Nightfall

Approaching the cliffs, Ning Que looked at peaks in the giant sinkhole and the temple between the peaks silently. This was the second time he saw the Xuankong Temple, which was still shocking to him.

Sinking from the surface of the wilderness, the wall of the cliffs was very steep and looked quite amazing and astonishing. Ning Que left the big black horse and the carriage on the ground and followed Sangsang walking down. They had been here before, but only took a look from afar, for they were too afraid to go down back then. However, the current situation was quite different from that of the past.

They walked on the rubbles. Sangsang walked calmly and slowly with her hands behind her back, looking like a snow lotus falling in the wind. Unfortunately, Ning Que was obviously in a difficult position.

It was noon, and the sunshine in the early autumn was bright enough to light the smooth cliffs and the narrow trail paved by the rubbles. The depth of the cliffs was thousands of feet. The deeper they went down, the darker and colder it was. It amazed them that there was snow on the cliff stones.

After walking in the cold for a long time, they finally walked out of the shadows that the wilderness projected into the giant sinkhole and came to the bright sunshine. They found that there was a vast wilderness under the sun.

The field at the bottom of the giant sinkhole was very wide. Even Ning Que who had a sharp eyesight couldn’t see the distant landscape. All kinds of yurts stood in the wilderness, and the cold-tolerant meadow covered the ground closing to cliffs, with flocks and herds wandering around.

Contrary to the process of walking down the cliffs, the temperature went up gradually as they walked toward the middle of the field of the giant sinkhole, as if they had returned to the warm spring from the cold winter. The grass naturally growing in the wilderness was gradually replaced by artificially cultivated species. The ears of the plants in the field swayed in the breeze.

Walking into the field, Ning Que picked up an ear of a plant and used his fingers to twist its outer shell off, finding that the grain inside was much smaller than the common rice of the Central Plains and the smell was also new to him. He pulled out one plant and found that the root system of this plant was quite developed. This is probably a special kind of rice, and it can resist the cold by extracting the heat of the ground. From the shape of the rice leaf, I guess its demand for light is relatively low.

The underground field was far from the world and got far less light than the surface, but Haotian was always fair. The temperature of the soil of the field was somewhat high, and quite different from the cold rivers Ning Que imagined. The rivers flowing through it were filled with faint mists, like hot springs.

The underground field was a completely new world for Ning Que. But of course, he cared the most about food due to his poor childhood and the Academy’s nurture.

At this moment, a faint bell suddenly came from afar, and then the devout humming in all directions of the field attracted his attention.

He looked into the distance and vaguely saw that there were countless people in the field kneeling down. He realized that the farmers who worshipped the Xuankong temple began to chant after hearing the bells.

The bell came from the huge mountain peak in the middle of the vast field, but Ning Que couldn’t tell the sound came from which yellow temple among the peaks.

Sangsang walked toward the mountain peak. Ning Que suddenly thought of something but forgot before he could grasp the thought. He shook his head regretfully and picked up his pace.

The mountain peak was very majestic and tall. The pressure it exerted made people feel it was close at hand, but the mountain was actually still far, far away.

Sangsang kept walking toward the mountain peak in silence.

She and Ning Que walked very fast, but it still took them quite a long time to reach the foot of the mountain peak. The sky was getting dark.

It should be warm during twilight, but for the world in the giant sinkhole, twilight meant darkness and coldness. The setting sun couldn’t reach here, and the vast field in the bottom of the sinkhole and the mountain peaks were covered in shadows, only leaving the highest peak in the twilight, like a candlelight.

Looking at the mountain road in the night, Ning Que adjusted his breath and prepared for battle. Although Sangsang was so powerful that even the Chief Monk of Scripture was just a rock under her feet, the Xuankong Temple on the mountain peak was an unknowable place of Buddhism, which had been inherited for countless years. Nobody knew exactly what kind of danger lied in it.

All of a sudden, Sangsang stopped and turned to look at the path they’ve walked.

Feeling odd, Ning Que followed her eyes and found that the cliffs they came down at noon had become a far-reaching landscape and the snow between the cliffs had long been invisible.

The cliffs around the giant sinkhole were far away from the bottom of the peak. Normally, the cliffs would have become an inconspicuous black line, but it still stood tall and erect at this point.

The cliffs were too high. The mountain where the Xuankong Temple was located was higher than any mountain in the world above ground, but the peak could only be flushed with the surface of the Wilderness, slightly revealing a small section. In other words, the cliffs surrounding the giant sinkhole were as high as the peaks and higher than all other peaks in the world.

