Nightfall

Sangsang’s body was as black as coal.

But her feet were as white as jade.

Ning Que had taken a bath for her and he liked to sleep with her feet in his arms. He was familiar with her body, her feet, and everything about her. However, he felt so strange now when he looked at her perfect black and white body.

When he found the baby girl in his childhood among the corpses in Hebei Province, he also felt it strange like others in the Official of Counsel’s mansion. After that, however, he got used to it after living with her for years. But it was not until now that he understood the truth when he saw the scene and heard the Headmaster’s words.

Sangsang was black as well as white. She was just like the black chess piece she had held in the last game of chess at the Lanke Temple. As time went by, it had become white in the carriage on the Wilderness.

So far, there was no hope of any luck for Ning Que.

There was no Yama in this world. Haotian was Yama.

There was no Underworld in this world. The world becomes the Underworld when Haotian brings the doomsday.

Countless lights gushed out from Sangsang’s body. The water of the Sishui River was as calm as a mirror, condensing those lights into a light beam and then reflecting them onto the high blue sky.

The riverside also began to shine brightly. Countless rays of light emerged from the Headmaster’s body and were tied to those from Sangsang’s body. He could not leave for part of him was in Sangsang body.

The Headmaster looked at the beams emerged from himself and found them very interesting. He even reached out his hand to touch them like playing a Qin. Then he asked, “Is it time now?”

There was no emotion on Sangsang’s face, nor in her voice. You could not tell whether the voice came from a man or a woman. It contained no mood and was transparent and empty, but not mechanical. Moreover, the voice which rang from her body had countless syllables, which were too complicated to understand at all. It was more like the voice of nature.

However, the Headmaster understood it. So he smiled.

Though Ning Que did not understand it, he knew that it was time to leave.

One was his most beloved teacher, the other was a woman with whom he had shared his life. There was no doubt that this was the most painful decision point one could imagine. Fortunately or unfortunately, he could not be able to make a choice now, or perhaps he did not need to make a choice.

Ning Que could not move; he could only sit on the meadow by the Sishui River. As he was watching those two people who were linked together by countless rays of light, his sight toward Sangsang became increasingly calm and indifferent.

Nobody could understand what Haotian said. It resounded through the world like the whistling wind or thunder.

Therefore, the world knew what had happened by the Sishui River.

Thus the whole world began to reverberate with a sentence.

“We respectfully celebrate the Headmaster’s ascension!”

At the top of the Peach Mountain of the West-Hill Divine Kingdom, a dark crowd knelt on the stone ground outside the solemn Divine Hall. The overbearing priests in red and deacons of the Divine Hall touched the ground with their foreheads, like the most devout believers.

The Hierarch Lord of the West-Hill Divine Palace also kelt behind the gauze curtain in the depths of the white Divine Hall. Outside the curtain knelt the Great Divine Priest of Revelation and the Great Divine Priest of Judgment.

“We respectfully celebrate the Headmaster’s ascension!”

Deep in the Western Wilderness, on the top of the giant peak in the center of the sinkhole, the Chief Preaching Monk of the Xuankong Temple prayed respectfully with hands folded, without holding his monk’s staff.

Endless chanting and the same sentence reverberated through countless yellow temples partly hidden and partly visible in the mist among the peaks. People were waiting for the Headmaster’s ascension.

“We respectfully celebrate the Headmaster’s ascension!”

This sentence was repeated again and again by countless respected bigwigs from Taoist temples, Buddhist temples and palaces, who were kneeling on the ground respectfully.

…

…

Somewhere in the far South Sea.

The Taoist in indigo looked toward the land silently, with an extremely serious expression.

He did not say that sentence because he was nervous.

He saw a big curtain falling slowly.

He had waited for too long for this moment and could not be at ease until the last minute.

There were many people who did not look forward to the Headmaster’s ascension.

The ordinay poeple did not know what had happened, let alone the knowledge about how the thing happening by the Sishui River would influnce their lives.

As usual, they bought vegetables, cooked, drank, chattered, played cards, stole incense, fought, and farmed.

“I’m a little tired and annoyed after being in charge of human affairs for too many years. So I don’t want to continue. Look, in fact, people in the world don’t want me to take care of them.”

The Headmaster said to Ning Que as he drove away a ray of light floating before his eyes.

Ning Que could not move but watch and cry, so he bursted out crying, his face covered with tears. Then he began to laugh, inexplicably and neurotically.

The Headmaster was puzzled and asked, “When we were on the Wilderness, Haotian laughed and cried for he was happy to find me. What’s wrong with you now?”

Ning Que suddenly realized that his hands could move. “I hate it.” he said.

“You hate what? Your wife?” The Headmaster laughed.

Ning Que looked at him and said, “I hate you being irresponsible.”

The Headmaster was startled and asked, “How?”

Ning Que answered, “If you ascend to Heaven in this way, what would Tang Empire do? What would the Academy do?”

