Nightfall

…

…

“He said, ‘Just do it recklessly! You never hesitate!’”

“He said, ‘What are you waiting for? When on earth will you defect?’”

“He said no matter how long it would take he would be waiting for you in Chang’an!”

…

…

“He also said… the young companions are always the best.”

“He said… rolling up my verse books I am madly joyful.”

“He said… I’ve missed you so much that I’m beyond myself.”

…

…

Inside the hall it was as quiet as the dead winter. It was deep winter outside. But how could the coldness penetrate the thick walls? Only Chen Qi’s words were floating in the air. The first three lines were still lingering while the later three were already uttered as waves in the ocean. They broke the silence and hit the stone walls with murals. They smashed the walls and splashed onto thousands of divine priests and deacons, which made them feel cold.

Ning Que’s words were abrupt as iron and frivolous. But being put together meant they were a matter of course, the Academy’s matter of course. I’m waiting for you in Chang’an, therefore you must come. That’s the only logical possibility, thus a matter of course.

Taoists worshipped Haotian, while the New Stream was shaking its foundation. No matter what Ye Hongyu did, she could never dispel the fundamental conflict between the two. Therefore the New Stream had to be extinct and Ye Su had to be killed. If Ye Su were to be killed, she would definitely defect.

It was just a matter of time before she would defect. But it was better to be sooner than later. Because if she were to defect sooner, it might bring Ye Su and the New Stream another chance.

Many people knew it and Ye Hongyu knew it best. But everyone in Taoism chose to ignore it as if the crack on the sun never existed.

Ning Que passed his words to her right then, and they were some very rude words. Chen Qi comprehended it well enough and uttered them in a ruder way that shocked the entire West-Hill before his death.

It was like a blunt man taking off the clothes of a helpless girl. He took off the blood robe that covered their belief and unveiled the cruel truth in the blazing Divine Flames of Haotian.

Those words were crucial. He made his point clear and provided an answer, so that the thousands of people inside the Divine Halls could no longer ignore it.

Taoism had to make a choice. No matter if or when Ye Hongyu would defect, Taoism had to treat her as a traitor now.

The Hierarch stood behind the screen and his lofty figure was not shivering at all. Instead the radiating screen started shivering and generated halos.

Chu Youxian could not help his psyche from shivering together with the screen. When he and Chen Qi made that decision, they had been prepared for their deaths. And they knew dying must feel awful.

Everyone was looking at Ye Hongyu and waiting for her decision, for the first betrayal of Great Divine Priest of Judgment throughout the history of Taoism, and for the collapse of Taoism.

People felt a complex of emotions: some relief, great anxiety and fear, as well as curiosity.

They were obviously shocked but no one said anything. She seemed not to see their gaze at all and stood calmly where she was.

What was Ye Hongyu thinking about then?

Young companions? She recalled many years ago when they went to the the Front Gate of Devil’s Doctrine in the heart of the Wilderness. They traveled through the fog and slid down the iron cable that connected the hell and the human world. She thought of the cradle and the young boys and girls in and outside the cradle.

She squinted toward the sky outside the hall.

That was the sky above the Song where Tang Xiaotang should be right now. She should be standing by her brother. Long Qing should have also arrived there.

Being the Great Divine Priest of Judgment, although she could not control what Long Qing or Hengmu did, she was still able to sense their locations. But they were too far away and she could not save either of them.

Who else was there back then in the cradle down the cable? Apart from Ning Que, there was also Mo Shanshan, the previous Calligraphy Fanatic, and the current queen of the Great River Kingdom.

Where is she now? Ye Hongyu smiled mysteriously upon some thoughts.

The young boys and girls had become important figures in the world. She was the youngest Great Divine Priest of Judgment throughout the history of the Divine Halls, and Ning Que had become the spokesperson for the Academy and Tang. And he was trying to blow her up.

Indeed she knew it clearly. Ning Que’s words were still lingering inside the hall as if he was swaying his terrifying blade right then and there.

“I’ve always believed that Ning Que is a disgrace of the Academy.” Ye Hongyu finally spoke and broke the painful silence inside the divine hall. But what she said surprised them all. “Because he is always narrow-minded. He likes to set up people and things. His tricks are probably useful to others. Perhaps someone else would have defected today upon his words.”

It was silent in the hall.

Her smile froze and she said coldly, “But I’m not someone else. I am Ye Hongyu. Did he think he could convince me with those words? I’ve always detested those stupid women and found them disgusting. How could I take his words seriously?” She continued. “If he is not coming to me, I’ll go to him? No way. I’m not like that. Why should I go to him simply because he is not coming? You tell him to go to hell,” she looked at Chen Qi and said emotionlessly.

To defect, or to save them? Chen Qi could not understand why he had failed.

Ye Hongyu was so charming and calm. It seemed she neither heard the words nor cared about Ye Su’s fate in Song. Why?

Chen Qi stared at her beautiful face seriously. Colors drained from his own face and flames were burning in his eyes. He had transformed every bit of his spirit into courage. He was not giving up. Because Ning Que had some last words.

When they left Chang’an, Ning Que had told him seriously that he could never say the last words until the very last and desperate moment.

Chen Qi had no idea what that meant. But he could tell from Ning Que’s tone that it must be vital. Therefore why should he still keep it?

“Ning Que also said this,” Chen Qi looked into Ye Hongyu’s eyes and said.

Ye Hongyu seemed indifferent.

“That person … was Xiong Chumo.” Chen Qi sounded hoarse. It was neither because of thirst nor nervousness, but rather because his throat was congesting.

That sentence gave no clue at all. No one from the thousands of divine priests and deacons in the hall had any idea what he meant. That person was Xiong Chumo. What person? Who was Xiong Chumo?

Even Chen Qi did not know what that meant, not to mention the rest.

Inside the Divine Halls among the crowd, only two of them understood those words. Because they were the two involved.

The radiating screen stopped shivering and the Hierarch gradually became profoundly solemn.

Ye Hongyu stood by the radiating screen and also became profoundly solemn.