Nightfall

In fact Ning Que only met the Abbey Dean for a few times in Chang’an. He recalled their seldom encounters and found them all happened in chilling snowstorms.

The Abbey Dean’s indigo gown had never been stained. He never looked weathered and always seemed immortal. But right now he was dust stained, weathered and exhausted like an ordinary human being.

He had been searching for Sangsang for many days throughout many places. It was very consuming to apply Distanceless and travel back and forth through tens of thousands of miles. But he was still late. The natal bond between Ning Que and Sangsang was unparalleled.

He stared at the other side of the chilling lake and the dry grass covered by the snow. He seemed emotionless, nor was his psyche disturbed. Because he found nothing there.

But somehow he felt that there was something over there. It felt the same like when he passed by the Wild People’s abandoned dwelling by the Snow Sea and saw the wooden cottage a few days ago. Therefore he did not leave.

In the mountains abandoned by Haotian, it became increasingly chilling while the snowstorm kept roaring. The Abbey Dean stood quietly by the lake and seemed increasingly calm, as if some invisible stream was washing away the dust and vicissitudes until they completely disappeared. The snow on his indigo gown was also melting and disappearing.

An extremely clear and pure energy was spread from inside his body. It came down by his feet and melted the snow around, revitalized the grass and thawed the frozen lake. The lake rippled and spring seemed to be approaching.

The spring breeze greened the chilling lakeside and spread around.

Sangsang stared at him quietly and pointed her finger on the ground. Some stream of vitality was charged into the ground and connected with the approaching spring outside seamlessly.

There was no boundary between her world and the outside world. Therefore it could not be seen.

When the evening fell the Abbey Dean left the chilling lake. He disappeared via an indistinct space tunnel.

Ning Que was certain that he did not find Sangsang and him. He felt somewhat relieved but could not be cheered up. Because it was just temporary. No one knew how long it could last.

“Can we leave now?” he stared at the grand Helan City in the mountains afar and asked.

Sangsang said nothing.

Ning Que got it. The Abbey Dean could have went to the South Sea by now, or he could also be overlooking at the vast land from the top of the snow peak. If she opened her world, he could easily locate them.

The abacus was placed on her knees. But she could no longer figure out where the Abbey Dean was.

She was weakening, or more precisely, becoming an ordinary woman. It silenced her, upset her and enraged her.

She took Ning Que’s hand and made a hard bite on it like an irritated mother beast.

Ning Que felt the sharp pain while seeing the blood coming from between her lips. But instead of yelling he looked at her with sympathy and caring.

The night fell. The snowstorm suddenly ceased. Some wind came from the sea in the southeast and blew away the thick clouds above. Hundreds of stars and a bright moon were unveiled.

Ning Que cuddled Sangsang and leaned on a piece of soft and tender fur. They looked blankly at the stars and moon in the dark night.

Sangsang said, “I want to make love.”

Ning Que was a bit startled. He looked at her, saw her calmness and realized that she was not kidding. Otherwise it would be very ridiculous.

Then he said, “Don’t be silly. Let’s get some rest.”

Sangsang insisted, “I want to sleep with you.”

Ning Que was startled again and asked, “Are you sleepy?”

Sangsang repeated, “I want to sleep with you.”

He seemed calm or even indifferent, not so serious yet extremely serious.

Ning Que held her in his arms, enjoyed her smell and kissed on her cheek.

A while later.

He said suddenly, “Can you stop watching?”

Sangsang stared at somewhere without blinking and asked, “Why?”

Ning Que said, “Is this what they call ‘Whatever people do, Heaven is watching’?”

Sangsang looked above at him and said, “Interesting.”

“Interesting what?”

“That was not interesting.”

“Fine. I mean … if you have to watch, can you at least be sensational?”

…

…

When they woke up the following morning, Ning Que felt upset. It was because he found that Sangsang was acting weird. It seemed like she was preparing for a farewell even though they had just found each other. Why should she be leaving again?

His mind wandered back and forth and could not find an answer. He felt increasingly worried and vigilant while looking at the grass revitalized by the spring approaching from the other side of the lake yesterday and frozen by the chilling wind again over the night.

What happened next provided an explanation. But instead of feeling relieved he felt even more worried. Because Sangsang was about to give birth.

He was experienced in many matters, but not something like this. Sangsang used to know all and be almighty. But she was also ignorant about this.

It was very quiet inside the cottage. Sangsang held her swollen belly and felt the movements inside. Her fine eyebrows were furrowed and her face was pale. The labor pain was yet to come, but approaching.

Giving birth was a laborious matter. But what troubled them more was that Sangsang’s mind was disturbed by the labor and could barely shield her world any longer. There were vague cracks in the air outside. Ning Que knew they were cracks on her world.

If she could downsize or get rid of some objects inside her world, Sangsang could probably be able to hold a bit longer.

Ning Que stared at the indistinct cracks outside the window and finally realized why he felt upset by the sense of farewell in the morning. After a moment of silence, he led the big black horse out of the wooden cottage.

There were no cracking sound when they entered the real world. He just felt some chilling wind coming from the chilling lake. When he looked back, there was no path or cottage behind.

He decided to leave, to leave the chilling lake, the further away from her the better. Now he understood Long Qing’s words before their last fight. It was not necessarily good for her if he found her.

When he was about to leave, another person arrived.

That person was back to the lake.

“Where is she?” the Abbey Dean looked at him and asked calmly. He was not in a hurry or irritated, as if everything was simply under his control, just like the water plants could only stay in the water, the reflections could only be seen on the lake and the Heaven’s will could only be well understood by him.

Ning Que did not answer. Instead he pulled out his iron blade and chopped toward the other side of the lake.

He chopped thousands times in a blink.

The edge of the blade created countless scattered shadows. Every shadow was a stroke. And every two strokes formed a character. He used his iron blade to write thousands of characters by the chilling lake in a split second.

They were thousands of Yi Talismans.

Colors drained from his face. And the psyche inside his ocean of consciousness was exhausted.

Countless sharp talisman intents enveloped the chilling lake.

Some newly grown grass by the Abbey Dean’s feet was smashed silently.

The cold trees by the chilling lake were chopped into pieces silently.

It was a beautiful scene by the chilling lake.

Ning Que cut the scene into countless pieces.

Being a part of the scene, how could the Abbey Dean remain safe and sound?

…