Nightfall

As a holy place for millions of believers of Haotian, the West-Hill Divine Palace was as much a spiritual place as a rational place. And of all its branches, the Judicial Department was the most rational place. During the journey in the Wilderness, Ye Hongyu went through lots of challenges, because of which her cultivation power was devastated. And it seemed that anyone rational would know that her future was overshadowed. That was why her subordinates who used to respect her very much dared to speak ill of her now, and that was also why she had to take it silently.

Few people knew that on a remote mountain in the south, there was a humble Taoist temple. The stele above the temple gate had its name on it, Zhishou Abbey. However, unlike the West-Hill Divine Palace, this place never cared about the secular world.

In Zhishou Abbey, seven huts were built next to a lake, where the seven Tomes of Arcane were kept. But the “Ming” Handscroll which was kept in the fourth hut before it was lost, and for that reason, the fourth hut became extremely shabby, with straws on the roof withered sadly. On the contrary, the other six huts were glorious. It seemed that the straws on their roof were made of gold, shining and stunning under the sun.

On the wooden stool in the first hut lay a Classic with a black cover, it was so heavy and thick that it looked almost the same as a natural Black Blood Stone. That was the “Ri” book.

The sharp contrast of the black cover and the white pages looked very startling.

The “Ri” book was open, or more likely, it was never closed for thousands of years. The first page was completely empty, with nothing on it. But on the second one there were some words scattered around; the clearest words were the name of the Sage of Sword, Liu Bai, and somewhere not far away from it at the same line, was another name, Jun Mo, and then you could see names like Ye Tang or something else around, in a disordered way.

Wind blew in, turning the pages as if it was an invisible hand. It turned the book to a new page.

The page on show now was empty too as if it was covered by pure snow. But Ning Que’s name appeared here earlier when he climbed to the top of the Academy and understood Talisman Taoism on a rainy night, but for some reason, it disappeared later.

Wind was blowing around the pillars in the hut, soon it started turning the pages again. But this time it turned the pages from the back to the front.

The book was turning quickly, so fast that it was hard to see the characters, but occasionally, some names were clear, such as Lyu Qingchen. But most of the time, only a few words like Liu or He could be seen vaguely.

The wind was still turning the pages, and finally, the book was turned to the very front pages, on which lots of names were written. Because of the names, this page looked as if it was a part of a plant with intricate and beautiful patterns all over.

Prince Long Qing’s name was written in a corner of the page, however, the name was so light that it seemed that his name could sink into the page and disappear at any moment. At another corner, Tang Xiaotang’s name was written in a scratchy way. Mo Shanshan’s name took up the center part of the page, written quietly and softly.

There were still many other names, such as Wang Jinglue or the Monk Guan Hai, making the page a little messy. But at the top edge of the book, there was an empty area, with only one name in the area, it was Ye Hongyu.

The three characters looked so proud and lonely. They were in a very rich and dark color, so much that as if it could fly out of the paper and go with the wind, especially the stroke at the top of the character, which extended out of the paper and stuck into the page in front of it, like a sharp sword.

While at the corner at the bottom right, Ning Que’s name could be seen if you look carefully as it was very insignificant.

…

…

This morning, Mo Shanshan and Ning Que were at the southern part of Chang’an. On the meadow out of the Academy, Mo Shanshan said softly to Ning Que, “I will write to you after I come back to my country. But I still can’t write your name nicely after trying many times.”

Looking at her eyelashes sparkling in the morning light, Ning Que said, “You are not leaving right now, why do you say it like you are leaving me forever? We will definitely write to each other, but I also think maybe I can wait after Headmaster of Academy comes back and then go to visit you with Sangsang.”

Mo Shanshan looked down at her shoes, thinking that maybe Ning Que never gave attention to his way of talking. But she could not change him, could she?

They walked on the meadow. Ning Que guided Mo Shanshan around the Academy. After that, they walked past the wetland, the old library, and the thick fog and arrived at the cliff.

Just like Ning Que when he came to the back of the mountain of the Academy for the first time, Mo Shanshan was also deeply impressed by the beautiful scenery at the cliff, the peaceful lake and the waterfall hung in the distance. She stared at this scene, and said, “This is the real Academy.”

Ning Que replied, “If you call the Second floor of the Academy the real Academy, then yes.”

Mo Shanshan said softly, “For cultivators, the holy place, namely the Unknown Place is nowhere to be found, as it is out of the secular world. Although another holy place, the Academy is in the secular world, how many people could actually come here and see it?” “After meeting you, I first went to the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine, then to the back of the mountain. How lucky am I!”

