1032 That Winter (2/2)

It seemed that only Long Qing didn't know what was going on. He didn't hear the nervous breathing of thousands of people outside the wall or receive the latest news from the Divine Halls. He felt the firewood piled in the yard were not enough, so he picked up a hatchet and chopped firewood unskillfully while imagining the flames these woods would turn to.

As the night was getting longer, the human world was getting colder. The West-Hill Divine Kingdom which used to be always warm saw several heavy snowstorms this winter. The cliff yard was covered with snow, so the traces of the wheelchair were very clear under the moonlight.

The middle-aged priest stood behind the wheelchair with a solemn expression. He had expected that maintaining the status quo was an excellent strategy to deal with Ning Que, but it seemed that the Abbey Dean disagreed.

”You mean Ning Que wanted to see the Taoism play the 'maintaining the status quo' card? But it doesn't make sense.”

The middle-aged priest looked up at the bright moon in the dark night, thinking about the battle which might take place in the remote Divine Kingdom. Then he frowned and said, ”The Headmaster weakens day by day. The situation runs against the Academy if the dispute is not resolved as soon as possible.”

The Abbey Dean sat in the wheelchair and kept quiet, just looking at the world under the moonlight.

The middle-aged priest suddenly figured it out and marveled, ”It turns out that it's also what he wants.”

Since it involved faith, he could only understand it vaguely, but couldn't say it clearly in words.

With these words, the temperature on the cliff yard suddenly decreased. The cold wind passed through, and the snow began to fall although the moon was still bright. The snow was coming fast and falling fiercely, covering the cliff yard in a while.

The Abbey Dean and the wheelchair were of course covered with snow. The words coming from his mouth were as cold as the snow, implying the meaning underlying these words.

”He wants to have a talk with the world. I want to see what he wants to talk about. He thinks he has figured everything out by imprisoning himself in Chang'an for half a year. Unfortunately, he is wrong.”

The Abbey Dean said, ”He doesn't know himself or Ye Hongyu. The most crucial thing is that he doesn't understand the current situation of the human world.”

The middle-aged priest replied, ”One can't see far ahead if they don't stand high enough.”

At this point, there was no other person who could see as far ahead as the Abbey Dean in the human world.

As the middle-aged priest pushed the wheelchair to the other side of the cliff yard, the wheelchair left two deep tracks on the snow which were then stepped off by footprints, just like the fate line of the human world.

”The story Ning Que told me is very interesting. As the Academy would put it, it is very meaningful. That story is indeed very convincing.”

The Abbey Dean said with a smile, ”The problem is that there is no God in his story, for that world has no God. But we have Haotian in our world.”

The middle-aged priest looked more and more solemn, and even his steps were heavier and heavier. The footprints on the snow were getting deeper and deeper, as if they were about to be carved into the cliff stone.

Haotian, of course, was the heaviest topic.

...

...

”Of course, as I said before, I have to admit the Academy is right that Taoism will inevitably fail and Haotian will eventually perish.”

The smile on the Abbey Dean's face suddenly disappeared, and the emotion in the depths of his eyes became extremely complicated. He was confused and even feared at first but eventually became calm like the water in a well.

”But so what?”

The master of Taoism said that Taoism would be destroyed, and the most devout follower and the most powerful spokesman of Haotian said that Haotian would die. If what he said was heard by the human world, what kind of shock and chaos would it bring?

After saying this, the Abbey Dean regained his calm and smiled while looking at the human world. He was thinking about nothing, looking as cute as a newborn baby.

”Ning Que is right about one thing. Taoism and the Academy, me and the Headmaster, are not that different in a certain way. We are on the same road and both have ideas for the whole human world, but we choose different routes and have different points of view on the future of the world and mankind. So of course we choose the different methods and have different ultimate goals. Since Ning Que will never agree with the path I choose, peace is not an option. But are we really engaging in the same pursuit?” The Abbey Dean said, ”As you said, he can't see far ahead since he doesn't stand high enough. He can't see the most important person, but I can. Then the Academy fails.”

The question Ning Que had set for Taoism seemed to be a dilemma, forcing Taoism to maintain the status quo. But for the Abbey Dean, the question was quite easy.

The Abbey Dean didn't care about Ye Su and Ye Hongyu at all. He thought he could just kill the two.

He didn't care that Ye Su might be sanctified, didn't care that Ye Hongyu might die or betray Taoism, and didn't even care that the Divine Hall of Judgement would fall into disorder and Taoism would be chaotic.

He didn't care because everything was destined. Taoism was actually Haotian Taoism. If Haotian failed, then how could her Taoism won?

The world outside the cliff was the human world which was covered with snow. The sky and the ground seemed to be connected together, making it impossible to tell which was which.

”But so what? After all, it is human beings' own business. If Haotian dies, we can just find a new Haotian. If Taoism is destroyed, then we can just create a new Taoism. It's that simple.” the Abbey Dean said.