Nightfall

While cleaning up, Ning Que saw the chessboard. He tossed it into a corner and then reached out for the Big Black Umbrella. He couldn’t help but shake his head.

As compared to how it had looked like in the past decade, the Big Black Umbrella had undergone great changes. The oily grey sheen on the surface of the umbrella had disappeared completely, revealing a pure black cloth. There were several tears on the edges and it looked rather pathetic.

The Big Black Umbrella had been strong and undefeatable – able to withstand all attacks in the world. However, it had become what it was now. So one could imagine how powerful the Light of Buddha at Lanke Temple was.

Ning Que continued to clean up. He categorized the iron arrows, talismans and his replacement arrowheads, placing them where he could easily reach. Then, he pried up the base of the carriage, and arranged the dried goods and stones that helped to propel the horse carriage talisman. He also counted the yellow fruit that the Big Black Horse ate as well as some other miscellaneous items.

According to the amounts they had now, they would be able to return to the Academy from the Wilderness. Even if they did not have enough dried goods, he was not worried that they would be unable to find food in the Wilderness. Searching for water wasn’t something difficult either. If he really couldn’t find any, he could just expend a little of his Psyche Power to write a few water talismans.

The talisman paper in the copper basin had already disappeared, turning into warm amber flame.

These were fire talismans that Ning Que had written a long time ago. They looked impressive, but were ordinary in terms of temperature and the amount of time they would last. The water in the pot on the copper basin had just boiled. Rice turned in the water, but the amount of water was lacking. It was unclear how long it would take for the rice to be cooked.

Ning Que took a bit of ginseng and got off the horse carriage. He called the Big Black Horse, who had been keeping guard a few hundred feet away. He patted the horse’s neck and thought of how they had gone through life and death together in Lanke Temple. He felt slightly emotional and said, “From today on, if I have meat to eat, you’ll have soup to drink.”

With that, he stuffed the ginseng into Big Black Horse’s mouth and patted its head.

Big Black Horse chewed slightly and swallowed the ginseng. It looked up pathetically at Ning Que while still chewing.

It was clear what Big Black Horse wanted. Its owner was shameless, only willing to give it soup when he had meat to eat. But he had only given the horse a thin slice of ginseng, how could that be filling? The horse had been scared to death by the weird crater and the terrifying temple, and it had pulled their horse carriage for miles – how could Ning Que starve it?

Ning Que felt a little ashamed and said, “I will definitely get you meat tomorrow. Just eat this for today.”

The Big Black Horse shook its head around in annoyance, though mostly – resignation.

Porridge in the pot was ready and emitting slight fragrance. Ning Que helped Sangsang up and fed her some. He said, “I’ve put medicine in the porridge. I stole it from the stupid idiot, don’t let it know.”

Sangsang looked out of the carriage somewhat embarassedly, then, she swallowed her laughter and continued eating. After having half a bowl of porridge she felt slightly better. Thinking of Ning Que’s injuries, she said, “You eat some too.”

Ning Que said, “I have already eaten.”

Sangsang replied, “You had cold water and dried goods, how could it be good.”

Ning Que said, “We only lived a little better after we got to the City of Wei. To think that when we lived in the Min Mountain, being able to eat dried goods was already luxurious. Don’t worry, I am used to it.”

Sangsang thought to herself that they had gone from scrimping to living luxuriously, and then, from living luxuriously back to scrimping. The dried goods definitely did not taste as good as they did when they were younger. However, knowing how Ning Que was, she did not try to persuade him, but instead, told herself to get better quickly.

The porridge in the pot was still boiling, popping occasionally. It was still steaming and it was warm in the carriage. Only the Big Black Umbrella and the chessboard in the corner were emitting a slight frost.

The seemingly ordinary chessboard was one that Buddha had left behind. Ning Que could not understand: The horse carriage was supposed to enter the board, but how did the board end up inside the horse carriage instead?

“We know that we are in the extreme Western Wilderness. We have already determined our location, but we don’t know how many days have passed since the incident at Lanke Temple.”

He said, “The old monk said that the world had been searching for us for a long time. It seems the chessboard was useful. We only traveled on the mountain path for seconds, but plenty of time must have passed in the outside world. Even though it is still late winter, I suppose more than ten days must have passed.”

Sangsang felt that his extrapolation was logical. She still felt frightened when she thought of the Light of Buddha in Lanke Temple, and then, she thought of what had happened before they entered the chessboard when the temple had been broken into. She said, “You guessed that it was Mr. First and Second who had broken into the temple. What happened to them? I wonder if they got into any trouble.”

