Chapter 122: I Really Want to Live Another Five Hundred Years
He didn't know how much time had passed, but Chen Changsheng estimated it must be around dawn. He stood up and signaled to the Black Dragon that tonight's lesson was over.
The Black Dragon's mood was clearly not very high, but it mercifully did not stop him from leaving.
He looked up at the dome of the underground space. The bottom of the abandoned well, when viewed from the surface, was just an inconspicuous black dot, with no morning light seeping in.
How would he get up?
He recalled the process of leaving the underground space last time, his expression turning serious. He quickly stripped off all his clothes and put them away.
He was completely focused on preparing for what was to come, but he didn't notice that during this process, the Black Dragon's eyes clearly showed disgust and tension.
A flash of light streaked by, and Chen Changsheng's body vanished from the ground.
The Black Dragon looked up at the surface, its dragon whiskers gently drifting. It wasn't a farewell, but rather a message to return quickly.
The next moment, Chen Changsheng was back on the surface.
Still the same side hall in the imperial palace, still the same pond.
He walked from the pond to the shore, saw no one around, and quickly took out his clothes to put them on.
The morning light was faint, the deep autumn cold. A wind brushed past the side of the hall, and in just that short time, he was frozen stiff. Even though his bones and tendons had been tempered by medicinal baths for years, he could barely withstand it.
What path should he take next?
He hugged his arms, recalling the route from that night, when he suddenly saw the black sheep on the opposite side of the pond.
He was slightly stunned, and his hands gradually loosened—every time he didn't know where to go, the black sheep would appear.
Today, he hadn't encountered the middle-aged woman by the pond, but he still saw the black sheep.
He found it increasingly strange, feeling that there must be some hidden connection between these events.
But he didn't know who to ask. Asking the black sheep would certainly yield no answer.
He walked to the opposite side of the pond.
The black sheep gently nudged his knee, just like the previous times, and began to lead the way. Whether because it was still early or for some other reason, the early morning imperial palace had almost no one around. Not even a single servant sweeping the courtyard was seen. The man and the sheep smoothly made their way to the palace wall.
On the palace wall were green vines, and hidden among the vines was an old door with a lock.
Around the black sheep's neck hung a key.
Chen Changsheng took the key, unlocked the door, pushed it open, and walked into the quiet passage. It didn't take long for him to return to the National Academy.
This wasn't the door the middle-aged woman had used; it was the door Mo Yu had used.
Chen Changsheng wanted to re-tie the key around the black sheep's neck, but the sheep tilted its head slightly, refusing.
He was silent for a moment, then said thank you and carefully put the key away.
The black sheep walked back into the imperial palace, and the old door closed again.
In the days that followed, life on the surface was very calm.
The Empress's instructions were accurately conveyed to all the forces in the capital through Mo Yu. The gate of the National Academy remained unrepaired, but no one dared to cause trouble. Jin Yulu took on the role of the gate, lounging on a bamboo chair with a teapot, representing that the gate was tightly shut.
Chen Changsheng continued as before, diligently studying and cultivating every day. However, to prepare for the Grand Examination, he made some adjustments, such as reviewing the exam papers from the last Grand Examination. He also took Tang Thirty-Six and Xuan Yuan Po to the neighboring Herb Garden to gather more medicinal herbs.
Xuan Yuan Po's right arm injury had fully healed. Chen Changsheng found a cultivation technique suitable for him, though he didn't know how much progress he could make by the time of the Grand Examination.
As the most favored grandson of the Wen Shui Tang family, Tang Thirty-Six's participation in the Grand Examination naturally received great attention from his family. Although the old master had expressed great indignation in his letter about Tang Thirty-Six's unauthorized withdrawal from the Heavenly Dao Academy, the supplies prepared for him had not diminished at all; in fact, they had increased. It seemed the Tang family was well aware of recent events in the capital and knew the current situation of the National Academy.
In addition, the Education Bureau also provided many conveniences for the National Academy's participation in the Grand Examination. Priest Xin personally handled all the procedures.
Of course, Luo Luo contributed the most. She took the medicinal herbs Chen Changsheng had sent and refined them into pills according to the method, then sent everything to the National Academy.
