Nightfall

Translator: Transn | Editor: Transn

Great terror laid between life and death. When one was tied to the life and death of this world, then the degree of terror was much more difficult to imagine. Sangsang heard Ning Que’s words but remained silent, thinking about something.

Ning Que reached out to touch her forehead. It was a little cool but not as serious as when she was ill. After a moment of contemplation, he helped her put on a robe and carried her off the black horse carriage.

The two stepped on the almost frozen ground of the Wilderness and walked to the Bodhi tree.

Looking around, the desolate plains stretched across in all directions. There were the occasional winter willows which had long dried. The sharp trill of birds traveled from a distance. The verdant Bodhi tree was especially eye-catching in the Wilderness.

Ning Que and Sangsang had read many Buddhist scriptures in Lanke temple for days and had already entered the meditative state. They could sense that there were remnants of Buddha beneath the Bodhi tree. While it was minimal, it gave one the sense that it had been there, desolate for a long while.

There were some slight bumps around the ground beneath the Bodhi tree. The area within it was as smooth as a mirror. What was even more interesting was that there were no signs of fallen leaves or dust within it.

Ning Que looked at the markings and when he compared it with the imageries in his mind, he discovered that the markings fit the imprints one would make when they laid on the ground. The small dent in front must be made by the buttocks, which supported one’s weight. The relatively larger dents below were marks made by one’s body.

He said to Sangsang, “Legend says that when Buddha entered Nirvana, he did so lying on his side with his eyes closed. It seems that it is true.”

Sangsang did not understand why Ning Que had brought her to look at the Bodhi tree. It seemed to be a trace Buddha had left behind.

“Those who cultivate in Buddhism would all want to come and worship before this Bodhi tree. But we have never thought of it and yet still came here. If there were really such things as Lucky Chances, then this is ours.”

Ning Que said, “Learning about Buddhism is good for your body. Even if it can only treat the symptoms, you should still continue with it. The Buddha spirit left behind beneath this Bodhi tree should be helpful to your practice.”

Sangsang leaned against his chest weakly and said, “Where will we go in the future?”

Ning Que answered, “We’re going back to the Academy, of course.”

Sangsang curled up slightly, evidently a little uneasy. She said, “But I’m very worried.”

Ning Que frowned slightly and asked, “What are you worried about?”

“The Academy does want to treat my illness. But if my illness is really a mark left behind by Yama, then how would they be able to treat it? I can sense that the remnants of Buddha left beneath this tree will not be of much help.”

Sangsang said somewhat sadly, “Have you ever thought what you should do if even the Academy cannot heal me and the world is facing impending doom because of me?”

Ning Que said after a short moment of silence, “I have said that I don’t care.”

Sangsang said softly, “But would the Headmaster and Senior Brothers feel the same?”

Ning Que did not say anything, he did not know how to answer her question. He knew that his teacher and two Senior Brothers did truly want to heal Sangsang. But if they cannot do it, would they watch on as the Underworld Invasion came?

Sangsang looked up at him and said seriously, “Ning Que, have you once considered, that we should just kill ourselves?”

Ning Que patted her back and said, “This might be a possible ending if this was a tragic story in books. However, I have already said that this is not a story. I don’t like reading books. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want you to die even more.”

Sangsang said sadly, “But we don’t have a future anymore.”

The Underworld Invasion meant that the Everlasting night was coming. It meant that the world was about to end. The Daughter of Yama was naturally the enemy of the world. Not even the Academy or the Tang Empire could stand against the entire world. This also meant that no matter how big the world was, there was nowhere left for them to stay.

Ning Que said after a long silence, “I have seen the ‘Ming’ Handscroll of the Tomes of the Arcane. I have also read the notes left behind by Buddha. I know that Buddha had already seen the future of the world, which was why he wanted to build Xuankong Temple and left behind the chessboard and Yue laan Bell. He wanted to respond to the Underworld Invasion.”

Sangsang did not understand why he was saying this.

Ning Que looked at her and said, “Master Qishan once said that if we attempt to look into the future, no matter whether it is just a glance or not, the future would change. Buddha had made so many preparations for the future that he saw, then there must naturally be a great difference between the future that he saw and the true future.”

Sangsang said, “You said that the future is not predestined, so does that mean we don’t need to worry?”

Ning Que answered, “The future and death are actually very similar. If it is already predestined, then there is no point in worrying. If it could be changed, then there is no need to worry. We just have to work hard at changing it.”

Sangsang said, “I understand. This makes a lot of sense.”

