Nightfall

Suddenly, the old monk’s extremely long white brows floated out of his inexplicable madness rather than leisureliness. He stared with his eyes open and hard rubbed the girl’s hair with his skinny palms, shouting, “Is there anything reasonable in the world?”

“I was the Great Divine Priest of Judgment sitting on the ink-jade divine seat. I was a patriarch of Devil’s Doctrine, free to choose a sovereign. I was a guardian of the Front Gate in Buddhism Sect who could order thousands of monks. What a proud and splendid life I had! I was free to do anything sensational if I wanted, not mention to becoming a Buddha or a devil. Was there anything reasonable?”

“Don’t you see many pigheaded people living in this dirty world? Don’t you think the air you’re breathing is also so pungent? Don’t you feel it uncomfortable to breathe under a dirty silent sky for years? It’s natural for people living between heaven and earth to eat meat, including pigs, dogs, chicken and others. There’s nothing reasonable to say!”

Ning Que suddenly said, “But it doesn’t include eating human flesh.”

The old monk returned to silence. After some time, he regained the aura of compassion and said thoughtfully in a soft voice, “Yeah, there is still something reasonable in the world. Only the degree is not the same.” “In my opinion, the way in which you and I exist in this world is a collection of our own methods of knowing the world. After a rain beside the grave in those years, I’ve been struggling to find out the true essence of the real world and eventually changed the way I existed in the world. I expected to change the world and searched for the world that was already impossible to return.”

“When I attained Tao enlightenment and debated in Lanke Temple, the West-Hill Divine Palace hierarch spoke highly of my eloquence and asked me to enter Devil’s Doctrine as a spy of all the Central Plains sects. But he didn’t know I was actually born as a diabolism person.”

The old monk revealed a childlike smile on his old and skinny cheeks. There were no teeth inside his open lips. So he looked more like a newborn. And he made others feel a sense of innocence and purity, thus making his ridicule also look so naive.

“I only sought for strength and ways to change the world. I didn’t care about whether it was Taoism or Diabolism and who won or lost. The reason why I was willing to come to Devil’s Doctrine was that I wanted to look at the lost Tomes of Arcane.”

“But the ‘Ming’ Handscroll was not in the Front Gate of Devil’s Doctrine. Those Devil’s Doctrine people hid in mountains and in the Central Plains countries like rats. Those Elders who fanned the flames and agitated the people like women also made me feel disgusted. So I left once again.”

The old monk showed a very strong sense of irony and disgust on his face, just like a woman who saw others selling vinegar added with two bowls of water in a marketplace, full of natural pride and disdain.

“I went to the Grand River in the South Jin Kingdom and Yuelun Kingdom. And finally, I went westward to the distant Unknown Place. In that Xuankong Temple, I finally heard the preaching of the chief monk, saw the brilliant Buddism lights and heard the Buddism language under the lights. After a few years, however, I found that the monks in Xuankong Temple were nothing but some common people. The so-called Buddha’s language was deliberately mystifying and was no different from the fortune tellers in the street of the Kingdom of Song. What was more abominable was that the Buddhism Sect proposed penance and introspection. They could only humbly wait for the rotation of life, so how could they reach the ideal world?”

The old monk’s white brows floated upwards and then fell down. His eyes were full of dissatisfaction, just like a young scholar who stopped the prime minister’s sedan and suggested the minister revive the desolate country. Obviously, he had a much better impression of the Xuankong Temple and the Unknown Place of Buddhism Sect than the Front Gate of Devil’s Doctrine. But he was still angry with the non-aspirant attitude of the Xuankong Temple monks.

“Finally, I returned from the Wilderness and was invited by the hierarch to enter West-Hill Divine Palace. With the help of my trusted aide in the Devil’s Doctrine, I killed two Elders. And then I revealed my identity and sat on the ink-jade divine seat of Grand Judge.”

Ning Que and Mo Shanshan had listened to him silently. And now they finally could not help but ask, “Since you’re one of Devil’s Doctrine, why did you help the West-Hill Divine Palace to kill the Elders of Devil’s Doctrine?”

“How could I have won the trust of the Haotian Taoism sect if I didn’t do so? If not, how would that lousy Taoist temple allow me, a successor of Xuankong Temple, to read their precious Tomes of Arcane? But that Taoist temple was so mean. I only read ‘Ri’ book and ‘Sha’ book even though I had done so many things for the Haotian Taoism sect.”

