Sword of the World

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Ning Que flew towards the light, hugging Sangsang. They had already flown for a long time; the people on the Wilderness were looking like little black spots and he could barely make out the Big Black Horse.

They were already very far off the ground, and logically speaking, nothing else, other than flying swords or arrows would be able to reach where they were. Unless the person was very tall, he would not be able to reach out all the way into the sky and grab hold of his leg.

Ning Que and Sangsang crossed the cloud of golden dragon’s breath and landed softly on the surface of the Wilderness. He hugged Sangsang closely and looked up, realizing that the figure in front of him was very tall indeed.

The person looked at Ning Que and Sangsang, his back against the sky and the Giant Golden Dragon. His face was shrouded by darkness, and could not be made out clearly. The edges of his body seemed to be plated with golden light as if he were on fire.

The person stood on the Wilderness, his tall figure seeming as if it were about to touch the sky.


T

he person smiled and said, “Choices might seem meaningless, but sometimes, our choices might affect those of others. This will make things interesting.”

In the mirage he faced during the entrance test to the Second floor of the Academy, Ning Que had had a conversation with the tall man. He had not seen the face of the man clearly then.

“Which side would you choose between light and darkness?”

“Why do I have to make a choice?”

“How did you make a choice in the past?”

“I am in the dark, but my heart yearns for the light.”

“I never thought that I would still be able to see any strand of wild grass that would bend with the wind after so many years.”


Look, I’ve told you that making a choice wasn’t necessary.”

“But what if the sky collapses?”

“Why would the sky fall?”

“What if?”

“Then there will be someone tall to support it… someone like you.”

Ning Que found out who the tall man was some time after he had ascended the Academy’s mountain. The dream became a reality many years later in the Wilderness. He realized that what he had said was just as accurate. So what if the sky fell? There would always be a tall person like his teacher who would hold it up.

Ning Que knelt before the tall figure and said respectfully, “Teacher, you’re here.”


Yes, I thought about it and still could not understand. So I came.”

The Headmaster looked up at the bright light and the fading night in the sky, using his body to create a shade in the Wilderness for Ning Que and Sangsang. His black coat swung in the air as if it was going to burst into flames.

“I thought for more than a millennium on which side I should stand on in the battle between light and darkness. However, the problem is that I have never seen Yama and have never crossed paths with him. I don’t like the cold, but I don’t like the quiet boring world Buddha saw. I don’t like Haotian either, I even hate it.”

The Headmaster said, “So I have always wanted to be a grass on the wall, leaning on whichever side the wind blows. Over the past years, I asked you which side you would walk on, but in fact, I was also asking myself the same question. When I asked you in your dream then, you said you wanted to be a grass on the wall, and it comforted me a lot. It is more important not to choose. Unfortunately, being a grass on the wall isn’t that easy. The wind might be able to find out which grass is the strongest in the gale, and tear it off.”

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