Nightfall

The dark wind, coming from Ning Que’s podao, blew through the long street, hacked the Abbey Dean, throwing him into the lake like a dead fish. However, it didn’t stop and proceeded to the south.

There were two thousand cavalrymen outside the city who had no idea about what was happening inside Chang’an. They still dreamed about how to rob the rich when they entered the city.

There were only a few people in the West-Hill Divine Palace who were aware of the Abbey Dean’s plan, and Long Qing was one of them, who, in sense, was the Abbey Dean’s last disciple.

He thought that he had known what was happening inside Chang’an—he tried his best to reach here at any price, to cooperate with the Abbey Dean.

The Abbey Dean should have beaten the Academy and broken the God-stunning Array. With no real army to guard, the city of Chang’an was like a tied up prisoner in front of his 2,000 cavalrymen.

Thinking of this, he could not help laughing happily. His cavalry would be the first troop to conquer Chang’an as well as the last one who destroyed it.

As the prince of Yan, as well as the Divine Son of West-Hill, destroying Chang’an and eradicating the Tang Empire were his lifelong wishes. He had worked so hard; even his soul had suffered countless tests until he was black and blue.

There was one more thing he had to finish while he destroyed Chang’an—killing Ning Que, the opponent who had left him so many cruel memories in his life.

He had barely entered the peak of the Knowing Destiny State when he devoured all the Halfman Taoist’s cultivation with his Grey Eyes in the mountain behind the Zhishou Abbey, as well as many priests’ spirit power in the Wilderness. Even though he had known that Ning Que had been reached the same level as he had, he still believed that this time, he would win.

He had lost so many times: at the party in Chang’an, on the path in the Academy, on the snow cliff in the Wilderness, and outside the Red Lotus Temple. What made him angrier was that Ning Que was obviously inferior in all aspects, yet he had beaten him again and again.

If fate existed, if Haotian was watching them peacefully and lovingly, after inexplicably having lost for so many times, it should be his turn to win.

The more he paid, the sweeter the fruit he harvested—the thought of Ning Que kneeling down in pain on the ground after he entered the city—Long Qing looked at the majestic city and suddenly felt that all the pain he had suffered these years had turned into sweet memories.

The huge fire burned down the houses on the roadsides, reflecting on his silver mask. His eyes looked calm through the mask but his hands trembled.

At this moment, the raging fire in the village suddenly went out!

Looking at the village that suddenly became quiet, the smoke, the scorched earth and ruins as well as the silent wilderness, Long Qing frowned and a strange feeling arose in his heart.

Even the heaviest rain could not put off the fire in such an instant, not even the wildest wind.

Moreover, the clouds had dissipated, revealing the blue sky and leaving no trace of the rain. Even the air had stopped flowing.

What happened?

The cavalrymen around him had also noticed the unusual condition, blankly looking around.

Long Qing didn’t turn around because he was focusing on the other end of the road.

The straight and spacious state highway led directly to Chang’an and its end was at the Vermilion Bird Gate.

He seemed to see some black sand blowing from the distance.

He had no idea what it was but his heart sped up and shook slightly. He felt fear and his gut told him to run away.

“Spread out! Take shelter from the wind.”

Long Qing’s face turned pale. He began to shout at his soldiers. Then he lifted his rein, heading to the state highway, and ran to the ruined village.

The two thousand soldiers came from the Papal Cavalry of the Divine Hall and the Left King’s Palace, who had been Long Qing’s most loyal elites. Even though they didn’t know what had happened, when they heard Long Qing, they all lifted the reins and urged their horses to run to the wilderness beside the road.

As a powerhouse at the Knowing Destiny State, Long Qing was sensitive to danger, accurately and timely. The soldiers also showed their excellent military ethics and responded quickly.

However, the black wind coming from Chang’an had gone beyond humanity and could no longer be described by speed, instantly striking in front of them.

Wind is the flow of air which should be colorless. The wind ravaging the world was black because it had been mingled with many objects.

The dust, dirty snow, teapots, leftovers, iron pans, and black bricks were all whirled away by the wind and covered the sky, darkening the whole world.

The horrible thing was inside the black wind. Besides these sharp objects, a vast blade intent was also hiding in it. It was so sharp that even the wind seemed to be cut into pieces when it blew over.

Some cavalrymen, who hadn’t run into the wilderness, encountered it first. They screamed until they were cut into pieces and rolled up in the wind with their horses.

Even those who had spread to the wilderness were unable to get away from the black wind. They hid behind broken walls. The wind would cut the broken walls, and then cut them; They hid behind the mound. The mound would be winded away, and then they were blown away as well.

The black wind came as if the deepest and darkest night had fallen.

In the dark night, people could only hear the sounds of blades but could not find the man who wielded the weapon.

The cavalrymen cried out and died one by one.

Looking at the residences that had been ruined, Long Qing trembled.

Until the black wind arrived in front of him, he was finally able to see the details in it clearly. He saw some household items from the families in Chang’an and he also found some podao marks.

Then he figured out who did this.

He took out the dark, peaceful peach blossom from his chest and lifted it against the wind, screaming.

It was his natal peach blossom, containing the cultivation throughout his life.

However, even though the Abbey Dean had been inspired and entered the State of Pureness during the great danger, turning his flesh and blood into a red lotus, he was still hacked by the wind. Living was better than death. Let alone him.

