Nightfall

There were many quiet places other than some noisy streets in the winter morning of Chang’an. For example, the little alleys that crossed the city.

Ning Que and Chen Pipi walked through the narrow alley. Nobody said anything for a long time. Chen Pipi glanced at him with several emotions in his eyes, which were hard to describe.

“If you want to ask? Then, ask.”

Ning Que rubbed his slightly pale face and dispelled the tiredness in his body.

Chen Pipi shook his head.

Ning Que suddenly asked, “Did you want to know what the “m” meant?”

Chen Pipi shrugged and said nonchalantly, “Mastermind? Anyway, I don’t care about these things.”

Ning Que suddenly stopped. He raised his head and looked at the gloomy sky that had been segmented by tree branches. Chen Pipi looked up together with him with an odd expression, but did not see anything weird.

Ning Que stared at the sky for a long time. Then, he suddenly smiled and looked at Chen Pipi, “I’ve joined the Devil.”

Chen Pipi did not look at his eyes but continued to look at the sky. He said sarcastically, “This joke isn’t funny at all.”

Ning Que looked at his chubby face and said seriously, “You know this isn’t a joke.”

Chen Pipi said, “But I feel that this is like a joke.”

Ning Que did not intend to give up. He stared at him and asked, “If this is not a joke, how do you intend to deal with me?”

Only Sangsang and Eldest Brother of the Academy vaguely knew about Ning Que having joined the Devil when he cultivated the Great Spirit at the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine in the Wilderness. However, they had not never questioned Ning Que about this.

Ning Que had discussed the Devil’s Doctrine with Chen Pipi once. In that discussion, Chen Pipi had not disguised his hatred and despise to the Devil’s Doctrine.

However, Ning Que had wanted to confess to him under the winter skies because Chen Pipi had been too kind to him even before he became his Twelfth Senior. He was his closest companion in Chang’an apart from Sangsang. Since Chen Pipi had vaguely guessed the truth, he could no longer hide it from him. Furthermore, he did want to know how Chen Pipi would treat him.

对于这件事情,陈皮皮的应对方法很简单,沉默片刻确实无法继续装傻之后,他开始�愣:Chen Pipi’s response was simple. After a moment of silence, he could no longer pretend to be dumb. Then, he began to act stupid, “I didn’t hear what you said.”

Ning Que yelled into his ears, “I have joined the Devil!”

Chen Pipi jumped, and quickly covered Ning Que’s mouth. He glanced around nervously and said like scold, “It’s not anything good. Do you want the entire Chang’an City to hear you?”

Ning Que said, “I just want to make sure you heard me clearly.”

Chen Pipi swiped at his ears and said irritatedly, “The martial monk’s blood got into my ears when he cut his stomach open. My ears are a little uncomfortable, so I can’t hear anything clearly today.”

Ning Que stood before him and told him the story, accompanied with gestures, on how he had joined the Devil.

Chen Pipi refused to look at his lips and gestures. He closed his eyes tightly and his brows twisted painfully.

Ning Que reached out to pull his eyelids open.

Chen Pipi could no longer tolerate, and he said like bellow angrily, “Why telling me? Isn’t it good if I pretend not to know anything? Or do you want me to kill you?”

Ning Que said shamelessly, “Senior Brother wouldn’t bear to do it.”

The two guys looked at each other and bursted into laughter.

They both understood that the matter was truly over.

There was a teahouse in the alley. Ning Que had not eaten or drunk anything and run for a whole night. He had been heavily injured in the battle with the middle-aged monk. He was on the brink of mental collapse. He could walk no longer when he saw the teapots outside the teahouse and smelt the scent of snacks.

The two guys sat at the table near the window on the second floor. Ning Que cleared the table with shocking speed and began to daydream while he looked out of the window at Chang’an’s morning scenery, just like what he had done in the past 24 hours.

Chen Pipi acted like Eldest Brother, and began to slowly pick out the flesh from the clams in spicy sauce. He could not help to worry when he saw Ning Que’s expression. He wondered that if his Younger Brother’s had been injured in the battle with the middle-aged monk, and that he became dumb after being cleansed by Buddhist’s intentions in that pure land of lotus flowers.

“Senior Brother, could you do me a favour?”

Ning Que retracted his eyesight from the scenery outside the window and asked Chen Pipi seriously.

Chen Pipi was startled, and he asked, “What is it?”

“It’s like this…”

“What art?”

“That’s what I meant.”

“What’s the percentage?”

“Thirty and seventy.”

…

…

Sound of footsteps came from the stairs of the teahouse as the two Brothers were engrossed in discussion. The two shut up and looked at the stairs in unison.

He Mingchi walked up with the yellow oiled-paper umbrella under his arms. His slight hunch made him look like a village teacher who had books and a ruler under his arm.

The government would of course be alerted by the mysterious deaths of two monks from the Yuelun Kingdom. The Chang’an Local Government had no clue of this incident and did not know who had committed the crime. However, it did not take long for the Imperial Center Administration to ascertain the truth of the matter and to find killer.

Ning Que invited He Mingchi to sit and poured him a cup of tea. He said, “I remember that the opinions of both parties are respected with regards to matters relating to challenges in the law of the Tang Empire.”

He Mingchi bowed to the two respectfully before he said after some hesitation. “However, the laws of Tang Empire have never allowed a battle to death. Besides, all battles have to be registered with the government.”

Ning Que said, “Who would know how these matters end? As for registering, can’t I register now?”

He Mingchi smiled bitterly, “I will register the battle this morning when I return.”

Ning Que toasted him with the tea and smiled, “So why did you come for us?”

He Mingchi put down the teacup and sighed, “The crux of the matter is that you were too vicious.”

