Mo Shanshan was feeling both satisfied yet dissatisfied. She was happy that Ning Que didn't know who she was. That would prevent a lot of noise and troublesome. What she wasn't excited about Ning Que's ignorance meant she had to overthrow all her assumptions.
Feeling conflicted, she didn't know what to say. So all she did was imitate what her teacher typically did. She patted Ning Que gently on the shoulder and turned around.
Ning Que looked at her as she left, marveling at the arrogance and coldness of this girl from the Black Ink Garden.
Noticing his expression, Cat Girl became worried and unhappy that he was misunderstanding her senior sister. But it wasn't her place to explain on her senior sister's behalf so she could only snort angrily and leave.
"I don't doubt that Senior Brother Zhong is from the academy. Since he's from the Chang'an Academy, it's convenient for us both to do things. There shouldn't be a problem. But he's after all a Tang citizen with countless ways to enter the Wilderness. He could go with the Yan army or the imperial court envoy, but he just had to hide his identity and go with us…"
Sitting by the bonfire at night, Zhuo Zhihua turned to Mo Shanshan beside her. With her eyebrows furrowed, she whispered, "Regardless of his explanation or how much influence of Tang imperial court and the Academy exert, this must be no small matter. Our Great River Kingdom lacks power. If we get involved, it won't be easy for us to get out of it."
Cat Girl shook her head, objecting that reasoning. "What's there to fear? There are definitely benefits that come with entering the Wilderness with an Academy student. Even if he may bring us trouble, we're basically carrying a safety amulet with us."
Zhuo Zhihua smiled helplessly and ruffled Cat Girl's hair. Though the Great River Kingdom and the Tang Empire have had a good relationship for generations, the safety amulet could turn out to be a cursed amulet should there really be a dispute between the Tang Empire and the Divine Hall as she had guessed.
Mo Shanshan, who had been listening silently, interrupted just then. "Let him follow my horse carriage."
Cat Girl clapped gently and smiled. She tried to comfort Zhuo Zhihua by saying, "With Senior Sister watching, what's there to worry about? Even if Senior Brother Zhong is a martial master from the second floor of the Academy, he probably wouldn't dare act recklessly."
Mo Shanshan gently said, "He's not a student from the second floor of the Academy… Talking about this, it's really quite a pity."
Cat Girl asked in surprise, "Senior sister, how did you find out?"
Mo Shanshan stared at the flickering fire, her gaze turning distant as if she was looking at somewhere far away. "If he's from the second floor, how could he have not heard of my name?"
...
...
That captain once doubted Ning Que's identity as a student from the second floor of the Academy due to his lack of knowledge of the secret of the seven Tomes of Arcane. Now Mo Shanshan had also excluded him as a student from the second floor due to his ignorance. If Ning Que knew this, he would have once again regretted focusing only on his cultivation on the Back Mountain of the Academy and neglected other things.
On the second day, Ning Que rode his large, black horse to the Bi Lan Lake. His horse couldn't stop shaking its head and expelling warm air carrying his heavy luggage. It looked extremely dissatisfied but didn't show any sign of collapsing under the weight.
After changing into the common student uniform of the Black Ink Garden and wearing a bamboo hat covering half of his face, Ning Que still wasn't happy with his disguise. He ransacked his luggage for the mask Sangsang made for him and wore it carefully.
Mo Shanshan walked out from behind the yellow-clothed curtain. Instead of wearing her usual plain white skirt and blue waistband, she had on a loose skirt in the manner of the girls of the Great River Kingdom. She had hidden her beautiful eyes and brows behind the translucent silk cloth hanging from her bamboo hat, obscuring her beauty from others.
Both Ning Que and Mo Shanshan wanted nothing more than entirely changing their faces. But since they have already seen each other's faces, they found it somewhat odd to see they shared the same idea.
They exchanged glances and brushed past each other without speaking.
In that moment, Ning Que noticed Mo Shanshan's gaze behind the translucent silk cloth were not entirely focused on him. He couldn't help frowning. The girl's face was already behind the silk cloth, yet she was still trying to show contempt for him?
He scoffed to himself. When it came to feigning indifference and coldness, not even Prince Long Qing was his rival. The girl was just a young one. She better not thinks she could affect his emotions with that kind of glance.
