Chapter 369: Su Li’s Judgment (Part 2)
Silence fell.
Xue He’s left arm was severed, blood soaking from his chest and abdomen to his shoulder. His face pale, he held his blade in his right hand, resting it against Chen Changsheng’s neck.
Chen Changsheng’s head had not been cut off.
Xue He’s blade momentum had exhausted itself, unable to press forward any further.
Between the blade’s edge and Chen Changsheng’s neck, an old umbrella had appeared at some point.
A somewhat weary voice rang out: “You have lost.”
That old umbrella was held in Su Li’s hand, and these words came from his mouth.
Xue He withdrew his blade, stepping back slowly and heavily two paces, gazing at Su Li with a pale, slightly bewildered face, and asked, “So… this is that yellow paper umbrella?”
Then he looked at Chen Changsheng before the carriage, at this youth covered in dust, confirming that his head was still on his neck. The bewilderment on his face deepened as he murmured, “How is it so sturdy?”
Earlier, the strike he had unleashed even at the cost of breaking his blade domain had condensed his lifelong cultivation. It was the full-force blow of a Star Gathering realm expert. Even if Su Li, against all expectations, still had strength to fight, even if that yellow paper umbrella could block all sharpness in the world, it could not stop the transmission of force. Logically, Chen Changsheng’s neck should have snapped. Yet now, it seemed to have suffered no damage at all.
Xue He was deeply puzzled. What material was this youth’s body made of? It was even more extraordinary than perfect marrow cleansing by countless times.
Suddenly, the carriage collapsed into countless fragments, and the wilderness ground beneath it sank evenly half a foot.
Su Li fell to the ground, coughing repeatedly from the dust, waving his hand incessantly.
Chen Changsheng struggled to stand, holding his sword horizontally in front of him, ready to counter Xue He’s next move. He was in great pain at this moment; his sea of consciousness churned as if it might shatter at any moment, the world before his eyes blurry, and he could faint at any time. Fortunately, Su Li’s judgment was precise, enabling him to see through Xue He’s blade technique and easily point out the only flaw in his blade domain. He said Xue He had lost, and so Xue He truly had lost.
Chen Changsheng’s short sword had carved a deep wound into Xue He’s armor. Though it failed to break through his true essence defense and pierce his heart, the momentum of the Sky-Scorching Sword had shattered all the meridians in his left half. In a short time, Xue He had no strength left to fight. If he managed to leave alive, it was uncertain how long it would take for him to recover fully.
Xue He clutched his bleeding severed arm, looking at Chen Changsheng with complex emotions. He never imagined he would be defeated by this youth’s sword.
Suddenly, a possibility occurred to him. His expression shifted slightly as he asked, “Are you… Chen Changsheng?”
Chen Changsheng had just walked the edge of life and death, his mind still dazed. The power of Xue He’s strike still raged in his sea of consciousness, and he hadn’t heard what was said clearly.
Xue He took his silence as confirmation, stunned for a moment. He wanted to say something but ultimately said nothing, turning instead to Su Li and remarking, “I didn’t expect Mr. Su could still draw his sword. This trip of mine was truly a self-inflicted humiliation.”
Su Li raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat dissatisfied, and said, “This is just an umbrella, not a sword. If I had drawn my sword and you were still standing, then it would be my turn to feel humiliated.”
Xue He was silent for a moment, finding this statement irrefutable. After a pause, he earnestly sought advice: “Sir, is my blade truly inferior to Wang Po’s?”
Among the thirty-eight divine generals of the continent, few used blades, and none wielded them as well as Xue He. But on this continent, there was another strong practitioner who used a blade and was considered the strongest blade user since Zhou Dufu—that man was Wang Po of Tianliang. Whenever anyone mentioned Xue He, they would praise his blade technique as divine, but inevitably add, “Just not as good as Wang Po.”
Xue He had come today to kill Su Li, but at the moment when his life was about to end, what he couldn’t let go of wasn’t Su Li’s life or death, nor his own, but this matter.
He wanted to hear what Su Li had to say, so he could depart in peace, or rather, with conviction.
