Nightfall

Questioning Heaven in the Morass, Collecting Things Under the Jade Tree

Ning Que was quiet because he was disappointed and angry. Sangsang had always been quiet. She became more quiet because ever since they left the dwelling of the savages, there was nothing but vast wilderness along their way. They were getting further away from human habitation and further away from the human world, although in different ways.

They crossed the Wilderness via the same route they used to take. When summer came, the black carriage arrived at the Morass. They sensed the smell of rot and damp and saw the fog. If it was in the past, then Ning Que would have been worried about the invisible dangers hidden in the marsh and fog. However, he couldn’t care less now because he knew that Haotian was right here in the carriage. It was also because he knew who the master of the Morass was.

The black carriage entered the fog, glowing with warmth. The glow came from Sangsang’s body. It was not blazing but very firm. No matter how thick and moist the fog became, it could never stop the light from glowing and spreading out. In a blink of eye the fog around the carriage was cleared out. Blue sky appeared above and everything in the Morass was unveiled.

There was slush everywhere. The water seemed very shallow with green moss floating on top. Numerous deep lagoons hid underneath. No ordinary human beings could get out alive from the Morass.

This was nothing for Ning Que and Sangsang. The black carriage was as light as a feather. The wheels rolled across the water without making any ripple or catching a single piece of moss.

The poisonous serpents in the ponds and the monsters in the poplar forest were peeping at their carriage from afar. Though they could not sense Haotian’s Divine Power due to their lack of intelligence, they instinctively felt the fear and did not dare to come close. The big black horse was still vigilant as it did not want to be bitten by any of the creatures.

Ning Que’s blade suddenly started burning and a scarlet flame ran out of the sheath. It turned into a scarlet Vermillion Bird posing in front of the carriage and was whistling harshly toward somewhere afar in the fog.

The Vermilion Bird was the killing talisman of the God-Stunning Array. Serpents or monsters would have never awake it. There must be a much more powerful enemy. It continued to whistle to something in the fog afar and seemed very anxious.

After entering the Morass, it had been safe and quiet. Ning Que felt like being an ass in the lion’s skin, but now he could not refrain from worrying as the Vermilion Bird became so anxious.

Sangsang was not anxious at all but she found the Vermilion Bird’s whistling annoying and piercing. She reached out through the blue curtain and got hold of its neck. The whistling was stopped abruptly.

The Vermilion Bird was a Divine Talisman on top of the Knowing Destiny State. It had overcome its fear in the battle in Chang’an and became even more proud and confident after attacking the Abbey Dean. It would never surrender to such a defeat, but being held in Sangsang’s hand, it did not dare to struggle, and looked pitiful with its eyes darting around.

Clattering sounds appeared from deep inside the fog. Only after a short while did the clattering become sharper and quaked the entire marsh like a storm.

Ning Que was looking to that direction wearily but suddenly felt relaxed upon hearing thundering clatters. It was because he knew who was approaching.

Without the fog, everything in the Morass was distinctly visible. When the fog afar was dispersed by a black shadow, a crowd of countless wild horses rushed out and clattered intensively towards them.

In front of the crowd, there were eight rarely seen steeds pulling an extremely shabby carriage. Inside the carriage sat a swarthy lazy donkey with snow white lips.