Chapter 528: Sitting Across from Each Other Gnawing on Bones
The kang table in this eatery was very clean, and even the edge of the kang, which was prone to collecting dust, showed no trace of it. Yet Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong did not sit down. The sound of an argument coming from behind them made them feel somewhat awkward. It wasn’t until the owner walked over that the atmosphere began to ease.
Perhaps because of the yellow paper umbrella, or maybe because the corner was a bit dim, the owner failed to recognize them. With a smile plastered on his face, he asked, “What would you two guests like to eat? Our shop’s specialty is various kinds of bones. Any preferences?”
Chen Changsheng looked at Xu Yourong sitting across from him, wanting to hear her thoughts. Xu Yourong lowered her head and said nothing.
“How about… you two start with a bowl of pork bone soup to warm yourselves up, and then take your time deciding?”
The owner increasingly felt that this young couple was a bit odd, but having run a food stall in the capital, he had seen all sorts of strange situations, so he naturally wouldn’t meddle.
Hearing a certain word in the owner’s sentence, Chen Changsheng felt his face flush again. He waved his hand repeatedly and said, “No need for that. How about beef bones instead?”
The latter half of this sentence was naturally a consultation with Xu Yourong. Xu Yourong had no objections, but she recalled their conversations in the Zhou Garden and didn’t remember him having any taboo against pork. She couldn’t help but feel curious about why he reacted so strongly now.
The owner was a straightforward person. He took the liberty of adding a few small dishes for them and then went to the back kitchen to prepare. Only the two of them remained at the kang table in the corner. Xu Yourong blinked slightly, blocking out the argument from the front table, and looked at him, voicing the doubt in her mind.
“It’s not a taboo… it’s just…”
Chen Changsheng hesitated for a moment, then honestly said, “Tang Thirty-Six said I’m a pig, and I think I really am one, so I don’t want to eat pork right now.”
Xu Yourong understood the meaning behind his words and couldn’t help but smile. Then, thinking of something, she furrowed her brow slightly and asked, “Did you tell Tang Tang?”
“No, he called me a pig for a different reason,” Chen Changsheng explained.
After he finished speaking, the area around the kang table fell silent again. The guests at the other table were still arguing fiercely, but no sound reached them. Not even the wind and snow outside the eatery could be heard—only the crackling of firewood in the kang. Yet, in truth, this sound was something ordinary people couldn’t hear.
“That person was wrong.”
Xu Yourong glanced at the kang table, then turned to him and said seriously, “I didn’t hold back on the Naihe Bridge. I was very serious.”
She had to make this clear because it was the truth, and because it represented her respect for Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng said, “Although I calculated it would be a draw, my realm, talent, and comprehension are all inferior to yours. If I hadn’t gone all out, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve that.”
“I just wanted to fight you fair and square.”
Xu Yourong said calmly, “Whether in the Zhou Garden or in the future, I doubt there will be another chance, so after entering the capital… I didn’t come to find you.”
Only then did Chen Changsheng fully understand why she had been hiding the truth from him all along.
One was the Acting Pope, the other was the new Saintess, and they represented the two major forces of the National Religion and the imperial court. On the surface, they were natural enemies. But if he had known her true identity, he naturally wouldn’t have been able to engage in such a fierce battle on the Naihe Bridge today—not now, nor for a long time to come.
He couldn’t be her enemy, and he believed she felt the same.
“But you still didn’t use your most powerful means.”
Chen Changsheng looked at her and said, “If I’m not mistaken, in the Zhou Garden, your innate bloodline had already awakened again.”
Xu Yourong said, “Yes.”
Chen Changsheng said, “If you had truly used the bloodline of the Heavenly Phoenix, I wouldn’t have been your match.”
Xu Yourong said, “Do you really want to be defeated by me that badly?”
Chen Changsheng hesitated for a moment, then said, “Actually… I just wanted to see what you look like with your Phoenix wings spread. I thought it would be beautiful.”
There are many things that indeed don’t need to be taught, don’t need Tang Thirty-Six’s guidance. Even someone who is usually clumsy with words can occasionally say something very beautiful.
—When they are trying to express their goodwill and affection to the person they care about.
Xu Yourong thought, *You’ve seen it before, but you were asleep at the time.*
Because of Chen Changsheng’s rare and beautiful words, she felt a bit unsettled and shy, so she changed the subject and said, “You only used one sword too.”
She knew better than anyone in the world that all the swords in the Sword Pool were in Chen Changsheng’s scabbard—that was his true strongest means.
“Even if I unleashed ten thousand swords at once, I might not be able to stand against your Great Radiant Sword head-on.”
Chen Changsheng looked into her eyes, full of admiration and emotion. “You really are extraordinary.”
Xu Yourong looked into his eyes, equally emotional but with a hint of helplessness. “You really didn’t feel it?”
“Feel what?”
“The blade intent hidden within the Great Radiant Sword.”
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng was shocked. He thought, *The Great Radiant Sword is the most exquisite sword technique in the world. What blade intent could possibly drive it?*
“I used the Two Severing Blade Technique, transforming blade intent into sword intent, just barely managing to wield the Great Radiant Sword.”
