At the end of the meadow, a carriage was parked in the carriageway and in the trees, which had been waiting for a while, and even the horses bowed their heads tiredly. Squatting beside the horse was a little girl dressed as a servant, who had not slept for a moment for a day and a night. Her swarthy little face looked pale from exhaustion and worry, as if it had been applied by the powder of Chen Jinji's cosmetics store.

Yesterday morning, Ning Que did not come back after killing people, and some local government runners with serious expressions came to inquire. The sound of horses' hooves of the Yulin Imperial Guards on the street told Sang Sang that something was wrong. She forced herself to suppress all her uneasiness and waited quietly in the old brush shop. The carriage carrying Ning Que hadn't appeared yet, and finally, she felt that she couldn't wait any longer.

Sang Sang asked the coachman to make sure that Ning Que had taken the carriage to the academy, and after pondering for a while, she took out another ten pieces of silver and asked the coachman to take her to the academy. From then on, she squatted beside the carriage and the grass, waiting in silence.

She didn't know about Ning Que's condition, but she was pretty sure that he was seriously injured and that he might be hiding somewhere to heal himself. She didn't dare to get information from teachers or students, so waiting was all she could do.

Sangsang crouched beside the tree, watching the gate go from being shrouded in darkness to being illuminated by the early sun; Watch the lights in the study room turn on and off; watched a swarm of ants come and go in front of her shoes; Watch people go in and out of the academy; And I heard the students chanting loudly. Despite this, she still didn't see her young master.

A student drove over in a carriage and saw Ning Que's maid squatting next to the alley. Most of them came to chat with her out of curiosity. She didn't say anything, just looked in the direction of the academy gate.

Sangsang watched all night and saw the person she longed to see, and she felt that this person was almost as long as her life.

She rubbed her sore eyes, and her little pale face gradually became colored. She closed her eyes, put her hands on her chest, muttered something, and quickly supported herself. Her weak and delicate body was on the verge of falling, her legs were already stiff from holding a squatting position for so long.

Ning Que held the big black umbrella and slowly walked to her side, staring at the familiar swarthy face, obviously worried and tired. Suddenly, a sadness rose in Ning Que's heart. Despite the numerous crossings they have experienced, the encounter is still worth celebrating after his near-death experience.

Ning Que subconsciously opened his arms and wanted to hug her, but found that this little maid had grown a lot since they left Wei City, reaching the level of her chest. He paused for a moment, reached out, and rubbed her head.

Raising his little face, Sangsang smiled.

They turned and walked towards the carriage, holding each other around, feeling connected, and said no more.

The coachman yawned and slept in the carriage all night, already tired. Wearily, he raised his whip and swung it into the air, raising the reins in his left hand. The horses began to move forward, and the carriage moved slowly.

In the carriage, Ning Que said in a rough voice: "I'm beaten now, and I'll tell you the whole story when I get home." Remember to bring a sword.

...

...

When he arrived at Lin Forty-seventh Street, Ning Que slept like he was dead because he was seriously injured, and he never opened his eyes. Sang Sang took out the pu sword, put it in the big black umbrella, and tied it to his back. With the help of the coachman, they carried Ning Que into the old brush shop like a rice bag and stuffed him into the quilt.

It was the height of summer, and the quilt was heavy and warm. Soon, Ning Que began to sweat, and finally woke up, not knowing how long he had been sleeping.

Opening his eyes, Ning Que recognized that it was his home, breathed a sigh of relief, and endured all the fears buried in his heart, which made his limbs a little cold.

Staring at the few glazed tiles on the roof, the sunlight shining through these tiles, Ning Que was silent for a while, and suddenly said, "I mentioned to you a student named Chen Pipi...... Help me make a note because I owe him one. At the right time or place, remind me to repay him.

Sangsang was pouring water into the bucket and preparing to bathe him, but he didn't expect him to wake up. She walked over and sat down next to him and asked, "But how can you repay him?"

