Nightfall

The Shabby Temple in Autumn

In autumn, an extraordinarily mysterious power appeared on earth.

That power cleansed the Mountain Dragon-Tiger, killed Master Zhang, and destroyed several altars of the Martial Art Sect. Afterwards it wreaked havoc in the Kingdom of Song, exterminating families continuously. The methods used were extremely inhumane and gory. The investigators who went to the sites could not even bear to see the aftermath.

According to legend, this mysterious power was formed by more than ten Seethrough realm experts. The leader wore a silver mask and these people each rode a black warrior horse. Each of them wore black Tao clothing. They moved like a gust of wind and their whereabouts were very secretive. They were fierce and merciless, to the extent that they were inhumane and distinctly cold-hearted.

The entire southern region of the Mainland was traumatized. The cavalry of the West-Hill Divine Palace and military troops from every nation launched an ongoing attack, in hopes of eliminating these black riders. Yet they could not even grab hold of their whereabouts.

People from the higher circles of the Divine Hall and the South Jin Kingdom royals had already connected these black riders together with the fallen knights. However, they could not understand how these expelled knights could stand up and recover their strength. Moreover, they were stronger than before. What made them speechless and fearful was not knowing who exactly was the man behind that silver mask.

A clear stream was running among the mountains. A red leaf was floating on the surface of the stream, like a decoration sticking onto a mirror. It looked unusually beautiful. The surroundings were peaceful and quiet.

All of a sudden, a horse hoof trotted in the stream and crushed the red leaf, disrupting the serene flow of the water. Then, there were more horse hooves trotting in the stream. The birds beside the stream shrieked in fear as they quickly flew away from the area.

More than ten black riders crossed the stream, going along the mountain path and toward the south-west direction. No one in the troop spoke to anyone, even the breathing pace of the black riders was consistent with the trotting of the horses. These consistent sounds were following a person, and that person was none other than the young man who was silently riding the horse at the front of the troop.

The military troops from the West-Hill Divine Palace and every nation set up defense lines along the boundaries of the Kingdom of Song as they tried to stop and exterminate these black riders. No one thought that these black riders could actually pass through the several lines of defense easily. They had swiftly and secretly reached this forest located between the mountains and situated at the south-west of the South Jin Kingdom.

By the mountain side near the rocky spring, more than ten black riders were taking a short break. The fallen knights sat cross-legged and began to meditate. Now that they had regained their strength and might, they wished to leave behind their sorrowful escapees’ lives forever. Thus, they refused to waste any time for replenishing their strength and cultivation.

Not knowing how much time had passed, all the fallen knights began to peel their eyes open. They gazed at Prince Long Qing who had his eyes closed, as he meditated under the tree by the the edge of the cliff. Their eyes revealed a fanatic worshipping look.

Before the drastic change on the snow cliff, Prince Long Qing was their direct superior, who had obtained many people’s absolute loyalty within the Judicial Department. It was needless to mention the fallen knights, since the reason that they could continue to live was because of him. Moreover, taking into account that they were able to live so arrogantly, including his efforts for providing them with pills, their loyalty was unquestionable.