Nightfall

This river had a lot of names, and in around 20 miles of bypassing the territory of Tang, it was referred to as Wei River. In the Yan Kingdom, it was called Yi River or Juma River. In the Song Kingdom it was known as Tongtian River, because there was a tributary that flowed directly into the Storm Sea, and the Song Kingdom had always insisted that it was the main channel, hence they completely ignored that this river could flow through the other seven hundred miles of land before it reached the Great Swamp.

No one has ever called it the Great River because there was already a Great River at the south of the world, but this was actually an enormous river full of water, the waves were very wide, the wind blew across the paddy field and flowers on both sides of the strait, fostering countless human beings.

Especially during this period before and after the Yan Kingdom, the river was extremely wide, separated by a distance of hundreds of feet. It was difficult to make out the faces of people on the other side of the river, no matter how good one’s eyesight was, and of course it was impossible to recognize who the other party was.

But with one look across the river, Ning Que recognized the man as Long Qing. It was an indescribable feeling, just like a big river flowing into the sea, something that came naturally.

The world was so big, and Yi River was so cold. There were many wars, flames of battles raging everywhere, people who were supposed to run away had long fled. It was rare to see traces of people while walking in the wilderness, but someone had appeared on the other side of the river.

That person, of course, could only be Long Qing.

The big black horse stopped, Ning Que looked to the other side, and at the same time, Long Qing also stopped riding and looked toward Ning Que. Both of their eyes met on the surface of the surging river, it was not those kind of moments described in the literature: It turns out you are here too. And so they would just simply tell each other that they had seen one another, so neither of them could leave.

After looking at each other silently for a moment, Ning Que reined lightly and continued to speed north; Long Qing on the other side was also heading north, his ride was obviously extraordinary that it actually could keep up with the speed of the big black horse.

Winter was in the air. Ning Que felt slightly hungry and stopped by a river bend. He took out some food and began to eat by the river. Long Qing also stopped and drank several mouthfuls from his wine bottle to quench his thirst.

Twilight engulfed the countryside, Ning Que stopped and picked up some branches to start a fire. He let the big black horse wander around and rest while he himself sat by the fire to roast wild wheat until it was slightly scorched and then began to chew it in his mouth. It did not take long for a fire to burn on the other side, which stood out in the early evening.

The morning light shone the earth, Ning Que woke up and walked to the shore to scoop up a handful of cold piercing river water and washed his face. As he looked up, he saw Long Qing was using a leather bag to draw water without looking to this side.

Ning Que continued to travel north whereas Long Qing continued to accompany him on the other side.

Both of them did not speak, they were in absolute silence, no eye threat, not even a trace of hostility, not to mention flying swords and arrows, peach blossom and Divine Talisman.

When they arrived at the borders of Yan Kingdom, the river veered west into a narrow gorge. The river became much narrower than it had been yesterday, and they were able to see the people on the other side more clearly.

Ning Que and Long Qing still went forth silently, just like the two sides of the river.

Whether it was the left or right bank, in fact, the river banks always looked similar. There would be water grass, gravel, stone steps at places where people were usually found, and bluestone which was used to wash clothes. There would be garbage thrown into the river by people on the boat, rotten vegetables or leaves floating on the water, and also a winding stream.

Nothing was more like a river-bank than a river-bank itself, but the two sides of the river were always parallel, and there was no chance of the two sides meeting unless they flowed back to their source or into the Great Swamp or the sea.

The person most similar to yourself is often your enemy. You have been fighting with that person for years and you seem to know each other very well, but you have never really come in contact with each other, instead, all you did was just looked at each other.

As they went upstream, the wind grew colder, Yi River was also colder and narrower, and Ning Que was able to clearly see Long Qing’s eyes and brows, realizing the scar on him had faded a lot. Long Qing could also see the little freckles on his cheeks and the rope made of straw that was wrapped around the iron knife handle on his shoulder.

Two days after entering the north mountains of Yan Kingdom, they went to the end of the river where there were no more mountains. There was endless fog, like white clouds rising from the ground, as wonderful as a fairyland, at the same time covering each other’s figure.