Xu Yourong said, “And I have to thank you for the clash of your sword intent back then. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to master this sword technique in just a few days.”
When Chen Changsheng heard the words “Two Severing Blade Technique,” he was even more stunned. He thought, *Wasn’t the Two Severing Blade Technique temporarily unusable?* Only after hearing the second half of her sentence did he understand. Although he had never used the Two Severing Blade Technique, its overwhelming and wild nature still forcefully hid within his sword intent. On the Naihe Bridge, Xu Yourong had merged the blade technique she had mastered with the blade intent he had emitted, ultimately comprehending some blade intent and thus being able to unleash the Great Radiant Sword.
In many people’s eyes, the battle on the Naihe Bridge that morning represented many things. Who would have thought that for Xu Yourong, besides being a chance to fight to her heart’s content, it was also an excellent opportunity to help her comprehend the profound mysteries of the Two Severing Blade Technique and then master the Great Radiant Sword?
Thinking of this, Chen Changsheng couldn’t help but admire her greatly, yet he also felt it was somewhat reckless. He wondered why she had to be so hasty, even to the point of danger. If, during the battle on the Naihe Bridge, she had failed to grasp the essence of that segment of the Two Severing Blade Technique and couldn’t master the Great Radiant Sword, and if he had made a slight mistake, how terrible would that have been?
Without needing words, seeing the worry in his eyes, Xu Yourong knew what he was thinking. She said calmly, “I am the youngest Saintess in history, but also the weakest. My teacher has left, and Her Majesty is, after all, a Zhou native, so I need to establish my authority as quickly as possible.”
These words were plain, even a bit blunt, but very sincere.
Most Southern Saintesses would eventually enter the Divine Domain. Her teacher was a sage who could easily defeat the Eight Winds and Rains. Even the weakest of the Southern Saintesses were at least half-step Divine Domain experts. Only she became a Saintess at the age of sixteen, before even breaking through the Star Gathering Realm.
As the youngest and weakest Southern Saintess in history, with Saintess Peak and Southern Creek both silent, what kind of pressure was she bearing? What storms was she facing?
Chen Changsheng looked at her slender shoulders and suddenly recalled their conversations in the Zhou Garden. Back then, she had said she bore heavy responsibilities, felt very tired, and wanted to escape. He had thought she was a genius girl from the Xiu Ling tribe, bearing the heavy burden of reviving her people, and had tried to comfort her several times. But now he knew she was the reincarnation of the Heavenly Phoenix, the hope of Saintess Peak and Her Majesty the Empress, bearing the responsibility of leading the human world against the demons. How could he possibly console her?
“Some things… let me handle them from now on.”
“I can manage.”
“I am the dean of the National Academy.”
“In the future, I will become the Pope of the National Religion.”
He ran through these words in his mind, organizing their order, and felt they sounded like something Tang Thirty-Six would say. Just as he was hesitating…
“Authentic beef bones. Please enjoy, you two.”
The owner carried a steaming pot of beef bones, interrupting a crucial conversation about the future of the human world.
Unlike other places that stewed bones in iron pots, this shop stewed the bones in the back kitchen before bringing them out. Although it lost a bit of rustic flavor, it was much cleaner. No wonder the area around the stove was so spotless, with not even a speck of dust in sight.
Then, various small dishes were brought out, and the two began to eat.
Perhaps because the small dishes were too delicious, or the bones too fragrant and troublesome to eat, Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong didn’t speak for a long time.
In the quiet corner, only the crackling of firewood beneath the kang and the occasional clink of bowls and chopsticks could be heard.
After who knows how long, Chen Changsheng couldn’t help but look up at the person across from him. Only then did he notice that today she wasn’t wearing that white ceremonial robe or a white dress, but a rather thick cotton-padded jacket. He also recalled that in Xunyang City, when he saw the Saintess, he had felt that white ceremonial robe looked familiar. Then he remembered that in the temple by Baicao Road, she had said she had strict table manners since childhood and couldn’t talk while eating. This silence now—was this the environment she was used to?
Then he would follow her habits while eating, at least not making her feel uncomfortable.
Chen Changsheng thought this, but instead of picking up his chopsticks again, he continued to look at her.
Because she was truly beautiful.
The steam rising from the iron pot resembled the misty snow and rain on the Naihe Bridge. Her small face was on the other side of the mist, exquisitely beautiful, like a painting.
But at this moment, she didn’t look like the legendary Phoenix Fairy.
Her small body seemed almost entirely wrapped in the cotton jacket, all the brilliance she showed before thousands of people completely concealed, like an ordinary little girl.
She lowered her head, gently blowing on the hot steam, carefully nibbling the shreds of meat off the bones. Her appearance was adorable, like a young animal.
The coarsest iron-pot stewed bones, yet she ate them with an air of delicacy, as if she were savoring fine Southern pastries. But no matter how delicately she ate, her speed wasn’t slow. Before long, the table in front of her was piled with very clean bones.
Her face was slightly flushed—whether from the heat, embarrassment, or because she felt his unwavering gaze.
…
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(One chapter today. Also, a heads-up: in the next couple of days, I plan to let them continue their romance.)