Ning Que said, “Don’t worry, there are, at most, two people who can hurt my two Senior Brothers simultaneously. But those two are afraid of angering Teacher, so they would definitely not dare to act.”

The two he spoke about were abbey dean of Zhishou Abbey and Chief Preaching Monk of Xuankong Temple.

“I am more worried for Master Qishan.”

Ning Que thought of the benevolent Buddhist high monk and how he had activated the chessboard to send the two away. He frowned and said, “The master had always been ill, and he used the mantras to aid me in my battle with Qi Nian. After that, he forcefully turned the chessboard. I wonder if he can still hold on.”

Sangsang was very worried after hearing that. She took out a black chess piece from her waist and stared at it dazedly.

Ning Que knew that this was the chess piece that Sangsang had used in the last of the three games of chess on Tile Mountain. He said softly, “I have a bad feeling. Keep this chess piece as a momento.”

Sangsang nodded and clenched her hand, clutching the black chess piece tightly. She looked at the chessboard and asked, “The aura of Buddha has left the chessboard. Is it ruined?”

Ning Que said, “This is after all, something left behind by Buddha. Even if we can’t enter the world in the chessboard again, we can still keep it to sell. It’s still better than finding somewhere to bury it.”

The night had gotten deeper, and Big Black Horse had already fallen asleep.

Its skin was thick – it was not bothered by the piercing winds in the Wilderness. It did not sleep like normal horses, as it did not support its full weight with its four legs. It did not lie on the ground like weak old horses either. Instead, it leaned against the carriage haphazardly like a drunk. Its nostrils flared slightly as it smelled the scent of porridge floating from the window seams, sleeping soundly.

Steam from the porridge swirled around the carriage. Together with the talisman paper that was emitting warmth in the copper basin, it was slightly stifling. Ning Que reached out and opened a crack in the skylight above the carriage.

Silver starlight entered through the crack, shining on him and Sangsang. It landed on everything, turning the carriage into their favorite color of silver taels.

Sangsang shrunk into his embrace and clutched at his shirt with her right hand. She looked at the night sky through the crack and realized that the night sky in the wilderness was still as bright as before. However, she felt that there was someone watching her from among the stars and began to feel frightened. She clutched at Ning Que’s shirt even tighter.

Ning Que did not know what she was thinking. He lowered his head to kiss her and found that her forehead was a little cold, but it was much better compared to when she was ill.

He looked up at the starry skies and suddenly felt emotional. He reached a finger out towards the night sky he saw through the crack. He slowly moved his finger and grew solemn.

Sangsang watched as he traced his finger around and realized that he was not drawing the Two-Horizontal Talisman. She asked anxiously, “Is this a new talisman?”

Ning Que said with satisfaction, “This isn’t a talisman. I was just writing a few words, its a quick calligraphy section. It could at least be ranked in my top ten works. How much do you think it would be worth?”

Everything in the carriage shone silver, but it was all in vain. The calligraphy section that Ning Que wrote with his finger was also false. It could not be kept and was worthless.

Sangsang shook her head with slight regret. She said, “If we really want to return to the Academy, we will encounter plenty of danger along the way. We cannot sell this calligraphy, so you had better invent some new talismans.”

“Even though I have already entered the Knowing Destiny State, but our masters have already entered the heavens. There is no one to help me. I can only be considered half a Divine Talisman Master at most. I am already considered a genius at Talisman Taoism now that I can write an Infinitive Talisman. It isn’t so easy to invent a new talisman.”

Ning Que thought of what Sangsang had said earlier and recalled an extremely important matter. He looked at her and said, “No matter how dangerous our path is, you’re not allowed to use Divine Skill or to hold the Big Black Umbrella.”

Sangsang understood what he meant and nodded softly.

If she used the West-Hill Divine Skill, she might relapse, die, or attract the attention of Yama. If she opened the Big Black Umbrella, other things might happen. She might attract the attention of Yama, the Buddhism and Taoism sect. All of the situations above were extremely dangerous.

Sangsang was still asleep at dawn while Ning Que had already woken up. He looked at the skies, checked the direction of the wind and determined that it was a good day to travel. He roused the Big Black Horse with his fist and got it to move.

However, the black horse carriage had not traveled far before encountering a foe. This was the depths of the Wilderness, where the population was scarce. It was difficult to even encounter a single person, much less an enemy.

The only possible explanation for this was that Haotian had already discovered the existence of the Daughter of Yama. Heaven’s Way, which invisible and untouchable, but always active, had begun to try to exterminate her.