The Headmaster said, “Even I am not interested in such trifle matters, let alone Haotian.”

Ning Que said, “Even if Haotian were not interested in it, how could we deal with Haotian Taoism?”

“If you cannot even deal with an enemy in the world, how could you fight Haotian?”

The Headmaster said smilingly, “What’s more, I’m not necessarily going to lose.”

The smile gradually disappeared from the Headmaster’s face. He looked at Sangsang glowing above the Sishui River and suddenly said, “I knew it was you in the carriage when we were in the Wilderness. I found you when you found me. Have you ever thought what I was doing over these days?”

Sangsang kept a poker face, as if she did not hear the question. Rays of light became increasingly dense that they were gradually forming a stream.

“I brought you the best roast lamb leg in the world, the most exquisite eighteen dishes in the Kingdom of Song, and the most delicious instant-boiled mutton on the grasslands. I also took you to eat variable platyfish and drink oyster soup. I took you to see the Snow-capped Peak and boated on the sea. I also agreed on your marriage with Ning Que.”

“I took you to eat all kinds of fine food and to see all the good sceneries in the world. I let you enjoy the greatest happiness as a human being. I even helped you experience a deeper feeling.”

The Headmaster looked at Sangsang and said, “Human beings are nobodies in your eyes. But now you are married with a nobody and feel his happiness. Have you ever thought of staying in this world since you have fully enjoyed the happiness of this world? You spared no effort to find me over these years and desired to invite me to fight in Heaven. However, have you ever thought that I really wanted to invite you to visit me in this world?”

In the infinite light, Sangsang, who was with an ice-like expression, could be faintly seen slightly frowning with her finely arched eyebrows. It seemed that the Headmaster’s words did pose some kind of threat to her.

The Headmaster smiled lightly.

However, the frown disappeared in a moment and her eyebrows became flat as a mirror. The light from her grew stronger, which was entwined with the Headmaster, reflected in the calm water of the Sishui River, and then became a light beam casting into the sky by the refraction.

A light door gradually appeared at the place where the light beam ended in the sky.

The door was opening and the bright Heaven was faintly visible behind the door.

“The moon in your dream… should be the one in the ‘Ming’ handscroll from the Tomes of the Arcane. It’s really beautiful.”

The Headmaster turned to look at Ning Que and said. Then he lifted Ning Que from the meadow and threw him to the north with a wave of his arm.

The Headmaster flew up and left the Sishui River for the light door in the sky.

He had returned to some places before the sentence “We respectfully celebrate the Headmaster’s ascension” resounded throughout the world.

He went back to the State of Lu and fell silent in a hilly region.

He returned to Tang and walked a few steps in the palace.

Then he went back to the Academy in the south of Chang’an.

The meadow was green, the flowers in bloom, and the trees lush. It was extremely beautiful before the Academy.

He walked along the stone path to the Academy with hands clasped behind back. Students in the foreyard he met along the way did not know him, but still bowed to show their etiquette. This was because the Academy asked all students to respect the elderly.

The Headmaster was satisfied.

The Headmaster went into a room in the front courtyard and chatted with Huang He for a while. Then he questioned the female professor about how she could get married in the future when she wore the blue cloth gown for such a long time.

Then he left the front yard, walked through the alley and across the wetland, passed by the old library and took a look at the Sword Forest in the distance.

Yu Lian, as usual, was writing regular script in small characters by the window of the old library.

Suddenly, a drop of ink fell from the tip of the writing brush, thus staining the golden flower paper.

She rested the brush on the ink-slab gently after a short silence and then knelt before the window.

The Headmaster walked into the Academy mountain’s back.

Mu You was embroidering in the lake pavilion when she saw the Headmaster in pleased surprise. “You are finally back,” she said, “did you bring Sangsang back with you? The food these days has been awful.”

Beigong Weiyang came out of the jungle with a flute in hand. He complained, “You haven’t listened to my music for six years. How could you be partial as a teacher?”

The waterwheel by the stream was still running. The clangs of forging iron came continuously from the blacksmith’s room. It could occasionally be heard from the jungle at the back of the mountain that one could not retract a false move in a chess game. A wild flower was cut and sent to a mouth to chew it. The little white wolf suffered from the peck of the big white goose. It ran away with its tail between its legs to look for Tang Xiaotang.

Eldest Brother and Second Brother went out of their small yards and followed the Headmaster in silence to the back of the mountain. They walked to the steep stone path and came to the precipice.

The Headmaster stood by the cliff.

Eldest Brother and Second Brother knelt behind him.

He looked at Chang’an in the distance and smiled.

By the Sishui River.

The Headmaster took to the skies as his black garments danced in the air.

Sangsang followed him to leave as countless bright golden flowers emerged from her body and fell to the world.

The clouds in the sky were radiant with extraordinary splendour.

We respectfully celebrate the Headmaster’s ascension.

This voice was reverberated throught the world.

The Headmaster’s tall figure gradually disappeared in the light.