It was very quiet in the Taoist hall. Only Ning Que's footsteps echoed in the corridor.
Walking up the stone stairs to the upper floor of the Taoist Temple, he looked at the stone window on the side of the corridor facing the street. Light rain drifted in from outside the temple, gently sprinkling on Sangsang's green clothes and expressionless cheeks.
Looking at this scene, Ning Que's emotions were somewhat complicated. After being washed by the spring rain, she seemed to become much lighter and her breath became much clearer, as if she would leave the world at any time.
After seeing the broken stone statue of Buddha in the Lanke Temple, Sangsang fell ill. Like a human, she began to feel tired and coughed occasionally. But at the same time, she became less and less like a human.
To be left behind by the mortal world or to return to the Divine Kingdom was a problem that the Academy wanted to solve. Ning Que knew that it would be a long and dangerous process, just like a tug-of-war. Therefore, he was a little nervous, but he did not take it seriously.
He walked to Sangsang's side and looked out of the stone window at the capital of the Kingdom of Qi in the rain. Neither of them spoke. They stood side by side in silence, as if they wanted to engrave the streets in the spring rain into their eyes.
The street was washed clean by the rain. However, after a while, the rainwater on the street was gradually dyed red. Judging from the intensity of the color, it must have been a lot of blood flowing from the Taoist temple.
The Taoist Temple was still dead silent. The commander of the cavalryman of the Divine Hall of West-Hill and his subordinates executed Ning Que's request perfectly. They did not make a sound during the massacre.
After a while, the main door of the Taoist Hall was opened. Ning Que saw several cavalrymen of the Divine Hall rushing into the spring rain at an extremely fast speed and then galloping away in several directions.
These cavalrymen had to rush back to Peach Mountain to report the latest situation to their superiors in the Divine Halls. In addition, they had to inform the cavalrymen of the Divine Halls stationed outside the capital and their leaders.
The two thousand cavalrymen of West-Hill Divine Palace followed them all the way. Ning Que had always been curious about who was in charge.
The cavalryman of the Divine Halls of West-Hill, who was running toward the street south of the city, suddenly raised the flag in his hand that looked like a blood streamer and shouted loudly, as if he was admonishing the people on the street.
Although the spring rain was not violent, it was so far away that the cavalryman's voice became a little muffled. However, Ning Que's Perception was so sharp that he heard the words clearly.
"Those who disrespect the light will be punished by the heavens!"
…
…
Ning Que was very clear that the Divine Retribution was just an excuse. He and Sangsang had been together for twenty years, and he had never seen her criticize anyone in person. Not to mention the fact that he had to stab someone with a knife.
In human history, it was always the West-Hill Divine Palace that condemned and killed the alien species on behalf of Haotian or in the name of Haotian. Haotian didn't even know about those things.
Sangsang was a little tired and went to rest. He stood by the stone window and looked at the capital of Qi Kingdom in the rain. He listened to the faint cries and battle cries in the rain without any expression on his face.
In the wind and rain, there were faint cries of killing in the distance. Every once in a while, a team of cavalrymen from the Divine Halls of West-Hill would come to the front of the Taoist Hall, untie the cloth bags under their saddles, and pour the contents of the bags onto the stone steps in front of the hall.
The bags were filled with human heads.
A day and a night passed just like that. There were more and more heads on the stone steps in front of the Taoist Temple, and the smell of blood became stronger and stronger. The rain could not dilute it at all.
In the counties around the capital of Qi Kingdom, there were 180 divine priests, deacons, and ordinary Taoists who had participated in the previous bloody purge of Haotian Taoism. All of them were beheaded by the cavalrymen from the Divine Halls of West-Hill.
The skulls on the stone steps were piled up like a small mountain. Some of the skulls had their eyes wide open, while others had expressions of regret and fear. Regardless of whether the owners of these skulls were noble red-robed priests or insignificant characters who were forced into the torrent, their faces were all covered in dirty blood. It was impossible to tell the difference between them.
Sangsang woke up and ate a bowl of porridge and two beef and radish buns with Ning Que's help. Then she walked to the stone window and looked at the heads piled up like a small hill in front of the hall with satisfaction.
The morning light was so fresh, and the painting in front of the hall was so bloody. The holy flame ignited on the pile of heads and quickly became fiercer. The rain could not extinguish the fire, but instead made it burn more fiercely.
In the raging fire, one could vaguely see the deformed faces of the heads, as if the dead could still feel the pain. Their faces were twisted with anger and fear.
An unpleasant burning smell permeated around the Taoist Hall.
In the spring rain, thousands of people of Qi were watching the scene in front of them. Their expressions were finally not as numb as usual. They looked a little frightened, but more excited to watch the fun.
"I am Haotian."
Sangsang looked at the pile of heads in the fire and said expressionlessly, "Humans must obey my will."
Ning Que thought for a while and said, "Or you can change the word to another way."
Sangsang glanced at him and said, "For example?"
Ning Que said, "Although I have no faith, I think there must be an element of love in this."
Sangsang said, "Humans will never love me."
Ning Que looked at the middle-aged divine priest in front of the hall with tears on his face and said, "I brought you to Qi Kingdom to remind you that someone has always loved you, even if it means death."
