Nightfall

Ning Que found it rather odd that he did not see Chen Pipi or Tang Xiaotang at the back of the mountain.

After leaving the back of the mountain, he walked by the old library. He went upstairs to read and saw the Third Sister, Yu Lian by the eastern windows. He went up and greeted her. She did not know where Tang Xiaotang was either.

Were Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang really dating?

He smiled when he thought of that. Then, his expression darkened.

“Everybody has its own business. There is no point in worrying for others.”

Yu Lian put down the brush in her hands and looked up. She said to him, “Your businesses will always be your own and only you yourself can deal with them.”

It was already in the late spring. The eastern windows blocked the blazing sunlight. The winds blew through the trees outside the window. And in the distant forest, one could already hear the faint calls of cicadas.

Ning Que understood what Senior Sister meant. He looked at her tender face and mature expression and suddenly felt as if he had forgotten something important that had to do with her.

…

…

The wind in summer had finally come to the depths of the mainland from the sea. The West-Hill Divine Kingdom was located to the southwest of the Tang Empire, closer to sea and summer arrived here even earlier.

The rain and warm air allowed the plants on the Peach Mountain to grow vibrantly. Several green plants began to grow on the jade white cliffs and fill the entire mountain with greenery. They grew on the broken walls of countless Temples Taoism, bringing beauty to the solemn place.

In the remote corner of the third cliff was a stone house. Compared with the luxuriant surroundings, that of the stone house appeared plain and even a little withered. People rarely visited this place.

The stone house was not completely enclosed. There were several vents on the side facing the cliff. Light streamed in through these holes which were not windows but at least allowed some light to get into the house.

There was a desk beneath the vents.

Ye Hongyu sat in front of the desk, reading the paper on it. She looked focused and serious, as if she was completely captivated by the paper and had no interest in anything else.

It was a letter from the Sword Garret of South Jin Kingdom with a crudely drawn sword on the paper.

She had been looking at the sword on the paper and sitting in the stone house for days. She had not left the house, and food and water were delivered by the servants from the Judicial Department. She did not know that the cliffs outside the house had grown verdant and red with blooming flowers, nor did she know that the seasons had changed from spring to summer. Besides that, she did not notice the change in attitudes towards her from the people in the Divine Hall.

On a certain night in summer, someone came to the stone house.

The door was slowly pushed open, revealing the respectful face of Chen Bachi.

Chen Bachi looked at the girl in gree taoist robe by the desk, appreciated the girl’s figure under the taoist robe before lowering his head and said, “The commander is waiting for your reply.”

Chen Bachi was an official in the Judicial Department, who had once been the commander of the cavalryman of Divine Hall. The commander he was talking about was of course not himself, but commander Luo Kedi who held a special divine guard position in the Divine Hall.

Ye Hongyu did not react when she heard that. She remained sitting at her desk and reading her book calmly, in which she had hidden the letter with the sword drawing.

Chen Baichi was not surprised by her cold reaction. After some mocking, he said, “The commander knelt before the hierarch for an entire night yesterday.”

Ye Hongyu’s long slender fingers that were flipping the book stiffened slightly and her gaze that was on the book grew indifferent.

“The commander’s feelings for you are sincere. Even the hierarch can feel that. The commander wants me to tell you that he hopes you can understand it.”

Chen Bachi did not add anything else. In his opinion, if the Hierarch Lord had already silently agreed to the matter, the useless Tao Addict did not have any right to refuse.

Ye Hongyu did not refuse, nor did she request for time to consider it like she did before.

She did not turn around to look at Chen Bachi with angry and cold eyes that could form a Taoist Sword.

She just remained silent.

She looked at the book on the desk silently, and then flipped it to the back. She kept flipping it until she reached where the letter was. She stared at the crooked sword and said blandly, “It seems that even if I own you, there still isn’t enough time.”

Chen Bachi did not hear it clearly what she was saying.

Ye Hongyu took out the letter and tore it apart. She did not tear the letter into pieces, but used her nimble fingers to tear against the messy lines – to tore the sword off the piece of paper carefully.

After a moment, a small, thin and lopsided paper sword appeared between her fingers.

“What do you see?”

Ye Hongyu held the paper sword between two fingers and asked Chen Bachi.

Chen Bachi furrowed his brows and looked at the paper uncomprehendingly.

Ye Hongyu said, “You don’t even understand this. No wonder you’d remain a blind man forever.”

After saying this, she handed her right hand forward and thrust the paper sword between her fingers to Chen Bazi’s forehead.

Chen Bachi had once been the commander of the cavalryman of Divine Hall and he was in the upper Seethrough State. Even at Ye Hongyu’s peak, he was only second to her. Now that Ye Hongyu’s cultivation state had fallen to the lower Seethrough State and it was even about to fall into the No Doubts State. She was no longer the Tao Addict. How would he be afraid of her?

Chen Bachi was both surprised and irritated by the paper sword heading towards his forehead. A sinister smile appeared on his face. To him, the paper sword with the length of one finger was ludicrous. He thought to himself that the Tao Addict would rather die than to accept defeat and he planned how to shame her.