There were raging sounds of water coming from the clouds as they crashed into the cliffs, the sound fading. Imagine how steep the unseen river had become in the valley.

Ning Que dismounted from the big black horse and looked at the opposite bank of the fog, wondering if Long Qing was still there.

Then, in the fog, came Long Qing’s voice. “What have you written?

…

Ning Que and Long Qing were considered to be enemies of life by many people. In fact, their fates had intertwined over the years, and they met very rarely, but every time they did, it reached a point of life and death, and each win or loss will affect them, in a much broader sense, their future, and destiny.

Meeting each other at the Yi River bank, they silently moved forward on both sides of the strait. No words were spoken, there was only the light of campfire shining at each other, until they came to the end of the place where they could no longer see each other, then they began to talk. However, Ning Que never would have thought that the first words spoken by Long Qing would carry such a content, making him narrow his eyes.

What did Ning Que write using the barbarian blood on the grassland outside of Wei City? When he went to Lanke Temple during the autumn rain to see the stone broken into three halves, had he ever wrote something? If so, what was written? Was it the final volume of New Stream teachings handed over to Chen Pipi? Or something else?

“Everyone is at West-Hill. Why did you come here?”

Ning Que did not answer Long Qing’s question, although Long Qing’s first sentence came straight from reading his mind, which left him feeling that what he said did have some truth to it. The person who knew you best was often your enemy.

The voice of Long Qing could be heard from the clouds once again, “Because you are here.”

Ning Que maintained his expressions and removed the steel bow from his shoulder as if he wanted to rest right there for a moment.

Long Qing expressed his meaning clearly. To Taoism or the world, the final battle in the Divine Halls of West-Hill was indeed important, but to him, nothing was more important than the whereabouts of Ning Que.

“A lot of people are speculating about when will I go to Chengjing City to kill you, but actually my mind does not bear this thought at all. Other than me not liking to be watched by people, what’s more important was, I have second thoughts about killing you…”

“I knew you wouldn’t be looking for me in Chengjing City, so I was waiting for you at the border all along.”

“There are many fools in the world who thought there would be a fight between us. Have you now become so foolish as to follow the story of all the fools?”

“As I said, I’m not sure of killing you, and… I killed A Da, and also Hengmu, and so on. It was dull and monotonous, it does not meet the aesthetics of the Academy.”

Ning Que looked calmly at the steel bow lying on his knees, he did not know how a dark Steel Arrow had gotten from the quiver to his hand. The whole process of taking the arrow did not make any sound.

He was telling the truth.

Now Long Qing was really powerful. Even Elder Brother could not even see through him, how could he not be powerful? The more critical proof was that Abbey Dean had passed the most important mission to Long Qing, which was to kill Ye Su in helping him to become a sage. Such a person was not easy to kill, so why should he risk it?

But, Ning Que was clear that he himself was very strong too, according to the meaning of that saying, Long Qing should be clearer about his own strength and whether he was up for it. He did not wish to fight with Long Qing, so why did Long Qing came to stop him?

“You kill people all over the world, but you’re actually looking for someone. Others wouldn’t understand, but I do. You killed Hengmu and A Da just to find her, and you think that you will get some information by killing them, since they themselves have verified the rumours that has been circling around the world, about them being her gifts or sons that she left in the world. Of course, you will still get the slightest bit of information when you kill them.”

Deep in the clouds, Long Qing went quiet for a moment, then he continued again.

“I am different, I am not a gift left by Haotian to the world. From that moment onwards, I’m not even qualified to be her son, of course, now I have lost interest in this kind of alias. I am nothing, I betrayed her and I only believed in myself. In this case, killing me means nothing, so why risk it?”

“Yes,” Ning Que said, his fingers gently caressing the bowstring, which was as hard as stone and as stable as a mountain.

Long Qing said, “You will not take the initiative to kill me, but I wanted to come and find you… because I feel you are getting closer to finding her. I have different thoughts with my teacher, I thought you had the best chance of finding her so I can’t let you go on. I don’t care what you wanted to write but I can’t let you write it anymore.

