Xu Yourong stood by the window, listening to these words. She stared blankly for a very long time, not knowing what to say.
In the Plains of the Unsetting Sun, they had gone through life and death together, stood shoulder to shoulder, relied on each other, and even brushed off the snow. They had long since understood each other's intentions, but at the time, she did not know that he was that young Daoist boy from Xining Village. After leaving the Garden of Zhou, she had also thought about her promise to him and prepared to break off the engagement. However, the Li Palace had announced to the world that the Sword Pool had reappeared and many people had seen those swords. After comparing them several times, she finally confirmed that he was him. Only then did she realize that fate toyed with people, playing such a joke on her.
But what did this count for? As long as he was still him, it was fine. She clearly understood what she wanted. On the Bridge of Helplessness and by the beef rib pot, she had always been waiting for him to say something, but he had never said anything. It was already late at night when he inexplicably came to the window and said these inexplicable words.
Fine, this truly was very similar to his path of the sword.
Just like Wang Po's path of the blade, very straight.
He had directly used these words to pierce through the paper window in front of her, bringing the situation back to before the Divine Path of the Mausoleum of Zhou.
Xu Yourong stood up, looked at his figure through the window, and then pushed open the window.
Snowflakes were swept in by the wind and fell on her face, a little cold.
"The earth dragons are burning too fiercely, so the room is a little hot."
She looked at Chen Changsheng as if explaining why she had pushed open the window to meet with him, but not even she realized that this explanation was actually very cute.
Chen Changsheng looked at her face. He did not notice the nervousness in this explanation and the cuteness that came with it, but he felt that she was very cute.
"When I was standing outside just now, I also felt a little hot," he very honestly said.
It was currently the middle of winter. In the dead of night, the world was frozen and snowflakes danced in the air.
"How long have you been standing there?" Xu Yourong asked as she looked at the snow on his body.
Chen Changsheng thought it over, then shook his head. "I forgot."
Xu Yourong asked, "Why didn't you just come in?"
Chen Changsheng replied, "I was afraid of disturbing your rest, and also … Shuang'er should be here. I was worried that she would see and say something."
Xu Yourong asked, "Then do you want to come in now?"
Chen Chang Sheng said, "No need, I came … … actually because I have something to give you."
After saying this, he took off the string of stone beads on his wrist and very carefully broke it. Then he put his palm through the window and said, "There are ten of them. You choose five."
In truth, he had long forgotten whether or not he had reached some sort of agreement with her regarding the distribution of the treasures in the Mausoleum of Zhou. However, he believed that since they had found the Mausoleum of Zhou together, everything discovered in the Mausoleum of Zhou should be divided in half, whether it was the Halving Blade Style or the ten stone pearls.
"This is …" Xu Yourong's curious voice suddenly stopped. Raising her head to look at him, she said in disbelief, "This is … the ten beside the Mausoleum of Zhou?"
If it were any other cultivator, even a Prefect of the Orthodoxy like Linghai Zhiwang, they would find it impossible to see anything wrong with these ordinary and unremarkable stone pearls, as these stone pearls truly did not give off any ripples of Qi. However, she had begun comprehending the Heavenly Tome Monoliths when she was ten-some years old, and she had even personally seen these Heavenly Tome Monoliths in the Garden of Zhou, so she could naturally sense that something was different.
"Yes." Chen Changsheng looked at her and said, "The Garden of Zhou has not disappeared. If you want to go back and take a look, I can take you in."
He did not use the phrase 'enter the Garden of Zhou', but 'go back', because to him and her, the Garden of Zhou was truly far too important.
Upon hearing that the Garden of Zhou had not collapsed and that he could still enter it as he pleased, Xu Yourong was even more shocked.
But the truly important thing was still the stone pearls in his palm.
She looked at him and seriously asked, "You really want to give them to me?"
Chen Changsheng looked back at her and seriously said, "Without you, I would have died long ago. How could I have found the Mausoleum of Zhou, let alone the Sword Pool and these things?"
Xu Yourong thought it over, but did not carefully choose. She took five stone pearls from his palm and immediately placed them in the Tong Palace.
She felt that Chen Changsheng's words were reasonable, so she very calmly accepted them. She seemed especially carefree and unperturbed, as if it was only right and proper, and upright.
What Chen Changsheng most admired and liked about her was precisely this sort of temperament.
"Then I'll be leaving."
In the snowy night, he entered the palace, the window was pushed open, he saw her, and he even gave her the stone pearls. Everything that needed to be done had been done, so he naturally had to embark on his return journey. As the saying goes, one comes in high spirits and returns when one's spirits are exhausted. A distinguished scholar's style could not be better than this … but he was a youth, not a distinguished scholar, so even though he said he was leaving, his feet did not move.
Xu Yourong said, "Go back first."
Chen Changsheng grunted, but his feet still did not move. He only looked at her.
She slightly turned around, as if she wanted to avoid his gaze, but in reality, she was sticking her head out the window.
As she got closer and closer, he became somewhat nervous.
She reached out and brushed the snow off his shoulders, just like how she had brushed away the fallen leaves for him on the Divine Avenue.
It was very relaxed, very calm, very familiar, very peaceful.
The paper window had long since been pierced through and the window had been pushed open. It just needed a final confirmation.
The action of brushing away the snow was confirmation.
Chen Changsheng felt like his severed meridians were automatically mending themselves, his entire body brimming with the strength of life. He looked at her, his eyes glowing.
