722 Welcome (2/2)
No one answered him because Professor Huang He had disappeared without a trace many days ago.
The Hierarch Lord's voice rang out on the platform in front of the Academy once more.
”Where's Mu Chu?”
No one replied.
The Hierarch Lord called out the names of other professors.
But those people were not in the Academy.
The Hierarch Lord saw that there weren't any Tang Army troops present. He said, ”The Academy has shielded the Tang Empire from troubles for millennia. However, it has now been forgotten by Chang'an. How pitiable.”
The massive chariot was lifted up once more and was carried toward the back of the Academy.
The ordinary Academy instructors were not important enough to Haotian Taoism.
The Hierarch Lord knew very well where the real Academy was.
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The massive chariot passed through a narrow alley, crushing the sides of the alley.
It traveled by a pond, the fish in the aquatic plants hid away in fear.
When he passed by the old library, the Hierarch Lord looked up at a certain window on the second floor.
Then, the giant chariot continued forth. It entered the mists that covered the back of the mountain all year round.
All of a sudden, the aura and breath of the world rolled violently.
Without the Headmaster to control the cloud big tactical array, it was forcefully broken through by the massive chariot.
There did not seem to be a path.
And when the mist parted, a cliff platform could be seen.
A warm breeze unlike that of the autumn wind blew against the chariot curtains, causing it to flutter.
The Hierarch looked at the scene before him, lamenting his loss for words.
He had planned for a lifetime, and the thing he wanted to do most, was to destroy the Academy.
He had finally come to the back of the Academy's mountain today.
There was a pine in front of the cliff. There weren't any children under it, but two people playing chess.
The Hierarch looked through the gauze curtains at the chessboard. He said, ”I did not expect Mr. Song Qian to really be cultivating in the back of the Academy's mountain.”
Fifth Brother placed down a black chesspiece before standing up. He bowed at the massive chariot that had come through the mist and said, ”Greetings, Hierarch Lord, from Song Qian and his Younger Brother.”
Eighth Brother objected irritatedly, ”It's not like I don't have a name, why are you greeting on behalf of me?”
Fifth Brother said, ”The Hierarch Lord knows me but not you. This proves that my chess skills are better than yours.”
Eighth Brother flared in annoyance when he heard that. He threw the white chesspiece in his hand heavily onto the chessboard. There was a clear clatter and the black and white chess pieces on the board rolled on the board uneasily.
The scenery at the back of the Academy's mountain changed.
The waterfall in the distance seemed to become still, while the mirror lake on the cliff side rippled. The pine trees in the mountain seemed to have become countless soldiers, while the grass and the flowering trees seemed to have become indifferent audiences.
The back of the Academy's mountain seemed to have become a chessboard, and the atmosphere thickened with death.
The Hierarch Lord looked at the two under the pine tree and said, ”Two sirs, you were using the chessboard to understand Heaven's will. You have evidently already surpassed the Lanke Temple, but it is a pity you do not understand what an intention to kill is.”
His voice was gentle. However, when his voice passed through the curtains, it became several cracks of thunder.
Thunder roared in the back of the Academy's mountain. The silver waterfall quivered, and the mirror lake rippled slightly. High winds swept through the mountain and the pine swayed and grass and trees bent sideways. The Go game showed signs of collapse.
More than ten West-Hill Divine Guards carried the giant chariot up the back of the mountain.
Suddenly, a piercing howl echoed through the peaks.
There was the sound of water splashing behind the iron-making room. The waterwheel rolled. A big white goose stood on the waterwheel, slowly rising out of the eaves of the room. It lifted its neck at the skies and sang loudly and clearly.
Further away on the meadow, an old yellow bull looked up at the pine forest.
With the appearance of the old yellow bull, the white goose and the little white wolf, more chesspieces seemed to have fallen on the black-and-white chessboard on the back of the Academy's mountain. It suddenly stabilized and the intent to kill thickened.
Those chess pieces were not black and white, but had distinctive features.
Pawn, the brave pawn.
Knight, standing proud.
Rook, for the ten thousand calvalries.
The pine continued to wave, and the aura of heaven and earth at the back of the Academy's mountain turned into countless signs of death that headed wildly for the giant chariot and the dozens of West-Hill Divine Guards beside it. They suddenly paled and vomited blood.
Behind the heavy gauze curtains, a tall figure leaned slightly forward, turning grave.
”Abandon the appearance of the chess game and merging the meaning of the two things. Gentlemen, these are indeed good moves indeed.”
”It is a pity that there are missing players in this game.”
”You are missing a horse, a marshal and a general.”
”The world is now against the Tang Empire, would the West-Hill Divine Palace really believe that the Academy would not interfere? I have even guessed where Mr. First and the others have gone. But they will never return again.”
”All of my plans were to empty out Chang'an and have the disciples of the Academy run for their lives. Only then, will I be able to come to the back of the mountain with my guards and take what I want.”
”I have come to the Academy today to take the God-stunning Array's eye pestle!”
”With the pestle, Chang'an is mine. I will destroy the Tang Empire!”
The Hierarch yelled, and then laughed in satisfaction.
His laughter echoed around the quiet mountain behind the Academy.
”The Academy is empty now! There are no marshals or generals, only you two idiots who are obsessed with chess and those animals. How can you stop me!”
The Hierarch Lord looked at the two under the pine tree and yelled sharply, ”Even if you can trap me in this game of chess, how long can you trap me for? Beasts will be beasts! You can't go against Heaven and become a human being. And how can man go against God?”
”The Academy will perish, and the Tang Empire will fall together with it! For thousands of years, what countless sages of Haotian Taoism had failed to do will become a reality in my hands!”
”I will become the best deity in the kingdom of Haotian!”
Fifth Brother and Eighth Brother paled.
The howling of the wolf in the mountains grew weaker. The white goose standing on the waterwheel no longer sang to the sky as blood dripped from its beak. The weariness in the old yellow bull's eyes grew.
Behind the curtains, the Hierarch's figure seemed to be larger and he radiated light for a thousand miles.