Nightfall

In autumn, an extraordinarily mysterious power appeared on earth.

That power cleansed the Mountain Dragon-Tiger, killed Master Zhang, and destroyed several altars of the Martial Art Sect. Afterwards it wreaked havoc in the Kingdom of Song, exterminating families continuously. The methods used were extremely inhumane and gory. The investigators who went to the sites could not even bear to see the aftermath.

According to legend, this mysterious power was formed by more than ten Seethrough realm experts. The leader wore a silver mask and these people each rode a black warrior horse. Each of them wore black Tao clothing. They moved like a gust of wind and their whereabouts were very secretive. They were fierce and merciless, to the extent that they were inhumane and distinctly cold-hearted.

The entire southern region of the Mainland was traumatized. The cavalry of the West-Hill Divine Palace and military troops from every nation launched an ongoing attack, in hopes of eliminating these black riders. Yet they could not even grab hold of their whereabouts.

People from the higher circles of the Divine Hall and the South Jin Kingdom royals had already connected these black riders together with the fallen knights. However, they could not understand how these expelled knights could stand up and recover their strength. Moreover, they were stronger than before. What made them speechless and fearful was not knowing who exactly was the man behind that silver mask.

A clear stream was running among the mountains. A red leaf was floating on the surface of the stream, like a decoration sticking onto a mirror. It looked unusually beautiful. The surroundings were peaceful and quiet.

All of a sudden, a horse hoof trotted in the stream and crushed the red leaf, disrupting the serene flow of the water. Then, there were more horse hooves trotting in the stream. The birds beside the stream shrieked in fear as they quickly flew away from the area.

More than ten black riders crossed the stream, going along the mountain path and toward the south-west direction. No one in the troop spoke to anyone, even the breathing pace of the black riders was consistent with the trotting of the horses. These consistent sounds were following a person, and that person was none other than the young man who was silently riding the horse at the front of the troop.

The military troops from the West-Hill Divine Palace and every nation set up defense lines along the boundaries of the Kingdom of Song as they tried to stop and exterminate these black riders. No one thought that these black riders could actually pass through the several lines of defense easily. They had swiftly and secretly reached this forest located between the mountains and situated at the south-west of the South Jin Kingdom.

By the mountain side near the rocky spring, more than ten black riders were taking a short break. The fallen knights sat cross-legged and began to meditate. Now that they had regained their strength and might, they wished to leave behind their sorrowful escapees’ lives forever. Thus, they refused to waste any time for replenishing their strength and cultivation.

Not knowing how much time had passed, all the fallen knights began to peel their eyes open. They gazed at Prince Long Qing who had his eyes closed, as he meditated under the tree by the the edge of the cliff. Their eyes revealed a fanatic worshipping look.

Before the drastic change on the snow cliff, Prince Long Qing was their direct superior, who had obtained many people’s absolute loyalty within the Judicial Department. It was needless to mention the fallen knights, since the reason that they could continue to live was because of him. Moreover, taking into account that they were able to live so arrogantly, including his efforts for providing them with pills, their loyalty was unquestionable.

After escaping from the Zhishou Abbey and returning to the world, Prince Long Qing had only used a very short time to convince a group of loyal subordinates from every nation. The group mainly included the spies hidden in the Taoist temple and the Judicial Department. Now that all these spies were his informers, those defense lines set up by the West-Hill Divine Palace cavalry and the military troops from every nation were no longer secrets to him. These subordinates and him could continue to be very much at ease.

Of course, this was also because the West-Hill Divine Palace did not know his identity for now and did not bother much about them. In the Divine Hall’s perspective, these fallen knights were just rats blessed by Haotian to live for a few more days and it was impossible for them to live any longer. If the West-Hill Divine Palace were to know that the commander of these knights was Long Qing, if it knew that he had committed unforgivable sins at the Zhishou Abbey, the urge of killing him would obviously be much scarier than now.

The existence of the West-Hill Divine Palace was horrifying. If it decided to get serious, no matter how lucky Long Qing was and regardless of how powerful these fallen knights had become, they would be crushed into ashes.

