Nightfall

“How to beat Haotian and how to be a strong person like you seem irrelevant.”

For Ning Que, only the powerful cultivators like the Headmaster were qualified to go against Haotian and work out the abstruse questions.

How did the Headmaster cultivate? It was hard to be simply copied, but he could study and consult as his Youngest Uncle did and save himself some twists and turns.

“Some people cultivate by talking and living. It stinks but it’s real; as long as you can live longer, you can cultivate better. I am average but I am living a long life.

“How to be strong like me? First, you should learn how to compete with time—one of the two powerful rules of Haotian. You should try to stay alive longer. The longer you live, the better you cultivate, and then the longer you can live. It is a cycle.”

Ning Que said, “Teacher, you’re just spouting rubbish.”

The Headmaster said, “But that is what I am doing.”

– Looking at his teacher’s wrinkles, Ning Que said, “Teacher, you are the most powerful man in the world. You can fly to the sky and live forever. Strictly speaking, you are not an ordinary person and you have been beyond all human beings. You can live a happy and peaceful life like Drunkard and Butcher. Why do you have to go against Haotian? For the sake of the world?”

“First of all, we should be clear. If the world is simply repetitive, limited, and boring, the longer you live, the more bored you will be. Only a boundless world can bring infinite joy. I have seen many beautiful views and tasted all the delicious food in the world. I am bored living in Haotian’s world. It is time for me to break the heavens and go out to see other views. I have told you that before.”

He added, “Second, you said I was beyond human beings and should not have the mood to look for a new world for humans, satisfying their curiosities… Many years ago, I have also wondered if I am a human being. In order to confirm it, I did one thing.”

“What?” asked Ning Que.

The Headmaster said, “I ate a piece of human flesh. But I found it tasted bad. More accurately, it was disgusting. I kept spitting until my stomach was empty.”

Ning Que said, “Indeed, but how did it solve your problems?”

The Headmaster answered, “The old yellow bull likes eating variable platyfish and it never has beef while the Big Black Horse enjoys mutton and I believe it never wants horseflesh, either. Since the old yellow bull is a bull and the Big Black Horse is a horse, I would like to try all kinds of meat in the world except for the human flesh because I am a human.”

The simple but unreasonable answer was straight and unquestionable.

The Headmaster said, “Since I am still a person and live in the world, I have to do something for humanity. We are different from the people in the Haotian Taoism, who believe they are the people of Haotian and they will eventually return to the arms of Haotian. Therefore they are doing Heaven’s Way.”

At this time, the black carriage had arrived at the Academy. The thermostable flowers full bloomed on the green meadow and looked beautiful. The back of the mountain could be faintly seen behind the fog.

The Headmaster didn’t return to the back of the mountain and the carriage kept moving forward.

Ning Que took a deep breath and happily smiled.

Looking at him, the Headmaster said, “Why are you so happy?”

Ning Que didn’t explain, repeatedly waving his hand.

He was happy because the Headmaster did not return to the Academy, so he didn’t have to say goodbye to his brothers and sisters, which meant his most worrisome concern would not happen.

The carriage ran heading to the north.

The dialogue between them continued.

“Why can’t you overcome Haotian since you are already strong enough?”

“I’ve already told you. This world is Haotian’s world and Haotian is its rules. Though the cultivators who can go beyond the Five States can make their own rules, they are still within Haotian’s rules.

“Every flower, grass, tree, wood, smile, and thought are all in its eyes. Even the Karma can’t get out. Lotus thought he could get out of the Three Realms, but in fact, he was still in them.”

Speaking of this, he looked at Ning Que’s waist and turned to Sangsang. He said, “As for me, I can ignore the rules, being limitless, but I can’t get rid of the so-called Karma that Buddha mentioned. It is the sequence of the things happening and the sequence is the time. Time is everything.”

“In this world, Haotian knows everything and is capable of everything. It can calculate and arrange everything that we can’t predict it in advance and avoid it. This is called the unpredictable fate and the inviolable fate.

Ning Que asked, “Since Haotian is omnipotent, why hasn’t it killed you yet.”

“It tried. The thunder, rainstorm, and seaquake. I have seen all kinds of heaven’s anger which are probably more than all the cultivators combined.”

He added, “But I ran faster.”

