The big black horse lowered its head to eat the grass, but the withered grass in the depths of winter was tasteless and bitter, like tree bark. It spat it out painfully. It raised its head and looked towards the two new graves in the distance, thinking that now either of the two people could become its mistress. One was the little maid who had bathed it on the wasteland, but she was too black and too thin, not good-looking. The other one was white and beautiful, with warm hands.

  Thinking of these things, it walked out of the lawn and saw that dark carriage, its body suddenly stiffened, thinking how could there be such a heavy horse-drawn vehicle in this world? Since being seen by Ning Que in the spring of that year, it had become more and more miserable, was it true that seeing Ning Que would lead to a lifetime of misfortune?

  In front of the new grave, Sang Sang bent down to brush off the dirt on her knees, walked to Ning Que's side and helped him tidy up his clothes. At this moment, the sky suddenly drifted with sparse snowflakes.

  With a soft rustling sound, the large black umbrella opened above their heads, blocking out the sky and also blocking out the snowflakes that were squeezing out of the clouds. The two master and servant walked towards the carriage outside the lawn under the black umbrella.

  Under the big black umbrella, Sang Sang lowered her head and said softly: "Young master, I really have something to tell you."

  "Don't worry for now." Ning Que thought of something and took out a small box from his pocket, "I spent half a month in Tuyang City carefully selecting a gift for you, take a look and see if you like it?"

  In fact, this box was bought by him on the day of the Chinese New Year when he left Tucheng, and he spent half a month in a shop on the street. There was no careful selection, but his expression was very serious, without any flaws.

  Sang Sang curiously took over the box, opened it and found a cute little mud tiger inside. The little mud tiger in the box was half-turned sideways, looking silly and adorable. She looked at it and smiled, saying: "I like it, it's quite good-looking."

  "You don't think about how much effort I put into it either."

  Sang Sang closed the box and asked: "Who is that pretty lady in a white dress?"

  This question came too naturally, so it was very sudden.

  She smiled and said: "Her name is Mo Shanshan, from the Great River Country..."

  The night of Lane Forty-seven was extremely quiet, except for the crackling sound of braziers in each household, the faint rustling of dry leaves on the winter snow, and the unique snorting sound of that big black horse.

  From head to toe, washed clean and refreshed, comfortably leaning against the northern kang, took out a waste fire symbol that was not completely unsuccessful at the beginning, crushed it with fingers, and then evenly rubbed it on the head with both hands. After a while, the remaining warmth in the paper scraps dried the wet hair, soft and smooth black.

  "Time for bed." He happily crawled into the warm and cozy quilt, feeling the comfortable temperature coming from the kang, when he suddenly found Sang Sang kneeling on the other side of the bed making the bed, and couldn't help but ask: "How did you come over to sleep together?"

  Sang Sang spread out the bedding, took off her outer clothes and folded them neatly beside the pillow, saying: "I'm so old now, of course we should sleep in separate beds."

  He stared blankly for a moment, finding the words made sense but still feeling somewhat unaccustomed to them. He thought silently for a while before stretching out his hand from under the quilt and lightly flicking his index finger, extinguishing the candle flame on the table with a soft whoosh.

  "Then go to sleep."

  The room was quiet for a while, then suddenly there was a rustling sound, and his quilt was lifted up. A small, slightly cool body slipped in, and then quietly leaned against his chest.

  Ning Que held her in his arms, gently patting her back with his palm, just like when he used to coax her to sleep as a child. He felt the little girl's body in his embrace and smelled the scent of her hair on her neck, sighing: "It's still so comfortable."

  Sang Sang nestled her head in his arms, searching for the most familiar and comfortable position, softly humming a gentle "mmm".

  After an unknown period of time, she suddenly opened her eyes, lifted her head and looked at Ning Que saying: "I really have something to say."

  Ning Que looked at her with a lowered head and after a moment of silence said: "I also have something very important to tell you."

  Without relighting the candles, he borrowed the bright light of the starlight outside the window on the winter snow and took out a heavy silver snowflake from an unknown place in the corner of the wall, letting Sang Sang focus on watching it.

  With a thought, the majestic energy inside his body was transported to both hands. With a rub of his hands, the snowflake silver ingot was rubbed into a silver rod. Then, with a light pinch of his fingers, the tip of the silver rod became extremely sharp in an instant.

  Sang Sang knelt on the kang, with a quilt draped over his shoulder, and asked inexplicably: "When did you learn to perform magic?"

  Ning Que stabbed the sharp silver rod fiercely into his own arm, and saw that the sharp tip sank deeply in, but only left a very shallow white mark, without even a drop of blood seeping out.

  Sang Sang was shocked and stretched out her finger to poke his arm, saying: "So hard?"

  "I learned the Haoran Qi left by Xiao Shu, it's this Haoran Qi that transformed my body into what it is today. The so-called Haoran Qi is to absorb the Yuan Qi between heaven and earth, then store it in one's own body."

  Ning Que gazed at the starlight reflected in her eyes and after a long silence, said: "To put it another way, the cultivation method I'm currently practicing is that of the Demon Sect. To this world, I am a remnant of the Demon Sect."