At the thought of this possibility, Zi Mo’s face revealed signs of sorrow. He walked towards the edge of the cliff and saluted Long Qing who sat under the tree. He lowered his voice and said, “Priest, now that the cavalrymen of the Divine Hall were alerted, it is obvious that the Judicial Department is aware of this matter. If the Great Divine Priest Ye were to launch an attack…”

Long Qing opened his eyes. He gazed at a far away green mountain that wasn’t dangerously steep. He said, “What are you trying to say?”

Zi Mo said, “Priest, my advice is that we better leave the Divine Hall boundary as soon as possible.”

The holy light of Haotian covered the whole world and the strength of the West-Hill Divine Palace completely surrounded the Central Plains. Even though Tang wasn’t under their control, both of their hands were stained with the blood of fallen knights. They certainly wouldn’t be that dumb to enter Tang. Hence, they were left with one route, which was to leave the Central Plains.

Long Qing kept quiet. Though he was very powerful now, he had become even stronger especially after he had absorbed Master Zhang’s and numerous Martial Art Sect Elders’ cultivations. Yet he did not have the confidence to defeat that woman.

That was because that woman had already obtained the black jade throne. Using blood as an evidence, she was proven, at least at a certain stage of her life, to be much more power than the previous Great Divine Priest of Judgment.

Long Qing had never thought that he could be on the run for such a long time within the scope of the West-Hill Divine Palace. Before he became absolutely powerful, such as being the top of the world, he was increasingly in danger the longer he stayed under the holy light of Haotian.

He gazed at the distant green mountain as he coldly spoke, “Leaving the Central Plains was an inevitable choice. However, before we leave, there’s something I wish to do.”

A few days ago, he received a piece of news from a Taoist temple when he was in the South Jin Kingdom. The news, was in fact meaningless. At least for his big career as a commander of the fallen knights, it was meaningless. Yet this news, like a stone, was burdening his heart and speeding up his breathing.

The intelligence stated that Ning Que had brought his little handmaiden, who was a good drinker, to participate in the Yue Laan Hungry Ghost Festival at the Lanke Temple, together with a group of Tang ambassadors. For some unknown reason, Ning Que had left the group of ambassadors after they had passed the Great Lake, and went on a journey with his little handmaiden on a black horse carriage.

According to the figures found in the news, that horse carriage shouldn’t be far from Long Qing and the others. It should be travelling in the mountains by now, towards that green mountain facing them.

Long Qing slightly raised his head and took a deep breath.

He felt as though he could smell that horse carriage in the wind, the fragrance of wine on the little handmaiden’s body, and the filthy odor on Ning Que’s body.

Regardless of what the scent was, he became engrossed by them. His handsome face was slightly flushed and that unnoticeable scar on his cheek was brightened. He didn’t reveal any expressions, yet there seemed to be a flame burning from deep within his pupils, where the black and the white regions and the dark grey area were interchanging at rapid pace.

Long Qing’s chest rose slightly. He strained his eyes with his hands faintly trembling as he said, “Kill that person, so that my Taoist Heart can be clear and bright. Also, I want to swallow the cultivation from his entire body… that cultivation that is filled with the smell of the Academy. The Academy smell is very rare, very fragrant.”

His voice was very peaceful and calm.

Yet Zi Mo felt as though he had seen the legendary monster, Tao Tie, under the tree. He felt fearful subconsciously. It was a type of cold fear that life gave you when facing a being with absolute greed.

As the most loyal and useful subordinate, no matter how afraid he was, even if it would make the Priest unhappy, Zi Mo still wanted to give his own opinion. He lowered his voice and said as a reminder, “Priest, while you have shut yourself from the world to meditate, some things have happened… I heard that Ning Que murdered Xia Hou during a challenge. In addition, it was rumored that his little handmaiden is to become the Divine Priest of Light. She was not simple either.”

