1034 Wind Roaring (1/2)

The middle-aged priest turned pale. His Taoist Heart used to be so firm that no storm or wind could have disturbed it. But all of a sudden it could not refrain from trembling and even was about to collapse.

Upon hearing those words, he realized what was not said and what the Abbey Dean was thinking about. It was something so cruel and horrifying for the followers of Taoism.

People used to say that the Great Divine Priest of Light was the person closest to Haotian. But he always knew that ever since a thousand years ago, it had always been the Abbey Dean.

Haotian came to the human world a few years ago and met with the Abbey Dean. Ever since then, they were no longer merely theologically close, but rather physically close, or even distance-less.

Did he become fearless because he saw her in person? The answer was no. It was after seeing her that he no longer feared. Then he dared to reason, to kill, or even to replace. Compared with him, Lian Sheng's wild desire, the Academy's aspiration, or even Haotian's own will was inferior, not to mention Ning Que's funny words.

The middle-aged priest would never challenge the Abbey Dean. He looked at the remaining snow and roaring wind among the cliffs and felt somewhat at loss. Because he could predict the destruction of the old world, which he cared so much about and tried so hard to protect.

”Is there indeed… no other choice?”

”The fire of the New Stream is spreading throughout the human world. The old Taoism and the decaying Divine Halls are all going to be sacrificed in its flame. Even if the Headmaster would eventually lose, the Academy and Tang being wiped out, there's no way Taoism could turn the tides. Why should we feel sad? It is our Nirvana. We should rejoice.”

”So the Nirvana the Buddha mentioned will happen this winter?”

”The Buddha cared only about himself. Why would he worry about the human world?”

”Then what should we do next?”

”The fate of the human world used to be decided by Heaven…”

The Abbey Dean turned his eyes away from the night sky to the stormy world. He watched for a while and said slowly, ”Now it's here. Therefore we have to find her first.”

Ning Que said that he should pay more attention to the human world. Actually he had always been paying more attention than anyone else did. The one who should have been up there was now in the human world. How could he not paying enough attention?

The Abbey Dean did not say anything further and looked out to the storm, the villages and fields, and the moon light that broke through the storm. He smiled silently.

In the dark sky, clouds swung from the east to the west. They kept pouring out snowflakes but could no longer block the moonlight from s.h.i.+ning over the entire human world.

Above the cliffs, snowflakes were dancing in the roaring wind together with the moonlight. The night was deep and chilling. The Abbey Dean had been sitting there for a long while but still seemed vigorous.

Many years ago, he was seriously wounded by the G.o.d-Stunning Array in the fight in Chang'an and was later on severely punished by Haotian. He had become a paralyzed old man with his Mountain of Qi and Ocean of Snow completely destroyed. It should have been harsh for him to sit there in a chilling night. However he kept sitting there quietly without coughing or becoming pale. His cheeks even seemed rosy and he remained extremely calm.

He seemed to be full of longing for the beautiful sceneries in the world and was curious about the moon, the snow, and the sky, as if he was an innocent child.

Hengmu and A Da, the gifts to the human world form Haotian, had also shown such innocent looks from time to time. But their innocence came from their alienation from the world and their youth.

But the Abbey Dean was different. He looked at the human world and thought about it. He seemed ignorant while omniscient, dumb, and clumsy, but not annoying. He was different from people like Hengmu, and also different from his previous self. He was unworldly as a randomly floating cloud, pure and admirable.

When he visited Chang'an years ago, he was riding on winds, like immortals. People thought he was immortal. Then he was paralyzed and became mortal. From immortal to mortal, he became a real human.