Xia Hou smiled and slowly walked out of his subordinate’s umbrella and into the blizzard. Suddenly, his smile disappeared and he stared indifferently at Ning Que. He asked, “Is this the choice of the Academy?”
Ning Que smiled and said, “You don’t have to be afraid. It’s my own choice. It has nothing to do with the Academy.”
Xia Hou said indifferently, “If you want to die, then you will.”
Ning Que said, “I myself don’t want to die, I just want you to die.”
Xia Hou looked at him. He remained silent for a long time, then said, “You are lunatic.”
Ning Que replied, “When I fled from Chang’an 15 years ago, I managed to survive with determination and perseverance to die. All I wanted to do was to be lunatic. Wasn’t that worth it?”
Xia Hou was silent for a moment and said, “That was indeed worth it.”
It was unpopular in Tang to return good for evil. Those born and bred on this land were used to be straightforward–if you hit one, he would hit you back; if you wanted to kill one, then he would definitely try to kill you in return; if you killed one’s father, then he would kill both you and your father. That was the reason why people took for granted that Ning Que had sent Xia Hou an invitation for a fight to the death.
In order to prevent those complicated things in the past from affecting the development of the empire, the court promised to cut off relations with Xia Hou with the help of the Academy and allowed Xia Hou to retire. They did not want the Xiling Temple’s power to extend into Chang’an city. No matter what Ning Que would do to Xia Hou, whether by conspiracies or justifiable means, he would inevitably affect the process of the old being superceded by the new. However, the simplest or the stupidest method that he chose today would not have any influence, since the fight must be fair when the environment was fair.
Fairness did not mean everything. Everyone thought that it amounted to seeking death for Ning Que to challenge General Xia Hou across the border. No one wanted to see Ning Que die because he was one of the Academy Headmaster’s disciples. However, they could not stop the duel now and all they could do was to wish that Xia Hou would not accept the challenge.
It was a real humiliation for a martial arts leader to reject the challenge of a Seethrough Realm cultivator. Therefore, when gazing at Xia Hou, the Prince showed a look of appeal.
Xia Hou did not seem to have sensed the Prince’s gaze. He squinted slightly, looked at Ning Que and said, “Since you want me to kill you…”
At this moment, there were sounds of multiple footsteps at the gate of the palace. Several high-ranking eunuchs were running desperately towards the gate, with messy uniforms and an untidy look. In such a snowy and windy weather, they were all sweating profusely, indicating that they had run all the way from the palace.
Eunuch Lin, who was in front of the eunuch group, heard the voice of Xia Hou and appeared horrified. He shouted like a goose squeezing its throat. “His Majesty has ordered that no one here should move.”
Upon hearing the shout, the bigwigs outside the palace suddenly felt relaxed. They thought that only the Emperor could stop this fight.
Xia Hou seemed to have not heard the shrill voice coming from behind, nor did he hear the order of His Majesty. He said indifferently, “…I will follow your wish.”
After saying that, he took a knife in the hands of his bodyguard and swiftly used it to cut his left palm. Compared with Ning Que’s slow cutting of his hand, his version of palm-cutting was extraordinarily powerful.
Without any expression on his face, Xia Hou slowly clenched his left hand into a fist, and a stream of thick blood spilled from his hand.
Eunuch Lin had never run so fast in his entire life. He ran to the place breathlessly. Suddenly, he inadvertently sat down in the snow, his face turning pale when seeing Xia Hou’s bleeding palm.
Prince Li Peiyan’s face was as pale as snow.
Xu Shi’s silver eyebrows were like the snow on the willow by the lakeside. He looked at Xia Hou emotionlessly and said, “Cancel it.”
Xia Hou shook his head and indifferently replied, “He can cancel it but I cannot. I have my pride.”
Listening to these words, Ning Que started to applaud.
His left palm was still bleeding. The blood scattered towards the surroundings as he applauded, which fell on his black uniform as well as the white snow on the ground, creating an extremely bloody picture.
The applause was bloody as well, with blood scattering around as if it was going to be condensed.
Ning Que said, “You haven’t disappointed me. You are still the arrogant and stupid general, and I hope you continue to be proud like this.”
Xia Hou ignored his sarcasm and asked with a poker face, “When shall we start to fight?”
On the thin challenge document, the date column was blank.
Ning Que said, “Before you leave Chang’an City.”
Xia Hou said, “I am leaving today.”
Ning Que said, “Then we shall fight today.”
Xia Hou said, “Well, I wouldn’t waste too much time killing you before I set off.”
Ning Que said, “You might not be able to set off any more.”
Xia Hou’s expressions did not change and he said indifferently, “Since I have set the time, it’s your turn to choose the location.”
“I have been preparing the location for a long time.”
Ning Que said, “I have bought many houses on the bank of Yanming Lake. So don’t worry about hurting the innocent when we fight. Besides, I made some preparations there. After all, I am a Talisman Master, and I know something about tactical arrays. Since I have a lower state than you, I want to take some advantages in this field.”
When the two talked, no one interjected. All of them were shocked and listened reluctantly. Their faces did not change until they heard of the fighting location that Ning Que had chosen.
In fact, many bigwigs in Chang’an City knew that Ning Que had bought houses on the bank of Yanming Lake. Bigwigs with military background like General Xu Shi knew clearly what Ning Que had done, so they were not surprised at Ning Que’s choice for the fighting location. What surprised them was that Ning Que had made it clear to Xia Hou.
