The residences of the Mount Li Sword Sect and South Stream Temple were both arranged in the Orthodox Academy.
Gou Hanshi and the others were very familiar with Ye Xiaolian and the other disciples of South Stream Temple, and they were also very familiar with the people of the Orthodox Academy.
As soon as Tang Thirty Six and Guan Fei Bai saw each other, they began to mock and ridicule each other like before.
The others had long since grown accustomed to this scene, or perhaps they were tired of it. They were too lazy to intervene, and under Su Mo Yu's arrangements, went to wash up and rest.
On the same night, the Orthodox Academy arranged for a sumptuous banquet. The small kitchen on the other side of the lake was once again put to use, and some rather thin blue lobsters were even sent over as if they were free. This made Ye Xiaolian and the other disciples of South Stream Temple very happy, but the disciples of the Mount Li Sword Sect who had been born into poverty were still somewhat unaccustomed to this extravagant lifestyle.
Of course, Guan Fei Bai continued to mock Tang Thirty Six.
As the night deepened, the bonfire by the lake was still burning. A few elders of Mount Li's Sword Hall, Senior Sister Ping Xuan, and Senior Sister Yi Chen left with their peers who didn't like crowds. However, Tang Thirty Six didn't give up. He called Chen Fugui, Fu Xinzhi, Chu Wenbin, and a few other students to have a drinking competition with Bai Cai and the others. For a moment, the fierce battle started again, as if they had returned to the Ivy Festival.
Seeing this scene, Gou Hanshi smiled, turned around, and walked towards the small building in the darkness. No one noticed his movements.
On the balcony of the top floor of the small building, he saw Chen Chang Sheng who was bathed in starlight.
Gou Hanshi calmly and earnestly saluted, then sighed and said, "It's really difficult to see you now."
He did not address Chen Changsheng respectfully, because he had already bowed to the Pope and was now conversing with an old friend.
This sentence also had two meanings.
Besides the influence brought about by Chen Chang Sheng's change in status, it was mostly due to the fact that Chen Chang Sheng had spent the last few days in the Li Palace, not showing his face at all.
Whether it was an old friend like Gou Hanshi or an important figure like the Old Lady of the Mutuo clan, none of them could see him.
Many people couldn't understand why Chen Chang Sheng would be so calm at such a tense moment, as if these things had nothing to do with him.
Was he not worried that Jingdou would be in turmoil and that war would soon arrive?
Chen Chang Sheng explained to Gou Han Shi: "I've been practicing the sword for the past few days."
This had always been the Li Palace's statement to the outside world.
Gou Han Shi sensed his aura and confirmed that he was still very far away from that threshold, which made him even more puzzled.
At such a tense moment, if it wasn't for the possibility of breaking through, how could he focus all his attention on cultivation?
Even if you want to do that, how can you calm your heart? Aren't you worried about Qi deviation?
Gou Han Shi suddenly saw Chen Chang Sheng's expression and faintly understood something.
Chen Chang Sheng's eyes were very bright. His eyes were very calm, like the clearest stream water, without a trace of impurity.
— How can you calm your heart? You just have to be calm.
Gou Hanshi asked, "Just what is Junior Sister Yourong planning to do?"
Chen Chang Sheng shook his head, "I really don't know."
Gou Hanshi was slightly startled and asked, "Then why are you so calm?"
Chen Chang Sheng didn't directly answer his question. Instead, he asked back, "Before coming, what did your senior say?"
Gou Hanshi smiled when he heard this. He finally understood everything.
Before the disciples of the Mount Li Sword Sect left, Qiushan Jun said nothing, nor did he give any instructions, because the entire continent knew what he would choose.
Even if Xu You Rong decided to turn the whole world upside down, Qiushan Jun would still support her.
So Chen Chang Sheng could naturally do the same.
Gou Hanshi walked to the edge of the building and looked down at the bonfire by the lake and the lights of the tens of thousands of households outside the walls. He said, "This matter is very difficult."
