1027 Her Faith (2/2)

The Abbey Dean looked at the the evening glow by the horizon and said gently, ”He was indeed my best student.”

Ye Hongyu said, ”When we were kids, everyone thought he was inferior to Chen Pipi.”

The Abbey Dean shook his head. ”Not to mention the others, I used to think so too. But he proved that I was wrong, so was everyone else.”

Ye Hongyu said, ”So Your Highness thinks my life is not worthy of his?”

”The teaching of the New Stream seems to be similar to Haotian Taoism. However it actually took the authority back from Taoism and returned it to the followers. It reclaimed the glory from Haotian's Divine Kingdom to the human world. The Devil's Doctrine could only influence the cultivation world, while the New Stream could shake the entire world. He went way further than the former Great Divine Priest of Light did a thousand years ago.”

The Abbey Dean continued calmly, ”In that sense, he is the worst traitor and the real gravedigger of Taoism. Whenever I think about this I cannot help from being impressed, or even proud as his teacher. You could certainly not exchange such a person so easily.”

Ye Hongyu also looked at the evening glow to the east. There was the ocean and the Song Kingdom by the ocean. ”So is Your Highness insisting on killing him?”

”Ning Que asked me to plan for the future of Taoism. But he didn't know that I had always been thinking. The New Stream has already formed and will definitely spread widely. They've got countless followers and there's no point of killing him now. How could I kill him just to force you to betray us?” The Abbey Dean turned to her and smiled.

Ye Hongyu had no idea what Ning Que had said to the Abbey Dean.

”Like I just said, you did not leave because you had faith.” He looked at Ye Hongyu and said, ”I didn't mean Haotian, but Ye Su. Even though he is already a wastrel like I am, he is way more important to you than Haotian is. As long as he has the slimmest chance to survive, you will never risk it. I said Ning Que could not see through himself therefore his words were meaningless. Apparently he could not see through you and therefore failed to convince you.”

Ye Hongyu kept quiet. She had to admit that even though this old man was not her master, he understood her much better. Her Brother's life was like a pond of thunder, which was filled with his glorious swords. She could not take a step further. As long as he could survive, she would ignore the most humiliating past and face it calmly.

Since the Academy could not protect him, nothing they said would ever matter.

Furthermore, she had always knew that Ning Que was selfish, cold-blooded and shameless. He had previously proved himself to be so and did it again today. And he would do so again in the future.

The light gradually faded and night prevailed. The snow and clouds were gone and the sky was decorated with stars. Among the stars was a bright moon shining on the human world, including the plateau on Peach Mountain.

The Abbey Dean looked above to the moon, pondered for a long while, and said something indistinctly. It was as tasteless as the moonlight shed on him, tranquil and emotionless. ”I will give Xiong Chumo's life to you.”

Ye Hongyu bowed and left the plateau for she already received the promise she wanted.

Although the Abbey Dean did not mention anything other than Xiong Chumo's life in his promise, she knew her Brother would survive. Neither Long Qing nor the Drunkard would kill him. Because the Abbey Dean made it clear that it was not beneficial for Taoism to take Ye Su's life at this point.

But the problem was that the Academy was not aware of it. So after all that he had done, was Ning Que going to be a joke in history?

The Abbey Dean swayed his hand in the chilling night breeze and tried to catch some moonlight.

”What happened to the Hierarch and the Great Divine Priest of Judgment previously?” the middle-aged priest asked.

The Abbey Dean shook his head and said, ”I have no idea. Nor should I care.”

The middle-aged priest seemed worried. ”It seems the Academy takes it seriously…”

The Abbey Dean said calmly, ”The Academy always positions itself as if it never cared about meaningfulness. But actually they would never do anything meaningless. No matter what they said to me or to Ye Hongyu, it was a trap. Ning Que knew the New Stream was a threat to Taoism and tried to convince me with this. I have to admit he was right, even if he could not see the whole picture. If he could convince me, Taoism would be defeated, or even finished. If he could not, Ye Su would be killed and Ye Hongyu would definitely defect. Therefore Taoism would again be defeated.”

The middle-aged priest seemed to have realized something and commented with admiration, ”So if we do nothing, the Academy will fail.”

It seemed to be the Abbey Dean's plan, to cope with anything by doing nothing. However, he shook his head again and looked above to the moon, pondering.

...

...

Entering into the Divine Hall of Judgment, Ye Hongyu stood by the black stone pillar and looked at the snow-covered mountains for a long while. She held her hands behind her back and her face looked frosted.

No one knew what she was thinking about. Her loyal subordinates and maids stayed worried in the side hall but did not dare to interrupt.

The moon travelled while the stars remained. And the night grew late.

She looked to the direction of the Song and could almost see the slaughtering, the blazing holy flame, and the people who fought fiercely for their faith.

Her beautiful face was free of emotions as if it was an ice engraving.

Right then, footsteps were heard in the Divine Hall of Judgment.

The black-robed deacons should have been on alert even at the slightest footsteps. But strangely they remained silent even when that person came to her side.

Perhaps it was because even the most ruthless black-robed deacon did not dare to stop him. Or even the most powerful in the Divine Hall of Judgment was not able to hear his footsteps.

It was a wretched, skinny and short old priest. The Hierarch of West-Hill, Xiong Chumo had come to her quietly in the dark night.

Ye Hongyu looked afar toward the Song Kingdom and watched the snow clouds glowing indistinctly in the night. She almost saw the storm forming above the ocean.

Colors were drained from her face. She squinted her eyes into a line, or a sword.