Nightfall
chapter-599

The hall was in ruins. No one saw the chessboard and when they heard Master Qishan saying that it had been destroyed, they were speechless. They were thinking that, even with Qi Nian having broken his 16 years of silent meditation and the steel sword of the Academy’s Mister Second, the chessboard left behind by Buddha shouldn’t have been destroyed. Even more shocking was that Master Qishan said he could not be sure whether Ning Que or the Daughter of Yama were dead or alive.

The Lanke Temple’s abbot had his left leg chopped off by the steel sword and he was lying in the autumn rain covered in blood. His face was pale as he looked at the remains of Master Boshu in the arms of Quni Madi. He froze for a long time before suddenly bursting into tears.

Thinking back to the countless casualties today, the abbott’s body started shaking uncontrollably. He then crawled up the stone stairs on all fours and cried saying to Master Qishan, “Why must you do this? Do you want the whole world to be destroyed? Lanke has been destroyed, can this not stop the destruction of the world?”

Master Qishan looked at his disciple in pity and took another look at Qi Nian before saying slowly, “A hundred years ago, I left the Xuankong Temple and came to the world, I have stayed here the longest and my love for this place has only gotten deeper. However, when it comes to protecting the world, we have chosen different paths.”

Qi Nian said, “Uncle, have you ever considered that this path that you have chosen for humanity is very different from most people’s? It might be a terrible mistake.”

A smile appeared on Master Qishan’s weary face as he said, “I am Qishan, not a divergent mountain. Hence, this road that I have chosen will always be different in other’s eyes.”

With that, he slowly closed his eyes and leaned into Guan Hai’s embrace.

Monk Guan Hai’s body was chilled by the autumn rain. At this moment, his heart was similarly wet and cold. He reached out with a trembling finger and placed it in front of the master’s nose. His tears couldn’t stop flowing.

The master had attained Parinirvana.

Decades ago, Master Qishan saved countless of lives from precarious situations. He was infected with a serious illness and his cultivation state was almost destroyed. Fighting with the illness for many years, he was mentally and physically worn out. Now he was old and tired but he still helped Ning Que fend off Qi Nian, forcefully opening the chessboard world.

Jun Mo looked at the master’s fragile body in the arms of Monk Guan Hai, then slowly bowed.

The Lanke Temple’s abbot, who was denouncing the master suddenly stopped in shock, to cry and laugh madly before falling to his knees.

In front of the stone steps of the hall, all those who could still stand saluted the master’s remains.

Such respect wasn’t because Master Qishan was the true elder of the Lanke Temple or that he was the Bhadanta of the Buddhism Sect. It was because he used centuries in his lifetime to prove his kindness and compassion. Even if most people would oppose the decision that he made before he died, no one dared to question his virtue.

The autumn rain dispersed slightly.

A scholar appeared before the hall ruins. The intense rain had drenched the cotton cloth on his body; the cotton flowers that were bloodied and covered the cotton looked like they had frost on them.

Hearing the crying noises from the stone stairs, he walked over and everyone opened a path for him.

Eldest Brother walked to the body of Master Qishan, thinking back to the letters the two had exchanged these few years. Thinking about the various hopes that Master had written of in those letters, he had a sorrowful expression; as he held the Master’s gradually colder right hand, he softly said a few words.

Jun Mo looked at his back and said, “Master said that our Younger Brother and Sangsang might still be alive.”

Eldest Brother stood up and looked at the raining skies. He squinted his eyes at the fast raindrops and his face was pale and weary. He suddenly turned around and walked up the stone steps.

The hall was already a pile of rubble; Eldest Brother slightly swayed his cotton sleeves and cotton flowers were released from them, floating away. The rubble around him was quickly cleared away at a visible speed.

Jun Mo knew that his Senior Brother had already forcefully broken the realm too many times today, and if he were to continue, his cultivation state would be irreparably damaged. He said, “Senior Brother, let me do this.”

Eldest Brother said, “I am very anxious.”

He was usually a patient person and was slow-tempered, sometimes even too slow that it could test one’s temper. However today, he was the most anxious person in the world and naturally he was most worried about Ning Que.

Jun Mo didn’t say anything else as he thrust the steel sword into the ground and started helping his Senior Brother.

In a short amount of time, the rubble in the hall had been cleared away. Even the foundation of the hall was dug out by Jun Mo but they still couldn’t find the chessboard.

Could the chessboard left behind by Buddha have been destroyed, just as Master Qishan had said?

However, even if it was, there should be some traces left behind.

The autumn rain became more intense as there was silence all around the debris. Besides the sound of the rain, nothing could be heard. The rainwater slowly seeped into the foundation that had just been dug and started forming pools of water everywhere.

Eldest Brother looked at the pools of water, when his expression suddenly changed.

In the deepest part of the hall’s foundation, it was still surrounded by the earthen walls, with traces of the slashes of steel swords on it. One could vaguely make out a tower with a base that was over ten square feet in size. The tower had been buried under the hall for many years and was long in ruins. At the center of the tower was an old well that was stuffed full of dirt. The well head was broken long ago.

Jun Mo came beside the tower and pierced at it with the steel sword in his hands before shaking his head.

