Nightfall

The Drunkard turned down Ning Que’s invitation and said, “Not today.”

Ning Que raised his tone and said, “Are you afraid?”

The Drunkard’s expression vanished. His hair, white like snow and black as soil, was dancing in the wind. He said, “All that accompanied me in these years were wine and meat. I love wine best because tipsiness eased my pain. It made people angry or relieved, and I chose the latter one, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t be the former.”

Ning Que stared at his eyes and asked, “But you’re still afraid.”

The Drunkard said, “You can come out.”

Ning Que shook his head and said, “I am quite the coward.”

The Drunkard said, “A coward wouldn’t dare to wave his cutlass at the Abbey Dean on the street.”

Ning Que said, “I got no guts to come out, so I am a coward. What about you? Have you any guts?”

The Drunkard said, “You’re spoiling the fun.”

Ning Que said, “‘Come if you dare’ sounds so childish, and it’s boring, even humiliating. I can humiliate myself because I am your junior, but how can you put up with the humiliation? Let’s get this straight and just come in.”

They were talking their own nonsense and that might sound funny and adorable, but frost and snow were hiding behind it, so chilly and frigid.

Ning Que was being aggressive.

He was luring the Drunkard into the city. No matter whether the Drunkard would do it or not, the Academy had to try to find the chance because the meeting was so sudden and perilous.

That was the final decision of the Academy.

But the drunkard killed the plan so easily.

He lifted the flagon and started drinking. And he quit talking with his mouth full of wine.

He stopped talking, but that didn’t mean refusal or acceptance.

The only sound before the southern gate was of wine being poured into the Drunkard’s chest. It sounded like a waterfall, or a stream at first, and at last, a flooding river.

As had been mentioned, since the Headmaster had left the mortal world, nobody else was able to make the Drunkard talk, and nobody could hold his hand to introduce him into the city or to send him back home.

The Drunkard put down the flagon.

Ning Que suddenly laughed upon seeing the wine stain at the front of his clothes.

The laugh was helpless, self-deprecating and gloomy.

The Drunkard was the survivor from the last Everlasting Night, and teacher of the Headmaster. Ning Que’s intention to irritate him with simple words was too conceited even if he had Chang’an City behind his back.

The laugh on his face gradually disappeared. Then he looked at the Drunkard and said, “Just leave the carriage there and I’ll send someone to fetch it if you insist.”

The Drunkard smiled at Ning Que and said, “I can’t leave without returning it to your hand.”

The situation was turned over when he said that. The initiative had been in Chang’an before, but now it was being challenged by the Drunkard’s words.

It could’ve been hard for Ning Que to handle the situation considering his limited state. However, he was the one who had nearly died once, and he had run into another world, which made him tougher and less fearful than anyone else.

“I’m a coward, a loser, an idiot. I commited all sins a man could possibly do. I’m cruel and timid. I’m such a mess that even brooms cannot piece me together.”

Ning Que looked at the Drunkard and said seriously, “I have no shame. And by no means would I step out of Chang’an today, not even if you revive my wife and threaten me with her life.”

A man who was indifferent to his own stuff like emotions and dignity had no fear. And there was a quote for that attitude.

Those who loved not had nothing to fear for, and those who wanted nothing had no desire, which made themselves naturally tough.

The Drunkard had understood, so he was clear that no matter what he did, or how many people he killed, Ning Que would never come out of the city, so he stopped trying.

He left the small town where he lived in seclusion and headed for Chang’an, because someone asked him for the favor. It was also partly because he wanted to visit the Academy without the Headmaster and to see what kind of person Ning Que was.

When it came to picking up students, the Headmaster had never failed him. However, he still felt a little disappointed because the world didn’t seem to have changed much.

He sighed out of disappointment and patted the carriage on his side.

He patted casually and his palm fell softly without any excessive force.

The carriage suddenly seemed lower because the iron wheels had all sunken into the solid ground. Then owing to the fearful counterforce, the carriage bounced back into the air.

This carriage was Master Yan Se’s relic. It was made of fine steel all over and was extremely heavy. It could overcome any roads without any runes activated. Such a heavy iron carriage had was sent to the air by the Drunkard so easily, as if he were bouncing a rubber ball.

The Drunkard waved his sleeves.

The spring breeze became turbid.

The heavy iron carriage whistled and flew to the city gate like a stone shot off from a mangonel.

Ning Que held the array eye pestle tightly.

Endless Qi of Heaven and Earth flowed in wildly through the gate; it poured into his body through the pestle, and filled his Snow Mountain at once, giving him continuous Psyche Power and strength.

Clang!

He pulled out his cutlass to split the wind.

