Nightfall

All Your Fault

Among the cliffs, no trees were swinging and no birds were singing. The two of them stood facing each other, holding their cudgel and sword. The Abbey Dean with a sword was not necessarily more powerful than the one without the sword. But the sword did have some significance.

His cotton-padded gown was soaked in blood. The Eldest Brother knew that he could not longer hold for another seven days. But as he said previously, Ning Que and Sangsang might need less than seven days to get back to Chang’an. What he had to do was to try his best.

The Abbey Dean stared at his sword and said calmly, “The Headmaster taught you to love. I thought you would be different with Jun Mo. But you are after all a student of the Academy.”

The Eldest Brother looked at him calmly. The sword stabbed into his chest was already thrown on the ground behind him. He said, “A student from the Academy awaits your challenge.”

While they talked, the remaining woods afar by the cliffs got on fire. The blazing fire melted the snow on the cliffs but was never abated, and disconnected the two of them from the outside world.

The fire in the woods was almost impossible to be put out. Because it came from Haotian’s Divine Flame. It was the purest energy formed by Ning Que’s blood and his iron blade.

Ning Que was darting toward Helan City. He traveled hundreds of meters with every single leap he made. Wherever he stepped on the rocks were smashed. His iron blade and the blood he shed created sparkles and thundered in the mountains.

No one could catch up with a Distanceless cultivator unless he was Distanceless himself. If the Drunkard was heading for the West-Hill, then Ning Que could never make it. But he was merely going to the Helan City in a dozen miles away. Therefore Ning Que still had a chance. Because he was already faster than hawks.

With a few leaps he came to the Helan City. He broke through the destroyed city gate but could neither find the big black horse nor the Drunkard.

The gates of the Helan City were already distorted. Boulders kept falling off from the cliffs around. Most of the watchtowers along the city walls were smashed. Several people could be seen in the dense smoke.

The remaining Tang soldiers were still trying to put out the fire and save the city. Ning Que called out, “Retreat! Leave it!”

For the Tang soldiers in the Helan City, Ning Que was such an impressive figure that they could recognize him in a quick glance. Although they had no idea why Mr. Thirteen showed up at this point, they immediately followed his orders and retreated to the outskirts led by their commanders.

Ning Que stood by some steep stairs and looked above at the collapsing watchtowers. He sensed something and immediately leaped.

…

…

Sangsang was not in one of those watchtowers. Instead, she was in a secret chamber beneath it.

The seemingly perfect bubble appeared again in front of her. Different from what Ning Que saw previously, there were a dozen of bright spots on the bubble apart from the two tiny cracks. The bright spots stood for the entrances to the steady interlayers of the Qi of Heaven and Earth.

There was one bright spot on the bubble that flashed distinctively. Because it represented the place right under her feet. It was a transmission array formed by complicated Talismans.

There were paths in the interlayers of the Qi of Heaven and Earth that interconnected the most remote places throughout the world. In other words, they were shortcuts. Only great cultivators like the Abbey Dean, the Eldest Brother and the Drunkard could locate and open the gates to these paths, and travel freely in Distanceless.