There were many swordsmen in the world, but when it came to cultivation in the path of the sword, a normal person would believe that Chen Changsheng was the highest.
This was because Chen Changsheng had learned countless sword styles, had countless swords, and had even learned the sword from Su Li.
In truth, although Luo Bu did not know as many sword styles as Chen Changsheng, his cultivation in the path of the sword was definitely not below Chen Changsheng's, and might even be slightly superior.
After some time, the snowy river suddenly broke. This was an extremely precipitous part of the river, a drop of ten-some zhang from top to bottom.
Ice and snow covered the plains and the river, and where the river broke, the water beneath the layer of ice surged out with a roar.
The blue-clothed stranger walked to a massive rock in the middle of the river.
The water was like a waterfall, mixed with chunks of ice and snow as it poured down the sides of the rock.
Mu Jiushi sat at the very front of the rock, gazing at the dirty and somewhat muddy water, her thoughts inscrutable.
The blue-clothed stranger and Mu Jiushi exchanged a few words.
Luo Bu concealed himself in the frost grass and quietly watched.
He was too far away and the sound of the water was too loud, making it impossible for him to clearly hear what the two were talking about, but he could draw this scene.
The charcoal brush moved across the white paper, softly grinding against each other. Very quickly, the snowy river, the chaotic waterfall, and the two people on the rock appeared.
The blue-clothed stranger suddenly turned around and glanced at the forest by the river.
Luo Bu's hand holding the charcoal brush was somewhat stiff.
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… …
After leaving the desert, Chen Changsheng continued his journey to Wenshui City. However, he now had Nanke with him, as well as Zhexiu and Guan Feibai.
He was keenly aware that the road to the south was assuredly fraught with problems, and once he entered Wenshui City, he would encounter even more problems.
Neither he nor Zhexiu had said why they were going to Wenshui.
Just like back then, after defeating Zhou Ziheng outside the Orthodox Academy, he had boarded a carriage and headed for the alley of the Northern Military Department.
At the time, he and that fellow had also not said what they were going to do.
At the time, they were going to Zhou Prison to pick up someone. Now, it was the same. They were going to Wenshui City to pick up someone.
It had been a very long time since there had been any news of that fellow in Wenshui City.
Regardless of whether the people he encountered on the road really dared to assassinate Chen Changsheng, many people did not want him to go to Wenshui.
So he had to go to Wenshui.
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…
Winter of the third year of Xin Country. On a very ordinary and unremarkable day, the winter clouds suddenly dispersed and the sun shone brightly. Chen Chang Sheng's party arrived at the plains outside of Wen Shui City.
When he could see Wenshui City in the distance, Wenshui City had already seen him.
It could be said with great certainty that at this point, all of Wenshui City knew that he had come.
But nothing happened.
Whether it was the Tang Family guards at the city gates or the peddlers and pedestrians they saw along the way, none of them revealed any strange emotions when they saw them.
To be more precise, the guards and peddlers didn't even look at them, including the customs documents.
Wenshui City was very flourishing. The streets and alleys were interconnected and extended in all directions, especially the main street that passed through the city from the north to the south. It was not the slightest bit inferior to the capital's Vermillion Bird Avenue or Luoyang's Great Avenue of the East God. It could accommodate eight carriages abreast, and it was extremely spacious and imposing.
But when Chen Chang Sheng and the others appeared, the street suddenly seemed a little crowded.
It was not that they deliberately blocked the footsteps of those vehicles and pedestrians, but that those vehicles and pedestrians began to change lanes when they were about a hundred feet away from them.
It was very obvious that the pedestrians and vehicles were circling around them, or perhaps avoiding them from a distance.
They were like a massive rock in a river, squeezing the water to the sides.
Other than a few curious children at the mouth of the alleys, no one else even glanced at them, but they also kept their distance, as if they were scourges and ferocious beasts.
The atmosphere was very strange. Chen Chang Sheng even had the feeling that even the fragrances wafting out of those restaurants did not dare to approach them.
