Chapter 1124: Everything Is Fake
"So it was you." That sentence was easy to understand. The next sentence, "So it wasn't you," was somewhat baffling, and even with context, it was hard to grasp.
If it had been anyone else, they would have been completely confused, thinking Chu Su was a madman. But Xu Yourong understood his meaning. She smiled faintly and said nothing.
Chu Su's smile gradually faded. He looked at her seriously and said, "Our connection is truly not shallow."
The ruined rocky mountain was filled with a stench of decay, just like his hoarse, unpleasant voice—nauseating.
Chu Su was a monster from the Longevity Sect, and Xu Yourong was the Saintess of the Southern Stream Temple.
The Longevity Sect and the Southern Stream Temple had a very deep history. If one truly wanted to talk about connections, fate, or Daoist principles, it would be a very long story.
Xu Yourong had no mood to listen to stories, and Chu Su didn't have that much time either.
The ground trembled slightly. Scattered red rocks bounced on the surface of the grassland.
A dense cluster of red lights appeared on the outskirts of the grassland, looking like scattered drops of blood.
Those red lights were the eyes of demonic beasts.
Hundreds of demonic beasts, under the cover of night, had surrounded the rocky mountain.
"I can't beat you," Chu Su said, looking at Xu Yourong with a sharp voice. "But now I have many subordinates. Are you afraid?"
Just as he had said to the Golden-Winged Roc earlier, he had no teachers, no family, no fellow disciples, no friends—not even a master.
He was a lone breed, a poisonous breed.
When he came to this grassland and suddenly gained many loyal subordinates, the feeling was unfamiliar to him, but he liked it.
He felt like the emperor of this grassland, able to summon thousands of troops with a wave of his hand.
He wanted to show off to Xu Yourong.
The ground squirrel lay beside him, head lowered, body trembling slightly, looking very fearful.
Chu Su was very proud.
Xu Yourong looked at him quietly, with some pity.
Chu Su was very angry.
But he didn't have time to order the demonic beasts to attack.
A crane's cry rang out from the distant depths of the night sky.
The demonic beasts looked up, utterly terrified, as if turned to stone.
The Golden-Winged Roc opened its eyes and glanced at the night sky, sensing that familiar aura, then turned its head away in utter disdain.
She hasn't even married yet, and you let him ride you every day? Have you no shame?
...
...
The night wind danced lightly. A white crane landed among the chaotic rocks.
A light blue Daoist robe, tightly bound black hair, a simple black wooden Daoist bun.
Nothing had changed from a few years ago. Chen Changsheng's attire was still that plain. No one would associate him with the Pope.
After Chen Changsheng appeared, the entire world fell silent.
The demonic beasts retreated fearfully and cautiously, not even daring to make the sound of brushing against grass.
Perhaps it was because his Daoist robe carried too much of the Frost Dragon's scent, or perhaps it was due to some ancient beast's reverence.
The fundamental reason for the silence was Chu Su's silence.
He stared at Chen Changsheng's face for a long time, then suddenly shouted, "It's not you either!"
Chen Changsheng said, "Yes, it's not me."
Upon confirmation, Chu Su's mood became very good. He couldn't control himself and burst into laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"So it really isn't you!"
"I knew it couldn't be you!"
He pointed at Chen Changsheng's face, laughing and shouting incessantly until tears and snot ran freely.
The reason he was so excited, even losing his composure, was that Chu Su's emotions were very complicated at this moment.
He had noticed the changes in Chen Changsheng over the years.
—Starlight gathered within one hundred and eighty apertures as if nothing, sword intent beneath the blue Daoist robe faint and elusive.
What did this mean?
It meant he was only half a step away from divinity.
Had there ever been anyone in history as young as Chen Changsheng who could come so close to the divine realm?
Chen Xuanba?
Yes, that person wasn't Chen Changsheng.
But now, Chen Changsheng was no longer someone he could defeat.
Chu Su decided to flee.
His exaggerated laughter was also meant to conceal his true intentions.
The sound stopped abruptly. Gray fleshy wings cut through the wind, and a strong stench of rot filled the night air.
Chu Su fled into the ground.
Xu Yourong reacted a moment too slow and couldn't catch up, not even with burning phoenix fire.
That was indeed the case.
Chu Su vanished from his spot.
Xu Yourong didn't pursue.
Under the night sky, the chaotic rocks and grassland looked like a pitch-black expanse.
Only a faint wisp of spiritual sense drifted in the wind.
That wisp of spiritual sense was deliberately left by Chu Su for the ground squirrel.
Over the years, he had lived with that ground squirrel and had grown accustomed to its presence, treating it like a dog. Even in such a tense moment, he didn't want to abandon it.
Suddenly, a mound several zhang high rose up on the grassland a few li away.
Starlight fell. The green turf was torn apart, and black soil gushed out continuously.
With a whoosh,
a figure shot out of that mound like a stone, blasted dozens of zhang into the sky.
A moment later, the figure landed heavily on the ground with a muffled groan.
From the sound, it was Chu Su.
What had happened?
Chu Su was also bewildered.
He looked down in terror and confusion, only to see that half of his left foot had been bitten off by something.
Then, he felt a chill and pain behind him. With a slight movement of his spiritual sense, he realized that the old wound on his fleshy wing left by Xu Yourong had split open again!
Fear greatly intensified the pain. Chu Su felt the agony from both places making his scalp tingle. He couldn't control himself and screamed.
"Who! Who ambushed me!"
A rustling sound came from the grassland under the night sky.
It wasn't the wind brushing the grass, nor a serpent burrowing underground—it was the sound of fur rubbing against grass.
The ground squirrel crawled to the base of the mound with its forelimbs, tilted its head, and kept spitting.
Ptoo! Ptoo! Ptoo! Ptoo!
What the ground squirrel spat out was blood and rotting flesh.
"It was you?"
Seeing this scene, Chu Su was utterly shocked. The ground squirrel's small, scrawny body seemed to turn into a demon in his eyes.
He couldn't understand why, after years of living together, it would suddenly betray him. Even if he had a bad temper on ordinary days, why would it want him dead?
The ground squirrel turned its head and glanced at Chu Su.
Chu Su felt he saw a terrifying smile in the beast's eyes.
Just then, Chen Changsheng's voice rang out: "Enough."
The ground squirrel stood up, scampered back to Chen Changsheng's front, and then looked back at Chu Su.
Only then did Chu Su realize that this ground squirrel wasn't crippled—it could actually walk upright!
He knew he had been raising a fake dog, but only today did he learn that everything was fake.
The mental pain of being deceived and toyed with outweighed the pain from his wounds.
"You did all this?"
He looked at Chen Changsheng and shouted angrily, "I'll kill you!"
A fierce wind howled. The stench of rot surged into the sky. The grass blades were all stained black. Red rocks crumbled and fell.
His tattered black robe fluttered, rustling loudly.
A chilling sword intent suddenly appeared, cutting through the starlight.
Several streams of blood burst forth.