He was well-versed in the Daoist Canon and was a master strategist of Mount Li. On the journey, he had simulated Xu You Rong's plans ten-some times, and they all pointed to the same place.
Even now, no one had been able to confirm what Xu You Rong wanted to do, but a few people had reached the same conclusion.
It was still killing people, but compared to Wang Po and Chen Chang Sheng killing Zhou in the snowstorm three years ago, what Xu You Rong wanted to do was many times more difficult.
Chen Chang Sheng said, "Perhaps all of you are wrong."
Gou Hanshi thought to himself, Junior Sister Yourong has created such a ruckus, how could she just give up?
Chen Chang Sheng said, "I think she will choose the simpler method."
Gou Hanshi vaguely guessed at something and asked, "He is your master. Do you think he will agree?"
Chen Chang Sheng replied, "There is a forty percent chance."
Gou Hanshi asked, "Victory or defeat?"
Chen Chang Sheng thought it over, then said, "Still forty percent?"
Gou Hanshi shook his head and said, "Only twenty percent."
This was his view, Qiushan Jun's view, and the Mount Li Sword Sect Master's view.
Wang Po only had a twenty percent chance of defeating Shang Xingzhou.
Chen Chang Sheng knew that his insight in this aspect was naturally inferior to the Mount Li Sword Sect's, so he said nothing.
Gou Hanshi suddenly asked, "And if Shang Xingzhou doesn't come back?"
Chen Chang Sheng thought it over, then said, "I don't know."
Gou Hanshi looked at him and said, "You need to know."
Chen Chang Sheng gazed at the myriad lights of the capital and recalled that night three years ago. His eyes turned serious.
"I only know that I don't like the dead, don't like war, especially here."
Gou Hanshi fell quiet for a while, then said, "This is the fortune of the people."
Chen Chang Sheng bid farewell, but he did not immediately leave. Instead, he went to a certain room on the first floor.
This room was closest to the outside of the building and guarded the stairs. It was precisely Zhexiu's residence.
Chen Chang Sheng opened the wardrobe and looked pensively at the thin clothes inside.
… …
… …
Just like three years ago, everyone knew that Wang Po had come to the capital, but no one knew where he was.
Some people went to Tanzhe Temple under the ginkgo tree, while others searched day and night on the shores of the Luo River, but none of them could find his figure.
If the current Wang Po did not want to be seen, who besides Shang Xingzhou could see him?
Or to put it another way, he only wanted to be seen by Shang Xingzhou.
On a certain morning, this tense atmosphere finally transformed into reality.
In a single night, the Imperial Palace received several dozen memorials.
These memorials came from the princely estates, from the various ministries, and from the young faction of the military represented by the Eastern Stallion Divine General Peng Shihai.
They had only one request: please execute the remnants of the Tianhai dynasty.
Placing Wang Po among the remnants of the Tianhai dynasty was naturally an unreasonable matter.
This was only because the princes and ministers of the Chen clan had finally clearly expressed their stance.
At the same time, several dozen letters were delivered overnight to the Monastery of Eternal Spring in Luoyang.
There was real blood in these letters.
All the civil and military officials of the court wept blood as they submitted their letters.
If the venerable Daoist did not appear, what would become of the world?
… …
… …
If Chen Chang Sheng wanted to see Wang Po, he could probably see him, but he had no intention of doing so.
The letters sent to Luoyang also failed to attract any of his attention.
Other than his meeting with Gou Hanshi that night in the Orthodox Academy, he remained deep in the Li Palace, meeting with no one.
Daoist Siyuan hurried back from Fenggu County, Linghai Zhiwang had to keep an eye on the movements of the Imperial Court and the military, so he was exhausted to the extreme. Hu Thirty-Two was so busy that he had gotten thinner.
They stood outside the stone room, helplessly gazing at Chen Chang Sheng in that sea of swords. (To be continued.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
