Nightfall

The golden threads were very thin and very tough. The only way to bury them under the skin was to sew them in with a needle. It was an extremely painful process. Who would do something like that to themselves if it were not necessary?

Ning Que looked at Ye Hongyu and said, “It seems like the West-Hill Divine Palace has accepted Long Qing once more.”

Ye Hongyu asked, “What does Long Qing have to do with this matter?”

Ning Que answered, “Only Long Qing knows that I know Tao Tie. That is why you buried the golden threads in yourself.”

“Long Qing knows that you know Tao Tie? He didn’t tell the Divine Hall.”

Ye Hongyu frowned slightly as she said, “As I’ve said before – the golden threads were buried many years ago, when we returned from the Wilderness.”

Ning Que, a bit surprised, said, “Lotus had already died back then. Why did you go through the pain of burying golden threads in your body?”

Ye Hongyu said, “Because I have to be prepared at all times for someone to eat me.”

After a moment of silence, Ning Que said, “You really are a lunatic.”

He scooted back a little and made sure that the blood on his chest had clotted before releasing his palm. He held the hilt once more. Ye Hongyu used mud to seal the wound on her neck and looked up calmly.

Their gazes met once more in the dark swamp and they both understood what the other meant.

Even the strongest, most fearless warriors would feel immense fear and attachment to life when faced with imminent death like the two of them. The thought of avoiding each other – avoiding death – would naturally occur to them. They would need to rest for a long while before they could work up the nerve to fight once more.

However, this was not so for Ning Que and Ye Hongyu. He knew that Ye Hongyu would not allow him and Sangsang to leave alive. Ye Hongyu knew that they would not give in easily. That was why furious bloody battle was imminent.

Ye Hongyu suddenly looked at herself.

Her bare feet were submerged in the muddy swamp. Nails of her pale feet had been painted red, but were fading after being submerged in the swamp. The muddied waters lapped at her feet, washing away the paint.

She was standing on a piece of shaky wet moss. Her palms were itchy and felt weak, almost as if she were being gently tickled with feathers.

Ning Que also felt the ground faintly tremoring. Rather confused, he looked towards the west side of the swamp. It was still enshrouded in mist and he could not see a thing.

The tremor grew and shallow waters of the swamp began to swirl and dance. The murky waters seemed to have become dancers draped in grey as they rose and fell.

An arch shot up from beneath the moss and across the surface of the swamp. It stretched from the western edge shrouded in mist to just before them. There were dancing shadows and, along with them, a smooth capybara appeared from the arch of fog.

Following the first, dozens of arches appeared from beneath the wet moss. Several capybaras shot across the swamp, fleeing in horror towards the east. It was as if something terrifying had appeared behind them. However, what was odd was that not a single capybara tried to dive deep into the muddy bottom of the swamp.

Anything would look terrifying if there was a crowd of it. What’s more – a bunch of ugly fellows covered in greasy hair and mud? It made one’s hair stand. Ning Que and Ye Hongyu might not be afraid of the poisonous capybaras, but they backed away subconsciously, leaving an open path for them.

Tremors on the swamp’s surface grew stronger. Moss swirled in the water and mud flew all over the place. Mud in the swamp was like rainwater on a drum – it did not lay still at all.

After hundreds of capybaras passed through in horror, more wild animals ran out of the fog in the west and fled to the east. The most frightening part was when tens of thousands of mud rats ran by, squeaking. Ning Que saw that there were two Snowfield Direwolfs in the fleeing herd.

Snowfield Direwolves lived in the Cold Region of the Far North. They reigned in the cold regions. As the Hot Sea froze over and Desolate Man headed south, they too moved southwards. They had become the most terrifying beast in the Wilderness over the last two years and word of their strength had spread to the Central Plains.

However, the snow-colored wolves were covered in mud and had several terrifying bite marks on their backs. They looked exhausted, fearful and did not seem as terrifying as they were rumored to be.

The number of fleeing beasts grew, covering the part of the swamp that was not covered by fog.

Ye Hongyu is the Great Divine Priest of Judgment and Ning Que is a powerhouse. However, when faced with a large number of fleeing beasts and the wrath of nature, they did not dare move lightly.

In the beginning, when hundreds of capybaras appeared, the two of them took several steps backwards. As waves of beasts grew, they were forced to keep retreating and, as a result, the distance between the two grew farther and farther.

They simultaneously looked towards the western side of the swamp, which was covered in fog. Their expressions grew grave as they wondered why so many beasts would appear in the swamp. What was it that could terrorize so many beasts and cause them all to flee? What dangers lay waiting in the deep fog? Could it be the legendary wild beast?

Earth shook and sounds of clopping hooves crackled like thunder. There was a commotion in the western part of the swamp. A grey shadow leapt out from the fog and fell heavily on the ground, mud smeared all over its hooves.

To the surprise of Ning Que and Ye Hongyu, appearing from the fog was neither an ancient wild beast, nor was it a hermit master cultivator. It was a gray horse.

The grey horse was graceful and unusually good looking. Long hair on its neck fluttered. When it ran on the soft muddy ground of the swamp, it was like a grey shadow – wild and unrestrained – obviously feral.

