He did not expect that the South Jin could regain its stability within such a short period of time after Liu Yiqing killed its young emperor and the Sword Garret relocated. The Great Tang had well prepared for the coming war, and it seemed that the Divine Halls of West-Hill was unwilling to lag behind.

A resonant bugle call resounded through the sky above the navy of South Jin. The fleet gradually dispersed, and the lake water hit the solid sides of the s.h.i.+ps, making a loud noise. A huge s.h.i.+p slowly drove to Chu Youxian and Chenqi but still kept a distance of hundreds of zhang, stirring up countless snow-like waves and alarming hundreds of waterfowls.

Hundreds of cavalrymen stood on the deck holding the horses, which looked majestic. These cavalrymen were dressed in black armor with golden runes. They were the most powerful Papal Cavalryman of the Divine Halls.

Chu Yuxian was curious why those horses were not afraid of the wind and waves, while Chenqi was more concerned about a person among the cavalry.

Even if that person was hundreds of zhang away, he could still clearly see the face of that person, not because his eyesight was extremely good, but because that person wanted to be seen by him.

It was a manservant in cyan, whose tender features were filled with unquestionable arrogance, and his innocent look was full of the cruelty of regarding human life as dirt. The manservant was tender but arrogant, innocent but cruel, which seemed paradoxical, but actually it made sense. It was because it was only natural for a tender person to be arrogant, and for an innocent person to be cruel.

This manservant in cyan stood between the lake and the autumn rain, fitting in the environment perfectly.

Chenqi had never met him before, but guessed who he was while looking at his features and sensing the feeling. He was Hengmu Liren, the most generous gift Haotian had left for the human world.

"I am curious about Ning Que's message for the Divine Halls. Can you tell me now?" asked Hengmu Liren sincerely while staring at Chenqi and Chu Youxian.

Chu Yuxian was a little nervous, for he felt he might disappear at any moment while facing the youngest Knowing Destiny Zenith cultivator of the Divine Halls.

Chenqi was quite calm and shook his head.

Hengmu Liren frowned slightly, revealing his displeasure. The lake around the huge s.h.i.+p seemed to sense his emotions and swayed with fear.

Although the lake swayed gently, a field of reeds nearby suddenly turned into powder, blown away by the wind and then rushed into the lake by the rain.

Chu Yuxian felt that his throat was very dry, like it was about to burn.

Chenqi still looked calm, but his hands that were behind his back began to tremble slightly. He knew Hengmu Liren was powerful, but didn't expect that he was powerful to such an extent.

If Ning Que had left Chang'an, would he be able to defeat Hengmu Liren?

All of a sudden, Hengmu Liren laughed happily, like a child. Looking at Chu Youxian and Chenqi, he said with a smile, "Do not worry. I won't kill you, so you don't have to be so scared." Even though he was smiling, it gave the impression that he was scorning Chu Youxian and Chenqi and viewing them as ants.

Chenqi did not like the feeling and replied, "Everyone will die eventually."

Hengmu Liren shook his head and said, "I just live here for the moment, and I will return to the Divine Kingdom after finis.h.i.+ng my business."

Chenqi had to use most of his strength to pa.s.s his voice to the huge s.h.i.+p hundreds of zhang away, but Hengmu Liren's whispers were like thunder falling on the lake.

The wind blew through the surface of the lake. Chu Youxian got gooseb.u.mps, not because he was shocked by the thunder-like voice of the young powerful cultivator, but because he was disgusted by what Hengmu Liren had just said.

Chenqi suddenly said, "I remembered something Mr. Thirteen once said."

Hearing this, Hengmu Liren became serious. He leaned forward slightly and asked respectfully, "What does he want to say to me?"

Chenqi retold, "All of you will die."

Not just him, but all of his subordinates will die with him.

Even Hengmu Liren was not qualified to be pointed out specifically by Ning Que, so the subject of his threatening included Hengmu, Long Qing, He Mingchi, the masters of the clans in Qinghe Prefecture and the enemies on the gra.s.sland.

Hengmu Liren frowned and said, "Everyone will die eventually, but I won't."

Chenqi responded, "He said that all of you will die, so you will. Even if you were to flee to the Divine Kingdom, you will die anyway, because he will chase you to the Divine Kingdom and kill you."

Those who deserved to die would definitely die.