This was a meadow with rolling hills. The yellow grass on the meadow had already been felled by the winds. They might have died, or perhaps, are waiting for the next spring to grow again.

Dozens of grassland cavalry dressed in leather armor were silently standing atop the meadow. They would ocassionally reach out to appease their tired horses. It seemed as if they had traveled a long distance before getting here.

Ning Que glanced at the grassland cavalry, but did not observe the details on their armor. He had already guessed where they came from. In the Western Wilderness, only the Right King’s Palace had the right to own such elite cavalry.

The black horse carriage was still about two hundred feet away from the Right King’s Palace’s grassland cavalry. It was still out of the shooting range of their arrows. He could have gotten the Big Black Horse to unleash its speed advantage and charge towards the thicket. No matter how good the cavalry were, they would not be able to catch up.

However, the grassland cavalry was spread out across the meadow – their front line was extremely long. They looked sparse and weak, but were there to prevent the black horse carriage from escaping. If Ning Que wished to leave without a battle, then he had to make a detour around the long line of troops before he could leave the meadow. However, that would be a waste of time.

The crux of the matter was: Ning Que, Horse Gang and cavalry of the Wilderness have had many years of interactions. He was certain that the cavalry, who were there to stop him, would come in a flood. If he encountered these people blocking him and turned back, the opposition’s riders and hunters would only need to repeat what they had done several times and use a large number of cavalry to surround the black horse carriage in the depths of the Wilderness. That was extremely dangerous.

That was why Ning Que did not turn away. The black horse carriage continued up the meadow. At first, it was moving slowly, but soon got faster and faster. Steel wheels of the carriage rolled, flattening the frosted grass and causing mud to fly in all directions.

A cavalry leader on the meadow realized that the black horse carriage was rushing towards them. He did not look happy or dumb, but his expression turned extremely solemn. Then, he slowly pulled out his sword from his waist.

No matter Left-Tent, Right-Tent or the Golden Palace, the grassland cavalry and Horse Gang’s swords were all curved. Several years ago, when Ning Que was a professional wood-cutter in the City of Wei, he used this type of curved sword as well.

Because this kind of sword could easily cut off a human’s head.

Several grassland cavalry pulled out curved swords from their scabbards simulaneously. The sound of clashing metals pierced everyone’s ears.

The black horse carriage headed to the bottom of the meadow at high speeds. Just as it was no longer able to turn, several cavalrymen appeared silently from behind the leader, took out their bows and aimed at the horse carriage!

The Wilderness was boring for Ning Que.

He was more familiar with the warfare tactics of the grassland cavalry and Horse Gang than the third book and 14th chapter of the Tang Empire’s military. Thus, he was not surprised when he saw that those who had hidden under the meadow earlier had just taken out their bows then. Instead, he felt a little bored – it was too familiar.

The bowstrings buzzed and arrows tore through the air. Dozens of arrows drew a curve in the skies as they flew from the meadows a few hundred feet away towards the black horse carriage.

“They dare to play at long distance, shooting just with a few Huang Yang bows? The horse carriage might be a large target, but they can’t do that.”

Ning Que turned around. Sangsang was still sleeping deeply, her hands clutching tightly onto the corners of the blanket. Her brows were tightly knitted, as if she was dreaming of something.

He jumped out of the carriage and landed onto the Big Black Horse’s back, draping his legs over the horse’s belly.

The Big Black Horse whinnied and charged forward!

Moments earlier, Ning Que had undone the tie linking the shaft to the carriage. The Big Black Horse charged forward, separating from the carriage. The carriage continued moving forward due to inertia, just progressively slower.

In the process of slowing down, there was a buzzing noise in the black carriage. The skylight at the ceiling and the two windows on the sides as well as the carriage doors were locked by a spring.

The arrows that the grassland cavalry shot finally fell, whistling sharply.

There were five or six arrows that had aimed true at the slowing carriage. However, to the carriage, made of pure fine steel, being shot at by the seemingly terrifying arrows was but a scratch.

The arrowheads hit the horse carriage and broke in the middle, landing on the ground like bits of straw that had tried to pierce through stone, looking ridiculous and pathethic.

The black horse carriage was very thick. Once it was fully sealed, it was difficult to hear what was happening outside. The arrows that had hit the carriage sounded weak and soft, like pecking birds.

Inside the carriage, Sangsang still slept soundly. She must have heard the sounds of arrows falling, because she waved her arm unhappily, as if wanting to chase away the sound by her ear. Then, she turned around and continued sleeping.