Nightfall

There was a black horse carriage, thousands of elite cavalry troops from the Left King’s Palace as well as Long Qing’s dozens of fallen knight commanders that were at the pinnacle of the Seethrough state. The two sides had enormous powers and it couldn’t be called a confrontation.

Ning Que’s voice came from the black horse carriage, “I didn’t expect that you would be the first.”

Long Qing replied, “I am now the owner of this Wilderness, you should have been able to puzzle it out.”

Ning Que said, “Do not tell me that until now, you still don’t understand that the Divine Hall is using you as a dog?”

“To be the dog of Haotian is better than being a ghost in the Underworld.”

Long Qing paused for a while before continuing, “Of course if I was forced, I would be able to accept being Yama’s dog.”

Ning Que said, “You are indeed ambitious. It seems like your appearance here isn’t necessarily to kill us. Then why do you need to put on such a big show?”

“When I believed in Haotian and was willing to give my life and soul to the light, she was the Daughter of Light. However, when I went through the toughest part of my life and decided to sacrifice to Yama, giving my life and soul to the darkness, she became the Daughter of Yama. Don’t you find this interesting?”

Long Qing hid between the cliffs as he looked down and said, “Back when I was drinking away in Chang’an City, I lost to Miss Sangsang. This might be a confirmation from the other beings, and of course I wouldn’t kill her.”

He then started to smile brightly and said, “However, I will kill you. Because I want to try becoming the Daughter of Yama’s protector. If darkness really were to come, I might be able to get some benefits from it. If that doesn’t work, I will naturally hand her over to Haotian.”

Ning Que lifted the carriage window curtains and looked somewhere towards the cliff. He heard the laughter but couldn’t see Long Qing. He couldn’t help but laugh a little at it, thinking to himself that this guy was becoming more and more cautious.

He said while facing towards the cliff, “Not everyone has the qualifications and strength to swing between light and darkness. Not many people can sit on the fence. If you continue like this, you will die miserably.”

Long Qing’s calm and confident voice came from between the cliffs, “Grey is between black and white. This color is the most moderate and the safest.”

Ning Que didn’t want to discuss such philosophical questions with this person, not even the simplest of discussion. He said directly, “If you want to kill me, why aren’t you out yet? What are you afraid of?”

Long Qing said, “You are about to die, why should I come out?”

Ning Que said, “When I die, she cannot survive either.”

Long Qing said, “I know you are cold-blooded but I didn’t expect you to be so heartless to her.”

Ning Que said, “I only know that if I die, she wouldn’t want to keep on living.”

Long Qing’s voice disappeared for a moment before sounding again with mixed feelings, “When did you become so narcissistic? Is this the temperament of the Academy?”

“I am not you. I was never narcissistic, only confident.”

Ning Que looked at the cliff and said, “If you aren’t narcissistic, you shouldn’t be saying so much trash. On the other hand, I am confident that so long as you stand in front of me, I can shoot you to death.”

Long Qing said, “I am already in the Knowing Destiny state, my cultivation state is way above yours. Let’s not talk about how hard it is to find an enemy, but how I can easily kill you. Where do you have the confidence to shoot me to death?”

Ning Que said, “When I was in the Seethrough Realm, I could already shoot you to death at the Red Lotus Temple. Now, I am already in the Knowing Destiny State. Even the bald donkeys at the Xuankong Temple do not dare face my arrows. Do you want to try?”

Long Qing’s calm voice echoed between the cliffs, “No matter how sharp your words are, they are pointless. I am telling you this not because I want you to have a good time before you die. I only want the thousands of arrows to confirm your location. Now that you know this truth, do you regret having this conversation with me?”

Just as he said this, there was a dense humming noise from the Wilderness at the east exit of the Helan mountain range. They sounded like countless locusts flapping their wings and flying, looking extremely horrifying.

The thousands of arrows shot towards the grey cloud layer and landed in an arc. They scattered all around the black horse carriage in the valley. The shrill sounds of the arrows sounded like thunders from the cloud.

People like Ning Que and Long Qing wouldn’t speak meaningless words before a battle. If they did say anything, it was definitely part of the battle. It might also be a psychological battle to wear down the other party’s morale or to delay time in preparation for something.

Prince Long Qing had made use of this time to inform the thousands of cavalry troops in the Wilderness outside the valley about the general location of the black horse carriage. This had formed the first wave of arrows attacking. Ning Que had not only delayed time, he had untied the bridle of the big black horse.

The volley of arrows broke apart the skies like a torrential rain. Ning Que opened the front door of the carriage and the big black horse turned around rapidly. Its front hooves stepped onto the air while it kicked back its back hooves as it scurried into the carriage.

Tuk, Tuk, Tuk, Tuk!

Countless arrows landed on the black horse carriage as they plunged violently into the carriage’s roof and the side walls. The clear ringing sound of the impacting arrows sounded continuously outside, almost as if it would never end.