Even though you go to the Divine Kingdom and acquire immortality, or go to the nether world and become a ghost, I will kill you more than once. Ning Que had a lot to say to the world, including what Chenqi had just said.

Hearing this, Hengmu Liren laughed and said, "He doesn't dare to go out of Chang'an now, just forget about the Divine Kingdom."

　　...

　　...

After landing, Chu Youxian was still terrified and kept blaming Chenqi for retelling what Ning Que said. He was worried they would end up dying in a way that was worse than those reeds if Hengmu was really p.i.s.sed off.

"He enjoys a distinguished position in the Divine Halls. He won't kill us since he said so in front of the navy of South Jin."

Chenqi said, "The most important thing is that we are safe before pa.s.sing the message of Mr. Thirteen to the Divine Halls, for the Divine Halls wants the message badly."

"But don't you notice the look on his face? People who appear to be innocent are often lunatics. What if he goes crazy?" Chu Youxian kept nagging.

Chenqi was thinking about something else. "Hengmu led the army of South Jin northward, and soon would take over the affairs of Qinghe Prefecture. Then where would Long Qing go?"

As the former Divine Son of the West-Hill, Prince Long Qing had an extremely high position in the eyes of the Taoist followers. But as time went by, his glory had been taken away by Ning Que and Hengmu Liren. Chenqi knew that Ning Que valued Long Qing much more than valuing Hengmu Liren, and he trusted Ning Que's judgment. So it was not good news that such an important person suddenly disappeared.

Chu Yuxian answered, "The information from the Tianshu Inst.i.tute said that the prince took a team of cavalrymen to the Song Kingdom, trying to kill Ye Su."

Chenqi said, "It's highly unlikely that Ye Su traveled that fast with thousands of followers of New Stream. Why haven't Long Qing caught up yet?"

Chu Yuxian replied, "I don't even understand why Ye Su did not go to Chang'an, but risked his life to go to the Song Kingdom."

Chenqi said, "As Mr. Thirteen said, Ye Su is the man who can really change the history. How can we judge him with common sense?"

The two continued to move forward, and the autumn rain that kept falling gradually became frost and then turned into snow, gradually dyeing the roads in the South Jin into white.

When they finally arrived at the West-Hill Divine Kingdom, it was already the early winter. Wind and snow swept the land which was blessed by the G.o.d and rarely saw any snow in the past, making it extremely cold. In these years, the human world became colder and colder, but n.o.body knew the reason.

On the border of the West-Hill Divine Kingdom, two red-robed divine priests and dozens of papal cavalrymen were waiting, and their faces were filled with indifference and alert, revealing no kindness or any expression.

As envoys of the Great Tang, Chu Youxian and Chenqi deserved such treatment. Actually, they were quite satisfied that these cavalrymen didn't try to burn them to ashes with their Divine Skills.

They traveled for another few days and then approached some mountains. The wind and snow finally stopped. The mountains, covering in green, looked lovely and had some majestic and grand buildings among the peaks, which should be the legendary Divine Halls.

Looking at the distance, Chu Youxian opened his lips slightly but didn't say anything. He just sighed. As an ordinary man in the world of Haotian, he was struck by seeing the Divine Halls of West-Hill with his own eyes even though he was from the Great Tang.

Chenqi acted calmer. As the brain of the Fish-Dragon Gang, he habitually observed the military defense of the West-Hill Divine Kingdom and mental conditions of these cavalrymen. But the one thing he concerned the most was the three Grand Arrays covering Peach Mountain.

He was not a cultivator, so he couldn't even see the cyan light and naturally didn't understand the horrible power of the Grand Arrays. He was just wondering that the arrays must be extremely powerful since Mr. One of the Academy couldn't break in.

The two red-robed divine priests were probably ordered to isolate Chu Youxian and Chenqi and never talked to the two along the way. And they arranged everything for Chu Youxian and Chenqi without soliciting their opinions.

Chu Youxian and Chenqi cared nothing for the depressed silence and also held their tongues. As the fleet arrived at the small town in front of the mountains, Chenqi suddenly asked the fleet to stop.

Looking at red-robed divine priests, Chenqi said without any expression, "I am hungry. I have to buy some food."

The town was just ten miles away from Peach Mountain, with many powerful Taoists hidden everywhere. The red-robed divine priests thought Chenqi couldn't play tricks in this town, so they nodded.

