Nightfall

The middle-aged priest said nothing nor laughed. He stood quietly by the side as if Yu Lian and Jun Mo meant nothing.

Right then the rain became lighter. Clops and sounds of rolling wheels were heard again on the streets. The roasted sweet potato shop was already closed. The grey-haired father and the middle-aged son continued their journey in the carriage in the showering rain. They stopped briefly by the butcher shop and the son brought two newly roasted sweet potatoes.

Yu Lian and Jun Mo took the roasted sweet potatoes and thanked them. The old man wiped of the rain off his grey hair and stroke on the neck of the ox while he said, “I guess you could not find any roasted sweet potatoes here in the future.”

They had been running the roasted sweet potato shop at the foot of Peach Mountain for generations through a thousand years. Apart from collecting information of the Divine Halls for the Academy, they ran the shop also because the Headmaster was very fond of their roasted sweet potatoes. It had to be from the same stove in the same place in the same town.

The war was about to start. The father and son retreated from the small town. Those cavalrymen of the Divine Halls hidden in the rain outside the small town did not dare to stop them and clear the way quietly.

Yu Lian peeled the slightly burnt potato, picked up some well-cooked parts and delivered into her mouth. She slightly closed her lips and savored. It was indeed yummy, but not as alluring as the Headmaster used to say.

Jun Mo thought for a while. Instead of eating he wrapped the roasted sweet potato carefully in a handkerchief, put it aside and looked toward the middle-aged priest. He looked through the autumn rain toward somewhere afar.

Yu Lian reminded him, “That is my handkerchief.”

Jun Mo corrected, “It is the Eldest Brother’s.”

Yu Lian was slightly annoyed and did not want to talk to him further. She held the roasted sweet potato and spoke to the Butcher inside the shop, “The Abbey Dean no longer cares about the future of Taoism. Why should you?”

She was talking about roasted potatoes and handkerchief a second ago, and now the topic was switched to Taoism and the human world. Daily necessities were not meant to be a match to the divine matters. Therefore her switch of topics seemed cute.

In the autumn rain today in the small town, she seemed to have become cuter.

The Butcher frowned slightly and said, “What do you know about it?”

Yu Lian looked around but could not find a trash bin. She threw the unfinished roasted sweet potato on the wet ground and said, “Isn’t that simply gambling?”

The Butcher frowned even harder.

Yu Lian continued, “The Drunkard followed the Abbey Dean. No matter if it was to support or to peep, he bet on that side. You came to Peach Mountain to bet on the side of the abandoned Taoism. I just can’t understand why none of you would like to bet on us, the Academy.”

The Butcher sneered. “Because there is no Haotian in the Academy.”

Yu Lian stared at him emotionlessly for a long while and said, “Is Haotian with Taoism after all? Never forget that when you bet on both sides you are most likely to lose it all.”

The Butcher said after a pause, “After I kill you, I will stand aside and wait for the result. No matter who wins it will do no harm to me.”

Yu Lian said, “So you have to see the result?”

The Butcher said, “Correct.”

Yu Lian felt pity for him and scorned, “You are indeed stubborn and rotten. Except for waiting aside like a dog, can’t you do something fun?”

The Butcher stepped out of the door, picked up the knife and looked above to the gloomy sky in the autumn rain. He said, “When you live a long life as I have, you will be as cautious as I am now.”

Jun Mo said nothing until hearing these words, “To live cautiously like you do, the longer you live the more boring it will become.”

Upon those words he led Yu Lian toward outside the town. Autumn rain fell onto the Brother and Sister. Their clothes were slightly wet while their footsteps resounded in the rain.

Standing by the entrance to the town, Jun Mo said, “I didn’t see it.”

Yu Lian seemed worried and said, “According to Ye Hongyun parts of Arcane Tome of the Fall should still be here. If it is not with the Taoist, where is it now?”

The middle-aged priest said from some distance, “Since you’re already here, why don’t you pay a visit to Peach Mountain?”

Yu Lian turned to him and said, “Vicious as we are, we never need invitations. But thank you, not today.”

The middle-aged priest said, “You must have instructions to make.”

Yu Lian said, “Throughout the thousand years I am the only leader of Devil’s Doctrine who has come so close to the West-Hill and Peach Mountain. I’m already very satisfied. If the Butcher is not taking any action, why should I?”

Jun Mo was much more straightforward than she was. He said to the middle-aged priest, “We are not here to give instructions. But we do have some words for those inside the Divine Halls. From now on, no one could get out of the Peach Mountain.”

The middle-aged priest was slightly stunned.

Right then, a thunder was heard from the raining clouds.

Over a thousand cavalrymen from the Divine Halls of West-Hill were stationed outside the small town. Many divine priests and deacons were hidden in the woods and fields. Upon hearing Jun Mo’s words as well as the thunder, they felt lost.

It was very simple and casual, yet extremely dominating.