Ning Que said, “Even though I do say things that make a lot of sense occasionally, these words did not come from me. Teacher once said this to me, so I believe in it staunchly.”

Then, he looked into Sangsang’s eyes and said, “The entire world might not allow us to live, but we still have to return to the Academy. Because if this is the last time we trust, we have to leave it to teacher.”

A smile appeared on Sangsang’s pale face. She nodded.

Ning Que smiled and said, “We might die anytime. Tomorrow might be our last day, and it might not necessarily be a bad thing. At least it will rush us into doing many things that we used to think of doing but did not dare to do.”

Sangsang looked at him quietly and plucked up her courage. She said, “I want to have a child with you.”

Ning Que froze and then smiled bitterly. He said, “We need a lot of time to have a child. Is there anything else that you want to do now?”

Sangsang asked, “What do you want to do now?”

Ning Que held her hand and they walked to the Bodhi tree. He took out a sharp arrowhead and carved a line of words on the tree that Buddhist believers thought of as the ultimate sacred symbolism that should not be violated.

“In the 16th year of Tianqi, Ning Que of the Academy and his wife, the Daughter of Yama, Sangsang had been here.”

The black horse carriage traveled solidarily on the cold Wilderness. As there were no waterbodies in the Wilderness, the horse carriage that traveled speedily looked as if it was moving slowly on a sheet of black and grey paper.

Ning Que and Sangsang had once lived in the Wilderness and were familiar with this plainness and desolation. They were extremely familiar and used to it. They knew that even in the Wilderness in the north of the Central Plains, they might not meet a single person in two weeks if they were unlucky. Furthermore, this was even deeper in the Western Wilderness which was even more desolate.

However, Ning Que did not expect a man to appear in the wild plains just after they had traveled a few miles from the Bodhi tree. The man was also one that Ning Que did not want to meet right now.

He was a tanned and old monk in tattered clothes who was covered in dust.

When traveling the world, there were three kinds of people that one needed to be wary about. They were monks, Taoist priests, and women. This patch of wilderness was not far from Xuankong Temple and the old monk would definitely have links to it. Ning Que’s expression grew cold.

Looking at the black horse carriage that had slowly stopped a few feet in front of him, the wrinkles on the old monk’s face gradually stretched out. The gravel that was stuck between his tanned complexion fell and sadness could be seen in his quiet eyes.

The old monk chanted the name of Buddha and said, “Who would have thought that the Daughter of Yama and Mr. Thirteen of the Academy would come to Xuankong Temple? No wonder how hard the world searched, they could not find any traces of the two of you.”

The old monk’s voice floated through the green curtains that hung in front of the black horse carriage. Ning Que listened quietly, lowering his head in preparation. He paused slightly.

This was because he had heard from the old monk’s words that the world had been searching for him and Sangsang for a long time. However, didn’t he and Sangsang just escape from Lanke Temple? Why would it startle the entire world?

The old monk slowly raised his right palm and made a Buddhist gesture before his chest. He thought of a possibility, and the compassion in his eyes grew even stronger. He sighed and said, “It seems that Senior Brother Qishan had sent you here. Where is the chessboard?”

“If we give you Buddha’s chessboard, will you let us go?”

Ning Que looked at the green curtain in front of him. His voice was devoid of emotions but his face had suddenly paled. He began to tremble violently. The threads on his already torn black Academy uniform grew even tighter.

Sangsang knew that he was injured and was very worried. However, she pursed her lips tightly and did not make a sound. She curled up in a corner of the carriage and used a blanket to cover herself.

The old monk sighed and said, “Mr. Thirteen of the Academy is indeed like what the rumors say. You are the best at combat in the world. You know that the Underworld and mortals belong on different paths, but you did not forget to disorientate me. However…”

The words came to an abrupt end. The old monk focused and sensed the two extremely powerful talisman intent that had reached him silently without his knowledge and had begun to cut through the cold autumn winds!

Inside the black horse carriage, several thin cuts appeared on Sangsang’s blanket. If one looked carefully, they would see that every cut was actually made of two close slender openings. Cotton bloomed from the cuts.

Ning Que’s face was pale and his entire body trembled. He drew his fingers slowly and painfully before him in the air, as if there was a heavy mountain hanging from the tip of his finger. The talisman intent that came from his black Academy uniform cut the cloth into several strips. The green curtain hanging in front of the horse carriage was also torn into three pieces, falling slowly onto the ground.