The old monk said indifferently, “Although I only read two books of the Tomes of Arcane, they were indeed extraordinary. I thought I had finally found a right place and a good opportunity to understand the real world. But after I had spent some time in the Peach Mountain, I found that all the people in West-Hill Divine Palace were a group of cowardly idiots.”

Suddenly he looked down and saw that Ye Hongyu’s eyes were full of anger. He knew that his ridicule of West-Hill Divine Palace had made this girl feel angry and could not help saying with a slight sneer, “Poor kids, don’t you think so? Hundreds of millions of Haotian believers in the world know about the Divine Hall and don’t know Zhishou Abbey. The people sitting in the white temples of the Peach Mountain should know what to do if they really had some guts. But what did they do? They were gossiped about by a shabby Taoist temple.”

The old monk thought of that blue cloth in that shabby Taoist temple and looked slightly serious while saying cynically, “They were a bunch of dogs. That shabby temple was nothing but a dog of Haotian! Haha!… They were all dogs!”

Arrogant laughter burst from his dry bleeding lips. The old monk’s white brows flew up and seemed to be dancing freely. He was like a young swordsman who traveled around the countryside with a sword fighting for justice.

A hoarse but bold laughter echoed in the quiet dark room. Ning Que stared at the old laughing monk in front of the pile of white bones who seemed like he might fall anytime and felt the arrogance clearly conveyed in his laughter. Ning Que could not help but think that this old monk was really eligible to make friends with Youngest Uncle.

“I’ve lived in this world and searched around for so many years. But it was full of people as stupid as dogs and pigs. I still thought that Great Divine Priest of Light who had set up Devil’s Doctrine had something amazing. So I returned to the Devil’s Doctrine.”

The old monk said indifferently, “However, I didn’t expect that after so many years, the Devil’s Doctrine was still as messy as the past. Its leader was indeed a loser, so muddle-headed and stubborn. He wanted to abolish the inheritance of the Saintess of Diabolism just because he was unwilling to sacrifice his own daughter. The rest indulged in the dull pleasure of killing, and were just as boring as beasts.”

“At this moment, I finally found a glimmer of hope in the Front Gate. It was a young boy. From him, I saw the possibility of reviving Devil’s Doctrine and even changing the whole world. However, he didn’t believe what I said at all, for I had killed his father to establish my reputation to the Front Gate. I brought so many wonderful cultivation methods from the sacred place of Buddhism, but he didn’t want to learn them but to learn Twenty-Three-year Cicada Cultivation that couldn’t give him a successful future!”

The old monk recalled and shouted angrily, “The only hope was shattered again. What should I do? Finally, I came up with a way. I wanted to destroy the world, including all the Taoist or Buddhism sects. So I could return the heaven and earth to tranquility and give birth to new shoots from the scorched earth. Only in this way could I change the world!”

Ning Que looked at the nearly mad old monk and suddenly asked, “What exactly did you want the world to look like? Or were you just annoyed with the world and wanted to destroy it?”

The old monk gradually hid his anger and calmed down again, saying, “You haven’t even seen the appearance of this world. Do you think you’re eligible to discuss the transformation of the world with me?”

After a moment’s silence, Ning Que said, “Since you had traveled around in search of ways to change the world, why didn’t you go to the Academy? I think the Academy in those years should not be inferior to the places where you had studied.”

The old monk said after a long silence, “There was already a guy named Ke Haoran in the Academy.”

Ning Que stared at his eyes and said, “So you didn’t want to change the world. You just envied my Youngest Uncle and wanted to make yourself stronger so that you could defeat him. But you still couldn’t make it. So you fell into despair in the end and wanted the whole world to die with you.”

The old monk was slightly startled and then laughed as if he heard the most ridiculous thing in the world. His empty hand kept rubbing at his shriveled abdomen. He said, “Would I be jealous of a madman?”

Ning Que did not laugh, but looked at him calmly and said, “You’re a madman yourself.”

The old monk kept silent and then sighed softly. He said, “You’re right. I was indeed somewhat jealous.” I had no obstacles on the road of Buddhism and could cultivate both Taoism and Diabolism. In Xuankong Temple, I could be a Bhadanta. In the Peach Mountain, I could be a God. In Devil’s Doctrine, I was a priest with the highest status. So I really didn’t need to be modest, for I always thought myself as a peerless figure within a thousand years. But I never expected to actually encounter a guy more incredible than me.”

