Nightfall

Years ago, in the autumn rain in Lanke Temple, World Wayfarer of Taoism Ye Su, World Wayfarer of Buddhism Qi Nian and the most skilled swordsman in the human world had no choice but to watch the statue of the Buddha topple.

Currently, outside the Xuankong Temple in the west wilderness, they could still beat the Chief Monk, the enlightened human and even broke his Varjra Body Defending Divine Skill, in the face of the Drunkard, such a powerful cultivator.

It was not only because they were powerful but also because their incomparably perfect cooperation, which was a natural bond to showcase the absolute mutual trust and confidence.

The Academy was the only place where such a disposition could be fostered. The Headmaster was the only one who could bring up such disciples. When they were shoulder by shoulder and hand in hand, even Heaven would fear, and let alone the enemy.

When Jun Mo smashed innumerable times, the Chief Monk of Scripture finally opened his eyes, and a thin streak of blood flowed from his head directly into his eyes. His sight was covered in blood.

The Chief Monk felt pain, deep pain, and then he found that these two disciples of the Academy had prepared to keep smashing like that forever. He didn’t want to die yet, because he hadn’t seen the Buddha’s return to the human world. He knew what he had to do even though he was aware of the aftermath.

When the iron sword fell, the Chief Monk loosened the hand that was holding the chessboard tightly and lifted it high enough to block the iron sword.

The minute he let go, Eldest Brother loosened his hand as well. He then held the wooden stick and smashed heavily the first web beside the thumb.

This wooden stick was not made to snatch food from the jaws of a tiger, but to feed the tiger with itself.

The Chief Monk suddenly felt suffocating, due to the uneasy shivering from his first web through his wrist to his chest. Even with his Varjar Defending Divine Skill, his whole body was rattling, as if it was about to break into pieces.

He was supposed to use only one hand because one hand was enough to stop Jun Mo’s iron sword. To his surprise, the wooden stick smashed. He couldn’t help but wonder if they could see throng human’s thought.

Actually, the Eldest Brother and Jun Mo couldn’t see through other people, but they understood each other without speaking. That was why the wooden stick took the chance and fill in for the iron sword.

Jun Mo’s iron sword fell and smashed downward at the chessboard that was by the chest of the Chief Monk.

The Chief Monk’s heart of Buddhism was disturbed again. Being under the suppression of the wooden stick, he was not able to defend himself from the iron sword.

One clear strike sounded, as if a super tiny porcelain cup fell down on the ground.

In the dark cliff cave, a beam of extremely bright light shined. It was the Heavenly Light!

A very deep rupture was left, stretching from the depths of the field to the ground.

Later on, the earth shook, and the precipice collapsed, with countless stones and mud bursting out. On the east of the Giant Sinkhole, a roughly five-meter breach was formed after the collapse. It was such a soul-shocking image.

Inclined to the breach in the wake of the collapse of Giant Sinkhole, countless antholes and mouse holes were filled with the autumn grass and snatched fruits. Very fine waters flows ran through stones and gradually wetted disorderly stones.

The Chief Monk sat on the disorderly stones with a dusty and bloody face. He looked rather miserable.

The chessboard, once in his arms, was picked up by Jun Mo’s iron sword.

The Drunkard stood at the edge of the collapsed precipice and looked abruptly worried. Jun Mo restored his state before the Verdant Canyon Battle, and Li Manman’s state was rocketing up, which make him highly alert. However, he couldn’t believe they really broke through the Vajra Defending Divine Skill and took the chessboard!

The Chief Monk looked at the Eldest Brother and Jun Mo, with a mixture of sadness, pain, and frustration. His voice was low, and said to them at a loss, “Nothing has changed.”

What did he mean? Even if you had the chessboard, nothing would change. It was impossible that you could have opened it and saved Haotian and Ning Que, because it was a dharma-vessel left by the Buddha. It cannot be ruined after the vicissitudes of eons in Lanke Temple. It had been beyond the rule of the time, which was the real Vajra Defending Divine power.

The Eldest Brother had a look at the chessboard in Jun Mo’s hand, and said nothing. He reached out and held Jun Mo’s sleeve, left there, and then went back at the point under the pear tree by the side of the cliff plateau.

The autumn wind blew again. The Drunkard took the Chief Monk of Scripture back to the cliff plateau. The Chief Monk sat in front of the White Tower, looked at them, and said, “It’s true that nothing works.”

Jun Mo ignored him, took up the iron sword and cut.

The Eldest Brother stood right in front of the chessboard, and looked slightly pale. It was obviously that his psyche power was exhausted. However, the Drunkard and the Chief Monk wouldn’t try to approach while he was standing there like that.

The sound of the iron sword hitting the chessboard rang out on the cliff plateau without a stop. It was clear, resolute, and fierce, but totally different from the bell sounds in temples, because it contained the spurt of shining spears and armored horses.

Jun Mo continued to wave the iron sword and hit for a long time. That sound was echoing amid mountains and cliffs, as if a huge army was risking their lives and storming a castle.

The Buddhist castle was hard to break in.

Jun Mo continuously hit, and his fingers were bleeding, while the look on his face was still resolute as before. His sway each time was indifferently meticulous to make sure the most powerful force was applied.

Under such circumstances, the Drunkard said nothing. He was looking aside quietly, but the ever growing mixed feelings hit him.

