Nightfall

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Two years ago, Chen Cun and the other two red-robed divine priests helped Ning Que and Sangsang escape in Chaoyang City. In their subsequent journey of escaping, the divine priests of the Divine Hall of Light had also helped them a lot secretly. What they had done for Ning Que and Sangsang back then was difficult to understand in the eyes of the world, for Sangsang was the daughter of Invariant Yama. What’s worse, it was an unbearable betrayal that the Taoism couldn’t accept.

The Divine Hall was furious about this, especially the Hierarch. Thus, a bloody purge and punishment swept through Taoism quietly. In just a few months, many Taoists died without the outside world knowing.

After Chen Cun’s death, the Taoist Hall in the Qi Kingdom fell prey to a red-robed divine priest trusted by the Hierarch, and the subordinates who were loyal to Chen Cun were severely tortured. As a trusted follower of Chen Cun, the middle-aged divine priest was not spared either. Although he survived and kept his title of divine priest by handing all the properties he had accumulated over the past decades to the new red-robed divine priest, he no longer held his old position. He served as a handyman in the Taoist Hall. Any ordinary deacon, even a guard, would berate him.

The middle-aged divine priest had expected that he would live like this until his last day, but he would rather endure endless humiliation than leave, for he wanted to keep eyes on the hall for Chen Cun and wait for the revival of the Divine Hall of Light. Most importantly, he was still waiting for the young couple who came to seek medicine herbs that year.

The beginning of the West Hill literary canon laid out that one would be rewarded for believing in Haotian. The middle-aged divine priest finally got his reward and saw Ning Que again.

The spring rain was chilly, and the ground in front of the main entrance of the Taoist Hall was wet. Ning Que listened quietly to the middle-aged divine priest’s remarks about the past two years, and then asked, “Where is everyone else?”

Through what the middle-aged divine priest had said, Ning Que knew that the Divine Hall of Light that had already been weakened for over a decade and was almost swamped in the bloody purge. The divine priests who were sent by the Divine Hall of Light to the countries were nearly all gone, which made it impossible to continue the heritage.

The middle-aged divine priest cried while talking.

Ning Que was silent.

At this moment, the indifference voice of Sangsang came out of the carriage behind him, “Go inside.”

The Divine Hall of Light had changed last spring, and many Taoist followers figured out what happened vaguely, and so did the middle-aged divine priest, for he belonged to the faction of Divine Hall of Light. He struggled for years in the despotic power of the new red-robed divine priest and the ridicule of those deacons. It was because he had faith.

He knew Ning Que’s relationship with Haotian. Hearing the voice from the carriage, he suddenly turned very pale and trembled fiercely, as if he would faint in the next moment.

How could he possibly faint at such a crucial moment? The middle-aged divine priest bit his tongue, forced himself to wake up with pain, and then desperately pushed the main entrance of the hall wide open.

The main entrance of the Taoist Hall was very thick and heavy. It seemed that he used all of his strength because his teeth and joints were squeaking. The expression on his face looked like a mixture of crying and laughing at the same time, which seemed like he had gone mad.

It was the red-robed divine priest ,favored by the Hierarch, who was in charge of all the Taoist affairs in the Qi Kingdom now. The deacons and guards responsible for the safety of the main entrance were all loyal to the new red-robed divine priest, and the deacons indulged themselves in wine and food behind the door at this moment.

They were annoyed when the middle-aged divine priest opened the door just a crack. Seeing what he had done, they were extremely furious.

With the door wide open, the wind blew the rain outside into the hall, which made the ash under the bronze furnace float around and the broth in the copper pot blended with rain. How could they not be angry?

“Are you fucking out of your mind? Didn’t you see that we are eating?”

“Shut the door now, or I will beat you!”

Shouts and scoldings rose one after another.

Normally, the middle-aged divine priest would have already apologized and tried to remedy if he were scolded like this. However, he did no such things today.

He drew the reins and led the carriage to the hall. He looked humble, but didn’t lay eyes on the deacons and guards.

Seeing this, the deacons and guards felt surprised, and some even laughed in extreme anger. One deacon knocked the edge of the pot with his chopsticks and cursed loudly.

Looking at these deacons and guards, Ning Que thought of the followers who kneeled down and asked for medicine help in the rain outside the hall. Ning Que shook his head indignantly.

The deacon knocked the edge of the pot even louder and shouted out some worse swear words.

Ning Que put his hand on the hilt which was cold due to the rain.

He did not make a move because this was the Taoist Hall.

All of a sudden, the deacon who cursed noticed that something fell into the copper pot in front of him, giving off an intense smell of boiled meat.

The deacon was surprised. He swayed his chopsticks in the soup and found a pork tongue.

“The pork tongue is too big. Why didn’t you chop it before putting into the pot?”

He blamed and scolded as he usually did, but only found that he couldn’t make a sound and his companions who were sitting by the table looked at him in a shocked and weird way.

It was as if he was a ghost.

The deacon was stunned, and then found that the front part of his robe was full of blood. Shouting in panic, he still couldn’t make a sound but rather spit a lot of blood!

