Chen Pipi and the others returned to Chang 'an. Ning Que met them at the city gate, but Eldest Brother was nowhere to be found.
"Don't worry, Senior Brother has to leave."
Chen Pipi looked at him and said: "You don't need to feel too burdened about this matter. My father's actions are like the will of the Natural Stream. No one knows where it will fall. It's not your fault."
When they reunited again, there was no anger or disappointment, but only comfort. Ning Que knew that Chen Pipi was such a person, so he was not surprised. However, he felt that his mood became heavier, especially when Fourth Brother looked at him and sighed.
Ning Que bowed to them and the disciples of the Sword Garret. Then he said to Chen Pipi, "It's my fault after all."
Chen Pipi said, "Headmaster once said that those who seek benevolence will get benevolence without complaint. That must be how Senior Brother felt when he left. Those who live and those who leave have their own gains. In this case, there's nothing wrong with it."
Fourth Brother also said, "If you really think you're wrong, don't make mistakes in the future."
Ning Que turned to look at the numerous caravans on the official road outside the city gate and said, "I won't give myself a chance to make mistakes again."
People who had been away from home for years returned home, and many left for the frontier. As time passed, the situation on the continent became more and more tense. The Tang Empire faced the most difficult situation and began the most thorough and powerful mobilization. The resources and spirit accumulated for thousands of years were fully displayed at this moment. Whether it was the teachers in the countryside or the girls in the brothels, no one was afraid of the coming war. They only quietly looked forward to it.
Countless supplies and fodder were transported from the regular warehouses of various states and counties. Countless cavalrymen left from various military camps and rode to various passes at the border. The Northeast Border Military, which had been newly established for several years, had not recovered to the peak of its strength when Lord Xiahou was leading the army. They also began to prepare to destroy the Yan Kingdom. In Tuyang City, there was a hubbub of voices and the neighing of war horses. In the General's Mansion, countless battle plans were gradually formed. They were all plans to slaughter Chengjing.
The Yulin Royal Guards went south from Chang 'an and arrived at the plain behind the Verdant Canyon. They joined the Southern Expedition Army which had been guarding the Verdant Canyon for years and were ready to attack the hundreds of thousands of South Jin troops and the Papal Cavalrymen of the Divine Halls of West-Hill in the south.
The most critical and dangerous battlefield was still in the northwest of the empire. The Golden Tribe Royal Court was marching south. A war that would destroy the empire was inevitable. Countless military orders were sent from the North Military Camp to the border. The 200,000 most elite soldiers of the Northern Battlefront Army had gathered. They were ready to fight against the barbarians on the grassland with their blood and lives.
However, after losing the Xiangwan Plain for several years, the Tang army was seriously short of warhorses. The Tang army was seriously short of warhorses. The well-trained old cavalrymen could only fight in the infantry.
In the coldest days of winter, Chu Youxian and Chenqi finally returned to Chang 'an. They went south from the West-Hill to the Great River, passed through the dense forest, and sneaked around the Yuelun Kingdom to return to the Tang territory. They suffered a lot, but fortunately, they did not lose the letter.
Ning Que took the sweaty letter and knew that Chu Youxian had kept the letter close to his body for dozens of days. He raised his eyebrows and wondered what Ye Hongyu wrote in the letter. Why did she take it so seriously? Didn't she know that a verbal letter was relatively safer? Unless what Ye Hongyu wanted to say to him could not be known by others, not even Chu Youxian and Chenqi, whom he trusted very much.
He crushed the fire seal and tore open the envelope. He took out the thin piece of paper and looked at it. He saw the words she had written. There were very few words on the paper, so he didn't need to look at them for too long. However, those words were very important, so he looked at them for a very long time.
"Impossible."
This was Ning Que's first reaction after reading Ye Hongyu's inference.
After that spring breeze and rain, he never felt her existence again. He looked at the giant ship sailing towards the Divine Kingdom in the sunset. He thought she must have returned to the Divine Kingdom. For him, she was already dead.
What if what Ye Hongyu said was right?
