Chapter 355: Senior and Junior in the Snow
Before he had even turned sixteen, he had already entered the Upper Illusory Realm, matching Xu Yourong’s record. Among the younger generation, Chen Changsheng was undoubtedly a genius. Even compared to the legendary prodigies of history at the same age, he was no less impressive. But for now, he was still just a youth.
The distance between him and Su Li was immeasurable, vast as an ocean. Even if you threw all the experts on the Carefree List—Tian Liang Wang Po, Hua Jia Xiao Zhang, Liang Wang Sun—into that sea, it still wouldn’t be filled. In the cultivation world, Su Li was a deity, and Chen Changsheng was merely an ordinary man before that deity.
Being lectured from on high by a senior expert who seemed like a god—any other young junior would have bowed their head in apology or trembled in silence. Chen Changsheng was also nervous at this moment, his body trembling slightly, but his voice remained calm and firm: “I don’t understand what you mean, Senior.”
He cherished life and time, believing that lying was a very inefficient way to communicate, so he always preferred to speak the truth. This was the truth. He didn’t know what opportunity Su Li was referring to. The sword technique he had intended to pass on? Or the chance to leave alive?
Su Li looked at him expressionlessly and asked, “Who am I?”
This time, Chen Changsheng had learned from his earlier mistake and naturally wouldn’t misunderstand as he had at the start. But his mood wasn’t good now, so he stubbornly kept his mouth shut and refused to answer.
Su Li was clearly experienced with this kind of situation. Without any embarrassment on his face, he naturally pointed at himself and answered his own question: “I am Su Li of Lishan.”
His voice suddenly rose, sharp and cold: “I only need one glance to see through the Black Robe’s techniques. Do you think I can’t tell that you are Chen Changsheng! It’s precisely because I recognized you as Chen Changsheng that I told you not to say you were Chen Changsheng. I gave you a chance to start over, so why did you have to say it! What do you mean by this!”
The shout was like a sword, and Chen Changsheng felt a chill run through him. He thought, Senior, what exactly do you mean?
Su Li’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at him and said, “If you weren’t Chen Changsheng of the National Academy, or if you hadn’t said you were Chen Changsheng of the National Academy, I could have pretended not to know you were Chen Changsheng of the National Academy. To repay your kindness in lending me the umbrella, I would have taught you a sword technique without hesitation. Unfortunately, you missed this opportunity.”
After hearing this roundabout speech, Chen Changsheng finally understood what this senior was thinking. After a moment of silence, he said, “I am Chen Changsheng of the National Academy. Why can’t I admit that I am Chen Changsheng of the National Academy? That is more important than the opportunity you mentioned, Senior.”
“Impossible!” Su Li was furious, flicking his sleeve, but since his sleeve was already tattered and soaked by the hot spring water, the gesture looked far from elegant—rather, it seemed pitiful. But he didn’t care about that. Looking at Chen Changsheng, he said, “To receive personal instruction in swordsmanship from me, Su Li—whether a student from any academy or a disciple of any sect—would be overjoyed, grateful, and trembling with awe. Who would be willing to miss such an opportunity! That would be spurned by the stars!”
Chen Changsheng was speechless, thinking that this man’s narcissism and pride were something Tang Thirty-Six couldn’t catch up to even if he lived another five hundred years.
Suddenly, Su Li calmed down, his expression growing cold. He looked at Chen Changsheng expressionlessly and said, “I understand.”
Chen Changsheng remained speechless, thinking, I don’t even understand myself, what could you possibly understand?
Su Li looked at him with mockery and said, “Everyone says you have the highest talent and the broadest knowledge among the current younger generation. How could you not know what a rare opportunity it is to learn swordsmanship from me? You deliberately revealed your identity, hoping that I would be unable to teach you the sword technique, and thus… make me owe you a favor?”
Chen Changsheng thought, What does this mean? This senior really loves talking to himself and is far too narcissistic. Is a favor from you really that important?
