245 The Millennial Verdic (1/2)
Chapter 245: The Millennial Verdict
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
So they lingered in the tales of the Devil's Doctrine in a winter's night, alongside the falling snow and hurling wind.
As usual, such tales always involved a hideous past filled with bloodshed and evil doing including murder, rape, and torture. For instance, there were stories of an Elder Feng who was particularly intrigued by human skin, whereas another Elder Yun carried out deeds that could even make elder Feng vomit.
Ning Que listened quietly to the young girl, and he didn't vomit, because he had seen worse hells in this life.
As he thought of the attitude of the good old Mr. Lv regarding the remnant survivors of the Devil's Doctrine, he seemed to have a better grasp of the attitude of the mainstream cultivators towards the latter. Nevertheless, his own attitude remained unchanged.
Of course, he wouldn't attempt to persuade Mo Shanshan or other devout Haotian believers either, because beliefs were often difficult to reason, and he could only try to reduce her sense of vigilance by other means.
”Over the past years, Devil's Doctrine has seen a scarcity in talent reservoir, and they have been lying low altogether. Why should we be so vigilant still?”
Mo Shanshan looked at him and replied, ”Lying low doesn't mean they don't exist. In fact, A Devil's Doctrine that is in hiding is even more terrifying, especially when the tribe of the Desolate Man is now moving south at the moment. As a result, the Divine Hall should obviously beware of the resurgence of the lingering curse of the doctrine.”
Ning Que turned to look at the isolated tent in the snow and as he thought of the mother and son from the Desolate tribe in the tent, he shook his head and said, ”Even though Devil's Doctrine emerged from their tribe, you cannot treat every Desolate Man as being part of the Doctrine. Moreover, it has been over a millennium, and the Desolate Men have probably long forgotten about their past.”
”Among the Desolate Men, Devil's Doctrine is referred to as the Enlightenment Doctrine.”
Mo Shanshan said with a serious face, ”Back in the days when Tang Empire defeated the Desolate Men, they were forced to migrate up north to the Cold Region. Many of the powerful ones of the Enlightenment Doctrine stayed back in the South and were scattered in the grassland and Central Plains. They never ceased to attack the Divine Hall in the open or in hiding, thus the origin of the Devil's Doctrine.”
Hearing about the Enlightenment Doctrine, Ning Que naturally remembered the Great Divine Priest of Light whose original intention was to preach in the Wilderness but ended up founding Devil's Doctrine single-handledly, and the ”Ming” Handscroll that went missing in the Wilderness.
Mo Shanshan remained poker-faced and went on saying, ”Every so often, the powerful forces of the Devil's Doctrine would head towards the cold region of the polar north regardless of all hardship, just to recruit disciples and successors among the tribe of the Desolate Men. Given such close ties between them, it's only natural for the Divine Hall to get wary about the southward migration of the Desolate Men.”
”Why would Devil's Doctrine do that? If they wished to flourish in this world, shouldn't they be recruiting extensively? Why take so much trouble to recruit the Desolate Men as disciples?” Ning Que asked as he couldn't understand.
”Their doctrine would obviously attempt to expand in the south too, but their cultivation method consisted in forcibly acquire and contain the Qi of Heaven and Earth in their bodies, and the rules of heaven would not allow it as it is damned. When ordinary human beings proceed with this form of cultivation, they are prone to self-destruction due to their inability to contain so much Qi. On the other hand, the Desolate is equipped with a physical constitution that happens to be fit for the methods of the Devil's Doctrine, and for that reason, they are destined to be chosen as their disciples, and the most powerful ones are also destined to emerge from the Desolate Tribe.”
Ning Que had his reservations, thinking that, perhaps it wasn't the physical constitution of the Desolate Men that made them fit to cultivate these methods, but the other way around: the Great Divine Priest of Light who founded Devil's Doctrine back then could well have created this method of cultivation exclusively for the Desolate.
He looked at Mo Shanshan and said, ”You must know about the Great Divine Priest of Light who founded Devil's Doctrine.”
Mo Shanshan nodded.
Ning Que went on to say, ”If we were to disregard the way the Devil's Doctrine methods disrespect Haotian, don't you find this whole matter utterly interesting? Devil's Doctrine is pretty much like a branch of Haotian Taoism.”
Mo Shanshan frowned slightly and looked right into his eyes, ”Even though they name themselves after light, they still worship the Yama. How can such evil ways be mentioned in the same breath as Haotian Taoism?
Being reminded of the tales he heard as a child, Ning Que was momentarily startled and asked, ”Isn't Yama just a legend?”
Mo Shanshan turned to look at the plans and said with a soft voice, ”We've all heard about this tale as a child, but no one knows where the Underworld is, and whether Yama really existed nor would anyone worship him. Even the Devil's Doctrine has their reservations on this matter; they worship Yama, but on the other hand, some of their own are terrified about the emergence of Yama, because according to their creed, the emergence of Yama is associated with the coming of darkness, and they... dislike darkness.”
Ning Que listened to her explanation, and as he envisioned those Devil's disciples who worshipped Yama in their dark caves while hoping to never come to face Yama. The thought of this made him laugh as he remarked, ”what a bunch of paradoxical weirdos!”
The starlight reflected from the snow-covered plains, making the night almost as bright as dawn. The air was so pure after the snowfall, making the tents of the Desolate Tribe settlement in the center of the snowfield fully visible from afar. It looked quiet and beautiful just like a fairytale.
Ning Que glanced at the sight quietly, hardly being able to associate the Desolate tribe with those dark tales of the past and their history of bloodshed.
At that very moment, a massive black cloud shifted closer from the south, covering up the sky above as well as blackening the starlight behind it, without leaking a shred of light. The whole world went dark.
...
...
On the now pitch black snow plains stood a few isolated tents near the mountain ridge.
Inside those tents lived Desolate Men who practiced winter rituals, just like the mother and son.