Nightfall

Back then, Ning Que and Sangsang were besieged by the world of cultivation. They went through the Buddha’s chessboard to the West Wilderness, then to the Lanke Temple in the autumn rain, and suffered the wrath of the Academy. Jun Mo’s iron sword slashed the largest Buddha statue at the peak of Wa Mountain into pieces. The pieces of stones rolled down from the peak of mountain to the valley, milling over half of the old temple.

Fortunately, those huge rolling rocks did not cause a devastating disaster to the town. After being washed over daily by the sea rain and sea wind, it was covered by layers of moss and thus formed a picturesque scenery. With the end of Ghost Festival, the number of visitors to Lanke Temple fell drastically, and this had become the only way to attract tourists.

The current residents’ livelihood mainly depended on the stones from the Buddha statue. They broke the huge stones into pieces, then carved into statues and sold them to the tourists. Of course, it was very hard to break the stones. Even with the heaviest iron hammer and the sharpest iron blades, it could not be done easily by the residents. Most commonly, they tempered the stones with fire and water.

The fire came from the wildfire from the hays in the rural field, and the water was the seawater from the Wa Mountain. The quarry at the Southeast of the town was surrounded with smoke that hurt the eyes from morning until night, while vapour continued to steam. As the red hot rocks were suddenly cooled by the cold seawater, sizzles could be heard continuously. At some point, the hard rocks would clearly show some cracks, meaning it was the time to break it.

Ning Que stood at the hillside of the quarry, observing the process of residents breaking the rocks quietly for a long time. He observed how fire worked with water, how the rocks layered with moss cracked. He found out that when the cracks appear, it usually follows a pattern where two slanted cracks will meet somewhere.

The joining of the two cracks looked like a word. He remembered the sword mark on the stones at the bottom of Daming Lake deep into Tianqi Mountain. In those years, Youngest Uncle used the sword to carve many words outside of the Front Gate of Devil’s Doctrine, turning the barrier array left by Devil’s Doctrine founder, Great Divine Priest of Light into rubbish there.

The rocks were broken into smaller stones, then cracked with iron by the adults as the little children rushed to front and picked up stones they could carry. They carefully selected the stones, arranging the stones by size and appearance, then only the stones were delivered to the stoneman.

Of course, the craftsmen in town were half a monk, just like how Ning Que was half way into his cultivation before engaging in Buddha Dharma. As they carved day and night, they had mastered the art of carving. Within a dozen days, they could carve the small stones into intricate Buddha statue.

Ning Que looked at the stones, and observed the craftsmen at work. After three days, he started to learn how to carve a statue. After a short while, he became the best craftsman in Wa Mountain. During his last few years in Buddha’s chessboard, he carved a Buddha from a mountain, so what were mere stones to him?

But the way he used was different with the other craftsman, they had praised him and also gave him some opinions many times, but he just smiled and went on his own way.

Ning Que’s Buddha statues not only did not have wide forehead with big ears, but also lacked compassion. In fact, he carved a slightly chubby woman with hair on her temples, and an indifferent expression was clearly shown on her face.

One day, when it was raining in Lanke Temple. Ning Que was carving a stone outside the temple. Suddenly, a soft voice came from behind, “Did she lose weight?”

“Yeah, in the Chaoyang City of Buddha chessboard.”

Ning Que put aside the statue beside the rest, about a dozen, and put down the carving knife. Then, he swept away the dust on his body and stood up.

“After a thousand years, she only lost this little? Seems like Haotian is not omnipotent,” the person remarked.

Ning Que smiled, turned around and hugged him. “I thought you liked her? Why are you chiding her now? You shouldn’t do that, since you’re the leader of the New Stream now.”

Chen Pipi teased him with a grin, “Do you like her new identity or the she before?”

Ning Que thought twice and found that the answer to this question was absolutely obvious, and smiled reluctantly. He looked at Tang Xiaotang beside him and found that

Tang Xiaotang was still in her ponytail. He asked, “Not married yet?”

Tang Xiaotang was not shy at all and answered calmly, “Waiting for my Elder Brother.”

Chen Pipi sighed. “I do not expect father to allow it.”

Ning Que looked at him again and his sight fell on the loose green robe, he could hardly remember that he encountered the abbey dean in green robes twice in Chang’an City. He noticed that Pipi looked like the Abbey Dean after the latter slimmed down.

Three of them walked into the pavilion. The autumn rain continued to pour down, accumulating on the roof and forming a stream that flowed down along the pillars and finally wet the ground.

“Are you done writing?” Chen Pipi said.

Ning Que drew a scroll from his bosom and gave it to Pipi. “It’s better for Ye Su or elder brother to write the letter, I am an atheist after all.”

It was something he sketched when he was meditating in Lanke Temple. If it were to pass, it might be the final and possibly the most crucial part of the New Stream’s doctrines.

Chen Pipi accepted the scroll and said, “There’s a higher chance of completing it if Elder Brother does it, and would be tougher for me to finish it. But rest assured, I won’t waste your efforts.”

