Ji Jin came from Scholartree Manor in the south. He had sworn a blood oath to become a Monolith Guardian that he could never leave the Mausoleum of Books for the rest of his life.
Last year, this person had attempted to help the Scholartree Manor disciple Zhong Hui surpass Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi in comprehending the monoliths. He had ridiculed and reprimanded Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi's method of comprehending the monoliths, but in the end, he had been silently humiliated by Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi.
Ji Jin stared at Chen Changsheng, his eyes filled with hostility and resentment.
Although as a Monolith Guardian, he could never leave the Mausoleum of Books, he was not cut off from the world. News from outside the Mausoleum of Books gradually reached his ears.
Chen Changsheng had comprehended the entire front mausoleum in a single day; he had become the youngest Principal of the Orthodox Academy; he had gone to the Garden of Zhou; he might have died, but he had come back to life; he had journeyed south with Su Li; his cultivation of the sword had advanced by leaps and bounds, breaking into Star Condensation and defeating the proud son of heaven, Xu Yourong, on the Bridge of Helplessness; he had finally been confirmed as the successor to the Orthodoxy …
The disciple from Scholartree Manor, Zhong Hui, whom he had placed high hopes on, had obtained third place upon the First Banner in the previous year's Grand Examination, below Chen Chang Sheng and Gou Han Shi. In the short span of a year, he had obtained an enormous improvement, shocking the entire South, but how could he compare to Chen Chang Sheng?
Crucially, this was the Mausoleum of Books, the Mausoleum of Books that he had willingly offered up his life and freedom for!
Just what right do you have to come and go as you please!
Xu Yourong did not recognize Ji Jin, but she could sense that this Monolith Guardian with such a profound cultivation clearly held hostility towards Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng roughly understood where Ji Jin's anger came from. He slightly bowed, but said nothing.
Logically speaking, it should have been Ji Jin bowing to him, but he thought that Ji Jin's age and seniority were both here, so he bowed first.
Yet Ji Jin still had no intention of bowing to him. He only stared at him.
Xu Yourong's expression was very calm, but her eyes gradually brightened as she looked at Ji Jin.
Chen Changsheng shook his head and brought her along the other side of the mountain path.
Ji Jin's hands, which were exposed outside of his sleeves, were slightly trembling. Especially when Chen Chang Sheng and Xu You Rong brushed past him, his veins popped out.
In the end, he did nothing, because he did not dare.
These years, he had been very depressed. He really wanted to vent, and Chen Chang Sheng was naturally the best target.
But while he was in the Mausoleum of Books, his family and Scholartree Manor were still outside.
If he did not want his family and Scholartree Manor to be burned to ashes by the furious flames of the Orthodoxy, then there was nothing he could do.
He didn't have to bow to Chen Chang Sheng, but he couldn't attack Chen Chang Sheng.
…
…
The sun gradually rose, and the snowy clouds dispersed. The capital in winter had a different kind of beauty, with a sense of spaciousness.
Standing next to the forest in the middle of the mausoleum and looking at the distant streets of the capital, Chen Chang Sheng remembered the time when he and Luo Luo stood on the banyan tree and looked at the streets in the Tradition Academy. He said, "I once asked Luo Luo to help me investigate information about you. Since … now that I've found you, I feel that I should tell her about this, so I mentioned it to her in the letter."
Xu Yourong softly said, "Back in Mount Li, when I first thought you were dead, I told Senior about what happened in the Garden of Zhou. Senior was a little worried about me, so after eating beef ribs a few days ago, I wrote a letter to him."
They had met on the Bridge of Helplessness that day, and then they ate beef ribs in a pot. They had confirmed a few things, so they felt that they should confirm a few other things — this was a very responsible attitude. Although they had no experience in this aspect, nor did they think too much about the specifics, they still did this.
Mentioning these two letters at this time was naturally another way to express his sincerity.
From the Garden of Zhou until now, they had expressed their feelings many times, but those methods were rather special, like brushing the snow, touching their shoulders, or writing letters to others.
Chen Chang Sheng's eyes were very clear, like a small stream. It was very easy to see those happy expressions that swam like fish.
Xu Yourong softly said, "I had you come to the Mausoleum of Books not for … but for proper business."
Her words had an unexpressed meaning — the 'not for' in her words actually meant that it was not just for this.
Meeting in the Mausoleum of Books, what proper business could there be? Naturally, it was the matter of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths.
Behind them was the Reflecting Monolith hut. On the black monolith, those poems were so clear, but those lines were still so difficult to understand.
Chen Chang Sheng walked up to the monolith hut and thought back to the time he had spent viewing the monoliths last year.
"At that time, I was cooking in the grass hut, and I saw the light fall on the fence …"
He recounted his experiences of viewing the monoliths and comprehending the Dao, as well as several methods, without holding anything back.
Xu Yourong quietly listened, her hands behind her gently trembling in the cool breeze, as if she was pushing the Fated Star Plate, incessantly deducing according to his words.
When Chen Chang Sheng finished, she began to recount her first experience of viewing the Reflecting Monolith and what she had learned. "… So in essence, the so-called thickness is also a change in the light."
Chen Chang Sheng was somewhat uncertain. "The brushstrokes of the rubbings have always been different. Won't the meaning be lost because of the shape?"
Xu Yourong replied, "The rubbings of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths preserved by South Stream Temple were made by the first Holy Maiden using the Heart of the Heavens to imprint it on her soul. Then she turned it over to the monoliths, and only two or three of its true meaning remained."
Hearing this, Chen Chang Sheng could not help but feel a boundless reverence towards the Holy Maiden who had founded the southern faction of the Orthodoxy.
Two or three true meanings could be stored. This sounded like a rather wretched ratio, but it must be known that the true meanings here were the true meanings of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths. That first Holy Maiden had actually been able to directly imprint those true meanings into her soul, and even reconstruct them into lines and shapes. This could truly be considered a great divine ability.
These kinds of rubbings of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths were naturally completely different from the rubbings sold by the peddlers in front of the Plum Garden Inn.
"And I wasn't talking about rubbings just now," Xu Yourong said. "The thickness I was talking about was the thickness of the brush strokes on the Heavenly Tome Monoliths."
Chen Chang Sheng did not quite understand. He asked, "You've come to the Mausoleum of Books to view the monoliths?"
Xu Yourong was somewhat embarrassed. "When I was five, the Empress carried me here."
Chen Chang Sheng was silent. He thought to himself, she really is a person that makes people speechless.
After viewing the Reflecting Monolith, they went to the second Heavenly Tome Monolith. Occasionally, they would see a few monolith viewers, but there were not many of them. Moreover, those people had remained in the Mausoleum of Books for many years, and their Dao hearts had long since become silent. Their attention was only on the monoliths, and they did not notice their arrival.
The two casually strolled through the mausoleum, exchanging their experiences and comprehensions from viewing the monoliths. Comparing their experiences with each other, they each benefited from it.
By the time they arrived in front of the broken monolith, the winter sun had already reached its zenith.
There was not a single person in front of the monolith hut. Chen Chang Sheng walked into the hut and looked at the broken monolith in silence.
Xu Yourong walked to his side, looked at him, and shook her head. In a soft but firm voice, she said, "Don't."
… …
… …
(For the sake of thanking a certain reader, and also because … I can't stand the loneliness, I can't keep the sesame oil, and I can't keep the manuscript. There's a chapter at eight in the evening.)
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