Chapter 146: I Never Expected This
Guan Feibai never expected that his senior brother would actually suggest a direct, hard fight. What was so good about a battle strategy that even he could have come up with himself?
Gou Hanshi ignored him, looking at Liang Banhu and saying, "Don't bother with whether he's using real moves or fake ones. We don't need to counter his moves move by move. You just trade blows with him directly."
Guan Feibai was skilled in the way of the sword and understood clearly that what they called trading blows ultimately meant trading injuries. He thought to himself, Liang Junior Brother is clearly stronger than that Tang Thirty-Six guy, so why resort to such a mutually destructive method?
Seeing Liang Banhu lower his head in silence, Gou Hanshi knew his junior brothers were all somewhat confused. He calmly explained, "Tang Tang is not as good as you, so Chen Changsheng needs to help him win through surprise tactics. But since you're stronger than Tang Tang, you can't go down the path of cunning and strangeness. You should use the simplest, even the most foolish method, to obtain the most ordinary victory."
He stood up, took the handkerchief Qi Jian handed him, wiped his face clean, and looked toward the forest edge where Tang Thirty-Six stood with his sword-brow eyebrows practically flying off his face. He said, "Why fight hard? Because when this guy gets fierce, he really goes overboard. Trading blows will definitely result in injury, but this should be the method with the smallest cost to defeat him."
Liang Banhu thought it over and said, "Senior Brother, I understand."
The door of the Dust-Washing Pavilion slowly opened. The young scholar from Huaiyuan Academy, Zhong Hui, had easily defeated his opponent and walked out. What made him somewhat displeased was that the gazes of the examinees outside the pavilion still hadn't turned to him. They were still fixed on those two places, even more eagerly than before, because Liang Banhu and Tang Thirty-Six had both stood up.
Without much ceremony, Liang Banhu and Tang Thirty-Six bowed to the priest from the Li Palace, then entered the Dust-Washing Pavilion one after the other.
Looking at the tightly closed wooden door, the examinees' expressions were very focused. Silence fell over the field.
By this point, more than ten matches of the second round of the Grand Examination had already been held. Aside from the match between the wolf tribe youth Zhexiu and Su Moyu, this was the match with the strongest combatants on both sides. This match was even more anticipated than the Zhexiu-Su Moyu one, because everyone understood that besides Liang Banhu and Tang Thirty-Six, there were two others involved.
Those two wouldn't take the stage, but their role was no less significant than if they had stepped onto the field themselves, just like that final night of the Green Vine Banquet.
In this world, there were some people who, through their knowledge and thinking ability, could directly change the outcome of a battle through guidance. Such people were military strategists on the front lines against the demon race, and in most academies and sects, they were the respected professors or elders. Only at Mount Li Sword Sect and the National Academy did two students play this role.
Today, during the Grand Examination, the masters and teachers from various sects and mountain gates were not allowed in the examination grounds. Many people envied the examinees from Mount Li Sword Sect and the National Academy. It was precisely because they had Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng to provide on-site guidance. Both of these people had the ability to solve many problems on the spot and change many things.
Time passed slowly. Inside the Dust-Washing Pavilion, it remained completely silent.
Chen Changsheng's expression didn't change, but his hands were clenching tighter and tighter. He had a bad feeling, because it was too quiet.
Suddenly, a fiery red color appeared in the azure sky. This color came from the projection of a sword light within the Dust-Washing Pavilion. It looked very warm, but behind the warmth lurked a blazing danger.
Crimson clouds filled the sky, an incomparably beautiful sight.
Wenshui Three Styles, Evening Clouds Gather.
A cry of surprise rose from outside the pavilion. Tang Thirty-Six's sword momentum had actually broken through the academy's restrictions, appearing above the Dust-Washing Pavilion, visible to everyone's eyes.
Gou Hanshi looked up at that evening glow, silent. He realized that Tang Thirty-Six's progress in the National Academy these days was even greater than anyone had imagined.
