Nightfall

More than 2,000 young and middle-aged soldiers led by Tang had been wandering in the Wilderness during the period after winter. They had evaded the chasing of the Left King’s Palace and the West-Hill Divine Palace coalition army with their familiarity with the Tianqi Mountains, and finally ambushed them at the canyon.

Revenge would never end. Therefore, the Left King’s Palace and the West-Hill Divine Palace coalition army would annihilate the Desolate in a more profound way. Tang began to retreat to the north with the Desolate, and an extra black horse carriage appeared in the army.

It had already been the middle of spring in the Central Plains, while there was still snow floating deep in the northern Wilderness.

In the past few years, the Desolate that came to the south had fought continuously with the Left King’s Palace and the West-Hill Divine Palace coalition army, but failed to withstand their attacks and were forced to recede thousands of miles to the north, reaching this poor and cold region.

Compared with the Hot Sea that had frozen over and the Cold Region in the extreme northern area, the climate here was acceptable and was even a little bit warm for the Desolate. However, for Ning Que, especially Sangsang who was seriously ill, it was quite harsh.

Tang arranged the two to live in a relatively remote fur tent. Looking at the camp of the Desolate Man’s tribe from over ten miles away, Ning Que asked, “When will we pay a visit to those senior statesmen?”

“I’ll handle it, and you two wait here for a night.”

Tang handed the wine bag tied around his waist to Ning Que.

In more than ten days since returning to the north, they had got used to drinking this bitter wine made by the Desolate every day. Thus, Ning Que took the wine carelessly, drank some of it, and felt slightly warmer. Sangsang also took the wine and sipped it without any intervals. The wine bag deflated after a while.

At that moment, there was a sudden rumbling sound beside her, and Ning Que suddenly fell to the ground, smacking his lips. He did not seem to have come to harm and apparently just fell asleep.

Sangsang felt a little strange. Compared to her, Ning Que couldn’t drink too much alcohol, but he never became drunk after drinking so many times on their journey. Suddenly, she thought of something and looked up at Tang.

Her eyes were very bright and her thin eyebrows were very serious.

Somehow, Tang saw coldness in her look, and said with self-deprecation, “I just put some herbal powder in the wine, to help the mind relax and let him have a sound sleep. It does no harm to his body.”

Sangsang said, “He’s well now and should not be poisoned.”

Tang said, “I have cultivated the Enlightenment Doctrine since I was little, and I know his physical condition quite well. By the way, it was not poison, but medicinal powder in the wine. So, it’s normal for him to fall asleep.”

“I didn’t expect that this wine would have no impact on you.”

He looked at Sangsang and asked after a moment of silence, “Are you really the Daughter of Yama?”

Sangsang nodded.

Tang said, “I don’t know what attitude the elders will hold towards your arrival, but I do know that Ning Que is dangerous. Thus, I don’t want him to interfere in the discussion among our desolate men.”

Sangsang said, “I know.”

Tang added, “If the Elders don’t agree to take you in, you two will die.”

Sangsang said, “It was already a gamble for us to come here.”

Tang said, “But this is his gamble.”

Sangsang said, “I can accept any result.”

Tang did not say anything else.

Snowflakes kept falling into the camps of the Desolate. Countless of tents filled with laughter and singing became quiet. It was not because of sadness or the hardships of life, for the Desolate had already learned to calmly look at the deaths of their people after a thousand years of hard life, but due to quarreling inside the tent in the middle of the camp as well as the black horse carriage parked outside the camp.

The tent in the middle of the camp seemed no different from tents elsewhere; only dozens of slender ribbons were attached to it, which added a feeling of warmth and mystery.

The supreme authority of the Desolate Man’s tribe was the senior statesmen’s parliament. Since what they were going to discuss today was so important, there were still more than 20 head soldiers from the Desolate sitting in the room.

“Anyway, we are going to fight with the Central Plains. So, it’s no big deal to take the Daughter of Yama in.”

“In recent years, the West-Hill Divine Palace has not really shown all of its power and Prince Long Qing is only a dog kept by the Haotian Taoism. If they know that we have taken in the Daughter of Yama, we won’t continue to fight like this, and the enemies we’ll face would be ten times stronger than they are now!”

“There is no difference between waiting for countries in the Central Plains to send more troops and the West-Hill Divine Palace to send more strong men into the Wilderness. If we had to have a bloody fight, it doesn’t matter whether they are stronger or not.”

“It’s about time. Time is the most the important thing. If the Daughter of Yama is not here, both the countries in the Central Plains and the West-Hill Divine Palace would save their strength, allowing others to die in our hands. Therefore, women would have more time to give birth to more children, who can become real soldiers. If time is limited, we cannot withstand it.”

“But don’t forget that Ning Que has promised that the Academy will not join the war as long as we take in the Daughter of Yama. If strong men on the Second floor of the Academy come to the Wilderness, it would be even more terrible than the West-Hill Divine Palace.”

“Ning Que has escaped with the Daughter of Yama, which means he has betrayed the human world. Why would the Academy remain neutral because of him? I thought what he said had no credibility at all.”

