Nightfall

Ever since spring, no one had entered the Divine Hall of Light, not even the Hierarch . Therefore, when the pious deacons on the plateau saw Xiaocao being escorted into the Divine Hall, they were shocked and could not believe what they just saw .

Xiaocao did not understand what had happened to her either . She knew that the Divine Hall of Light had been lacking a master for years, so who was asking for her?

A girl in a white dress led her into the Divine Hall and then disappeared . She looked around the s.p.a.cious and imposing Divine Hall and found herself small in comparison . She instinctively kneeled on the cus.h.i.+on .

Curtains hung in the far end of the Divine Hall . She saw no one behind the curtains or heard any sound . The silence was frightening . She lowered her head and waited anxiously for her destiny .

Time pa.s.sed by slowly . She kneeled for so long that her knees became sore and painful . However, she neither dared to stand up nor refrained from being more anxious .

Suddenly she saw a big black horse .

Xiaocao"s eyes shone with some joy because she knew that the big black horse belonged to Ning Que . However, before she greeted the big black horse, she remembered something else .

She used to have a good friend in Chang"an . They were of the same age . She was dark and skinny . They used to exchange many inexpensive gifts . She taught that friend how to do makeup and how to tempt her l.u.s.tful master .

Later on, that friend went through a lot . She became the daughter of the Grand Secretary and even was said to the descendent of the Divine Priest of Light . However, when they met occasionally she was still the friend Xiaocao used to know .

Xiaocao was shocked . She felt lost and fell onto the cus.h.i.+on with her hand covering her chest . She could not believe her own reasoning . Yet she knew there could be no other explanation for this .

A wind blew from within the Divine Hall of Light and the curtain was lifted from a corner . Instead of her acquaintance, she could only see a lofty girl standing on the terrace .

Is that Sangsang?

Xiaocao stood up and stared at that figure . She wanted to call her but did not dare to . It did not matter if she was the master of the Divine Hall of Light or some other high-ranking figure in the Divine Halls of West Hill because she was no long her former friend who was of no significance .

"I grant you immortality . "

An awe-inspiring voice resounded in the Divine Hall of Light .

Xiaocao could not figure out whether or not this voice belonged to the figure standing by the terrace . She gazed blankly at the curtain that divided the world into two realms and slightly clenched her fists .

The formerly disappeared girl with the white dress showed up again and led her out of the Divine Hall of Light .

Xiaocao did nothing inside the Divine Hall of Light . She was not tortured . She neither met an acquaintance nor prostrated to Haotian . Then she just left .

It seemed she was only taken there for these words: "I grant you immortality . "

Xiaocao left the Divine Hall of Light and returned to the small town . The girls from the House of Red Sleeves kept asking her about what had happened, but before she could tell them anything, the Divine Halls sent a group of cavalrymen and escorted them out of the West Hall Divine Kingdom courteously . They escorted them to the south of the Verdant Canyon .

Until they came back to Chang"an, Xiaocao still felt that their trip to the West Hill was like a dream, especially her experience inside the Divine Hall of Light . It was so unreal . She did not realize what she had been granted until many years later .

. . .

. . .

The Haotian"s Divine Hall where the Hierarch dwelt used to be the most respected place in Peach Mountain . However, now people viewed the secluded Divine Hall of Light as the supreme place .

No one dared to disobey the orders from the Divine Hall of Light, not even the Hierarch . But the figure inside the Divine Hall of Light had kept quiet since spring . It was only until recently that several orders were issued .

The first one was to escort the girls from the House of Red Sleeves back to Chang"an . Many people from the Divine Halls did not understand why . For those who knew the stories like the Hierarch, the reason was very simple . When Haotian was taking a rest in the human world, some people were nice to her . She was just paying them back now .

However, the second order from the Divine Hall of Light was a shock to all of them including the Hierarch . The girl in the white dress announced expressionlessly that they must stop going after Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang .

Tang Xiaotang had intruded Peach Mountain and took Chen Pipi away from the Rite to Light . It was extremely humiliating to the Divine Halls of West Hill and they wanted them to pay for it .

The strongest men were sent out from the Divine Halls and series of traps were set up along the way from Qinghe Prefecture to Chang"an . The Hierarch was so sure that those senior cultivators from the Back Hill of the Academy would not dare to interfere under the pressure of the Drunkard and the Butcher . Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang would eventually be taken back to the Divine Halls and sentenced with slow slicing .

Right then, the girl in the white dress conveyed the order to stop tracking them down . Why should Haotian make such a decision? The Hierarch was confused but did not dare to question .

. . .

. . .