Then he slightly waved his sleeve and the Qi of Heaven and Earth around the carriage was changed.

Ning Que had sharp sense. After he entered the Knowing Destiny State, he could tell the most subtle changes. At this time, he felt the Qi had been divided into many layers, between which was an ethereal and smooth space.

“This world is covered with the Qi of Heaven and Earth and it is divided. Maybe because the world is crooked, there are many crooked passages, through which people can reach a place thousands of miles away,” said the Headmaster.

…

Ning Que said, “Is that the Limitlessness?”

The Headmaster answered, “Yes, it is. If you can enter the Limitless State, it would be harder for Haotian to kill you. The problem is, you are unable to run all the time because you will be dead tired. So you need to find some other ways.”

“I told you that my only advantage was having lived for a long time. Because of this, my state is so high that I can’t find a predecessor to learn from. I have to grope by myself. Fortunately, I did find something to stop it from finding me.”

“I have given up this body and did not to jump out of the Three Realms, staying in the human world. I integrated myself into the world. If Haotian wants to kill me, it has to destroy the whole world. As the rule of the world, if the world is destroyed, Haotian will be devastated as well. Therefore, it has been trying everything to find me, so it can invite me to fight with it in heaven.”

“It is a dangerous way: if it can find a piece of me, it can trace back to me. However, it is the safest way because I am everywhere. If my person doesn’t show up, it will never find me.”

Ning Que thought about it for a long time and said, “I still don’t understand, but it sounds pretty good.”

The black horse carriage arrived at the Sishui River.

The willows were green and the houses on the other side looked brand new.

Ning Que and Sangsang sat beside the Headmaster, looking at the view and taking a rest.

The story about Haotian and the Headmaster was over, but there was an important role that had never been mentioned.

Ning Que asked, “What is Yama?”

The Headmaster said, “There is no Yama.”

Ning Que was stunned. He turned to his teacher and asked, “No Yama?”

The Headmaster answered, “I have been to many places and seen many sceneries. There is no such a place called Underworld. If there is no Underworld, there is no Yama.”

Ning Que was confused. He said, “How could that happen? Isn’t the Underworld about to invade the world? Aren’t the Buddha Light Array in the Lanke Temple and the magical weapons that the Buddha left prepared for countering Yama?”

The Headmaster said, “The Buddha wanted to suppress the one who he considered as Yama. In this sense, his preparations were reasonable, but he never figured out who Yama was.”

Ning Que became more confused. Pointing at Sangsang who was playing with a weaved toy, he asked, “She is Yama’s daughter. If there is no Yama, where did she come from?”

The Headmaster turned around and said with a smile, “Idiot. Is it that you really don’t understand or you just don’t want to believe it?”

His smile was gentle and his eyes were calm. Ning Que’s heart chilled and his eyelids began to tremble. His legs became weak like willow branches and were about to fall.

Countless sweat drops poured out from every part of his body and drenched his black robe. The Great Spirit inside him was going to collapse because of his mood.

Ning Que felt so bitter in his mouth that he could not say anything.

Looking at Sangsang, the Headmaster rubbed her head and said, “Don’t forget, she was the Daughter of Light before she became Yama’s.”

Upon hearing this, Sangsang looked up at him, not knowing what he was talking about.

“In fact, she has been the Daughter of Light all the time.”

The Headmaster patted him on the shoulder and calmly said, “In other words, she is the Daughter of Haotian. She is the doppelganger of Haotian which means she is Haotian itself.”

Sangsang heard this sentence but she failed to understand it. She was upset and her face turned paler than the cosmetic powder of the Chenjinji Cosmetics Store on her face.

Ning Que’s face was paler than hers. He said with a hoarse voice, trembling, “But they all said she was Yama’s daughter.”

The Headmaster said, “I told you many times. There is no Underworld nor Yama. If you have to find a Yama, it should be Haotian. Haotian is Yama.”

Ning Que put his head between his legs and said, “It… makes no sense.”

“This is the most simple fact, even a little kid can understand it. In fact, I should have understood it long before, but the reason is just too simple.”

“Absolute brightness, is equivalent to absolute darkness.”

His eyes rested on the azure sky through the willow branches. He praised, “The great Way makes everything the most simple.”