1037 The White Smoke (2/2)

The entire Golden Tribe Royal Court was about to leave for the south together with tens of thousands of cavalrymen. Chanyu was resolute and fast. But A Da wanted it faster. He wanted to kill the Tang general Hua Ying, to destroy the last cavalry of the Tang, and to claim his authority on every piece of grassland from Xiangwan Plain to Hebei Prefecture.

During that process, he would be waiting for the iron arrow together with the people in the carriages. He was expecting Yu Lian and that arrow. And he wanted to kill that person.

Why? Because he wanted to do so. He wanted to take revenge on Ning Que and to defeat the legendary Academy. He thought his will was the Tengri's will.

...

...

It was yet to snow in the capital of Song.

There had been in a stalemate for a long while in the square. Thousands of followers of the New Stream stared anxiously at the same number of divine priests and cavalrymen. They were all exhausted.

A torch was lit up on the high stage and lightened the corner where Ye Su sat. He pondered quietly over the commentary placed on the table. Chen Pipi sat on his heels silently next to him.

Tang Xiaotang and a dozen of disciples from the Sword Garret stood silently in front of the high stage. They had no idea how long they could keep fighting. Nor could they leave. Therefore they could only wait.

Xiaoyu from the South Sea was not happy because although she represented Taoism, she could do nothing but wait as the bell sound rose in the temple at such a crucial moment.

To wait? For what? Would Haotian ever show mercy to these traitors? Or would Ning Que be able to convince the Abbey Dean to let off Ye Su and the followers of the New Stream?

No one knew what they were waiting for. An order to kill or to welcome peace? People who knew about the peace talk all felt that they had been waiting for too long. Only Long Qing knew what the West-Hill was waiting for. They were neither waiting for the Abbey Dean to be convinced or not convinced by Ning Que, nor a result of the peace talk, or even an order from Haotian. They were waiting for someone's death. Or, the news of the death. The news of Ye Hongyu's death, or her death, was the debut of the war.

Taoism would never be able to take Ye Su as long as the young Great Divine Priest of Judgment was alive.

Long Qing knew it but did not care. Because he knew it was definitely coming. Either tonight or tomorrow morning, the news of her death would come.

He was still chopping and piling up the firewood as he did in the day. He collected the bunches and pile them up in the center of the yard, so carefully as if he was working on an art piece.

On the other side of the wall, tens of thousands of people were fighting fiercely. While on this side he was making a pile of firewood. Because he was not in a hurry, he made a huge pile of firewood. He even had time to pick and place the thinnest, driest and finest firewood on the top, while leaving the wet bunches at the bottom. The massive pile of firewood covered several square meters as if it was a tomb of a king. Or it could also be a tomb for a sage. On top of the pile of firewood, there were twos stakes erected like a person, or a cross. On the stakes there were some ropes. Ropes and stakes were meant for tying, while firewood were for setting fire.

Time passed by slowly. The darkness gradually disappeared and the sky was turning bright. On the other side of the wall, followers of the New Stream were chanting unitedly as if it could dispel their frustration as well as fear.

Long Qing listened to the united chanting outside and followed them in a rhythmic tone, as if he was singing. He never stopped picking up firewood, seriously and calmly.

The silver mask was hanging on his waist. He did not wear it today. The scar on his face was not fading but no longer looked scary for some reason. His grey pupils seemed even more charming on his handsome face.

Listening to the repeated chanting outside, Long Qing kept adding thin firewood onto the pile under the brighter daylight. All of a sudden he stopped.

”We, ourselves, are the path, the truth and the fate.” He lifted his head and looked over the walls toward the east, toward somewhere the sun rose or some buildings. He kept saying those words while pondering.

It was the capital of Song. Although it was not as famous as Linkang, not to mention Chang'an, the city that meant a lot for Taosim.

There were the most ancient Taoism temples on earth. Many Great Divine Priests of the Divine Halls of West-Hill were born here. People from the Zhishou Abbey were closely related here.

The Abbey Dean, Mr. Chen was also from here.

The Song was one of the origins of Taoism, and a most conservative region. It was also why Ye Su had chosen to teach the New Stream and built his base here. He wanted to seek for light from the darkest.

While he pondered there came the bell sounds from some distance. It was from a Taoist temple in Song. Long Qing was solemn. When he saw the white smoke arising from the temple, he confirmed it. The solemn bell sounds and the soaring white smoke both confirmed one thing.

A Great Divine Priest had left the Divine Halls of West-Hill and returned to Haotian's Divine Kingdom. Ye Hongyu was dead. The youngest Great Divine Priest of Judgment throughout the history of Taoism had passed away.

Long Qing stood by the wall and watched the white smoke disappeared into the sky. He recalled the dead woman with complicated sentiments and remained silent.

She and himself were both from the Revelation Institute. They both served in the Judicial Department and he only ranked after her. He was the holy son of the West-Hill while she was the peerless Tao Fanatic. He had always been inferior to her.

When he chose to trade Taoism for power and became a wandering ghost, she was already sitting on the Seat of Heavenly Black Jade, the seat he had always longed for.

He had always been a loser in front of Ye Hongyu, same as he was in front of Ning Que.

In his most glorious days he still felt inferior to Ye Hongyu in his subconsciousness, or even afraid of her. Therefore when they traveled through the illusion world in the Back Hill of Academy he stabbed Lu Chenjia in front of her. He saw her and Ye Su as the biggest barriers in his cultivation.

Today she was finally finished. But Long Qing felt upset rather than joyful. Perhaps it was because she was not finished by him.

There was no way he could offset the pity. It was indeed a pity.

But luckily Ye Su was still alive. He still had the chance to burn him.

...

...

The solemn bell sounds came to the square and into the ears of thousands of followers of the New Stream, as well as the divine priests and deacons. It took away their frustration and anxiety, and pulled their attention to the temple.

From there a while smoke arose, extremely pure.

It was deadly quiet. Being pious or used to be pious to Haotian, they all knew what it meant. Everyone from the followers of the New Stream to the deacons of the divine halls, even the Song cavalrymen were silenced by the white smoke. They were stunned.

If it was in a different situation, people would have kneeled to that white smoke and moan. But right not the white smoke meant something else, a signal for the launching of the war.

Xiaoyu raised her Taoist sword and pointed to the people on the stage afar.

Behind her, tens of powerful Taoist cultivators together with more divine priests and deacons swarmed to the square while more and more Song cavalrymen poured in from the surrounding streets.

Killing blades were swaying toward the helpless followers of the New Stream. They pressed closer and tried to retreat. The threat of death pulled them back to reality from the shock by the white smoke.

Ye Su sat behind the table with his right hand placed on the book. He turned to the side and stared at the lingering white smoke in a long silence. Neither the approaching enemies nor the people died around him could have attracted his attention.

His sister died, because of him.

He had been harsh or even ruthless to her for over ten years because of Chen Pipi and what happened many years ago. But she treated him the same since they were kids. She was the kindest to him in this world. That person, was gone. Ye Su was speechless.

”You should leave.” He spoke again after a long pause, ”If the master wants me dead, I will be. It will be fine as long as you survive.”

Indeed, to be alive was better than being dead.

He felt upset upon the sight of the white smoke.