Chapter 1106: We Have All Killed Before
Yu Ren did not pick up that string of stone beads, even though he knew they were the Heavenly Book Stele.
Xu Yourong had placed her hopes on him, probably because Chen Changsheng often mentioned him in daily conversation.
But he also had no way to enter the Zhou Garden.
However, he knew that Chen Changsheng would not want to see him appear.
If he truly encountered an insurmountable danger, Chen Changsheng would naturally come out of the Zhou Garden on his own.
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The White Grass Path was straight and long. Walking upon it, one would experience extremely brief seasonal changes.
It did not take long for Chen Changsheng to pass through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, crashing into the wild blizzard.
He kept running toward the wind and snow, his face even paler than the snow.
The temple deep in the wind and snow had become a tiny black dot, and it was burning.
At the ten-li mark on the White Grass Path, there was a temple; at the hundred-li mark, there was a temple; at the thousand-li mark, there was also a temple.
Chen Changsheng and Shang Xingzhou had met three times, once at each of these three temples.
No matter whether he entered a temple to hide or not, he was always discovered.
Perhaps it was because the place where master and disciple had spent the most time together was that old temple in Xining Town.
Those three brief and perilous skirmishes had worsened Chen Changsheng’s injuries.
Some demonic beasts with lower intelligence and greater ambition could not resist showing themselves to help Chen Changsheng, only to be chopped into pieces by Shang Xingzhou’s Dao sword.
The sea of grass in those areas was completely stained red by beast blood, a bloody sight.
Even though the situation was so dangerous, Chen Changsheng still had no intention of leaving the Zhou Garden.
Leaving on his own and trapping Shang Xingzhou inside the Zhou Garden was not an option, because that would not be a battle.
Moreover, when he opened a spatial passage, he would very likely give his opponent an opportunity to strike.
For this reason, he had not even attempted to use the Zhou Garden’s rules for spatial teleportation.
More importantly, all the preparations he had made to defeat Shang Xingzhou were inside the Zhou Garden.
During these days of quiet contemplation in the Li Palace, he had prepared a great deal.
But those methods were all based on his ability to draw his sword.
As soon as he entered the Zhou Garden, all his swords were gone. What could he do?
How long would this evasion of his last?
Or rather, where exactly was he going?
The snow falling in the sea of grass suddenly became somewhat dim.
That was due to a change in the sky’s light.
A massive shadow loomed over the road ahead and the wilderness.
Chen Changsheng, like a wisp of smoke, broke through the wind and snow, darting swiftly toward the depths of the shadow.
The Zhou Mausoleum was there.
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……
The soles of his boots left shallow imprints on the rough bluestone surface, with faint, cobweb-like cracks visible at the edges.
The howling wind whipped his sleeves and robes, making them as straight as sword light.
Chen Changsheng kept dashing forward, soon reaching the middle section of the Zhou Mausoleum, at the end of that familiar tomb passage.
Back then, there had been a green tree here called Tong Gong.
He and Xu Yourong had faced the Golden-Winged Roc awakened by Nan Ke, along with the terrifying beast tide.
The Sword Pool had awakened.
Ten thousand swords had become dragons.
That past story had not happened very long ago, yet it already felt like a lifetime.
The Golden-Winged Roc was absorbing the essence of heaven and earth in the ancestral land of the Xiu Ling tribe, waiting for true maturity.
Nan Ke was on Li Mountain, listening to the clear sound of swords night after night to purify his heart, unknown when he would truly awaken.
The demonic beasts had enjoyed several years of good life, but it was uncertain whether they could continue after today.
Today, his opponent was only one person, yet in terms of terror, he was in no way inferior, and was even more frightening.
The gravel at the edge of the altar rolled with the wind, stopping only when it touched the edge of a cloth shoe.
Shang Xingzhou gazed at the Zhou Mausoleum, and the expression on his face finally changed.
“I don’t know what you’ve prepared here,”
he said to Chen Changsheng. “But just as I said at the very beginning, there are no miracles.”
Chen Changsheng replied, “I believe that the appearance of someone like Zhou Du Fu beneath the starry sky is itself a miracle.”
No matter how later generations judged Zhou Du Fu, many would agree with his view.
The strongest beneath the starry sky, truly undefeated across the world—of course, that was a miracle.
Hearing this, Shang Xingzhou was silent for a moment, then laughed.
“Do you know why Wang Zhi Ce didn’t like me, yet was still willing to help me?”
He looked at Chen Changsheng and asked, “And do you know why the old men of our generation could scheme against each other, deceive each other, and plot against each other, yet when facing an external enemy—or when pushed to the brink—they would show a united will against the outside?”
Chen Changsheng said, “Because of your shared experiences.”
Shang Xingzhou said calmly, “Yes, because we once had a common enemy.”
Chen Changsheng said, “I used to think it was the Demon race.”
Shang Xingzhou said, “The existence of the Demon race was certainly a reason for unity, but the more important reason was that person.”
Chen Changsheng said, “I don’t quite understand.”
Shang Xingzhou said, “Because that person made us see ourselves clearly, made us see each other clearly, and from then on, we could be open and trust one another.”
Chen Changsheng said, “See clearly what you truly wanted?”
Shang Xingzhou said, “And at the same time, see clearly how ugly our true thoughts were, because after all, it was a shameless thing.”
Chen Changsheng understood and could only remain silent.
Shang Xingzhou said indifferently, “You have also killed a Zhou before, but compared to what we did back then, it was just child’s play.”
What Chen Changsheng had killed was Zhou Tong.
Back then, those people had killed Zhou Du Fu.
“If he was a miracle, then shouldn’t we, who killed him, be the true miracle?”
Shang Xingzhou’s gaze was very cold, as if he were looking at a dead man.
Many years ago, they had killed that person, so what was Chen Changsheng?
The most famous and longest-lasting mystery of the millennium was finally answered at this moment.
The speculations of many, the enduring topics in tea houses and taverns, were finally confirmed at this moment.
Without a doubt, this was the deepest secret of the world.
Yet Chen Changsheng was very calm.
He looked at Shang Xingzhou and asked, “How can you be so sure that he really died?”
This was the tomb of Zhou Du Fu.
He stood at the entrance of the tomb and asked this question.
It felt as if he were asking on behalf of the person inside the tomb.
The cold wind stirred the gravel in the wilderness, producing a sound that seemed to carry the feeling of time.
Shang Xingzhou’s eyes narrowed.
……
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(I’ve been annoyingly ill. I’ll try my best to recover as soon as possible. As in the past year, I wish everyone good health once again.)