606 Leaving the Carriage in the Wilderness and Heading to the Mounds (1/2)
Chapter 606: Leaving the Carriage in the Wilderness and Heading to the Mounds
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
There were flowers blooming in any season on earth. Even in winter, one could still admire the Chimonanthus. Naturally, there would be flowers in autumn as well. Lanke Temple was renowned for its osmanthus in autumn. Ning Que hugged Sangsang, who was drenched in blood. For some reason, he thought of the osmanthus trees near the temple and beside solitary graves in the face of death.
Just then, the sword that had come from the skies was already very close to the black horse carriage. It would probably strike Sangsang and him in the next moment. He had not really seen the flying sword, but he had sensed it and knew that it was from the Sage of Sword, Liu Bai. That was why he knew that he and Sangsang would die soon. As such, he did not do anything but hug Sangsang closer to him and waited quietly.
However, what happened next was completely beyond Ning Que's imagination The sword that was about to kill them matter-of-factly, tore through clouds and swept up against the black horse carriage and flew upwards!
The quiet Light of Buddha tapered off behind the horse carriage. The remnants of the ruins that was the back hall of Lanke Temple was like the autumn rain, isolated from the outside and then disappeared without a trace. All was silent.
Ning Que knew that the horse carriage had entered the world inside the chessboard completely. His nerves which were stretched to the extreme became relaxed suddenly. Sweat poured out from his pores like a torrential rain, drenching his entire body.
The Big Black Horse had also sensed the changes in its surrounding. It neighed happily and galloped on the quiet path. However, he had not run a few miles when the endless road suddenly seemed to break!
The road that was on a mountain in the world of the chessboard suddenly collapsed, turning into a cliff!
They had just escaped from a disastrous situation, so who could expect that they would encounter such a danger just after a while? The Big Black Horse could not stop in time, and its temper erupted in desperation, charging down the cliff while yelling.
There was a loud booming sound of collision. The black horse carriage landed on the ground heavily. The wheels broke through the ice of a puddle that was about to freeze over. Then, it crushed the hard icy ground and rushed toward the glacial sun.
The fierce collision caused Ning Que, who was sitting in the carriage to bounce up. He knocked his head heavily against the carriage panels. The pain caused him to awaken completely from the confusion that he faced earlier with the sudden change in the situation. He looked out of the window subconsciously, only saw a chunk of emptiness. The wilderness was dark and silent with an odd scattering of withered trees.
This was not Lanke Temple or the world in the chessboard. The white grass covered in frost had long died, and the fish in the puddle had long been frozen. It was still autumn, and the scene before him was somewhat familiar. However, he had never been here, so where were they?
Could this be the Wilderness? But the black horse carriage was still in front of the back temple of Lanke Temple just moments ago. How did it appear in the Wilderness the next second? Lanke Temple was in the southeast edge near the sea and was thousands of miles away from the Wilderness. What had happened to cause them to appear there?
Ning Que looked at sights of the Wilderness through the window and was shocked beyond words. When he recovered his wits, he looked at Sangsang, who was in his embrace, anxiously. He found that the girl was still very weak, but her life was not in danger. He could not help but heave a sigh of relief and waved his fist vigorously.
As long as Sangsang was still alive, as long as this wasn't Lanke Temple, and as long as there wasn't any Light of Buddha shining over the horse carriage, he did not care. He did not care even if they were in the Underworld, let alone if they had miraculously traveled thousands of miles to reach the Wilderness.
After galloping wildly for some distance, the Big Black Horse regained the wits it had lost after a close brush with death. It slowly stopped and looked around, panic-stricken, making sure that they weren't at Lanke Temple and that it had not fallen off the damn cliff. Then, it began to pant with a lingering fear.
Sangsang woke up and opened her eyes with difficulty. She looked at the sky outside the window and realized that she had not died, and Ning Que had not died either. She felt a little bewildered and asked, ”Where is this?”
Ning Que carried her closer to the window. He looked out of the window and thought in silence for a moment. He recalled an anecdote that Master Qishan had told him a few days ago, and could vaguely guess the truth in it. However, he still found it hard to believe everything that he had encountered even if he had seen it with his own eyes.
”If I have not guessed wrongly, we are now in the Western Wilderness.” He said.
Sangsang almost cried when she heard that. She said sadly, ”There is a large piece of land separating the Western Wilderness and Tile mountain. How could we get there in such a short time? Are we dead? Is this the Underworld? We are already dead. Ning Que, why do you still like to lie to me?”
Ning Que wiped the tears from her pale face and coaxed her. ”If you're really dead, it wouldn't matter if I lied to you. When have I lied to you when you were alive? This is really the Western Wilderness.”
Sangsang felt a little better, and she got up from his embrace and sat down. She looked out of the window and realized that this was indeed the Wilderness that was familiar to them. She was shocked.
”Master Qishan told me an anecdote about Lanke Temple a few days ago.”
Ning Que said thoughtfully, ”It is said that when Buddha was cultivating in Tile mountain, he once sensed that there was somewhere that was vaguely linked to Xuankong Temple at the foot of the mountain. Therefore, he ordered his disciples to build Lanke Temple. After that, when he learned how to manipulate space, he built a simple Stone Tower to let monks reach the western holy land. I asked Master Qishan if the Array was still there, but he said that the powers that Buddha left behind had long expired after millennia. The Stone Tower had already turned into dust. In the legend, the monks in the temple built a Buddhist temple on the Stone Tower. It was the same temple as where we stayed earlier.”
Sangsang could not believe this explanation. She opened her eyes widely and asked, ”Do you mean that the reason why we were sent here is because the master also activated the Stone Tower Array Buddha left behind as he activated the world in the chessboard?”
Ning Que shook his head and said, ”Since the master thought that the space array left by Buddha had already expired, it certainly wasn't activated by him. Something must have happened in Lanke Temple after the horse carriage entered the chessboard. However, we can't find out what happened now, but it must have been something serious.”
The Stone Tower Array deep in the back temple of Lanke had been buried for many years. The powers left behind by Buddha had indeed been completely lost. However, the monks in the temple have constantly chanted and prayed, and it still retained the last vestiges of its power after being influenced by this spirit of Buddha for years.
Ning Que did not know what happened in Lanke Temple after the black horse carriage entered the chessboard. However, his guess was spot on. Whatever that had caused the array Buddha left behind to be activated again had to be serious.
At that moment, Qi Nian, the Buddhism Sect Wayfarer, broke his 16-year Silent Meditation, attempting to reverse the rules of the chessboard world forcibly, while Second Brother Jun Mo had thrown his iron sword with all his might.
The Buddhism Sect Silent Meditation and iron sword of the Academy were two of the strongest skills in the cultivation world today. Just one of the skills alone would not be sufficient to activate the array. However, when the two were used together, a magical change occurred.
The Buddha's power hidden in the broken well had been touched and the Stone Tower Array was activated once more. Or perhaps, it was because the chessboard was one of Buddha's belongings, thus causing the array to send to chessboard to the Western Wilderness.
Which was why when the black horse carriage rushed into the world in the chessboard, they naturally landed in the Wilderness.