Beyond the Divine States

Chapter 41 Such a Long Night

In the extreme darkness, the light shone in bit by bit.

That was the slightly flickering candlelight.

The light orange halo around the candlelight faded away like faint mist, enveloping the ordinary room. The room was made of wood and the dark brown wooden frame was somewhat old. The spider nets hung in the house were well cleaned. The dishes on the table were covered by the bamboo-made cover. A little girl who was seven or eight years old was leaning over the table, swinging her legs and discontentedly watching a boy sitting on the threshold and eating the fruit.

Ning Changjiu immediately recognized that the boy was her younger brother.

Whipping the bamboo mat by the door, her mother was talking to her brother while he was listening absent-mindedly.

Her father was slashing the firewood. He looked quite strong without any old appearance.

The family was not rich but supposedly, they lived a good life in the peaceful era.

However, a disaster suddenly arrived before Ning Changjiu could sort out Ning Xiaoling's family relations.

The little girl didn't lie to him. As she said before, this was the key moment indeed.

A gust of unknown wind whooshed by and the candlelight went out. Suddenly, the clops of hoofs came as if the floors were lifted together with thunderous drumbeats, followed by cries of women and kids outside.

Ning Xiaoling was also stupefied in fear. She cried for her father but she couldn't make any sound though she opened her mouth.

The wind threw her over on the ground like an invisible hand.

"Mountain spirits... It's the mountain spirits... The mountain spirits broke in!"

People were shouting outside and the doors were all quickly closed with bangs. In the street, a herd of beasts wrapped with black flames resembling the wild wolves rushed out and banged the doors constantly.

It was not the first time that evil spirits came to assault human beings. Even the downtown area's situation was so bad. As to those small towns near the barren mountainous area, if they were rampaged by the mountain spirits several times, there wouldn't be any survivors.

In the eyes of the mountain spirits, the city was just like a fenced area with their prey reared in captivity so that they could hunt and kill the prey from time to time.

Most of them were formed by the wild ghosts in the mountainous areas. The wild ghosts possessed the living animals and controlled their minds but meanwhile, they also aroused the potential in their blood, making the animals grow bigger by several times. As a result, they all appeared extremely hideous and terrifying.

Ning Xiaoling heard the cries for help. In the darkness, she heard a series of urgent bangs on the door and then the suspected screams of her mother. She cried for her parents several times but no one replied to her. Afterward, she heard her younger brother crying.

Ning Xiaoling dashed to him and asked, "Where is Mother?"

Her brother cried, "She is still outside..."

Ning Xiaoling was in shock. It was dark just now. Her brother just ran back into the room and closed the door by instinct.

She thought of the scream and felt cold all over her body. She raised her hand to slap his face heavily, throwing him on the ground. He said sobbingly, "I also saved your life. Why are you so pretentious now? Why didn't you open the door when Mother was banging on the door?"

Ning Xiaoling only felt cold all over her body and dark around. She couldn't see the boy's face clearly and only felt her mind was in a mess. When she was overwhelmed by the darkness, various emotions were mixed and just burst out completely now.

The boy covered his mouth and ran to the hearth.

Legend had it that the hearth was blessed by the Kitchen God, whom the ghosts and evils generally didn't dare to approach.

Ning Xiaoling reached out her hands in a hurry and touched the wooden door. The moment she touched the bolt, she recalled her mother's scream and only felt her blood was surging. On impulse, she directly unbolted the door and dashed outside.

The boy shouted behind her, "Are you crazy? Close the door. I don't want to die with you cheap girl!"

In fact, the moment Ning Xiaoling opened the door, she also regretted it.

She vaguely saw a puddle of blood and flesh on the ground. She didn't dare to recognize it and only felt dizzy.

There was no moon in the sky. She had no idea where the demon-subduing masters were. The smell of blood was so rich and the evil wind just rasped her face. The fear of death surpassed the kinship in her heart. Her legs went limp. She just stumbled and fell, her hand touching something sticky and still warm.

She didn't dare to think about what it was. With her mouth half-opened, she didn't even make an instinct cry.

A dark figure rushed behind her. Seemingly not having noticed the petite girl here, it just trampled on her.

Luckily, it was not a mature mountain spirit. Otherwise, Ning Xiaoling's spine would be totally fractured by now. However, even though it was a small mountain spirit, it still shocked her lungs, making her vomit a mouthful of blood.

By instinct, Ning Xiaoling struggled to get up and wanted to run back to the room, but she was seriously injured by the previous step. Her whole body felt as heavy as being loaded with lead so she couldn't identify the direction at all and just ran to the street.

After running for several steps, she also realized that she went in the wrong direction. Now, it was too late to go back.

She kept running constantly. Suddenly, she heard some noise, which turned out to be the sound of music. She doubted that she heard it wrongly. How could anyone play music on the day when the mountain spirits rampaged through the city?

She didn't stop, just running in the direction where the music came from. Vaguely, she caught sight of a high and big gate, from which the music came. She wanted to step on the stairs but she tumbled and banged the gate.

While she was still dizzy, the door was suddenly opened. The light shone on her, making her feel watched by soft eyes somewhat creepily.

"It's you?" It was a girl's voice. "Come in with me."