...
...
When the students of the Black Ink Garden were done with the preparations, they headed east and arrived beside the tent of the joint armies. They received aid from the Central Plains in the form of grain and fodder from the logistics department to support the Left-tent Palace. The joint armies of the Central Plains and people of the Yuelun Kingdom understood clearly the true challenges and danger would show up after entering the Wilderness, so they didn't meet any obstacles at the moment.
Accompanied by the biting wind and cold morning sun, 200 Yan cavalries, over 100 cart drivers, and about dozen Black Ink Garden students from the Great River Kingdom left the frontier fortress together just like that and headed for the cold and vast Wilderness.
The Yan cavalries guarding the grain and fodder rode in silence while the cart drivers were anxious and numb. The students from the Black Ink Garden rode around them to secure their safety. Besides the grain cart, there were two carriages belonging to the Black Ink Garden. Mo Shanshan sat inside one of them, with Ning Que riding his black horse and following behind closely.
After walking more than 10 miles, they couldn't even see the military tents behind them. Taking off his bamboo hat, Ning Que looked at the mounds of snow piling on the withered grass and listened to the screaming of eagles from somewhere far away. His eyes gleamed with joyful light. He hadn't seen scenery like this for a long time. Even the chilly air that hurt his lungs gave him a feeling of home.
Nothing new happened in the following days. The team moved slowly through the Wilderness, leaving behind an impressive cloud of dust. They didn't meet anyone from the Horse Gang, any soldiers, or any strange events.
With the Divine Hall assigning this tough task to the Black Ink Garden, they were obviously harboring the intentions to make things difficult for them. So, on the surface, they put on a show of courtesy and granted the Black Ink Garden the highest power. The entire 200 of Yan cavalries and all their carts had to obey the orders of these young girls.
Shortly after Ning Que rode next to Mo Shanshan's carriage and said something to her through the window, the arranged Yan guide was dismissed. Then he became the one who decided on their route, selected their accommodation, and arranged the timings.
Under his guidance, the team walked along the hills not far from the Yaozi Sea. Though they couldn't find water every day, they could at least get adequate firewood. The team got up really early and, by noon, Ning Que would order them to search for a place for accommodation and prepare to rest.
The leader of the Yan cavalries once objected, finding the distance they traveled each was too short. If they kept walking at this pace, it would be too late by the time they get to the palace. It was one thing to let the tribesmen starve to death, but it would be a big issue if they delayed the negotiations between the Divine Hall and the palace.
The young girls of the Great River Kingdom completely ignored the leader's objections. In their view, their master had put this senior brother from the Academy in charge so all they needed to do was obey his order. What else was there to consider? As long as they could enter the Wilderness safely and return happily, they didn't care if the Divine Hall would be angry.
Though the Wilderness had already entered winter, the weather hadn't turned too cold. The withered grasses and branches covered in snow were dreary, it was still an interesting journey for the girls from the south.
Ning Que had never been to this side of the Wilderness east of Min Mountain, but he can't say he was intrigued by the scenery or journey. Guiding, searching places to stay in, observing the wind direction, and examining animal feces were all things he had done countless times.
Most of the time, he rode his large, black horse slowly and freely. The reins and bridle of his horse were special and allowed it to freely graze the grasses. Ning Que's body and soul were special too. During this boring journey, his body and soul felt the cold heaven and earth and sought inspirations to break the realm.
Occasionally, he would take Cat Girl to hunt some sheep to improve their lifestyle.
What a great winter view in the Wilderness!
What a great journey in the Wilderness!
...
...
Before and after Ning Que and his companions entered this Wilderness, there were many more powerful people from the Central Plains who came to this mysterious and strange area. Among them were martial masters from the frontier of Tang Imperial, monks from the White Tower Temple of the Yuelun Kingdom, students from the Sword Garret of the South Jin Kingdom, and cold-blooded executioners from the Judicial Department of the Divine Hall.
Naturally, Prince Long Qing was ranked top among those powerful people, standing on the edge of Knowing Destiny State. No one where he was, what view was he seeing, and what was on his mind at this moment.
