Chapter 20: An Appointment After Dusk
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At this moment, Zhe Xiu emerged from the building, leaning on his crutch, and looked at the three of them, saying, "If you want to know, just ask him directly."
Tang Thirty-Six shook his head and said, "I did ask, but he wouldn't say. And judging by his reaction at the time, he'd rather die than tell."
Xuan Yuan Po, somewhat troubled, asked, "In your opinion, what's most likely happened?"
Tang Thirty-Six said, "I suspect he might have planned from the start to let Xu You Rong win, which is why he had me bet on his loss. But then he accidentally won himself, and now he's acting so strangely..."
Su Mo Yu shook his head and said, "Even if there's a deviation from his prior calculations, it shouldn't be this extreme."
Tang Thirty-Six replied, "You don't understand. What I mean is, he probably bet his entire fortune... on himself losing."
The courtyard fell silent. Xuan Yuan Po took a moment to grasp it, then gasped, saying, "So Chen Chang Sheng was throwing the match?"
Seeing their discussion growing more absurd, Zhe Xiu shook his head and walked away, dismissing the matter.
Su Mo Yu said helplessly, "In my view, Chen Chang Sheng's Daoist cultivation is deepening, and he can now treat victory and defeat with equanimity. You're overthinking it."
Xuan Yuan Po thought it over, then shook his head, saying, "That look on his face in the car earlier—grinning one moment, frowning the next—didn't seem like it."
Tang Thirty-Six sneered, "Even a bear can see that. Then there really is something wrong with him."
Just then, a shout suddenly came from the window upstairs.
It wasn't because of an enemy or a cockroach. He was venting.
"See? If he hadn't lost so much money, why would he be in such agony? When have you ever seen his emotions fluctuate like this?"
Tang Thirty-Six gazed at the third-floor window, sighing with emotion.
Yet the next moment, the shout from that room turned into humming—a tune, faintly recognizable as some obscure folk song.
Su Mo Yu looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said, "You still think he's in a bad mood?"
Tang Thirty-Six said, "I told you, it's not about good or bad mood—it's about emotional volatility."
Su Mo Yu thought it over and found Tang Thirty-Six's point reasonable.
Among the people at the National Academy, if it came to emotional control, Zhe Xiu was the strongest, followed by Chen Chang Sheng. Whether in daily life or in cultivation battles, Chen Chang Sheng had never shown a loss of emotional control. He was calm and steady far beyond his years, even giving the impression of someone seasoned by life.
But today, Chen Chang Sheng was clearly different.
"Have you heard the story of the Jin merchant passing the imperial exam?" Tang Thirty-Six squinted at the third-floor window. "If my earlier guess is wrong, then it's highly possible that his joy at beating Xu You Rong was so overwhelming that he's gone mad."
Just then, the third-floor window suddenly slid open, and Chen Chang Sheng poked his head out, looking down.
Tang Thirty-Six and the others were startled and quickly lowered their heads, muttering random things under their breath, pretending to be chatting idly to avoid revealing anything.
How could Chen Chang Sheng know that the people at the National Academy were worried about his mental state? He called out, "Tang Tang, come up and help me with something."
...
...
"What help?"
"Take a look and tell me what clothes are appropriate." Chen Chang Sheng pointed at the row of spotless, neatly arranged clothes in the wardrobe—still looking new even after a year—and said to Tang Thirty-Six, "Well... it's not a very formal occasion, but I don't want to be rude."
Tang Thirty-Six looked at the dozen or so plain-colored outfits in the wardrobe and said helplessly, "Do you think anyone can tell the difference between these clothes?"
Just like when Xu You Rong had visited the National Academy at night, Chen Chang Sheng's clothes were always the same style, the same plain colors, with no distinguishing features other than being clean.
Chen Chang Sheng thought that was true. After a moment's consideration, he said, "How about I borrow one of your outfits?"
"Has the demon moon really come to the capital?"