The old monk said with a lament, “I learned lotus print of Xuankong Temple and got enlightenment easily. I learned Confinement tactical arrays of the Peach Mountain and could trap the whole world by waving my hands at will. I was an expert in the cultivation methods of 7 sects and 28 schools of Devil’s Doctrine. I even regained the Practice of Taotie that had long lost its successor and enlightened the Haotian oracle by reading two books of Tomes of Arcane. If it wasn’t because I didn’t want to be ordered by Haotian, I could be apocalyptic at any time. Do you think I’m a cultivation genius?”

Ning Que’s heart trembled with each sentence the old monk said. Ning Que had never seen such a mighty cultivator in his life. Even Master Yan Se and Second Brother seemed to be far worse than him. Of course, a figure like him was a cultivation genius.

He said honestly, “You’re an expert in every cultivation method. You’re indeed a great person.”

The old monk laughed at himself and said, “Do you know how many cultivation methods Ke Haoran learned?”

Ning Que kept silent.

The old monk slowly shook his head and said, “He only learned one.”

Ning Que said in surprise, “One?”

The old monk said quietly, “Ke Haoran could only use a sword, from a child-like woodchip sword in the very beginning to a sword piercing the sky. Both of them belonged to his Haoran Sword.”

Ning Que glanced at the disorderly sword marks on the walls in the room and felt puzzled. If Youngest Uncle could only use Haoran Sword, how could he arrange such a powerful Confinement tactical array to trap Lotus for decades?

The old monk seemed to sense Ning Que’s and Mo Shanshan’s doubts, so he smiled and said, “You said that I was an expert in every cultivation method. But Ke Haoran mastered every cultivation method by using one method. He could only use a sword throughout his life. But he could turn a sword style into all Taoists Laws in the world. The Confinement in this room is one example.”

A sword turned into thousands of Taoists Laws in the world!

Ning Que was too shocked to say anything and thought about how many years of cultivation he needed to reach such a state.

The old monk smiled and said, ” In fact, I really felt helpless to meet such a person.”

“Ke Haoran was not as good-looking as I. His donkey was even worse than my horse. His feet sweated so much that they stunk when he took off his shoes. But he still liked sitting and scratching his feet. He got a bad temper and even scolded with the Headmaster of Academy for three full days and nights, just for a bowl of braised pork. All the people revered him even though he was someone like that. When I traveled with him, the people could only see him. No matter how many amazing things I had made, the people could only see him.”

The old monk wore a slightly bitter smile and raised his left hand to make a lotus print in front of his chest. He gently rubbed the head of Ye Hongyu as if he was spoiling a kid and continued, “Indeed I was jealous of him, so I wanted to do something amazing. However, I wanted to find a way to the ideal world more. He stood in my way no matter what I did. So I had to think of a way to make him die.”

“But he still saw through your plot.” Ning Que said.

The old monk said with a lament, “At that time, Wei Guangming almost exposed my trick. So I had to hide in the Devil’s Doctrine. Unexpectedly, Ke Haoran had seen through the matter at Lanke Temple and also chased after me. I didn’t mind it at that time, for I always thought that the whole Devil’s Doctrine could always kill him. So I was even somewhat glad of his coming and prepared to kill him.”

“I hadn’t fought with Ke Haoran before. I knew he was very strong, but I didn’t care whether he was the strongest man in the world. However, after all, I still didn’t expect he would be so strong.”

The old monk said indifferently, “He was strong, so he won. This truth was acceptable for the people in the Devil’s Doctrine. So I accepted my failure. Even if he killed me with his sword, I had no complaints. But he should not have let me live.”

“He should not have let me live!”

The old monk’s skinny cheeks suddenly became distorted and his deep eyes were full of venomousness like a ghost fire. His hoarse voice seemed to come from Underworld and he shouted painfully. “He ruined all my cultivation and threw me in this dark room. He sealed all my Qi of Heaven and Earth with the Confinement I most admired and suppressed me like a monster in this dark place where I couldn’t see a blue sky for the rest of my life! He made me bear a lifetime of loneliness and despair!”

“Could anyone endure loneliness and isolation for decades? Do you know the despair I feel when I look at the light coming from outside the temple every day for counting days? Do you know what a terrible punishment it was to only look at these four walls for decades? Do you know, when a person stays alone for a long time, even quietness could become the most terrible torture?”

The old monk stared at Ning Que’s face grudgingly, as if he was looking at the face of that man in those years. His breath became unusually rapid because of his excitement and his voice became increasingly mournful, just like his mood at this time.