Chapter 386: The Beginning of a Feast
The mountain that Liang Wangsun wanted to see and to topple was naturally Li Mountain. The entire continent knew that Su Li was Li Mountain. In the past, this peak was unclimbable; even powerful experts like Wang Po, Xiao Zhang, and Liang Wangsun, who ranked high on the Carefree List, could not launch a frontal challenge against him. But now, Su Li was severely injured, and this mountain peak was already tottering. Liang Wangsun believed he had sufficient qualifications and ability to destroy this mountain. Therefore, after receiving the news, he unhesitatingly left his manor in his grand carriage and arrived before this inn.
However, before this mountain peak now stood a young man. If he wanted to topple this mountain, he first had to pass through this young man's barrier.
"Are you Chen Changsheng?" Liang Wangsun looked at the young man on the stone steps of the inn and asked calmly.
Chen Changsheng did not answer this question because he was very nervous at the moment. Apart from catching a distant glimpse of Wang Po at the entrance of the Book Mausoleum, this was the first time he had seen someone from the Carefree List. These people were the true backbone of the human world. The era of wildflowers blooming began with the appearance of names like Liang Wangsun. Of course, since arriving in the capital from Xiliang Town, he had already met many truly great figures, but those figures were too lofty and distant. Whether it was the Pope or Su Li, even though their relationship could be called close, he couldn't feel a real connection. But this young prince on the black lotus carriage was different. Because with Chen Changsheng's current cultivation level and reputation, he had already surpassed the scope of the Azure Cloud List and entered the Gilding List. In other words, he was already very close to the Carefree List. Only by being close could one feel the true pressure, or the gap.
Liang Wangsun's eyebrows slightly raised. Chen Changsheng's silence surprised him a little. For some reason, he did not get angry but asked calmly again, "Are you Chen Changsheng?"
This time, Chen Changsheng truly snapped out of it and realized that the other party was asking him. The other party had come to kill Su Li. Someone who dared to kill Su Li would first focus their attention on him. If it were another young man, he might have felt some pride or complacency, but he did not, because he lacked the self-awareness of being a celebrity. In fact, whether it was the Ivy Banquet, the Grand Examination, the stele viewing at the Book Mausoleum, or his subsequent appointment as the Dean of the National Academy, all these events had made him the most famous person on the continent. Even a figure like Liang Wangsun had to say a few words to him first, even if they were just perfunctory pleasantries.
The long street before the inn was silent. The dust gradually settled. Apart from the scattered clergy, many figures could be faintly seen. Those people should be the manor's death warriors, ready to attack the inn at any moment, but they temporarily did not move because everyone was waiting for Chen Changsheng's answer. The young Daoist from Xining Town now had the qualification to engage in equal exchange with a figure like Liang Wangsun.
But contrary to everyone's expectations, Chen Changsheng said nothing. He directly turned around, walked into the inn, closed the door, and then turned into a wisp of green smoke as he ran up to the second floor.
Liang Wangsun sat upright amidst the black lotus. His eyebrows raised a little higher, and he wore a faint, ambiguous smile.
Pushing open the tightly shut door, Chen Changsheng came before Su Li's chair and said, "Let's run."
Su Li opened his eyes and glanced at him, saying, "The bet has already been placed. It's too late to admit defeat."
Chen Changsheng lowered his head and said nothing, his chest heaving slightly. He wanted to take Su Li and flee, which naturally meant he had overturned his initial thoughts. He admitted defeat because the gap in strength was here; he had no choice but to admit it. Because with just one look, he knew that he absolutely had no possibility of defeating Liang Wangsun. There wasn't even a sliver of a chance, thinner than a strand of hair.
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Outside the inn, the long street was as silent as before.
Liang Wangsun looked down at the bishop of Xunyang City and asked, "Is the Church going to meddle in this matter?"
Hua Jiefu's face also showed no expression as he said, "I won't care about the life or death of unrelated people, but Dean Chen's safety is something we must care about."
Earlier, Chen Changsheng had treated this bishop as if he didn't know he had come to Xunyang City. However, the entire Xunyang City knew he was here. How could the Church ignore him?
"I don't understand why this young Dean Chen wants to meddle in this matter, but… I don't care."
Liang Wangsun took a snow-white handkerchief from his sleeve and gently wiped the dust clinging to his clothes, saying, "Since the manor's grand carriage has moved, this matter must have an ending."
Hua Jiefu looked at him with a grave expression and said, "The Pope is waiting in the capital for Dean Chen's return."
Liang Wangsun's movements paused slightly. After a moment of silence, he said, "Then you send him back. If he refuses to leave, I'll have no choice but to kill him too."
Hua Jiefu shook his head and said, "In that case, the Liang Manor will have no heirs."
The bishop's words were very plain, without any hint of threat. Because this was an objective fact. If Chen Changsheng died in Xunyang City, anyone could imagine what the Church's reaction would be. But precisely because it was plain, it was forceful.
Liang Wangsun fell silent again. He threw the slightly gray handkerchief under the carriage and said with some listlessness, "No heirs? After that incident more than a decade ago, do you think the existence of my Liang Manor still has any meaning? If I kill Su Li in broad daylight today, do you think Li Mountain won't slaughter my entire family? So this means nothing to me."
Hua Jiefu felt the spring wind suddenly turn cold. More than a decade ago, the most terrifying massacre after the bloodbath at the National Academy had its truth forcibly concealed by the saints. So he was not very clear about all the details of that great event, but he was very clear about the terrible price the Liang Manor had paid.
He looked at the young prince on the carriage and advised, "Why must it be so absolute?"
The black lotus carriage was very tall. Liang Wangsun sat inside it, as if sitting in a building, exactly level with the second floor of the inn. He looked at the tightly shut window on the second floor of the inn and sighed, "Who told those four words to be shouted so absolutely?"
Xunyang City had become a silent dead city. A massacre was imminent. All of this was because Chen Changsheng had pushed open the window and shouted four words into the bright spring light: "Su Li is here."
These four words had forced Chen Changsheng and Su Li into a dead end. In fact, hadn't they also forced those who wanted to kill Su Li into a desperate situation? The Church could no longer act against Su Li. The Zhou dynasty's military could no longer act. Those who wanted to kill Su Li in secret, like Liang Wangsun, could only come to kill him openly like this.
There were many things in the world that could only be done but not spoken, let alone seen by others; otherwise, it would be hard to explain. Whether to the southerners or to the history books. For example, killing Su Li. This could only be a bloody affair hidden in the shadows of history, like the alliance at Falling Willow Plains back then, like the upheaval at Hundred Grass Garden back then, like the truth behind the disappearance of the Zhou dynasty's [redacted].
But Chen Changsheng, with just four words, had turned this matter into a grand event known to all under heaven.
"The feast has already begun. How can one leave the table early?"
In the dim room of the inn, Su Li sat in his chair, looking at the young man with his head lowered before him, and smiled. "I taught you military formations and the Ruyi Sword of Wisdom. You learned well, even exceeding my highest expectations for you, managing to condense myriad changes into that shout earlier… Now I'm truly curious about how long you can protect me."
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(Still in the midst of the New Year season, countless banquets and gatherings. I really have no choice. Sorry for keeping everyone waiting so long.)