him. If she had not sensed the change inside the Secluded Pavilion, the night mist could have never entered his cell.
“You have tortured me enough. What else do you want?”
Ning Que stared into the direction of Divine Hall of Light and shouted with anger, “If you dare to take one more finger from me, I will kill myself right here! And you will be dead too!”
While he was yelling, he also saluted his middle finger to the Divine Hall.
He knew that Sangsang would understand what he meant by the middle finger.
After all, that was the only pride he had now.
But he forgot that Sangsang knew him better than he knew himself. She knew that he would never commit suicide unless it was his very last measure and a middle finger did not convey that message.
Unsurprisingly, a wind stirred up in the cell, cleared the mist, and chopped Ning Que’s middle finger.
Then, on his body countless thin red lines formed. The brutal slow slicing was happening again. Ning Que was not able to do anything but wear a bitter and helpless smile.
Ineffable pain tortured him non-stop until late at night. He started to lose control of his consciousness until the very last bit of it became blurred like the mist.
Haotian’s will was so powerful and irresistible that he was falling into an abyss of surrender. It was either because of his instinct to avoid pain or the pain being too overwhelming that he fell into a dream.
In the dream, he was sleeping and cuddling Sangsang. He touched her lotus-white little feet and well developed figure, and felt some increasing moisture on the tips of his fingers.
He tossed and turned on the rock bed in the cell. The pain was keeping him from falling asleep, but he could not wake himself from the dream. Blood was all over his fingers as they were hanging by the edge of the bed.
Thousands of miles above the Secluded Pavilion atop Peach Mountain, Sangsang was also having a dream in the Divine Hall of Light. It was a beautiful and romantic yet annoying dream that enraged her.
In the Divine Hall, she lay on the ground, with her eyes closed and lashes trembling, while tossing and turning. Her thighs were tight and her breathing deep. The green flowery dress she was wearing seemed to be ready to blown at any moment.
Ning Que was still in great pain in his dream. He was about to collapse.
He got up from beneath her and saw her face. It was not the indifferent face of Haotian, but rather the young, slightly dark and amiable face that he knew well.
She was staring at him curiously with shining smiling eyes.
He felt a sudden peace and forgot all the pain from his body. Slowly lowering his head, he placed a tender kiss on her lips. And with that kiss, he saved himself.
…