Standing next to her, Ning Que was also enjoying the beautiful scenery. At this time, her words made him proud and delighted. He said, “You are with me now, and there are still many lucky things waiting for you.”

He was just saying it without giving it much thought, but it was really nice to hear. If they stayed together forever, then they would experience more things together. Mo Shanshan was not used to such sweet words yet, she lowered her head and felt a little shy.

Ning Que was always shameless, he didn’t feel shy at all. He led her to the lake and said, “I will introduce you to my Seventh Sister, as apart from her, other Brothers all enjoy playing hide-and-seek, it is difficult to find them.”

Mo Shanshan was a little nervous as she was going to meet people closest to him at the Academy. While she was walking after him on the mountain path, she asked mildly, “Is it fine that you let people outside of the Academy come here?”

As a man, the best answer at this moment was just to say, but you were not someone outside, you were with me.

Ning Que wouldn’t be too shy to say words of this kind, but he had never been in a relationship, so he was not aware of this answer at all. Seeing that she was worried, he said honestly, “Since you and Eldest Brother are sworn brother and sister, it is totally fine. And he had told me to show you around, if not so I wouldn’t have taken you in today.”

Then they chatted with Seventh Sister when passing the lake and went to visit Fourth and Sixth Brother at the smithy near the stream. Sixth Brother, who was used to be topless, was startled when seeing Ning Que come with a beautiful girl. He put on a coat at a speed quicker than that of him swinging the hammer. But Fourth Brother was still concentrated on his deduction, as if he didn’t see them at all.

The temperature in the smithy was extremely high and the room was full of vapor. Considering that Shanshan was a girl after all, Ning Que thought he would just chat with them then leave shortly. But when Shanshan saw Fourth Brother deducting, she didn’t want to leave, instead, she squatted next to him and started studying the talisman lines on the sand table carefully, her face became very serious.

Ning Que felt surprised, he also walked to the window to study the sand table. After a while, Fourth Brother looked up and glanced at the girl, he said expressionlessly, “You know talisman?”

Asking the Calligraphy Addict whether she knew talisman was like asking whether a butcher knew how to kill a pig, or whether a hunter dared to walk in a mountain. Ning Que knew that Fourth Brother didn’t mean it, but worrying that Shanshan would feel humiliated, he said, “Senior Brother, she is the Calligraphy Addict.”

“Oh, so you are the Calligraphy Addict,” said he, “but do you understand talisman?”

Ning Que didn’t know what to say at all.

Among the three Addicts, Mo Shanshan was noted for being kind and elegant. At this moment, she didn’t become angry at all, but she did feel a little confused. Looking up at Ning Que, she remembered his answer to the same question in the Wilderness, and said with a smile, “I know a little.”

Fourth Brother pointed to Ning Que and said, “How is your level comparing with that of him?”

Without any thinking, she said immediately, “I am far better than him.”

Ning Que felt a little sad, not knowing what to say.

Fourth Brother nodded with satisfaction, “Then you surely are qualified to watch me deducting.”

Looking at the talisman lines moving slowly, she asked with doubt, “Is it really deduction?”

Fourth Brother answered, “If not, why are you studying it so carefully?”

Mo Shanshan said with surprise, “But my master said the World Plate deduction has been lost many years.”

Fourth Brother shook his head and said, “It did get lost in the Kaiyuan period of Tang, but about forty years later, the seventh master of Black Ink Garden, Master Ying, analyzed six years with a wise man from the Academy and re established the rules of deduction, and then they spent the whole life rebuilding the World Plate. How come your master, the successor of Master Ying doesn’t know this?”

Mo Shanshan looked at the seemingly normal sang table with great surprise. There were two parallel lines which seemed interfere with each other somehow. She frowned and said, “Are you deducing the number of lines existing at the initial time when the primordial Qi started interfering with a still talisman?”

Fourth Brother didn’t expect that this girl could know what he was doing at one look. His expression changed a little and said with great interest, “Do you also know something about it?”

Looking at the sand table concentratedly, she said, “I studied a little about it, but I never thought you can deduct without relying on anything.”

Fourth Brother liked the concentration of Mo Shanshan very much. Then he turned to Ning Que and said with dissatisfaction, “Hurry to move a chair over here, you don’t want Shanshan to keep squatting like that, do you?”

Ning Que felt very wronged, he went to move a chair without saying anything.

Mo Shanshan seated herself in the chair without thanking him or looking at him. She continued to study the sand table carefully and talked with Fourth Brother occasionally.