Nightfall

Mo Shanshan had red and thin lips which looked like a young girl’s rouge paper. Her long eyelashes frosted up, trembling in the wind.

After she put her glasses on, the frost gradually melted, reflecting the light in her eyes. She looked adorable with her glasses on.

When she saw the faded lotus in the lake, she pointed at it.

The lotus referred to some small alley in the city. There was a pool behind the alley and a market which was called Lotus Pond, named after the pool.

She was a talented tactical array master. Holding the array eye pestle, she could see Chang’an clearly, after traveling with Ning Que for so many days.

The faded lotus was her speculation.

Ning Que was willing to believe it.

Looking at her beautiful face and lovely glasses, he remembered that they were the gift from him when he and Sangsang were at the Lanke Temple.

Holding his podao, he chopped forward—the two beams of sharp podao light cut off the refraction in her glasses, the wind and snow, and the lotus, but they could not cut off his memories.

Lotus Pond sold groceries or bargains, not far from the Vermilion Bird Avenue. In the past, it was normally crowdy and noisy in the early morning.

Considering the imperial court’s order, telling people that some powerful man had entered the city, people were all ordered to stay at home. Therefore, the market was quiet and empty.

Suddenly, some eaves of the buildings cracked and the broken tiles began to fall, smashing to the snow ground. Even so, it didn’t collapse.

Another straight crack happened on the walls of the warehouse 60 meters away from it and the sheepskin inside was revealed.

There seemed to be nothing in the air, but the snow fell aside as if something invisible kept it away.

Two deep dark holes opened in the ground which seemed to lead to the abyss.

The two marks came from the Yanming Lake. With the help of the God-stunning Array, they spread to Lotus Pond in a short time. The marks were invisible, but the damage of the market had told people of its power.

Neither the character nor the talisman could be seen in the market.

The snow fell aside, the eaves weres broken, and the ground collapsed. The two deep marks could only be seen from a long distance.

The character of “Yi”.

Some slight but clear sounds rang out in the wind, sounding like the tearing of cloth.

A piece of green cloth slowly fell on the ground from the sky.

The Abbey Dean showed up. Looking at the distant place, he was thinking. His green Taoist Robe was torn up in the front, being blown in the wind.

The next moment, he stepped into the snow once again and disappeared.

Ning Que and Mo Shanshan walked across the snow lake and reached the north bank.

They held the array eye pestle together as if they were playmates who didn’t want to be separated.

Mo Shanshan’s face showed an unhealthy blush. She coughed along pointing at the willow by the lake.

In cold winter, the willows had dried up and hanged in the cold wind like frozen snakes which looked desolate.

Ning Que drew his podao out and cut the willows into pieces. Then they went to another place in Chang’an in the snow.

Here was a side lane near the Vermilion Bird Avenue.

It looked very normal like as any in the world. There was a common well at the entrance of the lane, which looked like a doughnut since its edge was covered with thick snow.

The two marks spread here.

With the help of the majestic city, the Talisman of “Yi” could spread to all directions.

The snow on the edge suddenly floated to the air from the well. Even though it looked so weird, in innocent children’s eyes, it was more like a dessert.

With a slight sound, the doughnut abruptly broke off in two parts and turned into a straight rope.

It blocked off the lane.

The lane was so quiet that even the snow fell in silence. Only sobs could be heard when the wind passed through.

One foot stepped out of wind and snow.

It was wearing a blue cloth shoe.

The foot stepped on the rope and kicked it out.

It was a simple kick, but enough to kick down Min Mountain, turning over the world.

The snow rope was abruptly smashed.

The Abbey Dean stepped back with the help of the counterforce, dodging the two marks.

He stopped at the entrance of the lane.

Then he frowned.

Mo Shanshan followed Ning Que to enter the yard in the north bank of Yanming Lake.

This was the first time that she entered Ning Que’s home.

She noticed that Ning Que became more silent.

He walked along the path in Plum Garden, passing through the parlor and reached the front room. He saw much old stuff and was reminded of many old memories. Then he looked up at the slightly bent beam, pondering in silence.

He remembered that year Chen Pipi was terrified of Ye Hongyu when he found her in this room and crashed into the beam. He also remembered that when Xia Hou came here, the beam suffered a lot from him once again.

Anyway, it survived and held the house together.

“Don’t destroy it. It matters,” said he, looking at the beam.

Mo Shanshan turned to the outside of the hall and found a basin of wintersweet out there, which had wildly grown because of neglect. She asked, “How about here?”

Ning Que said with a smile, “Ye Hongyu liked them, but Sangsang and I didn’t.”

Then he wielded his podao to cut the wintersweet into numerous pieces.

A moment later, a woodpile in the back of some mansion in Chang’an transformed into an impregnable fence.

It nearly trapped the green robe but was quickly being chopped like the wintersweet.

Ning Que and Mo Shanshan were walking while chopping.

Ning Que’s podao was his pen and he was writing the talisman.

He had written many Divine Talismans with his podao to replace the broken array intent in the Vermilion Bird Avenue. He also borrowed the Qi of Heaven and Earth from elsewhere in Chang’an to block the Abbey Dean outside the Imperial Palace.

Chen Pipi, as well as his brother and sister were sitting by the ruins in the south of the Vermilion Bird Avenue, feeling the changes in the city. When they perceived the intermittent sharp Talisman Intent in the streets, they had complicated feelings.

Ning Que had not fixed the God-stunning Array yet, but he had found a good method to stop the leakage. However, his replacement seemed not sufficient for both the Academy and the Tang Empire.

“I will return to Haotian Taoism no matter how this ends,” said Chen Pipi.

Both Eldest Brother and Yu Lian knew his meaning, but neither of them responded. Looking at each other in peace, they stood up and walked toward somewhere side by side.

Since it was not enough, they had to go.

It was meaningless even if Ning Que could stop the Abbey Dean or drive him off out of Chang’an. If they could not kill him, the Academy would lose.