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him as if he'd heard something incredible, staring into his eyes for a long time before saying, somewhat baffled, "For ordinary people, the Palace's victory banquet is certainly important. But you come and go from the Palace so freely now—why are you taking it so seriously?"
Chen Chang Sheng was stunned. Only then did he remember that there was a banquet at the Palace this evening... The Battle of the Bridge of Helplessness had drawn worldwide attention. As the dean of the National Academy and the tacitly acknowledged successor to the Pope, having defeated Xu You Rong, who represented the Heavenly Sea Empress and the Southern Sect, this victory banquet was inevitable.
"I have something to attend to later... You and Su Mo Yu can represent me at the Palace. I might need to trouble you to explain to His Holiness the Pope."
Tang Thirty-Six was very surprised, wondering what could be more important than this banquet. After all, the Pope might take the opportunity to announce some matters.
"What do you need to do?"
"I really can't tell you."
Tang Thirty-Six didn't press further. He walked to the window, clasped his hands behind his back, and gazed at the snowy Winter Lake, saying casually, "Where will the academy's carriage pick you up?"
The two of them knew each other too well. Chen Chang Sheng understood exactly what he was planning, and he knew that if he asked, Tang Thirty-Six would surely say the night was cold and the roads icy, making travel difficult...
"I won't tell you the location, and don't think about following me."
He looked at Tang Thirty-Six's back and said, "This is my own matter. Let me handle it myself."
Tang Thirty-Six didn't turn around. "Are you sure you can handle it properly?"
Chen Chang Sheng said, "I'm not sure. I hope so."
With that, he took a plain long robe—the one he wore most often—from the wardrobe and changed into it. He glanced at the bamboo dragonfly on the bookshelf, then walked out the door.
Tang Thirty-Six stood by the window, watching him leave the small building, enter the winter woods by the lake, and after a while, scale the courtyard wall and vanish from sight. He couldn't help but frown slightly, thinking, so cautious, so secretive—what exactly are you going to do?
Through the cold winter woods, over the snow-covered wall, lowering his bamboo hat, merging into the crowd on the street, heading toward the dim sun behind the snowy clouds, it didn't take long before he arrived at a very ordinary alley in the western part of the city. The alley was short, but its location was excellent—not far from the Palace—so there were many eateries and taverns.
This alley was Fu Sui Road, as written on the note.
Chen Chang Sheng stood at the alley's entrance, lowered his head to check himself, confirmed everything was in order, and relaxed a little.
The clothes he wore were ordinary but cleanly washed. Earlier at the National Academy, he had also washed himself thoroughly.
On the Bridge of Helplessness, her fingertip had left a drop of blood on his brow. As he had confirmed after leaving the Zhou Garden, his blood no longer had any scent. After washing three times in a row, there was no lingering odor. Now, his body only carried the faint, fresh scent of soap leaves.
His black hair was tied tightly, slightly damp, not fully dry. Blown by the deep winter wind in the street, a thin layer of frost formed on the surface.
Just like his mood at this moment.
...
...
(Today, Tencent Bookstore held an awards ceremony and gave me the honor of Novelist of the Year, for the novel "Nightfall." I'm very honored and delighted... In 2013, due to health reasons, I rested for most of the year, so the latter half of "Nightfall," in my opinion, never received the recognition it deserved. In other words, over the past two years, I've always felt that "Nightfall" was the most underrated of my novels. Now, besides the great readers, I've gained some new recognition. I'm truly happy and grateful to Tencent Bookstore. By all rights, I should have attended the ceremony—I could have sat with Liu Cixin and taken some proud selfies. But as everyone knows, I've been constantly on the move this month and simply didn't have the time. It's a real pity. I'm also very busy and tired today, so just this one chapter. I'll sort out the detailed outline later and will have two chapters tomorrow. Thank you all. Consider this my incoherent thanks. Still, thank you. See you tomorrow.)