Chapter 530: I Heard Your Home Has No Prairie
Of course, that couldn't be the reason.
Chen Changsheng thought back to the scene in the Snow Temple and quickly dismissed that possibility, then another important question came to mind.
At the time, Xu Yourong had said her name was Chen Chujian.
She had taken the surname Chen—perhaps he was being overly sentimental, but he always felt it had something to do with him, just as he had told her his name was Xu Sheng.
He didn't ask any further, because he realized this matter was indeed quite tangled. If he delved too deeply into those situations in the Garden of Zhou, he might end up feeling unpleasant emotions toward Xu Yourong's fiancé—which would be equivalent to being jealous of himself?
This matter really was a mess, impossible to sort out.
One had read through the Daoist canon since childhood, able to summon countless principles at will; the other had a heart settled in the Dao and had begun studying the Heavenly Book Monoliths at twelve. Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were both gifted with wisdom among the finest, both prodigies of cultivation. Yet back in the Garden of Zhou, when they had to handle this matter, they were flustered and made countless mistakes.
Xu Yourong didn't answer Chen Changsheng's foolish question. The beef bones in the iron pot continued to bubble and gurgle. In the quiet moment, as they gazed at each other, they understood why the two of them had hidden their identities back then, and they didn't miss the subtlest shifts in emotion.
In the end, they were still clever children, like the pure white snowflakes outside the tavern.
But there were still matters that needed resolution, or else their hearts would remain unsettled—like that one thing.
"What about you and Princess Luoluo, and Little Black Dragon?"
Xu Yourong didn't say it outright, but Chen Changsheng understood what she was asking.
Back in the Zhou Mausoleum, she had once said her fiancé was someone who liked to pluck flowers and touch grass, and moreover… he had provoked some naive young girls.
Chen Changsheng suddenly remembered that at the time, he had cursed her fiancé—what a shameless scoundrel!
So it turned out he had been cursing himself.
Thinking of this, his emotions were complicated. He had no idea what to say, so he could only sigh.
"I suppose it was Miss Shuang who told you?"
The truth, revealed only after half a year, had dealt such a shock to his spirit that he failed to notice Xu Yourong had mentioned Little Black Dragon in addition to Luoluo.
He helplessly tried to defend himself, "I think the two of us should now understand best that seeing isn't necessarily believing."
"Perhaps."
Xu Yourong said softly, then lifted her head to look at him. A sudden brightness flashed in her eyes.
Something came to mind that made her raise an eyebrow slightly, and the ethereal landscape of her picturesque beauty instantly became vivid. That brightness turned into a sharp edge.
"I remember you said something about your fiancée back then…"
Chen Changsheng's expression shifted. Back in the Zhou Mausoleum, when he had told her about his fiancée, though he hadn't deliberately mocked or humiliated her, he certainly hadn't said anything good. But…
"Didn't you yourself say back then that a woman like that wasn't worth keeping?" he couldn't help but argue.
Xu Yourong said, "That was because I was misled by your words."
At the time, her opinion of Xu Sheng's fiancée had been extremely low, even to the point of disdain—arrogant, foolish, with terrible taste, and moral issues too.
Ever since she learned that all those judgments had fallen on herself, she couldn't help but feel a mix of shame and irritation.
The more cutting her judgments had been back then, the more shame and irritation she felt now.
Don't be fooled by her calm expression now—the small hand inside her cotton-padded sleeve was already clenched into a fist.
This matter was still a mess.
Chen Changsheng looked at the wine in his bowl and sighed again.
At age ten, when the strange fragrance had enveloped the old temple, he had been silent for days, then sighed for many days. Since then, he had never sighed as much as he did today.
It was all a misunderstanding.
The affairs of the world, the twists of fate—sometimes they were truly coincidental, truly unbelievable.
Between him and her, there had been so much gratitude, resentment, love, and hate. Yet in the Garden of Zhou, they had met under different identities and spent so many days together.
At least they had met again. Surely there would be many more opportunities to sort out these inexplicable, tangled matters.
As long as it didn't lead to a lifetime of regret.
Thinking this, Chen Changsheng's worries eased, and he looked at her with a smile.
"What are you smiling about?" Xu Yourong asked.
Chen Changsheng replied, "Happy."
Xu Yourong's gaze dropped slightly, her eyelashes trembling.
Suddenly, she covered her mouth with her hand and hiccupped.
"Drank too much," she explained, a little embarrassed.
The alcohol was strong. Without using true essence to dispel its effects, after drinking several bowls in a row, she really should be drunk.
Otherwise, why would a blush rise again on her beautiful face?
Chen Changsheng asked with concern, "Are your injuries alright? Is it okay to drink?"
As he spoke, his gaze fell on her cotton-padded sleeve, on the fingers just peeking out from the cuff. He saw no wounds there.
Then he remembered that she had studied at the Azure Thirteen Divisions and was now the Saintess of the Southern Creek Temple. Under the Holy Light, why would she worry about such things?
Xu Yourong glanced at him and said, "Do you really think I can't beat you?"
Chen Changsheng thought, why did it come back to this again? He changed the subject and said, "I have something important to tell you."
Xu Yourong flicked her finger, and a gust of wind rose. The yellow paper umbrella on the floor slowly rolled back to its original position. There were two more tables of customers in the tavern now, making it noisier, but the sounds from outside could no longer enter. Any occasional glances that fell on them were blocked by an invisible wall.