"While I'm not sure how he did it, he saved my life. I have told you many times that your life and my life are the most important thing in this world. Therefore, it is okay to repay him at all costs.

Ning Que looked at Sang Sang's contemplative face and reminded her with a smile, "Of course, not at the expense of our lives.

"What the hell is going on, young master?" Sangsang stared at his pale cheeks and asked softly.

"The tea expert is a cultivator, and I was seriously injured. I just remember that I fainted on the street and I don't know what happened after that.

Ning Que struggled to recall the memories of the strange events from yesterday morning to the present, and vaguely felt like he had fainted. With a puzzled look in his eyes, Ning Que frowned, and repeated, "The strange thing is that I don't know what's going on at all.

"Do everything, I'm hungry." He doesn't like to be ignorant of what happened to him. Since he couldn't figure it out, he just went with the flow and stopped thinking about it.

Ning Que's mind flashed for a while, and he begged Sangsang like a beggar. "Can you please don't nod with fried eggs or pig's intestines, please? It's hot, they must have turned sour and bad...... Given my serious injury, how about we treat ourselves tonight?

Hearing this, Sang Sang felt a pang of regret in his heart, and thought, "I'm just a servant, how can I treat you badly?" I'm just saving for your future marriage.

"I gave the coachman 10 pieces of silver......"

She tilted her head and continued softly, "While you were asleep, I asked the antique landlady next door for a bowl of pickled radishes, which I stewed with the duck. It will be ready soon. "

After speaking, Sang Sauna wrung out a hot towel and put it in a place that Ning Que could easily reach, then walked outside and wiped Xiaohong's hands on his apron.

...

...

"I gave the coachman ten pieces of silver." Sangsang meant to tell her young master that although she was inexperienced and thrifty, she was by no means a maid who could not tell the seriousness of the matter. When it comes to something urgent, she never refuses.

Ning Que lay on the bed, watching her small figure busy around. Thinking back to the angry tone of her earlier words, he couldn't help but laugh. Seeing him lying on the head of the bed, Sang Sang hurriedly walked to the window and closed it, telling him to rest more.

The light in the room suddenly dimmed, and only a faint light shone in through the glass roof. There was a warm candlelight on the desk, and Sang Sang quietly accompanied him.

Looking at the candlelight, Ning Que's smile gradually disappeared.

Yan Suqing, a tea expert, was a cultivator, which was a hidden factor that would rather sabotage his plans. If he wasn't lucky enough, he might have died by that lake. It was impossible to have a chance to escape to the streets, let alone hide in the academy for one night and meet Chen Pipi, a liar from Xishan.

During the coma, he was sure what had happened, otherwise, he could not explain how his wounds healed, nor the pain in his chest. However, he had no idea what was going on, nor what Chen Pipi had done to him.

Ning Que couldn't think about it anymore, and felt physically and mentally exhausted. He felt like his body was a little slimy because he was sweating just now and wanted to clean it up. When he was about to walk to the towel, his hands stiffened.

He suddenly realized that there seemed to be an invisible barrier between his hand and the towel.

There is a nonsense-like truth in the world: "Being is real existence, and so is non-existence". It's simple for the criteria for what is and isn't in the secular world. For example, something as visible as a mountain exists; Audible things such as sound exist; Tangible things like fire also exist. But if you can't see, hear, or feel it, then it's not non-existent.

However, this criterion cannot be applied to the cultivation world. The breath or vitality that fills the world, as well as the spiritual power generated by the fusion of the sea of qi and the snow-capped mountains, causes the vibration of the vitality that ordinary people cannot perceive. They are unable to see, hear, or feel the breath of nature and the spiritual power of the cultivators. But that doesn't mean such things don't exist.

The initial state, also known as the initial state of consciousness, refers to the spiritual output of the cultivator's mind from the sea of qi and the snow-capped mountains in order to comprehend the existence of the breath of nature. The perceptual state suggests that the practitioner can still be in harmony with nature and can even engage in some sensory communication and contact with nature after initial awareness of its breath. These two initial states are collectively referred to as the illusory state.