Nightfall

...

Coming out of the white Divine Hall on the peak, Ye Hongyu walked down along the mountain trail. Clouds floated beside her dress while she found her psyche cleared. When she reached the plateau, she had regained her tranquility.

She looked gently and calmly at the couple of stone cottages on the plateau. The next moment, she found her Taoist heart firm as iron. The plateau and stone cottages meant a lot to her, much more than memories.

She had to drop her state when she escaped from Lian Sheng in the Front Gate of Devil"s Doctrine. Both her cultivation and Taoist heart was seriously wounded. When she came back to Peach Mountain, people thought she could never regain her power. They scorned her and the Hierarch even tried to marry her to Luokedi.

She locked herself in one of those stone cottages and continued cultivating. She knew she could break through all the obstacles. Then she received a letter from the Garret Sword.

She regained her power and killed the previous Great Divine Priest of Judgment. Then she became the youngest Great Divine Priest in the history of the West-Hill and started a new chapter of her legend.

Since then, neither Luokedi nor the Hierarch could never threaten her. Nothing in the human world could ever be a problem for her.

Ning Que"s words or the question posed by the Academy was nothing. She came to the stone cottage not for some relief from the person inside, but rather to collect the reward she deserved for having made a choice.

She did not betray Taoism or kill the Hierarch. She chose not to tear up Taoism with her Divine Hall of Judgment and ignored Ning Que"s invitation. Instead of turning to the Academy, she stayed on the Peach Mountain and posed herself in the danger. Now she was to confront the absolute danger by herself.

She was qualified to ask for whatever she wanted from that person inside the cottage.

The night fell quietly and darkened her scarlet Gown of Judgment. It seemed to have been soaked in blood for thousands of years before she put it on.

She stood quietly in front of the stone cottage and did not look inside. Because the person who used to be inside was now sitting in the wheelchair by the cliff and enjoying the sunset.

"I have no idea what it was. But I guess it must be something very important since Ning Que kept it until the last moment," the old man in the wheelchair said calmly without turning back.

Ye Hongyu said, "It"s important to me but nothing to the human world. Or it mattered in the past but no longer now."

The Abbey Dean said, "It was important after all."

Ye Hongyu said, "But I don"t want to hear it."

"Ning Que did not say it properly." The Abbey Dean mocked, "It was very inappropriate to try to win you for the Academy only by sending two people and a few words. His words are after all not the Seven Tomes of Arcane."

Ye Hongyu agreed, "Indeed. That was also why I didn"t want to listen."

The Abbey Dean said, "You already knew it long ago therefore it was not surprising. Then it was not good enough to convince you."

Ye Hongyu said, "Ning Que and Yu Lian underestimated me. The Devil"s Doctrine and the Academy together might be able to set up the entire world, but not me."

The Abbey Dean smiled in the wheelchair and said, "I said the same thing previously."

"I always knew it was Xiong Chumo." Ye Hongyu continued, "I didn"t take him after the Rite to Light not because I wanted him to stay miserable, but rather because I knew Your Highness would not allow me."

The Abbey Dean said, "I"m the leader of Taoism and I never play favoritism."

Ye Hongyu said, "I still won"t kill him. I probably will never do."

The Abbey Dean looked gentle and asked, "Because of your faith? Or piety to Haotian?"

Ye Hongyu said, "It has nothing to do with my faith."

The Abbey Dean smiled and asked, "Then what for?"

Ye Hongyu said, "I want Xiong Chumo"s life in exchange of another person"s life."

The Abbey Dean laughed and shook his head, "First you have to prove you can kill him. Then you are qualified for the exchange."

One could only exchange things with something one possessed. Otherwise it would be stealing or robbery.

Xiong Chumo was the Hierarch and had surpa.s.sed the Five States long ago. He activated Tianqi and the Divine Flame to dispel the evils around the world. No one except for the Eldest Brother or Yu Lian could have a certain win over him.

No matter how talented Ye Hongyu was or how well she cultivated, she was still too young. Even if she was already at the zenith of Knowing Destiny, how could she kill Xiong Chumo?

"Then how about with my own life?" She said, "No matter how shamelessly Ning Que played in the game, I am still grateful for him and the Twenty-three Year Cicada."

"Why?"

"Because they proved to the Divine Halls how important I was. They tried their best to win my help. Therefore Taoism should pay a price that is enough to keep me."

The Abbey Dean smiled and said nothing.

The Hierarch"s life was indeed not something Ye Hongyu could take. But she was after all the Great Divine Priest of Judgment and had countless royal subordinates. If she were to defect, it would be a fatal loss for the West-Hill given that the Divine Hall of Light and Revelation Inst.i.tute would both be missing leaders.

The Academy had prepared for years to carry out this plan. Yu Lian paved the way for it several years ago. She had waited patiently to see it happen today. However they failed.

The Abbey Dean looked at the the evening glow by the horizon and said gently, "He was indeed my best student."

Ye Hongyu said, "When we were kids, everyone thought he was inferior to Chen Pipi."

The Abbey Dean shook his head. "Not to mention the others, I used to think so too. But he proved that I was wrong, so was everyone else."

