Chapter 361: The Lion Watching the Night and Its Follower
When Chen Changsheng woke up, he found himself still lying in the snow, and the sky was almost dark. Dim light spilled from the west, illuminating the low city in the distance, as well as the tattered cloth wrapped around Su Li.
That tattered cloth was something he had found in an abandoned hunter’s tribe during their escape. Its edges were already frayed, and now, bathed in the twilight, it seemed as if it were about to catch fire. Su Li sat cross-legged in the snow, his head lowered, the cloth draped over him, making him look somewhat like he was wearing a black robe. Chen Changsheng asked, "I’m lying in the snow, Senior... aren’t you going to do anything about it?"
Having run without stopping, finally crossing the endless snowy plains and escaping the threat of the demon race, one could imagine the effort and cost Chen Changsheng had paid, how exhausted he had become. At the first sight of a human city, he had collapsed directly and couldn’t get up. Yet even in such a situation, Su Li hadn’t thought to help him, which made him a bit uncomfortable.
Su Li’s voice came through the tattered cloth, sounding utterly justified: "If I could carry you, would I need you to carry me around everywhere? Besides, when you fell, couldn’t you have paid attention to your posture? Don’t forget, I was on your back. When you went down with a thud, do you have any idea how badly I was crushed?"
Chen Changsheng felt helpless. During their escape, he had occasionally exchanged words with this senior, and he had long since confirmed that he, who was never good with words, couldn’t gain any advantage in conversation, even when he was clearly in the right. He propped up his aching body, slowly got up from the snow, walked over to Su Li, picked him up again, and continued onward toward the distance.
By the time they reached the front of that human city, the sky had completely darkened. Fortunately, many torches were burning on the city walls, illuminating the ground before them, so that he, already exhausted, didn’t trip over the ice ridges on the road.
This was a very crude but extremely sturdy small city. More precisely, it was the foremost military outpost of the Great Zhou’s northwestern army. There was no curfew in the outpost, but upon entering, they had to undergo a thorough search and inspection. It was rare for civilians to appear here, except for the boldest adventurers.
During the search, Chen Changsheng was very worried that Su Li would get angry, and he kept nervously watching that side. To his surprise, throughout the entire process, Su Li behaved extremely docilely, like a real patient.
The soldiers in the outpost began routine questioning. Chen Changsheng had no travel documents or road permits and was about to reveal his identity to have the military send someone to pick him up, when he suddenly saw Su Li subtly shake his head. The eyes hidden under the tattered cloth showed an unyielding determination.
Su Li took out two sets of travel documents from somewhere on his person. They were perfect, completely flawless travel documents. By "perfect," it included the degree of wear and tear on the documents—in short, impeccable. The soldiers scrutinized the two of them with a critical eye, listened to Su Li’s answers, waved them in, and also gave them a few instructions on the rules.
The only place in the outpost where civilians could stay was a wagon inn. Unsurprisingly, it had a large communal bed, but tonight only the two of them were staying there. The cold and stingy innkeeper naturally wouldn’t heat the kang too much, and there wasn’t even any hot water. So Chen Changsheng and Su Li, wrapped in sour and smelly bedding, lay awake for a long time.
Chen Changsheng stared with bright eyes at the grease-stained ceiling, thinking about random things—like how this wagon inn might have been converted from an old kitchen, or how the waiter who had been scolded by the innkeeper looked so pitiful. Then he heard Su Li sigh and asked curiously, "Senior, you carry various documents with you and handled the questioning very skillfully. You must have a lot of experience living outside. How come you can’t sleep?"
Everyone in the world knew that the youngest uncle of the Li Mountain Sect, Su Li, loved to roam the four seas and rarely returned to Li Mountain. When it came to travel experience, logically, no one should be more seasoned than him.
Su Li said irritably, "What are you thinking? Who am I? How could I have ever stayed in such a lousy place?"
Chen Changsheng thought to himself, if he had revealed Su Li’s name earlier, they certainly wouldn’t be sleeping on a cold kang in a wagon inn now. Not just the outpost’s generals, but even the general’s mansion to the south would have sent someone to pick them up immediately. With this thought, the question that had been lingering in his mind finally came out: "Senior, why can’t we reveal our identities?"
Su Li said, "Do you know what I’m most famous for? Why is the entire continent afraid of me?"
Chen Changsheng thought to himself that he had grown up in the countryside of Xining Town. Although he had read many Daoist scriptures, he knew very little about worldly affairs. He only knew that Su Li had an extremely high cultivation level and unmatched swordsmanship. Why was it fear rather than respect?
Su Li’s voice seeped out from the cold bedding, sounding even colder: "Because I’ve killed many demons, and even more humans. Aside from Zhou Dufu back in the day, there’s probably no one who has killed more people than me."
Chen Changsheng was speechless, thinking that the senior was starting his habitual narcissistic boasting again. If that were true, then wouldn’t he be a butcher with blood on his hands? Why hadn’t the Li Mountain Sword Sect expelled him?
