Nightfall

In the days that followed, the Great Divine Priest of Light who was now an ordinary old man left and return to the inn as usual. He ate and slept and visited the sights. He drank tea and listened to music and dozed off. And he would visit Sangsang at the Lin 47th Street every day without fail.

He would watch Sangsang as he ate and slept. He watched her while he drank tea and listened to music. He watched her as he dozed off. He visited her everyday. Watching her became the most important part of his life after he found out the name of the little handmaiden of the Old Brush Pen Shop.

One day, the old man visited Lin 47th Street with two osmanthus cakes from the Lotus Store. He was slightly curious when he saw the young handmaiden riding away on a royal horse carriage, but did not think too much of it. He felt slightly lost when did not see Sangsang busying around and when he saw the tightly shut doors of Old Brush Pen Shop. After being in a daze for a while, he suddenly recalled the reason for his visit to Chang’an.

He had long lost the dark shadow in his eyes. He did not know where the person was hiding in Chang’an or if he was even in Chang’an. He had completely forgotten the matter in the recent days.

He thought of the matter as he stood in a daze near the grey walls of Lin 47th Street. He shook his head and left the osmanthus cakes outside the doors of Old Brush Pen Shop. He held the robes close to his body and walked through the tightly packed streets of the Eastern City and came to a mansion in the Southern City.

There were two ash trees standing at the mouth of the street. Their leaves wavered half-heartedly in the winter winds. It looked rather pitiful compared to the verdant green leaves peeking through the yard walls from each end of the streets.

There were two doors facing each other in the middle of the street. The old man did not even bother looking at the empty mansion on the right but walked towards the one on the left. The seals have long been battered by the weather and what was left stuck out at angles on the wooden doors between paint and wood.

The old man stood before the house. He held his hands together, back hunched and looked at the remnants of the stone lions outside the doors. A strange emotion emerged from his deep-set eyes as he looked at the mud with a color of congealed blood.

The old man stood there for a long time until a gust of wind passed through the lane and through the neck of his thick robes. He coughed and hunched even further into himself.

A voice accompanied the wind that turned through the street.

“Winter in Chang’an this year is much colder than before.”

The old man replied, still hunched over, “It has been years since I visited Chang’an. I do not know what the past winters were like.”

Then, he turned to look at the street entrance.

A lone man walked slowly from it. His brows were straight and his eyes were bright and clear. He wore cotton Taoist robes and straw shoes and had a simple Taoist hairstyle. Behind him, he carried a long sword. He seemed more intimidating with each step he took, even the fallen leaves and mud before him seemed to fear him. They scattered to both sides of the streets even though there was no wind.

This man was the Master of Nation of the Tang Dynasty, Li Qingshan.

“You may stay in Chang’an in the future. You might understand the winter here more.”

Li Qingshan stopped and looked at the old man, inviting the visitor to stay.

If the man was an ordinary visitor, the Tangs would entertain him with good tea and wine. If the man came without invitation and was a visitor who bore grudges, the invitation to stay would, of course, mean something else altogether.

The old man looked at him and slowly straightened his back. His skinny figure became tall and intimidating with just this simple action. He exuded a strong and intelligent aura.

Facing the Master of Nation of the Tang Dynasty, he was no longer that ordinary old man who drank tea and ate and watched Sangsang.

He was the Great Divine Priest of Light.

…

…

Li Qingshan was the leader of South School of Haotian Taoism, the Tang’s Master of Nation, the figure of authority to hundreds of civilians in the world. No one had seen him displaying his cultivation state as he had no need to show his hands given his current status.

However, even the children playing on the streets of Chang’an knew that he was strong and capable. If not, how did he become the Master of Nation? To those in the cultivation world, Li Qingshan was a strong cultivator of the Knowing Destiny State. It was just that he did not show his cards. If he did, he would shock the world.

However, the old man standing outside the ruins of the General’s Mansion was no ordinary person as well. He had many loyal followers as the most respected Great Divine Priest of Light of the West-Hill Divine Palace after being imprisoned for fourteen years. Even the hierarch would not dare to kill him. He was the first person to escape You Prison after unleashing his powers, causing much chaos in the Divine Hall.

A faceoff between the Tang’s Master of Nation and the Great Divine Priest of Light; Who would be the victor?

“The West-Hill sent a letter saying that you are very strong. Senior Brother said so too, he even said that you might be stronger than the hierarch.”

Li Qingshan looked at the Great Divine Priest of Light and smiled suddenly. He said, “I know that my heart is secular and I cannot keep my Taoist Heart clear. That is why I am lacking in my cultivation state. If you’re really stronger than I am, I do not think that this is something that I cannot accept. I will not think that this is something shameful as well.”

The Great Divine Priest of Light said, “You have been cultivating for many years and you still do not understand this. You might be just slightly slow.”

“That is why I do not understand you.” Li Qingshan wiped off the smile on his face. He continued, ” You are different from the other two Gods. My Senior Brother and I have never seen a trace of desire for power in you. You were not even interested in how Haotian had spread his glory amongst the world. You studied the classics. You help those in need. You are benevolent, but do not see it as your calling. You are cold and aloof, but you do not use it to your advantage. You are someone who is completely transparent. Or some might say, you are someone who has nothing to hide.”

