Nightfall

There was nothing but silence. Right then whenever Haotian laughed, everyone on the square was lost in contemplation. Those words were informative and mysteriously captivating.

The words Ye Su just said began with a prophecy and ended in overwhelming joyfulness. He mentioned the legendary Ever Night and commented with great hope, which was very confusing for the crowd.

What was the Ever Night? In an ancient legend in the cultivation world, it was a catastrophe caused by the invasion of Invariant Yama. After Sangsang was born, Ning Que saved her and fled. Later on, the Headmaster slaughtered the Golden Dragon in the Wilderness and proved the legend to be fake. There was no Invariant Yama or the nether world. Therefore should there be an Ever Night at all?

There was an Ever Night once. People who survived the previous Ever Night were still alive now. However it had nothing to do with Invariant Yama. It was merely the rotation of Haotian’s ploughing in spring, harvesting in autumn, and vacation in winter.

For most people, the endless Ever Night was chilling and ruthless. However for Haotian it was simply the fundamental rules of this world. If the world were to be eternal, an Ever Night was necessary.

The nature of the New Stream was to replace Haotian as the new faith. It was the terminator of Haotian and the grave digger for Taoism. Then why should Ye Su be looking forward to the Ever Night?

“Your Ever Night… What is it?” Long Qing stared at Ye Su and asked.

Ye Su stared back calmly and said, “An Ever Night is an ever night.”

Long Qing said, “Ever Night means darkness.”

Ye Su said, “Only in an Ever Night would people open their eyes and see for themselves clearly, the scenes Haotian had been hiding from them. That’s the truth. Apparently that’s why I am looking forward to it.”

Long Qing pondered then said, “The truth is objective and not subjective to anyone.”

Ye Su pointed to the red morning sun on the horizon behind him and said, “The sun hangs in the sky everyday. It sets and rises again and again. Is it objective?”

Long Qing answered, “The sun is of course objective.”

Ye Su smiled and asked, “Then have you ever seen it?”

Long Qing was about to answer but suddenly frowned and got stunned. He thought it over and realized what the question was actually about. People living on the earth saw the sun everyday. But have they ever looked at it seriously?

Everyone had seen the sun. They got up every morning and saw it from the backyard. They complained about its dazzling light in noon time and covered their eyes with their hands. They sat in a pavilion in the breeze by the river and recited poems when the sun set.

But what did the sun look like? It was red in dawn and dusk, and white in noon. What was its true color? Apart from the dazzling light was there any pattern on the sun? If no how should people describe it?

If not able to describe it, how could they claim to have seen it?

He suddenly recalled the scenes he saw in the illusion when they were in the enrollment test of the Second Floor of the Academy. There was Ye Hongyu, Ye Su and the light. When he followed the light and defeated everyone in the world including Ye Hongyu and Ye Su, there was nothing left but the light.

It was the same as the morning sun.

The absolute light was the same as the absolute darkness. He had realized that when he was in the illusion back then. That was why he had spent the last bit of his courage in the dark world in the north Wilderness.

What about the sun? And Haotian? Indeed they were of no difference. When something was too bright and too dazzling, people would never be able to see the whole picture, nor the truth. As Ye Su said, it was only when the Ever Night came and the sun faded out, people would be able to see the truth.

Long Qing now figured out what Ye Su’s words meant, but he could not understand what his prophecy represented. He squinted toward the morning sun, pondered for a while and shook his head slightly.

There was no point spending time on the meaningless. What he had to do now was to kill Ye Su. No matter if it was a prophecy from a sage or some nonsense from a lunatic, it meant nothing.

“You will die in no time. Even if it were to come true one day, you won’t be able to see the sun for yourself. Likewise, people who have heard you will be dead in no time. They won’t be able to see it either,” Long Qing stared at Ye Su and said emotionlessly. Together with his words, there came thundering clip-clops of the two thousand cavalrymen of the Divine Halls of West-Hill pouring in from outside the city.

Countless clashing sounds were heard from the sharp blades held by the cavalrymen. The snow white blades reflected the faces of the scared followers of the New Stream.

Long Qing raised his right hand. Meanwhile the cavalrymen raised their blades outside the crowd. The chilling blades seemed like the wild grass in the fields, disorderly and horrifying, as if they were about to tear every flesh coming in their way.

Clip-clops were heard again. The heavily armed war horses knocked through the crowd in front of them. Many followers of the New Stream were treading in the clip-clops. People were screaming all over the square.

Blood flooded across the square. Death accumulated together with the snow. The terrified followers scattered in all directions. Ordinary people who happened to be in the square were also killed in the tragedy.

No one could stop the tragedy now.

Ye Su watched it happened. He raised his arms and tried to make a way through the crowd. But no one could see him. He tried to speak but made no sound. No one could have heard him even if he had said anything.

Chen Pipi looked extremely pale but still supported him.

A dozen of disciples from the Sword Garret scattered into the crowd and fought desperately. They were way outnumbered like a few rocks in the flood. Even as resolute as they were, how could they turn the tide?

Long Qing stood by the stage. There were only ten steps between him and Ye Su. However he did nothing but looked at Ye Su silently. He wanted Ye Su to see this.

It might not be the beginning of the extinction of the New Stream. But it was definitely Ye Su’s last day. As Ning Que told the Abbey Dean, Long Qing was eager to witness Ye Su’s last journey to the holiness.

Ye Su stood in the morning sunlight. The reflection around him brought forth some holiness. In the last part of his journey he would be walking toward the holiness and the colors of heaven and earth would change.

Long Qing was indeed curious to see how the heaven and earth would change.

Right then, the colors of heaven and earth did change.

There was white snow on the streets and black eaves on people’s houses. The black, the white, and the color of the yet-to-fall leaves were the three basic colors in the city, in and outside the square.

But ever since yesterday, after the two rounds of slaughtering by Taoism, the ground was flooded with blood.

However, the colors were drained right then. The white snow, the dark eaves, the yellowish green leaves and the scarlet blood stains, were all turned into yellow sand and covered the sky.

Long Qing was somewhat stunned.

Because the overturn had nothing to do with Ye Su. Ye Su’s Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow was destroyed long ago. He was a sage in teaching. But the teaching of the New Stream could never turn the situation in a real battle.

It was a different power that turned the snow, the eaves, the trees, and blood into sand.

…