Nightfall

Tang Xiaotang looked at the three before her as she scratched her head in annoyance, thinking that it was really troublesome.

She had watched the three entering the sacred grounds with her brother outside the Front Gate but had lost their tracks after that. She didn’t think that they would meet in the valley. She believed that she was not any weaker than the three, but it was obvious that the three were not feuding, and she did not think that she was strong enough to defeat the Tao Addict, the Calligraphy Addict and the core disciple of the Headmaster of Academy.

Whitey who had accompanied her through the long and complicated passages earlier on, had suddenly gone missing. She had searched it for a long time before following the clues hopefully. However, she had heard a discussion on how to kill whitey and turn it into food in the mist. The joy that she had experienced at finding Whitey was quickly replaced with anger. She had jumped from high above in her anger and had been ambushed with Ye Hongyu’s Taoist Sword due to her recklessness.

Ye Hongyu’s ambush did not harm her due to her state having fallen from the Knowing Destiny State to the Seethrough State for a reason that was still unknown to her. However, she was not made of rock no matter how strong her body with the blood of the Desolate Man was. Her internal organs had been hurt in the shock for her jumping from a high ground, which others did not know for the moment.

Tang Xiaotang shivered. It was only by then did she truly understand how dangerous it was. She had almost killed herself hurtling down. She knew that if her brother found out how muddle-headed she was, he would be very angry. She pulled down her fur cap on her head subconsciously as she thought of that. She stuck out her tongue at the thought and looked utterly adorable.

“You all seem to have encountered many things in the sacred ground. It is our sacred ground, and not meant for outsiders like you to enter at will. I don’t take advantage of your injuries, but you guys shouldn’t take advantage of the fact that I am alone.”

Tang Xiaotang felt that the decision she had made hastily was very intelligent. She was about to head to Chang’an to learn from the Headmaster of the Academy, so she shouldn’t hurt that guy called Ning Que. Following that, she said in a clear childish voice, “The road is wide, we can just each take a side.”

Ning Que stood behind Ye Hongyu and did not wait for her to say anything. Instead, he said, “Young heroine, you do make sense. We shall leave you here.”

He knew very well of their situation. They had been tortured by that flesh-eating old monk for a long time. Even if they were the Calligraphy Addict and the Tao Addict, they were both weak to the extreme. Choosing to fight with a girl from the Devil’s Doctrine who was full of primordial Qi was a stupid decision.

The girl from the Devil’s Doctrine looked adorable. However, Ning Que just wanted to stay as far away from her as possible. He was threatened by the girl’s power, and also, Master Lotus’ stories and actions had caused him to develop a fear of the Devil’s Doctrine. Even though he had joined the Devil, it didn’t mean that he could become naturally close to those from the Devil’s Doctrine. Just like how Youngest Uncle had joined the Devil then, but had still destroyed the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine.

Ning Que relaxed as he watched Tang Xiaotang who was about to say something. However, his body remained tense and his right hand, which was behind his back, clenched tightly. However, he forgot that his hand was still stuck in the Little White Dog’s throat. As his fingers tightened, the Little White Dog was struck by intense pain and uttered a feeble cry.

The weak and pitiful cry that sounded like a dying person calling for his family. Tang Xiaotang, who was about to leave, returned to her senses. She lowered her head in anger, and thought to herself that she might have injured her brain when she landed, and had forgotten why she had taken the risk and jumped from high above.

She looked at the three and suppressed her anger. She said, “Return Whitey to me and I’ll leave.”

Ye Hongyu glanced at Ning Que expressionlessly before moving to the side.

Ning Que glared at her. He raised his right hand and looked at Tang Xiaotang. “Is this your pet dog? No wonder it’s so adorable. I was wondering why there was a dog in this valley. So it is a sacred dog of the Devil’s Doctrine.”

The dog that was suspended in mid-air looked really pitiful. His mouth was opened wide, and bloody drool dripped from his mouth. Its stomach heaved lightly with each breath as it looked at its owner pitifully. Its eyes had turned red due to its struggle.

Tang Xiaotang looked at it and saw red. She ignored Ning Que’s flattery and she grew angry with red eyes.

…

…

There was a strong gust of wind and a strong blow. Dust settled slowly.

Tang Xiaotang glared at Ning Que who leaned against the smooth stone of the valley. She yelled angrily, “I’m going to kill you!”

Ning Que could not raise his arm due to the pain. The bone in it had been shattered into many pieces from the girl’s blow. It was then, when he finally believed Ye Hongyu’s comment that the little witch from the Devil’s Doctrine was really scary.

Blood flowed from his lips as he watched Tang Xiaotang. He said hoarsely, “I’m giving you this, and we will consider this matter settled. If you want to fight, don’t blame me for not being nice. So what if you are from the Enlightenment Doctrine? I am the successor of the Headmaster of the Academy.”

It was obvious that the title of being a core disciple of the Headmaster of the Academy was much more impactful than that of the Divine Hall or the Buddhism Sect. Tang Xiaotang did not react.

Mo Shanshan stood beside Ning Que and watched the girl who was getting closer to them.

