Nightfall

Ning Que had stayed in the City of Wei for many years, and naturally knew the importance of the Xiangwan Plain.

This war in the mortal world had to be split into two levels. The Academy against the Drunkard, the Butcher, the Sword Sage, Liu Bai, and the other sublime beings hidden in the world. The Tang cavalry would take care of the rest of the enemies.

The Tang Empire cavalry was still the most powerful in the world. As long as they acclimated to the situation on the battleground, they could kill cultivators within the Five States. The situation that had happened before the Verdant Canyon would be impossible to replicate because there would not be another Academy in this world. And no one would be able to find someone like those at the back of the Academy’s mountain.

If the Tang Empire really acquiesced to the West-Hill Divine Palace’s conditions and gave up the Xiangwan Plain to the Golden Palace, it would mean breaking their own limbs. They would be giving up their greatest weapon.

Ning Que would not agree to this condition under any circumstances. However, he knew the key point of this negotiation with the West-Hill Divine Palace, and the appearance of the Drunkard in Chang’an was truly about the Xiangwan Plain.

The Night Hall was silent. Everyone, including the Empress, was waiting for him to make his stand. The Academy’s stand in this situation was the Tang Empire’s stand.

Ning Que stood up and looked at the officials, then said, “Negotiate with them first and let me think about it again.”

Since this matter was one of a national scale, there wouldn’t be a single person who could make a decision in such a short period of time.

That night, Ning Que returned to the house at Yanming Lake. However, he did not look for Ye Hongyu.

Dawn approached, along with the sounds of roosters crowing. Dog barks and chicken squawking filled the streets. Hot steam escaped from the seams of the Bun Shop which had yet to open. The morning breeze blew the steam onto the streets, wetting the green stone floors.

A new day had come.

The imperial court continued negotiating with the West-Hill Divine Palace’s diplomatic corps. According to news from the palace, the Divine Hall seemed oddly insistent, unlike the previous days. They refused to make any concessions on regards to ceding the Xiangwan Plain.

Ning Que knew why the Divine Hall was acting so. He waved his hand, signaling for the Imperial Center Administration official to leave. He woke up, drank a bowl of porridge and arrived at the plum garden. He opened the doors and entered.

Ye Hongyu liked to bathe in the morning because she liked to spend the day refreshed.

She had just showered when Ning Que entered her room.

Damp black hair hung on her naked shoulders, the tips dripping with water, covering her chest nicely.

Ye Hongyu glanced at him, then walked up to the mirror and started combing her hair. She asked, “Have you decided?”

As she combed, her black hair was moved from the front to the back and everything could be seen clearly in the mirror.

Ning Que asked, “Decided on what?”

Ye Hongyu said, “On signing.”

Ning Que shook his head.

Ye Hongyu saw him shaking his head in the mirror, and her hand holding the comb froze. She said, “I thought you had already decided and were unhappy, having come to rape me in return.”

Ning Que said, “Even though you’re really beautiful.”

Ye Hongyu said, “Even thinking about it is distasteful.”

Ning Que said, “At least I never thought of it.”

Ye Hongyu replied, “I’m not wearing any clothes, and you are staring at me. Then, what are you thinking about?”

Ning Que replied, “This is my home. Furthermore, I’ve already seen you naked in the Wilderness swamp.”

Ye Hongyu asked calmly, “I’ve never asked you, did I look good?”

Ning Que thought about it and said, “Your body is indeed mesmerizing, but once I think of your Divine Robe of Judgement and those threads under your skin, I become disinterested.”

Ye Hongyu rose and put on her blood-colored Divine Robe of Judgement. Then, she faced the mirror and started drawing her brows.

The Divine Robe of Judgement combined auras that were both holy and cruel. It laid over a delicate body that was like white jade, and it grew even more enchanting, especially since Ning Que knew that she wore nothing under the robe.

She was not wearing the skirts of maidservants, because she was now the Great Divine Priest of Judgment.

“The Tang Empire cannot possibly keep the Xiangwan Plain. The Divine Hall can make concessions except for the Xiangwan Plain. Otherwise, this war against the Tang Empire would be pointless.”

She said as she drew her brows.

Ning Que watched as she drew lightly on her brows with a fine charcoal pen. He said, “Living isn’t for…”

Ye Hongyu interrupted him, “The people in the Academy live for meaning, but there are more people who live for meaning. The Divine Hall has to answer to other countries in the world.”

