641 The Burning Horse Carriage (1/2)

An arrow pierced into Ning Que's shoulder forcefully. The sharp arrowhead tore through his shirt, but did not wedge itself deeply into his flesh. It only left behind a shallow wound. Sangsang, who was carrying the black umbrella was slightly startled.

Several arrows rained down, and the big black umbrella that covered the two shook like a tiny black boat on a vast body of water. It felt as if their boat would sink into the bottom of the sea at any moment.

Leaving the White Tower Temple did not mean that they would be able to leave Chaoyang City. The Yuelun Kingdom had sent many troops from various counties who were in control of the entire capital. There were shooters in every street corner.

Ning Que's body was sturdy, but he was still slightly injured by the rain of arrows. The big black umbrella blocked most of the arrows for Sangsang. However, the holes on the umbrella were terribly dangerous.

In order to avoid the densely gathered shooters, Ning Que did not choose to ambush them on the streets. Instead, he began to circle the alleys. The black crows flew above them, cawing unpleasantly. However, the truly brave Chaoyang City citizens were still in the White Tower Temple, so there were not many people who dared to stop them.

Taking the winding alleys took up some time and they were still a long distance from the city gates. What made Ning Que uneasy and nervous was that he finally heard the thundering sound of horse hooves in the distance.

The armored cavalry of the Yuelun Kingdom had finally arrived.

The armored cavalry was a country's strongest defense against cultivators. Even though the armored cavalry of the Yuelun Kingdom was much weaker than the armored cavalry of the Tang Empire and the Papal Cavalrymen of West-Hill Divine Palace, they could still kill Ning Que and Sangsang as long as there were enough knights.

Then, a horse carriage with the Divine Hall's logo appeared before the two at the entrance of the alley.

Ning Que stopped in his tracks.

The curtains lifted, revealing a wizened face and a red divine robe.

Sangsang clenched her fist subconsciously when she saw the priest in the horse carriage. There was a piece of red cloth in her hand, but she did not know which of the two priests in red who had previously self-destructed it belonged to.

Ning Que sped up and rushed into the horse carriage.

The horse carriage started moving slowly, and then sped up, rushing out of the alley.

The elderly priest in red asked, ”Which direction?”

Ning Que answered, ”North.”

Earlier, at the White Tower Temple, two of the West-Hill priests in red had self-destructed using their Divine Skills, opening a path for Sangsang and him. That was how he had had the chance to avoid Master Qi Mei and entered Chaoyang City successfully.

The Haotian Taoism's Divine Skill was a compassionate one. It was deemed as the greatest gift Haotian had bestowed upon his believers. In the teachings of West-Hill, using the Divine Skills to self-destruct was considered a betrayal against Haotian and was prohibited. It was said that the people who died after doing this would never be able to enter Haotian's Kingdom. Their spirits would linger in the Underworld forever.

An ordinary Haotian believer would not be able to accept not being able to enter Haotian's Kingdom. It was the cruelest punishment for them, even more for the priests in red who could cultivate in Divine Skills. Their belief in Haotian must have been firm beyond comparison. Then what was the reason that had led the two priests in red to save Ning Que, regardless of their imminent descent into the Underworld?

Sangsang had caught some sense of it, but Ning Que did not have the time to think and had been confused until he saw the old priest in the horse carriage.

Both he and Sangsang had met this priest, in a Taoism Temple in the Kingdom of Qi.

The old priest was called Chen Cun. He was the resident red robed priest from the West-Hill Divine Palace in the Kingdom of Qi. He was highly respected in the Kingdom of Qi, and most importantly, he was from the Divine Hall of Light.

Sangsang leaned on Ning Que's shoulders. Her lashes fluttered slightly as she said mournfully, ”Why did all of you do this?”

Chen Cun said humbly, ”This is our choice. We will not feel any regrets, even if we cannot enter Haotian's Kingdom. Great Divine Priest, you need not feel sad about it.”

Ning Que was driving the horse carriage, but he heard the conversation clearly and sensed that the old priest didn't address Sangsang as the Lady of Light like how they had done in the Kingdom of Qi. Instead, he had addressed her as the Great Divine Priest. He was now certain that he had not guessed wrongly, and asked, ”The two other priests...”

Chen Cun looked solemn, and he said indifferently, ”Hua Yin is the palace priest from the Kingdom of Song while Song Xixi was from the Great River Kingdom. They wouldn't have come to Yuelun with me if they missed the luxuries of the world.”

The priests in red held an extremely high position in Haotian Taoism, but were only ordinary on the Peach Mountain of the West-Hill Divine Palace. However, those who were dispatched to other countries were mostly like Chen Cun in the Kingdom of Qi. They all held power and respect which were akin to an emperor's. Ning Que grew even quieter after hearing where the two priests in red were from.

The West-Hill Divine Palace's horse carriage rushed through Chaoyang City. The black crows flew over once again, circling the horse carriage. Ning Que was very familiar with the streets of Chaoyang City, and perhaps thanks to the Divine Hall seal on the carriage, the cavalry of the Yuelun Kingdom hesitated and he managed to barge through several barriers without much incident.

The dense clopping of horse hooves rang once again in Chaoyang City. Loud sounds of bamboo pipes could also be heard. The Yuelun Kingdom's cavalry had finally come around and began chasing. The ascetic monks of the Buddhism Sect also gathered in the direction of the black crows.

Ning Que turned around to look at the White Pagoda in the distance to his right. He was very worried as he thought of how Eldest Brother was still in there and he wondered how the battle with the Chief Preaching Monk would end.

He suddenly saw that Sangsang's pants had torn at an area on her calves. There was a deep wound that must have been caused by the shooters earlier which the big black umbrella had not managed to block. The arrowhead had torn away a piece of flesh, and it must have hurt terribly. However, she had not made a sound.

They were getting closer to the north city gates. However, the horse carriage ducked into some roads to avoid the shooters and cavalry. The ascetic monks from the Buddhism Sect had already arrived in the area and Ning Que could even sense Master Qi Mei's aura.

Chen Cun looked in the direction of the north city gates, his wrinkles growing deeper, but his eyes remained calm. It was a true serenity that did not care even about death. It was a calmness that was resolute.