There were no gaps in the dirt covering the dried up well and was inaccessible to the ground level, so there was no way. Even if Ning Que and Sangsang had abandoned the black carriage, they couldn’t escape from here.

Where could one find an opening in such ruins?

Ye Su and the rest started rummaging through the rubble, digging up the foundation of the hall. They were silent as they were clear that Mr. First and Mr. Second were quiet at this moment but their emotions were on the brink of exploding. At such a moment, even the abbey dean of the Zhishou Abbey and the Chief Preaching Monk weren’t willing to offend them.

Eldest Brother walked out of the rubble toward Qi Nian, then looked at him quietly for a long time before saying with a guilty emotion, “In Chang’an, I shouldn’t have discussed this with you. I always believed that since you professed Buddhism, you should have some compassion.”

Qi Nian was covered in blood and had a calm expression as he said, “Using Mr. First’s trust in the Buddhism Sect was wrong of me. However, I did it due to the compassion that the Buddhism Sect has for this world.”

Eldest Brother shook his head, sighed and said, “Having no compassion, not even for a weak girl… where is this great compassion? Even if there is, what is it good for?”

Hearing this, there was silence in front of the temple ruins. Everyone, especially Monk Guan Hai and the Lanke Temple’s abbot were deep in thought. Qi Nian’s expression turned slightly.

“Teacher had once said that I am a bright and clear mountain stream. I have not once met with a real crossroad or swamp, having been much more fortunate than Younger Brother. Only today, after being cheated and used by you is when I come to understand what Teacher’s words meant. This is my first time feeling such pain and anger.”

Eldest Brother looked at Qi Nian and continued, “I cannot fight; otherwise I would battle it out with you here. When I have learned to fight, I will find you at the Xuankong Temple.”

Jun Mo looked at the indifferent expression on Qi Nian’s face and said, “Because of Master Qishan’s last wish, I will not kill you today. When I find Younger Brother at the Academy, he will naturally go to the Xuankong Temple to kill you. If I can’t find him at the Academy, I will follow Senior Brother to the Xuankong Temple to find you. Please let the Chief Preaching Monk know.”

Different words but they were talking about the same thing. Everyone in the autumn rain felt cold as they silently thought: Could the Academy be declaring war on the Xuankong Temple?

Cheng Ziqing of the Sword Garret leaned against the stone steps, looking at Qi Nian without a word. He couldn’t help but think that if he were a monk from the Xuankong Temple, he would need to pray for Ning Que to still be alive.

If he was dead, can the Xuankong Temple withstand the intense revenge of the Academy?

Qi Nian’s expression didn’t change. Looking at the two people from the Academy, he calmly said, “This is the will of Buddha, how can mortals change that? Ning Que and the Daughter of Yama must be dead. If the Academy wants to get rid of Buddha, we shall see.”

“Buddha was also a mortal back then.”

Jun Mo raised his head in the rainy skies towards the Buddha stone statue on the peak of Tile Mountain far away. Looking at the solemn expression of the stone Buddha and the Light of Buddha that was still slowly descending from its palm, he grew incredibly angry.

“From today onwards, bald donkeys aren’t allowed into the Tang jurisdiction.”

With that, he became slightly pale as his oversized shirt swayed in the rain. The broad steel sword flew towards the skies and pierced through the rain, impaling itself into the Buddha statue.

The stone statue of Buddha at the peak of Tile mountain was incredibly big, almost as if the real Buddha was overseeing the world.

Compared statue, the steel sword was an insignificant piece of metal.

However, the steel sword was filled with the most explosive emotions from Jun Mo; the deepest contempt, the absolute order. How could a senseless stone Buddha be able to compete against that?

The right hand of the stone Buddha fell off its wrist and landed from incredibly high up. It upset the goshawks and the autumn rain; it fell to the ground after a very long time, giving off a muffled thud.

The face of the stone statue had a few more horizontal lines on it. From afar, they were like black lines drawn with ink by a mischievous kid; his solemn expression instantly became ridiculous.

Those lines were drawn by the steel swords and went deep into the back of the statue’s head. After a moment, the entire face of the stone statue collapsed as rocks continued to tumble.

Giant rocks started falling off from the stone statue, as the speed of its collapse became quicker and quicker.

There was a continuous thundering sound from the Tile mountain peak. Countless dust clouds rushed towards the sky and even the rain showers couldn’t extinguish them in a short amount of time. The peak started shaking and reached the Lanke Temple at the foot of the mountain.

Hundreds of huge rocks came tumbling down the mountain; they sounded like tens of thousands of horses running and it left one horrified. Following down the slope, they were heading toward the Lanke Temple that was already in ruins.

The people at the back temple were shocked and scared as they held onto their injured companions or carried the bodies of the dead and started rushing into the middle temple.

Countless sounds of impact could be heard as the giant rocks that came from the stone statue had easily crushed the ancient temple’s walls. They shattered the temple ruins even further, crushing the stone floors and the broken bell, adding to the trmendous horror.

After a long time, it was finally silent. The dust settled and everyone that had escaped to the front square of the temple turned their backs slowly in shock. A big part of the Lanke Temple had been crushed flat by the giant rocks.

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