It was a shabby little temple. It had been severely eroded by the wind and rain. One could only faintly see the original rules and purpose from the remains of the sacrificial beast on the eaves.
Standing in front of the temple in the rain, Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong did not speak. It was very quiet.
This was a sacrificial temple.
With white grass as the road, it led directly to the sea of stars. One sacrifice for a thousand li.
This shabby sacrificial temple was on the side of the White Grass Road. This meant that their guess was correct. This road did indeed lead to a mausoleum. Not all tombs could be called mausoleums. In the past thousand years, other than the three emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty, only one person dared to call his own tomb a mausoleum and build it according to the rules. No one dared to object.
Of course, that person was Zhou Dufu.
"Is this the legendary Temple of First Sacrifice?" Chen Changsheng looked at the shabby temple in the rain and murmured.
The three imperial mausoleums of the Great Zhou Dynasty each had their own grandeur. However, the Temple of First Sacrifice that was a thousand li away had long been torn down by the Divine Empress. This was because the Empress felt that a temple a thousand li away, other than being used to raise a bunch of useless officials from the Board of Rites, had no meaning and was extremely wasteful.
This matter was as clean and efficient as when she sent Zhou Tong to tear down the monolith hut in the Mausoleum of Books. It was very reasonable, but also very unreasonable.
This shabby little temple was probably the only Temple of First Sacrifice in the entire continent.
The rain continued to fall, getting heavier and heavier. The wheel of light on the distant grassland had long since disappeared. The world was dark.
Chen Changsheng stood in the rain with Xu Yourong on his back. He did not enter the temple to hide from the rain.
In the past, there must have been many outstanding human cultivators or demon experts like them who found this White Grass Road and saw this temple.
Then, those people continued to advance towards the mausoleum.
In the end, they all died.
He asked, "Can we turn back?"
"No, this is a road of no return." Xu Yourong shook her head.
The last two times Chen Changsheng had fallen asleep, she had used the Fated Star Plate to make calculations. The results of the calculations were very bad. Although she could not accurately calculate her own fate, his fate was still gloomy. Moreover, if they did not continue forward and turned back, they would definitely be lost in this grassland.
They could only continue forward. Would they meet the same end as those people before them?
Apart from the pitter-patter of rain, there was no other sound in front of the temple.
Chen Chang Sheng and Xu You Rong's expressions gradually became calm. Their eyes gradually became tranquil and calm again.
There was no question, no answer, no look at each other, no idea what the other was thinking, but they all firmly believed that they would be different from their predecessors.
…
…
The rain fell from the eaves and splashed on the broken stone steps. Before the splashes could bloom, they were swallowed up by more rain. There was a bonfire burning in the temple. After the wooden statue was chopped into firewood, the smell was rather strong. Chen Chang Sheng squatted beside the bonfire and incessantly pulled out the wet firewood from within. At the same time, he used the candlestick to flip the few pieces of rhizomes within the fire.
Xu You Rong leaned against a haystack. Her face was pale and she looked very weak. With her injuries and loss of true blood, it was already a miracle that she was able to last until now and even win a few fierce battles.
The roots of some unknown weed were roasted and emitted a faint aroma. Chen Chang Sheng picked it up from the ashes, tore off the outer layer and walked in front of her. Xu You Rong took it, tore it apart with her hands and slowly ate it. Chen Chang Sheng quietly looked at her. Even now, he still did not know how she had saved him that night, because she had never mentioned it. However, along the way, he had personally witnessed her indescribably powerful strength. He had always thought that if he had not been there, she would have been able to leave safely from the very beginning.
Xu You Rong indeed didn't talk about it because she had her own pride. She also thought that this youngster from the Snow Mountain Sect also saved her, so they didn't owe each other anything.
Not long after, she finished eating. Chen Chang Sheng handed over the wet handkerchief and began to eat by himself.
Xu You Rong took the wet handkerchief and lightly wiped the corner of her mouth. She quietly looked at him sitting beside the bonfire and didn't say anything.
On the journey, due to various reasons, they didn't talk much, but they did many things for each other.
To live and die together, to never leave or abandon each other, these were the most dazzling and intertwined words in the world, yet they were easily and casually accomplished by him and her.
May the Holy Light be with you.
Looking at his clear eyes that could reflect the bonfire, she said in her heart.
Then she said to him, "You are a good person."
She said these words very indifferently, but also very seriously.
Chen Chang Sheng smiled at her and said, "You are the same."
Then he suddenly thought of something and said with some embarrassment, "I'm very sorry that I didn't ask you until now. May I ask how I should address you?"
Xu You Rong smiled and said, "And you?"
It really was very interesting. Even now, the two of them didn't know each other's names or who they were.
The rain continued to fall, and it was unknown when it would stop. The stars could not be seen in the Garden of Zhou. Yet looking into her eyes, Chen Chang Sheng seemed to see the night sky of Xi Ning Village after the rain stopped. There was not a trace of fog, not a speck of dust, and because of the countless stars in the night sky, it was incomparably bright. It was so bright that it made one flustered, so much so that it was impossible to lie to those eyes.
Xu You Rong also looked into his eyes. Those eyes were very clean and bright, and she could clearly see herself in them. Facing such a pair of eyes, it seemed like she could only answer honestly.
