Nightfall

Ning Que looked down at the sheer cliff and its beautiful waterfall, illuminated under the starlight. He felt a chill, as he imagined countless nights becoming completely dark— without any stars.

He looked towards the Headmaster and said, “If the Underworld Invasion happened many times in history, and mankind still hasn’t gone extinct because— as you have said— only the strongest have survived through those dark, long nights, then these people were supposed to be the most powerful cultivators. However I don’t understand why neither the West-Hill classics nor the Buddhist tales have recorded their stories.”

Headmaster said, “You should have seen those stone statues of the Venerated in the Wanyan Tower. The Venerated in Buddhism Sect enjoys a state as high as Sages in the classics of the Haotian Taoism. It is said that they can live almost forever and their minds are unbendable. That is also why they could survive the Forever Night period and witness the victory of Haotian.”

Ning Que didn’t know about these powerhouses until tonight. He was shocked by their experience and asked, “These cultivators must have been the most powerful human beings, but why did they not survive?”

Headmaster went on to say, “Their life is long, but it can’t last forever. Even though they could overcome the nights, they could not overcome time. Also, I think they are far from being the most powerful human beings.”

Ning Que didn’t completely agree with Headmaster’s words. He thought that if they could survive such a cruel period, then they should have been the most powerful ones.

At this moment, Headmaster suddenly looked at him and asked, “Do you consider cultivation as a gift, that Haotian has given to humanity?”

This question was very strange, as it seemed to have no relation to the present discussion at all. Ning Que was confused and didn’t know what to say. But after he thought for a while, he remembered the story he heard at the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine of how his Youngest Brother had joined the Devil and shook his head, “Not for all the cultivators.”

Headmaster looked into Ning Que’s eyes and spoke slowly, “Real cultivators focus on their heart and their cultivation leads to a pure ego, which definitely worthy of pride. Like the Buddhism Sect’s Venerated and the Sages of the Haotian Taoism, they could hide around volcanos, living on a tiny amount of moss and water. But they were too proud to accept the fact that they would have to live the life of a rat. The stronger they were, the more unwilling they were. So, when Forever Night fell upon them, instead of hiding, they chose to fight. They drew their swords and struck them out towards Yama, and then… they died.”

Ning Que knew that what Headmaster said was true. People like his Youngest Uncle would never choose to kneel down in front of Yama or hide in a rat’s hole. If, in the future, Forever Night did come, Second Brother would be the first to stand up and fight against Yama, and his destiny would be the same as what Headmaster had described: he would die.

It reminded Ning Que of the dark night in his dream. He felt chilled at the thought that he might be the Son of Yama. The wind on the cliff was so cold that he even wanted to jump off the cliff. But he still had Headmaster sitting next to him, the beef and liquor to taste and Sangsang was still ill. His life was so bright that he didn’t want to die yet.

He looked at the floating clouds and asked, “The Hot Sea is freezing and night time in the Far North is becoming longer. Those are all signs of the Invasion of the Underworld… Master, what should we do?”

Headmaster carried the bottle and sighed, “I have been searching for more than ten years, but still couldn’t find the location of the Underworld. How could I know what to do? Cultivators need time. It is a shame that I was born too late to see the last Forever night.”

He drank a glass of liquor after saying those words. His white long brows were dancing in the wind and his casual expression changed to a worried look, which, for him, was very rare.

“People of West-Hill Divine Palace are believers of Haotian. They should know more about this fight between light and dark. Are they not at all prepared?” Asked Ning Que.

“Everyone can see the darkness at the end of the road, let alone the believers of Haotian.”

Headmaster said, “I don’t know what happened last time, but I would like to believe that the believers of Haotian will fight with Yama at the risk of their lives. And I will hide somewhere, waiting for the victory of Haotian and then start over.”

Ning Que exclaimed, “It sounds like you are a weak person.”

Headmaster replied, “We are weak.”

Ning Que suddenly remembered Liansheng 32’s comments on the West-Hill Divine Palace and Zhishou Abbey. He once said, “People in the Divine Hall are dogs raised by Zhishou Abbey. And people in Zhishou Abbey are dogs raised by Haotian. Ha… they are all dogs. ”

Headmaster mused, “The Devil’s Doctrine appeared a thousand years ago, and the Great Divine Priest who founded it never witnessed Forever night, so there is no solution in their classics either.”

“I heard that the Devil’s Doctrine also believes in Yama.” Said Ning Que.

Headmaster corrected, “It is fear rather than belief. The Devil’ Doctrine just needs an idol to stand against Haotian. It is just a comfort for them.”

Ning Que remembered another comment made by Lotus and he decided to convey it to Headmaster after hesitating for a while.

“Someone said that the Devil’s Doctrine is like a stone that hides at night to avoid the Haotian Divine Light. They claim that they don’t respect Haotian, but actually they are very scared of him. That is why Haotian allows them to exist.”

This was only a part of what was spoken, but Ning Que stopped here.

