Chapter 243: The Big Rat in the Storage Room
Leaving Beixinqiao, the Black Rhino pulled the carriage toward the Orange Garden.
A subordinate of the Qingli Department knocked on the gate of the Orange Garden. Mo Yu, who was preparing to rest, looked at Zhou Tong standing in the hall and frowned slightly, saying, "You don't have to attend the morning court, but I have to get up early."
Zhou Tong gazed at the famous painting on the wall and said, "Earlier, I was with Her Majesty at Beixinqiao."
This statement came out of nowhere, abrupt and sudden.
Mo Yu's expression turned serious. "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say that I'm very afraid."
Zhou Tong said calmly, his pale face showing not a trace of fear, but for some reason, the Orange Garden building, protected by formations and usually warm as spring—and now indeed in spring—suddenly felt several degrees colder.
Mo Yu stared into his eyes and noticed his pale pupils were bloodshot, looking somewhat terrifying. She asked, "What exactly are you afraid of?"
Zhou Tong looked at her and chuckled softly. "Aren't you afraid?"
Mo Yu replied expressionlessly, "I don't have time to indulge your madness, sir."
Zhou Tong's smile faded, and he said flatly, "The entire continent knows what the biggest problem facing the human world is right now—the succession to the Great Zhou throne. Even if Her Majesty wants to return the throne to the Chen royal family, she can never make up her mind, because the Tianhai clan will inevitably be wiped out. Although it's said that the Tianhai clan is not the same as Her Majesty, she is ultimately a Tianhai. How could she bear to see that scene?"
Mo Yu frowned and said, "As you said, the entire continent knows this."
Zhou Tong continued, "So Her Majesty has been hesitating. The Tianhai clan sees her hesitation as an opportunity, while Prince Chenliu and the other princes in the various commanderies see it as the shadow of death. Another reason for Her Majesty's hesitation is that the Li Palace has never made its stance clear."
Mo Yu was silent for a moment before saying, "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Zhou Tong said expressionlessly, "What I'm trying to say is that His Holiness the Pope finally made an official statement tonight. He disagrees, the State Church disagrees. So will Her Majesty continue to hesitate?"
Mo Yu did not respond.
After the Grand Examination, many people learned about Chen Changsheng's sect origins—it was personally acknowledged by the Pope. Chen Changsheng's teacher was the former dean of the National Academy, the most steadfast royalist, who over a decade ago had allied with the royal family in an attempt to overthrow Her Holiness the Saintess's rule.
And tonight, the Pope had appointed Chen Changsheng as the dean of the National Academy.
This decision revealed a very clear attitude.
If Her Holiness the Saintess insisted on letting the Tianhai clan inherit the throne, the Pope and the Li Palace would no longer stand by her side as they had in the past, but would instead become like the National Academy of old.
Mo Yu asked, "Do you think... Her Holiness has made up her mind?"
Zhou Tong was silent for a moment before saying, "Her Majesty could voluntarily abdicate in exchange for the Tianhai clan's survival."
"Ridiculous!" Mo Yu snapped angrily. "How could Her Holiness abdicate? And if the royal family's promises were trustworthy, why would Her Holiness have hesitated for so many years?"
"What if the Pope vouches for it?" Zhou Tong stared into her eyes. "Do you think even if Prince Chenliu ascends the throne, he would dare to ignore the State Church?"
Mo Yu was momentarily stunned at this. She was silent for a long time before saying, "If that's really the case..."
She suddenly smiled. "That would be a good thing too."
"The smooth succession of the Great Zhou throne is certainly a good thing for the human world. If the Tianhai clan can survive, even if they're not as glorious as now, it's still not bad."
Zhou Tong looked at her with a half-smile. "But for the two of us, where is the good in that?"
Mo Yu said calmly, "Her Holiness will naturally make arrangements for us."
Zhou Tong said, "With all due disrespect, Her Majesty will one day take the raft to sail among the stars. When that day comes, how will you and I find our place?"
Mo Yu remained silent.
Zhou Tong stared into her eyes and continued, "You've done many things at the Pope's bidding. Why doesn't Her Holiness blame you? Because she knows very well the unease in your heart, just like the fear I mentioned earlier... The people in the Li Palace have never liked either of us, so you want to ease the relationship with them."
Mo Yu met his gaze calmly and said, "So what? When that day comes, you certainly won't be able to go on living—too many people want you dead. And me... as long as I'm alive, nothing else matters."
Zhou Tong looked at her with a half-smile. "Is that so? When the time comes, no matter which Chen becomes emperor, you'll either die or become his woman. Are you really willing to accept that? Then I wouldn't care either."
Mo Yu's expression shifted slightly, and she snapped irritably, "What exactly do you want to do?"
Zhou Tong said, "First, we at least need to ensure Her Majesty doesn't make a decision so quickly."
Mo Yu said thoughtfully, "You want to break the understanding between Her Holiness and the Pope?"
Zhou Tong said, "I wouldn't dare. I only want to render the Pope's statement ineffective."
Mo Yu shook her head. "You can't kill him, and Her Holiness would never agree, because he has rendered great service to Great Zhou—at least not now."
Zhou Tong said expressionlessly, "I've killed plenty of meritorious officials and good generals."
Mo Yu stared into his eyes. "But his service is a great one."
Breaking through from the Meditation Viewing realm to the Penetrating Darkness realm is one of the three most difficult thresholds on the path of cultivation, because it's the cultivator's first experience of life-and-death trials. The slightest mistake could lead to severe Qi deviation and mental confusion at best, or immediate death at worst. The mortality rate is so high that over countless years, many cultivators have clearly seen the threshold of the Penetrating Darkness realm but dared not take that step.
