543 Two Pearls on the Dark Walls (2/2)

Ning Que broke the silence again.

He looked at Ye Hongyu and said with a slight smile, ”Speaking of this, I have yet to congratulate you.”

Ye Hongyu froze slightly and asked, ”Congratulate me for what?”

Ning Que saw that she did not seem to be pretending, and knew that she would never pretend to be mature about things of the world. He sighed softly and thought that she was indeed the Tao Addict with a Taoist Heart who was not bothered by matters of the world.

”You have taken the black jade throne and you are now the Great Divine Priest of Judgment. Isn't this something worthy of celebration? Chen Pipi once said that there hadn't been many Great Divine Priest your age in the last millennia.”

Ye Hongyu knew, only then, that this was what he was congratulating her on. She said serenely, ”I knew that I would become a Great Divine Priest of West-Hill since I started cultivation. I knew that I would sit in the black jade throne one day ever since I entered the Judicial Department. Is something so natural worthy of celebration?”

Ning Que lamented, ”It is fortunate that I understand you. If anyone else in the world hears this, they will think that you are more egotistical than my Second Brother. You're so egotistical, you're nuts.”

Ye Hongyu smiled slightly and was satisfied that Ning Que had compared her to Jun Mo.

Ning Que turned around to look at her and looked into the depths of her bright pupils. He thought about the Divine Light that he had seen in her eyes earlier in the day and lamented, ”In the younger generation of cultivators, those who are talented and egotistical have tried to catch up with you. However, they never could and you're always right there in front. The distance between you and them has grown larger and larger. I really admire you.”

Ye Hongyu looked into his eyes and could sense the brightness hidden in his black pupils. She said, ”You have only cultivated for a few years and have gone from an ordinary person who knew nothing to a Grand Cultivator. You are the only person in our generation that I admire and am vigilant against.”

Ning Que smiled and said, ”Praising someone and praising oneself are always happy things. However, we do not have an audience right now, so it's a pity that we cannot glorify ourselves before them.”

Ye Hongyu said, ”It is just you congratulating me and me returning the sentiments.”

Ning Que said, ”Having entered the Knowing Destiny State isn't really something that makes one happy.”

There were many underlying sentiments hidden in his words. They included the fragments in the depths of his senses, Master Lotus' kind inheritance, the terrifying and bloody methods of the Devil's Doctrine and that fire at the Red Lotus Temple.

Not even Long Qing could understand completely what had happened to him.

Much less Ye Hongyu. She looked at him bewilderedly.

Ning Que said casually, ”You have long entered the Knowing Destiny State, so have Shanshan. Senior Brother Chen Pipi had long entered it. I have nothing to be proud of before you guys.”

Ye Hongyu said, ”I have said many times that we are unlike normal cultivators. The Knowing Destiny State means more to us because cultivation states are means to battle.”

Ning Que said, ”I feel that you have repeated this saying many times just to tell the world that we belong to the same species. Just like two pearls that are exactly similar in the bottom of the ocean. We are a match made in heaven, right?”

”Of course. I challenged the previous Divine Priest of Judgment right after I entered the Knowing Destiny State, even though he had yet to fully recover from the injuries caused by the Divine Priest of Light. And you managed to kill Xia Hou even before you entered the Knowing Destiny State. Once you enter the Knowing Destiny State, not even Long Qing would be a match for you even if he had any miraculous encounters.”

She said pridefully, ”There aren't many cultivators who are like us. Long Qing and the Calligraphy Addict aren't. So isn't Chen Pipi, even though he had been called a rare genius in cultivation by Haotian Taoism.”

Ning Que had not imagined that Ye Hongyu would completely ignore his teasing and was speechless. Then, he heard her mentioning Chen Pipi and could not help the look of disagreement that appeared on his face.

”There are many different kinds of genius. A cultivation genius's ingenuity should appear on cultivation and not like you and me in battle or in killing people. I have never seen someone so ingenious but completely unaware of it like Twelfth Brother. If we talk about the purity of his Taoist Heart, he is stronger than both you and Long Qing.”

He looked at Ye Hongyu and warned her, ”Senior Brother might look like he wouldn't do well in battle, but that's because he doesn't like it. If he was forced into it, you'd understand how terrifying he is.”

Ye Hongyu frowned when he heard his appraisal of Chen Pipi. She thought of the pudgy boy in the temple when they were children. That boy had liked to peek at female Taoist priests bathing when he was bored and would cower and yell shrilly when she hit him. He did not seem very scary.

Ning Que looked at her wondering expression and suddenly asked, ”How did you become the Great Divine Priest of Judgment? I only heard rumors in Chang'an that you killed the previous Great Divine Priest?”

Ye Hongyu said in a very leveled tone, ”Unlike the succession of the Divine Priest of Light, the succession of the Divine Priest of Judgment is never fixed. There isn't a clear successor to the position, so there isn't a path to succession either. In the past millennia, the ownership of the black jade throne has constantly changed in bloodbaths. There is no other way to become the Great Divine Priest of Judgment. I have killed the previous Great Divine Priest, so I have naturally succeeded him.”

Ning Que's expression froze as he asked, ”If there are other powerhouses in the Peach-Mountain of West Hill who wants to become the Divine Priest of Judgment, they have to kill you?”

Ye Hongyu answered indifferently, ”Indeed, but it seems like no one would dare to kill me in the near future.”

Ning Que looked at her and said, ”But I know someone who wants to kill you dearly. And he would dare to do so.”

Ye Hongyu knew who he was talking about and said, ”He can't kill me.”

Ning Que said, ”You have to admit that he had been in the Divine Hall of Judgment for many years and has many loyal subjects. He would not give up on the opportunity to sit on the black jade throne.”

Ye Hongyu knew that they have entered the main point of their conversation. After a moment of silent consideration, she said, ”Long Qing is a dog. Even though he is different from Luo Kedi and is not the hierarch's or my dog, and even though he has encountered man lucky chances that even I feel are incredulous, he is still a dog.”

Ning Que looked into her eyes and said, ”You said that a dog would not defy its owner. But have you ever thought that a mad dog would not recognize its owner? And it would become crazy and dangerous?”

Ye Hongyu watched him silently and said, ”It seems that he had left an impression on you yesterday at the Red Lotus Temple.”

Ning Que thought about the cold autumn rain of last night and the blades of leaf that were coated with blood. He thought of the crackling fire in the rundown temple, the empty arrow box and the black peach blossom. After a long silence, he said, ”Long Qing made me terrified yesterday.”

Ye Hongyu said, ”But you still defeated him.”

Ning Que said, ”But he is not dead. I don't know if I would be able to defeat him the next time.”

Ye Hongyu said, ”What exactly do you mean?”

”Don't tell me that the West-Hill Divine Palace doesn't know what kind of horror he possesses right now. If we let him leave, he will grow stronger by the day and grow madder as well. We are the people he wants to kill most in this world. We should kill him while he is still not strong enough.”

Ning Que stared into her eyes and said, ”I'm asking you to kill him.”