The old monk looked solemn. He sat cross-legged and placed his palms together in front of his chest. He rolled his palms slightly and a pure and exquisite Buddhist aura erupted from it, shrouding him in a dome of light.

In the black horse carriage several feet away.

Ning Que retracted his finger and held his bow and arrow. His middle and index finger clutched the bowstring tightly and twisted before letting it go. There was a light poof, and a white puff of current emerged from the end of the iron arrow before disappearing!

There was a deep imprint on the falling green curtain. The green cloth that had been imprinted slowly fell apart like pollen scattered into the air, revealing a round hole made by the arrow.

The green curtain was still falling, the hole on the cloth was still forming. Then, moments later, there was a shrill whistling. Ning Que emerged from behind the torn curtains and leaped off the horse carriage like lightning. He rushed toward the old monk who was a dozen feet away.

The two powerful talisman intent hanging in the air of the Wilderness were Ning Que’s Two-Horizontal Talisman. This was his most powerful Divine Talisman. In Lanke Temple, not even Qi Nian or Ye Su could get rid of it within a short amount of time. However, the tanned old monk, who was extremely powerful, had managed to block it temporarily with his Buddhist aura.

But even so, under the terrifying cutting abilities of the Two-Horizontal Talisman, the old monk who was covered in dust and gravel was as good as being trapped by the Two-Horizontal Talisman. He exercised his power while sitting cross-legged and battled the talisman with his Buddhist aura.

How could the old monk avoid the powerful Primordial Thirteen Arrow in such a situation then?

The old monk knew that he could not avoid Ning Que’s iron arrow. Just as he vaguely sensed the oddity in the area within the black horse carriage, he had already made measures to deflect the arrow.

The old monk whose left palm had been placed on his knees suddenly glowed with a golden light. It looked as if it had become a Buddha palm that was crafted from pure gold!

In an extremely short period of time, the old monk crushed the autumn wind and lifted his golden left palm. It seemed to be slow, but he quickly covered his chest. At this time, the iron arrow had arrived!

The sharp arrowhead carried an extremely powerful power and shot into the golden palm of the old monk!

There was a soft sound from the two objects colliding. The old monk’s golden left palm shattered into pieces. There was no blood or flesh where it broke but it shone with only a golden light that scattered across the Wilderness like golden sand.

The iron arrow did not stop after shattering the old monk’s golden palm. It flew upward and slammed into the monk’s left shoulder. Blood streamed behind the arrow as it turned into a ray of light before disappearing into the distance.

The old monk was seriously injured. His face was pale but he did not show any fear. He was extremely calm and his chest and abdomen were slightly concaved. He breathed in all the air in front of him, and his withered lips began to open.

Just then, Ning Que appeared like lightning before him.

His right foot stepped heavily on the ground, shaking up dust and ice sheets. With strength from his waist and abdomen, he plunged the podao in his hands into the old monk’s abdomen. The Great Spirit exploded as the blade slammed down!

Splatter! Like rain falling from the gloomy clouds, the old monk’s body turned into several pieces of flesh which flew in all directions under the force of the podao and the powerful Great Spirit.

Moments later, the pieces of flesh and blood fell from the air and landed on the hard surface of the Wilderness. They slapped heavily on the ground, just like how it sounded when heavy rain falling from clouds would when it finally reached the ground.

Ning Que kept his knife in his scabbard and retrieved a Fire Fu from his sleeves. He threw it onto the ground and swooped back onto the black horse carriage. He did not turn to see if the pieces of flesh and the growing talisman fire.

The black horse carriage started again towards the distant Wilderness.

On the Wilderness, the flames grew and the bloody bits and pieces of the old monk was scorched and then burned into ashes. Several black crows came, following the smell of what was in the fire and crowed shrilly and mulishly.

In the black horse carriage.

Sangsang asked with a pale face, “Who was it?”

“I don’t know, I only know that this Ascetic Monk was very powerful. He isn’t an ordinary monk from Xuankong Temple, and must be at least on the same level as Master Boshu. Otherwise, the Two-Horizontal Talisman would have killed him.”

Ning Que pointed in the southeast direction that the Big Black Horse was walking in. He took the towel Sangsang handed him and wiped off the blood on his face. After a moment of silence, he said, “If I allowed him to prepare, it would have been difficult to kill him.”

Sangsang said, “You didn’t know who he was and he was so powerful. You just killed him like that?”

Ning Que wiped the blood on his podao carefully and said calmly, “Everyone on earth wants to kill us. So from now on, I will kill anyone who stands before us.”

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