Chapter 102: Opening the Mountain, Liang Wangsun
Chen Changsheng pushed open the door, walked to the chair, and recounted everything he had just heard to Su Li without omitting a single detail.
Su Li lightly tapped the armrest of the chair, fell silent for a moment, then laughed. "Troubles are everywhere in this world. What we need to do is solve them. Your trouble isn't really that troublesome. Although Liang Xiaoxiao's move was indeed clever, as long as you return to the capital, it can be resolved. If I can return to Lishan, it would be even easier to handle."
Chen Changsheng understood his meaning. If Liang Xiaoxiao's death was his way of using his own life to accomplish something, then this trouble was indeed extremely difficult to resolve. But after all, he was a prominent figure in the National Church. As long as the Pope still trusted him, the problem wasn't too serious. As for the Lishan Sword Sect, if Su Li could return to Lishan alive, a single word from him would suffice—who would dare to question it?
Su Li's words seemed simple on the surface, but they were actually quite profound. He had merged two troubles into one, resolving Chen Changsheng's biggest current problem. Chen Changsheng no longer needed to make a choice; he only had to maintain his original intentions.
"Then many troubles will arise in Xunyang City. I seem to have underestimated... the severity of this matter. The National Church is unwilling to step in, and I can't solve these troubles. You're right, it seems I've lost this gamble." Chen Changsheng walked to the table, picked up the teacup, took a sip, and moistened his somewhat dry throat.
Su Li's eyebrows arched higher, his smile growing wider. "Of course you lost the gamble, but that shout of yours still had its benefits. At least you solved my biggest problem."
Chen Changsheng set down the teacup, somewhat puzzled, wondering what exactly he had done.
"You exposed my whereabouts. The entire continent is now watching Xunyang City. Old Man Yin still cares about face, after all. He can't let his disciples from the National Church come to kill me in broad daylight." Su Li's smile faded, and he said calmly, "If not for this, that Red-robed Cardinal outside the door would be thinking right now about how to kill me. So at least you've solved the big problem of the Li Palace."
Chen Changsheng thought it over and realized this was indeed true. But solving the big problem of the National Church didn't mean he had the ability to deal with the troubles that followed. Hua Jiefu's attitude earlier had been very clear—the National Church would not act against Su Li for now, but it would absolutely not help him either. At best, it would maintain a neutral stance.
As he was thinking about these matters, a loud crash suddenly came from the eerily silent street outside the inn. He walked to the window and pushed it open, only to see countless clouds of dust rising from behind the courtyard of the houses across the street. Walls and buildings were collapsing one after another, as if a giant monster was approaching, or like an earthquake spreading toward this area.
The clergy outside the inn cried out in alarm: "The Prince's Mansion... the grand carriage is moving!"
Chen Changsheng was momentarily stunned. He looked at the dust cloud drawing closer across the street and felt the ground trembling beneath him. What did this mean? Who was coming toward the inn? Without time for further thought, he vaulted directly out the window and landed on the stone steps in front of the inn. At that moment, Hua Jiefu also walked out of the inn and stood beside him, his expression extremely grim and unusually solemn.
"Who's coming?" Chen Changsheng asked.
"The grand carriage of the Liang Prince's Mansion." Hua Jiefu looked at the dust cloud deep in the street across from them, frowning slightly. "This carriage hasn't left the Prince's Mansion in nearly a hundred years. I didn't expect it to move today."
It was still that Liang character. Sure enough, it was that Liang character.
Chen Changsheng and Su Li had traveled south together, learning much about the distribution of power in the cultivation world. They had been extremely vigilant about the surname Liang, because Liang Xiaoxiao was surnamed Liang, and Liang Hongzhuang was also surnamed Liang.
The surname Liang was once the imperial surname. The Liang clan was the royal family of the previous Central Plains dynasty, and they had an extremely close marital relationship with the current Great Zhou royal family, the Chen clan. A thousand years ago, when the Chen clan replaced the Liang, they still treated the Liang clan with great respect—perhaps because of their former marital ties, or perhaps out of guilt. In any case, they granted them various special privileges.
After the founding of Great Zhou, the Liang clan left the capital and returned to Tianliang Commandery, where they were enfeoffed as Commandery Princes. But after all, they were former sovereigns. How could they willingly accept such a fate? They still harbored thoughts of restoring their former glory. Yet time had weathered away their hopes. Now, aside from their still-noble bloodline and the reverence they commanded from the people of the world, the Liang clan no longer had the power to change heaven and earth. Perhaps that was why they had managed to survive in the northern part of the continent to this day. But a surname that once ruled the entire continent naturally possessed an extraordinary bloodline. Over the millennium, countless powerful figures had emerged from the Liang clan. In the current generation, the most famous was the young prince of the Liang Prince's Mansion, Liang Wangsun.
As Hua Jiefu had said, the grand carriage of the Liang Prince's Mansion had not moved for many years. Today, the carriage left the mansion, smashing through walls and courtyards as it made its way toward the inn. Such a commotion meant that something major must have happened. The only person in the world qualified to sit in that grand carriage was, of course, Liang Wangsun.
Before the appearance of that powerful figure from the Huaiyuan Sect who had come to the north to travel, this prince was likely the biggest trouble Su Li and Chen Changsheng had to deal with. Liang Wangsun was not the prince's real name. The young prince was called Liang Zhen, but no one in all of Xunyang City dared to address him by that name. Gradually, the entire continent began to call him Liang Wangsun.
—Third on the Carefree List, Opening the Mountain Liang Wangsun. This title came from Liang Wangsun's temperament. Possessing the most noble bloodline and the strongest cultivation talent, this young prince always acted very directly, very decisively, or rather, very domineeringly. The grand carriage of the Liang Prince's Mansion was simply too large to fit on the long street where the inn was located. So the prince's attendants began demolishing houses, tearing a path from the north of Xunyang City all the way here—truly the height of arrogance.
With a thunderous crash, the buildings across the street collapsed, sending up a massive cloud of dust.
A supremely luxurious grand carriage slowly emerged from the swirling dust.
This carriage was about ten zhang wide and ten zhang long. It was covered with precious obsidian, and some master craftsman had personally carved hundreds of layers of petals into it, making it look like a lotus throne.
Flanking the lotus throne were dozens of obedient-looking boys and girls with downcast eyes.
On such a massive lotus throne sat only one person.
That person was extremely handsome, with his black hair tied tightly. His clothes seemed simple but were actually very refined, exuding an air of nobility. He sat extremely upright in the center of the lotus throne, his right hand resting on his knee, his left hand holding a pestle. His body leaned slightly forward, as still as a statue. His gaze was also like a statue—devoid of much life, carrying only a cold meaning.
This person was Liang Wangsun.
He had directly opened a great door through the countless buildings of Xunyang City.
He had come to see the mountain.
And then he would topple it.
(The chapter title from yesterday was no longer suitable, so I changed it to today's. I will definitely work hard in March, but I might not get to it until the eighth.)