Grabbed by a tender hand, Ning Xiaoling walked through the door confusedly. The moment the door was closed, all the darkness was shunned behind her. In the seemingly flaming lamp mansion, the maids wandered among the winding yards, lifting the lamps. The music sounded like a murmuring stream. The red lotus lamps floated along the water and their shadows in the water were soft and beautiful color lumps.

The brightly lit mansion appeared extremely bright in the beautiful lamplight as if depriving the world of all the colors. The silhouettes came and went around in the mansion. Through the half-opened windows, the female entertainers dancing around looked graceful and charming.

Ning Xiaoling widened her eyes, suspecting that she was dreaming. She couldn't help shedding tears.

"What's wrong?" The little girl who gripped her asked her.

After being dumbfounded for a while, Ning Xiaoling finally moved her legs and said, "The mountain spirits...are killing people...outside. How can you..."

Her voice faltered. It was hard for her to say properly.

The elegantly dressed girl smiled, "This is Jinxiu Park, where Taoist priests are assuming personal command. The mountain spirits are insignificant small demons. They don't dare to come here."

"Insignificant small demons..." Ning Xiaoling muttered. She wiped her blood-stained hands with her clothes in secret and her face was ghastly pale.

She thought of her parents' cries and the flesh on the ground. How could it be a small demon?

She raised her head, not daring to look at the lively and boisterous lamp mansion. It seemed that the evil wind throughout the city and dead bodies everywhere couldn't affect this place at all. It was the ordinary people's disaster but not theirs.

She wanted to retreat in fear and only felt that it was the demons who were in the mansion.

"What's wrong?" The little girl asked her.

Ning Xiaoling knew this young lady. She had met the young lady several times on the way of fetching water before. The young lady was rather kind and once asked her maid to buy buns for her.

Ning Xiaoling asked, "Why did you open the gate for me?"

The young lady said, "The mountain spirits don't dare to approach here. I went downstairs just now and happened to hear the sound of the door banging so I came here to take a look. Now it is dangerous outside. You can stay here for one night."

Ning Xiaoling asked in shock, "Then... What about the others?"

The young lady heaved a sigh and said, "You cannot kill all the mountain spirits. They hide in the mountain. Ordinary cultivators can hardly survive if they go in there."

Ning Xiaoling asked, "Then... Where are the legendary immortals?"

The young lady sneered, "Immortals don't care about the lives in the secular world."

It was like they didn't care about ordinary people's lives.

Ning Xiaoling felt something was wrong and then somehow, she couldn't find fault with it. Likewise, she wouldn't care about the beasts or animals. Never would she care about a mayfly or an ant.

"How are your families?" The young lady asked.

Ning Xiaoling felt sad and tears streamed down her face again.

The young lady sighed lightly, "Find an empty room and stay there for the night first."

While speaking, the young lady let go of her hand and walked to the brightly lit mansion.

She stood in situ at the border of light and dark, helpless and confused, like a kid losing her toys.

She wanted to turn around and run away but she didn't dare to go into the darkness. In the end, she walked to a dark corner and slowly squatted down with her head between her knees. Now it was still early spring so it was cold at night. She kept trembling constantly and her body gradually stiffened.

The singing came to her ears again and again.

"Yanzhi Pavilion.

Jinxiu Park.

The pear trees are covered with snow and the peach blossoms scatter.

Look at the lantern feast in the building tonight.

It is a propitious time with lovers around.

...

...

When it is the 15th day of the lunar month,

let's go to the Cloud Temple again..."

Again and again, the singing was vague just like talking gibberish in the sleep.

As she listened, she had memorized it. Her body felt as if flying along with the wind and ascending the Cloud Temple by the moon."

She wasn't awoken until the c**k crowed.

"Why are you sleeping here?" Again, she saw the young lady's angry face. "Forget it. I'll ask someone to send you back."

Ning Xiaoling suddenly shook her head harshly. "I... I know the way back."

At dawn, she came to her senses and ran out of the door as if fleeing for life.

A lot of streets outside were a mess. The soldiers fought with the mountain spirits for the whole night. In the streets, there were the corpses of the soldiers and the mountain spirits. It was a pitiful scene.

Now the war seemed to have come to an end. Many armored people were cleaning the streets.

"Who are you? Why are you still outside? Where were you last night?" She heard a soldier yell at her from behind.

Ning Xiaoling replied to him randomly and then ran back home.

While running, she faintly heard the soldier complaining, "Just a few of the cultivators could have killed them easily but they just refused to help. Alas. So many people have to die every time. What's the point of cultivating..."

"Cultivators..." Ning Xiaoling felt a bit dizzy and suddenly thought of the couplet outside the door of Jinxiu Park. She couldn't read but she had heard others talk of the second line.

"This Taoist home is of the same age as Heaven."

The same age as Heaven...

She ran back home. The moment she just crossed the threshold, the evil wind just blew on her face.

"Brother?" She stared at the trembling figure in the corner and cried with uncertainty.

The figure turned around but it was a furry face with its mouth sticking out and its chin like an ape's.

This was the fish escaping from the m******e last night.

Ning Xiaoling let out a scream and wanted to retreat but she felt as if tied up by something and couldn't exert any strength.

The little mountain spirit stared at her with green eyes. Then, as a chill ran down her spine, it screamed and sprang at her.