He might find the answer to many things, such as the Abbey Dean's choice. But he still could not find the deepest and truest reason for his choice. Of course, these things were not important to Ning Que. All his attention was swallowed by the literal meaning of the letter. She did not return to the Divine Kingdom, but was still in the human world?
Ning Que knew that it was time for him to leave Chang 'an. He kept silent for a long time. He entered the palace and talked with Li Yu for a long night. He told her many things and wrote a letter to Mo Shanshan, but he tore it up in the end. Then he went up to the gate tower.
He enjoyed the scenery on the gate tower.
When Sangsang came to the human world, he watched her for a long time in the Divine Halls of West-Hill. Then she left the human world. He thought she had returned to the Divine Kingdom, so he watched her for a long time. He looked at the countless experts, looked at the clouds moving, looked at the great rivers and mountains of the human world, looked at this city and this country, but in reality, he was also searching. He wanted to use his own eyes to find the traces left behind by her.
It was early in the morning. He cooked a pot of vegetable porridge by the hut on the city wall and drank it while it was still hot. The falling snowflakes melted when they touched his face.
Then he walked to the side of the city wall, faced the human world, and put an arrow on his bow.
With the help of the God-stunning Array in Chang 'an, his Primordial Thirteen Arrows could do many incredible things. But they were also limited. Many conditions were needed for them to be effective. For example, in the autumn in front of the Imperial Palace in Linkang, he tried to kill the Drunkard with the Eldest Brother. But once the Drunkard found out, it would not work.
Because of these and other reasons, his iron arrow did not appear in the human world for many years after the Rite to Light on the Peach Mountain.
Now he pointed his arrow at the human world. Who was he going to shoot?
…
…
After Ye Su's death, Long Qing left the capital of the Kingdom of Song. He led two thousand Papal Cavalrymen of the Divine Halls to the north in the wind and snow. Then the Eldest Brother left to look for Chen Pipi and the others who had escaped first. Just like in the past years, the Drunkard also left with him.
To put it nicely, he was like a fallen leaf following the autumn wind. To put it bluntly, he was like a gangrene attached to the bone.
The Eldest Brother found Chen Pipi and the others and escorted them back to the Tang territory from the Divine Halls of West-Hill. Then he did not follow them. He watched them enter Chang 'an and left first. No one knew where he went.
If the Drunkard had entered the Distanceless State at the same time, he might have been able to catch up with the Eldest Brother, just like before. But somehow, his reaction was a little slower. His feet were a little sluggish on the cold snow as if they were frozen. Then he lost track of the Drunkard.
Because the Drunkard did not want to chase after them, he followed them all the way. He had a lot of time to think and he was getting closer to the truth. He guessed the reason why Li Manman left. So his reaction was a little slower and his figure became more desolate. He turned around and walked to the east.
His footsteps left clear footprints on the snow. There was hot air in those footprints. It was the flowing sweat. He sweated a lot because of fear and the truth. The Eldest Brother said in the capital of the Kingdom of Song that he would regret it. Yes, he began to regret it.
The small town was in the east of the Tang Empire. He walked very slowly on the snow and did not return to the small town until the next day. He did not go home but went to the only calligraphy and painting shop in the neighboring town and asked Chao Xiaoshu to make a pot of good tea.
After all, tea was not as good as wine. The Drunkard held the small porcelain cup with two fingers and looked at the yellow tea in the cup. He felt the slight astringency between his lips and teeth and thought that at least the astringent tea could be drunk, but the astringent wine could not be drunk.
Chao Xiaoshu sat opposite the tea table with a calm expression. He picked up the teacups and sent them to the four corners of heaven and earth. He washed the tea with tea and boiled the tea with the sea. A pinch of old tea mixed with the steaming new water in the iron kettle created a wonderful tea flavor.
The two did not speak but just drank the tea quietly. The Drunkard liked this feeling very much. He felt that Chao Xiaoshu was qualified to drink tea with him. Unfortunately, he was just an ordinary person, otherwise he would have invited him to drink the wine in his pot.
The two waiters who were said to be the boss's relatives were still in the shop. But as time went by, the two fierce teenagers in Chang 'an had now become young men. They looked much calmer.