Yet few people knew the true controller of the Judicial Department of the Divine Hall who had oppressed Prince Long Ling to the point of suffocation had already entered the Wilderness alone under the order of the Great Divine Priest of Judgment a few months ago.
Recognized as the most hardworking cultivator with the most lethal fighting capabilities among the three Tao Addicts in the world, Ye Hongyu was now standing at the top of a white-cloth curtain in the meadow by the Left-tent Palace. She stared north at the night sky without any emotion. Nobody knew what she was thinking about at the moment, but it was most definitely not about Prince Long Qing or her other subordinates.
Let us rewind to the time when she had just left the Peach Mountain of the West Hill a few months ago.
Ye Hongyu's red dress was like a fire cloud floating out of a majestic temple.
The Great Divine Priest of Judgment sat on a throne made entirely of the South Sea dark jade with an indifferent expression. He slowly turned his gaze from the pearl curtain and closed his eyes, asking in a low voice, "How is the Great Divine Priest of Light?"
When the subordinate divine priest heard the name, his body suddenly stiffened and he bowed his head to reply, "Like usual. He recites the classic doctrine each day. From the looks of it… there's nothing different."
...
...
The Peach Mountain of the West Hill was also called the God Mountain. The sun shined brightly on its southside, with blooming peach flowers all over. Peach trees grew along its cliff, making the temple seem tall, magnificent, and splendid.
Yet the north side was a steep cliff. The huge smooth stones looked like they were hacked by God because they had no cracks nor soil. Never mind peach flowers, not even wild grasses could survive here.
While the wild grasses with the most tenacious vitality couldn't root themselves here, humans could.
Countless years ago, some Haotian Taoism fanatics used an original method to open up several steep paths with their bare hands. During this process, innumerable people fell off the cliff and died. Not even their dead bodies were found, but they finally achieved what they wanted to do. Maybe that was why humans were superior to other creatures in this world.
The middle-aged subordinate divine priest slowly traveled the steep stone path. The huge rock face was like a declining sky standing beside him and giving him great pressure. He could still stand tall before the God of Great Divine Priest of Judgment, yet he was completely bent over now, like an ant crawling on the path.
After walking down the path for a long time, the divine priest finally arrived at a place deep inside the Peach Mountain that was surrounded by clouds and fog all year round. Sunshine couldn't penetrate the fog and people couldn't see their fingers. All they could do was feel the moisture in the environment and listen to the sound of water without knowing where the sound came from.
Deep into the fog, there was a door. The divine priest kept silent for a moment in front of the door before pushing it and entering.
A dark world stood behind the door. A faint smell of blood drifted through the dry passage. Dim light spilled on the iron wall, lending a mysterious and strange quality to the beautiful and complicated Fu characters.
This was the You Prison, a place most Haotian believers had never even heard of. It was a place to lock up remnants of Evil's Doctrine followers and those considered as blasphemous sinners by the West-Hill Divine Palace. Only those whose sins were so terrible that they couldn't be purified by the holy fire were qualified to be locked up here.
The Haotian Taoism Divine Hall was built on the Peach Mountain. During its existence, no one could escape once they were put in the You Prison. Those powerful enough to escape wouldn't be arrested in the first place and those who couldn't escape had to be separated from light, spending the rest of their lives being miserable and helpless in the dark.
The divine priest lowered his head and silently walked through the dim passage. He walked for a long time, long enough to think the passage was endless. He thought he was going through the whole mountain when a wood fence showed up in front of him.
This wood fence appeared very ordinary. It wasn't made of rare materials or had a Fu written by a Divine Talisman Master on it. The distance between each plank was so wide that a person could almost walk through it.
Yet it was a wood fence like this that had imprisoned a certain someone for 14 years.
The divine priest lifted his robe and knelt down in front of the fence. He kowtowed to the old man with thin and long hair behind the fence three times. With a trembling voice, he said, "Greetings, Great Divine Priest."
The old man behind the fence was reciting from a classic volume of Haotian in his hand when he heard a voice. He turned around.
The old man had bony cheeks and a peaceful expression, his eyes sunk in and full of holy brilliance, a brilliance which was peaceful and pure. His eyes had no darkness as if he could see through everything in the world and the deeply hidden darkness in everyone's facade. His eyes were so very bright.