“The world knows that Qiushan is my most beloved junior. Today, you make me owe you a favor. In the future, when you and Qiushan clash over Yourong, you want to use this favor to make it inconvenient for me to speak, or at least inconvenient for me to act?” Su Li smiled at him and said, “You, this young man… are very precocious, very cunning!”
That smile was cold, mocking, and condescending, as if he saw through everything.
Chen Changsheng was silent, feeling very uncomfortable. He knew he couldn’t stay silent any longer and explained, “Senior, you’re overthinking things.”
“Is that so? You revealed your name because you have high moral integrity and didn’t want to take advantage of me, a Lishan disciple? Or do you value honor so much that you’d rather miss the chance to learn a few moves from me? If that’s really the case, and you seek nothing from me, then why are you still standing here?”
Su Li looked at him with a half-smile, his tone dripping with sarcasm: “You snatched the top spot in the Grand Examination from my Lishan disciple, and you’re going to snatch my Qiushan’s wife. You don’t want the favor of the umbrella yourself, so what are you waiting for? Waiting for me to be in a bad mood and cut you down with one sword?”
How cutting these words were, how cold.
Such behavior from Su Li—if not repaying kindness with enmity—was certainly domineering and overbearing. Chen Changsheng’s breath grew rough. He wanted to suppress the anger in his heart and explain a few more things, but in the end, he said nothing. After a moment of silence, he re-wrapped the golden needle around his finger, turned, and walked out of the snowy ridge.
The wind and snow gradually rose, and soon obscured the lonely figure of the youth.
“Get lost! If you manage to leave the demon territory alive, consider yourself lucky.”
Su Li watched the direction he disappeared and sneered, “Putting on that show of unyielding pride—who are you trying to impress?”
For some reason, after saying this, he suddenly fell silent, looked toward the snowy sky in the north, and sighed.
That kid, when he left the Zhou Garden, didn’t even bother to ask how that girl was doing. If she died, it would serve him right.
He took off his wet, tattered clothes, leaving only his undergarments, walked into the hot spring, slowly sat down, and then lay back.
Whether it was undressing, moving, or lying down in the hot spring, his movements were all very slow, as if even moving a single finger was incredibly difficult.
He leaned against the white stone by the hot spring, reached out to pick a jasmine flower from a crevice in the rock, brought it to his nose, and gently sniffed it.
Who knew how a flower could bloom in this world of wind and snow? Even with a hot spring, why did it have to be a jasmine?
He was a little tired and didn’t feel like thinking about these questions. He set the yellow paper umbrella aside and closed his eyes.
At this moment, the demon army of tens of thousands and those terrifying experts were still searching for him everywhere.
But he was like a tourist on vacation, quietly sleeping in the hot spring.
…
…
Crunch, crunch—that was the sound of soft snow being compacted under boot soles.
Su Li opened his eyes.
It had only been a few moments since Chen Changsheng left and he had lain down in the hot spring.
Chen Changsheng had returned.
Su Li didn’t turn his head, his voice devoid of emotion as he asked, “Scared?”
Chen Changsheng didn’t answer him. He walked behind him, crouched down, and unwound the golden needle from his finger.
Su Li sneered, “Where’s your unyielding pride? The junior that Old Man Yin admired most—how did he suddenly become spineless? The wind is fierce, the snow is cold, the road ahead is hard. Now you’re scared? You can’t tell north from south, so you come begging for the Lishan Sword Sect’s protection before moving forward?”
Chen Changsheng still ignored him. His fingers held the golden needle, and he once again inserted it into Su Li’s neck.
The first time he had needled Su Li, he had noticed that the golden needle went in easily, without any resistance.
But this time, he didn’t deliberately control the needle technique, so Su Li naturally felt the pain.
Su Li winced in pain and roared angrily, “What are you up to, you little bastard!”
Chen Changsheng still ignored him. He took out a few medicinal herbs he had dug up outside the snowy ridge, ground them into powder, applied them to Su Li’s wounds, then looked around, picked up the long robe Su Li had taken off, tore it into strips, and carefully bandaged him.
“What are you doing?”
