Nightfall

Although Taoism was already suspicious of Ye Hongyu, she was after all the Great Divine Priest of Judgment. She helped Mo Shanshan secretly stay on Peach Mountain while Mo Shanshan devoutly worked on how to break through the arrays among the cliffs.

They mutually benefited tremendously during the process.

Mo Shanshan acquired much better understanding of the Bulking Array. Ye Hongyu watched her practice and comprehend other skills by analogy. Tonight when she was fighting against the Hierarch, Xiong Chumo’s Tianqi, she restrained her energy into a rock and accelerated tremendously. That was exactly her application of the intent of Bulking Array.

But there was still not enough time for Mo Shanshan to break through the Array of Clear Light in the front yard of Peach Mountain. Therefore Ye Hongyu had to take the back route as her escape.

Apart from that, they had also made several plans for the escape tonight. But the Abbey Dean’s decision was so ruthless that the other better options were made impossible.

Some ten days ago, Mo Shanshan had gotten the route ready. When they heard about the unusual actions in the Divine Halls, Ye Hongyu’s and her subordinates started the preparations. They waited patiently and then succeeded.

There used to be three Fanatics in Taoism: the Tao Fanatic, the Calligraphy Fanatic, and the Flower Fanatic. They were the most gifted and powerful female cultivators. The Flower Fanatic Lu Chenjia had retired from worldly matters and cultivated secludedly in Yuelun Kingdom. Ye Hongyu had become the Great Divine Priest of Judgment and Mo Shanshan the empress of Great River Kingdom. They both had made extraordinary achievements.

No one would ever expect these two women to join hands and cooperate flawlessly in such a secret manner. After all, they barely shared any experiences previously throughout their cultivation career, not to mention an intimate friendship.

Ye Hongyu was putting her life into Mo Shanshan’s hands when she sent out the letter. Being the cold-blooded Great Divine Priest of Judgment, she never trusted anyone, not even the Academy. Yet she chose to trust Mo Shanshan. Mo Shanshan, being the empress of a kingdom, did not even give a second thought upon receiving that letter. She left her kingdom immediately and risked her own life to come all the way to the Divine Halls of West-Hill.

Where did this mutual trust derive from? Later on it was told as a legend by the New Stream. People asked that question constantly but no one could find an answer.

Probably Ning Que was the only one who understood why because they were together many years ago in the basket down the iron cable, as well as in front of the mountain of human skeletons at the Front Gate of Devil’s Doctrine. He saw them fighting brutally against each other as well as fighting together through life and death. They used to be each other’s companion in their youths. They used to … chat like two ordinary girls.

…

…

Down in the abyss, there was the dense foul fog. They still felt dizzy despite the antidotes given by the Judicial Department. Even the strong horses seemed exhausted and pulled the carriages forward extremely slowly. But fortunately those sent by the Divine Halls would come any sooner.

After a long while they finally saw some light penetrating the fog and shed into the dark forest. Yet they had no idea whether it was dawn or noon. Even though there was no path down the abyss, they were able to make their way out under the guidance of Mo Shanshan, the enigmatic array master and with the help of those black-robed deacons from the Divine Hall of Judgement who were best at chasing and killing.

There was finally a second group of people who conquered the abyss after Sangsang and Ning Que.

The wheels rolled over the layers of rotten leaves. It was so soft that people sitting in the carriages felt like they traveling on the sea. Some found it enjoyable while the others got sick.

Ye Hongyu woke up. Mo Shanshan was relieved and offered her some water. She asked gently, “How are you feeling? Would you like something to eat?”

“Dizzy.” Ye Hongyu frowned.

It was because she was hungry, lost too much blood, or seasickness. But she figured it was none of them because she was feeling pain in her chest apart from the dizziness.

The pain came from her Taoist heart as well as her real heart. Her Taoist heart was shaking and her heartbeat accelerated and her blood surged through her veins.

When the heart and blood echoed, something vital must have happened. She lifted the curtain and looked afar. The forest was enveloped in fog. Sunlight fell gently upon her charming pale face. But the gentle sunlight blurred the scenes afar. She could not see through no matter how hard she tried. But she still looked toward that direction with fixed eyes. Somehow she just knew it must be the northeast. She knew it because the Song was located in the northeast. Therefore Ye Su was definitely in the northeast.

