Nightfall

The Drunkard left, but the Eldest Brother stayed. He walked to the sedan and laid the body of Liu Yiqing flat. Then he turned to look at the ruins of the imperial city in the night and was silently listening to the sounds of the wind and the river. He looked sad and helpless as if he was waiting for something to happen.

Long Qing knew what he was waiting for, so he was more and more puzzled as to why he did not leave. Seeing the dust on cotton jacket of the Eldest Brother, the expression on Long Qing’s face gradually became serious.

Among the three people who stayed in the field, Hengmu was the youngest and also the proudest. Additionally what happened tonight shocked and frustrated him the most. He felt desolated and the flames of fury deep in his eyes were obvious. It wasn’t until now that he realized the Academy had set up the trap for the Drunkard, and never took him seriously.

He slowly clenched his fists and stared at the Eldest Brother. Even if you have already reached the legendary Distanceless State, you can’t defeat me so easily. Do you know what state I have reached at this point?

Long Qing sensed the emotional changes of Hengmu and became more serious. He looked at the Eldest Brother with alert and slowly moved to the side of Hengmu, ready to attack.

During the period after spring, the Divine Halls of West-Hill and the Academy maintained a weird peace. Before tonight, both sides knew clearly that they were safe. The balance between two Grand Cultivators who had reached the Distanceless State would not be broken if no one were to make the first move.

Tonight, the balance was finally been broken. It was still unclear who made the first move while looking back at the battles happened in front of the ruins of the imperial city. Although the Divine Halls of West-Hill had set up the trap, the Drunkard was actually the one who was in real danger. The Academy had seriously injured him and almost killed him.

That was why Long Qing was so alert. The balance has been broken, but the Eldest Brother didn’t leave with the Drunkard. There is a chance that the Eldest Brother would try to kill me and Hengmu. Would we survive? He asked the Eldest Brother whether or not it was a good deal to sacrifice himself for the others while the Drunkard was still hidden in the dark night, which meant that he thought he and Hengmu were capable of fighting back.

Hengmu’s confidence came from his faith, but where did his confidence come from?

“You are very different from the rumors.”

The faint starlights fell on Long Qing and were swallowed in an instant, like a stream flowing into the dry sand. Seeing this, the Eldest Brother said incredulously, “If departing from the faith of Haotian means gaining the power of darkness, then who gave you the power? I believe even the Abbey Dean can’t explain it.”

Long Qing was very clear that he was not qualified to be remembered by Mr. First of the Academy even though he did make his name in the cultivation world. The rumors he said probably meant that Ning Que mentioned him in chitchat.

He knew that the Eldest Brother had seen through his state. But like he had said, even the Abbey Dean couldn’t explain it. Thus no one could understand it.

“Why do you say such nonsense?” said Hengmu.

The Eldest Brother looked to the young man in cyan and said, “The Divine Halls of West-Hill advocates for luxury, but the real Taoism favors cyan. The Abbey Dean always wears cyan, Ye Hongyu wore cyan when she was practicing swords at the stone house by the cliff, and my youngest brother wore cyan when he came to Peach Mountain back then. But I think it’s ridiculous for you to wear cyan.”

Hengmu was very angry but said with an innocent simile, “I can’t compete with the Abbey Dean. But what’s really ridiculous is that you think Ye Hongyu and Ning Que are more qualified than me to wear cyan.”

The Eldest Brother looked at him calmly and replied, “You have crossed that threshold. Is that the source of your confidence?”

Hearing this, Hengmu was shocked and did not expect that the Eldest Brother could see through the real state that he had been hiding. Then he said indifferently, “You’ve figured it out. Why shouldn’t I be confident?”

The Eldest Brother looked at him and said, “As the youngest cultivator who has ever passed the threshold in history, you should be proud and confident. However, you didn’t pass the threshold on your own. Haotian carried you through it. So you are just a baby at this point.”

Long Qing suddenly said, “I don’t understand why you are saying this now.”

“Because I don’t understand why he dares to leave.” All of a sudden, the Eldest Brother seemed to have realized something and sighed. “Light and darkness are two sides of Haotian. How stupid I am to only understand this at this moment.”

Long Qing said, “Mr. First has great wisdom.”

The Eldest Brother replied, “There would be more trouble if Hengmu shares your state of mind.”

Long Qing said, “In that case, you should not wait but attack.”

The Eldest Brother asked, “Can I bear the cost of attacking?”

Long Qing answered, “You know what he is going to do.”

The Eldest Brother said, “Yes.”

Long Qing said, “If you hesitate to take a shot, then at least you should follow him.”

The Eldest Brother replied, “Following him won’t change anything. It is more painful to be an onlooker.”

Long Qing said, “Isn’t it the greatest pain to just wait here and keep wondering what is going on?”

The Eldest Brother was silent for a while and said, “Out of sight, out of mind. It will make me feel better if I don’t see what happens. This is probably why my Youngest Uncle once said that a gentleman should never be near the kitchen.”

“Hypocrites.” Hengmu said rudely, “The Academy is full of hypocrites.”

The Eldest Brother said, “Maybe I am hypocritical, but I can’t represent the Academy. If it was Jun Mo or the Third Sister here tonight, then they probably won’t talk so much like me.”

Hengmu stopped talking, for he found that it was hard to treat a gentleman who had admitted to be hypocritical, like a hypocrite. It was also hard to detest him.

It was quiet in front of the ruins of the imperial city. The night wind lightly brushed the river and the willow branches, touched the bloody face of Liu Yiqing and his closed eyes, and then disappeared.

The wind left no traces, just like how time passed by.

As Long Qing said, waiting was the worst. Fortunately, they didn’t wait too long.

The Drunkard was back. The flagon swayed gently around his waist. The lower hem of his gown had some blood stains.

The Eldest Brother turned pale. He knew that the Drunkard deliberately dyed his clothes with blood to be seen by him. He was still in great pain and couldn’t help but blame himself.

The Drunkard untied the flagon and said, “Only a moment passes, and I am still drunk.” He drank some alcohol and squinted his eyes.

The Eldest Brother was silent for quite a while and then asked, “Who died?”

The Drunkard had left to kill a person, and there were very few people in the world he couldn’t kill.

“The one who died also loved alcohol.” The Drunkard recalled how he killed that person and said, “I went to Chuzhou.”

The Eldest Brother asked, “Chuzhou of Great Tang?”

The Drunkard answered, “Yes. Chuzhou is surrounded by mountains and there is a pavilion in the East Hill. A governor built that pavilion.”

The Eldest Brother said in a trembling voice, “The governor of Chuzhou was honest and upright and loved people.”

The Drunkard echoed, “Indeed he was.”

The Eldest Brother said, “He was virtuous man.”

The Drunkard said, “He loved alcohol, and he was indeed a virtuous man.”

The Eldest Brother said, “But you killed him.”

The Drunkard replied, “If the governor of Chuzhou was not a person of virtue, I wouldn’t have killed him.”

The Eldest Brother asked in a quaking voice, “Why?”

The Drunkard looked at him and answered calmly, “Because killing virtuous men would make you suffer more.”