Nightfall

Master Qishan was the first to talk.

Looking at the people in the temple, he said wearily, “Naturally, all of you must not think that the legend is only a legend. There were many signs that pointed to the approaching Everlasting night and the year before, Mr. First from the Academy went to the Far North Cold Region; he realised that the nights there were longer, the temperature was dropping rapidly and the Hot Sea had signs of ice.”

Cheng Lixue leaned forward slightly and acknowledge the crowd before saying, “Hierarch Lord also saw in the screen of light that the deepest regions in the stormy sea had an unusual layer of ice, too.”

Master Qishan sighed and said, “Mr. First also mentioned in his letter that the year before and last year, the end of the freezing date in Chang’an City was brought forward two and three days respectively.”

Cheng Ziqing frowned slightly and said, “But autumn came in Chang’an City later than last year. I always thought that it was normal for the weather to change from year to year.”

At this moment, the president of the Commandment Yard of Xuankong Temple, Master Boshu, said softly, “There is no need for further argument on this matter, the Desolate Men have headed south and this has proven that Mr. First was right. We shouldn’t waste our time on such meaningless arguments. First, we need to consider how we should deal with the Underworld Invasion.”

Since Master Boshu had entered the Lanke temple, he had kept the door shut and when in the mountains, he would sit quietly at the Buddhist chariot. It was the first time Ning Que and many others saw how he looked like.

This monk had eyebrows resembling rulers, there was a pure glow in his eyes and a slight frost on his brows. There were many wrinkles on his forehead yet, one couldn’t guess his real age.

He came from the Unknown Place and was the president of the Commandment Yard of Xuankong Temple. He was undeniably the highest ranked in this place and hence, a word from him made Cheng Ziqing quiet, signaling his approval.

After the Xuankong Temple confirmed that the Underworld Invasion wasn’t just a legend, the temple got even quieter. Legends becoming reality was a hard pill to swallow. Both Cheng Ziqing and Quni Madi were deep in thoughts. Could it be that countless generations of cultivators before them had never met the end of the world but it was upon them now?

Master Boshu looked at everyone and sternly said, “The Underworld Invasion will definitely be a long process and our generation might not be able to see it. But as they say, future generations reap the benefits of this generation. For humanity to survive, we need to start preparing now.”

Everyone knew they had to prepare, but for what?

The temple became quiet again.

Monk Guan Hai walked out of the temple and brought some hot water. He started serving the guests some clear tea.

In the past, Master Qishan doted on his disciple and was not willing to share with him too many gloomy stories. Hence, this was the first time he had attended such an event and in reality, if it wasn’t for the fact that common monks weren’t allowed to hear this discussion, he wouldn’t be able to do this job either.

As such, he was a little excited and nervous. Carrying the teacup in his shaking hands, he didn’t notice how much tea leaves he had placed inside the cup and what tea leaves they were.

Ning Que wasn’t interested in such discussions. From how he saw it, if there really was an invasion from the Underworld, the people in the temple wouldn’t be able to come up with a real solution. Where will they be placing the abbey dean of the Zhishou Abbey, the Chief Preaching Monk in the Xuankong Temple, or even the Headmaster?

However, those at the back of the mountain of Academy were a bunch of lazy people who couldn’t care less about worldly affairs. He had been forcibly assigned as the person to enter the human realm and in such a situation, he had no choice but to represent the Academy.

However, he hadn’t expected the discussion to involve him this quickly.

“The Underworld Invasion requires Yama to reflect his world onto ours. It requires the body of the Son of Yama as a channel. But 16 years ago, a vision fell from the sky and landed in the Wilderness; many World Wayfarers from the different sects gathered there. Regardless it was the Xuankong Temple or the Zhishou Abbey, they all felt the Son of Yama descending upon our world.”

Master Boshu said slowly as he glanced at Ning Que.

Ning Que understood what that glance meant, he shuddered but his expression remained unchanged.

Quni Madi stared at him venomously and said in a hoarse voice, “Then what we should do now is to find the Son of Yama and… kill him.”

Master Qishan took the cup of tea from Monk Guan Hai; he blew at it gently, not saying a word.

The people in the temple all knew who Quni Madi was hinting at. After all, after the battle between Ning Que and Xia Hou, the judgment from the Great Divine Priest of Light back then had spread and the Buddhism Sect seemed to hold the same view.

However, without any evidence, who would dare say that the core disciple of the Headmaster was the Son of Yama? Within this year, no one had dared to mention this in front of Ning Que. Even the rumors started dying down. After all, no one had seen Yama but all the cultivators knew that they shouldn’t provoke the Academy.

Hence, when Quni Madi said those words, no one in the hall followed up. No one was ignorant enough to ask who the Son of Yama was. Everyone was silent.

Quni Madi seemed to not have expected this, as her brows furrowed increasingly and the expression in her eyes got more venomous. She stared at Ning Que and said, “Mr. Thirteen, do you not have anything to say?”

Ning Que replied, “I want to ask if you can stop beating around the bush.”