Everything was ready; it seemed they were just waiting for the Grand Examination date to arrive. However, a small incident occurred during this time.
One early winter morning, after finishing his routine starlight marrow-washing, Chen Changsheng returned from the library to the small building and saw Mo Yu again.
Miss Mo Yu's hair, like a waterfall of black, was still draped over her shoulders, but she wasn't asleep. Instead, she stood by the bed with her hands on her hips, her face full of resentment and anger, looking exactly like a nagging wife about to start a quarrel.
Chen Changsheng had seen this expression many times recently, every time he called Tang Thirty-Six to get up in the morning. He knew this was called "morning crankiness" or "not getting enough sleep."
"What's wrong?"
Although the National Academy and Mo Yu were on opposing sides, he was still curious why she looked like this. He clearly remembered that the pillow was filled with newly changed medicinal herbs, which were very helpful for calming the mind.
Mo Yu lifted the bedding on his bed and pointed at the crystals scattered on the bed, angrily saying, "If you don't want me to sleep here, just say so. Do you have to put these stones here to annoy me?"
"Annoy" wasn't quite the right word, but in her view, Chen Changsheng was doing this just to spite her.
Chen Changsheng didn't understand. Those crystals were sent to the National Academy by the Wen Shui Tang family and Luo Luo. They contained a lot of jade essence. If you held them while meditating, they could greatly speed up the absorption of starlight. That's why he had stuffed them under the bedding.
For the Grand Examination, he wouldn't overlook any detail.
"I've already added two extra layers of bedding and tested it myself. I can't feel them at all."
He explained to Mo Yu.
Mo Yu was speechless, thinking that if he knew she could be kept awake by a single pea under ten layers of bedding, he definitely wouldn't understand.
Suddenly, snowflakes fell outside the window—the first snow of the season.
Inside the window, it suddenly became quiet. The two looked at each other in silence, and the atmosphere grew awkward.
Only then did Mo Yu realize that her resentment was completely unreasonable. Only then did Chen Changsheng remember that he didn't need to explain anything at all.
This was his room, his bed. There was no affection between him and her; on the contrary, they were enemies.
Mo Yu left. She never came to the National Academy again until the Grand Examination. It seemed she had finally realized how absurd her actions were.
However, the next day, Chen Changsheng discovered that his pillow and bedding had disappeared.
Could this really be happening?
He lifted his sleeve and sniffed it, finding no smell at all.
But why did Luo Luo and the black sheep like to sniff him?
Now even someone like Miss Mo Yu... Chen Changsheng couldn't feel any pride. As someone with a mild cleanliness obsession, the thought of Mo Yu hugging his bedding every night to sleep was actually somewhat hard to accept.
Time passed. The surprise of the first snow had faded. It snowed every day in the capital, and everyone was tired of it. Autumn gave way to winter, the cold deepened, and the Grand Examination drew nearer.
Chen Changsheng knew he could no longer hesitate, so he stopped hesitating.
A few days before the Grand Examination, without telling anyone, he used the cover of the morning wind and snow to leave the National Academy and head to North New Bridge.
The golden leaf-like fallen leaves were covered by snow. The capital's famous scenic spot would have to wait until next year. There were no tourists at all, except for the distant imperial guards and the faint traces left by flying carriages in the snowy sky. There was nothing here.
No, not nothing. In the distance, a palace attendant in a fur coat was walking two snow mastiffs.
Snow mastiffs were not dogs; they were powerful demonic beasts that dared to fight human cultivators. They came from the Black Stone Mountain outside Snow Old City, preferring cold over heat. It was unclear how they managed to survive in the capital.
Of course, anyone who could keep snow mastiffs was definitely not an ordinary person.
These two snow mastiffs were not both white; one was slightly yellow.
The snow fell heavily. The yellow mastiff gradually turned white, and the white mastiff gradually grew plump.
Before the palace wall, the white snow stretched endlessly, unifying the land. On the ground was a black hole.
That was the well mouth.
Chen Changsheng walked to the well, glanced at the distant palace attendant and the two snow mastiffs, confirmed they hadn't noticed him, and then jumped down.
On the surface, wind and snow raged. Underground, wind and snow never ceased, coming from every breath of the Black Dragon.
