Nightfall

Mellow winds blew from inside the Divine Hall of Light, raised the pile of ashes and carried the ash outside of the Divine Hall.

Sangsang walked together with the ashes in the wind, left the terrace and stepped onto the cliff outside the Divine Hall. She watched the ashes fall down slowly like snowflakes.

People went into an uproar in the front yard of Peach Mountain. The sacrifice had disappeared. Dozens of Divine Talismans shone distinctively on the Array of Clear Light. Ning Que had done a lot.

She looked at the figure standing in front of the altar and could no longer hold her anger. Thus, the refreshing breeze among the hills turned violent, left the Divine Hall and roared towards every corner in the human world.

…

…

In Linkang, the capital of the South Jin Kingdom, autumn was not refreshing. This autumn clung onto the summer heat. It became a mire after an autumn rain, especially for the people who lived in the poor areas. The foul water slopped over scattered bricks and smelled worse than the sewage.

All of a sudden, a refreshing breeze came from the south, whistled through streets and cleared the unpleasant smell. Ye Su was guiding a dozen of students to clear those out-of-use sewers along the streets.

He experienced the refreshing breeze lingering in the streets and sighed in relief, “You’ve found it.”

This was for his old friend who just passed away. When Liu Bai left Linkang, Ye Su wished for him to find the ultimate Taoism. He had found it and Ye Su felt relieved.

…

…

Autumn by the Fuchun River was charming. Trees along the river banks changed to various colors and their reflections in the water made the river dazzle.

Jun Mo and Mu You stepped out of the Cui Garden. He looked at the scattered reflections on the river banks and said to her after a long silence, “I need to go on a long journey.”

He sensed Liu Bai’s passing and so did Mu You. However, she did not understand why Jun Mo had to set off for the long journey because of his passing.

“Where to?” she asked worriedly.

“To the Xuankong Temple. Since I am studying buddhism, I have to go there.” Jun Mo saw her expression and continued, “I just want to study Buddhism. I’m not becoming a monk.”

Mu You asked, “Why did you make such a rush decision?”

Jun Mo answered, “She is way too powerful. Our Youngest Brother might not be able to conquer her.”

Mu You looked at him and said, “In reality, it’s just because you admire Liu Bai.”

Jun Mo said, “Yes I do admire him. I am also grateful as he carried Ye Su and me in his sword when he used it to stab Haotian today.”

…

…

In the Wilderness, autumn was cold. The wind blowing over the desolate fields was chilling. It felt like bites on the body. Tang was topless but he did not feel anything, so he continued the conversation with his master who was sitting in the sedan on his shoulder.

“Even if Liu Bai’s sword could make her sentimental, what good would that do?”

“If she were to become sentimental, Youngest Brother will have a chance.”

Yu Lian was sitting in the sedan as if she was on a hill. She looked toward the south and frowned. It was because the rushing yet refreshing wind carried messages.

Tang sensed the messages too and suddenly felt chills.

Yu Lian said, “Liu Bai is dead. She is indeed invincible. There’s no point for us to go to Peach Mountain. No one but Ning Que can stand up to her.”

Tang said, “I’m a bit worried.”

Yu Lian asked, “Tang Xiaotang, Pipi, Ning Que and the girls from the House of Red Sleeves are at Peach Mountain. What do you think this could mean?”

“No idea.”

“There is a girl named Xiaocao from the House of Red Sleeves. She used to be her best friend in Chang’an. Tang Xiaotang was also her best friend at the Back Hill of the Academy. Pipi was very close to her, not to mention also to Ning Que. This means everyone she used to be very close to is presented at Peach Mountain.”

“Then?”

“She bestowed the Headmaster with Heaven’s Will, and he returned by bonding her to the human world. She sent him to Haotian’s Divine Kingdom, and he kept her here. If she wants to go back to the Divine Kingdom, she has to cut the bond.”

“How should she cut the bond? The most important is to end her relation with humans in this world.”

“So she wants to kill Xiaotang and the others?”

“Correct.”

“Then we should be even more worried. Shouldn’t we?”

“You think it would be such an easy task to cut the bond?”

Yu Lian continued, “I suppose she is the distressed one now.”

Tang asked, “What is the Academy’s plan after all?”

Yu Lian answered, “The Academy had no plan at all.”

Tang was shocked and questioned, “No plan at all?”

“That’s right. I’ve told you no one could predict the Heaven. Then why should the Academy bother planning?”

“Then the Academy just did nothing at all?”

Yu Lian replied, “The Academy arranged for Ning Que’s trip to Peach Mountain.”

“And that’s it?”

“If there’s no way we could out-predict her, then we just let her do whatever she plans to do. After all, no matter how well she plans, the only outcome would be the result our Youngest Brother has ever wanted.”

