Chapter 493 (1/2)

Chapter 493: New Life, Falling Rocks, and A Spring Outing

Ning Que had never paid his respects to Darkie in order not to raise suspicion . Now that he had gotten his revenge, he did not have to worry even if the imperial court were to find out about his relations.h.i.+p with him .

Now that vengeance was achieved, respects to his parents should be paid . However, his biological parents, Lin Hai and Third Mistress Li were both cremated and had their ashes scattered in the Wei River after a simple ceremony by the Haotian Taoism . They did not have graves .

Then, Darkie's grave shall be the graves of those people .

The snowstorm grew heavier . Sangsang opened the big black umbrella, s.h.i.+elding Ning Que's back with difficulty . Ning Que squatted down, took a piece of oilpaper out and burned it . There were many names written on the oilpaper . And the people, whose names were written on it, were all dead . They had turned into smoke and were blown away by the wind like this oilpaper .

Sangsang asked softly, ”What do you intend to do with the Prince?”

Ning Que looked at the rolling ashes on the ground and said, ”He was just talking then . It serves him right that he can't become a Prince . Let's see in another two years . ”

Sangsang said, ”Young master, didn't you say that you have to slay the largest evil?”

Ning Que replied, ”The largest evil is your teacher . But he is dead . I saw his grave beside Master's and wanted to dig it up . But it's better to let it go . ”

Chang'an was enveloped in wind and snow . Meanwhile, in the depths of the mountains of West-Hill Divine Kingdom, it was still as warm as spring . This was due to the warm currents from the eastern seas of the Kingdom of Song and even more so because this was a land beloved by Haotian .

There was a young man standing outside the simple Taoist temple in the depths of the mountain . The man was extremely handsome . Even though there were noticeable injuries on his forehead, they just enhanced his charms .

The middle-aged Taoist standing on the stone steps looked at the young man . He said, ”Prince Long Qing, do you really insist on practicing penance in the abbey? Do you know what that implies?”

The young man was Prince Long Qing . His hands were scabbed and scarred . He had probably spent the past few days at sea .

He said respectfully, ”Since these are my teacher's instructions, I, as his disciple, cannot go against him . It doesn't matter how much I have to suffer as long as I can look at the Tomes of the Arcane . ”

The middle-aged taoist priest said, ”Since this is the will of the abbey dean, no one would dare to stop you . However, I have to remind you, you might die anytime if you wish to look at the Tomes of the Arcane at your current cultivation state . ”

Prince Long Qing said calmly, ”Uncle, I am already a dead person . ”

The middle-aged taoist priest looked at the black peach blossom on Long Qing's chest . He thought of the rumors saying that Ning Que had shot through Long Qing's chest with an arrow on the snow cliff, and understood what Long Qing had meant when he said that he was a dead person . He sighed softly and did not say anything else .

He walked up the stone steps and entered the Zhishou Abbey, an Unknown Place of the Haotian Taoism . Even though Long Qing had acknowledged Zhishou Abbey's dean as his teacher, he was still somewhat nervous .

There was a lake in the Taoist temple, and by the lake, were seven splendorous straw cottages scattered around . The straw of the cottages was cheap and shabby, and the houses by right should not look majestic or luxurious . However, the thatches of the cottages looked extremely alluring as they were gold and seemed unbothered by the dust and wind .

The thatch was naturally infused with a rich Qi of Heaven and Earth . It could withstand the wind and rain and dark and chilly auras while purifying one's heart . This kind of gra.s.s had long gone extinct in the natural world and was said to be extremely precious .

There were only two places in this world that were so extravagant to use this kind of straw to build cottages . The first was the cottages in which the seven Tomes of the Arcane were kept in, and the other was the breezy cottage that the Headmaster stayed in at the back of the mountain of the Academy .

Long Qing walked into the first straw cottage and looked at the black book above the wooden desk . He could not remain calm any longer . His hands, which were visible outside his sleeves began to tremble slightly .

This book was the first book of the tomes of the Arcane . It was the ”Ri” Handscroll .

This was the only book he could open in his current state .

Long Qing slowly flipped open the black cover page . The first page that he saw was a sheet of paper that was completely white . Then, he flipped to the second page . Liu Bai, Jun Mo, Tang . . . the names of the cultivation powerhouses were written on this page . He was not surprised because he had already antic.i.p.ated it . He thought to himself, if he wanted to climb to the highest peak of cultivation, then he would have all of these brilliant names under his feet .

Long Qing continued flipping through the ”Ri” Handscroll .

At the top of the page, he saw the Calligraphy Addict, Mo Shanshan's name . Then, at the very top part of the page, he saw Ning Que and Ye Hongyu's names . The two names were at the same height, and there were strokes that had gone beyond the page, as if the name was inching towards the page in front .

Long Qing's expression grew vicious when he saw the three names . His breathing grew heavy and then, after a moment, his emotions disappeared completely and he calmed down . His eyes grew bright, as if they were luminous pearls that had been coated with a golden sheen and were bright beyond compare .

Winter pa.s.sed, and spring arrived . Time ticked by slowly .

Everyone in the world thought that Prince Long Qing had died . No one knew that he was currently studying cultivation in the Zhishou Abbey, an Unknown Place . He woke up at dawn every morning and tidied up the front of the abbey . Then, he cooked and set up the meals before sending them to the abbey . He could only enter the seven straw cottages to read the Tomes of the Arcane after doing all that .

Long Qing did not flip open the ”Ri” Handscroll after the first day . Instead, he focused on reading the second book .

One day in spring, the wild peach blossoms in the Zhishou Abbey bloomed .