The eyes are the windows to the soul. This was a famous saying. Because it had appeared far too many times in the world, as a result, as long as it was not a child who had just started learning, no one would be willing to say it. Most of the time, no one would think of it. But now, as they looked into each other's eyes, they both thought of this saying.
The feeling of being surrounded by the crowd in Wenshui City was not good. Now that she knew that she was Chen Chang Sheng, she probably would not be as indifferent and casual as she had been on this journey.
From a very young age, she had lived a life of being the center of attention. Whether it was in the capital or in the south, she had always been the focus of everyone's gazes, the object of everyone's admiration. She did not like this kind of life, nor did she hope that after the other person knew that she was Xu You Rong, his eyes would suddenly burn with passion, but his words and actions would become reserved and tasteless.
But when they looked into each other's eyes, they decided to reveal their true identities, because this represented respect.
However, just when their lips moved and their names were about to leave their mouths, they once again … changed their minds.
Because they both had an engagement that the entire world knew of. If this white-clothed elf girl knew that she was Chen Chang Sheng, then she would know that she had a fiancée called Xu You Rong. If this disciple of the Snow Mountain Sect's secret sect knew that she was Xu You Rong, then she would know that she had a fiancé called Chen Chang Sheng.
Neither of them liked that engagement, both of them wanted to break it off, but he did not want her to know of this matter, and she did not want him to know of this matter.
This sort of emotion was very complex, but this sort of thinking was very simple. Because no matter how extraordinary she was, she was still a youth, still a girl.
So, they made the same decision. Even many years later, the events that occurred in this run-down temple in the rain still remained unanswered. No one knew for what reason they had made this sort of decision, and even they themselves had not told each other what they were thinking at the time.
Xu You Rong's smile gradually faded, becoming very calm.
Chen Chang Sheng's smile gradually grew calm, not wanting to reveal any flaws.
Their voices rang out at the same time.
"Snow Mountain Sect, Xu Sheng."
"Elf race, Chen Chujian."
… …
… …
The temple was very quiet at night, only the sound of the falling rain could be heard. It was not irritating, but rather added to the tranquility.
Before waking up in the cave, Chen Chang Sheng had faintly heard the voice of that old freak. He knew that because of the Black Dragon, the other had mistaken him for a disciple of the Snow Mountain Sect's secret sect, and also knew that the girl was an elf. He did not want to admit his identity, so he went with the flow, but how could he have known that Xu You Rong had the same thoughts?
Her voice was very soft, the tip of her tongue slightly curled up, and the end of her voice was lightly dragged out. Even though she was saying her own name, it still seemed rather jerky, but when it fell into his ears, he felt that it was very pleasant to hear. Her voice was pleasant to hear, her name was also pleasant to hear, her surname Chen was very good, and her name Chujian was also very good. What was that saying? If only life was as beautiful as it was at first sight? He looked at her slightly swollen, but still elegant, face, and thought of a few days ago by the pile of grass, her adorable appearance as she covered her cheeks. He thought to himself, if only life could be like this girl called Chujian, then it really wouldn't be too bad.
Xu You Rong's thoughts were even simpler, she knew that this youth was originally also surnamed Xu. When she first saw him in his unconscious state, she had felt that he was somewhat familiar, and wanted to get close to him. Could this be the reason?
After exchanging names, what should they do next? The Rain Temple became quiet once more.
"Let's play a game?" Xu You Rong took out a chessboard from somewhere and invited him.
He looked at the chessboard, and knew that she was just like him, still hiding many secrets. He could not help but smile.
Xu You Rong also smiled without saying anything. They both knew that the other was not normal, but there was no need to talk about those uninteresting and tasteless things. If they could not walk out of this Garden of Zhou, then what was the point of those worldly matters? Yes, outside of life and death, besides enjoying life, nothing else was important, but the important thing was …
"I don't know how to play chess." He said somewhat shamefully. Seeing her slightly disappointed expression, he added, "Or maybe we can play something else?"
Xu You Rong thought to herself, if they wanted to play dominoes, they were still lacking two people. If they wanted to play Yangzhou cards, they were lacking even more people. With only two people, if they did not play chess, then what could they do?
The night was long, and the cold rain was dreary. It was not a good time to sleep, not to mention that she had already slept for a long time on this journey.
Then they could only chat, and it would not exhaust their mental and physical strength.
However, they were currently on the run, not on a blind date. As a result, they naturally would not talk about anything too in-depth. For example, how many people did your family have? How are your parents? How are you twenty this year? Why are your eyes so beautiful? Do you still have the blood of the Black Frost Dragon in your body? Have you ever been married?
This was the first time they had truly chatted. They were cultivators, so they were not too familiar with each other, so they could only talk about cultivation.
The cultivation here was true cultivation, and it had nothing to do with the sour words that life was just cultivation.
The bonfire in the Rain Temple illuminated the faces of this young man and woman. At this moment, they had absolutely no idea what the other party meant to their lives.
… …
… …
Wahahaha, this is the end of the first half of the plot. The second half is about to begin. This entire plot is the part that I personally like the most, the part that I look forward to the most. It is not excessive to say that at least half of the first eight hundred thousand characters were written to lay out this plot, so I wrote very slowly and very seriously. No matter what the final result is, I am very satisfied with myself. What comes next is not the first meeting, but the stage where they sincerely meet. Finally, I will have to trouble you to vote for me. Thank you.)
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