The black peach blossom withered at a visible speed, with its petals falling off one by one.

A vast amount of tiny cuts appeared on his body.

The silver mask on his face cracked like a dry field and was peeled off.

After a long time, the black wind finally went away. No one knew where it went or whether it had just vanished. It might break the void and enter another space.

The wilderness in the south of the city returned to peace. What followed wasn’t the sunshine, it was a blood rain. More precisely, it was a bloody torrential rain.

The flesh of the soldiers and horses that had rolled up to the sky had fallen down to the ground as the black wind went away.

Pieces of flesh ranging in the tens of thousands hit the ground, creating booming sounds and splashing bloodflowers as well as frightening juices.

The two thousand soldiers who were going to attack Chang’an were all killed by the black wind. Most of them had turned into the pieces of flesh and the others were thrown up to the sky, later falling to their deaths.

The trees to the southeast of the state highway were covered with hanging pieces of bodies. A dozen black crows flew around them, cheerfully cawing as they were looking forward to the grand meal.

These black crows could not eat up all the flesh; the rest would turn into nutrients for the soil, since the soldiers had burned down the village and the trees earlier. It could be expected that some years later, they would grow lush and beautiful.

Long Qing was still alive.

He was watching Chang’an City.

His silver mask had been broken, revealing the old and new scars on his face. The once perfect face had been ruined like a scary ghost in the Underworld.

He suddenly laughed and then cried out.

He had suffered a lot in order to destroy the city and kill the man inside it, including selling his soul. However, before he was about to succeed, he found it was just a daydream of his.

The city looked so close, but it turned out to be so far away.

He easily failed even before he saw Ning Que in person.

The most painful thing for him was to not even be Ning Que’s target. He believed that Ning Que may not even not know of his coming, being so close to the city.

And still he lost.

He looked at Chang’an in the distance and cried out.

“Ning Que!”

Since Ning Que entered the Second floor of the Academy, people had been enjoying describing them as enemies. However, at this time, Ning Que indeed didn’t know Long Qing was out there.

He had no idea that Long Qing had been driven crazy by the black wind and of the two thousand soldiers who would have caused trouble, that had been hacked into blood and flesh.

His target was the Abbey Dean.

All the Tangs in Chang’an aimed at the Abbey Dean.

The black wind brought night to the world and blasted the Abbey Dean away as his podao’s came down.

The Vermilion Bird Avenue was quiet. Everyone, injured or uninjured, were all looking at Ning Que’s back.

Old Master Chao quiveringly asked, “Is he dead?”

People on the street were all brave, but they would never want to face a horrible enemy like the Abbey Dean.

Ning Que shook his head.

People were all silent.

Ning Que said, “Even if he hasn’t died, he is a cripple now.”

No one responded to his comment.

Leaning against the wet walls, Zhang Nianzu and Li Guangdi blankly looked at each other.

Old Master Chao paused and then said with a smile, “Don’t tease me.”

He walked towards the Eastern City on a crutch while shouting loudly, “It’s over. Go home and get the doctors here.”

Old Mrs. Chu laughed and handed the old blade to her little daughter-in-law.

They finally could confirm that the battle had ended.

Zhang Nianzu and Li Guangdi looked at each other and cackled delightedly.

The Tea Master chuckled.

Everyone burst out laughing.

Cheerful laughter gradually spread.

Laughter rang throughout Chang’an.

Yu Lian supported her Eldest Brother and walked to the street.

The Eldest Brother had been chased for seven days, and he had already depleted his Psyche Power. During the battle in the morning, they fought from the street to the sky. He was injured and fractured.

“Senior Brother, you looked taller than I expected.”

Looking at Eldest Brother’s toes and finding they were nearly touching the ground, she frowned.

She was confused and in pain.

Even if she was a Grandmaster of the Devil’s Doctrine, when falling down from the sky, holding Eldest Brother in her arms, she was badly injured and the pain was intolerable.

Blood emerged from her slender ankles and her bones had been smashed into pieces. Her every step was followed by bones stabbing into the flesh and hurt endlessly.

She had to stop, sweating on her forehead.

The Eldest Brother got off her to hold her in his arms instead, walking toward the curbside and coughing blood.

When they finally reached the curbside, he put her down and said carefully and slowly, “Junior sister, I’m not getting taller. You are getting shorter.”

Yu Lian nodded.

They sat on the broken threshold side by side.

The Eldest Brother looked toward the street and waved his hand.

Mo Shanshan didn’t see them. She was looking at the street.

In the steet, Ning Que lifted his head and asked, “Master, did you see it?”

A moment later, he added, “What about you? Sangsang?”

Ning Que slowly sat down.

Knife sounds rang throughout Chang’an; they were sounds of blades returning to their sheaths.

His body was sizzling and it was the array-returning sound.

A vast amount of Heaven and Earth’s Qi poured out of his body, returning to the streets in Chang’an.

He began to bleed, misting up with thunder.

These were disillusionment and rebirth.

Mo Shanshan walked to him and helped him up.

They also sat down on the broken threshold.

None of them wanted to talk. They just looked at the sky quietly.

As if enjoying the sight of a beautiful picture in the sky.

There weren’t any pictures in the sky.

There were only two lines of steam there, coming from the iron cutlass’ flame.

Steam formed clouds.

That was a character written with the cloud.

A big “human” character.

It was suspended there for a long time before it vanished.

As if it had never appeared.