Nightfall

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Among the cliffs, no trees were swinging and no birds were singing. The two of them stood facing each other, holding their cudgel and sword. The Abbey Dean with a sword was not necessarily more powerful than the one without the sword. But the sword did have some significance.

His cotton-padded gown was soaked in blood. The Eldest Brother knew that he could not longer hold for another seven days. But as he said previously, Ning Que and Sangsang might need less than seven days to get back to Chang’an. What he had to do was to try his best.

The Abbey Dean stared at his sword and said calmly, “The Headmaster taught you to love. I thought you would be different with Jun Mo. But you are after all a student of the Academy.”

The Eldest Brother looked at him calmly. The sword stabbed into his chest was already thrown on the ground behind him. He said, “A student from the Academy awaits your challenge.”

While they talked, the remaining woods afar by the cliffs got on fire. The blazing fire melted the snow on the cliffs but was never abated, and disconnected the two of them from the outside world.

The fire in the woods was almost impossible to be put out. Because it came from Haotian’s Divine Flame. It was the purest energy formed by Ning Que’s blood and his iron blade.

Ning Que was darting toward Helan City. He traveled hundreds of meters with every single leap he made. Wherever he stepped on the rocks were smashed. His iron blade and the blood he shed created sparkles and thundered in the mountains.

No one could catch up with a Distanceless cultivator unless he was Distanceless himself. If the Drunkard was heading for the West-Hill, then Ning Que could never make it. But he was merely going to the Helan City in a dozen miles away. Therefore Ning Que still had a chance. Because he was already faster than hawks.

With a few leaps he came to the Helan City. He broke through the destroyed city gate but could neither find the big black horse nor the Drunkard.

The gates of the Helan City were already distorted. Boulders kept falling off from the cliffs around. Most of the watchtowers along the city walls were smashed. Several people could be seen in the dense smoke.

The remaining Tang soldiers were still trying to put out the fire and save the city. Ning Que called out, “Retreat! Leave it!”

For the Tang soldiers in the Helan City, Ning Que was such an impressive figure that they could recognize him in a quick glance. Although they had no idea why Mr. Thirteen showed up at this point, they immediately followed his orders and retreated to the outskirts led by their commanders.

Ning Que stood by some steep stairs and looked above at the collapsing watchtowers. He sensed something and immediately leaped.

…

…

Sangsang was not in one of those watchtowers. Instead, she was in a secret chamber beneath it.

The seemingly perfect bubble appeared again in front of her. Different from what Ning Que saw previously, there were a dozen of bright spots on the bubble apart from the two tiny cracks. The bright spots stood for the entrances to the steady interlayers of the Qi of Heaven and Earth.

There was one bright spot on the bubble that flashed distinctively. Because it represented the place right under her feet. It was a transmission array formed by complicated Talismans.

There were paths in the interlayers of the Qi of Heaven and Earth that interconnected the most remote places throughout the world. In other words, they were shortcuts. Only great cultivators like the Abbey Dean, the Eldest Brother and the Drunkard could locate and open the gates to these paths, and travel freely in Distanceless.

Apart from the state of Distanceless, people also used the shortcuts to deliver information. Both the Tang and the West-Hill had built such transmission arrays. But due to their limited power, the transmission array built by human beings could only deliver or carry messages or very light objects. Most importantly, just like casting the Thirteen Primordial Arrows, it took an unreasonably large amount of energy and rare resources to build or even activate the transmission. Therefore people seldom used and gradually abandoned them. They were of no strategic importance nowadays.

Sangsang knew what would happen and she had been preparing for it. The bright spots on the bubble were the gates of the transmission array throughout the human world. Some of the channels were abandoned for tens of thousands of years. No one knew them except for her, not even the Abbey Dean.

She stood in the centre of the complicated and charming talisman lines, pale and blood-stained like a wounded fairy. She was no longer ruthless and almighty, but sympathetic instead.

The big black horse and the indigo lion-dog stood cautiously by her side. They tried to conceal their sympathy because they did feel for her.

She was seriously wounded and left alone by her man. It was so sad. Otherwise why was she standing in the centre of the talisman array without saying anything, and seemed so lonely?

Sangsang had no idea what those two were thinking about. She could no longer know it all. She was not pretending to be lonely and desperate, nor was she feeling sorry for herself because of the severe wound. She was already sober when Ning Que left. She did not stop him because she was not against it.

