Nightfall

Whether it was on the peaks of the south bank or the snow forests on the east coast of Yanming Lake, it was silent. There was no noise at all, not even the sound of cicadas chirping.

On the city wall, Eldest Brother’s and Ye Su’s gazes pierced through the countless piles of snow, landing on the forest. Their expressions were slightly different and they seemed to feel what was happening there.

However, they did not have much energy to focus on what happened in the snow forest, which was because they saw the blood flag swaying at the front of the house by Yanming Lake. Xia Hou pushed opened the door.

…

The door was a little new and it seemed to have been rebuilt recently. Xia Hou pushed it open and entered the dark courtyard. Suddenly, the sound of cicadas arrived at his ears and his body shuddered slightly.

During the day in the Imperial Palace, he had also vaguely heard the sound of cicadas coming from the snowflakes that were dancing in the air. He was sure they were only his hallucinations, but the sounds now were still there, almost as if they were real.

The cold expression on Xia Hou’s face was not shaken, his eyebrows were raised slightly and he appeared increasingly violent. As he stepped across the threshold of the door, he walked down the hallway to the main hall.

The snow had stopped temporarily before it started to dance around increasingly more violent.

Thick clouds covered the sky that was dotted with stars, and the snowstorm had dimmed the light in Chang’an. Yanming Lake was a patch of darkness and no one could see anything. However, Xia Hou could see everything clearly.

There were several plum trees planted under the stone steps, however, for some reason, the plum branches were scattered. There were freshly broken crops under the snow that seemed as if they had been eaten by some elegant animal.

There was a pot with a green plant in the house, and even in the harsh winter, the plant was still growing lushly. The branches and leaves were plump and green, which made the soil in the pot seem dull.

The black beam at the top of the roof seemed a little deformed. It must have suffered some kind of impact and it had two incredibly small cracks. It did not affect the safety of the structure but it still left one a little worried.

At the side of a uniquely shaped cabinet, there was an oil lamp that was made of porcelain. The rope of the lamp was white and when it was not lit, it was an incredibly beautiful piece of artwork.

This house by Yanming Lake had cost Ning Que countless silver, consuming countless thoughts of Mr. Qi and making Her Majesty and Lee Yu spend a fortune. Naturally, it was extraordinary and was comparable to those famous gardens in Qinghe County. Even something that did not look like much was still worth appreciating.

Xia Hou was a general and was not sentimental, so naturally, he was not interested in such things. However, with a fight approaching, his gaze on the plum trees, the black beam, potted plants, and the lamp was incredibly focused.

In actual fact, he was not looking at those plum trees, the black beam, the potted plants, or the lamp.

He was looking at the yellow paper peeking out from the snow on the plum branches, the yellow paper caught in between the seam of the black beam, the yellow paper in the potted plants, and the yellow paper weighed down by the porcelain lamp.

In this world, there was a type of paper that was often a dull yellow color— Fu paper.

There was Fu paper everywhere in that house on Yanming Lake.

It was a house filled with Fu paper.

…

“The reason that Ye Hongyu was able to cross the border and defeat Chen Pipi was because she knew him and his fears. I know Xia Hou too. From the day that he betrayed the Devil’s Doctrine, he has always been living in fear. Perhaps he is afraid of that mysterious Devil’s Doctrine or perhaps he is afraid that the West-Hill Divine Palace would expose his identity. Because he is afraid, he also feels empty, and killing people is numbing to him. He started becoming cruel, cold, proud, and arrogant.”

Ning Que took the big black umbrella from Sangsang as he looked at the courtyard across the bank, which was covered in the night snow.

“Only then can he get rid of his own psychological shadow. In the front of the palace, he was right. I also have a psychological shadow, hence, I understand that his pride is a fatal weakness that he can’t get rid of. Because of his pride, he has stepped into a war that I have chosen. That was his first mistake.”

“And how to use this mistake that he has made? I’m not sure. I only know that I must not hesitate to use up all 300 talismans that I have written out painstakingly over the past two years.”

Writing talismans was not as casual as it seemed. Besides Ning Que, not many people knew how many sleepless nights writing 300 talismans entailed, the weakness when one’s Psyche Power was used up, and the pain after the vibrations of one’s sense of perception.

Sangsang knew this because, during those nights accompanied by oil lamps, she had been waiting by Ning Que’s side, watching him sweat profusely with his face pale. Yet, he did not stop writing.

During those nights, Ning Que was not tending to the fields nor to any articles, but rather, to the talismans.

On the edge of the cliff in the snowy night, Sangsang looked up at Ning Que, looking at his face as pale as it was those nights. She was incredibly worried but she smiled and said, “Yes, young master, you will definitely win.”

Ning Que closed his eyes, holding the umbrella handle as the tips of his brows and his right hand was trembling slightly. His face was pale and the Psyche Power in his sense of perception followed the black umbrella, scattering into the sky filled with snowflakes.

Psyche Power was the root of cultivators, however, they could only use their Psyche Power to control the Qi of Heaven and Earth. They would then display various methods and, even though a Psyche Master could directly attack an enemy with his Psyche Power, that was limited by distance as the Psyche Power had an unchangeable characteristic.

That special characteristic was that once the Psyche Power had left the sense of perception of a cultivator, it would degenerate exponentially as it got further away, dissipating into the land and the sky.