“The most crucial question is, what was the point of us the Desolate to have worshipped Yama for thousands of years? Now his daughter is lost in the human world, but we do not take her in and protect her.”

“Although we have worshipped Yama for thousands of years, we still lead a miserable life. And the Underworld Invasion does no good to us. So, do we really want to go forward to the Underworld? I really don’t want to be a damn ghost soldier.”

The Desolate Men in the tent held completely opposite opinions towards whether they should take Ning Que and the Daughter of Yama in. The dispute had been going on without a conclusion, while the First Elder and Tang, the strongest man, kept silent throughout.

The two sides were locked in a stalemate and even began to influence each other. Senior statesmen became excited gradually, while the passionate leaders of the soldiers got worried. But there was still no result, with more and more people gradually agreeing to kill Ning Que and Sangsang for the safety of the Desolate Man’s tribe.

The First Elder stood up with difficulty and walked to the front of the case in the middle of the tent. His lean body, which had weathered the years and bad environment, seemed like it would fall apart if swung around casually.

The wooden case was littered with many things, including golden leaves, a thick stack of notes, and several ID tokens, which were all found on Ning Que by Tang.

The First Elder’s skinny palm moved slowly on the case and said, “Return these things to the Daughter of Yama. Whether we choose to take them in or not, we should respect them all the same.”

Tang agreed calmly and then walked to the front of the case, ready to pack up the items.

The fingers of the First Elder suddenly trembled, just like old bamboo in the wind.

Tang looked towards the old man’s finger. His pupils shrunk and his body became somewhat stiff. He understood all things after a long time of silence. He knew that all of these things were destined to happen.

The First Elder looked at him and sighed, “In that case, let them stay.”

Tang nodded and said, “That’s what I think.”

The senior statesmen and soldier leaders in the tent were very surprised, and even those who were willing to take in Ning Que and Sangsang still felt somewhat shocked. They did not understand why the First Elder and the powerful Tang remained silent all the time but suddenly showed their attitudes, which were so clear and determined.

The First Elder picked up one object on the case, letting everyone see it in person.

It was an ID token. No one knew what material it was made from, not gold, wood, nor stone. It was pure white, with a black pattern carved on it. One could tell from the fresh marks on its edges that it was recently made.

The black pattern was a statue which looked like a human, yet it looked like a god as well. The pure white edges shone with boundless radiance. Because it was facing the sun on its back, its expression and body were immersed within the darkness of its shadow, thus one would not be able to see the features clearly.

It was quiet in the tent, so the sound of snowflakes falling on the top of the tent became extremely clear.

The First Elder said slowly, “Thousands of years ago, the Great Divine Priest of Light preached in the Wilderness with the “Ming” Handscroll from the Tomes of the Arcane. We, Desolate Men, always believed in the Enlightenment Doctrine and worshiped Yama. Thousands of years later, we returned to the south and met the Daughter of Yama and the successor of the Great Divine Priest of Light. This is probably the so-called destiny. Therefore, we have to accomplish this mission even if our whole clan will be exterminated.

Looking at the leaders of the soldiers, Tang said seriously, “When I accepted disciples on behalf of our teacher, I have taught you the skill of the Enlightenment Doctrine and made sure that it would be passed down continuously. Now it has reappeared, you should know how to do it.”

The leaders of the soldiers knelt on one knee and bowed respectfully. They replied in unison, “We will serve you to our deaths.”

Ning Que felt a little headache when he woke up. At first, he thought it was because of the wine and felt slightly ashamed. Afterwards, he became angry when he found out that he had been poisoned by Tang. However, when he heard the final decision of the senior statesmen of the Desolate, his joy and excitement replaced all the negative emotions immediately.

But there was still something he could not understand.

A few years ago he heard from Mo Shanshan in the Wilderness that both the Devil’s Doctrine and the Desolate believed in Yama, but they were extremely afraid that Yama would come to the world. Because in their teachings, Yama’s coming meant darkness. The Desolate also didn’t like darkness.

Therefore, he could understand the reason why the Desolate felt scared about Sangsang but refused to take her in. Then, what made them suddenly change their attitudes and become so positive?

In the Eighteenth year of the Tianqi era, there were abnormalities in the sky, with thick clouds and unpleasant sounds of crows, starting from the Yuelun Kingdom, going through marshes, crossing the border of the Tang kingdom, passing by the Helan mountain, coming to the Eastern Wilderness, and then continuing northward.

The whole world knew that Ning Que entered Desolate Man’s tribe with the Daughter of Yama—Sangsang. The West-Hill Divine Palace sent letters to the parliament of senior statesmen, ordering them to kill or hand over the Daughter of Yama. And in return, they would stop attacking the Desolate and hew out a large pasture in the Eastern Wilderness to help them restore their homeland.

The senior statesmen of the Desolate refused the request of the West-Hill Divine Palace calmly and determinedly.

The West-Hill Divine Palace had ordered the whole world that all cultivators should enter the Wilderness, adding more of the already endless shipments of hay and supplies to the Wilderness. All countries began to recruit soldiers.

The West-Hill Divine Palace said in the letters that it was no longer just a war against the Desolate but a holy war of salvation. The real war was about to begin.