Chapter 72: A String of Stone Beads
Chen Changsheng walked for a while in the wetlands at the edge of the grasslands, glanced at that reed island, then went to that cave. At the deepest part of the cave, he saw the remains of that elder from the Three Sun Sect, which had been completely devoured by the beasts.
Then he went to Twilight Ridge, strolling slowly along the white stone path between the mountains, until he arrived beneath a parasol tree.
He didn’t know why he had to come to this parasol tree; he simply followed that feeling.
But there was no one here either.
There was no one in the Garden of Zhou.
Not a single person.
In the end, he returned to the Zhou Mausoleum. The magnificent tomb still stood arrogantly between heaven and earth. The Heavenly Book Monoliths surrounding the mausoleum had long lost their violent and terrifying aura from that day, becoming very calm. The lines on their surfaces, whether filled in by the wind and sand of these past days or worn away, had vanished, as if they had returned to being simple stone pillars.
The same was true of that black stone tablet; its surface was completely smooth.
Chen Changsheng placed his hand on it. From the distant grasslands behind him came the low roar of a demon beast.
It was a farewell, but also unease and a plea.
A farewell to the departure of the Garden of Zhou’s new master, unease about whether he would ever return, and a plea for his grace to descend again more quickly.
...
...
Darkness, then light.
Chen Changsheng opened his eyes and found himself in his room, still by the window, unchanged from before.
But the time had already reached noon. The sun hung in the azure sky, and no matter how hard the shade of the National Academy’s trees tried, they could not stop those blazing rays from falling.
The light he saw was this sunlight.
Then he noticed that a string of beads had appeared on his wrist.
No matter how you looked at them, these beads were just ordinary stones ground down. Their surfaces had no ornamentation, emitted no aura, and weren’t even smooth.
He didn’t know that when he faced Zhu Luo’s sword strike in Xunyang City, this string of stone beads had also appeared on his wrist.
These stone beads were transformed from the Heavenly Book Monoliths.
Because this string of beads had eleven beads in total: ten were gray, and one was black.
Back then, Zhou Dufu might have taken twelve Heavenly Book Monoliths from the Heavenly Book Mausoleum. Later, what he and she saw in the Zhou Mausoleum were only ten, plus the base of a broken monolith.
It was precisely because one Heavenly Book Monolith was missing, and he had also taken the Sword Pool that replaced that monolith, that the Zhou Mausoleum’s formation had malfunctioned—until he remembered that he had a black stone on him.
That black stone, which he had obtained from the Lingyan Pavilion, turned out to be a Heavenly Book Monolith as well.
When that black stone from Wang Zhice truly became a Heavenly Book Monolith and helped stabilize the formation of monoliths around the Zhou Mausoleum, he had initially thought that the black stone was one of the monoliths Wang Zhice had taken from the Garden of Zhou. But after leaving the Garden of Zhou and recalling the notebook he had seen in the Lingyan Pavilion, he felt his speculation might not be accurate.
No matter where those two Heavenly Book Monoliths had gone, the stone beads on his wrist now were the Heavenly Book Monoliths.
Of course, this wasn’t just because the eleven beads—ten gray and one black—matched those around the Zhou Mausoleum, but also because only he could sense certain things through that black stone.
He sensed it very clearly: the Garden of Zhou was inside the black stone.
This statement wasn’t precise; rather, it should be said that this black stone was the new gate to the Garden of Zhou, and the key to opening the Garden of Zhou was his divine sense.
Instinctively, he raised his hand and carefully examined the string of stone beads in the sunlight streaming through the window.
The bright light passed through the gaps between the beads, refracting into more angles, and in certain fine details, it seemed as if there were rainbows within.
Only then did he truly understand what had happened.
The Heavenly Book Monoliths, which the world regarded as supremely sacred and the source of all Daoist arts, were now worn on his hand.
And there were eleven of them.
The sunlight shone on the stone beads, piercing his eyes, making him feel dazed, as if none of this was real.
Just then, the door was pushed open.
He turned to look and saw Tang Thirty-Six and Xuan Yuan Po.
“Where the hell did that idiot go?”
“How should I know... Her Highness Luoluo and the Headmaster told me to keep an eye on him, but he just ran off without a word. How am I supposed to watch him?”
Xuan Yuan Po said indignantly, and then he and Tang Thirty-Six spotted Chen Changsheng’s figure.
After a moment of silence, Tang Thirty-Six patted his chest, looking relieved. “Good, good. I won’t ask where you went, as long as you didn’t run away.”
Chen Changsheng asked in confusion, “Why would I run?”
“You disappeared for half a day without reason...”
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him and said, “We were all wondering if you heard that Xu Yourong was coming back and got scared that your fiancée would beat you black and blue, so you bolted.”
Xuan Yuan Po quickly waved his hands. “I never said that.”
Tang Thirty-Six sneered at him. “Are you saying you didn’t think it?”
Xuan Yuan Po was a very honest bear tribe boy. Faced with this question, he stammered for a long time without saying a word.
Chen Changsheng was slightly startled and said, “Speaking of her reminds me of something. Can one of you write a letter to the Eastern Divine General’s Mansion for me?”
Tang Thirty-Six said in surprise, “The mud-legged son-in-law is going to visit? Her daughter hasn’t even returned yet. What’s the rush?”
Chen Changsheng shook his head. “I want to visit tonight. There are some things I need to discuss.”
“You’re not really afraid of Xu Yourong and planning some underhanded move, are you?”
Tang Thirty-Six grew interested. “You should have asked me about this first. You know I’m the best at these things.”
Chen Changsheng smiled faintly, ignored him, and walked toward the door, saying, “I’m going to eat first.”
A few days ago, when Luoluo had confirmed that that girl hadn’t survived the Garden of Zhou, he had said he would go to the Eastern Divine General’s Mansion to break off the engagement. Because that was what he had promised her in the Garden of Zhou. Since she was no longer there, he certainly had to follow through. The reason he hadn’t gone to the Eastern Divine General’s Mansion these past few days was that he had been busy, and because he had left something important and necessary behind in the Garden of Zhou. At the same time, he still held onto a final thread of hope.
She hadn’t left the Garden of Zhou; perhaps she was still inside it. Since the Garden of Zhou hadn’t been destroyed, there was a chance she might still be alive.
It wasn’t until last night and this morning that he had finally re-entered the Garden of Zhou, only to find that there was no one inside—not a single person, not that person. And so, that final hope was gone.
He had also brought that thing out with him.
Watching Chen Changsheng’s back disappear through the doorway, Tang Thirty-Six was silent for a moment, then asked, “Don’t you think he’s acting a bit strange today?”
Xuan Yuan Po asked in confusion, “Strange how?”
Tang Thirty-Six said, “His smile was a bit strange... really ugly.”
Xuan Yuan Po thought back and nodded. “Yeah, he smiled like he was about to cry.”