Chenqi and Chu Youxian left the carriage and walked to the town under the protection, or to be more accurate, guard of these cavalrymen.

The town was really small, and it had already pa.s.sed lunchtime. The only food they could find was baked sweet potatoes since the restaurants were all closed.

Standing in front of the baked sweet potato store, Chenqi and Chu Youxian held hot sweet potatoes, carefully peeled off the skin and kept blowing the steam away, looking funny and cute. They were not like two envoys who carried the safety of the human world on their shoulders, but two naughty kids.

Chenqi's finger was inadvertently burned by the baked sweet potato. He swung his arm immediately and asked the owner of the store for some cold water. When the owner brought him the basin full of water, Chenqi looked up at him and thanked him with a smile.

The finger lingered in the clear water, leaving a fleeting word. The owner turned away without expression as if he never noticed what Chenqi did. The action appeared meaningless, but Chenqi knew that it meant the owner was shaking his head.

After returning to the carriage, Chenqi was a little disappointed and his confidence in completing the mission gradually subsided. He shook his head and complained, "Mr. Thirteen said this store has the most delicious baked sweet potatoes, but I didn't find it tasty."

Chu Youxian realized that Chenqi had communicated with the owner of the baked sweet potato store and was in low spirits after hearing that things didn't go their way.

The hard wheels ground on the pavement, giving out a crunching sound. The carriage was surrounded by papal cavalrymen of the Divine Halls who had black armor that reflected the daylight, making the two in the carriage squint.

Chu Youxian and Chenqi looked at each other and kept silent. They came to negotiate with the Divine Halls on behalf of Ning Que. The Divine Halls would not kill them, at least not before getting the message delivered by the two. However, the battle that almost happened in the Qinghe Prefecture meant that someone wanted them dead. And they guessed it had to be the Hierarch.

The one Ning Que wanted to negotiate with was not the Hierarch, which might be a little humiliating for him. But it was still inadequate for him to take such a rash action.

At this point, it seemed that the Hierarch might have figured something out.

Thinking about what happened in the baked sweet potatoe store, Chenqi worried, "How can we deliver the message if we don't get to meet her?"

　　...

　　...

The Divine Halls didn't invite them to the Peach Mountain, but accommodated them in the Revelation Inst.i.tute in front of the mountain which was very close to the well-known Peach Blossom Depression. It was a pity that peaches didn't blossom during winter time.

Chu Youxian seemed very sad that he couldn't see the peach blossoms. But Chenqi knew that he was just acting. All things were arranged by the Divine Halls, so the only thing they could do was to wait anxiously.

The Divine Halls didn't give them much time to be anxious. The big wheel who was in charge of negotiating with them came to the Revelation Inst.i.tute the next morning.

Zhao Nanhai was the legitimate descendant of the Great Divine Priest of Light and also the right-hand man of Abbey Dean. If the war between the Great Tang and the Divine Halls were to end, he would become Great Divine Priest of Divine Hall of Light or Divine Hall of Revelation. He was undoubtedly a big shot. And the Divine Halls showed due respect and enough sincerity to the Great Tang by sending such an important man to talk to Chu Youxian and Chenqi.

But Chu Youxian and Chenqi didn't feel flattered. Before leaving, Ning Que told them that they should only negotiate with two people because one of them was actually controlling the Haotian Taoism and the other was able and willing to respond to the Great Tang.

"I am sorry." Chu Youxian said while bowing, "It's not that we don't want to negotiate with you, but that we can't."

Zhao Nanhai had been stayed in the South Sea for a long time and still kept his dark skin even though he had been back to Taoism for many years. There was no wind at all, but his gown slightly swung.

"You ask for the negotiation, so we have the upper hand," said Zhao Nanhai, but he didn't get angry. He was just seriously glancing at the two. "We can pick it up when you are ready."

After saying this, he left with more than a dozen red-robed divine priests, never giving Chu Youxian and Chenqi the chance to respond.

Looking at these people disappearing on the mountain road, Chu Youxian said sorrowfully, "He didn't even want to know with whom we would like to negotiate. Is it necessary to be alert like that?"

In the days that followed, Chu Youxian and Chenqi were totally forgotten by the Divine Halls. They stayed at the Revelation Inst.i.tute all day long, eating, sleeping and looking at the peach blossoms.