Long Qing emerged from the second straw cottage the next day, pale-faced . He clutched a blood-stained handkerchief in his hand . Just as he was about to meditate and rest by the lake, he felt something and stopped in his tracks .

He walked into the first straw cottage and opened the ”Ri” Handscroll gravely .

Ning Que's name grew darker and darker on the page . The strokes grew thicker as well and seeped into the paper like blood . Mo Shanshan's name left its original position and reached the highest spot on the paper . A sharp stone pillar appeared between the two characters of Shanshan's name and looked like it would tear the paper anytime .

Long Qing's face paled, and his pupils contracted like dark holes . What shocked and angered him even more was not what he saw, but what he did not see .

He did not see Ye Hongyu's name .

Ye Hongyu's name had gone elsewhere .

The Peach Mountain in spring was not as beautiful as rumored, even though it was lush with peach flowers . However, the trees grew thick and shrouded the Divine Hall above in green, making it seem extremely solemn .

A young girl dressed in green taoist robes with a simple bunned hairstyle walked on the stone path with trees planted on both sides . The color of her robes was not eye-catching, but when the robes swung gently in the breeze, the green of the millenniold trees on the side paled in comparison .

The young girl with a taoist bun calmly walked along the path . She soon arrived at a wide cliff platform . She smiled as she looked at the black Divine Hall in the distance .

There were several shouts of exclamation on the cliff platform before the Divine Hall .

”Ye Hongyu is back!”

”How dare that woman return!”

”The Tao Addict! Quick, inform Great Divine Priest!”

”Priestess, long time no see!”

The taoist girl walked slowly . Her beauty was exquisite and her aura was plain and simple . However, to everyone else, this was the most terrifying scene they have ever seen .

The officials and deacons around the Divine Hall scattered in all directions with shouts of fear . Those who did not manage to escape in time bowed fearfully, greeting the girl in trembling voices .

Last spring, the Tao Addict Ye Hongyu had left the West-Hill Divine Palace and stayed in Chang'an for a period of time before disappearing completely . This spring, she returned to the West-Hill Divine Palace .

The ex-commander of the Divine Hall's cavalrymen, Chen Bachi, had been blinded by a paper sword . Then, his tongue had been torn to shreds by the Great Divine Priest of Revelation . He was now crippled . However, he was a trusted subordinate of commander Luo Kedi, which was why he could live blissfully in the very practical-minded Judicial Department .

If one could consider basking in the sun every day while on the stone steps as being blissful .

Ye Hongyu walked to the steps of the Judicial Hall . She looked at Chen Bachi who laid in the sun like a beggar even though he was dressed richly . She said calmly, ”Did you ever think that I could return?”

There were many officials and deacons who were watching this from afar . However, no one dared to lay a hand on Ye Hongyu . This was not because they were afraid of the Tao Addict, but because the Great Divine Priest of Revelation had grown very angry last year, when he returned to the Peach Mountain and found that the Tao Addict had left . He had even fought the Great Divine Priest of Judgment though no one knew of it .

Chen Bachi had already heard the exclamations of others . When he heard Ye Hongyu's voice, he realized that what he had feared had finally happened . His face was filled with terror .

He wanted to plead for forgiveness, but also wanted to warn Ye Hongyu that they were right in front of the Divine Hall . He wanted to protect himself by evoking the names of the Great Divine Priest of Justice and the Great commander Luo Kedi, but he could not speak .

Even if he could speak, Ye Hongyu was not prepared to listen . She had only wanted to enter the Temple of Justice and had to ascend those steps . She had only spoken to him because he happened to be taking the sun on the steps .

With that, she stepped past Chen Bachi and continued walking forward .

A spring breeze disturbed the ancient trees surrounding the Divine Hall . They wrinkled Ye Hongyu's sleeves, causing a subtle crease to appear . It was shaped like a sword .

The Taoist Sword appeared .

Chen Bachi's neck was broken and he died on the spot .

Ye Hongyu did not turn but continue up the steps .

Hundreds of officials and deacons walked to the stone steps at the bottom of the Divine Hall . They looked up at the turquoise robes ascending the steps with shocked expressions .

The black Divine Hall was large and majestic . As compared to it, Ye Hongyu looked insignificant standing in front of it . However, she did not stop and walked in calmly .

As if she were returning home .

When she walked into the Temple of Justice .

She was no longer insignificant .

An infant's cry rang in a house in the Capital of the Great River Kingdom .

The servants in the house busied about, their faces were full of joy . The owner of the house was a Tang citizen . This was a good thing for the people of the Great River Kingdom . Furthermore, the owner was a gentle person and loved his wife deeply . He was generous to his staff, and that made him the best employer ever . The servants were all happy because of the happy occasion .

The woman laying on the bed was pale and a sheen of sweat covered her forehead . She looked extremely exhausted, but could not hide her agitation as she watched her husband cradling the baby . She muttered, ”It's a pity that she is a girl . I will bear you a son next time . ”

The middle-aged man cradled the baby by the bed and comforted his wife . ”Having a daughter is the best . We shall send her to the Black Ink Garden to learn calligraphy so that she will be calm and cultured . If we have a naughty and cheeky son, that would be difficult . He might learn to climb over the walls and join those people in the Jianghu world . ”

The woman scolded, ”How can you say that?”

The middle-aged man looked at the baby girl in his arms and asked anxiously, ”Why is she so small?”

”How big could a newborn be . . . ” The woman suddenly grew anxious and she asked in a trembling voice, ”Husband, will we really return to Chang'an in autumn?”