Before he opened his eyes, before he calmed his mind for five breaths, Chen Changsheng's vision was filled with the night sky and those densely packed Essence Qi Locks. The last scene in his memory was him and Nanke falling to the ground, the black and white of the snowy mountain range getting closer and closer.
And then there was the dull thud of impact, the endless pain, and the boundless darkness that came with it.
When he awoke from the darkness, he had no idea how much time had passed, only that he was still alive. As he calmed his mind for five breaths, he performed Meditative Introspection and discovered that his meridians were shattered in many places. If a normal cultivator discovered that they had suffered such heavy injuries, they would assuredly panic, perhaps even despair. But he had much experience in this aspect, so he maintained his composure. He even accurately determined that the most serious injury had come from the Demon Lord's counterattack.
He opened his eyes and saw a face covered in a beard. The beard on this face was so lush that it looked like a shrub that had not been pruned for several decades. If one did not look carefully, it would be very difficult to find where this person's eyes were.
But as long as one saw this person's eyes, they would find it hard to look away. This was because these eyes were very clear, their divine splendor restrained but deeply concealed their passion. They were like the morning sun behind the clouds in the morning. Although they were not willing to easily reveal their true appearance, everyone knew that they were assuredly a very moving sight.
The eyes were the windows to the soul and could see many things.
Chen Changsheng had seen many eyes, like his martial uncle the Pope's eyes that were as vast as the sea of stars, or Xu Yourong's eyes after a fresh rain fell over an empty mountain, but he had to admit that this person's eyes were extremely good, much better than this bearded face.
"You're awake?" the person asked.
Chen Changsheng noticed this person's clothes and realized that he was an officer of the Great Zhou, which made him feel even more at ease.
The young officer guessed that he could not speak for the time being, so he took the initiative to say, "This is Sloping Cliff Horse Farm. I am the manager here, called …"
He paused, then continued, "Luo Bu."
Chen Changsheng thought to himself, for some reason, this name sounds rather strange.
"First answer a few questions of mine. Blinking once is yes, blinking twice is no."
The officer called Luo Bu looked into his eyes and asked, "You are a person of Zhou?"
Chen Changsheng blinked without hesitation.
Luo Bu asked, "A medicine merchant?"
Chen Changsheng hesitated, then blinked twice.
Luo Bu smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. He seemed especially radiant, and at the same time, his true age was revealed.
For such a young man to grow a full beard, no one knew why.
Chen Chang Sheng couldn't help but think about this question.
"It doesn't matter if you don't dare to admit it. You can't be a spy anyway. Rest well. Although I don't know if you can recover, you shouldn't die. Also, that little girl, I don't know if she's always like that, or if there's something wrong with her. Don't worry. "
After saying this, Luo Bu walked out of the house.
Nanke held a bowl full of meat in her hands and walked from the corner of the room to the bedside.
She tilted her head slightly and looked at Chen Chang Sheng's face. Her sluggish eyes were filled with confusion, as if she had never seen him before. Suddenly, she seemed to have remembered something and placed the bowl of meat in front of Chen Chang Sheng's face, indicating for him to eat.
Chen Chang Sheng didn't know what had happened and shook his head with difficulty.
"Only by eating meat will you have strength," Nanke said as she stared into his eyes.
Chen Chang Sheng thought to himself, what kind of things would require strength?
Nanke seemed to understand the meaning in his eyes. She placed the bowl by the pillow, pointed at her forehead, and very seriously said two words.
"Cure illness."
Seeing this, Chen Chang Sheng finally understood.
At the end of the night battle in the snowy mountains, in order to break through the Demon Lord and Black Robe's arrangements, she had forcefully awakened her soul a second time. In the end, she had still failed to break through that barrier, and her sea of consciousness had suffered severe damage. To explain it in the most ordinary terms, she was now truly stupid.
She no longer remembered anything, including who Chen Chang Sheng was, but she still remembered that Chen Chang Sheng had promised to cure her illness.
Chen Chang Sheng looked into her eyes in silence for a very long time. Of course, he had never been able to speak in the first place.
He could speak to himself and others in his heart.
"Since I promised you, I will definitely cure you, even though I don't have much confidence."
The current Nanke did not know what illness she had, only that she remembered this matter.
But she once more understood his eyes and felt very happy. She gave a simple and honest laugh, extremely innocent and adorable.
In the Garden of Zhou and the snowy mountains, Chen Chang Sheng did not remember ever seeing Nanke smile. In his and the common people's understanding, she had always been cold-blooded, heartless, cruel, and murderous. How could he connect her to this sweet and smiling girl in front of him?
Only now did Chen Chang Sheng notice that she was wearing a cotton jacket and her hair was combed into two buns. It was very casual, and he didn't know whose handiwork it was. He suddenly remembered that this was the Great Zhou Army. If someone discovered her true identity, it would probably cause a massive problem.
She was a member of the Imperial clan. Her demon horns were hidden, but where had her two wings gone?
A piece of stewed meat was brought to his lips, interrupting his thoughts. There was not much salt in the meat, so it was rather bland, but it was extremely glutinous.
Crucially, the one feeding him this meat was the little princess of the Demon race.
Naturally, Chen Chang Sheng recalled the little princess of the Dragon race, Zhizhi, and Su Li, who had married this little princess of the Demon race.
Where was the little Black Dragon?
As the Pope's appointed Protector, she had already established some sort of connection with Chen Chang Sheng. Chen Chang Sheng could think of a way to call her over.
But he would not do this.
A year and a half ago, he had been injured by Hai Di on the battlefield. It was only by relying on the little Black Dragon that he had been able to escape. Who could have expected that on his way back to the mountains, he would be pursued by several experts of the Imperial Court? Afterwards, he did not have the Li Palace investigate this matter, but he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
Even someone of Su Li's abilities and daring had to endure silently after returning from the snowy plains, let alone him?
After experiencing these things, he finally understood how naive he had been when he had shouted in the spring sunshine of Xunyang City that Su Li was here.
Now that he did not have the strength to protect himself, he would never have contacted Zhizhi, much less had her come over and expose his whereabouts.
The current him was no longer as naive as he had been in the past.
Nanke began to feed him meat soup. It was neither cold nor hot, the temperature just right.
The stone pearl was still on his wrist, but everything else had already been sent into the Garden of Zhou. His abdomen was slightly warm, and logically speaking, he should have been able to calmly rest, but he always felt that something was wrong, or perhaps he had forgotten something.
Had that officer called Luo Bu really not sensed anything? How had he been able to so easily believe in him and Nanke? This horse farm called Sloping Cliff was clearly very desolate, but for someone so young to become the chief official, how could he be so naive?
The curtain in front of the door was raised, letting in a cold wind. Luo Bu also walked in, a bowl of pitch-black medicinal soup in his hands.
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.