Obviously there was no hope, but he still resolutely continued to do so, which even gave the whoever saw it a wrong impression that the iron sword could have brought hope by smashing up desperation. He had such a tenacious mind! How could the Headmaster bring about such a disciple? Where did he find such a disciple?

Jun Mo suddenly stopped, not because he was tired, although he was very tired indeed, but because the iron sword had become edgeless completely.

The iron sword was indestructible. Before the Battle of Verdant Canyon, it broke countless swords, even Liu Bai’s sword. However, it was distorted when used against the chessboard.

He looked over the Chief Monk of Scripture, and asked, “If we can do nothing about it, why would you guard it for a whole year on the cliff plateau? Despite the rains and storms, you never walked one step away from it.”

The Chief Monk said, “I’ve watched over it for a year because I want to watch.”

The two verbs were the same, but the former one meant guarding, while the latter was seeing.

The Eldest Brother said, “What are you waiting to see?”

The silver eyebrows of the Chief Monk were slightly floating in the autumn wind. He said, “To see the Buddha and all living creatures.”

Jun Mo didn’t understand, and then waved his head. He turned the sword around, and continued to hit the chessboard.

The Chief Monk looked a little bit different, while the Drunkard’s face was increasingly serious. It shocked them both. Jun Mo was not giving up, but turned the sword around. This way, even though the iron sword was ruined, he would still use something else to go on cutting, right?

The Eldest Brother suddenly said, “The Buddha’s chessboard cannot be cut open, and Haotian cannot be killed.”

The Drunkard looked at him and could have stopped him. But he thought it over and did nothing.

The Eldest Brother continued, “Even if the Buddha were to exterminate her existence in the chessboard, she could only transform back to the pure regulations. Naturally, she will return to the Divine Kingdom. What is the point in letting it happen?”

The Chief Monk said with his fingers and palms joined, “The Buddha knows events from five thousand years ago and predict events that will happen five thousand years later. He can see through the past even before his birth and calculate the future. That is to say he can predict what is happening at the moment without a doubt.”

The Eldest Brother said peacefully, “The Headmaster had thought it over for a millennium, and finally found a way to let her stay in the human world. Would the Buddha predict the Headmaster’s measures? Would the Buddha calculate what my Little Brother is capable of? Or would the Buddha calculate that Haotian was divided into two forms of existence by the Academy? No. The Buddha can’t calculate anything.”

His tone was quite normal and his look was very quiet. However, his confidence was splendidly shown. The Academy’s plan was even beyond Haotian’s calculations, let alone the Buddha.

The Chief Monk understood, so he fell into a silence for a long time. The Drunkard was informed of that by the Abbey Dean, so he had known long ago. That was why he came here to help the Buddhists.

The Buddha laid out a life-or-death scheme for Haotian. But how on earth could he calculate that Haotian had become two beings? In the Eldest Brother’s word, what was the point of the scheme then?

It was meaningless.

In a very short period of time, the Chief Monk became much older, because he confirmed the intention of Taoism, and admitted that the Academy was right. The Buddha’s scheme was meaningless.

It there was only one Haotian, the Buddha’s chessboard could kill the girl named Sangsang and imprison her for good. Without any connections to the outside world, she would definitely have no way to go back to the Divine Kingdom and resurrect.

Nevertheless, there were two Haotian currently. If he were to kill Sangsang, how could the Buddha prevent the rules she will become after her death from connecting to the outside world? Haotian was there, so rules could be connected to other rules. In this regard, no power could possibly stop that. Sangsang, after her death, would definitely return to the Divine Kingdom, which was the result that the Abbey Dean would rather to see.

It was meaningless.

The Chief Monk repeated these words, while looking at Jun Mo, who was still cutting at the chessboard.

“What you are doing is also meaningless. This is the Buddha’s chessboard. As long as the Buddha doesn’t let them return, they will never find a way back. Whether or not the Haotian in the chessboard would die and whether or not she would return to the Divine Kingdom are all depended on the Buddha’s destiny or the God’s will. We’re all mortals and we’re supposed to be meaningless before the moment becomes reality.”

The bell tones still rang amid the peaks. Many monks had come to the cliff plateau, but dared to move forward. After hearing that, they all bowed with their fingers and palms connecting. Qi Nian and the Third Elder were in the crowd as well.

It looked like the Academy had the upperhand in this battle. However, as long as they can’t break open the chessboard, the Academy would still lose.

Finally, Jun Mo stopped and said all of a sudden, “If we can’t break it open, we should enter it.”

The Eldest Brother said with a smile, “It sounds feasible.”

The Chief Monk said, “It doesn’t open upon your will.”

The Eldest Brother said, “Chief Monk, have you ever considered why we are still here even though we have the chessboard? Instead of leaving, we came to the cliff plateau.”

The Chief Monk slightly raised his silver eyebrows, as if he had just came to a realization.

The Eldest Brother looked at the green tree, held up its leaves and said, “Is this the pear tree?”

The Chief Monk remained silent, while Qi Nian looked slightly nervous behind the green branches.

The Eldest Brother said, “The pear tree blossoms every five hundred years, and ripens five days after that. Once it touches the ground, it will become oakum and fade away without any traces. How remarkable.”

The Drunkard said, “The tree blossomed a year ago, and it bore some fruits then.”

The Eldest Brother leaned on the green tree and then sat down. He said, “So it be. We need to wait for another four hundred and ninety-nine years until the day it blossoms with fruits again. Then, we can get into the chessboard and find them.”

Jun Mo held up the chessboard, and sat down under the tree as well.

…