“We don’t have much time, have to hurry up,” Ning Que urged.

Chen Pipi opened the scroll, it was all about a new world, Divine Kingdom or the afterlife that frowned his eyebrows. “It is a really awesome drawing,” he commented.

“From the generation of teacher to uncle, and then to us, the Academy had used about a thousand years to prepare. If it’s not awesome, it won’t be fun,” Ning Que replied.

Chen Pipi kept the scroll. Looking at Ning Que’s tired eyes, thinking of his effort in the last few months, he took out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve. “It’s time for you to take this”

When he smelled the medicine’s aroma, Ning Que showed a surprised expression because he knew how expensive it was, as he had had it once. “At our state of cultivation, only a Heavenly Power Pill can give us a chance, save it.”

“I was saving it for Elder Brother Ye Su, to help him break through the fifth state.”

Chen Pipi kept silent for a while. “Unexpectedly, he could no longer cultivate. And now he’s dead, what’s the use of keeping it? Even if it cannot help your breakthrough, at least you can cure your old wounds. A ten thousand mile killing spree sounds dashing, but it is terribly exhausting. Even meditating in Lanke Temple, you are exhausting your mind. Both the Academy and New Stream need you to keep on standing.”

Ning Que thought about it again and kept the porcelain bottle in his sleeve.

“If Youngest Uncle think this present is too expensive to repay, just give us a present,” Tang Xiaotang said.

Ning Que smiled, “You have not married him yet you are managing his affairs already? Say it. What do you want?”

Tang Xiaotang pointed at the row of wet statues outside the pavilion. “Give me one of those,” she requested with a straight face.

Ning Que was surprised and walked out to the pavilion. He picked up one and passed it to her. “You have seen her in person, why would you want a cold statue?” he said.

Tang Xiaotang took the statue, wiped the raindrops on it with her sleeve and bowed to him prudently. “If you could find her back, why are you carving these cold statues?”

“I was just learning how to crack stones.” Ning Que felt a little awkward.

Tang Xiaotang beat her chest and offered, “I can teach you if you want to learn.”

Few years ago, there was a lady who could crack stones with her chest on the Chang’an street. After so many years, her arrogance still pierced the skies. Ning Que recalled the past and was slightly moved.

As an elder uncle, it was not inappropriate for him to make some comments.

But Chen Pipi could, “It’s not big to begin with…”

Outside the Lanke Temple, thousands of believers were waiting for Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang. They were heading to the Song Kingdom, while Ning Que killed as he travelled ten thousand miles, they intended to preach to ten thousand miles away.

The scroll has been handed over. Ning Que did not waste any more of their time, and sent them out of the temple.

After Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang left, he continued to carve the statue. Well, Sangsang’s statue.

He had carved about a hundred of Sangsang’s statues, all arranged in front of the hall neatly. The statues have their head bowed down deep in thought, or looking to the skies, or overlooking the world from above. But they all possessed a similarity: expressionless.

As the autumn rain poured down from time to time, Sangsang’s statues were wet from time to time.

He squinted, or stared at them. He held his own waist, or hugged himself as he admired the changes of statues during the autumn rain.

The state of the world changed as time passed by. With war and fire everywhere, the world continued to change. The Tang and Taoism had their wins and losses. The Divine Halls of West-Hill’s strategy had some effect on that as well. The crucial point was that both the Tang and Academy had yet to find an alternative to crossing the town.

In fact, Ning Que did not care about the town. Not many could figure out his thoughts. Long Qing was one of the few. He waited silently for Ning Que’s arrival at Chengjing City of the Yan Kingdom.

Many thought that the battle between Ning Que and Long Qing was inevitable and could happen any time. However, everyone was taken by surprise when Ning Que did not appear. As such, the battle had yet to take place.

In the autumn rain, Ning Que was looking at Sangsang in the Lanke Temple. What is Sangsang looking at now?

The night in the Cold Arctic was long and cold. The Thermal Sea had long been covered in snow. In the yurt left behind by the Wilde Tribe, the little light from the lamp seemed like it was going to be frozen and shattered by the cold.

Sangsang sat beside the light. She was looking at her fingertips. There was a bubble on her fingertip. The surface of the bubble was smooth, and it especially shone under the light’s reflection. It was transparent and its shape was perfect.

The indigo lion lied on its stomach by her feet, and looked at the bubble. Its eyes were filled with curiosity, but it was feeling terrified, as if the world would end if it broke this bubble with its jaws.

Ning Que looked at the two cracking marks on a rock in Lanke Temple.

The surface of the bubble on Sangsang’s fingertip seemed to be separated into two also, and it popped in the next moment.

Like the several hundred statues in Lanke Temple, her expression was indifferent. Actually, it seemed more like a peaceful face instead of an indifferent one. She caressed her swollen stomach gently. The aromatic smell of a good soup came from the yurt. In the morning, the indigo lion hunted a snow chicken. And so, she was stewing some chicken soup.