Ye Hongyu said, "So Your Highness thinks my life is not worthy of his?"

"The teaching of the New Stream seems to be similar to Haotian Taoism. However it actually took the authority back from Taoism and returned it to the followers. It reclaimed the glory from Haotian"s Divine Kingdom to the human world. The Devil"s Doctrine could only influence the cultivation world, while the New Stream could shake the entire world. He went way further than the former Great Divine Priest of Light did a thousand years ago."

The Abbey Dean continued calmly, "In that sense, he is the worst traitor and the real gravedigger of Taoism. Whenever I think about this I cannot help from being impressed, or even proud as his teacher. You could certainly not exchange such a person so easily."

Ye Hongyu also looked at the evening glow to the east. There was the ocean and the Song Kingdom by the ocean. "So is Your Highness insisting on killing him?"

"Ning Que asked me to plan for the future of Taoism. But he didn"t know that I had always been thinking. The New Stream has already formed and will definitely spread widely. They"ve got countless followers and there"s no point of killing him now. How could I kill him just to force you to betray us?" The Abbey Dean turned to her and smiled.

Ye Hongyu had no idea what Ning Que had said to the Abbey Dean.

"Like I just said, you did not leave because you had faith." He looked at Ye Hongyu and said, "I didn"t mean Haotian, but Ye Su. Even though he is already a wastrel like I am, he is way more important to you than Haotian is. As long as he has the slimmest chance to survive, you will never risk it. I said Ning Que could not see through himself therefore his words were meaningless. Apparently he could not see through you and therefore failed to convince you."

Ye Hongyu kept quiet. She had to admit that even though this old man was not her master, he understood her much better. Her Brother"s life was like a pond of thunder, which was filled with his glorious swords. She could not take a step further. As long as he could survive, she would ignore the most humiliating past and face it calmly.

Since the Academy could not protect him, nothing they said would ever matter.

Furthermore, she had always knew that Ning Que was selfish, cold-blooded and shameless. He had previously proved himself to be so and did it again today. And he would do so again in the future.

The light gradually faded and night prevailed. The snow and clouds were gone and the sky was decorated with stars. Among the stars was a bright moon s.h.i.+ning on the human world, including the plateau on Peach Mountain.

The Abbey Dean looked above to the moon, pondered for a long while, and said something indistinctly. It was as tasteless as the moonlight shed on him, tranquil and emotionless. "I will give Xiong Chumo"s life to you."

Ye Hongyu bowed and left the plateau for she already received the promise she wanted.

Although the Abbey Dean did not mention anything other than Xiong Chumo"s life in his promise, she knew her Brother would survive. Neither Long Qing nor the Drunkard would kill him. Because the Abbey Dean made it clear that it was not beneficial for Taoism to take Ye Su"s life at this point.

But the problem was that the Academy was not aware of it. So after all that he had done, was Ning Que going to be a joke in history?

The Abbey Dean swayed his hand in the chilling night breeze and tried to catch some moonlight.

"What happened to the Hierarch and the Great Divine Priest of Judgment previously?" the middle-aged priest asked.

The Abbey Dean shook his head and said, "I have no idea. Nor should I care."

The middle-aged priest seemed worried. "It seems the Academy takes it seriously…"

The Abbey Dean said calmly, "The Academy always positions itself as if it never cared about meaningfulness. But actually they would never do anything meaningless. No matter what they said to me or to Ye Hongyu, it was a trap. Ning Que knew the New Stream was a threat to Taoism and tried to convince me with this. I have to admit he was right, even if he could not see the whole picture. If he could convince me, Taoism would be defeated, or even finished. If he could not, Ye Su would be killed and Ye Hongyu would definitely defect. Therefore Taoism would again be defeated."

The middle-aged priest seemed to have realized something and commented with admiration, "So if we do nothing, the Academy will fail."

It seemed to be the Abbey Dean"s plan, to cope with anything by doing nothing. However, he shook his head again and looked above to the moon, pondering.

...

...

Entering into the Divine Hall of Judgment, Ye Hongyu stood by the black stone pillar and looked at the snow-covered mountains for a long while. She held her hands behind her back and her face looked frosted.

No one knew what she was thinking about. Her loyal subordinates and maids stayed worried in the side hall but did not dare to interrupt.

The moon travelled while the stars remained. And the night grew late.

She looked to the direction of the Song and could almost see the slaughtering, the blazing holy flame, and the people who fought fiercely for their faith.

Her beautiful face was free of emotions as if it was an ice engraving.

Right then, footsteps were heard in the Divine Hall of Judgment.

The black-robed deacons should have been on alert even at the slightest footsteps. But strangely they remained silent even when that person came to her side.

Perhaps it was because even the most ruthless black-robed deacon did not dare to stop him. Or even the most powerful in the Divine Hall of Judgment was not able to hear his footsteps.

It was a wretched, skinny and short old priest. The Hierarch of West-Hill, Xiong Chumo had come to her quietly in the dark night.

Ye Hongyu looked afar toward the Song Kingdom and watched the snow clouds glowing indistinctly in the night. She almost saw the storm forming above the ocean.

Colors were drained from her face. She squinted her eyes into a line, or a sword.