Nightfall

The war between the West-Hill Divine Palace coalition army and the Desolate broke out in the eighteenth year of the Tianqi era. More than hundreds of thousands of troops on both sides began to fight with each other without any signs nor negotiations attempts. People died with every passing moment. Those proud and lofty cultivators were all fighting crazily, just like ordinary soldiers on the stormy battlefield, and even strong men in the Seethrough Realm could become a corpse in the grass whose name was unknown.

In the past thousands of years, the West-Hill Divine Palace had always kept a low profile. Now they finally showed its image and solemnity as a commander of the world. The Hierarch Lord of the West-Hill Divine Palace came to the Wilderness with the Great Divine Priests of Revelation and Judgement, as well as the strong cavalrymen of the Divine Hall. The Emperor of the South Jin Kingdom, the Crown Prince Chong Ming of the Yan Kingdom, and leaders of countries in the Central Plains all woke up from shock, and summoned their troops as quickly as possible, personally leading their armies to fight in the Wilderness.

Several days later, another shocking news came from Chang’an City that Li Zhongyi, the Emperor of the Tang Empire had gone to the Wilderness in the north more than ten days ago, leading cavalries of the Tang Empire. And they were about to arrive at Helan City.

It was not until then that hundreds of millions of Haotian believers finally realized that the invasion of the underworld was not just a legend. Otherwise, the strong powers of the world would not be so nervous about the appearance of the Daughter of Yama, and assembled such terrifying troops to fight in the Wilderness.

More than ten thousand troops from the Tang Empire had entered the Wilderness. Under the leadership of general Xian Zhilang, the Northeast Border Military all came to Tuyang City. They marched directly to the north along the Yan territory and traveled to the main battlefield deep in the Wilderness, joining with the West-Hill Divine Palace coalition army.

Although the most powerful northern army in the Tang Empire had to be responsible for monitoring and deterring the Golden Palace, it still sent more than half of its troops to Helan City, following the Emperor.

“The number of people who can return to the Tang Empire after this war is still unknown.”

His majesty Li Zhongyi, Emperor of the Tang Empire, looked calm yet extremely emotional as he stood on the east wall of Helan city, looking at the northern army cavalries marching eastward in sequence, on the riding road at the bottom of the gorge.

Master Huang Yang stood by his majesty’s side, praying silently with his hands put together.

General Han Qing of Helan city, stood behind his majesty, considering himself as his most loyal servant. Therefore, he could say some things that other officials and generals dared not say.

“Your majesty, you coming to the battlefield in person would definitely boost the army’s morale, but it is too dangerous to fight thousands of miles away from the country; especially when the Nation Master could not come with you and the Academy sent no one to protect you.”

The Emperor waved his hand to stop Han Qing and said, “When I was about to come out of Chang’an city, memorials were thrown to the throne like snowflakes, and the four generals headed by Xu Shi even planned to write a blood book to stop me. But for my setting out ahead of schedule, I’m afraid that some ministers would really hit the palace wall to prevent me from leaving. Now, I have listened to your advice and stayed at Helan City without going eastward. Why are you still not satisfied with that?”

Han Qing was half barbarian. If not for His Majesty’s trust, it would be hard for him to achieve such a high position in the army of the Tang Empire. So, he always hated being called a barbarian, except for when the Emperor did it. It was only his habit to call Han Qing like that, and Han Qing thought it strengthened their closeness, of which he felt proud of.

But today, at the thought of the horrible battlefield hundreds of miles away from the east of the canyon and those cultivators who had horrific strength were so close to His Majesty, he had no mood to be proud. He said with a trembling voice, “We still insist that even if Your Majesty wants to lead the army, you should retreat to the Northern Military Camp.”

The Emperor was a little bit annoyed and said, “I have sent you to guard the Helan city for so many years. Do you still think this place cannot be guarded?”

Han Qing looked dazed on hearing this, and said with a low voice, “Helan city is as solid as gold soup… But your majesty, there are so many strong men in the Wilderness now.”

The Emperor said, “Strong men of the Desolate were busy fighting with bigwigs of the West-Hill Divine Palace. It’s difficult for them to spare some power to assassinate me.”

There was no one else on the wall at this moment. Han Qing glanced at Master Huang Yang, and said with a low voice after a moment of struggling, “His Majesty, what I am worried about… are those bigwigs in the Divine Hall.”

At this time, the Hierarch Lord of the West-Hill Divine Palace came to the Eastern Wilderness in person, with the Great Divine Priests of Revelation and Judgement, as well as powerful men hidden in all countries by Haotian Taoism. This lineup was beyond powerful. It was the most magnificent one in the past hundreds of years, and it could happen nowhere else, except for the Academy.

His Majesty felt dazed upon hearing this, but began to laugh immediately, “Haotian Taoism has never liked our country. Now that I finally have the chance to leave Chang’an city, maybe they really want to do something to me. So, your worry is reasonable. However, I don’t think those bigwigs of the Divine Hall would dare to hurt me.”

Hearing the heroic spirit in His Majesty’s words, Han Qing felt slightly bitter in his heart. He knew that it was hard to persuade the Tangs to back off when it came to bravery. But he was still unwilling to reconcile and said, “We have dispatched half of the northern army to the Eastern Wilderness, what if something happens with the Golden Palace? Your Majesty, you should still go to the Northern Military Camp.”

His Majesty frowned slightly and said, “Xu Chi is guarding the Northern Military Camp. I have nothing to worry about.”

Xu Chi, one of the four great generals of the Tang Empire, was always calm and kept a low profile. So, he was not as well-known as Xu Shi—the Defender-general of the State, and general Xia Hou. However, his defensive ability was unparalleled. The Tang Empire wanted to keep a stable relationship with the Golden Palace, and that’s why he was in charge of the northern army all the time.