Long Qing did not say much. He gradually put on his silver mask, stood up, and walked towards the carriage by the spring.

As he walked, the grey portion in his eyes began to clear away, but the dust beneath his feet slowly flew up. They were like bees pursuing the bottom of his boots and in the end, staying as the dust under his feet willingly.

Watching this scene, Zi Mo felt even more fearful and respectful towards him. He dared not speak another word.

More than ten black riders roared as they rode down the mountain.

Standing below the tree by the the edge of the cliff, one could see a large green mountain located far away, within the mountain range. There were many weeds growing in the mountains. There wasn’t a single tree and the view was spacious. At the top of the mountain, there was a temple.

Despite being very far apart, one could also feel the shabby and withering aura from that temple. Hence, it was definitely not the Lanke Temple. One could faintly see a few patches of red in the temple, yet no one knew what they were.

After boarding on the Tang Empire’s warship to cross the Great Lake and when the Moling Ferry reached the shore of the South Jin Kingdom, Ning Que proposed his separation from the group of ambassadors. He left early with Sangsang, and this instantly drew a voice of opposition.

Xiaocao could not bear to leave Sangsang, while the ladies from the House of Red Sleeves could not bear to lose any opportunities to get close the Mr. Thirteen. As for Xian Zhilang, the Empire General, he felt that it might be too dangerous and the journey might not be peaceful for Ning Que and Sangsang once they left the group of ambassadors.

Upon listening to Xian Zhilang’s reminder, or warning, Ning Que replied directly, “Don’t forget that I am the core disciple of the Headmaster and that I snatched over the title from Wang Jinglue. Those who can defeat me know my identity and would not dare to mess with me. Those who are hot-headed and crazy enough to mess with me would not be able to defeat me.”

Xian Zhilang realized that Ning Que’s reasoning was sound. It was so right that he could not rebute him at all. Whoever was able to defeat Ning Que in this world had to be a Grand Cultivator in the Knowing Destiny State. These Grand Cultivators had their own sects to inherit. Who would dare to piss off the Academy and risk himself of losing an inheritance just for the purpose of messing with Ning Que?

Thus, after purchasing a large amount of strong wine from the Moling Ferry, arranging the meet-up between the South Jin Kingdom government and the officer of the ambassador group, including the settling of the Zhou City entrance matters at the backend, Ning Que and Sangsang sat on the black horse carriage and left the ambassador group.

As for why he chose to leave the ambassador group and travel alone, it was because Ning Que was worried about Sangsang’s illness. Though Sangsang’s illness didn’t seem to worsen, it didn’t seem to improve either. Since the Headmaster said that the Lanke Temple could cure Sangsang’s illness, Ning Que naturally would want to reach the Lanke Temple at the fastest speed.

The black carriage left the Moling Ferry and travelled towards the state highway of the South Jin Kingdom, along the roads between the Zhou City and straight towards a southeast direction. Upon reaching the deserted wildness, the carriage drove along the easy mountain path and travelled over the rivers and streams. It did not have any intention of hidding its whereabouts, nor did it stop to socialize with the world. It only focused on travelling toward its final destination silently.

Time passed. Echoes from the rushing noises of the carriage wheels were heard. The sense of autumn was gradually getting stronger as the autumn leaves on the mountain started to become redder. The autumn breeze along the mountain path slowly became chillier and the winter feeling was slowly getting deeper. The carriage was also gradually getting nearer to the Lanke Temple.

Perhaps it was because they were gradually getting nearer to the Lanke Temple, the sense of Buddhism seemed to steadily grow stronger. On the way, one could see several temples. Though their incense smell wasn’t as strong as in the Taoist temple, these buddhist temples were not deserted either.

One day, there was a heavy rain.

The autumn feeling remained strong during the rain and the sky was getting darker.

Yet the maple tree on the green mountain’s shabby temple appeared to be redder and brighter.

Ning Que placed down the curtain and glanced at Sangsang who was lying on his lap. He saw her weary expression and said, “There’s a temple in the mountain. The view is not bad.”