Quni Madi was furious at those words as her chest started heaving and she said sternly, “I am talking about you!”

“You are the Son of Yama!”

Ning Que had long expected someone to give him trouble but he wasn’t sure if it would be Quni Madi or Master Boshu. He could finally confirm that the old nun was indeed the most annoying creature.

However, this was the first time the rumor was laid on the table and everyone in the hall reflected complicated emotions in their faces. Mo Shanshan quietly looked at Ning Que, a little worried.

Ning Que looked at her calmly and asked, “If there is no evidence, do not speak without thinking.”

Quni Madi laughed coldly and said, “Back then, the Great Divine Priest of Light determined that the Son of Yama had descended upon the residence of the Xuanwei General in Chang’an. Now, you are the only living person from that General’s Mansion. If you are not the Son of Yama, then who is?”

“So it seems like you are talking about my wife’s teacher.”

Ning Que said, “But he is already dead, hence he cannot be a witness. Moreover, even if what you have said were his last words, this piece of evidence doesn’t have any effect… Even a person with the best sight could make blunders. Do not forget that because of this, he was defeated by the abbey dean and was imprisoned in the West-Hill Divine Palace for more than ten years. If you insist that he is right, are you saying that the abbey dean and the West-Hill Divine Palace are wrong?”

Quni Madi was at a loss of words. Even if she had a high rank and was greatly respected among the Buddhism Sect and the secular world, she didn’t dare to criticize an unworldly sublime being like the abbey dean of the Zhishou Abbey in front of everyone.

Ning Que looked at her and shook his head and said, “I really don’t know what to say.”

He then looked toward Cheng Lixue and asked, “I am not here to stir anything. I do not think that she has the guts to disrespect the entire Haotian Taoism either, but what have we said earlier? What about the entire family dying?”

Cheng Lixue smiled bitterly without saying anything. He thought to himself that even if Ning Que wasn’t afraid of offending anyone, he didn’t want to form a deep grudge with the old lady.

Even though Quni Madi didn’t know about the conversation between Ning Que and Chen Lixue, upon hearing about the whole family dying, she knew it wasn’t something good. Moreover, these words had hurt her the deepest; a sadness and anger rose up her heart and her wrinkles were filled with venomous intentions.

Ning Que looked at her peacefully and said, “If you do not wish to cause trouble for the Yuelun Kingdom, then please say something meaningful. Even though your position is low, you are not young. Do not cause a mess like you did in the Wilderness.”

His voice was calm and he didn’t appear bitter. However, between those words, there was a taste of the younger generation reprimanding the older generation which couldn’t be concealed.

Quni Madi grew even angrier as her whole body trembled.

Master Boshu furrowed his brows slightly, almost as if he was dissatisfied with Ning Que.

There was a heated dispute in the hall but it was meaningless. Sangsang knew that Ning Que wasn’t willing to lose out when it came to a fight or a war of words. That is why she wasn’t too worried, and was even a little oblivious.

She accepted a cup of tea from Guan Hai.

The tea wasn’t the clear tea that Master Qishan was used to but rather, it was flower tea.

Sangsang lowered her head, smelling the sweet and pure tea smell from the tea leaves that were mixed but could still be clearly seen. She felt that she rather liked it when she looked at the little jasmine flowers that had slowly floated to the top.

Ning Que suddenly felt restless.

Sangsang brought up the cup of tea and placed it to her lips, just as she was about to take a sip, she felt uneasy. Her brows raised slightly and with a light wrist motion, she set the cup of tea down.

The Flower Addict Lu Chenjia was exceptionally quiet in the hall today, not saying a word.

Even though she was the Princess of the Yuelun Kingdom and was a key nurtured figure in the West-Hill Divine Palace, in a situation like this, whether it was her position or her power she could only rank at the bottom. Hence, it was only right for her to keep quiet.

Moreover, since coming to Tile Mountain, she had always been quiet. Even her emotions were indifferent and hence, no one in the hall noticed anything unusual.

However, just as Sangsang raised the cup of tea, she lifted her head.

Liu Chenjia still had a cold indifferent look in her eyes, just like the cold look she gave Ning Que at the Tile Mountain. However, if one looked at her closely, one could see that her flower-like lips were trembling.

It was nervousness and excitement.

She looked at Sangsang raising her brows, almost as if she was preparing for her to place the cup down.

Lu Chenjia pursed her quivering lips into a cold smile; she squeezed a small flower with her fingers and broke it from the stem as the petals scattered.

A faint aura was instantly released from her sleeves.

The teacup in Sangsang’s hands underwent a shocking change.

The jasmine flower that was slowly rising in the clear tea seemed to have some vitality injected into it as it started blooming. Several petals left the stem and fought their way out of the tea, slamming into Sangsang’s face with a powerful aura!

The teacup had just left Sangsang’s lips and was very near her face; it was too close for her to react.

Whether it was the West-Hill Divine Skill or the newly learned Dharma, it was too late to react.

Sangsang opened her eyes and saw the jasmine flower petals that were left in the tea flying towards her.

At this moment, she only had time to think about it slightly.