Ye Hongyu glanced at Ning Que with a grin before moving further back.

Ning Que shook his head at Mo Shanshan. “You’d better conserve your energy.”

Mo Shanshan replied lightly, “So I should watch you be beaten alive just because of a dog?”

“How would a person like me be beaten alive by a girl? I will not even consider this type of death a possibility.”

Ning Que stood up with the support of the stone wall. He clutched the pathetic looking Little White Dog tightly and looked at Tang Xiaotang. He said solemnly, “If you make one more step forward, I will strangle this pathetic dog.”

Tang Xiaotang’s expression changed slightly. She stopped and said angrily, “How can you be so shameless?”

Ning Que looked at her and said earnestly, “I think you are more shameless for taking advantage of my injuries.”

“Furthermore, you are really not our opponent. The Tao Addict is here. Since you couldn’t even defeat her in the past, do you think that you can defeat her now? Don’t hurry to rebut this. Think through this carefully. It is true that her state has fallen from the Knowing Destiny State to the Seethrough State. But you lost to her when she was still in the Seethrough State.”

Tang Xiaotang furrowed her brows slightly and thought that Ning Que’s words seemed to make sense.

Ning Que looked at her expression and added on, “Furthermore, she had been in the Knowing Destiny State for some time and has the experience of a Grand Cultivator. Experience is very important in a battle. I guess you do not have this kind of experience?”

Tang Xiaotang shook her head and replied honestly, “The Enlightenment Doctrine does not have the five different states like the Taoist Sect. But it is true that my state now is not as strong as your Knowing Destiny State.”

The Devil’s Doctrine did not have five states… Ning Que was slightly startled. He thought that this was a bad sign for his future. Wouldn’t it be easy for others to discover that he had joined the Devil? He frowned and decided that he should first settle the currrent problem now.

“Anyway, no matter what, you won’t be able to defeat the Tao Addict. If the three of us fight together, you will definitely not be able to win.”

Mo Shanshan smiled slightly beside him, “I really can’t fight anymore.”

Ye Hongyu spoke up from afar with a cool expression, “You can fight with your life if you want, but why should I?”

Ning Que was furious. Was this the time for them to be so frank? However, he could tell from Mo Shanshan and Ye Hongyu’s attitudes that there was no true danger anymore. So, he looked at the girl from the Devil’s Doctrine and said, “Well, the most important thing in life is to be happy. I understand why you are angry, but I hope that you can understand the injustice I have experienced.”

He continued, “Even though your dog has been frightened, but I can assure you that he didn’t lose any bit of flesh. If I put it down and return it to you, I hope that you won’t act rashly anymore. Okay?”

Tang Xiaotang looked at the dog that was on its last breath and could not be bothered to fight anymore. She nodded quickly.

Ning Que removed his hand from the Little White Dog’s mouth forcefully and handed it over.

Tang Xiaotang held Whitey happily and stroke his white fur in comfort. Whitey nudged at her face weakly before burrowing his head in the girl’s recently developed, soft chest.

Ning Que stepped back and praised, “It is really an adorable puppy.”

Tang Xiaotang explained seriously, “Whitey is a snow wolf, not a dog.”

Ning Que received a sudden epiphany and said, “So it is a little white wolf.”

It was then when the little white wolf stole a glance at him from the girl’s embrace. Its gaze was sharp and fierce, as if it was saying that it would bite Ning Que to death in the future if it had the opportunity to.

“It is indeed a wolf.” Ning Que thought to himself viciously. He would throw it into the back of the mountain of the Academy should it have the opportunity to and have Second Brother’s goose teach it a lesson.

…

…

Tang Xiaotang said to the three before she left, “Even though there is only this one path to leave the sacred land, it was made by those from the Enlightenment Doctrine, there are many confusing arrays. There is a lot of mist these few days, be careful when you head out. You might not be able to get out if you get lost.”

Mo Shanshan bowed calmly, and replied, “Thank you for your reminder, young lady.”

The young Talisman Master would not have hesitated to battle her to death if she had met such an important witch from the Devil’s Doctrine in the past. However, she had gotten to know more about the difference between the Devil’s Doctrine and Taoism from her travels from the Great River Kingdom to the Wilderness with Ning Que. She would not view the world as she used to, especially after experiencing something like Master Lotus.

Tang Xiaotang replied, “You’re welcome, I just wanted to make him feel worse.”

She was referring to Ning Que. He smiled and said, “Why don’t we travel together?”

Tang Xiaotang looked at him and said with satisfaction, “You guys always say that the Enlightenment Doctrine is the Devil’s Doctrine and that the Tao and the Devil’s Doctrine belong to two different sects. Why do you want me to take you guys out of here now? I want you guys to beg me. Why don’t you beg me?”

Ning Que said seriously, “Oh no, the Academy has always encouraged inclusiveness. To the Academy, the difference between Taoism and the Devil’s craft are but just conceptual differences. I have always admired Enlightenment Doctrine’s predecessors.”

And then, he straightened his expression and said solemnly, “Miss Tang, please take us out with you. I beg you.”

…

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