Nightfall

Many years ago, when the whole world sent armies against the Tang, the Northeast Battlefront Army was ambushed in Yan. Although they eventually killed the Yan emperor, very few were able to return to the City of Tuyang. The whole army was almost wiped out. Seven cities, including Wei, was taken by the Golden Tribe Royal Court and people from those cities were slaughtered. Countless soldiers and commoners were killed. Later on, the God-Stunning Array was damaged and Chang’an was bathed in blood and flame for days. Even more people were killed.

In other words, the Tang Empire had undergone unimaginable suffering and paid a tremendous price. That was why the Tang had a long list of enemies. Without a doubt, the people on the list were doomed.

The revenge started pretty soon, sooner than everyone had expected. Right after that war, the Tang people had started their revenge. The one on top of their list, He Mingchi, fled from Chang’an with several cronies. And he was sent to the south right after he returned to Peach Mountain, in order to elude from the Tang assassins. However, his family members were not so lucky. The Military Ministry and secret guards spent a lot of effort and time and eventually captured them and took them back to Chang’an.

When Ning Que carried out the killing in the autumn rain the day before, the dozens of people taken here by the Military Ministry were mostly of this category. There were families of He Mingchi and Xiong Chumo, as well as other people whom the West-Hill cared a lot about.

“The Divine Halls of West-Hill had closely guarded He Mingchi’s family. If it wasn’t for the Military Ministry, who had sent out for them in time and got a hold of them before the West-Hill escorted them back to Peach Mountain, it would have been impossible for us to kill them today.” Ning Que stared at Cheng Lixue and said, “Capturing He Mingchi’s mother and brothers caused the deaths of more than three hundred soldiers. So how can they not be killed? Who else should I kill if not them?”

Cheng Lixue sighed, “You paid such great price just to vent. Is it worth it?”

Ning Que looked at the blood stain by the city wall and the grey haired old lady lying in the blood. He smiled in satisfaction and said, “Killing He Mingchi’s family is definitely a comfort for the dead Tang people. The Tang soldiers would think it’s very worth… We live on our sensations, whether it’s anger or resentment. Taoism has to see that it is our people’s way of solving problems. It is especially my way of doing it. No matter what the Abbey Dean does, he must stop the Drunkard. Otherwise if the Drunkard were to kill one more from Tang, then I’ll kill a thousand from Taoism.”

Ning Que turned to Cheng Lixue and said, “I know we will run out of victims in no time if we continue killing like this. But is Taoism going to watch me kill them all? Today I killed He Mingchi’s mother. Tomorrow it will be Xiong Chumo’s uncle and cousin. Then it will be your mother. Are you sure you could stay watching?”

Cheng Lixue paused and said, “You know it. It is not what Taoism wants.”

Ning Que said calmly, “The Drunkard wanted a peaceful mind and for the Academy to never try to kill him again. Taoism took advantage of that to keep the Tang away from South Jin, Qinghe Prefecture, and the New Stream. Therefore when the Drunkard killed, Taoism just watched. Since killing is their way of demonstrating their position and forcing their enemy to surrender, I have to do the killing as well. We’ll gamble on human lives and see who can last. So if I were to throw my wager now, will Taoism dare to take it?”

Cheng Lixue frowned deeply and asked, “Your wager?”

Ning Que left the city wall and walked to the other end. He stared at the vast autumn fields and the Wilderness afar, paused for a while and said, “I will continue until I have killed them all.”

Cheng Lixue felt his hand turning cold and said, “You are insane.”

Ning Que did not answer to that and said instead, “The Eldest Brother should have been the one fighting against the Drunkard with his life. But I do not want him to do so… It is contradictory to his aesthetics. However, it rather fits me well.”

Cheng Lixue asked, “Then how do you plan to break the deadlock?”

Ning Que said, “As long as we are not confident enough to kill all of the enemies as well as their families, we will eventually reach a compromise. No matter how isolated or desperate the Abbey Dean and I seem to be right now, we are after all just some losing gamblers trying to be bravados. We will eventually seek for negotiation. But I need to throw enough wager.”

“The wager of human lives?”

“That’s what I said. You don’t need to repeat it even if it’s interesting.”

“You have also said that what matters is the Drunkard’s position. But why do you no longer seem to care?”

“To turn over the gambling table and scatter the wagers… It is not the result that Haotian wants. She wants a nicely set table with well-organized wagers. But I don’t give a shit. Why do I need to worry?” Ning Que looked to the chilling and boundless north and said calmly.

Cheng Lixue asked, “Why? What does that have to do with the Drunkard?”

There were two levels to that question. Ning Que did not explain the underlying part about why he would turn over the gambling table. He just smiled and commented on the Drunkard. “If Haotian doesn’t want it, then he could not do it… Because he is just a watchdog.”

Then he smiled to Cheng Lixue and said, “I’m a human. Why should I care about what the watchdog thinks?”

…

…

The autumn rain chilled the imperial palace. Li Yu sat by the window in the Imperial Study and pondered for a long while. Then she said, “If he said that it has nothing to do with the imperial court, then that’s it.”

The Grand Secretary Zeng Jing looked at her slim figure and said after a pause, “To kill the captives and implicate their families is disgraceful. He is probably the only one who can bare the notoriety.

“The Tang excels because we have the Academy, while the Academy excels because he can play dirty.”

Li Yu turned to Zeng Jing and said, “We are lucky to have him. If anyone dares to object in the imperial court, you senior officials know exactly what to do.”

Zeng Jing sighed and said, “We surely do.”

…

…

The autumn rain and wind continued with pauses but never stopped. Red and yellow leaves were soaking and softened until they were almost embedded into the cracks of flat stones.

The waiting continued. Ning Que was still standing on the city wall and staring at the north. He was looking to the south previously but now to the north. No one knew why.

He said that the Drunkard was Haotian’s dog therefore he did not care about what he thought. But could he really not worry? Even if that was a dog, it was the fiercest and fastest one.

For days the prefectures of Tang carried out continuous massacres. He took all of the blame and responsibilities silently, and only asked the imperial court to keep it a secret. It was because he did not want the proud Tang people to lose their pride for what he did. Meanwhile, he made sure that everyone outside the Tang Empire knew exactly what was going on. He wanted to spread the fear.

Death was the best way of spreading fear but it took time and relied on a medium. He had to choose trustworthy ones to do it.

A few days ago, he had picked the ones. They were Chu Youxian and Chen Qi, which meant that these two had to travel a long journey to negotiate with the Divine Halls of West-Hill and spread the fear along their way.

No one in the Tang Empire could disobey the Academy. But they reacted differently. Chen Qi spent the whole night playing chess with his favorite concubine before he set off, while Chu Youxian got drunk in the House of Red Sleeves.