The sunlight became gentler and softer. It was not going straight, and even started rippling like water, so did the scenes.

Ye Hongyu stared at the distorted scenes in the soft sunlight and tried hard to figure it out.

She seemed to see the Zhishou Abby, the mountain trail, the thin boy with a wooden sword on his back, the deep blue sea and his indifferent expressions. Then she saw the Verdant Canyon and him smiling in front of it. His figure was fading gradually. It was no longer as straight but became more lofty.

Eventually his figure disappeared in the sunlight, nowhere to be found.

Right then Ye Hongyu realized that her brother was gone.

She closed her eyes, not to take a nap but to stop looking. Blood came out of her lips, not because of the wound but a broken heart. She turned extremely pale, because the gentle sunlight suddenly became chilly.

After a short while she opened her eyes again, calm and extremely bright. There was no fading starlight deep down in her eyes, but like the brightest star hanging in the silent night sky.

The blue ocean turned out to be the silk cloth around Mo Shanshan’s waist.

But her feeling was true, he did pass away. The brightest star shone deep down her eyes. Two extremely thin lines of blood ran out of her eyes.

She showed no emotions or pain. She was not weeping, but bleeding. Mo Shanshan understood her deepest sorrow and saw the ocean of tears in her eyes. She felt for her and held her hands. Instead of saying anything, she just held them tightly.

…

…

They came out of the Abyss and crossed the Verdant Canyon. Because of the well prepared plan and the secret support from the Judicial Department, they were never stopped along the way. The Divine Halls of West-Hill were even not aware of their existence.

Getting out of the West-Hill Divine Kingdom, they came to the roaring Great River. Standing in front of the renowned iron chain, Ye Hongyu stared for a short while and rejoined the group to proceed further south into the Great River Kingdom.

It was not until then that the entire world was aware of Ye Su’s death. Being the most loyal friend of Tang, the Great River Kingdom had gotten ready for the war. Even though the empress was away, the ministers had made the right decision. People along the streets were all wearing their Xiu Swords on the waists. They seemed extremely solemn while they walked through the autumn maple trees, as if they had all became soldiers.

Along their way, Ye Hongyu had been giving orders via the black-robed deacons by her side. She told her loyal subordinates who were still hiding in the Divine Halls because there would definitely be another round of house-cleaning on Peach Mountain very soon. She had no idea how many of them would survive. But she had to try.

Down the stairs in front of the imperial palace, Mo Shanshan bid farewell with Ye Hongyu. Ye Hongyu would leave for the Black Ink Garden in Mogan Mountain where she could heal her wounds and take it as the new headquarters of the previous Divine Hall of Judgment. Although Mo Shanshan was worried about Ye Hongyu, she was after all the empress and had to take care of various government affairs. She had a lot to do under such a severe situation. Carrying such burdens she could not stay away from her throne for two long.

“I do wonder what you were thinking about in front of the iron chain earlier on.”

“Liu Bai reached the zenith of his swordsmanship when he was standing by the Great River. He drew the sword and sent it to me. I was trying to see how far my sword is from the Great River now.”

The distance Ye Hongyu referred to was not their difference in level of swordsmanship, but something else.

“What Liu Bai and my brother did was something I have never tried. I have kept an indifferent attitude toward faith. Perhaps that was also another type of piety. But I might need to make some changes now.”

Mo Shanshan said, “The entire world is changing.”

Ye Hongyu knew she was referring to the New Stream and said, “I will hold my sword and guard their faith.” Upon those words, the New Stream had found a new guardian.

During the process of Ye Su’s establishment of the New Stream, Liu Bai, the Sage of Sword was their first guardian. Then it was Liu Yiqing. The Sword Garret played an important role in the course.

The Academy was closely related to the New Stream. But neither the Eldest Brother nor Ning Que could have played the guardian’s role because they were non-believers.

Ye Hongyu turned to Mo Shanshan and continued, “I will need more help from you.”

Mo Shanshan understood that. In the development of the New Stream, the support from a kingdom would serve as an accelerator and help provide a more solid foundation.

Just like the Academy could never be a guardian, Tang could only support the New Stream with their troops. It would never allow the New Stream to become the religion of the empire.

