Nightfall

After the rain was over the sky cleared up, which made it possible to see even though the darkness was falling. Seeing the figure on the summit of Peach Mountain, tens of thousands of followers at the front yard had mixed feelings, since the scene resembled that of the day Ning Que climbed the back hill of the Academy many years ago.

The dark sky was like a piece of black paper, hanging over the flat ground, and dozens of mountain peaks stood in between. It gave an impression that the sky would fall to the earth if not for these mountain peaks.

The night sky above the Divine Hall of West Hill looked a bit peculiar, with a skyful of stars yet no trace of the moon. The starlight sprinkled on Peach Mountain, covering it in silver.

Looking across the silver mountain pass, Ning Que stared at the Divine Hall of Light. Then he began to tidy his drenched clothes, tighten his wet hair, put away the bow and sword, and wipe the rain off his face.

His movements were slow and his expression was serious. Ning Que did not walk up the stairs until he confirmed that there was nothing wrong with his clothes and manners. It was only natural to show respect while attending an appointment.

It was late at night, and the crescent moon was completely unseen, probably hiding behind the night clouds. The stars were quite bright as they were hanging in the dark sky.

The seven brightest ones were so bright that they made people feel dizzy. As the most reliable beacons for fishermen to sail on the sea, they were called the Guide Stars.

Seven hundred stone steps were paved on the mountain pass between the cliff and the Divine Hall of Light on the summit. Ning Que seemed to be walking slowly, but in actuality one of his steps was equivalent to one hundred stone steps. It looked like he was riding the wind.

Lifting his foot from the cliff and falling on the hundredth stone step, he took the first step. All of a sudden, the Litian Star, the northernmost one among the seven guide stars, darkened.

Ning Que continued to take another step, and then the second guide star darkened. Each step he took led to the darkening of another guide star, as if the eternal starlight was absorbed into his body by his footsteps.

Not everyone at the front yard could see him walking on the mountain pass, but they all saw the seven guide stars darkened, one after another. The crowd abruptly bursted into shocked shouts and disturbed prayers. Seeing the bizarre change of the astrology, the Hierarch and others looked extremely solemn.

…

…

Several divine halls stood on Peach Mountain, but Ning Que only cared about the Divine Hall of Light.

The building materials used in the Divine Hall of Light were quite unusual. It was not made from gold, jades, or stones, but this divine hall naturally looked valuable and even slightly holy due to the starlight.

Standing before the Divine Hall of Light, Ning Que was like an inconspicuous ant.

He looked at the divine hall in silence and had mixed feelings in his heart: a little fear, a little excitement, a little yearning but also the desire to flee.

He risked his life to leave Chang’an and come to the West Hill Divine Kingdom, only to sneak into the Peach Mountain to see her in the Divine Hall of Light. He had been calm the whole way, but it was difficult to keep his head while he was actually standing in front of the Divine Hall of Light and about to see her.

No matter how he tried to convince himself that the one in the divine hall was Sangsang, who was the black thin girl he raised and a beloved family member — she was nevertheless Haotian.

People used the term “a world of difference” to describe the remote distance between two things or people and “barrier between heaven and earth” to describe the fact of not getting touch with each other any more.

He was just a mortal, and she was Haotian. The distance between them was like the distance between heaven and earth. He was separated from her by a high wall that ran through heaven and earth, forever.

Ning Que had never had such mixed feelings or fear before. In a similar experience in his past life, it actually involved her as well.

At that time, Sangsang ran away from home. He waited for her at Old Brush Pen Shop and then looked around the City of Chang’an for her. He sneaked into the Grand Secretary Mansion to watch her in secret, and shouted out his anger about her attitude by the Yanming Lake.

It seemed like nothing had changed. She ran away from home again and he tried to find her and bring her home again. He was worried and even scared that she would refuse to come home with him again.

Perhaps it was due to his fear of losing her or due to her rebellious nature, Ning Que suddenly became furious. And his voice trembled.

“Is it fun to run away?”

“You were still young and naive last time. But how do you explain this time?” He looked deep into the Divine Hall of Light and said, “You are already in your twenties. You should know better!”

“Do you know how dirty Old Brush Pen Shop is now? The dust on the desk is even thicker than the ash in the stove! These things should have been your responsibility. As a married woman, you should stay at home and take care of the house. But you are never home and always wander around.”

“Is it really fun to wander around? Look at this damn divine hall, deserted like a stone tomb. Lin 47th Street is far more bustling than here. I doubt that the Chenjinji Cosmetics Store here is better than the ones in Chang’an.”

No replies came out of the Divine Hall of Light. Ning Que got more angry and shouted, “Say something! Say something! Why are you so quiet? Feeling guilty now?”

“Did you really decide to divide our family property? You’re leaving the arrow and the carriage to me and keeping the black umbrella and the stupid horse for yourself? You really thought it through. But did you get my permission?”

“Okay, let’s put aside the permission part and talk about dividing family property. Since you want to split, we better do it properly. I buried half of bank notes in Old Brush Pen Shop in your grave, put your name on the land lease of Yanming Lake Estate and transferred shares of the casino to the Grand Secretary Mansion…”

“In fact, I’ve never thought about splitting with you. Those properties were disposed as your heritage.” He suddenly felt down and said in a low voice, “Since you are still alive, my disposal of those properties are naturally invalid. How about you return the things you took and we forget all of this?”

Still no reply from the Divine Hall of Light.

“Give the horse back to me. Give the big black umbrella back to me. And give… yourself back to me.”

“I believe that even if you have forgotten a lot of memories, you still remember these. Otherwise you wouldn’t have sent the Drunkard to deliver the arrow and carriage to Chang’an,” said Ning Que.

No one answered him.

“I see now why you ordered the Divine Hall of West Hill to hold the Rite to Light. You want to kill Pipi, but you can’t. Because I’ve told you that we owe him our lives.”

Ning Que walked into the divine hall and said, “Our relationship will always exist, with or without Tianqi.”

“Even though you blocked my perception, it is still there. Just like how applying three layers of cosmetics on your face won’t make your face white because you were born this way. It was destined.”

His footsteps and calm voice echoed across the quiet Divine Hall of Light.

“You are Haotian, and you are also Invariant Yama. You can make your own decision about our relationship. How could you end it without me?”