Nightfall

Fortunately, he saw Sangsang"s face at the critical moment. The young and familiar face placed some genuine peace in him. He kissed and thus survived the romantic yet brutal nightmare. He woke up to find himself still lying on the freezing rock bed, soaked with sweat.

He realized that the dream was actually a battle between their consciousnesses. He panicked at the thought that he had almost surrendered. By holding his fists tightly and stretching the muscles on his arms, he felt another wave of fierce pain and discomfort. It confirmed his dream. He was again tortured by slow slicing.

He heard some sudden footsteps outside the cell and turned to take a look. This time it was not the deacon from Judicial Department who had been pretending to be deaf and dumb. Instead, it was an acquaintance.

It was a young, tender and good-looking man dressed in an ordinary Taoist robe, with a pale brown oiled paper umbrella under his armpit. It was He Mingchi, the disciple of Li Qingshan who was the former national master of Great Tang Empire.

When Li Qingshan pa.s.sed away, He Mingchi had taken over the Tianshu Inst.i.tution of the Great Tang Empire. However, no one knew that he was the Hierarch"s most important p.a.w.n in Chang"an. He took direct orders from the Abbey Dean and the Hierarch, and accomplished the task that took Taosim over a thousand years to plan for. He made use of the shadow that Haotian left in Chang"an and destroyed the G.o.d-Stunning Array, which resulted in the riot of blood and blaze that night. That was all because of him.

In the battle against Tang Empire, He Mingchi was the one who brought the fatal strike. Therefore, he was on top of the revenge list that Tang Empire held. For exactly the same reason, the Hierarch sent him to the south after the battle and did not call him back to the Peach Mountain until the Rite to Lite.

Ning Que looked at He Mingchi, who stood outside the fence. He Mingchi could not find any trace of anger on Ning Que"s face. Yet the calmness was just a declaration of his determination. He would only look at a dead man with such calmness.

He Mingchi was a senior brother to him in terms of their Taoist lineage from the South Gate Abbey. But he was already a dead man in the eyes of Ning Que, as well as in the eyes of any person from the Tang Empire.

He Mingchi opened the fence and entered the cell. He placed a box of dishes and fresh water on the rock table, lifted his robe and sat on a rock chair, with eyes fixed on Ning Que who was lying on the rock bed.

Different from the Ning Que"s calm and emotionless demeanor, He Mingchi had mixed feelings of envy, jealous, fear, pity and admiration.

When he was in Chang"an, He Mingchi always carried his pale brown oiled paper umbrella in his armpit, and bended it slightly when he walked between the imperial city and the South Gate Abbey. Compared with Ning Que, he was rather low profile and insignificant.

Now Ning Que knew that was just his disguise. He probably had a much higher ranking in Haotian Taoism than anyone had imagined. Otherwise how could the Abbey Dean and the Hierarch have a.s.signed him with such a crucial task? And how did come into the Secluded Pavilion to visit Ning Que? If Prince Long Qing was the brilliant charming prince in broad daylight, He Mingchi would probably be his counterpart hidden in the darkness of Divine Halls of West Hill.

He Mingchi was exceptionally shrewd and probably had surpa.s.sed the state of See-through a long time ago. Even after the riot in Chang"an, no one from the Tang Empire was able to figure out whether or not he had reached the state of Knowing Destiny. Now that Ning Que was already a wastrel, he couldn"t care less about He Mingchi"s state of cultivation.

He just felt some regret. When he was the invincible Ning Que bestowed with Tianqi that day in the front yard of Peach Mountain, he tried to look for He Mingchi while he held his arrows. But either because of his extraordinary insight of predicting danger or pure luck, He Mingchi was able to flee from the Hierarch"s sacred sedan and was nowhere to be found.

Neither He Mingchi nor Ning Que said a word. Ning Que did not want to talk to him at all. It was incredibly quiet in the cell until a dripping sound rang.

A drop of rain water fell on the ground from the tip of the pale brown oiled paper umbrella.

Ning Que looked outside the rock window but could not see any rainfall due to the foggy sky.

He Mingchi said, "It"s raining out there. It"s a pity you could not see it from here."

Ning Que replied, "It doesn"t sound like a bad thing to not be exposed in the rain."

He Mingchi countered, "Not necessarily a good thing if you would be staying out of the rain forever."

"You did not come to ask me questions. Even the Abbey Dean or Xiong Chumo was not qualified to ask me questions, let alone someone like you. Then what are you here for? To enjoy the sight of me being imprisoned? Does it count for not being exposed in the rain? How come I sense some jealousy from you?"

There was no trace of any emotion in Ning Que"s voice while he looked outside the rock window when he spoke.

He Mingchi replied after a while of silence, "I am indeed jealous of you."

Ning Que turned to him and said, "For someone as great as me, I have a thousand of reasons for you to be jealous of. I can"t help being so extraordinary. There"s no need for you to feel inferior."