But that was not a problem for the Great River Kingdom. People of this kingdom, despite their closeness to Tang, were after all Haotian’s followers. They did not belong to the South School of Haotian Taoism. Moreover, she was the empress.

“That we will definitely provide.” Mo Shanshan pushed her glasses a bit upward. It was cute.

Ye Hongyu noticed her cute movement but frowned, “Did Ning Que make that?”

Mo Shanshan felt a bit embarrassed and tried to explain, “It is very good for my eyes.”

“As long as you don’t take it as a token of love.”

Ye Hongyu mocked, “You went to Peach Mountain to save me. But actually you were trying to help Ning Que. However is he aware of this? Even if he is, will he care?”

Mo Shanshan looked at the blooming tree by the corner of the imperial city and said, “That tree bloomed for itself, not for anyone else.”

Ye Hongyu signed, “What an idiot.”

Mo Shanshan smiled, “He used to call people idiots. And he used to call you an idiot.”

“Can we try not to relate anything about that shameless and useless fellow?”

Ye Hongyu was slightly offended. “Most women in this world do not cherish themselves. You are one of the very few who deserve my respect. But if you could not get rid of your weakness, you are no different from any ordinary woman.”

Mo Shanshan was curious. “What weakness?”

“Love. In another word, Ning Que.” Ye Hongyu continued, “If you have desires, you can simply get any man to sleep with. Emotions cheat. To indulged those sensations is outrageously stupid.”

Mo Shanshan found herself helpless and argued, “It’s different.”

“Even if you were right, even if love was sweet, you should try with someone else rather than Ning Que. He is the most useless and shameless person I’ve ever met.” Ye Hongyu emotionlessly made the worst comments to someone. She used to think highly of Ning Que even if he was indeed shameless. But at least he had something in him that echoed her philosophy, and even made her think that they were of the same kind.

But now she had completely different perceptions. She could not stop the fire in the small courtyard in the Song because she was imprisoned in the Divine Halls of West-Hill. She thought that the Academy could have saved Ye Su. But Ning Que had failed her. To her, he was extremely useless and that had made her outrageous.

“I’m heading off.”

“Take good care of yourself.”

“Will you be in the imperial palace forever?”

“I am the empress.”

“Have you ever thought of going to Chang’an? Or playing a more important role?”

“But I am the empress… Although I was tricked into this throne, I am the empress now therefore I have to be responsible for my people. The war has already launched. How could I leave?” Ye Hongyu said nothing further.

She called Chu Youxian and Chenqi, gave them a letter and said, “Only Ning Que can open it.”

When leaving Chang’an, Chu Youxian and Chen Qi were prepared to face death. They behaved extremely bravely when they were in the Divine Halls of West-Hill. And it was actually because of them that the West-Hill was in chaos now.

Getting away from the West-Hill and arriving at the Great River Kingdom, they finally accepted the fact that they were not dying and found some relief. But now upon receiving the letter they got stiff again, just like when they left Chang’an.

Chu Youxian found the letter heavy as a rock. He had no idea what was in it but he knew it was extremely important because of the solemn look on Ye Hongyu’s face.

He and Chen Qi would not stay in the Great River Kingdom. They would set off right away, go to Yuelun Kingdom via the forest by the turning point of the river, and eventually return to Tang. It would be a long journey. Carrying such an important letter, they could not help feeling overburdened.

The carriage took them away toward Tang together with the letter. Ye Hongyu was ready to mount her carriage but she heard someone talking behind her by the gate. It was the Cat Girl taking to Mo Shanshan.

“Since… Haotian is no longer in the human world, why don’t we go to Chang’an?”

Mo Shanshan did not answer. It was either because she did not have an answer or because of some other reason. Ye Hongyu looked back and found a mocking smile on the Cat Girl’s face. Instead of saying anything further, she stepped onto the carriage and ordered her subordinates to leave.

They came out of the capital and traveled until dusk. They got in to the Mogan Mountain and proceeded lonely on the mountain trail. The setting sun flushed the horizon. Ye Hongyu lifted the curtain and stared at the scarlet evening sky. She wondered, Where is the Divine Kingdom? Are you really there?

…