Mo Shanshan was feeling both satisfied yet dissatisfied. She was happy that Ning Que didn't know who she was. That would prevent a lot of noise and troublesome. What she wasn't excited about Ning Que's ignorance meant she had to overthrow all her assumptions.
Feeling conflicted, she didn't know what to say. So all she did was imitate what her teacher typically did. She patted Ning Que gently on the shoulder and turned around.
Ning Que looked at her as she left, marveling at the arrogance and coldness of this girl from the Black Ink Garden.
Noticing his expression, Cat Girl became worried and unhappy that he was misunderstanding her senior sister. But it wasn't her place to explain on her senior sister's behalf so she could only snort angrily and leave.
"I don't doubt that Senior Brother Zhong is from the academy. Since he's from the Chang'an Academy, it's convenient for us both to do things. There shouldn't be a problem. But he's after all a Tang citizen with countless ways to enter the Wilderness. He could go with the Yan army or the imperial court envoy, but he just had to hide his identity and go with us…"
Sitting by the bonfire at night, Zhuo Zhihua turned to Mo Shanshan beside her. With her eyebrows furrowed, she whispered, "Regardless of his explanation or how much influence of Tang imperial court and the Academy exert, this must be no small matter. Our Great River Kingdom lacks power. If we get involved, it won't be easy for us to get out of it."
Cat Girl shook her head, objecting that reasoning. "What's there to fear? There are definitely benefits that come with entering the Wilderness with an Academy student. Even if he may bring us trouble, we're basically carrying a safety amulet with us."
Zhuo Zhihua smiled helplessly and ruffled Cat Girl's hair. Though the Great River Kingdom and the Tang Empire have had a good relationship for generations, the safety amulet could turn out to be a cursed amulet should there really be a dispute between the Tang Empire and the Divine Hall as she had guessed.
Mo Shanshan, who had been listening silently, interrupted just then. "Let him follow my horse carriage."
Cat Girl clapped gently and smiled. She tried to comfort Zhuo Zhihua by saying, "With Senior Sister watching, what's there to worry about? Even if Senior Brother Zhong is a martial master from the second floor of the Academy, he probably wouldn't dare act recklessly."
Mo Shanshan gently said, "He's not a student from the second floor of the Academy… Talking about this, it's really quite a pity."
Cat Girl asked in surprise, "Senior sister, how did you find out?"
Mo Shanshan stared at the flickering fire, her gaze turning distant as if she was looking at somewhere far away. "If he's from the second floor, how could he have not heard of my name?"
...
...
That captain once doubted Ning Que's identity as a student from the second floor of the Academy due to his lack of knowledge of the secret of the seven Tomes of Arcane. Now Mo Shanshan had also excluded him as a student from the second floor due to his ignorance. If Ning Que knew this, he would have once again regretted focusing only on his cultivation on the Back Mountain of the Academy and neglected other things.
On the second day, Ning Que rode his large, black horse to the Bi Lan Lake. His horse couldn't stop shaking its head and expelling warm air carrying his heavy luggage. It looked extremely dissatisfied but didn't show any sign of collapsing under the weight.
After changing into the common student uniform of the Black Ink Garden and wearing a bamboo hat covering half of his face, Ning Que still wasn't happy with his disguise. He ransacked his luggage for the mask Sangsang made for him and wore it carefully.
Mo Shanshan walked out from behind the yellow-clothed curtain. Instead of wearing her usual plain white skirt and blue waistband, she had on a loose skirt in the manner of the girls of the Great River Kingdom. She had hidden her beautiful eyes and brows behind the translucent silk cloth hanging from her bamboo hat, obscuring her beauty from others.
Both Ning Que and Mo Shanshan wanted nothing more than entirely changing their faces. But since they have already seen each other's faces, they found it somewhat odd to see they shared the same idea.
They exchanged glances and brushed past each other without speaking.
In that moment, Ning Que noticed Mo Shanshan's gaze behind the translucent silk cloth were not entirely focused on him. He couldn't help frowning. The girl's face was already behind the silk cloth, yet she was still trying to show contempt for him?
He scoffed to himself. When it came to feigning indifference and coldness, not even Prince Long Qing was his rival. The girl was just a young one. She better not thinks she could affect his emotions with that kind of glance.