However, these arrows didn’t do any damage to the horse carriage. The powerful arrows landed heavily on the horse carriage before breaking in two halves from the center. They landed down like rain but the sharp arrowhead couldn’t pierce into the horse carriage at all. They didn’t even leave a mark on the surface.

However, the rain of arrows didn’t stop and the sound of arrows falling continued. The sound of the arrows colliding against the walls of the horse carriage didn’t stop echoing within. The clatter of arrows breaking could also be clearly heard.

Within a short time, thousands of Left King’s Palace cavalry troops in the Wilderness had shot out three waves of arrows. The range of the grassland cavalry’s wooden bow was incredibly far and their shooting skills were even more incredible. From such a far distance, the area where the thousands of arrows landed were all controlled within a 20 square feet radius.

That area of land was already filled with arrows. They were incredibly dense and were like weeds that were growing from a fertile patch of land. Some of them had even landed above the first layer of arrows, producing a ludicrous sight.

The arrows beside the horse carriage were even denser. However, most of the arrows that had landed on the horse carriage had broken in half. Hence, it wasn’t grass growing here but rather, it was like a pile of straw that was slowly flooding the horse carriage.

The black horse carriage was fashioned out of steel and no matter how many arrows hit it, it wouldn’t be able to destroy it. However, under such a dense torrent of arrows, one would still feel uneasy. Ning Que hugged Sangsang tightly in his embrace.

The horse carriage was very wide and that was how the big black horse could go in. However, its body was incredibly big and it could only bend its hooves and bury its head like a dog. It leaned on Ning Que’s knee, a little humiliated, almost like a pet.

Sangsang was already a little confused when they chose to enter Helan City from the east. At this moment, she couldn’t help but ask softly, “Why are we here? What do you want to do?”

The big black horse rested its head against the carriage board, looking a little uninterested and bored.

Ning Que extended his hand and patted its mane before saying, “I am taking a gamble.”

Sangsang raised her eyebrows slightly and asked, “What are you betting on?”

Ning Que said, “Betting that someone will come to save us.”

Sangsang said directly, “No one will come to save us.”

Ning Que kept silent for a moment before saying, “Indeed no one will come to save us, but I think some people will not be willing to miss this opportunity. We have spent so many arrows, those people should be more confident now.”

Sangsang could vaguely guess what he was thinking and said, “I’m not sure if they will come.”

Ning Que said, “I don’t know, perhaps… they are already here.”

Long Qing knew that the black horse carriage was very sturdy but he still wanted to give it a try. By now, he had basically taken over control of the Left King’s Palace and no one dared to question any of his decisions. Moreover, under the covert operations of the West-Hill Divine Palace, the Left King’s palace had received a large number of weapons from the Central Plains. He had the power and could afford such wastage.

Confirming that the rain of arrows couldn’t cause any damage to the black horse carriage, he wasn’t disappointed. This was because the thousands of cavalry soldiers had come to the front of the Helan mountain range under the cover of the rain of arrows. They started to charge.

“Go.” He put on the silver mask again.

More than a dozen fallen knight commanders acknowledged that before getting on their horses and charging down the cliff. Bringing with them thousands of grassland cavalry soldiers, they charged towards the black horse carriage in the valley.

The hooves were like thunder and smoke was billowing; thousands of cavalry troops rushed into the Helan mountain range. There wasn’t any congestion but rather, they rushed in like a black tide. Flowing back again, they easily flooded the black horse carriage.

Long Qing was very clear that so long as the Tang Army from Helan City didn’t help, Ning Que would die today. No matter how strong a cultivator was, he couldn’t escape such an environment. Moreover, Helan City was more than 200 miles from here and the key was that the Tang Army from that city wouldn’t be able to help Ning Que.

He no longer looked at the battle at the isthmus, the result of the battle was determined and it couldn’t interest him. Ning Que, who was about to die, would become a past enemy of his life in the eyes of the world.

Long Qing looked towards the dark clouds in the skies and started thinking about how he could get the greatest benefit and avoid this patch of dark clouds after catching Sangsang. After much thought, he realized his mind was somewhat restless. He couldn’t help but laugh at himself; he realized he still cared a lot about Ning Que’s death.

The dark clouds in the skies landed on his face and his snowy-white silver mask. The silver mask became a little dark, just like his eyes now. The next moment, the silver mask turned even darker.

Long Qing’s smile suddenly froze. With a loud shrill, he bounced off his horse and pounced towards the back of the cliff as quickly as lightning.

The rumbling impact sounds were accompanied by the shrill cries of a horse. Countless rocks rolled down from between the cliffs and smashed into his horse which was sent flying into a ball of blood and flesh. The sight was unbearable.

If his reaction wasn’t quick, he would have become a wisp of spirit under the pile of rocks.

Prince Long Qing suddenly turned around and looked between the cliffs that still had snow remaining there. However, he couldn’t find any trace of the enemy.

The silver mask on his face turned even darker. It wasn’t because of the dark clouds landing on it or because of the rocks. It was because countless sharp and heavy axes flew past his head and aimed towards the cavalry troops in the valley.