Zhang San and Li Si were playing chess, black and white. They were very focused and did not notice the Drunkard's gaze at all. They were frowning and thinking hard, just like those legendary masters in the dark, such as those in the Lanke Temple or the pair in the back of the mountain of the Academy.
They had also played chess in front of the Drunkard before. They were very nervous at that time. They were the only third generation disciples of the Academy besides Tang Xiaotang. If everything went well, they would become the next generation of mountain monsters like Jun Mo or Yu Lian in many years. If the Drunkard knew about this, they would die thoroughly. No matter how powerful their teacher was, he could not save them. The dead could not be brought back to life, not even Li Manman and Jun Mo.
In the Drunkard's eyes, Zhang San and Li Si were terrible at chess. Of course, he did not mean that they were terrible, but he set his sights too high.
People who had lived for tens of thousands of years were easily bored. Naturally, they would try all kinds of interesting things, such as games.
The Drunkard and the Butcher had played those human games over and over again. Besides, as a Grand Cultivator, he was naturally very intelligent. One could imagine his level. Even if he did not add his talent to chess, no one could beat him on the chess board except for a few people in the back of the mountain of the Academy and the Lanke Temple.
If a high-level person watched a low-level person play chess, it would all be a bad move. After watching for a while, the Drunkard felt bored. Coincidentally, the fifth brew of tea had been finished, and the remaining tea was tasteless. There was no need to make fresh tea. He felt much calmer. He stood up and teased Zhang San and Li Si, and told Chao Xiaoshu about the recent news of the county school. Then he walked out of the shop.
He still did not go back to the house, nor did he go to the tavern. Instead, he went to the only butcher shop in the town. In fact, the tavern was also the only one. Therefore, many things in this town were the only ones. Perhaps this was what he and the Butcher wanted.
It was dark in the butcher shop, and there was a foul smell everywhere. It was the smell of blood, meat, organs, feces and urine mixed together. The Drunkard frowned slightly and tried to calm down his sense of smell. Then he found a cleaner place and sat down.
The Butcher was removing the hair from the pig trotters. A dozen white and fat pig trotters were neatly stacked on the chopping board and were being burned by the fire in his hands. With a slight sizzling sound, a faint burnt smell gradually spread, and the surface of the pig trotters became slightly yellow.
The Drunkard looked at the scene and shook his head. He took down the flagon from his waist and began to drink. He knew very well why the Butcher refused to give up this business or hobby, but he really had no interest in it.
After removing the hair from the pig trotters, it was time to cut them open. The Butcher picked up the greasy kitchen knife and was about to cut it, but his arm suddenly became stiff. Because he sensed the Drunkard's strangeness, because the Drunkard spoke too little today.
The Butcher turned around and looked at him. After a while, he asked, "What's wrong?"
He and the Drunkard had lived in this town for many years. Earlier, they had lived in another town. They knew each other very well, and it was hard not to know each other.
For many years, they just hid and enjoyed the fun that they had enjoyed countless times and had become boring. It was not until these years that they returned to the human world.
To be more precise, it was the Drunkard who returned to the human world, because he was faster. The Butcher was still the same as before, slaughtering pigs and sheep in the butcher shop, and eating pig trotters and sheep heads every day. But if there was something that the Drunkard could not solve, he would naturally put the butcher's knife on his waist, walk out of the butcher shop, and start killing.
He knew what the Drunkard was doing recently — to keep an eye on the first disciple of the Headmaster of Academy, and then he went to the capital of the Kingdom of Song. He also knew that Ye Su was already dead. When he sensed the divine light by the East Sea, he was also moved by the sacred meaning hidden in it.
The Drunkard did not directly answer his question, but continued to drink, like a whale swallowing the sea. He drank with the state of Immeasurable, and did not put down the flagon for a long time. Until an hour later, when the last drop of wine dripped from the flagon, it was finally empty.
Except for the time when Sangsang drank it all, the flagon had never really been empty. But today, it was empty. The Drunkard drank all the wine in the flagon.