“You are certainly not as good as Wang Po, whether in blade or in character.” Su Li offered no comfort or gentleness to this dying divine general, speaking very directly.
Xue He wasn’t angered; he earnestly sought the reason: “What is the principle behind this?”
Su Li said, “Wang Po uses only one blade; you use seven. That’s why you’re inferior to him.”
Xue He seemed to understand, knowing that if he could fully grasp this statement, he would surely make great progress in the way of the blade. A flicker of joy arose, but then he remembered he was about to die, and he laughed bitterly at himself.
Chen Changsheng had been somewhat disoriented by that strike but was now slowly coming to his senses.
Su Li said nothing, and Xue He said nothing. The space between them was silent.
He looked at Xue He, then at Su Li, and asked in confusion, “What… should we do now?”
Su Li looked at him as if he were an idiot and said, “What to do? Of course, kill him quickly and then continue on our way.”
Xue He looked at Chen Changsheng, also finding it absurd, thinking, What is this youth waiting for?
“Ah? Senior, you want me to kill him?” Chen Changsheng was the one most bewildered.
Su Li widened his eyes and said, “Are you expecting me to do it?”
Xue He said with slight anger, “Are you expecting me to do it myself?”
Chen Changsheng paused, then said, “Can’t we just not do anything? Do we have to kill?”
Silence fell again in the space between them. A fresh wind blew across the green wilderness.
After a long silence, Su Li sighed with emotion, “I understand today’s young people less and less.”
Xue He nodded in agreement.
Chen Changsheng looked at Xue He and said, “Divine General, could we pretend today never happened… I mean, could you not hold a grudge?”
Xue He suddenly found this youth quite agreeable. No wonder his elder brother had said in his letter that this youth was pleasant to look at, more so the longer you looked. He said, “You spare my life; I will remember your kindness.”
Chen Changsheng looked at Su Li, seeking confirmation with his eyes.
Su Li was annoyed. “Since we’re not acting, what are you standing around for? Let’s go.”
Chen Changsheng sheathed the six broken swords scattered on the ground, then put his hand to his mouth and whistled twice.
His skill was poor; the whistles were somewhat hoarse, not pleasant, and couldn’t carry far. Fortunately, the two hairy deer hadn’t run far and came back at the sound.
Chen Changsheng helped Su Li onto one hairy deer’s back, then mounted the other, holding two ropes as they headed toward the distant sorghum fields.
Watching the two men and two deer gradually disappear into the green wilderness, Xue He stood silent, lost in thought.
Su Li sat on the hairy deer, looking at Chen Changsheng, and said, “I really admire you.”
Chen Changsheng smiled sheepishly and said, “Senior, you’re too kind.”
Su Li suppressed his anger and said, “Kindness to your ancestors’ eighteen generations—is that what I’m talking about?”
Chen Changsheng asked in confusion, “Then what do you admire me for?”
Su Li said, “Are all young people today as foolish as you?”
Chen Changsheng said, “You mean… because I didn’t kill him? I think Gou Hanshi wouldn’t have acted either in that situation.”
Su Li sneered coldly, “Womanly benevolence—hardly the makings of a great talent! If humanity’s future is filled with people like you, what hope is there? The demons will wipe us out sooner or later.”
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and said, “Senior, isn’t it precisely because I’m this kind of person that you’re willing to teach me and want me to become the next Pope?”
Su Li was silent for a while, then said, “That… seems to have some logic. But haven’t you considered that Xue He might reveal our whereabouts? And that he might seek revenge on you in the future?”
Chen Changsheng said, “I haven’t thought about it carefully… If Senior can return to Lishan alive, who would dare to take revenge on me?”
Su Li said, “That assassin hiding in the sorghum fields might kill Xue He and then claim you did it. Have you considered that?”
Chen Changsheng turned to look at him, startled, and said, “This… I really hadn’t thought of that.”
Su Li looked into his bright, clear eyes and suddenly didn’t want to continue. He sighed with emotion, “How could I ever expect someone like you to become the Pope?”
Chen Changsheng, for some reason, felt apologetic and comforted him, “Senior’s judgment shouldn’t be wrong.”
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(The next chapter will be very, very late, possibly even later than yesterday’s.)