...
...
When the students of the Black Ink Garden were done with the preparations, they headed east and arrived beside the tent of the joint armies. They received aid from the Central Plains in the form of grain and fodder from the logistics department to support the Left-tent Palace. The joint armies of the Central Plains and people of the Yuelun Kingdom understood clearly the true challenges and danger would show up after entering the Wilderness, so they didn't meet any obstacles at the moment.
Accompanied by the biting wind and cold morning sun, 200 Yan cavalries, over 100 cart drivers, and about dozen Black Ink Garden students from the Great River Kingdom left the frontier fortress together just like that and headed for the cold and vast Wilderness.
The Yan cavalries guarding the grain and fodder rode in silence while the cart drivers were anxious and numb. The students from the Black Ink Garden rode around them to secure their safety. Besides the grain cart, there were two carriages belonging to the Black Ink Garden. Mo Shanshan sat inside one of them, with Ning Que riding his black horse and following behind closely.
After walking more than 10 miles, they couldn't even see the military tents behind them. Taking off his bamboo hat, Ning Que looked at the mounds of snow piling on the withered grass and listened to the screaming of eagles from somewhere far away. His eyes gleamed with joyful light. He hadn't seen scenery like this for a long time. Even the chilly air that hurt his lungs gave him a feeling of home.
Nothing new happened in the following days. The team moved slowly through the Wilderness, leaving behind an impressive cloud of dust. They didn't meet anyone from the Horse Gang, any soldiers, or any strange events.
With the Divine Hall assigning this tough task to the Black Ink Garden, they were obviously harboring the intentions to make things difficult for them. So, on the surface, they put on a show of courtesy and granted the Black Ink Garden the highest power. The entire 200 of Yan cavalries and all their carts had to obey the orders of these young girls.
Shortly after Ning Que rode next to Mo Shanshan's carriage and said something to her through the window, the arranged Yan guide was dismissed. Then he became the one who decided on their route, selected their accommodation, and arranged the timings.
Under his guidance, the team walked along the hills not far from the Yaozi Sea. Though they couldn't find water every day, they could at least get adequate firewood. The team got up really early and, by noon, Ning Que would order them to search for a place for accommodation and prepare to rest.
The leader of the Yan cavalries once objected, finding the distance they traveled each was too short. If they kept walking at this pace, it would be too late by the time they get to the palace. It was one thing to let the tribesmen starve to death, but it would be a big issue if they delayed the negotiations between the Divine Hall and the palace.
The young girls of the Great River Kingdom completely ignored the leader's objections. In their view, their master had put this senior brother from the Academy in charge so all they needed to do was obey his order. What else was there to consider? As long as they could enter the Wilderness safely and return happily, they didn't care if the Divine Hall would be angry.
Though the Wilderness had already entered winter, the weather hadn't turned too cold. The withered grasses and branches covered in snow were dreary, it was still an interesting journey for the girls from the south.
Ning Que had never been to this side of the Wilderness east of Min Mountain, but he can't say he was intrigued by the scenery or journey. Guiding, searching places to stay in, observing the wind direction, and examining animal feces were all things he had done countless times.
Most of the time, he rode his large, black horse slowly and freely. The reins and bridle of his horse were special and allowed it to freely graze the grasses. Ning Que's body and soul were special too. During this boring journey, his body and soul felt the cold heaven and earth and sought inspirations to break the realm.
Occasionally, he would take Cat Girl to hunt some sheep to improve their lifestyle.
What a great winter view in the Wilderness!
What a great journey in the Wilderness!
...
...
Before and after Ning Que and his companions entered this Wilderness, there were many more powerful people from the Central Plains who came to this mysterious and strange area. Among them were martial masters from the frontier of Tang Imperial, monks from the White Tower Temple of the Yuelun Kingdom, students from the Sword Garret of the South Jin Kingdom, and cold-blooded executioners from the Judicial Department of the Divine Hall.
Naturally, Prince Long Qing was ranked top among those powerful people, standing on the edge of Knowing Destiny State. No one where he was, what view was he seeing, and what was on his mind at this moment.
