Nightfall

Long Qing was only able to make it out of the abyss alive because of Gray Eyes and the Heavenly Power Pill. He still felt fear every time he recalled the hardships he went at the abyss. However, he was also proud for being probably the first one to get out of the abyss alive. It surprised him to see someone else stepping out of the abyss today. What was even more annoying was that they seemed so relaxed and cheerful, as if they were on a stroll.

He figured out who they were and was caught speechless. The Tome of Arcane became worthless to him. The Abbey Dean felt a complex of emotions as well. He looked above to the snowstorm and sighed after a while of silence. “It’s time for us to go back, since she finally left Peach Mountain.”

The snowstorm became more violent and enveloped the Abbey and surrounding mountains. The gate of the Abbey creaked open. Long Qing and the middle aged man walked out with the Abbey Dean in the wheelchair. He had an ordinary blanket on his knees. He reached out his skinny hands to whisk off the snow on his blanket, then slowly closed his eyes.

…

…

The Peach Mountain was also suffering from the snowstorm. Thousands of divine priests and deacons gathered on the plateau but no one dared to speak a word. They looked at the half-ruined Divine Hall of Light and thought of the huge crashing sound that previously came from the abyss. They guessed what had happened but dared not to believe it. Everyone was shocked and stunned.

No one had the gut to step into the Divine Hall of Light and find out what had happened. The divine priests and deacons stood in front of the Divine Hall without knowing what to do next. They had been standing there in the snowstorm for the whole night.

Due to the urgency, the Hierarch did not have time to mount into his sacred sedan before he rushed to the Divine Hall of Light. His skinny and dwarf figure was thus exposed to everyone and looked a bit funny with snowflakes hanging over his thin eyebrows. However, he was less serious than ever and paid no attention to his appearance which he had always cared the most.

Nothing could be more serious than what had happened in the Divine Hall of Light. As evening fell, the Hierarch could wait no longer and finally stepped into the Divine Hall. He came out after a long while and his expressions were as severely frozen as snow mountains.

Upon seeing his expression, people at the Divine Halls could tell that their speculation was more or less correct. They became even more scared. Some elder divine priests fainted in despair. Had Haotian really left the Divine Halls? How could she abandon her most pious followers?

Later on, it was deadly quiet in Haotian’s Divine Hall. The Hierarch stood behind the curtains. He looked even more wretched with his skinny and dwarf figure stooped.

There were only the three of them: the Hierarch, Ye Hongyu, and Zhao Nanhai. He frustrated said, “We have to keep this secret to ourselves and never reveal it to the followers around the world.”

Zhao Nanhai nodded in awe and agreed to whatever the Hierarch planned. Ye Hongyu stared at the Hierarch emotionlessly. The sword under her red dress became stern.

The Hierarch did not sense her unusual reaction and ordered impatiently, “Send everyone from the Divine Hall of Judgment to get …. back to Peach Mountain.”

He was frustrated and anxious like a child who lost his mother on the streets, rather than an unrestrained cultivator who had surpassed the Five States.

Staring at the Hierarch’s trembling eyebrows, Ye Hongyu could not refrain from revealing her scorn. She slowly lifted her right hand and it started to glow under the cover of the radiating lights coming from behind the curtains.

She was ready to call her sword. With a slight Taoist intent, her Taoist sword would rush toward the Hierarch. She knew that the Hierarch was still a strong figure even after a series of severe injuries, but she could wait no more.

Then, an uproar came from the path leading to the Divine Hall, followed by rushing steps. Several divine priests hasted into Haotian’s Divine Hall and reported, “There are people coming.”

Three people from the Zhishou Abbey arrived at the Divine Halls. Led by Long Qing, the middle-aged man rolled the wheelchair to where the Abbey Dean was seated. The Abbey Dean looked peaceful and calm. His indigo robe stood out from the snowy world as distinctively as the sky.

Thousands of divine priests and deacons on the plateau watched them as they were approaching from down the hill. They were shocked to find that the array of clear light of Divine Halls did not react to their approach. When they realized that it was Long Qing in the forefront, they figured out who the person in the wheelchair was and dared not to stop them.

The dense crowd cleared a way for them. The Abbey Dean sat in his wheelchair and gazed at the Divine Halls that he had kept his distance from for years. It was hard to tell whether he felt yearning or indifferent. However, his eyebrows slowly furrowed upon the sight of the half-ruined Divine Hall of Light.

Dozens of elder divine priests hasted to kneel down in front of the wheelchair, and prostrated to him with the highest level of courtesy in Taoism. They were old enough to know who this Taoist in indigo rope was.

Upon seeing, this they immediately realized who he was. The looked at each other and wondered what they should do. Some lower ranking divine priests and deacons also fell on their knees upon seeing this appealing scene in front of the Divine Hall of Light.

Zhao Nanhai, Ye Hongyu, and the rest of the people from the South Sea also rushed to the Divine Hall of Light. These important figures at Peach Mountain all greeted and saluted to the indigo-robed Taoist in the wheelchair.

It was the Abbey Dean who arranged for the group from South Sea to return to the Divine Halls. They had to pay him respect upon his arrival at Peach Mountain. As for Ye Hongyu, she used to live in the Zhishou Abbey when she was a child, and her dearest elder brother was a disciple of the Abbey Dean. Therefore, she also had to kneel down to him.

…

…

There was one less person in Haotian’s Divine Hall now, and only two were left. The Abbey Dean sat quietly in the wheelchair, while the Hierarch stood by his side with complex expressions.

Looking at the Abbey Dean in the wheelchair, the Hierarch started trembling.

He could not figure out why. The Abbey Dean was already paralyzed by the God-Stunning Array and abandoned by Haotian. He had never come the Divine Halls for years. Yet today by merely showing up at Peach Mountain, he had the Hierarch utterly isolated. It was only until then that the Hierarch realized he had underestimated the Abbey Dean’s standing and influence in Taoism.

It was deadly quiet in the hall. His radiating light dimmed like a dying candle with dreariness and desperation.

The Hierarch knew he could have easily killed the wheelchaired Abbey Dean with his psyche. Yet he did not dare. He was so afraid without knowing why. For what reason could a paralyzed man make him feel so oppressed?

Finally he kneeled in front of him and greeted, “Honorable Uncle.”

The Abbey Dean questioned, “Have you ever called me uncle ever since you became the Hierarch?”

The Hierarch kept his head low and replied, “Honorable Uncle, you have been traveling around the South Sea for years. It was hard for us to meet.”

The Abbey Dean said, “You’d rather not see me.”

The Hierarch did not say anything. He knew that he could make no explanations in front of the Abbey Dean. Yet he wondered what he had come back for.

…