Su Li was furious and cursed, “Do you think I’m injured and can’t walk, and need you to take care of me?”
Chen Changsheng still ignored him, bowing his head and doing his own thing.
Su Li found this too absurd and laughed in anger: “Do you know who I am? And who are you? I don’t need a waste like you to take care of me!”
Chen Changsheng spoke, but not to answer him. Looking at the terrifying wounds on Su Li’s body, he frowned, a little annoyed, and muttered to himself, “If I hadn’t lost so many things in the Zhou Garden, treating these wounds would be much simpler.”
Su Li was really anxious and was about to curse loudly, but Chen Changsheng shoved a medicinal herb directly into his mouth, stuffing all the curses back down.
“Mmph mmph… mmph…”
Su Li barely managed to swallow the herb and roared, “You ******, if I could move, I’d definitely cut you down with one sword! Even Old Man Yin wouldn’t dare be so rude to me! I’ve chatted and laughed with Tianhai! How dare you treat me like this!”
Chen Changsheng was genuinely angry now and said, “Senior, how can you be so unreasonable? I’m treating your wounds. Can you please be quiet?”
And so, Su Li fell silent.
He watched the snowflakes slowly drifting in the air and was quiet for a long time. Suddenly, he asked, “Did I… act badly?”
So everything before had been fake, an act.
Su Li knew he was severely injured and couldn’t walk, with the demon army in pursuit. He didn’t want to drag Chen Changsheng down, so he used those tactics to deliberately anger him, hoping he would leave first.
Chen Changsheng’s body stiffened slightly. After a moment of silence, he said, “…It was pretty good.”
Su Li laughed bitterly, exhausted, and asked, “Then how did you see through it?”
“I… actually didn’t see through it.”
Chen Changsheng hesitated for a moment and honestly said, “I don’t like being wronged, so I was really angry just now. I thought you were too domineering, too unreasonable, too…”
Su Li coughed twice, smiled, and said, “Too cheap.”
Chen Changsheng didn’t dare repeat that word and murmured, “In short, somewhat… undignified for your age.”
Su Li’s smile gradually faded, and he asked, “Then why did you come back?”
Chen Changsheng said, “Because your injuries are really serious, Senior.”
He said this very casually, because for him, it was truly a simple matter.
But to Su Li’s ears, it was far from simple.
“So, you really disliked me, your pride was hurt, and you were eager to leave, but just because… the person you really disliked was too badly injured, you… came back to save me?”
Chen Changsheng didn’t speak.
By now, he knew that Su Li’s earlier hateful words and actions had all been deliberate, so he no longer felt angry—only moved.
What was true senior demeanor? It wasn’t immortal bones and Daoist grace, not invincible heroism, not fighting heaven and earth.
This was true senior demeanor.
Even if it came across as cheap.
Chen Changsheng lifted Su Li out of the hot spring again, carried him on his back, and didn’t forget to pick up the yellow paper umbrella.
Su Li sighed behind him, “Chen Changsheng, if you keep being this good, I don’t know if that girl Yourong will be troubled, but I really will be troubled.”
As he had said earlier, the world knew that Qiushan Jun was his most beloved junior.
This statement undoubtedly showed Su Li’s appreciation for Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng felt a little embarrassed and awkward, wanting to find something to lighten the mood. Suddenly noticing the yellow paper umbrella in his hand, he said, “Besides your injuries being too serious, another reason I came back was that I remembered I left the umbrella here.”
Su Li said displeasedly, “This is my umbrella. How could you have left it here?”
Chen Changsheng said seriously, “Senior, this umbrella was given to me by the old master of the Tang family.”
Su Li was very angry and said, “This is my umbrella!”
Chen Changsheng smiled and stopped arguing, saying, “We’ll talk about it after we leave the demon territory.”
With that, he carried Su Li out of the snowy ridge.
Soon, the wind and snow covered their figures.
…
…
(Ten-plus minutes late, wrote a few hundred extra words to finish this section without leaving loose ends. Actually, sometimes I’m quite proud of what I write—positive energy, you know.)