Han Qing dared not to discredit general Xu Chi’s ability, so he was so anxious that his head was full of sweat.

Looking at his dejected expression, the Emperor couldn’t help laughing and waved for him to step down.

The sun sank in the west and shone on Helan city, while the east wall turned dark. Cavalries of the Tang Empire had all come to the Eastern Wilderness through the canyon, with the Emperor still standing on the wall. He touched the railing with his hand and looked into the distance, as if he was thinking of something. His sideburns had turned gray, but his face still looked young, only a lot thinner than before.

The Wilderness was much colder than Chang’an. At this time, there was no sunshine, with the wind coming through the gorge. His Majesty frowned slightly, raised his hand and clenched his fist against his lips. He forcibly suppressed his coughing and took out a bottle of medicine from a pocket in his bosom.

“The cough preventing medicine can only cure the symptoms but not the root cause. Taking too much of it would be harmful to your body.”

Master Huang Yang looked at him and said with concern. He had met His Majesty years ago, and they had even become sworn brothers since coming back from learning Buddhism at the Xuankong Temple. Therefore, their speech and manner were quite direct, which was different from ordinary ministers.

His Majesty smiled and said, “It couldn’t cure the root cause through all these years, so why not make myself more comfortable?”

Huang Yang asked, “Your Majesty, are you really not worried about it?”

His Majesty frowned slightly after hearing this, and said, “What should I be worried about? Chanyu in the Golden Palace or those divine sticks of the West-Hill Divine Palace? I don’t think that the Golden Palace dares to come since I took more than a hundred thousand cavalries with me.”

Looking at His Majesty’s cool and confident expression as he spoke, Huang Yang smiled. He had forgot that His Majesty was once a famous general of the Northern Frontier when he was the Crown Prince, and the Golden Palace had suffered a lot in his hands. Thus, they dared not to provoke the Tang Empire, but…

The Emperor knew that his worries were the same as Han Qing’s, so he shook his head and said, “If the West-Hill Divine Palace wants to kill me, it has to send out all its power. But now what they are focused on are the Desolate and the Daughter of Yama.”

“Moreover, would they dare to assassinate me?”

After a moment of silence, Huang Yang said, “In fact, what I’m worried about is Chang’an City.”

His majesty frowned slightly and asked, “You think it is inappropriate to let the princess supervise the country, right?”

Huang Yang thought that not only him but also countless of ministers of Tang Empire, even people in the streets, all thought that it was extremely inappropriate to let the princess guard the country. His Majesty went far to the Wilderness and brought Han Qing and Huang Yang with him. Therefore, if some accidents happened, Chang’an City would be in turmoil.

His Majesty said calmly before he replied, “I know what you are worried about. However, your worries are meaningless. If something might happen to me, who dares not to follow my edict?”

Master Huang Yang said calmly, “The Edict can be effective when it’s seen by people.”

His Majesty said, “If I die first, there is still the Headmaster and the Academy. Who would dare to do anything that goes against the law? Han Qing is worried about my safety and you are concerned about the country’s because you two do not understand one thing.”

“If someone wants to destroy our Tang Empire, he must kill the Headmaster first, and then destroy the Academy completely after killing me. However, no one in this world can do this.”

Huang Yang shook his head slowly and said, “But the Headmaster is old after all.”

“The Headmaster would never be old… ”

It was obvious that there was still half of His Majesty’s sentence which remained unspoken, and no one knew the reason. Maybe he had been touched by himself. He said slowly after a moment of silence, “In fact, I am really old.”

Huang Yang knew that His Majesty was always in ill health. What he meant by saying he was old was actually his illness. Huang Yang felt depressed at the thought of this, but he thought that life and death were common things and there was no need to be sad about them.

Knowing that Huang Yang had straightened out his thinking, His Majesty smiled and stretched out his hand to touch his bald head.

This was what the Emperor used to do many years ago, but Master Huang Yang could not get accustomed to that since he hadn’t been touched on the head so disrespectfully for many years. His image as a Bhadanta disappeared just like that, and so he glared at the Emperor angrily.

The Emperor gradually stopped smiling, looked at him calmly and said, “It is always a vain effort to worry about life and death, but one should arrange the following things after his passing away. Well, I have already thought it over and decided to pass the throne to the sixth prince.”

The exasperation on Huang Yang’s face suddenly stopped, and it took a long time before he woke up. He was shocked and said, “How could you decide such an important thing so casually. In addition, Your Majesty, why did you let me know first?”

The Emperor said, “Didn’t you worry about the validity of the Edict before? You are the executor of it.”

Huang Yang felt slightly bitter, and said, “How can I have such ability? This should be a matter of the Academy.”

The Emperor shook his head and said, “The Academy would never interfere with the government, which is an iron law set by the Headmaster. Previously, I wanted him to execute the Edict. But this guy is fighting with the whole world, including me, to protect his wife. Thus, how can I choose him?”

Huang Yang thought of the rumor, he frowned all the more, and glanced towards the balcony behind.

Knowing what he was thinking, the Emperor said calmly, “I heard professor Yu Lian in the Academy had accepted a female disciple the year before last.”

Huang Yang said, “Yes, it is said that she is the younger sister of Tang—the Wayfarer of the Devil’s Doctrine.”

The Emperor looked at him and said, “Both the Academy and myself don’t mind about that, so the Tang Empire doesn’t mind either. As for your worries and Qingshan’s… I will let the sixth prince take Mr. First as his teacher after returning to Chang’an.”

The monk Huang Yang clasped his hands together as he sincerely praised, “Then, there’s nothing wrong.”