The iron cutlass met the carriage.

The black carriage suddenly hovered in the spring breeze before the city gate.

The first spring thunder exploded before the southern gate of Chang’an City.

Several lines of light blue airflow dispersed to all directions from the clashing point when the cutlass and the carriage met.

In a flash, the light blue airflows spread to more than a hundred feet, looking like light bubbles.

Ning Que and the black carriage were in the center of one of the blue light bubles.

The bubbles lasted for a short time and then exploded after a slight cracking sound.

Countless pieces of Qi sprayed to all directions, cutting the trees outside the city before they sprouted. Stones on the state highway shot like arrows.

The city wall had scars gained from a thousand year’s worth of rains and storms. As the ground trembled, its surface started peeling off like pouring rain, swooshing.

The wall looked even more scarred after the wind and dust had settled, but there was no evident damage on it. Instead, on spots cut by the Qi of Heaven and Earth, black bricks looked like newly polished ones.

After all, Chang’an City was unshakable.

“Interesting.” Said the Drunkard looking at the city wall.

Then he looked to Ning Que and said, “Unlike you, such a boring one. There’re things I’ve given up for thousands of years, but I can still pick it up if I want.”

Ning Que drew back his cutlass. The black carriage finally fell on the ground, giving out a muffled sound.

He looked at the Drunkward and said, “I’m joking, are you taking it seriously?”

He was laughing and talking, but inside he felt so annoyed.

He had to smile because at certain moments, smiling was the only proof of power.

He started coughing, and stepped back a little subconsciously. Then he leaned to one side, firmly holding the hilt and pestle in his hands. One of his hands felt like ice, the other burnt like melting lava.

“I say you’re boring because you’re unqualified.”

The Drunkard looked at him and said, “Nobody’s qualified since the Headmaster left.”

Ning Que knew that he was unqualified because he couldn’t leave Chang’an City; the Headmaster, with Eldest Brother, were able to travel all the states for years on the cattle cart.

“The key point is, to write or not to write the character is still not your decision to make.”

The Drunkard looked disappointed, with impatience between his eyebrows.

Ning Que was trying to save something. He said, “At least I’ve done it before, and your being kept out of the city was the proof.”

The Drunkard said, “Chang’an City may be a big city, yet it is just a very small part of the world.”

Ning Que said, “Someday I’ll make it out of the city.”

The Drunkard said, “You may have the courage, but in no way could you turn the world into your Chang’an. We cannot change the world because we ourselves are part of it. Your teacher failed; I failed; Chen Mou failed; what makes you believe that you can do it?”

Ning Que couldn’t answer.

The negotiations between the Academy and the Divine Hall were in a stalemate, which was delicate and critical. At this very moment, a world changer, the Drunkard showed up; of course he was here for a reason.

That was the change both the Academy and the Empire least expected.

“I don’t understand why you’re here.”

Ning Que was talking while looking at the Drunkard in the eyes. Temporarily, the Academy and he himself couldn’t change the relationship between Haotian and the mortals, but that was no explanation for why the Drunkard was here.

He looked at the Drunkard in the eyes and said with sincerity, “In my dreams, both you and Butcher looked at me, which meant that just like moments ago, you still have hope.”

“Dreams are too often contrary to reality.” Said the Drunkard.

Ning Que said, “The Headmaster once mentioned you and the Butcher had survived the last Everlasting Night, which proved that Haotian is no longer a threat to you. Then why are you here? In Chang’an?”

“I’ve been drinking too much over the years, and most of the time I was stoned, not knowing whether I was in dreams or reality. But in the dreams I knew, I’ve never dared to dream of how a night was like.”

The Drunkard looked at him and said, “That was the scariest scene I’ve ever seen.”

No one could have the memory from those long gone days, because almost all of them died in the Everlasting Night, except the Drunkard and the Butcher.

The fear came out for a reason.

“After that day, the moon came out, which surprised me and the Butcher. Especially when we found the moon never set ever since. That was probably the hope you mentioned about me.”

The Drunkard said, “We thought we could hang on. We hate to hide, but we could keep doing it for at least several hundred years. I hate it when fate always goes against people’s wishes.”

Ning Que felt cold, and he asked, “Did Haotian find you?”

The Drunkard said, “Yes.”

Ning Que kept silent for a long time, and he muttered, “How could Haotian find you just at this very moment? You’ve been hiding successfully for thousands of years.”

The Drunkard didn’t answer. He looked up at the blue sky, then he thought to himself, “It’s hard for him to find us when he is in Heaven because of the distance, but what if he comes to the mortal world. Where could we hide then?”

Everything had been settled, which made Ning Que feel frustrated.