Nightfall

The old monk looked at Ning Que warmly and said with a slight smile and said, “You seem not to have heard of me.”

Ning Que was slightly startled, he replied, “Should everyone have heard of you?”

A self-deprecating smile appeared on the old monk’s wizened face with some difficulty. He said, “It might sound a little funny, but I thought that after several decades, the young people would still remember my name.”

Ning Que did not know what to say. He looked at the cold gaze shooting from Ye Hongyu’s eyes and the confoundment in Mo Shanshan’s dark eyes. He thought to himself, “Was what this Divine Lord Lotus said true?”

“If you know my story, you should know how I attained Tao enlightenment in the Lanke Temple. I used to preach as the chief monk in the Xuankong Temple. I passed through the Divine Hall twice but did not enter. In the end, I became one of the Great Divine Priest of Judgment. But I doubt that even the two young ladies know, that I once almost became a High Priest of the Devil’s Doctrine.”

The old monk looked at the three youngsters who could not contain their shock. He said gently, “Since the Devil’s Doctrine could infiltrate the various countries of the Central Plains, the various Buddhist sects of the Central Plains would, of course, have similar tactics. There is no need to be so shocked.”

“Looking back at my life, I have once experienced too many things. I even feel that they were very excited when I think about them in the middle of the night. But when I think through them carefully, the thing that I am proudest of is that I had a friend like Ke Haoran. You asked me why I wanted him dead?”

The old monk looked at Ning Que, his expression was still benevolent, but slightly bitter. “Because he was my greatest friend, I knew of his earth-shattering abilities. We traveled through the wild mountains together when I was younger. When we met again, I realized that he had gotten stronger, and was getting closer to the darkness of the night.”

“There are many types of friends. I wanted to be a good one. The greater Ke Haoran’s ability was, the more I could not accept the changes in his view of the world. Which was why I would sacrifice everything, even my dreams, to bring him into this bloody storm. I would rather he died together with the Devil’s Doctrine than for him to join the devil.”

The room descended into silence when they heard of this soul-stirring piece of the past. Ye Hongyu and Mo Shanshan lowered their heads subconsciously. The young Talisman Master had heard the rumors surrounding this matter, while the Tao Addict lived in the West-Hill Divine Palace and knew more about Mr. Ke’s story than most.

Ning Que had never heard of this before. In the stories that the Senior Brothers and Sisters told at the Back Mountain, Youngest Uncle’s image was grand and proud. He held the cyan-steel sword with one hand and was second to none. He was never linked with the Devil’s Doctrine.

Ning Que’s brows rose on his forehead. He looked at Master Lotus and asked, “How would my Youngest Uncle join the devil?”

The old monk sighed, “The devil enters through one’s heart. Anyone can join the devil.”

Ning Que was not your typical Tang citizen. However, he had the Tang’s attitude. He could not believe such a saying. He shook his head and said calmly and certainly, “My Youngest Uncle is second to none. He is the strongest no matter in ability or spirit. He has no need for help from the outside. Why would he need to cultivate the Devil’s Doctrine’s method?”

The old monk said gently, “He had never cultivated the Devil’s Doctrine’s method. Just as you said, he had no need for their methods. But what you don’t know is, Ke Haoran was like the Great Divine Priest of Light from a thousand years ago. He would not be seduced by things and causes but would travel up that path because of his own thoughts. He had turned his back on the light of Haotian and walked towards the night the moment his view of the world changed.”

Ning Que was startled and said, “I do not understand.”

The old monk laughed when he heard such an honest reply. He shook his head lightly and slowly before wiping the smile off his face. He said calmly, “He had become the devil when he picked up that sword.”

Ning Que asked, “The Haoran Sword?”

The old monk acknowledged it tacitly.

Ning Que thought of the book “Exploring the Haoran Sword” he had read in the old library and also how Second Brother had taught him his sword move in the Back Mountain of the Academy. He remained silent before shaking his head. “The Haoran Sword has nothing to do with the Devil’s Doctrine’s methods.”

The old monk looked and him and smiled, “The world only knew of the Haoran Sword, but not the Great Spirit. If you have the lucky chance to one day understand what the Great Spirit is, you would understand why I said that.”

Ning Que seemed to have vaguely understood something. It seemed that Youngest Uncle’s state was very strong then and had walked himself into a corner trying to achieve a breakthrough. He had created the Great Spirit similar to what the Great Divine Priest of Light had done a thousand years ago. However, this Great Spirit was something that Haotian had banned, just like the methods of the Devil’s Doctrine.

“I still do not understand.”

Ning Que looked at the old monk in the Bone Mountain and smiled, “Anyway, I will not believe that Youngest Uncle would join the devil.”

This was him being unreasonable. No matter the Tangs or the Academy, they were the best at being unreasonable. He thought to himself, “This was, after all, something that had happened decades ago, what could you do to me, even if you were the Divine Lord Lotus?”

“It was ascertained that Mr. Ke had joined the devil later on.”

Ye Hongyu turned around and said suddenly, “He died from receiving heavenly punishment.”

Ning Que froze and then, he leaped up like a wild cat whose tail had been stepped on and yelled, “Punishment my arse!”

