Chapter 257: The Wailing Zither, One Man Dies
Watching the girl disappear into the night forest, Ye Xiaolian tilted her head and thought for a moment. In the end, she couldn't suppress the question in her heart and asked softly, "Who does Senior Sister Xu actually like?"
Senior Sister Tong looked at her with a smile and asked, "If it were you, how would you choose?"
"If it were before, of course I would choose Senior Brother Qiushan, but now..." Ye Xiaolian said very seriously, then for some reason felt very sad.
Chen Changsheng had no idea what kind of impact his existence had on a young girl's worldview and concept of love. He and Zheshe were still walking through the forest in the night, searching for cultivators injured in battle to treat their wounds. During this process, he didn't show anything unusual, but Zheshe still noticed that when encountering injured people treated by Xu Yourong, Chen Changsheng would stay noticeably longer and treat them with much more care. Similarly, that girl was also walking through the night searching for people to treat. For some unknown reason, when she saw injured people treated by Chen Changsheng, she seemed especially uneasy and would stay even longer.
The Garden of Zhou was very quiet in the night. There were no stars in the night sky, but scattered campfires on the ground diluted the monotony. The young man and the young girl walked back and forth among the earthly stars. Whether by deliberate avoidance or fate's arrangement, they encountered many injured people treated by the other, but never met each other.
They were in different places, doing different things. They didn't see each other, but they knew who the other was. The bandages wrapped around the injured's legs, the residual true essence in their meridians, the sacred aura at the edges of wounds—these were like letters or simpler notes, conveying some kind of information, telling each other what they had done, vaguely competing, sulking.
Again, for some unknown reason.
At midnight, Chen Changsheng returned to the creek bank as promised. Looking at the sleeping Qingxu Temple abbess, he confirmed she had been there. He was silent for a moment, vaguely feeling some admiration. Those internal injuries—he had no way to treat them, could only let the injured endure and slowly recover, truly not as effective as her methods.
But tonight, he had already treated more than twenty injured people. She should have treated no fewer, perhaps even more. Whether it was the Holy Light Technique of the National Church or the methods of the Holy Maiden Peak, they all greatly depleted true essence. Could she, treating people continuously without sparing her strength, still hold up?
Human cultivators entered the Garden of Zhou to seize treasures. According to the rules set by the sages, they would stop at nothing. So even on just the first day, many battles had already occurred. Cruel battles brought tragic consequences. The failure of the gray line guidance made those injuries seem even more terrifying. Fortunately, Chen Changsheng, she, and several women from the Qingyao Thirteen Department had continuously treated dozens of people. At least so far, no one had died. With no deaths occurring, the atmosphere among the cultivators was still relatively calm. Otherwise, grudges would be irreconcilable, especially against the backdrop of the North-South confrontation. No one knew whether chaos would break out.
The first night after entering the Garden of Zhou slowly passed in a slightly tense and silent atmosphere.
The faint light of dawn illuminated the grassland and the mountain range that stretched deep into it.
The morning in the Garden of Zhou was no different from the morning outside. The rising sun and setting sun were also no different. The mountain range extending into the grassland, under the warm red light, looked like a giant dragon proudly raising its head.
This was the legendary Twilight Valley.
At the peak of Twilight Valley, an old man was playing a zither facing the rising sun. The zither's sound wailed, as if mourning something.
To the side and slightly behind the zither-playing old man, a young girl of about ten years old was hugging her knees, staring blankly at the newborn sun.
She was truly in a daze. Her indifferent brows and eyes showed no emotion, making her look somewhat pitiable. But what was somewhat miraculous was that no matter how soft the morning sunlight was, it was still glaring, yet she just kept her eyes open staring at it. Not only was there no stinging or tearing reaction, she didn't even squint.
"Chen Changsheng's medical skills are exquisite, let alone Xu Yourong. And their reactions were too timely. Last night in the Garden of Zhou, there was no chaos."
The zither-playing old man walked before her and said gently, "Milord, the little wolf and Chen Changsheng are together. Let's kill them first."
The old man said this lightly, as if saying he wanted to kill Chen Changsheng and Zheshe together meant he could definitely kill them.
Only those at the Penetrating Obscurity realm could enter the Garden of Zhou. So no matter how strong this old man was, he was at most at the peak of Penetrating Obscurity. Chen Changsheng was already at the upper level of Penetrating Obscurity. Although Zheshe was at the initial level of Penetrating Obscurity, his strange bloodline talent and combat ability honed in the snow plains were far beyond that. Where did his confidence come from?
That young girl still hugged her knees, staring blankly at the warm red sun, not answering the zither-playing old man's words.
No answer meant disapproval. Silence never represented tacit agreement. When Milord did things, she was always very direct. The zither-playing old man understood this very well and advised, "In the strategist's plan, we were to take advantage of the chaos among the human cultivators in the Garden of Zhou last night to kill people while it was chaotic. If the Garden of Zhou didn't fall into chaos, we should proceed in order."