Ning Que and Sangsang stood still and looked around, feeling that the giant sinkhole was a huge dry well and the steep cliffs were the walls of a well. And the people who were standing at the bottom of the well were blocked by the walls.

People who have lived here can only see round sky for generations, and their fields are square. Is this the so-called round sky and square earth? Ning Que was shocked by what he saw.

Sangsang wasn’t shocked at all. Facing the wonderful world created by the Buddha, she made such a comment: “Look at the sky from the bottom of a well.”

…

…

They did not stop there, and walked directly to the peak. The mountain road hidden in the flowers and the forest was no longer steep, but extended as far as the eyes could catch.

The big black horses and carriages were left on the ground, but all the things that had to be carried along were naturally held by Ning Que. At the moment that Sangsang decided to come to the Xuankong Temple and confirm whether Buddha was alive or dead, he knew clearly the roles he played: handyman, porter, cook, feet-washing technician, and bed warmer.

He had no problems with this. We are a couple, and one of us should manage the external affairs and the other, internal. I have such a powerful wife, how could I mind taking care of the internal affairs?

The heavy arrows, iron knife, big black umbrella, and Buddha’s Chessboard with a very inconvenient shape were all carefully arranged and packed into the luggage by Ning Que. He was holding the luggage on his back at this moment.

The luggage was too heavy, and the mountain road between the peaks was so long. Ning Que felt exhausted even though he was in good health and and extremely strong after cultivating Haoran Qi.

This mountain was really big, and there were too many temples hidden in the mountain and the forest. It was said that the Yuelun Kingdom praised high Buddhism and had seventy-two temples. He and Sangsang had already saw way more temples in the past hour. Sangsang was here to look for someone, so she couldn’t miss any temple, which meant that they had to go further and also meant that Ning Que had to walk farther with the heavy luggage on his back.

Ning Que couldn’t tell how Sangsang was looking for Buddha, for she didn’t examine carefully every temple they passed through. After a long time of walking, Ning Que stopped and sat on a rock. “Let’s take a break.” Wiping the sweat off his face, Ning Que breathed heavily and said, “I think we need a better strategy.”

Sangsang was of course not exhausted, but she was a little tired like she had always been after leaving Peach Mountain. She walked with her eyes closed most of the time they were wandering around the peaks, which seemed like she was sleeping or a blind person.

Hearing what Ning Que said, she asked indifferently, “You wish for me to be dead this much?”

Ning Que understood why she was so anxious to confirm Buddha’s death. Buddha was the only one who could threaten her existence. She must make sure Buddha won’t be a threat when she was still strong enough to fight, or the situation would be not in her favor when she goes back to the Divine Kingdom or becomes a mortal again.

In this case, what she said indeed made sense, but Ning Que felt bored. He covered his forehead with his hand and answered, “Can you say something else? Aren’t you tired of asking the same question? Can you stop seeking your own death? We are husband and wife, but you can’t really think of yourself as an ordinary woman.”

Sangsang ignored him and asked, “I will find the person I came here for. Who are you looking for?”

Ning Que’s main aim of coming to the Xuankong Temple was to accompany Sangsang, but he also wanted to look for Second Brother.

Outside the Academy, the Seventh Sister asked him to find the proud Second Brother in Xuankong Temple and check whether he was still as proud as before after kneeling in front of Buddha.

Sangsang had searched hundreds of yellow temples in the lower half of the mountain peaks along the way from the foot of the mountain, but Ning Que just followed her and showed no signs of searching.

He said, “Second Brother will definitely not be cultivating Buddhism here, so why bother?”

Sangsang asked, “Why?”

Ning Que answered with certainty, “My Second Brother is so gifted. I don’t think anyone in Xuankong Temple is qualified to teach him. He must stay at the temple on the peak studying the Buddhist Scriptures by himself. There is no chance that he stayed at this ruined temple on the foot of the mountain.”

Sangsang thought for a while and said to him, “Idiot.”

My deduction is very reasonable. How can you call me an idiot just because you can’t think it through? “How can you say that?” he asked angrily.

Sangsang ignored him and walked up to the summit with her hands behind her back.

Ning Que held the heavy baggage on his back and ran to her. You clearly know that I like to call other people idiots. How can you unreasonably call your husband idiot?

…

…

They kept searching the temples, but all of the temples were quiet under the night sky.

After searching hundreds of yellow temples in the dozens of cliffs below the mountain peak, they found nothing and finally came to the top at dawn.

The rising sun was still lying on the surface of the Wilderness, shining on the cliff on the west side first and then on the summit. Like the dead wick being lit, the light spread rapidly to the bottom of the mountain peak. In the sound of bells and chanting, the Buddha land was about to wake up.

…