Zhexiu silently gazed at that building with white walls and black eaves at the end of the street.
That building was still very far from them, but that ancient aura of history was already assaulting their senses.
That place was the world-renowned ancestral hall of the Tang clan. It was said that it had an even longer history than the Imperial Palace of the capital.
Guan Feibai was also looking at that building, his right thumb, index finger, and middle finger slowly stroking the rather old hilt of his sword. His eyes were slightly narrowed, seemingly thinking about something.
If the news from the Li Palace was correct, that fellow should be imprisoned there.
Nanke was not thinking about anything. She used two fingers to pull at Chen Chang Sheng's sleeve. She just felt a little hungry and wanted to eat meat.
Chen Chang Sheng began to walk forward.
The crowd very naturally parted, leaving the middle of the street as if a divine power had parted an ocean.
Chen Chang Sheng did not walk to that building with white walls and black eaves at the end of the street. He stopped at a certain place, then turned and walked up the stone steps.
Behind the stone steps was a quiet path. Deep within the path was a forest, and deep within the forest was a Daoist church.
This was the Orthodoxy's church in Wenshui City.
The door of the Daoist church slowly closed.
Chen Chang Sheng and the others could no longer see it.
The peddlers and pedestrians on the street suddenly stopped and looked at the tightly shut door of the Daoist church.
In the silence, only the barking of dogs and the crying of children could be heard in the distance.
This scene was even stranger, like one of those incomprehensible mimes in Xuelao City.
After some time, the crowd withdrew their gazes from the Daoist church and continued forward, returning to their own lives.
The door of the Daoist church was tightly shut. The snow-covered forest was silent.
No one knew what was going on inside.
Until dusk descended.
… …
… …
The pedestrians on the street no longer looked at the Daoist church in the forest, as if on purpose. But in other places, countless eyes were watching.
The Wenshui flowed through the city. One section of the water was gentle and beautiful, and it happened to be behind the Daoist church.
On the opposite shore, seven peddlers, six government laborers, three fortune-tellers, two sesame-candy-selling elders, and one cosmetic-buying girl were constantly watching the rear garden of the Daoist church.
There was also an officer with a full beard who would occasionally glance in that direction.
The rays of the setting sun fell on the mirror-like water, transforming into countless balls of fire that seemed to burn the sky.
Those rays of light then reflected back and fell on his face, and his beard seemed to turn into burning shrubs.
Luo Bu recalled the Tang clan's famous Three Moves of Wenshui.
These three sword techniques all had very pleasant names: Gathering Evening Clouds, Hanging Sunset, and One Stream of Maples.
Perhaps that virtuous predecessor of the Tang clan had seen this sort of scenery in this place and was inspired to create such a wondrous and beautiful sword style?
The rear garden of the Daoist church was as quiet as usual, with not a single person to be seen.
Suddenly, the sound of a zither could be heard, gurgling like water, very pleasant to the ears.
He turned his head and saw a blind zither player sitting on the shore of the Wenshui, plucking at the zither strings.
Although it was dusk, the rays of light from the west seemed even brighter and somewhat dazzling, but the blind zither player could not sense this. Unlike other people, he did not use his hands to block the light. Instead, he squinted his eyes and lightly swayed his head to and fro with the sound of the zither. He seemed to be in extreme enjoyment and intoxication.
Seeing this, Luo Bu walked up to the zither player and threw down a few pieces of silver.
The sound of the silver pieces falling made the zither player even happier. His eyebrows seemed about to fly up, and his fingers plucked at the strings even faster. But the style of the zither suddenly changed, becoming more and more subdued. It was no longer the thousands of golden leaves on the river, but the distant people of the city pass under the setting sun.
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It was once said that there were ten thousand pieces of gold coins on the surface of the water under the sun. This is an even more vulgar way of saying it, and I like reading his book, so I've been happily using it in the last few years. In Wenshui City, the richest place in the world of Choosing the Heavens, this way of saying it could not be more appropriate.
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