For the Divine Halls of West Hill, it was very annoying that the girls from the House of Red Sleeves had returned to Chang"an safe and sound but it was a trivial matter . However, to stop hunting for Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang was significant .

Yet for Sangsang, those were all petty things because whatever happened in the human world was of no significance to Haotian . She made those decisions only because she had a plan, rather than some attachment to any human beings .

The Rite to Light was organized to reopen the gate to Haotian"s Divine Kingdom, as well as cutting her connections to the human world . That was why she wanted Chen Pipi to be the sacrifice and asked the Tang Empire to send the girls from the House of Red Sleeves . In her original plan, Chen Pipi, Tang Xiaotang, and Xiaocao would have been burnt in the holy flame . Then most of her connections to the human world would have been severed .

However, Ning Que showed up and he proved to her through the Tianqi that it would be impossible to cut her connections to the human world . Then she decided to use a different approach .

Her connections to the human world was affection, so she wanted pay them back with life . She granted Xiaocao with immortality and spared Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang"s life . She thought she could have severed her bond to the human world this way .

. . .

. . .

Ning Que had no idea of what had happened . As He Mingchi said the other day, he could only see the falling leaves and rain from inside the rock window but could not feel the rain .

He was the most important prisoner inside the Secluded Pavilion but he did not care . If he had not come to Peach Mountain, he would have been a prisoner in Chang"an . It did not matter where he was imprisoned .

What he cared more about was his battle with Sangsang . He kept dreaming on the rock bed . The dreams were romantic as well as horrifying . The woman in his dream was sometimes plump and sometimes skinny . They fought against each other and went through extreme happiness and anguish . He kissed her, bit her, felt her plumpness and was tortured by slow slicing .

She stayed in the Divine Hall of Light, whereas he was confined in the cold stone cell down the cliff . They tortured and loved each other despite of the distance of thousand of miles . He gave her the most wonderful happiness in the human world and she paid him back with the most horrifying torture in the human world . She kept killing him while he kept loving her . Both were torture .

It was a battle between Heaven and Earth as well as one between man and woman . There had been numerous battles of both kinds throughout history but they never happened at the same time .

It was rather a simple battle, like a family drama . The result would be either one party surpa.s.sing the other, or simply one party maintaining their position on top . Eventually, one of the two parties would win and be the boss of the house .

On the other hand, It was not so simple because it was not a matter of who would take charge in the Old Brush Pen Shop . It would decide the destiny of the human world whether it was Haotian or the human who won .

The destiny of the human world was in their hands . Ning Que felt that it was absurd but could not refrain from being proud and satisfied .

Their battle in his dreams continued . He could not tell how long he had stayed in the cell . Outside the rock window, there were fewer autumn leaves falling . When he saw several snowflakes, he knew that winter had come .

Neither of them surrendered or won .

Ning Que watched the falling snowflakes outside the rock window and realized that he was tortured less frequently these days . He frowned and wondered why .

He had no idea of what had happened outside . He knew that Elder Cui was shot dead by him and someone was meeting with the Drunkard and the Butcher in that small town . However, he did not know that the someone was one of his acquaintances, or that the Tang Empire and the Academy were ready for a revenge in the Qinghe Prefecture soon .

These could only happen on the condition of him conquering Sangsang .

If Heaven were to have feelings, then Heaven would grow old and become vulnerable . If Sangsang were to have feelings, then he would have a chance to win . Unfortunately, he had not been able to make any breakthroughs .

What troubled him most or made him vigilant was that Sangsang could not find a way to cut her bond to the human world yet she still seemed so calm and confident in his dreams . Why was that?

Then another petty thing happened inside the Divine Hall of Light .

Two girls in white dresses kneeled behind Sangsang . They seemed extremely nervous and sad, especially the older girl on the left . She was weeping in fear .

Not far from them on a wooden tray there were two pairs of white pants stained with blood .

The girls had their first menstruation .

The girls were chosen from hundreds of thousands of young girls throughout the West Hill Divine Kingdom . They were supposed to be fair, pure, and free of any worldly filthiness . They knew it very clearly .

They had spent half a year in the Divine Hall of Light and realized how magnificent their master was . It made them proud and even more pious .

However their first menstruation had finally come . They knew what they were going to face but did not dare to cheat . Therefore they kneeled behind Haotian and waited in tears for their punishment .

However, Sangsang did not punish them .

Instead, she looked at the hidden moon and asked, "People call it a lunar period . Do you find it interesting or annoying?"

Light snowflakes fell on the terrace .

She frowned to somewhere down the cliff, and put her hand slowly on her under abdomen .

A dam of thousand miles long was built with baskets of soil . A city with a thousand years of history was started from pieces of black bricks . Anything significant was consisted of trivial matters .