He Mingchi replied sarcastically, "Even though you will be imprisoned probably for the rest of your life, you are still so confident and c.o.c.ky. I am indeed inferior in this case."

Ning Que confirmed. "There"s no doubt you are inferior to me in every aspect."

He Mingchi disagreed. "That"s your perception, not mine. I am indeed jealous because I don"t understand why Haotian didn"t kill you."

Ning Que found the disappointment and devoutness deep down his gentle eyes and caught some subtle sentiment. "You are way too inferior to understand this."

He Mingchi continued, "I followed Haotian"s shadow everywhere in Chang"an and destroyed the G.o.d-Stunning Array upon her call. I am the closest human being to her in this world."

Ning Que disapproved. "No one is closer to her than I am."

He Mingchi consented. "Yes. And that"s why I"m jealous of you."

Ning Que questioned, "Jealousy drives people crazy. Perhaps you should try to kill me."

He Mingchi kept silent for a while and then replied, "No one disobeys Haotian."

Ning Que said, "My Master did it, and so had my Youngest Uncle. And I"ve tried several times myself."

He Mingchi reasoned, "That"s why the Headmaster and Mr. Ke were both dead."

"But I"m still alive," said Ning Que.

"Indeed." He Mingchi agreed.

Ning Que continued, "I am the living proof that Haotian is not almighty."

"Yes." He Mingchi agreed again.

Ning Que said, "Therefore, you desperately want to kill me."

Ning Que had finally led their conversation back to the point because he knew clearly that him being still alive was blasphemous to Haotian for the devout Taoist followers like He Mingchi.

He Mingchi stood up in silence, and tucked the umbrella in his armpit.

Ning Que reminded him. "The umbrella is wet. You won"t look good with your armpit soaking. It will seem like you have body odor. Likewise, you should hide your killing intent if you do want to kill me. Otherwise you will hardly succeed." 

He Mingchi s.h.i.+fted the umbrella to his hand and stared at the water stain on the floor in front of his feet. He sounded confused, "How come it feels like you are so desperate to be killed by me?"

Ning Que pondered and replied, "This is again something you would never understand."

If he were to die, Sangsang would also die. Then, the Academy and Tang Empire would win this battle and his Master would have a better chance of winning in Heaven. Thus, there would be hope for the human world. Plus, he had been continuously tortured by slow slicing and was almost at the edge of collapse, so he had various reasons for seeking death.

Yet he did not want to commit suicide, or did he like the idea of Sangsang dying. He was both afraid and unwilling to do so. Therefore, he would prefer to be killed. In that case, he would die together with Sangsang for any reason that was out of his control.

He Mingchi could not figure out what he was thinking about and felt humiliated. He mocked Ning Que instead. "Is it a pity that you can no longer kill me?"

Ning Que replied, "It was. Now I realize that although I"m a wastrel I still have various ways to kill you. To be more precise, if I"m going to leave Peach Mountain or the human world for good, I"d definitely kill you before that. This means you don"t have much time left."

He Mingchi still did not understand his words. However, he could not help feeling but feel some chills deep down his heart. He asked, "How?"

Ning Que stared at him and said, "If Haotian wants you dead, how much time do you think you have left?"

...

...

He Mingchi retold every single word of their conversation in the Secluded Pavilion.

"Although you have made tremendous contributions to Taoism, I still have to grind you into dust should you ever dare to do such things again." 

The Hierarch conveyed to He Mingchi, who was kneeling on the rock stairs.

He still looked gorgeous inside the layers of gauze. Although after the Rite to Lite everyone knew that he was merely a skinny old dwarf, no one dared to challenge him due to the radiating figure in the Divine Halls.

Though the Hierarch was upbraiding He Mingchi, he kept his voice low and humble. That was because he knew that the one inside the Divine Hall of Light would hear him if she were spontaneously listen.

He Mingchi questioned, "I just don"t understand why Haotian is keeping Ning Que alive."

He knew that Haotian was there in Peach Mountain and that Haotian was almighty. He still asked such a question not because he had lost his respect but because he thought he was asking for the good of Taoism. He reasoned that Haotian would definitely forgive him because of his devoutness.

Many in the Divine Halls of West Hill also did not understand why Haotian did not kill Ning Que. If he were to die, the G.o.d-Stunning Array would lose its master. Then the Drunkard and the Butcher could kill the rest in the Academy upon their request. Additionally, Chang"an, the Tang Empire, and the Academy would be destroyed in no time.

The Hierarch frowned to his question and reprimanded, "How could ordinary human beings like us comprehend Haotian"s will? You are not in a position to ask such questions."

He Mingchi kept his head down and did not speak further. All of a sudden he realized that perhaps Haotian could use some help, just like Ning Que wanted to be killed by him. However, he knew that his thought was too disrespectful. He dreaded and sweated profusely due to this disrespectful thought.

In order to dispel his fear, he brought up something else: "I heard that the Divine Priest of Judgement has been feeling depressed lately. And she stares into the Divine Hall of Light from time to time."

...