Chapter 244: Spring Sleep Unaware of Dawn
The youth beneath the tree was Zhe Xiu. Chen Changsheng looked at his pale face and the bloodstains at the corners of his lips, asking in confusion, "Why are you here?"
Zhe Xiu's expression was blank as he said, "I'm going to the Zhou Garden with you."
Chen Changsheng was somewhat taken aback. After a moment of silence, he said, "It might be dangerous."
Zhe Xiu remained expressionless, replying, "That's why I'm going to the Zhou Garden with you."
Chen Changsheng asked, "Why?"
"Tang Tang has already paid the money," Zhe Xiu said. "So I'll follow you and ensure your safety."
Chen Changsheng said with slight surprise, "You're planning to be my bodyguard?"
"Yes," Zhe Xiu paused, then continued, "Of course, if the Zhou Garden turns out to be too perilous, we'll need to negotiate extra pay afterward."
Even now, Chen Changsheng still found it hard to adapt to this wolf tribe youth's way of thinking. He spread his hands helplessly and said, "But I don't need a bodyguard."
Zhe Xiu glanced at him and said, "Even though you're now at the upper level of Tongyou, if the two of us were locked in the same forest, I'd be the one to survive in the end. In fact, during the Grand Examination battles, if there hadn't been so many restrictions making it inconvenient to go all out, even if Gou Hanshi could defeat me, he couldn't kill me—and in the end, I would have killed him."
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng felt uneasy because he knew Zhe Xiu was right.
Zhe Xiu's next words finally made up his mind: "Besides, you still have to treat my illness."
Chen Changsheng thought it over and said, "Then... let's go together."
Zhe Xiu naturally reached out, took the pack from his shoulder, and walked out of the forest.
Chen Changsheng quickly followed, saying uneasily, "A bodyguard is one thing, but I can't have you doing such rough work."
Zhe Xiu remained expressionless and ignored him.
Chen Changsheng said, "Then I won't give you extra pay."
Zhe Xiu stopped, thought for a moment, and said, "This counts as a freebie."
Neither of them liked to talk much, making them seem unusually quiet among their peers.
They walked in silence until they emerged from the forest.
Jin Yulu was waiting for them by the bridge with the carriage.
The wheels rolled over the hard bluestone road, making a creaking sound. The new gate of the National Teaching Academy was suddenly pushed open from inside. Xuan Yuan Po ran out, his massive body like a small mountain, shaking the ground and sending dust flying from the cracks in the stone steps.
Chen Changsheng and Zhe Xiu got out of the carriage.
Xuan Yuan Po grinned honestly and said, "Out so early? Looks like you didn't get much from viewing the steles?"
Zhe Xiu frowned slightly and glanced at Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng felt a bit embarrassed and explained, "He just speaks without thinking—he didn't mean to mock anyone."
"I'm not Tang Thirty-Six," Xuan Yuan Po said, a little displeased. Then he noticed Zhe Xiu and said in surprise, "It's you? Did you come all the way to the Mausoleum of Books to collect a debt? Are you that desperate? When has our National Teaching Academy ever owed money and not paid?"
Jin Yulu interjected seriously, "When are you going to pay me? A gatekeeper has to support his family too."
The three youths looked at him in silence.
Jin Yulu felt a bit awkward and said, "I get it—I'm not suited for humor. Go on, then."
"Zhe Xiu isn't here to collect a debt," Chen Changsheng said to Xuan Yuan Po, but he didn't know how to explain Zhe Xiu's role. After a moment's thought, he said, "He's just here to look around the academy."
The wolf tribe youth Zhe Xiu was very famous in the demon domain. Once Xuan Yuan Po realized he wasn't here for money, he reverted to his stance as a demon tribe youth and looked at Zhe Xiu with admiration. "I heard from the elders in my tribe that you could hunt demon snakes when you were three?"
Zhe Xiu ignored him.
Xuan Yuan Po followed him into the academy and continued, "I heard you killed demons when you were seven?"
Zhe Xiu still ignored him.
Xuan Yuan Po's enthusiasm didn't wane. "It doesn't look like you're heading back to the Snow Plains anytime soon. Why not just join our National Teaching Academy?"
Zhe Xiu stopped.
Chen Changsheng also stopped and looked at him.
Zhe Xiu thought for a moment, then said to Xuan Yuan Po, "Being around a bear like you, I'm afraid I'll get stupid."
Being of the same demon tribe, he could naturally see Xuan Yuan Po's true form.
Xuan Yuan Po's expression turned serious. "Drop the first word, or I'll get angry."
Zhe Xiu said, "Fine, bear."
Xuan Yuan Po was furious. "Why are you as annoying as Tang Thirty-Six?"
Chen Changsheng returned to the small building, washed up briefly, and went to bed to sleep. He hadn't rested all night and was very tired. Now that his mind had calmed down, no longer agitated, only filled with satisfaction and warmth, he slept deeply and soundly—so deeply that he didn't notice when someone entered the room.
Mo Yu sat by the bed, looking at the youth's clean, delicate features. She raised an eyebrow slightly, muttered a few words to herself, and as she smelled the renewed, genuine scent and atmosphere in the room, her mood inexplicably improved. She lifted a corner of Chen Changsheng's blanket and slipped in.
Soon she fell asleep, and even in her dreams, she smiled like a blooming flower.
If any of the eunuchs in the palace or the ministers in the court had seen her like this, they would have thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.
Outside the window, a spring rain pattered down. Mo Yu opened her eyes and woke up, stretching her waist lazily. As she turned, she saw Chen Changsheng sleeping soundly, pressed against her waist and hips. Only then did she feel a bit shy. A blush appeared on her beautiful face, and she quickly got up and left, disappearing into the spring rain outside the window.