The Butcher's expression became extremely serious. He had not seen the Drunkard so nervous for many years. The last time was when Haotian came to the human world and came to the small town, and the second time was when the old yellow bull dragged a broken cart into the town.
The Drunkard put down the flagon and looked up at him.
With this movement, all the wine that was poured into his stomach turned into sweat, and overflowed from the tens of thousands of pores on the surface of his body. In the sound of splashing, his body became the source of a waterfall. Countless streams of water gushed out and flowed everywhere, instantly washing all the bones, minced meat and blood on the butcher's shop floor.
His body was like a wine bag, which was now emptied. After the water washed the floor, it was blown away by the cold wind outside the butcher's shop. Countless streams of airflow blew around, making the signboard of the butcher's shop flutter. It was not peaceful.
The Butcher looked at his pale cheeks, and held the knife tighter in his hand.
"There is something … maybe there is something I did wrong."
The Drunkard looked at him and murmured, "Li Manman said I would regret it. Now that I think about it, I do regret it. I don't know if it can be redeemed."
The Butcher slightly frowned, put the knife on his waist, and walked in front of him. He said condescendingly, "Ye Su's death is a good thing."
The Drunkard said, "Now it seems that both the Academy and Taoism want to weaken Haotian … so Ye Su's death is not necessarily a good thing."
The Butcher asked, "What do you mean?"
"I didn't understand it at first, until I saw Li Manman passing by Chang 'an without entering. Then I thought of a possibility."
A touch of fear flashed in the Drunkard's eyes, and he said, "He left Chang 'an City and disappeared without a trace. The Chen Mou left Peach Mountain, and no one knows where he went. What do they want to do? What is more important than the entire human world? "
The Butcher was a man of few words, and he looked a little clumsy and sometimes timid. But in fact, he never lacked wisdom. He quickly figured out that what was more important than the entire human world was, of course, the Divine Kingdom.
He raised his head and looked through the broken asbestos tiles above the butcher's shop to the dark sky, as if he wanted to see clearly what was going on in the Divine Kingdom.
The Headmaster and Haotian had been fighting there for several years, and no news had been transmitted to the human world. There was no thunder, no rain, no hurricane, and no oracle.
However, it was destined to be the most important battle since the birth of this world. It would determine the direction of the human world. As the saying goes, the peach and plum do not speak, the bottom will naturally form its own path. If the mountains do not speak, the autumn wind will naturally avoid it. Well, these metaphors were not appropriate.
The Butcher and the Drunkard could naturally sense that the Headmaster did not have any advantage in that battle, and the bright moon was gradually dimming.
He sat down in front of the Drunkard, picked up the bucket beside him, and began to drink. Only endless clear water could slightly calm the anxiety in his heart.
That was the anxiety caused by anxiety.
The Abbey Dean and Li Manman were both missing. What were they looking for in the human world? What they were looking for was more important than the entire human world, and that was the Divine Kingdom — or in other words, the great existence that everyone thought had returned to the Divine Kingdom.
Let alone the Academy, what would the Abbey Dean do after finding that existence? Everything he did pointed to something bad.
The more the Butcher thought about it, the more frightened he became. Did someone really dare to kill Haotian? This thought was like a bone-paring knife grinding on his body, making him itch to the extreme, pain to the extreme, terror to the extreme, and unease to the extreme.
After an unknown period of time, he finally put down the bucket of water. The water that had entered his body turned into sweat and flowed out, drenching his oily clothes and leather apron. It dripped to the ground and flowed again, but the water carried a faint smell of blood.
"Even if Haotian really did not return to the Divine Kingdom, why did he kill her? Why … did he dare to kill her? Why did he kill her? "
"As for why … I don't understand. Even if the New Stream would weaken her, even if she could not help her in the Divine Kingdom because of the Headmaster, how could he defeat her? His arrogance makes me uneasy and puzzled. "
The Drunkard said with a pale face, "As for why he killed her … I dare not think about it. I think even Buddha would not dare to think like that."
Butcher's expression was extremely ugly, and he shouted, "He is actually … audacious … to the extreme!"
The Drunkard said bitterly, "When was he ever timid?"
…
…
(I will spend this month with all of you. Shake hands.)
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