Lotus also said that if Ning Que picked up the sword left by his Youngest Uncle, then he would lose all of the respect and fear. Then he would become a real devil, and Haotian would not allow such people to exist.

Headmaster asked, “Who said it?”

“Liansheng 32.” Answered Ning Que.

Headmaster said, “Although he is willful and a bit mentally ill, he is also wise. It was very dangerous for you to meet him, but it was also a Lucky Chance.”

Although he is a bit mentally ill, he is wise.

Ning Que didn’t know what to say. He thought that maybe only people like Headmaster and his Youngest Uncle were qualified to talk about such an extraordinary person in that way.

Headmaster asked, “What was his comment regarding the Buddhism Sect?”

Ning Que said, “He said that the Buddhism Sect could only do some tricks and they were no different to those fake fortune tellers. And he hated the penance of the Buddhism Sect, thinking that whenever fate changed, they would always be waiting, and could never reach it. By fate changing, did he actually mean the Underworld Invasion?”

“Yes. I think he is more than just a little wise, he is indeed very wise. But still, different sects have different principles. It was not right to comment other sects like that.”

Headmaster said, “According to the Buddhist classics, once upon a time, when the Yuelun Kingdom was not yet called by that name, the first Buddha found out the principles of life and death. And he could also foresee the oncoming Underworld Invasion. It made him sad and confused, but he didn’t know how to find a way out. So he traveled around the world and penanced. He sat under a tree and thought for a hundred days before he found the solution.”

Ning Que asked rather curiously, “What is the solution?”

Headmaster looked at him and smiled, “The solution is to close your mouth.”

Ning Que couldn’t believe what he had heard, he repeated the answer subconsciously, “Close my mouth?”

Headmaster said, “Yes. The solution of Buddhism is to teach the masses to endure – to think of everything as fake, to not care about wealth, familiarity, pain or sorrow. If they could do that, they would not think that life is happy, and then death would not be painful, and they would not consider light to be good, and then darkness would not be dreadful. That is why I call it ‘close one’s mouth’.”

Ning Que asked confusedly, “But what is the connection between the name and their solution?”

Headmaster said, “How can one resist shouting out when he gets beaten up and suffers from great pain? The only way is to close his mouth.”

Ning Que laughed and said, “Master, you are really good at summarizing.”

Suddenly he remembered the Daoshi Monk whom he killed and Qi Nian who came to Chang’an City on that snowy night. He frowned and asked, “But if the Buddhism Sect really focuses on endurance, why are the monks in the Yuelun Kingdom so evil? And why do people from Xuankong Temple enter the land of the earth?”

“That is the adverse result of the Buddhism Sect. When that original Buddha thought up of such a way, he passed it down, and all of his students believed him. And the result was that the more devout they were, the more determined they became. Who cares if the Underworld Invasion happens? Who cares if the long nights come? They don’t even fear death, let alone darkness. And vice versa, they are not even scared of darkness, let alone death.”

Headmaster smiled, “Although the Buddhism Sect focuses on living a sequestered life, it doesn’t mean that they cannot enter the human realm, and once they do, they could become even bigger trouble than the fanatics of West-Hill Divine Hall.”

Ning Que remembered what Headmaster had said before and he asked curiously, “If the first Buddha did predict the coming of Underworld Invasion, why he didn’t predict the end of the war?”

Headmaster said, “If his prediction is useful, why are we still alive?”

His words contained profound meaning, but Ning Que was thinking of the big secrets about the Underworld Invasion and he was not going to stop at such an answer. He continued asking, “Master, this is not the right attitude when you are telling someone a story.”

Headmaster retorted, “If you think I am not a good storyteller, I will learn from the Buddhism Sect.”

Ning Que asked puzzledly, “What does that mean?”

Headmaster said, “Close my mouth.”

Ning Que said, “No…”

Headmaster said, “Then beg me.”

Ning Que said without any hesitation, “Master, I beg you to tell me. I really want to know what his prediction was.”

Headmaster felt both very helpless and happy that he finally got a student who was almost as shameless as himself. He stroked his long beard and said slowly.

“While the Buddha was traveling around the world, he once went to Zhishou Abbey. He read the Seven Tomes of Arcane under the invitation of the abbey dean, and he felt a message from Haotian and wrote it down on the ‘Ming’ Handscroll. Later, the Great Divine Priest of Light took the ‘Ming’ Handscroll to the Wilderness and founded the Devil’s Doctrine and the Yuelun Kingdom became the name of the country. All this was related to the prediction on the ‘Ming’ Handscroll.”

Ning Que asked surprisedly, “There is a message left by the Buddha on the ‘Ming’ Handscroll!?”

Headmaster said, “Of all the seven Tomes of the Arcane, the most important one is the ‘Tian’ Handscroll, but the most interesting one is the ‘Ming’ Handscroll. The others are not even worth reading.”

Ning Que suddenly realized something important, he asked, “Have you… read the seven Tomes of the Arcane?”

Headmaster answered with certainty, “Of course.”