Oddly shaped clouds often appeared in the sky of the Wilderness. Ning Que did not see the cloud above the horse carriage. Even if he had seen it, he would not have paid much attention to it, because such a scene was too common, and because his mind was completely focused on Sangsang.
Every time she coughed, he became more nervous. Thinking of what Master Qishan had said in the Lanke Temple, he asked Sangsang to continue chanting Buddhist scriptures and cultivating Dharma, hoping to temporarily stabilize the cold aura in her body. But he had a bad feeling.
In the next few days, there were no cavalry from the palace or ascetic monks from the Xuankong Temple. The journey was peaceful, and Ning Que finally noticed the cloud above the horse carriage. The sky was clear and blue, like washed porcelain. There were no clouds at all, but there was a lonely cloud hanging quietly above their heads. It was hard not to notice it.
The sun was in the middle of the sky, covered by the cloud. Looking up from the ground of the Wilderness, the edge of the cloud seemed to be embroidered with a golden edge. The cloud inside the golden edge was incomparably white, formed by countless extremely fine strands of cloud. It was like a big cotton candy, making people want to reach out and touch it.
The lonely cloud covered the sun, casting a shadow of dozens of feet on the ground, which happened to cover the black horse carriage. Ning Que found it interesting and did not think much about it. He put down the curtain and signaled the Big Black Horse to continue forward.
He did not notice that when the horse carriage moved on the ground of the Wilderness, the lonely cloud in the sky moved with the carriage. The shadow also moved on the Wilderness, always covering the black horse carriage.
The Big Black Horse believed in the philosophy of living in the present. Its eyes would always stay on the food in front of it, the road under its feet, and the area between the legs of the female horse. It was too lazy to look further, so it did not notice that it was always walking in the shadow. It only felt cool and comfortable.
The Wilderness in late autumn was very cold. Except for silly horses like the Big Black Horse, no one would think that coolness was a pleasure. Ning Que and Sangsang in the carriage did not want to hear anything related to cold.
The carriage was filled with coldness. There was a place beside the window that was not covered by silk, revealing the cast steel board. There was already a layer of frost on it. One could imagine how low the temperature in the carriage was.
Sangsang put on a pair of flannel pants, wrapped herself in a black fur coat and buried herself in the quilt. Even so, she did not feel warm at all. Her face was pale, her lips were blue, and there was frost on her eyelashes.
Ning Que added two pieces of Fu paper into the brass brazier, took out a leather bag and put it in front of her face. Inside the leather bag was the hard liquor they had looted from a small tribe ten days ago. Sangsang shook her head, indicating that she would do it herself. She took the wine bag and poured the wine into her mouth. After a while, the wine bag gradually became flat.
Perhaps because she drank too fast, or because of her illness, Sangsang put down the wineskin, frowned and coughed. The talisman fire in the brass brazier suddenly dimmed, and then gradually struggled to reignite.
Just like the past few days, she did not cough up phlegm or blood. Every time she coughed, she coughed out an extremely cold breath. The breath suddenly turned into white mist when it came into contact with the hot and humid air in the carriage.
The cold aura in Sangsang's body became heavier and heavier. Every day, some of it was expelled from her body as she coughed. The aura did not seem to belong to the human world. It was so cold that even the talisman fire could not withstand it. So the temperature in the carriage became lower and lower, which was why there was frost on the window.
With a light cough, the temperature in the carriage gradually dropped. Ning Que threw another Fu paper into the brass brazier to barely keep it going. He had used too many Fire Talismans these days. The Fu paper he had stored, especially the Fire Talisman, had long been used up. Now he was using one that he had written on the way, which consumed a lot of his Psyche Power. It made him look a little haggard.
Using the heat from the outside could slightly neutralize the cold, but it could not eliminate the cold aura in Sangsang's body. It could only treat the symptoms. Master Qishan had said when he treated Sangsang in the Lanke Temple that even if he cultivated in Buddhism and used Buddha's nature to suppress and calm the cold aura, it could only treat the symptoms, but could not eradicate it.
Ning Que knew that if he wanted to completely eliminate the cold aura in Sangsang's body and prevent Yama from seeing her, he could only hide in the world of Buddha's chessboard for the past two years.
Sangsang's coughing became more frequent and her condition became more and more troublesome. He became more and more anxious. It took a lot of effort to suppress the idea of turning back to the depths of the Wilderness and digging out the chessboard that he had buried. The chessboard's aura of Buddha had completely disappeared and was no longer of any use.
He struggled to maintain his rationality. He was even more determined to go to the capital of Yuelun Kingdom first. That Buddhist Kingdom had the most Buddhist temples in the world. Even if he could not meet Eldest Brother for the time being, he could let Sangsang read more Buddhist scriptures and find more Buddha's nature to temporarily calm the cold aura in her body. It would not be as dangerous as it was now.
In late autumn, the cold wind in the Wilderness gradually became stronger. After that snowfall, there was no more snow. Occasionally, snow clouds gathered in the sky, but they were instantly blown away by the strong wind. Only one cloud remained quietly in the sky, unaffected.