  Even if he is the son of the King of Hell, to Sangsang it doesn't make any difference, let alone being a remnant of the Demon Sect. Does practicing the Demon Sect's cultivation method make a young master not a young master? Sangsang was stunned for a moment before thinking of another very important question and said: "So that's how it is... Maybe what Teacher said is really true, you are indeed the son of the King of Hell."

  "Cut the crap." Ning Qian secretly manipulated her true energy, transforming the silver rod in her hand into a silver ball. With a flick of her sleeve, she covered both of them with a quilt and said, "Don't mention those nonsense things, tomorrow I'm going to eat fried egg noodles."

  Sang Sang replied from under the quilt, "Got it."

  On the second day, he had a bowl of fried noodles with scallions, flowers and extra eggs for breakfast. Then he went to the academy, where Master Yan Si gave him the horse carriage as a great inheritance. He naturally took this horse carriage, and the original one was returned after paying the money back.

  The horse carriage drove through the faintly yellow grass under the morning light of winter, and arrived at the stone gate of the academy. Ning Que got off the horse carriage, untied the big black horse to let it play on its own, carried his luggage into the academy, and found Teacher to hand over some matters regarding the border defense actual combat training.

  Then he walked with a heavy load, passing through various sheds and narrow alleys, to the edge of the wetland where he gazed at the lifeless fish swimming between thin ice blocks, and then looked at the dense forest in the distance that resembled a sword, before arriving in front of the old book institute.

  Everything is a familiar scene, with many good memories. Although it has been only half a year since they last met, he already misses them very much. The more he thinks of Chang'an City, the less he believes in Wei City. Raising his head to look at the old Dongchuang that still opens, Ning suddenly realizes something - the place he misses the most is probably his hometown.

  He walked through the clouds and mist that shrouded the great mountain, waving his right hand to dispel the last wisp of fog. He arrived at a broad cliff platform on the mountain's waist, where he saw lush green grass, flowers, and trees that were completely out of season. Looking into the distance, he saw a silver waterfall cascading down from the top of the cliff. His spirit lifted, he shouted loudly: "I'm back!"

  The shout echoed in the empty mountains behind the academy, and after a long time, except for his voice, there was no response, nor did any senior brother or sister come out to welcome him with enthusiasm.

  Although he was still a bit disappointed, he walked along the mountain path towards the Mirror Lake. As he went, his expression became increasingly happy and lively. Although his senior brothers and sisters had not appeared, he heard someone playing the zither and singing in the mountainside woods, the sound of chess pieces falling on the stone platform ringing out clearly, and the sound of a hoe digging into the earth, probably for burying flowers.

  There was a waterwheel by the stream, and inside the house in front of it, the sound of ironwork continued to ring out. Those monotonous and dull sounds seemed never to have stopped, invigorating one's spirit. He patted the luggage on his back and quickened his pace.

  However, he was stopped halfway by someone calling out to him.

  He followed the sound and looked over, only to see that the pavilion in the center of the small lake, which was destroyed by the first arrow shot by Yuan thirteen, had been restored to its original state. Seventh sister was looking at him with a smile covering her mouth, waving her hand as a greeting, while Second brother, with a serious expression and his extremely unserious high hat, slowly walked out together.

  "Your performance in this practical exercise is not bad."

  Standing by the lake, Second Master stood with his hands behind him, gazing at the scenery as he spoke in a calm and unquestionable tone.

  In the back mountain of the academy, it's much harder to get Second Master's praise or affirmation than to hear good words from Husband or Eldest Master. So, Ning Que felt a little honored and surprised, completely at a loss for what to say.

  "Killing Longqing is nothing, Master and Mistress spent so much effort to make the thirteen arrows for you, originally it was meant for you to shoot that guy, so this is a matter of course, not worth boasting about."

  Second Master turned his head to look at him, a rare hint of praise on his face, and said: "But the thing about killing Gu Xi in Tuyang City... you did well. Not caring about Xia Hou in the city, not caring that it's the main camp of the Northeastern Army, as long as we have reason, then kill if necessary. You should know that my disciples value reason above all."

  Ning Que killed General Gu Xing in the city of Yangcang that day, mainly because he was driven by his own momentum and made a choice under the influence of his internal Qi. Looking back, it seemed a bit crazy. On the way back to Chang'an, he had been worried that his senior brother would scold him for this matter, but unexpectedly, his second senior brother held such a view.

  It was as if he had guessed what the other was thinking, and after a moment of silence, Er Shixiong said in a low voice: "I have always respected Dashi, but what I respect is his cultivation, state of mind, and moral character. As for the doctrine of forgiveness he believes in, and the way he handles things, I have different ideas from him. If we really repay kindness with virtue, then what do we use to repay virtue?"

  After listening to these words, Ning Que thought for a moment before asking seriously: "How can I repay the grudge?"

  Second Master said: "Of course, it is to repay kindness with honesty."

  Ning Que exclaimed: "Elder brother's words are simple yet not simplistic, with profound truth hidden within the subtleties."

  "Second Master looked at him and said: "This is what our teacher taught us back then, so you're praising the wrong person."

  (Thank you! I will continue to work hard! This is the first chapter, the next chapter will be around 6 o'clock.)