She was merely waiting for the talisman array to be activated.

If some human beings were to activate the array and deliver messages to Chang’an, they would need a great amount of energy and treasurable minerals, and probably had to wait for a fairly long while.

Sangsang did not have those things. And she was running out of time. But what she had was herself. The blood from her divine body was the most valuable and purified energy.

Her blood showered onto the talisman array. It looked horrifying but did not take much. The talisman lines started blinking and would be activated shortly.

In the next moment, she would return to the small house in the imperial palace in Chang’an.

Ning Que was not here yet. She said nothing and or showed any emotions. It seemed she never cared. The big black horse and the indigo lion-dog found her somewhat ruthless.

Instead of wondering, she just assumed, Since I’m heading back to Chang’an as you wish, you have to keep your promise and go back to Chang’an with me, even if you are dead.

Some wind blew across the chamber and carried some dust from the walls to the corner.

Someone showed up outside the talisman array.

Sangsang looked up and found it was not Ning Que. She seemed slightly disappointed then became calm as usual immediately.

The Drunkard stared at her, but he could never stay calm. He was wounded in the previous fight and coughed some blood. Right now when staring at her he got excited and coughed some more blood.

When he met her in the small town and on the island in the South Sea, he kneeled in front of her, bowed to the ground, kept trembling and stayed extremely low. Because she made him fear.

He had been hiding from her in the human world for thousands of years. The fear had been haunting him for thousands of years. It corrupted his body and soul yet he could never escape.

Right then his body was trembling. He knew that she was very weak after attacked by the Abbey Dean, and that she could barely fight. However… he just did not dare.

He did not dare to point at her, or even look at her.

Sangsang looked at the blood-stained Drunkard. She seemed extremely calm as if she was the god looking down upon the ants or a dog in the human world.

The Drunkard roared in laughter when he saw the look in her eyes. He laughed insanely, bully yet cowardly. There was wild killing intent as well as other complicated and indescribable sensations.

It felt like a slave who became the master and raped the daughter of his previous owner, or a prince who reestablished his country and revenged for his thirty-six thousand people, or a student who pushed his verbose teacher into the water.

That was exactly how he felt. The inferiority and fear he used to have had turned into insane satisfaction and desire for torturing the prey. He was thrilled upon thinking of the realization.

This time it was out of excitement instead of fear.

The Drunkard burst into laughter and tears. His voice still sounded like grating of scrap bronze weapons, as if the weapons were ground into powder and piled up in front of him like dark snow.

Along with the insane laughter, he pulled out a sword from the flagon and stabbed suddenly toward Sangsang. His movements were exaggerated as if he was dancing.

Sangsang waved her hand and some clear light formed a crystal screen in front of her. Her world was shielded.

The Drunkard howled while he applied Immeasurable and charged countless Qi of Heaven and Earth onto his blade.

Cracks. Sangsang’s world was broken. The sword from the Drunkard’s flagon flashed and stabbed into her belly with a piercing sound. It was deadly quiet inside the chamber, as well as between Heaven and Earth.

Sangsang looked down at her belly, at the sharp sword and the blood gushing out. She frowned and felt surprised as well as confused.

In the past, no one could ever break into her world. Even the peerless Sage of Sword Liu Bai was only able to stab the sword into her world, but could not wound her before his sword was burnt into ashes.

But now, the Drunkard easily broke into her world with a simple stab.

Her eyebrows furrowed further, out of dissatisfaction and pain. She had gone through such pains before, but not distinctive as it was right now. Like what she felt a while ago. The distinctiveness of life actually came from pains.

The Drunkard was stunned. He never expected that she could not ward off his sword, and that his sword could actually stabbed into her body. Even with the blood gushing out, he still could not believe what he saw.

Did I just defeat Haotian? Did I just stab Haotian?

…

…

Upon a big bang, someone broke into the secret chamber.

Ning Que appeared in front of Sangsang and held the Drunkard’s sword. He turned to the pale Sangsang, tried to say something but could not utter a word.

Sangsang stared at him and said emotionlessly, “This is all your fault.”

Indeed. She was weakening and becoming more like a human being. She was not unbreakable and even got wounded. It was all because he was not by her side, and that he had turned her into a human being.

…