As if guessing what he was thinking, Su Li’s voice rang out again: "I have the highest seniority and the greatest strength in Li Mountain, so I’m the most important. The Discipline Hall and those guys up on the mountain have long found me disagreeable, but what can they do to me?"
Chen Changsheng was stunned.
Su Li didn’t continue boasting about his killing spree. Instead, he said, "I kill people for my own reasons. I never do things without skill, like uprooting entire families or wiping out clans. But that brings some trouble: the more people I kill, the more enemies I have. Even now, I can’t remember exactly how many enemies I have."
Chen Changsheng’s body stiffened slightly, thinking, this can’t be true, can it? Then how have you survived until now?
"Very few dare to come after me for revenge, because I’m too strong. Of course, there are also those blinded by hatred, who don’t care about life or death, always thinking about killing me."
Speaking of these matters, Su Li’s mood was clearly very bad. He said angrily, "When I get up in the morning, they come to kill me. When I sleep, they come to kill me. They want to kill me at all times, wave after wave. I just don’t understand—those guys are so terrible at it, they can’t kill me no matter what, yet they keep coming. Aren’t they tired of it? Even if they’re not tired, I’m tired of it, alright?"
Chen Changsheng was even more speechless, thinking that if they were willing to risk their lives to kill you, there must be a blood feud between you. And you call them blinded by hatred and just find it annoying?
Su Li continued, "So I rarely stay at Li Mountain. When I travel across the continent, I never reveal my true identity. If you don’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night by someone using a magical artifact to call you to the latrine, you’d better do the same."
Chen Changsheng thought to himself that tonight’s situation should be different from usual.
The room was quiet for a long time, and then Su Li’s voice sounded again. But this time, it was no longer proud or irritable, but steady and serious.
"Those who want me dead are like a pack of stray dogs. They don’t dare to attack me, not even to bark from afar. They only dare to lurk in the darkness, waiting for me to grow tired, to grow old, to get injured."
Chen Changsheng looked at the ceiling, as if he could see a grassland in the night, a lion watching the surroundings, with countless enemies hidden in the darkness. If the lion grew old, those enemies would rush forward and tear it to pieces.
"I understand," he said.
Su Li said, "Good that you understand."
At dawn, around five in the morning, Chen Changsheng opened his eyes and got up. His face was pale and looked somewhat haggard, but it was much better than when he was fleeing across the snowy plains. However, his mind was even more tense than during the escape.
Because of what Su Li had said the night before, he felt that the entire wagon inn, and even the whole outpost, was full of danger. In the dimly lit streets and the slightly warm kitchen, a deadly sword shadow could appear at any moment.
For a strong man of Su Li’s level, his enemies or foes must be equally terrifying. Chen Changsheng knew he couldn’t possibly be a match for such people, but he hoped to see through their disguises in advance and prepare for battle. He also knew he might be overly sensitive, but when it came to life and death, he had always believed that no amount of caution was too much.
The porridge was thin and tasteless, and the steamed buns were as hard as stones. Sitting at the table eating breakfast, he silently watched everything around him, not like a traveler but more like a bodyguard. Su Li, however, was very natural, as if he didn’t care about anything.
Chen Changsheng thought to himself, the cold and stingy innkeeper seemed normal enough, but the waiter he had scolded the night before was somewhat suspicious. In such harsh living conditions, how could there be such an enthusiastic waiter?—Last night when they checked in, that waiter had proactively asked if they wanted hot water, only to be scolded by the boss.
Just then, for some reason, the innkeeper started scolding the waiter again, spewing all kinds of foul language that was hard to hear. Su Li kept drinking his porridge, occasionally raising an eyebrow, as if treating the quarrel as a side dish to go with his meal.
After the quarrel came the beating. The waiter looked very docile, no matter how much he was scolded or beaten, he showed no spirit, just covering his head and running around the shop. But Chen Changsheng grew more alert.
The waiter ran over to their table.
Without hesitation, Chen Changsheng drew his short sword.
The waiter didn’t see it, as if he was about to run into the blade.
If he withdrew the sword or tilted it, the waiter would take the opportunity to close in.
Logically, a guest at the inn, seeing the waiter who had been so attentive to him the night before about to crash into a sharp sword tip, would instinctively move the sword aside or make way.
Chen Changsheng’s breathing quickened. He didn’t know what to do. Withdraw the sword?
If this was a real waiter, then he would be killing an innocent person.
If this was a fake waiter, then he would be walking to his death and dragging Senior Su Li down with him.
He didn’t know how to choose.
So, Su Li made the choice for him.
Su Li took his chopsticks and lightly poked a certain spot on Chen Changsheng’s upper arm.
This poke had no force, no true essence, and no sword intent.
But Chen Changsheng’s sword shot out like lightning.
That sword didn’t hit the waiter, because at the very start, the sword had tilted slightly.
His sword stabbed into the belly of the innkeeper, who had been chasing the waiter over.
With a soft thud.
The short sword plunged deep in, all the way to the hilt.
The innkeeper died just like that.
...
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(A bit late, sorry.)