Chen Changsheng's expression, however, became grave. Because according to their pre-arranged plan, there shouldn't have been crimson clouds filling the sky today.
Perhaps Tang Thirty-Six had gone all out. But what did that mean? The fact that Liang Banhu, still silent, could force him to go all out early meant that Liang Banhu still had strength in reserve. Moreover, somehow, he had prevented Tang Thirty-Six from linking the first dozen or so sword strikes into a continuous sword momentum.
Another cry of surprise and admiration rose from outside the pavilion.
The crimson clouds filling the sky suddenly became dazzlingly bright. The small stream was illuminated, and the water's edge seemed to sprout countless red maple trees.
Setting Sun Hanging, followed by A River of Maples.
Tang Thirty-Six's sword intent had actually spread so far that it could affect the environment outside the pavilion. For a young man who hadn't yet reached the Thoroughfare realm, this was enough to make him proud.
But Chen Changsheng's expression grew increasingly grave.
Because until now, he still hadn't seen Liang Banhu's sword. No one present had seen it.
Suddenly, the evening glow sharply contracted, the red maples became illusory. An extremely faint, extremely gentle, supremely calm sword intent brushed across the sky above the Dust-Washing Pavilion.
The sword intent was like water, like clear water. Countless acres of clear lake water washed the sky clean.
Whether it was the evening glow, the setting sun, or the red maples, all were washed cleanly away, reminding people that those colors from before weren't real. They had been painted by someone wielding a sword as a brush. Since they were painted, they used pigment. As long as they were pigment, they could be washed away by water, as long as there was enough water, clear enough.
Half a lake of clear water could wash feet, could even wash hat tassels, and could also wash this sky clean, revealing its original azure color.
Outside the Dust-Washing Pavilion, countless examinees looked up at the sky. There were no cries of surprise, only silence.
Whether it was the evening glow or the lake water washing the sky, both were reflections of the two youths' sword intents within the small world of the pavilion.
Truly strong.
Chen Changsheng was silent for a moment, then returned to calm. He looked toward Gou Hanshi by the stream in the distance and nodded in greeting.
Gou Hanshi nodded in return.
The door of the Dust-Washing Pavilion slowly opened. Liang Banhu walked out. One step behind him, Tang Thirty-Six followed.
That one step was probably the difference.
Both of them were injured, with clear sword marks on their robes.
The examiner looked at the two with an appreciative glance and announced, "Mount Li Sword Sect, Liang Banhu wins."
Liang Banhu and Tang Thirty-Six bowed to each other in salute, then walked down the stone steps, heading toward the forest edge and the stream respectively.
Tang Thirty-Six was very tired. Perhaps that was why he didn't want to talk.
He walked back to the forest edge, sat down on the ground, leaned against a white poplar tree, and closed his eyes.
When Chen Changsheng fed him medicine, he only opened his mouth, still refusing to open his eyes.
Xuan Yuan Po walked over to him, crouched down, and looked at him. His face, covered in faint green stubble yet still very youthful, was filled with worry. He said, "Say something."
Tang Thirty-Six kept his eyes closed and refused to acknowledge him.
Xuan Yuan Po was a bit anxious and looked at Chen Changsheng, asking, "Is he okay?"
Chen Changsheng said, "He might be quite badly injured by Liang Banhu. He needs rest. Let's not disturb him."
Many things in the world were like this, especially for young men. When many people wanted to care about you, you would resist that care and not want to respond. But when those who cared about you were about to leave, you would start to feel lonely in advance, a bit uneasy.
Tang Thirty-Six opened his eyes, looking at Chen Changsheng in annoyance. "What do you mean 'quite badly injured'? Where am I injured?"
Luo Luo pointed at the tears in his academy uniform caused by the sword, then pointed at the faint line of blood on his face.
"Is this what you call serious? Didn't you see that guy Liang Banhu? I almost cut his leg off!"
