Nightfall

Liu Yiqing was still alive, but he was seriously wounded. Although Hengmu Liren had tried to keep him temporarily alive with Haotian’s Divine Flame, it was even more miserable for him to stay alive.

The Eldest Brother showed up in Linkang and came to the imperial palace. He stood between Hengmu Liren and Liu Yiqing and cut off the Divine Flame. Liu Yiqing was about to be relieved. It would be an ultimate relief. But perhaps because of what had happened previously, the Eldest Brother said sorry to Liu Yiqing sincerely and seriously.

Yet Hengmu Liren did not want Liu Yiqing to be relieved. It enraged him. The Eldest Brother was not paying any attention to him and that made him feel disrespected and even more furious.

He said in a cold voice, “Mr. First, you are too late. Or perhaps you should not have arrived before we end this. You showed up at this moment and said sorry to this dying man. What’s the point? Don’t you think it’s hypocritical? Are you simply trying to make yourself feel better?”

Anyhow, the Academy did not participate in the battle tonight, and Liu Yiqing was certainly dying. Hengmu Liren’s mockery was an attempt to drive a wedge between them.

However, it seemed that the Eldest Brother never heard him or saw him. He looked at the blood-stained Liu Yiqing and said again, “Sorry.”

Liu Yiqing replied calmly, “Mr. First, you knew it was my own choice.”

The Eldest brother said after a pause, “But the Academy should have stopped you from doing so.”

Liu Yiqing shook his head and said, “The Headmaster used to say, if we sought for virtue and acquired it, there should be no regret.”

Upon his word, the Eldest Brother was speechless.

Liu Yiqing continued, “The Academy won’t be able to handle everything in the human world. We should try to contribute as individuals. What are you accusing yourself for?

The Eldest Brother said, “How could we stay aside while a great dam is collapsing?”

Liu Yiqing said, “That’s exactly why you, Mr. First, will not do better than Mr. Thirteen.”

The Eldest Brother shook his head and said, “Youngest Brother is no longer the person he used to be.”

Liu Yiqing was a bit stunned. He remembered something and put on a smile on his blood-stained face. He sighed and said, “So Mr. Thirteen has been watching from Chang’an.”

The Eldest Brother said, “Maybe not clear enough, but he is definitely watching.”

Through the blood soaked white cloth , Liu Yiqing looked at the ruined imperial city in the darkness. He smiled and said, “Luckily I chose the right spot as I thought he might be watching.”

He had cultivated for a long time but did not gain his fame until recently. He made a wrong choice and paid huge price for it. But he was never wrong afterward. Tonight he was sitting on the sedan and that was the spot he chose.

The sedan was facing the previous city wall that went through vicissitudes. It faced the south and was an auspicious Fengshui site for a tomb.

The Eldest Brother looked at him and said, “Sorry. You can trust us.”

Up until the last moment, the Academy was still apologetic to Liu Yiqing. The Academy assured him so that he could rest in peace. It did not matter whether it was for the future of South Jin or for the displaced disciples of the Sword Garret, he no longer needed to worry.

Under the blood soaked white cloth, Liu Yiqing’s eyes slowly closed. Thus he entered the darkness. He was used to the darkness so he was fearless. It was nothing different between death and sleep.

The Eldest Brother stared at the dead Liu Yiqing and pondered for a long while. Then he turned to Long Qing and Hengmu, and asked, “What for?” When he said so, he was looking at Hengmu. He looked at the young talent of Taoism who was gifted by Haotian. Although he could sense Haotian’s Divine Flame under his indigo gown, he felt calm.

Hengmu Liren was glowing. He was the choice of Haotian.

However, since Ke Haoran held his sword against Haotian, the Academy had been the enemy of Haotian for decades. Even before that, ever since the Headmaster founded the Academy and set the God-Stunning Array in Chang’an, they had been opponents to Haotian for thousands of years.

The Academy was never afraid of Haotian. How could they be scared of some human being chosen by Haotian? They never respected Haotian. How would they respect some human being chosen by Haotian?

The Eldest Brother looked at Long Qing with sympathy.

He read extensively ever since he was a kid. Although he had never cultivated Taoism, he read countless Taoism canons. Otherwise he would not have been able to debate with Ye Su for three days in front of that small temple. Although he never sought for an illuminated Taoist Heart, no one else in the world had the wisdom he had. He saw through Hengmu’s indigo gown and sensed the brilliant light underneath. Of course he was able to see the infinite darkness under Long Qing’s robe.

The Eldest Brother had never seen such dense and foul darkness even in the butchers from Devil’s Doctrine or the most evil ones. He vaguely saw countless weeping ghosts and roaring resentment inside the dark fog in Long Qing’s body.

The Eldest Brother sighed to Long Qing. “Why?”

Long Qing felt a bit restless. He felt naked in front of Mr. First. He could no longer hide anything he did or ever thought about. The person in front of him saw through everything. Therefore he took one step backward. It was the dark night behind him. He felt safer and warmer when he was getting closer to the darkness. But it was not enough. Long Qing sensed the chills from inside his body. It did not feel good to be seen through. He applied his Taoist psyche and restrained every bit of his energy deep down into his body. The energy he restrained was soaked into his body together with the night breeze around the imperial city as well as the light. Long Qing faded and almost merged into the darkness.

Hengmu Liren did the opposite. While Long Qing stepped backward and tried to hide himself in the gloomiest darkness, he stepped forward. He stepped toward the Eldest Brother indifferently and arrogantly.

Haotian’s Divine Flame spurted again from his body. It was as pure as starlight. The Divine Flame exuded from his face and every pore on his body and made it very constrained in front of the imperial city. Hengmu became a flaming divine statue and seemed to be able to burn and purify anything in the world. The state he unveiled could have shocked the entire cultivation world.

He knew clearly that with his state of cultivation, it was nothing to kill Liu Yiqing. But to conquer this scholar in a cotton-padded gown standing in front of him was not going to be easy. After all, he was a legend.

However, Hengmu still wanted to try. It was because he was so enraged by the Eldest Brother’s indifference towards him while he was obviously touched by something when he looked at Long Qing. In other words, everything that happened tonight was humiliating to this proud talented descendent of Haotian. He had to show the Eldest Brother that he was furious.

Moreover, he knew that even if he were to fail, the Eldest Brother could never hurt him or he would never dare to hurt him. Otherwise why did he say sorry to Liu Yiqing before he died?