Yet few people knew the true controller of the Judicial Department of the Divine Hall who had oppressed Prince Long Ling to the point of suffocation had already entered the Wilderness alone under the order of the Great Divine Priest of Judgment a few months ago.
Recognized as the most hardworking cultivator with the most lethal fighting capabilities among the three Tao Addicts in the world, Ye Hongyu was now standing at the top of a white-cloth curtain in the meadow by the Left-tent Palace. She stared north at the night sky without any emotion. Nobody knew what she was thinking about at the moment, but it was most definitely not about Prince Long Qing or her other subordinates.
Let us rewind to the time when she had just left the Peach Mountain of the West Hill a few months ago.
Ye Hongyu's red dress was like a fire cloud floating out of a majestic temple.
The Great Divine Priest of Judgment sat on a throne made entirely of the South Sea dark jade with an indifferent expression. He slowly turned his gaze from the pearl curtain and closed his eyes, asking in a low voice, "How is the Great Divine Priest of Light?"
When the subordinate divine priest heard the name, his body suddenly stiffened and he bowed his head to reply, "Like usual. He recites the classic doctrine each day. From the looks of it… there's nothing different."
...
...
The Peach Mountain of the West Hill was also called the God Mountain. The sun shined brightly on its southside, with blooming peach flowers all over. Peach trees grew along its cliff, making the temple seem tall, magnificent, and splendid.
Yet the north side was a steep cliff. The huge smooth stones looked like they were hacked by God because they had no cracks nor soil. Never mind peach flowers, not even wild grasses could survive here.
While the wild grasses with the most tenacious vitality couldn't root themselves here, humans could.
Countless years ago, some Haotian Taoism fanatics used an original method to open up several steep paths with their bare hands. During this process, innumerable people fell off the cliff and died. Not even their dead bodies were found, but they finally achieved what they wanted to do. Maybe that was why humans were superior to other creatures in this world.
The middle-aged subordinate divine priest slowly traveled the steep stone path. The huge rock face was like a declining sky standing beside him and giving him great pressure. He could still stand tall before the God of Great Divine Priest of Judgment, yet he was completely bent over now, like an ant crawling on the path.
After walking down the path for a long time, the divine priest finally arrived at a place deep inside the Peach Mountain that was surrounded by clouds and fog all year round. Sunshine couldn't penetrate the fog and people couldn't see their fingers. All they could do was feel the moisture in the environment and listen to the sound of water without knowing where the sound came from.
Deep into the fog, there was a door. The divine priest kept silent for a moment in front of the door before pushing it and entering.
A dark world stood behind the door. A faint smell of blood drifted through the dry passage. Dim light spilled on the iron wall, lending a mysterious and strange quality to the beautiful and complicated Fu characters.
This was the You Prison, a place most Haotian believers had never even heard of. It was a place to lock up remnants of Evil's Doctrine followers and those considered as blasphemous sinners by the West-Hill Divine Palace. Only those whose sins were so terrible that they couldn't be purified by the holy fire were qualified to be locked up here.
The Haotian Taoism Divine Hall was built on the Peach Mountain. During its existence, no one could escape once they were put in the You Prison. Those powerful enough to escape wouldn't be arrested in the first place and those who couldn't escape had to be separated from light, spending the rest of their lives being miserable and helpless in the dark.
The divine priest lowered his head and silently walked through the dim passage. He walked for a long time, long enough to think the passage was endless. He thought he was going through the whole mountain when a wood fence showed up in front of him.
This wood fence appeared very ordinary. It wasn't made of rare materials or had a Fu written by a Divine Talisman Master on it. The distance between each plank was so wide that a person could almost walk through it.
Yet it was a wood fence like this that had imprisoned a certain someone for 14 years.
The divine priest lifted his robe and knelt down in front of the fence. He kowtowed to the old man with thin and long hair behind the fence three times. With a trembling voice, he said, "Greetings, Great Divine Priest."
The old man behind the fence was reciting from a classic volume of Haotian in his hand when he heard a voice. He turned around.
The old man had bony cheeks and a peaceful expression, his eyes sunk in and full of holy brilliance, a brilliance which was peaceful and pure. His eyes had no darkness as if he could see through everything in the world and the deeply hidden darkness in everyone's facade. His eyes were so very bright.