“Why is that?”

“Because she is his natal item.”

Tang was even more shocked and did not know what to say.

Yu Lian looked above at the vast sky and said, “The Headmaster had chosen the Youngest Brother to be his last disciple. Now we finally understand why.”

Tang frowned. “But she should also be able to predict this.”

“Even Haotian cannot choose her own natal item.”

What Yu Lian did not know was that there was another reason why she could not include Ning Que in her God’s Plan. It was not only because Ning Que was Sangsang’s natal item, but also because he did not belong to this human world.

Tang understood and sighed. “I see. No plan is also a plan.”

“We, the Light’s Doctrine, have always been good at plotting ever since our Uncle Lian Sheng had trapped the entire world. However, not even our Headmaster could out-predict her. How could I?”

The winds at the Wilderness brushed her hair by her cheeks. Yu Lian looked back to the Divine Halls of West Hill to the south and said, “So I’m waiting for her to plan for her own deadlock.”

The Devil’s Doctrine had always been good at plotting. If it was not for Ke Haoran, Lian Sheng would have led the Devil’s Doctrine to become the leader of the entire human world.

As the current leader of the Devil’s Doctrine, Yu Lian was definitely gifted and very powerful in plotting. As Tang said, her not predicting Haotian’s will was actually a most incredible planning.

Except for Haotian, everything else was as she had planned. She let go of Xiong Chumo last year at the Back Hill of the Academy and paid no attention to the people from the South Sea. These were all parts of her plan. Although she did not know what would be the ultimate outcome, she was very certain that Taoism was doomed.

The declining of Taoism was exactly the time for the Academy to start reclaiming.

Tang said suddenly, “Sometimes I wonder what if that were to never happen and that Master Lian Sheng was still alive, what would the human world look like?”

Yu Lian said, “If I had not entered the Academy, at least half of the human world would have become the realm of the Light’s Doctrine, let alone Lian Sheng.”

Tang turned back to her and asked, “Have you ever regretted it, Master?”

“Regretted it? As long as Youngest Brother wins, the whole world will belong to the Academy.”

Yu Lian opened her arms as if she wanted to embrace the entire world.

…

…

The refreshing winds changed from mild to fierce. The peach petals that just fell to the front yard started dancing in the wind again. The Array of Clear Light shook, and the dozens of Divine Talismans dimmed.

Ning Que figured out that Liu Bai was already dead. The result of this battle between Heaven and Human was not unexpected. Whoever challenged Haotian throughout the history had all ended dead.

Although his Headmaster was still up in the Divine Kingdom, he could never return to the human world.

The Academy did not make any plans, but they had been waiting for a change. It was not the stabbing of Liu Bai’s sword, but rather the consequences of this stabbing, that represented the human world,.

All of the courses served for the same purpose, which was for Ning Que to rebuild his natal bond with Sangsang. It was the last chance for the human world.

With Liu Bai’s sword flying to Peach Mountain and the Hierarch calling for Tianqi, the Academy finally got the change they had been waiting for.

Haotian’s Divine Power came out of her body and charged into his. It was not yet a victory but had definitely rebuilt their bond. He felt calm.

However, she was enraged.

The gate to Haotian’s Divine Kingdom was destroyed and she could no longer return. Upon her waking up in the human world, the first thing she did was to completely cut her bond with Ning Que.

That was why Ning Que could not feel her in the city of Chang’an. However, she did not expect the events at the Peach Mountain today. It was the same as what had happened years ago by Yanming Lake. Their bond was rebuilt.

She stood in the Divine Hall of Light yet she could feel everything he felt down there.

He felt sad for Liu Bai’s passing, and she felt sad as well. He was happy to know that she was there, then she became happy soon after. She experienced his grief and joy, his happiness and anger, and thus became even more enraged.

She was the great Haotian while he was a menial being. How could she be his natal item? Every single feeling she experienced from him was the most terrible blasphemy to her.

However, anger was not something that Haotian should experience. This meant she was increasingly humanized and affected by him, which had made her even angrier.

Until then she had realized the reason why Chen Pipi could have escaped from Peach Mountain and her Divine Flame. It was because of no one else but herself.

Many years ago, Ning Que told her, “There is a student in the Academy called Chen Pipi. I need you to remember this for me. He saved my life once. So someday somewhere in future you need to remind me to pay him back.”

She realized that she had always remembered this. Therefore no matter how determined she was, she could never kill Chen Pipi or cut even one of her connections to the human world.

She also realized that no matter how hard she tried to cut the bond with Ning Que, it had always been there. She was his natal item and it never changed.

She wanted to unravel the tangle, only to find it messier.

How could she stay calm?

…