Not long after, the door was pushed open, and Luo Luo walked in.
Seeing Chen Changsheng fast asleep, she happily rushed over. Just as she was about to jump onto the bed, she caught a faint scent of powder.
She furrowed her delicate brows, leaned close to Chen Changsheng's neck on the bed, and sniffed seriously. Immediately, she grew angry, stomping her feet, causing the pearl-like raindrops in her hair to fall in a shower.
Even as she stomped in anger, she didn't stomp too hard, because she didn't want to wake Chen Changsheng.
She looked at the spring rain outside the window and cursed hatefully, "Mo Yu, you shameless woman!"
She closed the window, shutting out the gentle spring rain and wind, making the small building a world of its own. Satisfied that no shameless woman would come to disturb her teacher, she relaxed. She dragged a stool over to the bed, sat down, and smiled as she gazed at Chen Changsheng's face. She didn't speak or do anything—just watched quietly, feeling deeply content.
Chen Changsheng woke up. Feeling his left arm tightly embraced and hearing the calm, relaxed breathing, he knew who it was without opening his eyes. He smiled. Having his arm held for so long was a bit uncomfortable, but the familiar ache was unmistakable—how could he not know who it was?
Opening his eyes, he saw Luo Luo sitting by the bed. He didn't know how long she had been there, but she seemed tired from sitting. As usual, she had habitually wrapped her hands around his arm, hanging onto him. But she was still sitting on the stool, making the posture look a bit awkward—though also quite adorable.
Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as Luo Luo woke up. She rubbed her eyes drowsily, and when she saw Chen Changsheng looking at her, she snapped awake. A little shy but even happier, she called out crisply, "Teacher."
"Good girl," Chen Changsheng said, touching her little face.
The two left the small building and went to the library to sit for a while, waiting for Xuan Yuan Po and Zhe Xiu to arrive so they could talk about what happened at the Mausoleum of Books. At noon, Jin Yulu prepared a meal. After eating, Chen Changsheng and Luo Luo strolled around the National Teaching Academy. The spring rain was like powder, so they didn't need umbrellas, but when they climbed the big banyan tree, the ground was a bit slippery.
Looking at the capital in the drizzle, Luo Luo was silent for a moment. Then she turned to him and asked, "Teacher, are you going to the Zhou Garden?"
Having spent so much time together at the academy, she was perhaps the person in the world who knew Chen Changsheng best. She understood that unless there was a compelling reason to leave the Mausoleum of Books, someone like her teacher, who treasured time and opportunities, would never so easily abandon the mausoleum and its steles.
Chen Changsheng said, "Yes."
Luo Luo's eyes widened as she asked in confusion, "Why?"
Before he could answer, she looked down at the ripples spreading on the pond beneath the banyan tree, stirred by the raindrops, and said softly, "Is it because the teacher's wife is also going to the Zhou Garden?"
Chen Changsheng was startled for a moment before realizing that by "teacher's wife," she meant Xu Yourong. Though he had never thought of marrying Xu Yourong, Luo Luo's address still made him feel awkward. "What does she have to do with it?" he said. "Only those at the Tongyou realm can enter the Zhou Garden. Despite her extraordinary talent, she hasn't broken through to Tongyou yet."
Last night, the Mausoleum of Books had been bathed in starlight, and dozens of people had broken through to Tongyou. Now, Xu Yourong's position as the top of the Azure Sky List seemed somewhat overshadowed.
"The teacher's wife already broke through to Tongyou a few days ago," Luo Luo said. Having apparently figured something out, she returned to her usual lively, innocent demeanor and said cheerfully, "She carries the bloodline of the true phoenix in her veins. Someone so proud—even if she didn't care about you surpassing her, how could she let those mediocrities get ahead?"
Chen Changsheng was momentarily stunned. It took him a while to digest this sudden news.
The first thing that came to his mind was that the Azure Sky List would probably be updated soon.
"Congratulations," he said to Luo Luo with a smile.
Luo Luo muttered, "What's there to be happy about?"
Xu Yourong's breakthrough to Tongyou meant she would naturally leave the Azure Sky List. With so many people breaking through last night, they too would leave the list once they exited the Mausoleum of Books.
The current top of the Azure Sky List had lost a lot of its luster.
Chen Changsheng reached out to feel her pulse and said, "The differences between demon and human bloodlines are significant, especially with your White Emperor clan. Your innate bloodline is too dominant and powerful, so even at the Zhaojing realm, you can defeat many Tongyou-level opponents. Don't worry too much about it. But if you want to break through to Tongyou, it will be quite difficult."
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but wonder how Zhe Xiu had managed to break through to Tongyou last night and what he had endured in the process.
Luo Luo suddenly looked at him seriously and said, "Teacher, when you go to the Zhou Garden and meet the teacher's wife, you can't be soft-hearted."
Chen Changsheng then remembered that she had mentioned earlier that Xu Yourong would be going to the Zhou Garden.
It had been years since the white crane's message. He had no feelings for Xu Yourong and didn't care much about her—even the earlier aversion and disgust hadn't fully dissipated. But thinking that he might actually meet her, he felt an inexplicable nervousness. He just didn't understand why Luo Luo would say that.
(Every time I write about Luo Luo, I feel refreshed—faster than expected. Xu Yourong is about to appear. Chen Changsheng's nervousness is my nervousness. From now on, I'll try to finish updates before eleven to avoid affecting everyone's rest. I'll go write tomorrow's draft now. See you tomorrow.)