It was strange that Ye Hongyu did not retaliate angrily at his cursing. Instead, she looked at him with a myriad of emotions. There was a moment of silence before she said, “I will allow you to live for now out of respect for Mr. Ke.”

Ning Que came to a sudden realization that what she had said was the truth when he saw her reaction.

Back in the Back Mountain of the Academy, Second Brother had only said that Youngest Uncle was dead. He did not say how Youngest Uncle had died. No matter his master, Master Yan Se or the other cultivators he had met, no one mentioned about the Youngest Uncle from the Academy.

That was how Youngest Uncle had left this world.

Youngest Uncle was Second Brother’s idol and Second Brother was Ning Que’s. That was why Youngest Uncle was his greatest idol. It was a pity he had only heard fragments of rumors and had no clear idea of the whole situation. That why he was only vaguely proud of the whole situation.

Now that they have come to the Wilderness and felt the prideful and confident aura in the Tianqi Mountains that was like a snow cliff and pine trees, Youngest Uncle had come alive in his mind. He had traveled through the mountains following that aura and entered the verdant valleys. He had broken the realm and attained Tao enlightenment by the lake. He had stepped through the various formations confidently and come to the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine.

It was here where he finally heard of Youngest Uncle’s story and guessed the ending to it. In the shock, pain, and loss, he suddenly understood that this was the progression of the story.

A person as proud and confident as Youngest Uncle would, of course, pull out the sword at his waist and point it at Firmament when there was nothing worthy of a second look in the world.

It was just that, could a man be victorious over the heavens?

Ning Que stood in the Bone Mountain silently, he was lost for words.

The old monk sat in the Bone Mountain silently. He descended into silence just as he had decades ago when he heard that Ke Haoran had been punished by the heavens for joining the Devil. A trace of compassionate Buddha light glowed from his skeletal face.

“After everything, he had still died like that.”

The old monk bowed his head and sighed. One could not make out if it was one of praise or sadness. Following the sigh, his skinny body loosened suddenly. Traces of dust exploded from either within the cracks of his bones or the tatters of his monk robes.

…

…

At the end of an old story came love and hatred of a new one. Everything in the world happened in a bland cycle. Ye Hongyu’s bare legs became taught and her right hand came to hold the Taoist Sword by her waist.

Ning Que was shocked. He looked at her back with furrowed brows and quickly said, “Are you in such a hurry to fight onsidering Master Lotus’ state right now? I think we should save him first.”

The monk raised his head slowly and looked at the young man benevolently. He smiled, I am a person who has bound himself. Who can release me should I not wish for it to happen?”

Ye Hongyu knew that Ning Que was buying time. She held the hilt of her sword tightly. Just as she was about to turn around, she saw Divine Lord Lotus shaking his head at her from the Bone Mountain. She could not help the mild tremor that passed through her heart and she stopped moving.

The old monk smiled, “I have hidden here to help these souls move along to atone for my sins. I have long avoided the fights and deaths of the secular world. Why must you children let me see all of this? Bones are everywhere before us, is there any need to kill more?”

Ye Hongyu was puzzled. The legends say that when Divine Lord Lotus was still Bhadanta of the Buddhism Sect, he had killed someone before the Divine Hall’s hierarch and powerhouses. He would unleash the wrath of Buddha thunder when he got angry. How could he be the benevolent monk before them right now?

However, even with her tough spirit, she subconsciously relaxed as she looked at the benevolence gaze in Divine Lord Lotus’s deep-set eyes. There was no desire to fight left in her and she slowly released the hilt of the sword in her right hand.

The old monk said gently, “I have never thought that there would be a day when the Front Gate of the Devil Doctrine would open and that young people such as yourself would enter. I suppose that there must be many outstanding young people in today’s world. It must be a torture for you young people to listen to these bland old stories. But I would hope that you can bear with me and listen on as you are the future of the cultivation world.”

Ye Hongyu did not consider for a second longer. She bowed and sat back down again after hearing that.

Mo Shanshan sat cross-legged on the ground.

Ning Que would even have him tell his story for three days and three nights as long as he did not have to fight with the Tao Addict. He did not make any objections, but said sincerely, “Master, please teach us.”

Ye Hongyu frowned slightly, disgusted at his shamelessness.

…

…

“The world thought that the Judicial Department of Divine Hall were the culprits of the bloodshed at Lanke Temple. Only I and a few from the Divine Hall knew that it was the doing of the Devil’s Doctrine. Ke Haoran had found out the truth while we were waiting for the right time to tell him. Of course, this was just the first layer of the truth. To tell the truth, I still do not know how he came to find out even today.”

“That day, I watched him come to the side of Daming Lake on his donkey. He waved his hand and dispelled the water in the lake. I watched as he took out his sword and dismantled the Stone Array Tactics. I felt comforted because I thought that my plot was successful.”

The old monk paused for a long time when he got to this part. Then, he said softly, “I thought, then, that no matter if he destroyed the Devil’s Doctrine or was destroyed by the Devil’s Doctrine, he would never have the opportunity to join the Devil. And I would have done my best by our friendship.”

Ning Que thought that Youngest Uncle was very unfortunate to have a friend like that.

The monk’s voice was filled with regret and pain. “However, I have never seen someone kill like this my entire life.”