755 Autumn Breeze and Fallen Leaves (2/2)

Just then, a woman entered through the city gate.

The woman had brows like ink and eyes like dots of paint. She looked like a painting.

Her lips were slightly thin, and they were pursed calmly. They looked like wax plums on her pale complexion.

Her long straight black hair cascaded over her shoulders, unlike the waterfall that it had been years ago. It was straight and beautiful.

Ning Que looked at her quietly and then suddenly looked up at the sky.

It was late autumn, the skies looked high and far away, calm and placid.

He suddenly felt that Haotian... No, his teacher in heaven must have sensed his worry and uneasiness. That was why he had sent her to Chang'an, to him.

Then, he withdrew his gaze from the sky to look at the beautiful girl and smile.

”Why have you come to Chang'an?”

”I wanted to, so I did.”

Mo Shanshan answered with a smile, with her white cotton dress fluttering in the wind.

Ning Que thought of a problem. He asked, ”The Black Ink Garden...”

Mo Shanshan knew what he wanted to ask. She answered calmly without waiting for him to complete his question, ”I have already left them.”

Ning Que did not expect to hear this, but he knew that this was the only answer.

Mo Shanshan did not wish to implicate the Black Ink Garden, her teachers or her fellow disciples, and even the Great River Kingdom. That was why she could only leave her sect and come to Chang'an to stand against the West-Hill Divine Palace.

After a moment of silence, he extended his right hand and invited her into the city.

Ning Que and Mo Shanshan walked through Chang'an City.

They walked side by side, just like so many years ago. However, it was unlike before.

The two arrived at the Imperial Palace and at the bridge from back then. It was the same vermilion red palace walls, but they did not see the spiraling snowflakes falling from the sky. Instead, the ground was thickly covered with yellow ginkgo leaves.

”I don't have time. Otherwise, we could travel again together.”

Ning Que reached his hands above the water and caught a falling leaf. He said, ”This is the fourth blockage. Try to sense the aura below the building.”

Mo Shanshan closed her eyes, her long lashes fluttering against her porcelain skin.

She opened her eyes moments later, a myriad of emotions swirling in them. She felt shocked and extremely uneasy.

”What a... powerful tactical array.”

Ning Que let go of the leaf and allowed it to continue falling into the moat below the bridge. The flow of the river was very slow and it was covered in beautiful yellow leaves. The addition of another leaf did not change its appearance.

He looked at the yellow leaves on the moat and said, ”It is troublesome because it is powerful. After Haotian Taoism tried to block it, we'd need even more Qi of Heaven and Earth to unblock it.”

Mo Shanshan considered it for a moment and shook her head, saying, ”Nobody can call up so much Qi of Heaven and Earth, and there is nobody who can setup a tactical array that could fix this.”

Ning Que asked, ”Can we use a talisman?”

Mo Shanshan answered, ”If an array is a talisman, then this big tactical array is the most powerful talisman I have ever seen in my life. In fact, one can even say that it is the true Divine Talisman.”

Ning Que understood what she meant.

Chang'an was very large, and the Headmaster's wisdom was a peak that was hard to climb.

Haotian Taoism's methods might seem simple, but they understood that.

He said, ”I hope that you can solve this problem.”

Mo Shanshan replied, ”I don't have such abilities.”

Ning Que said, ”But you're stronger than me.”

Mo Shanshan answered, ”Then you can hand over the array eye pestle to me.”

Ning Que shook his head.

Mo Shanshan smiled and said, ”I thought that you'd have learned to trust after experiencing so many things.”

Ning Que thought of the tanned girl with a pair of lotus white feet on the Sishui River.

He thought of Sangsang, whose body was in the dark while her feet stepped in the light.

He said, ”I apologize. Even if Miss Li San comes back to life, I cannot trust anyone completely other than the Academy.”

Mo Shanshan asked, ”Who is Miss Li San?”

Ning Que answered, ”My mother.”

After a short moment of silence, Mo Shanshan said, ”I'm sorry.”