Some intensive clip-clops came from afar in the autumn rain as a proof of what Jun Mo just said. The earth was shaking and the water in the puddles was rippling. They were still far away. But because of the intensity it seemed like an approaching tornado that could almost blow away the autumn rain.

In the north, Xu Shi led the cavalrymen of Tang and broke through the three defense lines of the West-Hill in the morning. They already got to the Bridgeside Town located only forty miles away from Peach Mountain.

In the east, Guanhai Monk was leading hundreds of soldier monks from the Lanke Temple and charged silently in the autumn rain. The several powerful figures from Buddhism including the chess masters should be arriving sooner.

To the west in the Snowtree Village, the grey-haired Cheng Lixue had gathered his former subordinates from the Revelation Institute and was about to reach Peach Mountain. He stared at the Revelation Institute on top of Peach Mountain where he grew up and felt a complex of emotions.

To the South, countless Xiu Swords shone in the gloomy valley. The wet trees were cut down by the swords. The blood-colored sacred sedan and the white royal sedan proceeded among the tens of thousands of troops from the Great River Kingdom and got closer to Peach Mountain. The deacons from the Divine Halls of West-Hill dared not to say a word along their way.

Peach Mountain was encircled and the Divine Halls of West-Hill endangered. Jun Mo said that from now on, no one could leave Peach Mountain. He was not being arrogant. The Academy was fully qualified for such a claim now.

Surprisingly the Academy did not start attacking the Peach Mountain right away. It was probably because of the Butcher who was in the small town right now. Or there might be some other reasons.

It seemed that the Academy was waiting for something. Many had noticed that at such a crucial or even the last stage, Ning Que was not present, neither was Long Qing.

…

…

Some days ago Ning Que finished his practicing of watching the rocks cracking in the Lanke Temple. He put on a satisfying smile upon looking at the hundreds of statues of Sangsang placed in front of the hall in the showering rain.

He picked a most satisfying stone statue and carried it along. It was a statue of Sangsang sleeping on the side. She was sleeping on a heated platform but still curling up. She was trying to get into someone’s arms while her feet were left outside the quilt, soft and white like two charming lotus flowers.

He left the Wa Mountain in the autumn rain and set off for the pursuit of Sangsang again. This time he seemed more confident. He intuitively headed to the north.

Next to the Wa Mountain there was the Song Kingdom. On the border of Song and Yan there was a nameless town. It suddenly started snowing on the day he came to the town, the first snow of the year.

The only butcher shop in the small town was already closed. But the calligraphy and painting shop was still open. Since the Drunkard was gone, there was only the smell of tea and ink now.

Ning Que stepped into the calligraphy and painting shop, placed the fried chicken on the table, looked toward the slightly stoop shop-owner and said, “Let’s grab a drink or two.”

Chao Xiaoshu turned to him and shocked his head. Then he brought two cups.

Zhang San and Li Si heard the noise and came to the front. They were surprised to see him. They looked around and closed the door as fast as they could, then greeted him.

“Youngest Uncle.”

Ning Que nodded and implied them to bring their own cups for the rice wine. He said, “The Butcher is on Peach Mountain. The Drunkard is after the Eldest Brother. There’s no need to worry.”

Chao Xiaoshu said, “I spent a very long time to set it up.”

Ning Que said, “So we could never be too cautious? Fine. I admit that I am here to break your plan. I don’t want you to continue with it.”

Chao Xiaoshu asked, “Can you kill him?”

Ning Que did not answer. The Drunkard was at the Distanceless and Immeasurable State. Even the Eldest Brother and the Senior Sister together might not be able to take him down, not to mention Ning Que himself.

“I’m heading to the north. But I have a bad feeling about this trip.” He stared calmly at Chao Xiaoshu and said, “You should go back to Chang’an. Your wife, your children and your father are all waiting for you there.”

Chao Xiaoshu did not accept his proposal. Instead, he raised the cup and said, “Cheers.”

Ning Que tossed off to show sincerity.

Chao Xiaoshu said, “Then off you go.”

…

…

Being driven out of the small town. Ning Que proceeded to the north carrying the stone statue.

He did not know the exact location. But it was certainly in the north.

The small town was located on the border of Song and Yan. Not far from the small town it was already in Yan’s territory. There was a river parallel to the Sishui River running from the north to the south, entering the Great Swamp, joining the Great River and eventually going in to the sea.

Ning Que rode on the big black horse and swiftly crossed the fields and hills on the east side of the river.

It was early winter. The moist mist above the river seemed frosting and made it seem unworldly especially in the morning.

Ning Que thought that he saw his own reflection in the mist.

The mist above the river seemed like a mirror.

Until the morning sun rose and the mist was dispelled he realized that there was no mirror in the mist. And it was neither a reflection of himself on the other side of the river. It was a man who was also riding on a horse.

Similar to him, that man was also dressed in black and riding on a black horse.

The only difference was that Ning Que wore a black Academy suit, while that man wore a black divine robe.

That man was Long Qing.

…