Looking at Xia Hou, Ning Que asked, “Would you mind that?”
Xia Hou replied, “Since I am proud, I must continue to be so, even though it makes me seem like a fool.”
Ning Que shook his head and said, “Pride can kill a person.”
Xia Hou said, “If a goshawk doesn’t feel proud in front of an ant, it will suffer punishment from the heavens.”
“Enough! You two lunatics!”
Prince Li Peiyan’s face was pale, with gloomy fire burning in his eyes. He looked at Xia Hou and sharply said, “Have you ever thought about the consequeces of killing this man? How would you explain it to the Headmaster of the Academy? How would the imperial court explain it to the Headmaster of the Academy?”
“I will exchange this crown for an hour.”
Having said this, the prince resolutely took off his crown and placed it on the snow field between Ning Que and Xia Hou. He looked back at the ministers and said coldly, “What are you doing? Get your business done!”
The officials of the court were suddenly woken up, and they spread out as soon as possible with the help of their subordinates, in order to find ways to stop the duel. Zeng Jing, the Grand Secretary, wanted to walk to Ning Que and persuade him, but he just sighed and retreated to the rear when noticing Ning Que’s bleeding palm.
Xu Shi partially slanted his eyes, as if he was either watching Xia Hou and Ning Que or watching the flying snow in the sky. He said, “You two have had a feud for more than ten years. You shouldn’t mind waiting for one more hour, right?”
After saying this, he turned away from the gate of the palace and left. No one knew where he went.
In front of the Gate, where the snow was flying in the wind, only a few people including Grand Secretary Zeng Jing were still watching.
After a long silence, Xia Hou suddenly said, “Give me the flag.”
At the far end of the Yuqiao Bridge, the general’s guard of honor was there. Hundreds of people had already waited for a long time. After listerning to these few words, a soldier galloped off and took a flag from the guard of honor, then stood upright behind General Xia Hou. The cold wind whistled, with snow flying and the flag waving in the sky.
It was the flag of the princes and generals of the Tang Empire. Its color was bloody red, as if it had been dyed by the blood of tens of thousands of enemies. With the flag whistling in the blizzard, the atmosphere suddenly became imposing.
Looking at the bloody flag behind Xia Hou, and its red hue being reflected over his face, Ning Que said, “You must be scared, since you take the flag to boost your power.”
Xia Hou nonchalantly looked at the spilled blood, with no expression in his eyes.
Ning Que said with a smile, “Give me the umbrella.”
With a loud bang, Sangsang opened the big black umbrella once again, covering the heavy snow overhead.
In the snowstorm, a bloody flag and a black umbrella stood opposite each other at a distance.
The news that Ning Que, Mr. Thirteen of the Academy, issued a challenge to General Xia Hou had spread to every house in Chang’an City immediately.
No one thought that Ning Que could win, so they didn’t want to watch General Xia Hou kill him. Nor did they know how the Headmaster of the Academy would respond to Ning Que’s death.
The Headmaster of the Academy had not spoken in public for many years and had even been forgotten by many people in the world. But for the bigwigs in the court, it definitely did not mean that his voice did not have power any more; every word he said, for the Tang Empire, was the thunder above the clouds.
It was a fair duel, initiated by Ning Que. Even if Ning Que died, the Headmaster might still adhere to the laws of the Tang Empire and remain silent. However, no one dared to take the risk, even if it was a small risk. If the Headmaster became angry because of Ning Que’s death, it was possible that the entire city of Chang’an would be destroyed.
When Li Qingshan, the Nation Master, appeared in front of the big tactical array at the Cloud Gate, he kept thinking about these things. When he heard the reply from Mr. First of the Academy, he did not react to it for a while.
“This is the personal affair of our Youngest Brother. The Academy will not stop him, according to its own rules.”
Li Qingshan frowned and said, “But for Ning Que, it’s a self-inflicted death.”
The Eldest Brother said gently, “Since it is self-inflicted, who can stop it?”
Li Qingshan was unable to suppress his shock and said, “If Mr. Thirteen was really killed by General Xia Hou, what would the Academy do?”
The Eldest Brother said with a smile, “We will miss him.”
There were Yulin Royal Guards in Chang’an City.
This powerful army responsible for guarding the imperial city had unimaginable strength; it had strong practitioners in cultivation at the Imperial Center Administration and the Southern Gate Temple. Most critically, they had a strong will and determination.
According to the Tang Empire laws, the Yulin Royal Guards now only listened to the orders of two people, the Emperor of Tang and General Xu Shi.
In the cold wind and snow, the Yulin Royal Guards began to form their troops and then prepared to march out of the camps. However, they had to stop in front of the Yuqiao Bridge, for there was a man siting on its planks.
The man wore a high crown and robes. He sat cross-legged in the snow on the bridge, with his head slightly lowered.
Looking at the man on the bridge, Xu Shi could no longer suppress his anger. His shouting was so loud that it was like a thunder in spring blasting off on the bridge and even the accumulated snow shook. He said, “Jun Mo, anyone who blocks the road is to be killed!”
The man on the bridge was the Second Brother in the Academy, Jun Mo.
“Whoever blocks the road will be killed? There is no such thing in the laws of the Tang Empire, nor did the ancient Etiquette record this.”
The Second Brother raised his head, looked at the military leader of the Tang Empire under the bridge and calmly said, “In that case, if I must die, you should die first.”
…