Chen Changsheng had deciphered the first seventeen steles at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, triggering a starlight phenomenon that indirectly helped dozens of stele viewers break through their realms. In just one night, the human world gained so many young cultivators at the Penetrating Darkness realm. All the Ivy Academies, plus the Huai Academy, Li Mountain, and Holy Maiden Peak combined, couldn't produce that many Penetrating Darkness disciples in a year.
And how many of these people would later reach the Star Condensation realm and become true experts?
As Gou Hanshi said, everyone should thank Chen Changsheng. All academies and sects should thank him. Great Zhou and the entire human world should thank him. Tonight, the Pope directly appointed him as the dean of the National Academy, and there was no opposition within the State Church. Presumably, no one outside the State Church would dare oppose it tomorrow, because everyone understood this was a reward for his contribution.
Zhou Tong was silent for a long time before suddenly saying, "Her Majesty just called him a True Man."
Mo Yu was startled at this, not expecting Her Holiness to hold Chen Changsheng in such high regard.
"Meritorious, cannot be killed. A True Man, cannot be killed. But we still have to do something."
Zhou Tong shook his head and walked out of the Orange Garden, muttering incessantly like a garrulous old woman.
Mo Yu watched his retreating figure, feeling uneasy.
In the small building of the National Academy, that warm bedding really smelled wonderful.
She didn't want to never smell it again.
...
...
No matter how warm the bedding, it couldn't make Chen Changsheng linger a moment longer.
At five in the morning, he woke up on time, opened his eyes, washed up, and then went to the Heavenly Book Mausoleum with Xuanyuan Po.
The soldiers guarding the mausoleum probably hadn't heard about the latest appointment from the State Church yet; everything was as usual.
People were gradually coming out of the mausoleum—some were old stele viewers, but most were this year's top candidates from the Grand Examination. Like Chen Changsheng, these people were preparing to enter the Zhou Garden. Seeing Chen Changsheng standing outside the stone gate, they didn't know he had become the dean of the National Academy, but they still greeted him very respectfully, even if some expressions were a bit unnatural.
Gou Hanshi escorted Qi Jian and Liang Xiaoxiao out. Only then did Chen Changsheng learn that Tang Thirty-Six was still in a trance-like state after breaking through, so he had to turn and leave, though somewhat regretfully.
That night, after Zhezhe finished his acupuncture treatment and went to the library to meditate, Chen Changsheng and Xuanyuan Po began cleaning the kitchen. Tang Thirty-Six wouldn't be leaving the Heavenly Book Mausoleum anytime soon, and they might need to stay in the Zhou Garden for a full hundred days. The kitchen had been unused for a long time, and many things needed to be cleaned and stored.
"I can't go again. I'm so useless."
Xuanyuan Po sat with his back to him, washing pots by the basin, his voice muffled and sullen.
Only cultivators at the Penetrating Darkness realm could enter the Zhou Garden.
Chen Changsheng looked at the young demon's broad back, recalling the scene when he first saw him at the night market last year, and comforted him, "It's okay, it just takes time."
Indeed, Xuanyuan Po's bloodline talent was actually excellent—otherwise, he wouldn't have been a key training target at the Star Plucking Academy. But on the first night of the Ivy Banquet, Tianhai Yaren had injured him so severely that his entire right arm was crippled. Although it was gradually recovering under Chen Changsheng's treatment, he needed to retrain. With enough time, he would surely return to his former state. Coupled with Chen Changsheng's research on demon meridians practicing human cultivation methods, he would definitely experience a powerful and explosive breakthrough.
Then, Chen Changsheng naturally thought of Tianhai Yaren, that little monster who had made many people nervous. He couldn't help shaking his head, unable to dispel that sense of disgust. Just like how many women could never overcome their fear of rats—whether worldly-wise or sheltered, even female experts at the Star Condensation realm had been known to shriek in terror at the sight of a mouse.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the corner of the kitchen. Then came a few faint squeaks, so soft that if Xuanyuan Po and Chen Changsheng weren't cultivators, they might not have heard it clearly.
"Huh? I just cleaned up the day before yesterday, and there are rats again?"
Xuanyuan Po stood up, wiped his wet hands on his clothes, pulled a half-burned thick stick from the stove, and walked toward the corner.
In the pile of clutter in the corner, something was faintly moving.
"Pretty big one!"
Xuanyuan Po's eyes widened. He gripped the charred stick and swung it down with all his strength.
Chen Changsheng thought, why use so much force? Even if the big rat is killed, the floor will probably crack in several places... Suddenly, he felt something was wrong. That sound seemed familiar. He opened his mouth and reached out to stop Xuanyuan Po, but it was too late.
With a muffled thud, the clutter was smashed to powder. The front half of the charred stick vanished instantly. Under the terrifying impact, dust flew everywhere.
As the dust settled, Xuanyuan Po stared at the long, black, thin creature still twitching on the ground, shocked, and shouted, "What the hell is this? It's still not dead!"
The black creature flew up and appeared before Xuanyuan Po's eyes.
Xuanyuan Po thought it might be a snake or a legless lizard. But... how could it fly?
With a sharp crack, the black creature whipped its tail and slapped him across the face.
Xuanyuan Po was stunned. Staring at the scene before him, his mouth opened wider and wider, his tongue growing clumsier, and he stammered in panic, "D-d-d-d-d-dragon!"
Then, he fainted on the spot.
...
...
(Those three words "big rat" mean a lot to me. Is this the first time in my life I've done three updates this early? Shrugs, I really can't remember. See you tomorrow. I'm going to sleep.)