However, at the next moment, his smile froze.

Because he could sense a great aura bursting forth from the thin paper sword, which enveloped his body all of a sudden.

It was the great sword style.

Chen Baichi seemed to see a ceaseless flow of turbid water rushing towards him. It seemed that the great river between South Jin Kingdom and the Great River Kingdom lifted off the surface of earth and rushed towards him.

He was in a great panic, and his Taoist Heart froze.

He only realized then that the paper sword was not ludicrous but he was.

His pupils contracted as he thought of a way out.

However, the sword style on the thin paper had already landed between his brows.

Click. Click.

There were two soft clicks.

Two thin red lines appeared in Chen Bachi’s eyes.

The blood lines crossed his black pupils and the whites of his eyes.

Seconds later, the red lines rushed up and blood sprung forth from his eyes.

Pain and darkness took control over Chen Bachi.

“Argh!… What sword is this!”

He covered his eyes and fell to the ground, rolling around in pain. He howled in pain like a beast on the brink of death.

Ye Hongyu stood up and undid the buttons on her green taoist robes. She loosened the straps on her inner garment and kept the paper sword between her fingers against her soft breasts.

She felt exceptionally calm as she felt the paper sword touching her tender skin. She looked at Chen Bachi who was rolling about at her feet and said softly, “I know you like to look at my body.”

“My clothes are undone right now.” She said.

Clutching his face, Chen Baichi howled in agony when blood and other body fluids like fish gelatin flowed from between his fingers.

Ye Hongyu looked at him and said calmly, “It’s a pity you can’t see it anymore.”

…

…

A late night in the beginning of summer, the previous commander of the cavalryman of Divine Hall, Chen Bachi, was ambushed and blinded. Tao Addict, Ye Hongyu of the Divine Hall who had once been proud, and then, forgotten and shamed and hurt, left the Peach Mountain under the covers of the night. After that, no one knew where she had gone.

Many days later, the Divine Hall delegation that was sent to Chang’an of the Tang Empire returned to the West-Hill.

According to calculations, the delegation should have returned days before. But for an unknown reason, the delegation went to the South Jin Kingdom on the trip back, which resulted in the delay of their journey.

The delegation of carriages slowly traveled along the steep cliffs of the West-Hill Divine Palace. The deacon officials in the delegation noticed that the atmosphere of the Divine Hall today was somewhat strange.

When the elegant black horse carriage with gold trimmings sped by, those from the Divine Hall would all back away, kneel and bow respectfully. However, there was something else other than awe in their gazes.

Priest Cheng Lixue of the Revelation Department lifted the curtains and looked at the people by the path kneeling in front of God for welcome. He couldn’t help but frown when he saw the uneasy expressions on their faces.

“Did something really happen?” He muttered to himself. Then, he turned to look at the Divine Priest of Revelation who was resting with his eyes closed. He said respectfully, “I will go and take a look.”

The Great Divine Priest of Revelation did not speak.

The horse carriages of the delegation were traveling between temples on the cliffs and there was another cliff before they would reach the temple of revelation. Cheng Lixue got off the horse carriage and looked at the cavalryman of Divine Hall gathered in front. His expression turned grave.

Cheng Lixue walked to the cavalryman of Divine Hall who bowed at him. They did not get off their horses since they were already dressed in armor.

He looked at Chen Bachi whose eyes were wrapped in bandages. He noticed that the cavalry commander’s expression was dark, so he frowned and asked, “What happened?”

Chen Bachi gritted his teeth and said, “Ye Hongyu betrayed and escaped from the Judicial Department and the Divine Hall. I have been ordered by Commander Luo to gather cavalry to capture and kill her.”

Ye Hongyu betrayed and left the Divine Hall?

Cheng Lixue frowned, and his hair that was as white as snow looked colder.

He had been worried ever since the Divine Priest of Revelation had prophesied that something major would happen in the Judicial Department. The delegation went to the Sword Garret of South Jin Kingdom for that. However, he did not expect that the event would still happen.

He looked at Chen Bachi and said in a low voice, “I remember that you have already been stripped of your position as the cavalry commander last year in the Widlerness. When were you reinstated?”

“Yesterday.”

“Luo Kedi is the commander of the divine guards. When was he able to interfere with matters in the Judicial Department?”

Cheng Lixue looked at Chen Bachi expressionlessly. He said, “You are just a subordinate of the Judicial Department. How dare you to be rude to Priest Ye Hongyu. Isn’t that insubordination?”

Chen Bachi was an official of the Judicial Department and was not afraid of the Judicial Department’s priest. Furthermore, he had been blinded by Ye Hongyu with the paper sword and was intent on revenge. He only cared about how to capture Ye Hongyu and then shame her on the punishment grounds, not Cheng Lixue’s attitude.

He said coldly, “This is what the Great Divine Priest of Judgment wants.”

Cheng Lixue stayed silent. He could not object it if this was the order of the Great Divine Priest of Judgment.”

Right at this moment, a lavish horse carriage drove by slowly.

An aged voice rang from the carriage.

“The Judicial Department does not represent the Divine Hall.”

…