Nightfall

Not to do anything, this is the principle for both the Academy and Taoism at the moment. The Drunkard was drinking at a small restaurant while looking to the east. The Eldest Brother was standing by the cliff and also staring at the east. They were both aware of each other’s thoughts, as they both wanted to visit the Song but could not. Because going would create trouble.

They could not leave the small restaurant. Instead they could only keep drinking and looking afar. It became boring after a long while hence they had to find some topic to kill time.

“Killing thousands of people… Ning Que is good at negotiation. Therefore he is qualified for a talk with Taoism and those on Peach Mountain have to listen carefully. But there is a problem.” The Drunkard raised his hand and wiped off the liquor around the corner his lips with with sleeve, then continued, “I am able to make you stay here and force the Tang to restrain from any further actions, only because I have witnessed too many lives and deaths to have any sensations over the human world. Ning Que is different from me and the Butcher. He neither went through the long period of time nor witnessed the countless lives and deaths. How could he be indifferent to the human world? If he cannot convince people that he is completely indifferent, how could he be a threat to the Abbey Dean?”

The Eldest Brother pondered. He recalled many years ago when he was standing by his master in the Back Hill of the Academy and observing the boy who was born to be knowledgeable.

“The Youngest Brother… is a guest. Although he has been a guest here for dozens of years and might have formed some attachment, this world is after all a foreign land to him. Therefore the attachment is easy to be cut.” He said, “Even others may not be aware of it, the Abbey Dean must know it clearly. Since Haotian has left the human world, the Youngest Brother has no further bond with this world. How could the Abbey Dean not be afraid?”

The Drunkard paused for a long while. Then he said, “Even so, even if he could make Taoism listen, what could he do? The best he could do is to buy some time.”

The Eldest Brother said, “It’s already extraordinary to be able to borrow some time.”

The Drunkard hung his flagon back on his waistband and said indifferently, “Buying some time would not change anything. The result is obvious. You should be able to see that the moon is dimming… Time is against you and the Academy. Taoism can wait. But can you? Or are you just trying to figure out how to kill me and the Butcher with the time he is borrowing?”

The Eldest Brother turned to him and said calmly and sincerely, “As for how to take your lives, the Academy does have a plan. The time the Youngest Brother borrows is definitely for something else.”

The Drunkard became solemn. He slightly frowned as if he realized something, and said, “So it’s Ye Su.”

Time was the most valuable thing. It had to be used on most critical matters. The Drunkard thought that he and the Butcher was the most crucial figures in the current world. But if the Academy was not spending their time against the two of them, they must have been working on someone or something that could turn the situation.

Insightful as he was, he needed barely any time to figure out that it must be the New Stream and Ye Su. If the human world was like a complicated composition at the moment, the key to a solution must be in the Song, which was Ye Su.

Ning Que was cold-blooded. If he was not certain that he could solve the composition and save Ye Su, he would definitely have abandoned him and sought for maximizing his own benefits. The Drunkard pondered and thought he might have chosen the same way if he was Ning Que.

It was a very complicated situation. But in the Song, it was simple. Even a kid could see how outnumbered the Academy was in front of Taoism. If Taoism was determined to kill Ye Su no matter what, then the Academy could never stop them. And Ye Su was not seeking protection from the Academy after all.

“The Youngest Brother wants to talk to the Abbey Dean only to save Ye Su.” The Eldest Brother looked at the Drunkard and said, “He believes he could convince the Abbey Dean.”

The Drunkard asked, “How about Haotian?”

The Eldest Brother looked at him calmly and said slowly and resolutely, “Haotian… would no longer be needed.”

The Drunkard stared at him and said after a very long pause, “I can’t accept it,”

To the Academy, Haotian was of course an optional existence. It was the same even for Taoism and the Abbey Dean. But for the Drunkard and the Butcher, Haotian’s existence was a must.

If Ning Que could convince the Abbey Dean and restore peace to the human world, the New Stream would be widely spread and Haotian would be weakened. The Divine Kingdom would eventually be replaced by the human world. Then how could he and the Butcher be immortal?

Many years ago, Sangsang went to the small town. She talked to him and the Butcher and gave them promises. If she were to die, how would those promises be realized?

“You don’t need to accept.”

The Eldest Brother said, “The Youngest Brother mentioned previously that you had to accept… If he could convince the Abbey Dean, the first thing he would is to kill the two of you.”

The Drunkard found his liquor exceptionally strong and it made him tipsy. He mocked, “It’s not easy to kill us.”

“For the benefit of the entire human world, you two have to give in.” The Eldest Brother looked at him and said calmly, “Because you are not like our Headmaster who was the human world himself. Nor are you like our Youngest Uncle who carried out his belief despite the objection from tens of thousands of people. You would give way and hide behind the trees to see what would happen. That, is actually accepting.”

It was a bitter confrontation. Hearing this from the Eldest Brother who never lied, it was extremely powerful, like a very thick blade brutally chopping the Drunkard’s head.

The Drunkard could not tell whether or not it was painful. But he found himself speechless.

“Therefore it is the Abbey Dean’s choice now,” the Eldest Brother said at last.

The sky above Linkang was covered by dark clouds. While they were about to finish the conversation, snowflakes fell from the crowded clouds and suddenly became a storm. Through the dancing snowflakes the Drunkard looked to the Peach Mountain afar. He said after a long while, “Perhaps Ning Que did succeed.”

The Eldest Brother looked to the south and smiled.

The smell of his liquor faded in the storm instantly. The Drunkard disappeared completely from the small restaurant. The next moment, he was back to the small town.

He did not visit the tea house for the only friend he had made throughout the years. Instead, he went directly to the person he had known for ten thousand of years. He sat down and kept silent for a long while. When the Butcher found the Drunkard exhausted and stained with dust, his hand held tighter onto his greasy knife.

“What happened?”

The Drunkard said, “It was not knowing what would happen that makes me anxious.”

No one knew what would happen to the human world, what Ning Que said, and how the Abbey Dean would choose. From the extremely cold northern land to the warm and humid South Sea, everyone was waiting anxiously for the result.

There was after all some hope in the unknown.

When everything was settled, hope might turn into despair.

…