Nightfall

Those who stood by the white stone altar knew that someone from the Academy would definitely be coming. But they did not know when. The tense atmosphere was a different kind of torture, in which they could only wait silently. To some extent, this was also out of respect to the Academy. Yet, despite their awe and respect, no one would believe that the Academy could win in such a situation.

In the front yard of the Peach Mountain, powerful men like Liu Bai, the hierarch, the Great Divine Priest, the national master of the Golden Tribe and Qi Nian from Buddhism were all gathered. Although they were not as mighty at the Abbey Dean, it was after all not in the Verdant Canyon or the City of Chang’an. It was in the realm of the West-Hill. Hidden here were formation arrays inherited from their predecessors over the years, and the people that had amassed. No matter if it were the Eldest Brother, the Second Brother, the Third Brother with the Twenty-three-Year Cicada, or even all of them coming together, they were bound to lose. Not to mention that people like Qi Nian or the national master already figured out the secret inside the Divine Hall of Light, and people from the West-Hill were already aware of the presence of the Drunkard and the Butcher. It was far beyond the Academy’s power.

It is fair to say that courage stems from ignorance, especially for occasions like this at the religious Peach Mountain. Different from the important ones close to the altar, those tons of followers who had just awakened from the rain of peach petals were unaware of the danger they were about to face in the Rite of the Light. Nor did they have any idea who the fat figure was on the altar. They reasoned he must be an extremely evil person since he was chosen to be the offering for the Rite to Light.

They were standing on their toes, trying to see him more clearly. They stared with hatred and cruelty, and if looks could kill, they would have killed Chen Pipi many times over with their stares.

Chen Pipi was chubby and cheeky, and his skin was extremely thick. He stood there on the white stone altar, facing the hostile stare from tons of followers without paying any attention to them. Then he did something that no one would have expected.

There, at the Rite to Light, on the sacred altar, while everyone was waiting for him to be burnt, he seemed unaware of his doom. Nor did he cry, repent, or look pale. He did not blame the Heaven as some renowned historical devils did. Of course, all those who did were struck down by lightning. Instead, he sat down on the altar.

Chen Pipi figured it was too tiring to stand there. And he was still feeling cold because of the freezing air down in the Secluded Pavilion. It was comfortably warm on the altar, so he thought it might be more comfortable to sit down. Why should he care about those killing stares and the divine rituals? He was the one about to be burnt. How could he care about his gesture or appearance at this moment? He was not their Second Brother after all.

It was indeed very warm, and perhaps even a little hot. Chen Pipi moved a bit and exposed the left side of his buns to the hierarch. Then he unbuttoned his shirt to get some cool air.

“The damned autumn heat!”

He wiped off the sweat on his forehead, looked at one of the Divine Guards of West-Hill down there and asked, “It seems you are still expecting someone. Could you bring me some water in the meanwhile?’

The divine guard looked emotionless. The guard had never seen any death-row prisoners like him. He was about to be killed. Yet he seemed utterly unafraid. Furthermore, he was even asking for water.

Those standing close to the altar were all shocked to hear such a request. Monk Guanhai put his palms together again and started praying. He is indeed Ning Que’s Brother. They act equally …. unpredictable, he thought.

Qi Nian thought, Disciples of the Academy are indeed respectable. He remains fearless even till now. Chongming, the king of Yan was thinking, He was not from Tang. But why does he sound exactly the same as them? Ye Hongyu was wondering, He is still as cheeky as always.

General Lebu, the number one martial art master of the Golden Tribe looked at Chen Pipi on the altar and questioned, “You are about to be burnt by the divine flame. Yet you are still asking for water?”

Chen Pipi seemed innocent about his implications, and explained to him sincerely, “To be burnt and to die of thirst are two different sentences. You people from the West-Hill should keep your words. Shouldn’t you?”

General Lebu was speechless upon hearing that.

Chen Pipi waved his chubby fingers at him and continued, “Don’t think that you can humiliate me because I cannot beat you now. If only I was…”

Lebu was enraged. He took one step forward, then stepped back to the side of the national master.

Chen Pipi looked at the footprint Lebu just made with his right foot and realized that even if his Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow was not destroyed, he could have not defeated this person. He felt ashamed.

The Academy emphasized the course of nature. Therefore, the disciples were trained to find reasons for anything. Right then Chen Pipi was irritated for the reason that he felt ashamed.

He folded his sleeves and stepped down from the altar, yelled to Lebu, “If my father was not destroyed, he would have squeezed you with his fingers. Anyone of my Brothers and Sisters would have given you a good beating. How dare you to pretend high in front of me? Would you like to try killing me now?”

The offering to the Rite of the Light just walked down from the altar. That was funny and stirring. The head of Revelation Institute had to ask a few divine guards to stop him.

But Chen Pipi was not willing to surrender. He continued cursing, “Do you dare to kill me now? Aren’t you actually quite worthless?”

Then he turned to the head of Revelation Institute and the divine guards, “You don’t try to stop me from beating up this barbarian. Are you from the civilized world or not? Instead of standing by my side, you are even stopping me? I’m not going to run. I was just trying to show him our most powerful strike – the Natural Stream Magical Finger!”

His Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow was already destroyed. He could barely catch a chicken, not to mention to use the Natural Stream Magical Finger. Yet he was yelling unreasonably like a lunatic. No one would associate him with a genius of Taoism.

His ridiculous behavior had irritated the West-Hill. They could not stand that their most sacred rite was about to become a scene of absurdity.

The head of Revelation Institute said sternly, “We did not spell or chain you as we respected the Abbey Dean. If you do not want your mouth to be gagged with stinky socks, you’d better start behaving yourself.”

The unreasonable Chen Pipi did not expect them to be so stern. He stared at the Knowing-Destiny head and replied, “You do know me.”

Before the head was able to comment on that, he stood straight as if ready to confront his destiny. “Anyway, I want some water now. Otherwise, you might as well just kill me right now.”

The silent national master of Golden Tribe suddenly started talking.

This ordinary-looking old man was playing with a tiny wooden tripod while he talked to Chen Pipi, “The Abbey Dean is too divine to be commented by people like us. Lebu’s words were not appropriate. I apologize on his behalf.”

Chen Pipi squinted at the national master’s tiny wooden tripod, finding it familiar. He felt even more uncertain when he remembered that this man was titled the Great Divine Priest of Tripod.”

The national master of Golden Tribe turned to the head of Revelation Institute, “There’s no harm in giving him some water though.”

The Golden Tribe was the most powerful in the Wilderness. They had been converted to believing in Tengri, which was also under Haotian. It was one of the biggest success of Taoism throughout the years, and also the reason why they could almost defeat the Great Tang in the war started last autumn.”

Following the example of South School of Tang Empire, the West-Hill had conferred the title of Great Divine Priest of Tripod on the national master of the Golden Tribe. This was not only because the Golden Tribe was as important to the West-Hill as the Great Tang, but also that the national master had played an extraordinary role in the converting of Golden Tribe. If it was not because of his incomparable reputation in the grassland, how could Haotian have spread his teaching there successfully?

Among the Divine Halls of West-Hill, it remained unknown how their priest could have convinced the national master to change their belief. If he had witnessed Haotian’s divine magic as they did today, they would have no doubts. But given that the Golden Tribe had been fully supportive in West-Hill’s plan so far, they had to believe that it was all because of Haotian’s almighty will that the Golden Tribe was converted.

Therefore, upon the national master’s words, the head of Revelation Institute looked up to the hierarch to make sure he had no objection, and asked a divine guard to fetch a bowl of water.

Chen Pipi held the bowl of water and sat down on the altar. He looked around and frowned.

The more sacred this Rite to Light became, the more irritated he felt. Hence, he had tried to mess around with it. It would have been ideal if that barbarian called Lebu had killed him out of fury.

Chen Pipi was afraid of death, whether it was from being burnt or beaten. But he was indeed trying to get this done as soon as possible. Because he did not want his fellow Brothers from the Academy to risk their lives for him.

On the day he saw her in the storm, he had realized from that moment that the Academy would never win. Even if their Headmaster was still here they would have no chance of winning. Not to mention that their Headmaster had become the moon by now.

When he found out that he would be the offering for the Rite to Light, he tried desperately to kill himself, by knocking his head against stone walls, refusing any food, chewing up his tongue, cutting his wrists, swallowing ceramic chips, or even destroying his own Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow.

However, the Judicial Department was so experienced and the female in charge knew him so well that they spared him no chance to succeed. As to his Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow, it was already destroyed. How could he have destroyed it once again?

Chen Pipi frowned because he did not see Ning Que. But he was also pleased that Jun Mo and Ye Su did not came. His most respected Brothers and his favorite Tang Xiaotang did not show up.

The difference between frowning and being pleased was because Ning Que was different from the others. It was hard to describe, but almost like this:

We were fellows at the Academy, but also as intimate as brothers. I saved you once, so you have to come for me this time. Although I told you not to come by the stone window that day, how could you really not come for me?

Chen Pipi sincerely wished that Ning Que would not come. But he could not help feeling disappointed and wronged. There was not a single one he knew among the tons of people standing in front of him in the front yard of Peach Mountain. Isn’t that a bit too lonely?

Then he realized that there was indeed someone he knew at the scene, the one who was sitting in the bloody sacred sedan, Ye Hongyu. Despite the sentence he was about to be given, he finally had the gut to say something he had wished to say since childhood.

“Ye Hongyu, you are heartless!” He yelled while holding onto his trousers, “On that day when we were kids, our Brother only bought me five sweet pancakes and I gave you three out of them. Now you are sitting there watching me get burnt! Is it just because I sneaked a peek once when you were bathing? How about I let you see me naked today in return!”

Sitting in the sacred sedan, Ye Hongyu wished she could have torn up his mouth. The head of Revelation Institute standing by the altar wished he had stuffed his mouth with socks previously. The divine Rite to Light had just turned into an absurd show by its own offering.

The Headmaster used to say that Chen Pipi had a pure heart and thus understood his fate well. They believed in the course of nature in the Academy. And thus, Chen Pipi had become the youngest one to reach the Knowing Destiny State.

That was him, the optimistic Chen Pipi, even though he was about to die.

No one knew whether Haotian was amused by this.

…