The young girl's expression was indifferent, her gaze even somewhat dull, staring at the rising sun and saying, "I want to kill her."
The zither-playing old man knew who Milord meant by "her." Milord had entered the Garden of Zhou at great risk with her precious body just to kill that human girl. He continued to advise, "Xu Yourong is not an ordinary person..."
He almost blurted out the four words that this young girl hated most to hear. He felt some lingering fear, steadied himself, and then continued, "...Even if she continuously used the Holy Light Technique last night and depleted a lot of true essence, she is still not easy to kill. According to the strategist's arrangement, we should first kill the others, then join forces to kill Xu. Only then will there be no accidents."
Hearing the words "the strategist," the young girl was silent for a while, but after a long moment, she still shook her head and repeated, "I want to kill her."
She wanted to kill Xu Yourong. She wanted to kill Xu Yourong. She only wanted to kill Xu Yourong. The rest of those human cultivators were all trash in her eyes. Why would they be worth even a glance from her?
...
...
Waking up to the sound of water, Chen Changsheng felt a soreness all over his body. Last night in the darkness, going back and forth to rescue people, he had traveled at least several hundred li. Even though his body was now extremely strong, he could barely hold on. The main thing was the mental exhaustion, which kept surging in like a tide, truly hard to bear.
The morning light was already bright. It was already past the fifth hour.
Chen Changsheng got up, walked to the riverbank, cupped some slightly cold clear water to wash his face, sobered up a bit, took the dry rations Zheshe handed him, and began eating silently.
Throughout the night, injured or isolated cultivators had gradually gathered by the riverbank according to his instructions. Now those people were waking up one after another, and the place became somewhat lively.
Chen Changsheng finished his dry rations, drank some clear water, sat for a while longer to dissipate the dual fatigue of body and mind, and then stood up.
Senior Sister Tong's shoulder sword wound, treated by him last night, was now basically healed. The Qingxu Temple abbess's spirit had also recovered somewhat. Although she still couldn't walk on her own, her life should be out of danger. The other cultivators' injuries were either serious or light, but they were all manageable. After resting for a night, they should be able to hold out and return to the garden gate's grove.
Chen Changsheng walked to Senior Sister Tong and quietly explained today's arrangements.
Senior Sister Tong nodded.
Chen Changsheng hesitated to speak, but in the end couldn't hold back and asked, "Did she... come by last night and say anything about me? Or leave any message for me?"
Senior Sister Tong thought about her annoyed muttering by the creek last night and couldn't help but laugh, saying, "No specific message left."
For some reason, Chen Changsheng felt both relieved and somewhat disappointed.
Just then, a sudden cry of alarm came from the forest by the riverbank.
Chen Changsheng, Zheshe, and more than ten cultivators rushed toward the sound and quickly arrived at where the cry had come from.
They saw a master from the Heaven's Gift Sect standing pale-faced in the forest. At his feet, a middle-aged man lay with a deathly blue face, no longer breathing.
Dead.
Someone had died.
...
...
"What happened?"
"Did Sect Master Fei not hold on?"
"Did someone enter this forest last night and strike while Sect Master Fei was injured?"
Angry and somewhat panicked discussions arose in the forest. As cultivators walking the world, those present were not unaccustomed to life and death. At least death wouldn't bring too great a mental shock. But the closing of the Garden of Zhou had already cast a shadow over everyone's hearts. Moreover, the dead middle-aged man was the sect master of the Heaven's Gift Sect, an unknown small southern sect. But a sect master's status was here, and... last night, this Sect Master Fei wasn't seriously injured. With his cultivation at the middle level of Penetrating Obscurity, he should have easily pulled through. How did he die so silently?
Chen Changsheng walked to the deceased Sect Master Fei, crouched down, took the gloves Zheshe handed him, put them on, lifted the dead man's eyelids, examined the nasal cavity and mouth, inserted a copper needle into the back of the neck, pulled it out, and held it up to the sunlight to observe for a moment. His expression gradually became grave, and he said, "It's poison."
Hearing his words, everyone became even more tense. Who had used poison? That person could evade so many people, quietly enter the forest to poison Sect Master Fei. Didn't that mean that as long as that person wanted, they could poison anyone present at any time? Most importantly, why? Why did that person want to poison Sect Master Fei?
"It must be the Witch Sect people," a southern cultivator said hatefully. "When we entered the garden yesterday, I saw several witches. I don't know what the Li Palace and Holy Maiden Peak were thinking, letting these monsters who like using witchcraft and poisons into the Garden of Zhou."
Chen Changsheng shook his head and said, "Although it is indeed herbal poison, the toxins don't seem to come from southern plants."
"Then who do you say administered the poison?"
That Heaven's Gift Sect master, angry from grief, disregarded Chen Changsheng's status, stared at him, and shouted loudly, "Last night, my senior brother said he didn't need your treatment, but you insisted on treating him and made us come here. Now he's dead. Who knows if you tampered with something while treating him!"
Hearing these words, the forest suddenly fell silent.
...
...
(See you tomorrow.)