Chapter 375: Sharpening the Sword on the Battlefield (Part 2)
Except for avengers who had already resigned themselves to death, no one dared to come and kill Su Li, because everyone in the world knew they couldn't defeat him, much less kill him. Coming to kill him would only lead to humiliation and death, with no other outcome. But now the situation had changed. He had been besieged by the demon race for several days and nights, barely escaping but severely wounded. For those who wanted him dead, this was undoubtedly the best opportunity—and one they had to seize.
When Xue He learned that Su Li was severely wounded, he was patrolling the military fortress in the lower city. Before he could remove his armor, he was dragged by several old subordinates to drink quite a bit of wine. Just as his face was flushed with warmth, he suddenly received this news. Without a second thought, he flung away the night-light lamp, splashed out the grape wine, slapped two officers who were still urging him to drink into unconsciousness, mounted his Fire Cloud Qilin, and charged into the snowfield. His only thought was to find Su Li as quickly as possible and kill him—he couldn't care about anything else.
Now, the man who appeared in the desolate mountains was the same. Four days ago, he had been performing opera for his own amusement in the Xunyang City mansion. He had hired the best troupe from Lanling City, with only a few of his closest and most powerful guests as audience. He was performing the famous "Spring Night Melody," playing the role of that charming and lovely bride. Just as he was singing with rising passion, his brows dancing and eyes softening, he noticed the Archbishop sitting below giving him a look, and then heard a voice transmission.
Su Li was severely wounded, possibly in the north of Tianliang Prefecture?! He sucked in a cold breath, glanced sideways at the sky with indescribable contempt and sorrow. He paused for a few moments, hearing only the clapper on stage, then leaped down from the platform, kicked off his cloud boots, threw off his headscarf, seized the Xunyang City Guard's Lightning Horse, and rushed out of the prefectural city, heading straight north of the prefecture!
Chen Changsheng said they didn't look like assassins—that was because they weren't assassins to begin with. And as Su Li had said, they were in too much of a hurry, afraid they might be too late. A chance like Su Li being severely wounded might not appear even once in a lifetime—how could they have time to change clothes? So Xue He was in his bright armor, and the man was in his flowing dance robes, still wearing remnants of makeup. They were dressed in their everyday clothes, so of course they didn't look like assassins.
Xue He's bright armor was covered in dust, and this man's dance robes were also stained with mud. His expression was tired and haggard, with traces of red makeup that the wind hadn't completely blown away, giving him a strangely enchanting and captivating aura.
He looked at Su Li, his eyes growing brighter, the smile between his brows deepening. He lifted his sleeve to cover his lips, exquisitely charming and utterly triumphant, yet with a trace of pain that seemed to come from the deepest part of his soul.
"After all this hardship, I've finally found you. It wasn't easy. But thinking that you'll soon die by my hand, no amount of hardship matters. Three thousand li across the northern plain, and we can still meet—I must say my luck is quite good."
Hearing this, Su Li also felt some emotion and said to Chen Changsheng, "Your luck is really good. Just when you needed an opponent stronger than you, but not too much stronger, one appears."
With his judgment, he could easily tell that this man was at the early stage of Gathering Stars.
The man's slender brows lifted slightly, and he said with some surprise, "You don't know who I am?"
Chen Changsheng nodded honestly.
The man lightly lifted his water sleeves and introduced himself softly, "I am Liang Hongzhuang."
Liang Hongzhuang was a famous person. In Tianliang Prefecture and even across the entire northern continent, he was well-known—because of his family background, because of his elder brother, because many people knew he loved performing opera and dancing, and because he was very strong.
Chen Changsheng and Su Li exchanged glances, still not knowing who he was. Chen Changsheng could recite Daoist scriptures backwards, but when it came to the real cultivation world, he was truly ignorant. As for Su Li... there were very few people on this continent whose names he needed to remember, and Liang Hongzhuang clearly hadn't reached that level.
This was undoubtedly a great insult. Liang Hongzhuang frowned but didn't get angry. He sighed, "A bit wounding to the pride, but if I can kill Mr. Su, perhaps more people will know my name."
Chen Changsheng said, "Could it be... you came to kill just to become famous?"
Liang Hongzhuang didn't answer, only smiled.
Su Li suddenly asked, "Liang of Liang Wangsun?"
Liang Hongzhuang's expression turned slightly serious, and he said, "Liang of Liang Hongzhuang."
Hearing this, Su Li understood why this madman, draped in a red wedding dress, had come to kill him. He turned to Chen Changsheng and said, "He really wants to kill me, so you have to kill him."
Chen Changsheng had heard these brief exchanges. He didn't fully understand, but he could roughly guess something—this assassin in red dance robes must have some connection to Liang Wangsun.
Watching Liang Hongzhuang draw closer, watching the dance robe ribbons swaying in the wind, his mind worked rapidly, constantly observing, analyzing, and calculating, trying to find the flaws in that dance robe.
To defeat your opponent, you must first understand your opponent. Whether with the Wisdom Sword or the most ordinary battle, this requirement holds true. He didn't know who this dancer named Liang Hongzhuang was, but he knew Liang Wangsun.
Liang Wangsun was a powerhouse ranked very high on the Carefree List, a true celebrity. What kind of celebrity could be called a true celebrity? Someone even as ignorant as Chen Changsheng had heard of—that was a true celebrity.
Chen Changsheng wasn't very familiar with the sects and schools of the cultivation world, but he knew the Liang lineage very well, because the Liang family was the former imperial clan. Their cultivation, lifestyle, and bloodline inheritance were all recorded in the National Church's scriptures.
Liang Wangsun's lavish and extravagant style, Liang Wangsun's techniques, Liang Wangsun's sword style, Liang Wangsun's attitude toward Wang Po and Xiao Zhang, Liang Wangsun's age, Liang Wangsun's three wives... countless fragments of information rose from the depths of his sea of consciousness in an extremely short time, then quickly flashed before his eyes.
Like the myriad stars in that star domain, they came from the night sky to before his eyes and began to flicker. He had to find the most crucial blank space among these stars, the passageway.
"Can you do it?" Su Li asked.
Chen Changsheng shook his head. His Wisdom Sword hadn't been sharpened yet—no, it should be said that the sword blank hadn't even taken shape. He couldn't see through the flaws of a Gathering Stars cultivator at all, so how could he use it against an enemy?
"Even if you can't see it, you still have to guess one."
"Senior, since you can, why can't you guide me like last time?"
"I told you, to block Xue He's blade, I used up all the strength I had saved."
"Does seeing through the star domain require strength?"
"What else?"
"It just doesn't seem reasonable."
"When you have the chance to be so tired you can't even open your eyes, then you'll be qualified to understand this reasoning."
"Alright, so what do we do now?"
"I said it—just guess."
"Guess?"
"Meaning take a shot in the dark."
As they spoke, Liang Hongzhuang had already arrived before the two of them.
Chen Changsheng could no longer hesitate. The short sword shot out of its sheath like lightning, stabbing toward where the fluttering ribbon led.
On the distant hillside, two spotted deer were lowering their heads to eat grass, not even glancing this way.
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(Sorry, just this chapter today—too busy. Two chapters tomorrow. The day after, I'm returning to Hubei and flying all day, so I'll take a day off. Regarding the Wisdom Sword, some say it's like "How majestic is Mount Tai," others say it's Bai Qi. Those who understand, understand. For those who don't, I recommend reading Jin Yong's novels and "Feng Zhi Wu Yu." I only learned in the last two years that many young friends haven't read Jin Yong's original works—this deeply worries me. Also: Bai Qi is my favorite character in "Feng Zhi Wu Yu.")