The lonely cloud moved toward the southeast, casting a faint cloud shadow on the ground of the Wilderness. The black horse carriage silently moved in the shadow, heading into the distance.
…
…
The black horse carriage finally walked out of the Wilderness and came to a border pass in the north of Yuelun Kingdom. At this time, the Wilderness behind the horse carriage was already filled with cold wind and snow in winter. However, the world in front of the horse carriage was still in autumn. A few autumn trees in the border pass were bright red as if they were burning.
Although he did not know the specific situation in Yuelun Kingdom, he could roughly guess. Ning Que parked the black horse carriage in a col outside the border pass and went to gather information.
After a while, he returned to the col and walked into the carriage. Sangsang looked at his expression and vaguely understood something. She smiled and said, "What do I look like in the portrait?"
Ning Que took out a piece of paper and unfolded it in front of her. He said, "Look at it yourself."
When he entered the border pass earlier, he quickly confirmed the current situation. That was because the streets of the border town were filled with Sangsang's wanted posters, and Sangsang's identity was clearly written on them.
The paper was still fresh. It should have been posted no more than five days ago. Sangsang looked at the skinny handmaiden in the portrait and found that she really looked like her. She sincerely praised, "The painter of Yuelun Kingdom is really good."
Even Sangsang's slightly withered hair was drawn vividly in the portrait. Ning Que pointed at a line of small words beside the handmaiden's cotton dress and said, "Of course the painter of West-Hill Divine Palace is good."
Sangsang said helplessly, "So the Divine Hall also wants to catch me.
Ning Que smiled and said, "We both have acquaintances in the West-Hill Divine Palace. If we are really going to be caught, why not let Ye Hongyu catch us? I think she will at least give us a quick death for the sake of our friendship. There is no need to burn us."
Sangsang said softly, "It's not funny."
Ning Que did not say anything else. He left the col on the big black horse and went around the border town, heading toward the hilly area in the east of Yuelun Kingdom. Sangsang thought to herself, Isn't the capital of Yuelun Kingdom in the south? Even though she was confused, she trusted Ning Que. She was also a little tired, so she did not ask.
A few days later, the black horse carriage arrived at the east of Yuelun Kingdom. Looking at the mountains from afar, Ning Que stopped the big black horse when they were still far from the border.
After passing through the mountains, they could see the land of the Tang Empire. Ning Que had seen on the map that the Residence of the Zhenxi General of the Tang Empire should be more than four hundred miles away in Zhezhou City. With the speed of the big black horse, it would only take him less than a day to see the Tang military flag that he had not seen for a long time — if no one stopped him.
He knew very well that the route from the Yuelun Kingdom to the Tang Empire would definitely be filled with countless cultivators. That was why from the beginning, this route was not part of his plan. However, knowing was one thing. Seeing that his homeland was so close, how could he be satisfied if he did not personally take a look and confirm it?
"Don't force yourself. Let go if you feel tired."
In the carriage, he looked at Sangsang and said solemnly. Sangsang nodded gently and took the broken big black umbrella from him. She reached out her right hand and held it tightly. Then, she slowly closed her eyes and did not open the umbrella.
A moment later, her small face became increasingly pale. Her slightly trembling eyelashes were like leaves on snow blown by the wind. Her right hand that was holding the umbrella also began to tremble. Her thin and weak body also began to tremble.
Sangsang suddenly coughed. Ning Que did not hesitate to reach out and take the big black umbrella back from her hand. Then, he held her in his arms and kept rubbing her back. After a long while, her coughing stopped.
Sangsang put her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Her body was still trembling, and her voice was tired and weak. She said, "There are many people, very powerful people."
Ning Que did not say anything and continued to hold her.
After a while, Sangsang opened her eyes and said in a low voice, "I don't dare to open the big black umbrella. I'm not in good health and can't see very clearly. You should let me watch for a while."
Ning Que said, "It's enough to know that there are people in front."
Sangsang said, "But I don't know where they are from."
Ning Que said, "The West-Hill Divine Palace … No, I should say they are from Haotian Taoism."
He sat by the window and took out his binoculars to look at the mountains in the distance. He watched silently for a long time until the sky turned dark. Finally, he saw several looming sword lights.
Looking at the looming sword lights in the mountains in the night, Ning Que remembered a story from many years ago. Murong Linshuang, the Saintess of Devil's Doctrine, danced in Tuyang City, and the sword lights crisscrossed the Min Mountain. Numerous Haotian Taoism powerhouses came and forced Xiahou to cook his lover alive, regardless of the anger of the Tang Emperor.
That was only the war between Haotian Taoism and Devil's Doctrine. Now that Sangsang was the Daughter of Yama, it was the war between Haotian and Yama. Ning Que knew that the situation he was facing was definitely more dangerous than what Xiahou had faced. Ye Hongyu must have come. Did the Great Divine Priest of Revelation come? What about the Hierarch Lord?
…
…
(Eight o 'clock in the evening, Wai Wai 55373. Everyone, come and chat. It's my birthday one day earlier. We mainly talk about the book. If you have time, you are welcome to come and play. It won't be too long, because I still have to write two chapters today …) If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