Tang Thirty-Six said with shame and anger, "I'm just sleepy! I just want to lean against the tree and lie down for a bit! Don't come bothering me, okay!"
After saying this, he closed his eyes again.
Chen Changsheng knew that this guy was always proud and arrogant. Losing in the second round of the Grand Examination must have been very hard for him.
But he couldn't let this guy wallow in that kind of emotion. He had always believed that was a waste of life, completely meaningless.
All negative emotions should be instantly defeated, or rather, discarded.
"Are you short of money?" he asked Tang Thirty-Six.
Tang Thirty-Six kept his eyes closed and sneered in response, "Have you ever seen anyone richer than me?"
Chen Changsheng asked again, "Your written exam results should be decent, right? Can you make it into the top three overall?"
Tang Thirty-Six opened his eyes and looked at him. "Making it into the top three shouldn't be a big problem. The question is, why are you asking?"
Chen Changsheng looked at him seriously and said, "If you can make it into the top three, you can view the Heavenly Book. And you're not short of money. The junior sisters from Qingyao Thirteen Divisions and Saintess Peak all like you. So what else do you want?"
Tang Thirty-Six felt that this question seemed to imply something. He thought about it seriously for a long time, then tentatively tested, "First place? Top of the list?"
Chen Changsheng said with exasperation, "That's mine."
Tang Thirty-Six laughed and cursed, "You're really shameless."
Only then was he sure that Chen Changsheng wasn't about to give him a big lecture on life. He was just trying to cheer him up. And it was effective. At least he no longer wanted to close his eyes and pretend to sleep.
"Tell us about it," Luo Luo said from the side.
Tang Thirty-Six was silent for a long time, then said, "I never expected that Liang Banhu would fight so stupidly."
Luo Luo and Xuan Yuan Po didn't understand, but Chen Changsheng did.
Liang Banhu's strength was already above Tang Thirty-Six's. Tang Thirty-Six and Chen Changsheng could only take the path of surprise tactics, trying to use methods that the opponent would never expect, to give the Grand Examination a surprise.
But they hadn't expected that Liang Banhu would use the simplest method to counter them. Unexpected? No, he simply didn't think at all.
"I've never seen such an ugly, stupid way of fighting."
Tang Thirty-Six was silent for a moment before continuing, "Those sword moves you thought up for me, he didn't even try to counter them. He just kept attacking head-on. Stupid and clumsy, with no aesthetic sense at all... But I have to admit, it was effective. I used the first dozen or so moves, but I couldn't link them together at all. They were choppy and broken, making me very uncomfortable. In the end, I never even had a chance to use those three strange moves you thought of. I could only gamble with the Wenshui Three Styles."
"He held on, so I lost."
Chen Changsheng could imagine, and everyone participating in the Grand Examination could imagine, that Liang Banhu's battle strategy must have contained a lot of Gou Hanshi's wisdom.
If at the Green Vine Banquet, Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi could be considered evenly matched, then today, in the battle between Tang Thirty-Six and Liang Banhu, he had been thoroughly defeated.
He said to Tang Thirty-Six, "I'm sorry."
Tang Thirty-Six was silent for a moment, then said, "This has nothing to do with you. You don't need to apologize. If I were stronger than Liang Banhu, then Gou Hanshi would be the one with a headache. You could have dealt with him more calmly. In the end, it's because my strength isn't good enough. Speaking of which, I've caused you trouble. I should be the one apologizing."
Xuan Yuan Po honestly said from the side, "I don't understand a word you two are saying."
"Then let's say something you can understand."
Tang Thirty-Six smiled, then looked at Chen Changsheng and said calmly, "We've lost two matches. We can't lose anymore."
While they were talking, the matches continued. Two more had ended.
It would soon be Chen Changsheng's turn to compete.
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment, then said, "I can win this match."
With that, he stood up and walked toward the Dust-Washing Pavilion.