Sangsang said, "That is because I am Haotian."
Ning Que shook his head and said, "In order to save you, Chen Cun died, Hua Yin died, Song Xixi died, and many people in the Divine Hall of Light died. At that time, you were not Haotian, but the Daughter of Yama."
Sangsang said, "That is because they believed in Wei Guangming."
Ning Que said, "But isn't this kind of belief precious?"
Sangsang was silent.
Ning Que said, "You said that Master Qishan saved you to save all living beings, but you are not among them, so he did not really love you. Then what about the people in the Divine Hall of Light? What about your teacher Wei Guangming? They only love you. They loved you when they did not know you were Haotian, and they loved you when they knew you were Haotian. They love you unconditionally, so why can't you give them the same love? "
Sangsang said, "So I should love the world?"
Ning Que said, "In the first chapter of the West-Hill Divine Palace, it is said that God loves the world."
Sangsang said, "I don't love it anymore."
Ning Que said, "Because you are too tired?"
Sangsang glanced at him and said, "Your jokes are often illogical."
Ning Que said, "Otherwise, why wouldn't I love it?"
Sangsang said, "Why should I love the world?"
Ning Que thought about it and found that this was indeed a problem.
No matter which world it was, all questions were afraid to be asked. For example, the word 'love' that human beings could not forget. Once it was asked, there would be an echo.
Yes, why did it have to be love? Why did mothers love their children? Why did women love their men? Why did people love their country?
Even if there seemed to be no conditions for love, in the deepest part of it, one could only get an answer that was so cold that it was difficult to breathe.
Ning Que did not know how to answer this question. Just like in the Great River Kingdom, he did not explain love to her clearly. Now, he could not explain what love was.
At this moment, a divine chariot slowly came from the other end of the long street in the spring rain. The veil around the divine chariot was dark red. After being wet by the rain, it seemed to be dripping blood, which made it look particularly chilling.
The Divine Priest of Judgment had once again come to the human world.
Ning Que was not surprised. When he was at the South Sea, he had vaguely guessed who the leader of the cavalrymen of the Divine Halls of West-Hill was. This day and night of bloody purge confirmed his guess.
There were only a few people in the Divine Halls of West-Hill who could make such an important decision in such a short time and implement it. She, who was directly in charge of the cavalrymen of the Divine Halls, was the most likely one.
"I don't want to see these people."
Sangsang turned and walked into the room. Her voice sounded a little tired.
…
…
"Those who disrespected the light in the three counties of the Qi Kingdom are all dead."
Ye Hongyu said, "The Divine Hall's official decree should be sent to all countries in a few days. The Divine Hall of Judgment has already taken action in advance. I believe it will not take long for the purge to end."
Ning Que looked at her and frowned slightly. He always felt that it was not so simple.
Ye Hongyu took off the divine crown and looked at him, saying, "I want to see Haotian."
The scene at this moment was really like that autumn many years ago.
Ning Que reached out and wanted to take the divine crown from her, just like that time.
Ye Hongyu did not give it to him.
Ning Que said, "Have you become estranged so soon? Back then, you were … "
Ye Hongyu said, "Don't be glib. I am not that crazy Mo Shanshan. I don't want to steal a man from Haotian."
Ning Que clicked his tongue and said, "Aren't you being glib?"
Ye Hongyu brushed off the raindrops on her black hair and said, "Stop talking nonsense and lead the way."
Ning Que said unhappily, "You know that I am Haotian's man, but you don't know how to respect me."
Ye Hongyu threw the divine crown on the table and said, "How can a man who lives off a woman be respected?"
Ning Que said angrily, "Say that again!"
Ye Hongyu tied up her wet black hair and said, "You are a man who lives off a woman."
Ning Que suddenly understood how Chen Pipi used to feel.
He said angrily, "It is not easy to live off Haotian!"
Ye Hongyu said, "It is not easy to live off a woman."
The way they said it was not easy was obviously not emotional. Ning Que was very embarrassed and could not continue this topic. He said, "She doesn't want to see people from the Divine Hall."
Ye Hongyu thought for a while and said, "That's fine. I don't want to kneel to her either."
Ning Que said, "It seems that your faith is not as strong as you said before."
Ye Hongyu was silent for a while and suddenly asked, "Which is more important, faith or hatred?"
Ning Que did not understand why she would ask this question. He thought of the revenge in Chang 'an and the killing in the snow lake. He said, "If it were me, revenge would be more important."
"Of course, that is because I have no faith to begin with."
He looked at Ye Hongyu and said solemnly, "As for what you should choose, I can't give you any specific advice. I only want to say that you should do what makes you happy."
Ye Hongyu thought for a while and said, "Is this the principle of starting from the heart?"
Ning Que said, "Yes, instinct and the heart are always the strongest."
…
…
(If the heavens had feelings, the heavens would grow old, so they would get sick. I am a mortal, and a middle-aged fat man who rarely exercises. There is nothing I can do even if I keep getting sick. Another day of dizziness, and I can only write one chapter. Actually, I am even more anxious. I want to get better as soon as possible. This month's 200,000 RMB is still waiting for me on the last day. I wish everyone good health and everything goes smoothly.) (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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