Three petty things happened in her world .

These three things led to a conclusion: she decided to let him out .

. . .

. . .Ever since spring, no one had entered the Divine Hall of Light, not even the Hierarch . Therefore, when the pious deacons on the plateau saw Xiaocao being escorted into the Divine Hall, they were shocked and could not believe what they just saw . Xiaocao did not understand what had happened to her either . She knew that the Divine Hall of Light had been lacking a master for years, so who was asking for her? A girl in a white dress led her into the Divine Hall and then disappeared . She looked around the s.p.a.cious and imposing Divine Hall and found herself small in comparison . She instinctively kneeled on the cus.h.i.+on . Curtains hung in the far end of the Divine Hall . She saw no one behind the curtains or heard any sound . The silence was frightening . She lowered her head and waited anxiously for her destiny . Time pa.s.sed by slowly . She kneeled for so long that her knees became sore and painful . However, she neither dared to stand up nor refrained from being more anxious . Suddenly she saw a big black horse . Xiaocaos eyes shone with some joy because she knew that the big black horse belonged to Ning Que . However, before she greeted the big black horse, she remembered something else . She used to have a good friend in Changan . They were of the same age . She was dark and skinny . They used to exchange many inexpensive gifts . She taught that friend how to do makeup and how to tempt her l.u.s.tful master . Later on, that friend went through a lot . She became the daughter of the Grand Secretary and even was said to the descendent of the Divine Priest of Light . However, when they met occasionally she was still the friend Xiaocao used to know . Xiaocao was shocked . She felt lost and fell onto the cus.h.i.+on with her hand covering her chest . She could not believe her own reasoning . Yet she knew there could be no other explanation for this . A wind blew from within the Divine Hall of Light and the curtain was lifted from a corner . Instead of her acquaintance, she could only see a lofty girl standing on the terrace . Is that Sangsang? Xiaocao stood up and stared at that figure . She wanted to call her but did not dare to . It did not matter if she was the master of the Divine Hall of Light or some other high-ranking figure in the Divine Halls of West Hill because she was no long her former friend who was of no significance . I grant you immortality . An awe-inspiring voice resounded in the Divine Hall of Light . Xiaocao could not figure out whether or not this voice belonged to the figure standing by the terrace . She gazed blankly at the curtain that divided the world into two realms and slightly clenched her fists . The formerly disappeared girl with the white dress showed up again and led her out of the Divine Hall of Light . Xiaocao did nothing inside the Divine Hall of Light . She was not tortured . She neither met an acquaintance nor prostrated to Haotian . Then she just left It seemed she was only taken there for these words: I grant you immortality . Xiaocao left the Divine Hall of Light and returned to the small town . The girls from the House of Red Sleeves kept asking her about what had happened, but before she could tell them anything, the Divine Halls sent a group of cavalrymen and escorted them out of the West Hall Divine Kingdom courteously . They escorted them to the south of the Verdant Canyon . Until they came back to Changan, Xiaocao still felt that their trip to the West Hill was like a dream, especially her experience inside the Divine Hall of Light . It was so unreal . She did not realize what she had been granted until many years later . The Haotians Divine Hall where the Hierarch dwelt used to be the most respected place in Peach Mountain . However, now people viewed the secluded Divine Hall of Light as the supreme place . No one dared to disobey the orders from the Divine Hall of Light, not even the Hierarch . But the figure inside the Divine Hall of Light had kept quiet since spring . It was only until recently that several orders were issued . The first one was to escort the girls from the House of Red Sleeves back to Changan . Many people from the Divine Halls did not understand why . For those who knew the stories like the Hierarch, the reason was very simple . When Haotian was taking a rest in the human world, some people were nice to her . She was just paying them back now . However, the second order from the Divine Hall of Light was a shock to all of them including the Hierarch . The girl in the white dress announced expressionlessly that they must stop going after Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang . Tang Xiaotang had intruded Peach Mountain and took Chen Pipi away from the Rite to Light . It was extremely humiliating to the Divine Halls of West Hill and they wanted them to pay for it . The strongest men were sent out from the Divine Halls and series of traps were set up along the way from Qinghe Prefecture to Changan . The Hierarch was so sure that those senior cultivators from the Back Hill of the Academy would not dare to interfere under the pressure of the Drunkard and the Butcher . Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang would eventually be taken back to the Divine Halls and sentenced with slow slicing . Right then, the girl in the white dress conveyed the order to stop tracking them down . Why should Haotian make such a decision? The Hierarch was confused but did not dare to question . For the Divine Halls of West Hill, it was very annoying that the girls from the House of Red Sleeves had returned to Changan safe and sound but it was a trivial matter . However, to stop hunting for Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang was significant . Yet for Sangsang, those were all petty things because whatever happened in the human world was of no significance to Haotian . She made those decisions only because she had a plan, rather than some attachment to any human beings . The Rite to Light was organized to reopen the gate to Haotians Divine Kingdom, as well as cutting her connections to the human world . That was why she wanted Chen Pipi to be the sacrifice and asked the Tang Empire to send the girls from the House of Red Sleeves . In her original plan, Chen Pipi, Tang Xiaotang, and Xiaocao would have been burnt in the holy flame . Then most of her connections to the human world would have been severed . However, Ning Que showed up and he proved to her through the Tianqi that it would be impossible to cut her connections to the human world . Then she decided to use a different approach . Her connections to the human world was affection, so she wanted pay them back with life . She granted Xiaocao with immortality and spared Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotangs life . She thought she could have severed her bond to the human world this way . Ning Que had no idea of what had happened . As He Mingchi said the other day, he could only see the falling leaves and rain from inside the rock window but could not feel the rain . He was the most important prisoner inside the Secluded Pavilion but he did not care . If he had not come to Peach Mountain, he would have been a prisoner in Changan . It did not matter where he was imprisoned . What he cared more about was his battle with Sangsang . He kept dreaming on the rock bed . The dreams were romantic as well as horrifying . The woman in his dream was sometimes plump and sometimes skinny . They fought against each other and went through extreme happiness and anguish . He kissed her, bit her, felt her plumpness and was tortured by slow slicing . She stayed in the Divine Hall of Light, whereas he was confined in the cold stone cell down the cliff . They tortured and loved each other despite of the distance of thousand of miles . He gave her the most wonderful happiness in the human world and she paid him back with the most horrifying torture in the human world . She kept killing him while he kept loving her . Both were torture . It was a battle between Heaven and Earth as well as one between man and woman . There had been numerous battles of both kinds throughout history but they never happened at the same time . It was rather a simple battle, like a family drama . The result would be either one party surpa.s.sing the other, or simply one party maintaining their position on top . Eventually, one of the two parties would win and be the boss of the house . On the other hand, It was not so simple because it was not a matter of who would take charge in the Old Brush Pen Shop . It would decide the destiny of the human world whether it was Haotian or the human who won . The destiny of the human world was in their hands . Ning Que felt that it was absurd but could not refrain from being proud and satisfied . Their battle in his dreams continued . He could not tell how long he had stayed in the cell . Outside the rock window, there were fewer autumn leaves falling . When he saw several snowflakes, he knew that winter had come . Neither of them surrendered or won . Ning Que watched the falling snowflakes outside the rock window and realized that he was tortured less frequently these days . He frowned and wondered why . He had no idea of what had happened outside . He knew that Elder Cui was shot dead by him and someone was meeting with the Drunkard and the Butcher in that small town . However, he did not know that the someone was one of his acquaintances, or that the Tang Empire and the Academy were ready for a revenge in the Qinghe Prefecture soon . These could only happen on the condition of him conquering Sangsang . If Heaven were to have feelings, then Heaven would grow old and become vulnerable . If Sangsang were to have feelings, then he would have a chance to win . Unfortunately, he had not been able to make any breakthroughs . What troubled him most or made him vigilant was that Sangsang could not find a way to cut her bond to the human world yet she still seemed so calm and confident in his dreams . Why was that? Then another petty thing happened inside the Divine Hall of Light . Two girls in white dresses kneeled behind Sangsang . They seemed extremely nervous and sad, especially the older girl on the left . She was weeping in fear . Not far from them on a wooden tray there were two pairs of white pants stained with blood . The girls had their first menstruation . The girls were chosen from hundreds of thousands of young girls throughout the West Hill Divine Kingdom . They were supposed to be fair, pure, and free of any worldly filthiness . They knew it very clearly . They had spent half a year in the Divine Hall of Light and realized how magnificent their master was . It made them proud and even more pious . However their first menstruation had finally come . They knew what they were going to face but did not dare to cheat . Therefore they kneeled behind Haotian and waited in tears for their punishment . However, Sangsang did not punish them . Instead, she looked at the hidden moon and asked, People call it a lunar period . Do you find it interesting or annoying? Light snowflakes fell on the terrace . She frowned to somewhere down the cliff, and put her hand slowly on her under abdomen . A dam of thousand miles long was built with baskets of soil . A city with a thousand years of history was started from pieces of black bricks . Anything significant was consisted of trivial matters . Three petty things happened in her world . These three things led to a conclusion: she decided to let him out .