However, not even the most handsome of feral horses could scare several hundreds of capybaras, mud rats and beasts into fleeing.

At that moment, a white shadow leapt out of the fog again. It was an equally good looking white mare. Following that, hundreds and thousands of wild horses rushed out from the fog!

Their hooves clopped like thunder and the entire swamp seemed to shake as the horses trampled upon it. The horses neighed, sounding like they were roaring. Moss on the swamp’s surface sank to the bottom, as if blown apart by a great gust of wind, and did not rise again. The horses gathered as densely as a sandstorm in the Wilderness. They tore through the thick fog in the west within seconds and seemed to even roll the fog up as they rushed towards Ning Que and Ye Hongyu!

Tang Empire was well known for the cavalry it groomed. However, Ning Que had never seen as many horses as he had right now, much less Ye Hongyu. Pounding of the horses’ hooves frightened them, and they finally understood why those beasts had fled so pathetically. They backed away in a hurry, allowing the horses to pass.

Ning Que backed away, turned around and run away desperately. He leaped into the pool and ran towards the shore. He helped Sangsang into the horse carriage and slapped down heavily on the stunned Big Black Horse’s back. Ning Que pressed the horse to hurry – pull the carriage behind it and follow the fleeing herd. It was a great opportunity for them to leave, how could he miss it?

…

…

Wild horses swarmed, causing fog to swirl and earth to shake. Ye Hongyu found a dead tree by the marsh and stood on it, watching the flickering shadows of horses passing by through the fog.

The fog was brought here by the wild horses and obstructed her sight. She could only see a strip before the tree, watching as wild horses of various colors sped by before her eyes in a steady stream, neighing incessantly.

Ye Hongyu’s face was a little pale. There were more than ten thousand wild horses in this group. Not even all the cavalries in the world could beat the number of horses here.

How did so many wild horses survive in the swamp? Where did they find food? How did they run across the dangerous swamp without worrying about sinking?

There are many inexplicable problems. Fog in the swamp, like layers of clothing over the problem, made it impossible for her to figure out the truth. It weighed on her mood.

After a long while, the fog gradually calmed. Sounds of hooves gradually faded. Deep from within the fog, came messy sounds of horse hooves, which might very well be a single horse. There were several ugly squawks which seemed to come from black crows.

Emerging from her stupor, Ye Hongyu looked up fiercely. She jumped off the dead tree and ran in the direction of the pool. However, when she passed through the pool and reached the shore, the black horse carriage was long gone.

There was a dress left by the pool.

Ye Hongyu looked at the dress. She did not say anything, knowing that Ning Que and Sangsang had left it behind for her.

…

…

Black horse carriage blended in with the herd of wild horses, charging into the thick fog, rushing towards the east.

Neighing of horses outside the carriage and dense clopping of hooves caused piercing pain in one’s ears.

Even though Ning Que had hidden amongst the herd of wild horses and gotten away from Ye Hongyu, he still felt extremely nervous. Perhaps even more nervous, because he knew that the wild horses were violent. Herds of this size would dominate the Wilderness. The herd had scared off the wolves and capybaras earlier, and if they refused to accept the Big Black Horse or the carriage, the situation would become extremely dangerous.

Fortunately, the wild horses recognized that Big Black Horse was one of them and was qualified to charge with them. The herd did not attack them, but the horses near them would look at the horse carriage as they ran alongside it. Some of the younger stallions went up to the windows curiously. It seemed as if they had never seen a horse carriage before.

When the wild herd appeared, Big Black Horse appeared very uneasy. It had never seen any of his kind that were so powerful before, especially in an environment like the swamp. That was why it kept a low profile after joining the herd. However, when it realized that it ran even faster than the horses, its confidence and pride were restored. It held its head high and snorted even louder. When a young stallion tried to nudge its head into the windows, it neighed with great displeasure.

The young stallion neighed back unhappily. Ning Que’s heart skipped a beat. He wanted to give the Big Black Horse a flying kick. It was fortunate that the young stallion did not do anything other than neighing.

The black carriage sped towards the eastern parts of the swamp, nestled amongst the herd. They had run for an entire day and night, and through it all, the horses had only rested twice. Ning Que had wanted to leave, but the horse carriage was surrounded by horses and he could not squeeze its way out. Furthermore, he had also discovered something odd. The wild horses were able to find the legendary solid path as they ran through the swamp, so they would not encounter any danger.

Since the herd of wild horses did not have any ill intentions and were able to find a path through the swamp, Ning Que was willing to travel with them.

On the second dawn, the wild herd finally managed to leave the swamp and reached the Wilderness.

Green grass had sprouted under the sunlight.

The black horse carriage emerged from the fog and came into view of the beautiful scenery.

Ning Que relaxed instantly. He suddenly heard cawing behind the fog and thought that the black crows were haunting them. He yelled angrily, “Shut up!”

The cawing continued in the fog, seemingly very dissatisfied.

Ning Que turned around.

The fog dissipated and eight extremely handsome horses stepped out.

The eight horses dragged a chariot.

There was a black donkey sitting on the chariot.

It was not the crows that had been calling out, but the black donkey.