Only until then did he notice that his tongue was gone!

His tongue was rolling in the boiling soup!

He turned pale and looked muddled. He subconsciously held the chopsticks with trembling hand and reached into the soup, trying to get his half-boiled tongue out.

At this moment, a straight blood line appeared on his wrist.

His right hand which held the chopsticks was cut off from the wrist, then fell into the boiling soup with a splash.

The boiling hot soup fell on him, but he had no reaction at all because he had already gone mad.

The deacons at the table were burned by the spilled soup. Their streaming only lasted for a short time, for they also lost their tongues in the next moment.

All of a sudden, silence hung in the main entrance of the Taoist Hall.

In such a weird and terrifying atmosphere, these deacons and guards turned pale and covered their mouths desperately. The next moment, they finally woke up and rushed into the hall like crazy.

Ning Que didn’t try to stop them.

Sangsang stayed in the carriage quietly.

The middle-aged divine priest drew the reins and looked at the backs of these people indifferently like they were already dead. His eyes sparkled with the flame of revenge.

The alarms ran through the Taoist Hall, and the sounds of armors and weapons colliding together were heard everywhere.

The carriage slowly stopped inside the Taoist Hall. Hundreds of divine priests, deacons and fully armed cavalrymen came from all directions of the hall and circled Ning Que, the middle-aged divine priest, and the carriage.

An imperious red-robed divine priest stepped out from the crowd.

Looking at the middle-aged divine priest, Ning Que and the ordinary carriage, he raised his arm apathetically with his palm facing the gray sky.

“I don’t care who you are, but you are now at the Divine Hall of Haotian! In the name of Haotian, I shall send you all to the deepest part of the nether world with the most holy divine flame!”

Instantly, a divine flame slowly appeared in the palm of the red-robed divine priest.

Ning Que found that this Haotian’s divine flame was very pure, which surprised him. Xiong Chumo indeed chose capable people to take over the Divine Hall of Light.

Seeing the holy divine flame, hundreds of divine priests, deacons and cavalrymen in the hall all showed awe. Tven the men with their mouths covered in blood began to get excited. They could never imagine what would happen next.

The Haotian’s divine flame fell directly to the red-robed divine priest himself!

They were all shocked and didn’t know what was going on, and some foolish ones even thought that it was a Divine Skill that the divine priest newly mastered until they saw that their superior looked very painful in the flames!

The red-robed divine priest struggled desperately in the flames, trying to escape and even lying down on the ground to extinguish the fire. However, he could not do anything other than struggling uselessly.

The holy flames burned brightly and fiercely on his body, turning his robe to ash in an instant and revealing bloody flesh, which looked exceptionally miserable!

The power of Haotian’s divine flame was extremely terrifying. It took only an instant to burn copper and iron into liquid, let alone the human body. However, the red-robed divine priest somehow did not die right away…

This was even more horrible, for he had to bear the pain ceaselessly caused by the burn!

The curtain was picked up slightly, and Sangsang looked at the red-robed divine priest with no expression.

The Haotian’s divine flame surrounding the red-robed divine priest suddenly became fiercer but burned more slowly. It was fiercely burning not only his body but his Taoist Heart!

Even the most devout followers of Haotian wouldn’t be able to bear the extreme physical and spiritual pain, let alone the red-robed divine priest who had indulged in earthly pleasures.

Suddenly, an miserable scream suddenly came out of the raging flame!

The miserable sound directly broke through the spring rain falling over the Taoist Hall and the rain cloud hung over the sky of the capital city of Qi Kingdom, then fell onto the streets and houses of the capital city.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the capital city of Qi Kingdom heard a shrill cry in the spring rain!

The cry was full of infinite pain and regret, which was so clear and profound that even people who had heard it felt guilty and went down on their knees.

Hundreds of divine priests, deacons and cavalrymen in the hall were no exception.

They had already kneeled down in the rain.

Sangsang looked tired and ignored these people and walked straight to the hall.

Looking at her back, the people who kneeled down in the rain were terrified and intended to attack her. However, they found that their bodies were shaking as if they were going to fall apart, and they could not even stand straight.

The sound of hoofbeats suddenly came through the rain outside the hall, which sounded like thunder.

A cavalryman of the Divine Hall came to the hall and was wet from head to toe.

Seeing the armor this man wore, the people kneeling down in the rain recognized his identity and hope was revived, for they thought that the cavalryman must be chasing his enemy.

No matter how strong the woman is, she is definitely not a match for the cavalryman of the Divine Hall. They all thought so but didn’t realize that what happened today had been far beyond their imagination.

The cavalryman fell on his knees, and the rain splattered. Facing the back of Sangsang, he touched the wet ground with his forehead and dared not look up.

Ning Que looked at the commander and ordered, “Finish them, but don’t make too much noise.”

“Yes,” the commander answered without any hesitation, stood up, and pulled out his sword from the sheath.

Hundreds of cavalrymen of the Divine Hall who were standing in the rain rushed into the hall quietly.

The people kneeling down in the rain finally sank into despair.

…