Ning Que raised his head and looked into the depths of the clouds, “You have high expectations for me,” he said.

The voice of Long Qing sounded, “Those who had despised you are all dead.”

Ning Que was silent for a moment and replied, “I despised you a lot before back when you wanted to be her maidservant.”

Long Qing said, “Yes, looking back at that time and thinking about her identity, I find myself to be rather stupid, arrogant, and idiotic.”

Ning Que said, “This is the first time you used the word ‘idiot’. You are powerful, which leaves me with nothing to say.”

Long Qing replied, “Thanks a lot.”

Ning Que continued, “After that, I shot an arrow at you on the snow cliff, but you actually survived. You survived shamelessly and alerted me as I live in such a way too. In fact, you almost killed me during that autumn rain at Red Lotus Temple.”

The voice of Long Qing had a hint of regretfulness, “But I still didn’t manage to kill you in the end.”

Ning Que said, “Now that I think about it, everything that has happened is God’s will.”

Long Qing agreed, “Haotian has been by your side back in that year, of course, God’s will sides with you too.”

“If I were you, I would be dissatisfied,” Ning Que said.

Long Qing replied, “Nothing to be dissatisfied with.”

Ning Que said, “Otherwise, why would you be here now?”

He had asked this question before, and Long Qing had answered it. In order to not let him find Sangsang, in order to not let him write that very word, for Taoism or the world, for brilliance, greatness, justice…

Yet he had asked again.

Long Qing was silent for a long time, then gave a new answer. “Yes, this is an unnecessary fight. Haotian, Taoism, the world… and that word you wrote were all excuse. I just wanted to see if I could kill you now because I… am dissatisfied.”

In the mist, his voice was very calm, like a naughty child that stripped off his clothes playing mud in the river, that had finally obtained freedom and happiness, so real that it left people surging with emotions.

Among the quietness, there was nothing but the sound of water.

Ning Que stood up and looked at the clouds where the sound had come from. He didn’t speak for a long time.

Long Qing also did not speak for a long time.

The world was huge, and they did not meet much, but each and every time they met it would be engraved in their hearts. Wanting a handmaiden at the banquet, the mountaineering of the two-floor high mountain, the arrow that broke the boundary on the snow cliff, three times in a row, all were won by Ning Que.

Because of the Steel Arrow, Long Qing became a disabled person, he gave up his fiancee, entered the dark and became a devil. He learned the practice of Grey Eyes and betrayed Taoism. He thought it was a great success, thus planned an ambush in front of Red Lotus Temple and waited for Ning Que. He did not expect that Ning Que had learned the Practice of Taotie, even if it looked like two wild dogs biting each other, the final victory still belonged to Ning Que.

There were still many stories following those, the bountiful ones; the bitter ones; the glamorous ones, and the heavy ones. Two of them walked along the two sides of the river in accordance with their own destiny, they survived through hardships and continued to shine.

Until they met each other in this desperate place, as they sat and prattled.

It was about life and death, just these two words.

Dissatisfied.

If there was already Ning Que in the world, what’s the point of me being here?

Long Qing, dissatisfied.

This story was too long and it was time for an ending.

With reason, or without, it did not matter.

Ning Que quietly looked at the depths of clouds, he could feel the will and became emotional. He had felt that will in many places he had been before.

Such as at the bottom of Daming lake, such as the cliff caves in the mountain right behind the Academy.

He did not expect that Long Qing’s unreconciled will was so strong. He had a lot of respect for Long Qing.

He raised his steel bow, aimed at the position confirmed by the conversation they had and did not hesitate to release.

Swoosh, the Steel Arrow was released from the string and disappeared without a trace.

His face was as calm and cold as ever.

After saying a few words, reminiscing the past, showing some respect and emotion, but, I still want to kill you.

Since you had been in dissatisfaction for such a long time, so, please continue to feel so, until you’ve reached the netherworld.

…