Xu Yourong did not meet his gaze. She looked towards a certain place in the snowy night. She still felt that her face was somewhat hot, so she softly said, "Tomorrow, I want to go to the Orthodox Academy to take a look."
Chen Changsheng no longer hesitated. He turned around and walked into the snowy night.
He was very sure that this time, he would definitely be able to fall asleep.
… …
… …
At five in the morning, Chen Changsheng woke up. He took five breaths to calm his mind, then opened his eyes. He washed and dressed, then went to run by the lake.
Calculating carefully, he had not even slept for four hours. Strangely, his spirit was very good. He did not have the usual dark circles on Tang Thirty-Six's face, and his feet seemed to move like the wind.
As time passed, more and more students came to run by the lake, but none of them were faster than him. From time to time, he would surpass them, and when the students saw that it was him, they hurriedly bowed.
No matter how young he was, he was still the principal, not to mention that he had confirmed his status as a candidate for Pope last night, so the students were even more respectful than usual.
But he could not see the difference. He was even more patient and calm than usual, and he returned the bow.
The breakfast in the small dining hall across the lake was golden millet porridge, but he could not tell the difference between it and normal millet porridge. Even when Xuanyuan Po took the Mountain Sea Sword from the pile of firewood and flaunted it in front of him, saying that when he was cultivating last night, he had succeeded in drawing lightning to sharpen the sword. Chen Changsheng still could not tell the difference between the Mountain Sea Sword and when he first left the Sword Pool in the Garden of Zhou.
In short, he was somewhat absent-minded, and his gaze would occasionally drift in the direction of the Imperial Palace.
"Are you sick?" Tang Thirty-Six yawned and asked him.
Chen Changsheng returned to his senses and looked at the two dark circles under his eyes. "I think you might be sick."
Tang Thirty-Six angrily thought, if I hadn't stared at you last night like I'm sick and ended up falling asleep in the snow because I was too tired, I wouldn't be in such a bad state.
Chen Changsheng looked in the direction of the Imperial Palace because last night, she said she would come, and he was waiting for her.
He naturally wanted to share the story between him and Xu Yourong with others, especially with his friends.
Tang Thirty-Six was originally the best person to talk to, but Xu Yourong had said that she did not want others to know, so he could only endure.
After eating breakfast, he once again washed his face and rinsed his mouth, changed into a set of clean clothes, and then stood in front of the window, waiting.
It was also because he was usually so particular about cleanliness that he did not attract the attention of the people of the Orthodox Academy.
After some time, the cry of a crane came from the distance.
He followed the cry of the crane, and in a short while, in the depths of the forest, he saw the White Crane, as well as her riding it.
Xu Yourong was still wearing the large cotton-padded jacket from yesterday. It was not rustic at all, and just looking at it made one feel warm.
It was probably because she did not want others to see her, so just like in the Garden of Zhou, she used the secret technique of South Stream Temple to make her appearance much more ordinary.
Seeing her ordinary face, Chen Changsheng was not disappointed. On the contrary, he felt it to be even more intimate.
Perhaps it was this intimacy that allowed him to find that feeling of casual conversation he had in the Garden of Zhou.
He looked at the large cotton-padded jacket that made her seem especially cute, and after a moment of hesitation, he gathered up his courage and said a few words.
"The smell of beef ribs is very strong. Do you want to change into a new set of clothes, or maybe wear mine first, and I'll wash this for you?"
Xu Yourong froze, and then she truly became angry and embarrassed. She turned around and walked towards the White Crane.
Chen Changsheng came to his senses and felt that his actions were truly absurd. He hurriedly chased after her, then began to make gestures with his hands at the White Crane.
He and the White Crane were old friends. Without waiting for Xu Yourong to get close, it let out a cry and flew away.
Xu Yourong stood in the snow, stunned once more.
Starting from two years ago, she could not understand why the White Crane was so intimate with Chen Changsheng, and why it was so kind.
"Just what did you do to it back then?"
She looked at Chen Changsheng and asked, "Why is it so obedient to you?"
This was the first time the two of them had discussed matters of their childhood.
"When I was little, I mentioned it to you in letters, but you forgot." When Chen Changsheng thought of this matter, he felt rather uncomfortable, but then he thought of that matter from before, and all that discomfort transformed into unease. He said, "I misspoke just now, don't be angry. Just think about Tang Tang's words."
The words he mentioned were naturally Tang Thirty-Six's words that he was a pig.
… …
… …
The White Crane left and did not return. The snowy forest was deserted and empty.
Snowflakes slowly drifted down. Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong held up umbrellas as they walked through the secluded forest of the Orthodox Academy.
"Zhexiu and I live here." Chen Changsheng brought her to the edge of the forest and pointed at the nearby small building.
Only after he said these words did he remember that she had come to the Orthodox Academy that night. She might even have seen the scene in the restaurant across the street. He explained, "Don't misunderstand. That day, it was Tang Tang who insisted on dragging me and Su Mo Yu over. Su Mo Yu used to be a student of the Li Palace Academy, thirty-third on the Proclamation of Azure Sky. You might have heard of him. Right now, he's with us. "
These words were very natural and also naturally carried the pride of a young man. It was like he was bragging about his achievements to her.
Just then, a voice suddenly rose up from the winter forest.
"I knew there was something wrong with you. No wonder that night, you didn't even dare to touch the hand of the girl in your embrace. It turns out … you really did have a lover!"
A pile of snow suddenly parted from where the voice had come from and Tang Thirty-Six stood up.
… …
… …
(The next chapter will be at night. The exact time is unknown.)
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