Ning Que said calmly, “I would be dead had I not been vicious.”

He Mingchi held his teacup. After a brief moment of silence, he said, “That middle-aged monk is not an ordinary person.”

Ning Que and Chen Pipi did not say anything. They had already guessed that the middle-aged monk was somebody. It was likely that he came from the Xuankong Temple. However, knowing and getting confirmation were two things.

“Dao Shi was not famous, and even the Imperial Center Administration doesn’t have many records about him. I would have thought he was a nobody from the White Tower Temple, if I had not been curious and checked some old records and asked for information about the Yuelun Kingdom after he entered Chang’an.”

He Mingchi looked at Ning Que and said, “Many years ago, the Elder of White Tower Temple found an abandoned baby outside the temple. The Imperial Center Administration thought that there might be more to the incident because the White Tower Temple was very close to the imperial palace and was heavily guarded. It would be very difficult to leave a baby there. That baby was Dao Shi.”

“Rumors said that monk Daoshi was related to some noble of the Yuelun Royal family. And we have found that he had been cultivating in the Buddhism arts in the Xuankong Temple over the years. That was when we have received indirect confirmation of the rumors surrounding his birth. Everyone knows that even though that the Aunt is hateful, her status in the Buddhism Sect is super high and that she has a secret relationship with the Xuankong Temple.”

“Furthermore, monk Daoshi and Aunt Quni Madi are different. Even though he had only returned from the Xuankong Temple for a short time, he had gained respect from the Buddhism Sect of Yuelun Kingdom. Mr. Thirteen had not only killed him this morning, but also cut his head off. This would only anger Yuelun Kingdom and the Buddhism Sect.”

Ning Que said, “I am facing a very troublesome issue these days. That issue concerns whether my world would end or be rebirthed. Don’t tell me that the middle-aged monk might be Quni Madi’s illegitimate son. Even if that old hag Quni Madi came personally, I would say ‘go f**k yourself’ to her.”

He Mingchi sighed and said, “But his Senior Brother is Qi Nian.”

Qi Nian was the Buddhism Sect’s World Wayfarer. He was the eldest disciple of the chief monk who preached at Xuankong Temple.

Chen Pipi became silent. He had heard of this name many times as a child from his proud senior from West-Hill. That was why he knew that Qi Nian was very rough.

Ning Que was also silent. The reason for his silence was very simple. It was because Chen Pipi was silent. He remembered who Qi Nian was, and understood who he had angered by killing Dao Shi.

“I feel awful today.”

Ning Que said as a conclusion, “He bumped into my knife. That meant he was unlucky.”

…

…

On the streets of Chang’an.

A pair of hands picked up the head on the ground.

The hands were slightly tanned, and have once held alms bowls. They have once bowed in front of Buddha, and once caressed a tree in silence. More often than not, they held an iron staff and walked the world with fluttering monk robes.

The hands belonged to an ordinary sadhu from the White Tower Temple.

he sadhu held the head with trembling hands. He knelt before the headless corpse outside the bun shop and managed to attached the head to the body after a long time.

The body of the skinny martial monk had also been found and placed beside the middle-aged monk’s corpse, who was in a sitting position with his knees crossed. The martial monk’s intestines had been stuffed back into his stomach. His chest had been shot by a talisman arrow, which looked exceptionally frightful.

The sadhu held his iron staff and knelt before the bodies of the two monks. He lowered his head slowly.

On the streets, ten other sadhus from Yuelun Kingdom kelt as well, and placed their palms together with lowered heads.

A breeze that came from nowhere entered the street and blew the monks’ robes. Grief and indignation appeared on the tanned faces of the sadhus.

The sound of chanting rose with the wind and passed through the streets.

Many citizens of Chang’an watched from two ends of the streets and they lowered their heads as they heard the chant.

Snow fell down, covering the bodies of the two monks outside the shop, as if it wanted to cover the blood on their neck and body. It was the last snowfall in Chang’an this winter.

…

…

Decades ago, the Elder of the White Tower Temple of Yuelun Kingdom opened the doors of the temple to find a baby on the stone path. He leaned over and watched the child for a long time and asked the baby smilingly where it had come from. The baby’s eyes were as dark as black paint and were calm and gentle. His soft lips whispered that he came from where he should come from. The Elder was stunned and quickly carried the baby into the temple.

The Elder named the boy Dao Shi, and felt that the boy was intelligent and would become the Bhadanta of the Buddhism Sect in the future. However, as time passed, the boy became ordinary and gained no reputaition. However, he often received the help from nobles in the palace.

Monk Dao Shi was hardworking and practiced penance. He left the temple at 12 and traveled the world. At 16, he returned to the capital and felt for the slums at the feet of the palace and entered the pure land of lotus flowers. However, he remained unknown.

After some years, monk Daoshi gained instruction from a noble and headed to the Xuankong Temple in the Wilderness. He began to study and practice Buddhism under the chief preaching monk. However, he remained unknown in the world.

Another year passed, and monk Daoshi heard of a certain incident and his Zen heart was touched. He returned to the Yuelun Kingdom from Xuankong temple. He toured 480 temples and began to be known in the Buddhism Sect.

The Bhadanta of the Buddhism Sect of the secular world was in charge of the supermundane Xuankong Temple. Decades ago, the person was Master Lotus, and 10 years ago, the person was Master Huang Yang, the younger brother of the Tang emperor several years ago. Today, the person was Master Dao Shi, a monk from the Yuelun Kingdom.

One day, the master came to Chang’an due to a certain incident in the Wilderness, a thought in the secular world, and a word from the Buddhism Sect.

He met Mr. Thirteen of the Academy, Ning Que, and died.