Ning Que said, “I think the other conditions are sufficient enough for the Divine Hall to answer to them.”

Ye Hongyu put down the brow pencil and retrieved a red rouge paper from her make-up box. She looked at Ning Que in the mirror and said, “Then how will the Divine Hall answer to itself and to Haotian?”

She pursed her lips tightly; they were as bright as red plums.

Then, she turned around and looked at Ning Que, tearing the rouge paper in two.

“We both know that when the Tang Empire and the Academy recover, any agreement would become a useless piece of paper. We cannot allow the Tang Empire to continue being as strong, so the Xiangwan Plain has to belong to us.”

The West-Hill Divine Palace’s diplomatic corps held their ground and the Tang officials participating in the negotiations were placed in a passive position. Perhaps a hot-blooded young official had leaked the news, and the details of the negotiations between the two sides and the conditions of the Divine Hall being degrading to the Tang Empire gradually became known to the Tang people. In particular, the two conditions, giving up the Xiangwan Plain and the Eastern Hill counties, enraged the Tangs. Had the The TangEmpire ever suffered such humiliation in the thousand years since its creation?

Many people from the Tang Army and its citizens had died, from the Northern Frontier to Capital Cheng, and from the Pamir Mountains to the Vermilion Bird Avenue, before the situation was turned around. They had not lost, so why did they have to sign such a humiliating agreement?

The whole city was in an uproar and the people were furious. Food vendors were not in the mood, and the hot and sour sliced noodle soup seemed to have become bland. They were not in the mood to do anything. Who could sit at home and not do anything? Many citizens, students, disabled veterans volunteered to come to the square in front of the Imperial Palace without anyone’s prompting.

No one rioted or even made any noise. Thousands of people stood outside the palace in silence, standing in the cold spring rain. They did not leave even as the night deepened.

Tens of thousands of people gathered together in silence outside the palace. This was an indescribable pressure for the people in the palace, and officials who knew about the agreement seemed to grow old instantly.

Many were waiting during this night, and there might be people doing other things. Though they were as angry as other Tang citizens, they had to make plans for the future.

At the back of the Academy’s mountain, Mu You carried a wooden basket on her back and walked in the mist at the waist of the mountain. She took out a small flag from the basket from time to time, and inserted it into the sand or between the seams of the mountain rocks.

The Cloud Gate array was a big tactical array that the Headmaster had taught her. It was the back of the mountain’s most important screen. There was no one to helm the array when she was at the Verdant Canyon, and the West-Hill Divine Palace’s Hierarch had broken through forcefully. It had been badly damaged.

Even though the Abbey Dean was seriously injured, and could barely recover, the Drunkard and Butcher seemed to be like two newfound dark clouds that shrouded the hearts of the Academy’s disciples. She had to fix it as soon as possible so she could rest easy.

The smithy by the stream was still quiet. Sixth Brother laid his head on his hammer in the dark and was staring at the mountain and forest in a daze. The room behind him emitted gentle sounds from time to time.

“One is in the Limitless State and is Boundless while the other is almost immortal. It seems that no one can kill them as long as they do not enter Chang’an. But I always remember what the Headmaster said.”

Eldest Brother’s fingers drew lightly on the yellow sand in the River and Mountain Sandbox. He said with a serene expression, “Other than Haotian, there is no one in the world who is omniscient and omnipotent. So there must be a way to kill them. That is why we should start planning. I guess this would be a large project.”

Fourth Brother said, “I am willing to analyze this with you, Senior Brother.”

Yu Lian was deep in thought as she sat by the cliff, writing in the wind with her fingers. Tang Xiaotang was widening the stone steps on the steep mountain path. The blood-colored huge blade in her hands was starting to look like a large metal rod.

The little white wolf laid on the stone steps listlessly.

A gust of wind suddenly blew on the cliff, blowing straight up into the sky and dispersing the cloud, revealing the moon.

The little white wolf howled at the moon. Its voice was clear and young, but not aggressive at all.

Jun Mo stood by the pool. Zhang III and Li IV were standing beneath the waterfall.

He was understanding the sword, and the big white goose was beside him, washing its feet in the pool.

The little white wolf’s howl could be heard from the cliff.

The big white goose looked up and glanced at the place the howl came from. Then, it lengthened its neck and sang to the moon.

“Hoot hoot!”

Ning Que was on the turret of the imperial city.

He looked at the moon in the night sky and at the silent crowd beneath. He seemed to have heard something, and then, he thought of some things and smiled.