Ning Que was standing on the cliff on the south bank of Yanming Lake and was miles away from the courtyard on the other bank. If he wanted to trigger the 300 hidden talismans in the courtyard, he would first need to send his Psyche Power to the other bank. However, how was his Psyche Power supposed to cross the winter lake across the night storm?

At that moment, something wonderful happened.

Once his Psyche Power had passed through the big black umbrella’s handle and the umbrella itself, it went through an obvious change. It was not that the Psyche Power became more concentrated, but rather, it dissipated at a much slower rate through the snowy sky.

Because of the fact that the Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow was narrow and also because of the aura around the snow lake, not many people could understand the tune that his Psyche Power was singing, but at least the sound could travel even further.

Ning Que’s Psyche Power silently pierced through the snow storm, landing in the courtyard on the opposite bank far away.

The yellow paper weighed down by the porcelain lamp turned into nothingness with a whirring noise.

An aridness came from nowhere and the light rope, as white as jade, that had never been lit before suddenly tightened as the oil was released and a weak flame was set alight.

The oil lamp was dim but it slightly lit up the room from the inside and outside.

As the porcelain lamp was eerily ignited without any fire, countless changes happened inside the house.

The cabinet that the oil lamp was on suddenly burst into flames. Then, the entire space on the cabinet was set on flames as well, forming a raging fireball that shone toward the mountainous body of Xia Hou.

The fire was ethereal and evoked fear. Wherever it went, everything turned to ashes.

Only the potted plants were different. Those slightly droopy, fat green leaves were licked by the flames in the house, melting away instantly and forming a light green oil that dripped into the flower pot.

The yellow Fu paper that had been stuck between the leaves had disappeared also.

The oil that had formed from the green leaves landed in the soil and the pot cracked immediately. The soil within it exploded and permeated the space in the house. For some reason, that fine soil that was like micro-particles for some reason, incredibly heavy. Every grain of soil was like a stone, shooting toward Xia Hou’s body.

What followed that was the yellow Fu paper on the black beam disappeared, and a loud sound could be heard as the heavy beam split in the center without any warning, crashing down onto Xia Hou’s head.

Xia Hou squinted, but his brows, which seemed to be made of iron, were not knitted together. They reflected the light and seemed almost as if they were on fire.

He extended his fist.

The terrifying fist pushed aside all the air in front of him overbearingly.

The Fu paper, which was burning with a blazing flame, suddenly extinguished and was extremely bleak.

He closed his eyes.

He allowed the stone-like soil to attack his body.

“Bim, Bam, Bim, Bam!” Intense noise erupted!

Countless small, yet powerful, boulders landed heavily on his body.

It was almost as if countless hailstones had fallen from the sky and were hitting the roof of the palace.

The outer robe that he was wearing instantly had thousands of holes appear on it.

However, he was expressionless.

He lowered his head.

The black beam had broken into two pieces and landed heavily on his back.

It then broke into even more pieces.

The heavy beam was enough to kill dozens of people.

However, it did not even make his body slightly shake.

In the face of Ning Que’s three talismans, Xia Hou could only throw a punch.

This was the Peak state of Martial Arts. And especially since he was a powerhouse of the Devil’s Doctrine, as long as he closed his eyes, he could ignore any attacks that were at a lower level than the Knowing Destiny State.

The soil that had shot rapidly at him like stone gravel didn’t leave any mark on his face, the beam that had broken into countless pieces rolled around under his feet powerlessly, he wasn’t injured at all.

Only an eyelash left his eyelid.

According to the state of Xia Hou’s cultivation, there was no need at all for him to face Ning Que’s three talismans directly.

He could have avoided them and used an even easier method to wave them away.

The only reason that he had not done that was because he had been focusing on the clump of plums under the stone steps behind him.

Ning Que believed that he knew him well.

He believed that he also knew Ning Que well.

He knew what a sinister character Ning Que was and he believed that Ning Que would definitely not waste three valuable Fu papers just to test his depth. He would definitely have a back up.

There was another yellow Fu paper in the plum trees as well.

Xia Hou believed that this was what Ning Que was coming after and, hence, placed his focus there.

Sure enough, in the next moment, the yellow Fu paper in the remains of the plum trees had become a green smoke, and the remaining plum flowers broke away from their branches, flying toward the back of Xia Hou’s head like butterflies.

Xia Hou did not look back, but casually pointed behind himself.

When his fingertips touched a plum flower petal, his iron eyebrows suddenly stood up.

The plum flower petal became a drop of water.

The Fu paper in the remains of the plum tree was actually a shabby piece of water talisman.

Xia Hou frowned as he realized that his judgment was wrong.

However, he did not care, as he looked up indifferently.

The beam was already broken and there was a huge hole in the rooftop.

Under the roof, one could easily look into the night sky full of stars.

Tonight, there was a snowstorm and no stars could be seen.

One could only see the countless snowflakes falling through the hole along with the night breeze.

There was also the talisman, which was gradually dissipating with the chill.

The snowflakes that had come in from the hole seemed to have grown many times bigger as they gently fluttered in the air.

An incredibly cold talisman suddenly enveloped the entire building.

Even the air within the building had frozen.

As Xia Hou lifted his head to look at the falling snow, his eyebrows were cast with a thick layer of frost.

…