Li Qingshan’s voice grew frigid. “That is why I do not understand why you became such a person all of a sudden then. You’ve done something like that and became the first Great Divine Priest of Light from the Divine Hill to be imprisoned. I don’t understand why you’d come to Chang’an after freeing yourself. What do you want to achieve?”

“All things and laws in the world are predetermined by Haotian. Even our places on earth have long been decided. My place is the Great Divine Priest of Light. My mission is to witness darkness. That is all.”

He paused for a moment and looked at the chaotic skies above the tangled branches of the yard walls. A benevolent smile lingered on his face as he continued, “If everyone is certain of their own place and mission, things on earth would be much more simple. When I saw the darkness then, The Ruler should have been the one to cleanse it. However, since no one was willing to complete their own mission, I had to do something.”

He retracted his gaze from the skies and looked at Li Qingshan,”Darkness is always present no matter whether you see it or not. Since I’ve seen it, there is no way to pretend that I haven’t.”

Li Qingshan shook his head. He said, “If all things and laws are predetermined by Haotian, why do we need to pursue cultivation in order to get answers? Where darkness is, Haotian will cleanse. You just have to complete your own mission in your own place. Why do you have to do such things? If you are really clear on your place and mission, you should still be the Great Divine Priest of Light, adored by all. Why would you become someone everyone wants to kill?”

The Great Divine Priest of Light was silent.

Li Qingshan looked at his wizened face and thought of the benevolent old man who studied the classics painstakingly all those years ago in the Divine Hall. A complicated emotion consisting of pity and hate emerged from his heart. He said with regret, “All the previous Great Divine Priests of Light are learned and intelligent beyond measure. But they are always easily affected. The more exceptional they are, the easier they fall prey to the dark. It has been so since one entered the Wilderness to spread their teachings more than a thousand years ago. I have been so since one entered the Wildness to preach a thousand of years ago, and another one disappeared in the Southern Seas six hundred years ago. It is so for you as well. Why is this so? I always think, that is it because you are all intelligent and have great willpower and too much confidence that comes along with it. Is that why you all believe that what you see is the truth and the only truth? Is that why you drift further away from reality?”

There was a pregnant pause as Great Divine Priest of Light considered the sincerity behind those words. He seemed to feel a little moved by it. His expression gradually calmed and he said, “If you see it, you see it. Everything that the eyes perceive exist objectively. Even irreality is real.”

Li Qingshan could not help but feel slightly angry when he heard that. He said in a low voice, “Other than yourself, no one else behaved so! You passed on a fake order from the hierarch fourteen years ago and made Li Peiyan and Xia Hou do that. His Majesty was furious and so was the hierarch. If you didn’t want to go against the world, why would the world go against you? Why would His Majesty and the hierarch both want you dead? You were highly respected. Why were you locked up for so many years?”

The Great Divine Priest of Light said, “I did not pass on a fake order from the chief monk.”

Li Qingshan’s eyebrows twitched. He said,”Do you mean the hierarch framed you?”

The Great Divine Priest of Light said with a placid expression, “Who would dare to do so?”

Li Qingshan paused before continuing, “You were the one who did it.”

“That’s right.”

“Have you never thought of what His Majesty and the hierarch thought?”

“What has their thoughts to do with me?”

The Great Divine Priest of Light’s voice was calm. It was like the frozen surface of a lake in winter, smooth and free of blemish. He talked of the incident that shocked the entire Tang empire and the West-Hill Divine Palace as if it was a small matter.

Li Qingshan looked at him coldly. “Have you not forgotten about the matter since you’ve come to Chang’an after freeing yourself?”

The Great Divine Priest of Light was silent.

Li Qingshan turned to look at the ruins of the General’s Mansion and said with regret. “So many innocent lives were killed in Chang’an because of your words. The General’s Mansion has become so thanks to you. Are you still not satisfied?”

“I’m not,” said the Great Divine Priest of Light placidly.

Li Qingshan pointed at the mansion and said fiercely, “Everyone in the General’s Mansion is dead, what are you still dissatisfied with?”

The Great Divine Priest of Light shook his head and said, “No, one remains alive.”

Li Qingshan’s pupils dilated in shock.

“No matter the Divine Hall or your Prince from the Tang empire, they have both agreed with me then. That was because nobody wished for the Son of Yama to appear in this world. However, I do not know why everyone thought that what I had seen was fake. You Prince thought that he had been bewitched by me. Your Emperor was exceptionally angry. That is why nobody was willing to continue searching even though they knew that one remained in the world of the living. They even prohibited anyone from speaking about it.”

“Why would I be imprisoned for fourteen years? That is because I knew that the Son of Yama remains on earth and is becoming stronger. I will continue searching for him. For those who do not believe he is the Son of Yama will not believe in his existence. If I continue searching, both West-Hill and the Tang empire will encounter problems.”

“That is why they shut me up.”

There was a trace of sorrow in his voice as he continued, “The Peach Mountain, the Tang empire, and the world have rotted.”

“I do not want to go against the world, but the world is shrouded in darkness and is against the light.”

“I’m the Great Divine Priest of Light.

“My name is Wei Guangming. I defend the light.”

“That is why, the world is my enemy.”