The peach trees on Peach Mountain used to be in blossom throughout the year, but they couldn't survive the cold winter after being cut off by the Headmaster and then by Ning Que and Sangsang. At this point, no one showed any interest in admiring these peach blooms that were being grounded into the dirt.

Chu Youxian and Chenqi felt that they were just like those peach blossoms. No one came to visit them, no one would listen to them, and they couldn't get in touch with the person they wanted to see. It seemed the negotiation, which many people placed high hopes in, was about to come to an eventual end.

The Divine Halls was indeed not in a hurry. As long as the Academy failed to kill the Drunkard and the Butcher, Taoism would remain invincible in this war. Even Ning Que couldn't change the fact no matter how many people he killed.

Ning Que killed those people to frighten Taoism and the human world, and he had achieved his goal in a sense. But what he did also ignited a fire called anger in the world. The divine priests, soldiers, and ordinary people from the West-Hill, South Jin, Golden Tribe Royal Court, and Yan Kingdom who lost their loved ones due to Ning Que's slaughter wanted to peel off his skin and eat his flesh.

He did an excellent job of mobilizing the war for Divine Halls of West-Hill.

As time went by, the situation was more favorable to the Divine Halls of West-Hill. The ordinary mortals might not see this through, but how could those on Peach Mountain not understand?

There were many people who could understand the trend, such as the capable Golden Tribe Chanyu of the Wilderness. He was well aware that this long winter was not a torment for himself and the warriors in his tribe but rather a wonderful wait. So the bouquet of liquor overflowing from the magnificent giant yurt in the north of the City of Wei was more intense each day, and the number of cattle and sheep which were slaughtered around the tents was increasing day by day.

The people of the Golden Tribe Royal Court were very happy. Just like what Ning Que saw when he went back to the City of Wei many years ago, A Da was supposed to be happy too, and everybody thought he had every reason to be happy since he suddenly turned his wheel of fortune. But he was not happy.

A Da was born in a small tribe on the gra.s.sland which was defeated by the tribe of Chanyu's uncle during a conflict. Many young adults in his old tribe were enlisted in the dare-to-die army, but he was too young to be enlisted. Instead, he became a slave of a n.o.bleman of the Royal Court. If nothing unexpected happened, he would not live through his sixteenth birthday, for it was extremely hard for him to stay alive.

Fortunately, a rainstorm fell on the gra.s.sland in the spring while he was picking up cow dung and became drenched. Perhaps it was for this reason, he became very strong after the rain stopped.

That was the real strength given by the benevolent G.o.d. At the wrestling contest, the strongest warrior in the Royal Court was no match for him, and even General Lebu looked at him in a peculiar way. At that time, Chanyu's eyes lit up, while the national master silently stared at the sky.

After that day, A Da became the most famous young warrior of the Golden Tribe Royal Court, the disciple of the national master, the bodyguard of Chanyu and a vanguard general.

The war between the Golden Tribe Royal Court and the Great Tang was on and off. Although it was not as fierce as before, the situation on the border was still serious and a clash broke out in the summer on account of fighting for a gra.s.sland in the southeast of Xiangwan Plain. The Great Tang had lost Xiangwan Plain before, so General Hua Ying, a powerful leader of Northern Battlefront Army, led the troops to fight for the gra.s.sland. But out of everyone's reckoning, he lost the battle.

He lost to A Da. A Da had no reason to be unhappy, but he was indeed unhappy, for many of his relatives from his old tribe who were enlisted in the dare-to-die army were captured by the army of Great Tang and he heard a few days ago that they were all killed.

Since he was so powerful at this point, he was planning to rebuild his tribe next year and recall all his relatives and playmates. But now, they were all gone.

Those d.a.m.n Tang people. And Ning Que, I will certainly kill him.

That night, A Da, under the order of Chanyu, left the Golden Tribe Royal Court with a dozen of cavalrymen, pa.s.sed through the deserted City of Wei and headed south.

A Da didn't lose his mind. He was illiterate but not stupid. He was not crazy enough to go to Chang'an and try to kill Ning Que, but he had to do something on behalf of Chanyu and himself.

The Tang people killed their people. They'd like to return the favor.

When A Da approached the frontline, he saw the military camp of the Great Tang in the wind and snow all over the sky, revealing the disdain in his eyes.

　　...

　　...