Chapter 272 (1/2)

The old monk looked at Ning Que warmly and said with a slight smile and said, ”You seem not to have heard of me.”

Ning Que was slightly startled, he replied, ”Should everyone have heard of you?”

A self-deprecating smile appeared on the old monk's wizened face with some difficulty. He said, ”It might sound a little funny, but I thought that after several decades, the young people would still remember my name.”

Ning Que did not know what to say. He looked at the cold gaze shooting from Ye Hongyu's eyes and the confoundment in Mo Shanshan's dark eyes. He thought to himself, ”Was what this Divine Lord Lotus said true?”

”If you know my story, you should know how I attained Tao enlightenment in the Lanke Temple. I used to preach as the chief monk in the Xuankong Temple. I pa.s.sed through the Divine Hall twice but did not enter. In the end, I became one of the Great Divine Priest of Judgment. But I doubt that even the two young ladies know, that I once almost became a High Priest of the Devil's Doctrine.”

The old monk looked at the three youngsters who could not contain their shock. He said gently, ”Since the Devil's Doctrine could infiltrate the various countries of the Central Plains, the various Buddhist sects of the Central Plains would, of course, have similar tactics. There is no need to be so shocked.”

”Looking back at my life, I have once experienced too many things. I even feel that they were very excited when I think about them in the middle of the night. But when I think through them carefully, the thing that I am proudest of is that I had a friend like Ke Haoran. You asked me why I wanted him dead?”

The old monk looked at Ning Que, his expression was still benevolent, but slightly bitter. ”Because he was my greatest friend, I knew of his earth-shattering abilities. We traveled through the wild mountains together when I was younger. When we met again, I realized that he had gotten stronger, and was getting closer to the darkness of the night.”

”There are many types of friends. I wanted to be a good one. The greater Ke Haoran's ability was, the more I could not accept the changes in his view of the world. Which was why I would sacrifice everything, even my dreams, to bring him into this b.l.o.o.d.y storm. I would rather he died together with the Devil's Doctrine than for him to join the devil.”

The room descended into silence when they heard of this soul-stirring piece of the past. Ye Hongyu and Mo Shanshan lowered their heads subconsciously. The young Talisman Master had heard the rumors surrounding this matter, while the Tao Addict lived in the West-Hill Divine Palace and knew more about Mr. Ke's story than most.

Ning Que had never heard of this before. In the stories that the Senior Brothers and Sisters told at the Back Mountain, Youngest Uncle's image was grand and proud. He held the cyan-steel sword with one hand and was second to none. He was never linked with the Devil's Doctrine.

Ning Que's brows rose on his forehead. He looked at Master Lotus and asked, ”How would my Youngest Uncle join the devil?”

The old monk sighed, ”The devil enters through one's heart. Anyone can join the devil.”

Ning Que was not your typical Tang citizen. However, he had the Tang's att.i.tude. He could not believe such a saying. He shook his head and said calmly and certainly, ”My Youngest Uncle is second to none. He is the strongest no matter in ability or spirit. He has no need for help from the outside. Why would he need to cultivate the Devil's Doctrine's method?”

The old monk said gently, ”He had never cultivated the Devil's Doctrine's method. Just as you said, he had no need for their methods. But what you don't know is, Ke Haoran was like the Great Divine Priest of Light from a thousand years ago. He would not be seduced by things and causes but would travel up that path because of his own thoughts. He had turned his back on the light of Haotian and walked towards the night the moment his view of the world changed.”

Ning Que was startled and said, ”I do not understand.”

The old monk laughed when he heard such an honest reply. He shook his head lightly and slowly before wiping the smile off his face. He said calmly, ”He had become the devil when he picked up that sword.”

Ning Que asked, ”The Haoran Sword?”

The old monk acknowledged it tacitly.

Ning Que thought of the book ”Exploring the Haoran Sword” he had read in the old library and also how Second Brother had taught him his sword move in the Back Mountain of the Academy. He remained silent before shaking his head. ”The Haoran Sword has nothing to do with the Devil's Doctrine's methods.”

The old monk looked and him and smiled, ”The world only knew of the Haoran Sword, but not the Great Spirit. If you have the lucky chance to one day understand what the Great Spirit is, you would understand why I said that.”

Ning Que seemed to have vaguely understood something. It seemed that Youngest Uncle's state was very strong then and had walked himself into a corner trying to achieve a breakthrough. He had created the Great Spirit similar to what the Great Divine Priest of Light had done a thousand years ago. However, this Great Spirit was something that Haotian had banned, just like the methods of the Devil's Doctrine.

”I still do not understand.”

Ning Que looked at the old monk in the Bone Mountain and smiled, ”Anyway, I will not believe that Youngest Uncle would join the devil.”

This was him being unreasonable. No matter the Tangs or the Academy, they were the best at being unreasonable. He thought to himself, ”This was, after all, something that had happened decades ago, what could you do to me, even if you were the Divine Lord Lotus?”

”It was ascertained that Mr. Ke had joined the devil later on.”

Ye Hongyu turned around and said suddenly, ”He died from receiving heavenly punishment.”

Ning Que froze and then, he leaped up like a wild cat whose tail had been stepped on and yelled, ”Punishment my a.r.s.e!”

It was strange that Ye Hongyu did not retaliate angrily at his cursing. Instead, she looked at him with a myriad of emotions. There was a moment of silence before she said, ”I will allow you to live for now out of respect for Mr. Ke.”

Ning Que came to a sudden realization that what she had said was the truth when he saw her reaction.