In recent days, Chen Changsheng had visited the Black Dragon several times. He was no longer as nervous as at the beginning, not knowing how to stand or where to put his hands.
The Black Dragon was very satisfied with his aptitude for learning the dragon language but extremely dissatisfied with the frequency of his lessons. However, even as a dragon, it knew the significance of the Grand Examination for humans, so it couldn't demand too much from him.
Its dragon whiskers danced lightly, sweeping away the ice shavings and snow on the ground in front of Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng skillfully took out several oil-paper packages and a few common novels, placing them on the ground. He unwrapped the oil paper, revealing roasted lamb, roasted chicken, roasted deer tail, braised ox tongue, and a steamed double-headed fish.
"Leave the ox tongue for me," he said.
Thinking of the Black Dragon imprisoned underground for hundreds of years, lonely and pitiful, having gone so long without eating, Chen Changsheng always brought some food whenever he visited.
Of course, this food couldn't possibly fill the Black Dragon's stomach; it was just to satisfy its cravings.
At first, the Black Dragon scoffed at this, putting on an air of having eaten human flesh in the imperial palace without blinking an eye back in the day. But when it actually ate, it showed no restraint.
"I've made up my mind."
Chen Changsheng waited with extreme patience for the Black Dragon to finish tasting the food at an extremely slow pace before he began to speak.
The Black Dragon looked at him as if he were an idiot.
From their previous meetings, it already knew what Chen Changsheng wanted to do.
Lowly humans could only have weak bodies. To attempt Inner Observation without first successfully completing marrow-washing would only lead to death.
Although it hadn't paid much attention when learning from its father the king, it still understood such a simple principle.
In fact, Chen Changsheng also knew that this was basically impossible to succeed. He had never seen a successful precedent in the Three Thousand Daoist Canons.
But he had to do this because the Grand Examination was imminent.
He absolutely had to achieve the top rank in the Grand Examination. Only then could he spend a night in contemplation at the Lingyan Pavilion.
Only then would he have the chance to touch upon the opportunity to defy fate and change his destiny.
Only then might he have the possibility of living past twenty.
If not, twenty and fifteen were no different.
Yes, amidst the monotonous cultivation and study, he had already turned fifteen.
Twenty minus fifteen left five years.
Five hundred minus twenty was still roughly five hundred years.
He was betting five years for five hundred years.
He really wanted to live another five hundred years.
Seeing Chen Changsheng's expression, the Black Dragon knew he was serious this time.
The Black Dragon's eyes gradually turned stern. It prepared to stop this from happening.
If you die, who will talk with me? Who will do that task for me?
Chen Changsheng said nothing, just quietly looked at it, and so it knew it couldn't stop him.
The Black Dragon's eyes became somewhat irritable.
Chen Changsheng untied the short sword from his waist, looked at it, and said, "If I die..."
The Black Dragon looked at the short sword, its expression turning solemn.
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment, then said, "Forget it. If I die, I die. Leaving any words would be meaningless."
The Black Dragon's eyes went from stern to calm, and finally only admiration remained.
Any life that could calmly face death and challenge death was worthy of admiration.
Whether dragon, demon, demonic beast, or human, even if it were just a sparrow.
It remembered its father the king saying this to it.
Because of admiration, it no longer tried to stop Chen Changsheng. Its dragon whiskers drifted gently, lightly touched his brow, and then withdrew.
Chen Changsheng sat down, picked up the ox tongue he had specifically asked the Black Dragon to leave for him.
At the age of ten, when he learned he wouldn't live past twenty, he had stopped eating unhealthy but delicious foods like ox tongue.
He ate earnestly, savoring it, his expression quite satisfied.
After finishing the ox tongue and drinking some water, he scooped up some snow from beside him, wiped his hands clean, and rubbed his face to make himself more alert.
After completing all these preparations, he closed his eyes and began Inner Observation.
(Note: The two dogs are, of course, related to Zhang Da You. The scene was just too fitting, and I got a bit carried away. Of course, their appearance has a reason. And now it's Monday again. I ask everyone to cast your recommendation votes for "Zhe Tian Ji." Thank you, thank you.)