With the yellow paper umbrella and their current cultivation levels, unless a peak Star Condensation expert personally came to eavesdrop, they would definitely be detected.
"Do you remember all those gold, silver, and treasures we found in the stone chambers of the Zhou Mausoleum?"
Chen Changsheng untied the Stainless Sword from his waist and set it beside the iron pot, then began taking things out from inside it.
This was Xu Yourong's first time seeing this national treasure of the Church up close—not referring to the Stainless Sword, but to the scabbard named Concealed Edge. She studied it intently, very interested, so much so that she paid little attention to Chen Changsheng's solemn words, merely humming casually in response.
"Before Nanke drove the beast tide with the Soul Wood to besiege the mausoleum, the Soul Pivot went mad and shattered many things. Those elixirs were already expired, so their destruction didn't matter, but those secret manuals were a pity. Oh, and the jadeite and crystals—once smashed to powder, they weren't worth anything either. The gold was fine; I later had someone melt it into gold water and recast it into small ingots, with minimal loss. And these pearls… pearl powder, I heard, can be steeped in tea for beauty benefits. I won't divide these; you can take them all when you leave."
Chen Changsheng kept taking things out and talking nonstop.
Xu Yourong's attention was finally drawn away. Looking at the boxes by the stove, she asked, "What are you saying?"
"This is what we agreed on—split the treasures from the Zhou Mausoleum equally."
Chen Changsheng looked at her very seriously and said, "If the elixirs were still usable, I might have used some when Senior Su Li was injured. But as for the other things, without your consent, I kept them all. For easier storage, I asked the Church's administrative office to convert them into banknotes and other items."
He meant what he said. He had always believed the treasures of the Zhou Mausoleum weren't his alone. Before confirming whether she was alive or dead, he had no right to use them. That was why when Tang Thirty-Six asked him for money, he never mentioned having these riches. And after he thought she had left this world, he made a decision that was somewhat hard to understand.
"Here are the land deeds… I asked Jin Yulü to acquire a large prairie downstream of the Red River, intending to leave it for you." He pointed to a box.
Xu Yourong was momentarily stunned and asked, "Why give me this?"
Chen Changsheng said, "At the time, I thought you might no longer be here. I felt I should leave something for your clan. That prairie is closest to your homeland…"
Back then, he had always believed she was the genius girl of the Xiuling Tribe, bearing the heavy responsibility of reviving the tribe.
Xu Yourong understood and remained silent.
Chen Changsheng misinterpreted her silence and said awkwardly, "Of course, now I know you have no use for a prairie. This was indeed a foolish thing to do."
"No, it's fine. I like it very much."
Xu Yourong took the box and looked at his face through the steam rising from the iron pot, speaking very seriously.
Back in the Zhou Mausoleum, he had cared nothing for the treasures and secret manuals, only rushing to find medicine for her. She had been deeply moved then.
Now, she felt the same.
"Leave the other things with you for now. I didn't bring Tong Palace out today, so it's inconvenient to carry them."
She continued in a natural tone, "When I need them, I'll come find you."
This was a good arrangement. Chen Changsheng agreed with the suggestion, but thinking that she was now the master of Southern Creek Temple and must have many expenses, he said, "Keep the odds and ends here for now, but take the pearl powder and that box of banknotes back with you."
Xu Yourong said, "These are all external possessions. Why be so concerned about them?"
Chen Changsheng couldn't understand this attitude of being above worldly affairs and asked, "Then what should we be concerned about?"
It wasn't truly being above worldly affairs. Compared to the smoke and fire of the mortal world, the stars in the sky were brighter and more dazzling.
"What we should be concerned about is… that we are opponents, enemies."
Xu Yourong looked into his eyes and said, her voice very calm, but the emotions in her eyes were complicated. The deepest starlight within them trembled slightly.
Beautiful, yet unsettling.
Yes, regardless of whether there was a marriage contract between them, they were now destined to be opponents, and might even become enemies who would fight to the death.
The division between north and south in the Church, the conflict between old and new, the Saintess and the Pope's differing views on this world.
The three main contradictions of the human world now rested on the two of them.
—The balcony above and below, the poisoned dagger, the yellow sand and lonely grave, the butterfly's chill and sorrow? No matter how one looked at it, the story of Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong seemed destined to head in that direction. It might be sorrowful, it might be tragic, it might become a love story passed down through the ages. In any case, this matter was deeply troubling.
They were still so young, their shoulders still so thin. How could they bear so much?
Yet they seemed utterly unaware of this. They had just fought a battle on the Bridge of Helplessness, and now they sat together drinking wine and eating bones. Especially Chen Changsheng, who acted as if he had no idea about the current situation, forgetting all the difficulties and obstacles between them, because he truly…
"I forgot," he said, a little embarrassed.
…
…
(I changed the last sentence of the previous chapter a bit, altering the emotional description to "serious." I think this is more precise. Young people's love or emotional fluctuations should be greater, but Chen and Xu are ultimately not ordinary people. Regarding the treasure issue in the Zhou Mausoleum, I previously told everyone I would find a way to address it. This chapter mentions it, and it fits the tone of this story. Of course, it can't withstand too much scrutiny, because I honestly forgot to write about it after leaving the Garden of Zhou. I admit it, and I apologize again. The next chapter will come out relatively quickly.)