Chapter 29: Returning the Umbrella, Asking the Way
Zhe Xiu was by the window at that moment, imitating loneliness and missing someone. When he heard these words, he was stunned for a moment, and many things naturally came to mind—the bitter battle during the Grand Court Exam in the Dust-Washing Pavilion, when his hand struck toward his opponent's chest and abdomen, the shame and anger that flickered across her brows and eyes, and later, living under the same roof at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum. These hints made him vaguely guess something, though he dared not be certain. It wasn't until he saw her again in the Zhou Garden, carrying her on his back as he ran toward the setting sun, that things became clearer.
Thinking of these things, the corners of his mouth curled slightly, revealing a warm smile.
Tang Thirty-Six never expected to see such an emotion on the face of a wolf tribe youth known for his cold cruelty and violence. For a moment, he was stunned, covering his forehead as he thought, what in this world has gone wrong? Xu Yourong actually started dating Chen Changsheng, and Zhe Xiu is actually lovesick!
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"Tang Tang looks a lot like someone."
"Senior Su Li."
Chen Changsheng naturally gave that accurate answer, exchanging a knowing smile with Xu Yourong.
They had already left the National Academy and arrived at the Hundred Flowers Alley outside. Snow was falling from the sky, and they held a yellow paper umbrella, making them hard to spot.
Actually, ever since they met on Fushun Road yesterday, Chen Changsheng had wanted to ask why the yellow paper umbrella was in her hands, since this umbrella was his. But no matter how ignorant he was of worldly affairs, having already made a mistake earlier, he knew he couldn't ask that way, so he held back.
Holding the umbrella, they walked through the wind and snow along the east bank of the Luo River, passed through the Eight Willows Alley, and arrived at the Naihe Bridge, naturally recalling yesterday's battle.
"If I had known back then that my opponent was you, would the outcome have been different?"
Standing in the middle of the snow-covered bridge, Chen Changsheng looked toward the direction she had come from yesterday and asked softly.
Xu Yourong said, "From the very beginning, you never intended to win."
Chen Changsheng was silent for a moment, then said, "Because of the engagement annulment, I always felt I owed you something."
Xu Yourong smiled faintly and said nothing.
"Your cultivation level and strength are above mine; it was already hard for me to win, and besides... I don't like being arranged to do things."
Chen Changsheng turned to look at the Li Palace in the distance, shrouded in snow.
Nearly two years ago, on that spring day, he had left the Eastern Divine General's Mansion humiliated, and on another small bridge, he had felt a similar sentiment.
He cultivated the Dao by following his heart. His fate was poor, so he had to hold it in his own hands even more.
"No one likes having their fate arranged," Xu Yourong said, looking toward the Imperial Palace in another direction through the snow. "But yesterday, I truly wanted to fight you because I wanted to know how far your sword had progressed, and I wanted to defeat you fair and square. I don't like the feeling of losing."
Last night at the Ox Bone Shop on Fushun Road, she had said something similar, but today she spoke more seriously, more openly, without any pretense.
The two walked down the snow-covered bridge. When snow fell, there weren't many pedestrians on the bridge, except for a stall selling candied hawthorn skewers, around which a small crowd had gathered, making it somewhat lively. Most were idle loafers in the capital, still discussing yesterday's battle and gossiping about many things.
—Like the engagement, lingering feelings, affection, indifference, and even some more outrageous jokes.
Those loafers had no idea that the two sides of that battle they were discussing were right beside them.
Xu Yourong lowered her head slightly, Chen Changsheng raised his head slightly, and they crossed the snow bridge again. But this time, they were no longer opponents. So what were they?
The snow grew heavier, though not violent, it began to blur the eyes. Fewer and fewer pedestrians were on the streets, and the snow piled thicker on eaves and well rims. The capital's streets and alleys turned a vast white, with the exposed colors of buildings looking like clean lines on white paper, quite beautiful.
The snow on the stone pillars of the Li Palace looked like slender stone figures wearing white hats.
The Heavenly Book Mausoleum remained lush and green, but the sacred path bore snow, looking like a frozen waterfall.
The small courtyard of the Plum Garden Inn was undisturbed and quiet. Seeing the snow-covered ground like a felt blanket, they couldn't bear to step on it, so they stood under the eaves, looking at the tree in the middle of the courtyard, talking about the excitement they felt two years ago when they saw the Heavenly Book steles' rubbings, and that bamboo dragonfly.
Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong spent an entire day walking through the capital, visiting many places and saying many things.
Most of the time, it was he, who was not good with words, who spoke, introducing her to this place and that—the solitude of the Lingyan Pavilion, the night pearls of the Sweet Dew Terrace. He earnestly acted as a guide, wanting her to enjoy the tour more.
Xu Yourong listened quietly by his side, a smile at the corners of her lips.
Whether it was the Heavenly Book Mausoleum or the Imperial Palace, these were places she had grown tired of as a child. The stone pillars of the Li Palace were even her childhood slide.
Why would she need a youth who had grown up in Xining Town to explain these things?
Chen Changsheng knew this but had forgotten.
She knew he had definitely forgotten, but she didn't want to remind him.
As dusk fell, they finally returned to the Hundred Flowers Alley. Outside the back wall of the National Academy, Chen Changsheng tried to hand the yellow paper umbrella to her, but she shook her head.
"This umbrella was given to you by Uncle-Master Su."
Chen Changsheng was very pleased, thinking that he and Senior Su Li had argued over this matter for tens of thousands of miles. Now it seemed that the senior had finally recognized his mistake.
He infused his divine sense into the umbrella handle and suddenly noticed a problem. Startled, he asked, "Where is the sword in the umbrella?"
The foundation of the yellow paper umbrella was the sword that had, for the first time in a thousand years, broken free from the Sword Pond on its own and returned to the mortal world—the Li Mountain Sect Leader's sword, the famed Heaven-Shrouding Sword that shook the continent.
Back on the snowy plains of the Demon Domain, Su Li had drawn that sword from the umbrella, killing a demon general with one strike and cutting open a path to survival with another. How majestic that was.
But now, the Heaven-Shrouding Sword was clearly no longer in the umbrella.
"Uncle-Master said the umbrella can be given to you, but the sword came from Li Mountain and cannot be given to you. He left the Heaven-Shrouding Sword..."
Xu Yourong paused slightly before continuing, "...for Senior Brother."
She didn't specify which senior brother from the Li Mountain Sword Sect, but Chen Changsheng knew she meant Qiu Shan Jun.
This was the first time he and she had mentioned Qiu Shan Jun's name.
Chen Changsheng felt a bit uneasy, perhaps because of the natural way she said "Senior Brother," or because over the past few years, that name had always been paired with hers, or because she and he had grown up cultivating together, making them indeed more familiar with each other than with him.
"What's wrong?" Xu Yourong tilted her head and looked at him.
Chen Changsheng looked down at the umbrella in his hand, as if studying something, and casually replied, "Nothing."
The two seemed somewhat naive, but in truth, they understood everything.
"Uncle-Master Su also asked me to bring you two letters."
Xu Yourong took two letters from her bosom and handed them to him.
For some reason, her fingers pinched the envelopes, and her brows slightly furrowed.
The moment Chen Changsheng took the letters, he felt as if his fingertips were pricked by needles, stabbing his heart with pain. He quickly mobilized his divine sense to forcibly suppress the urge to throw the envelopes away.
What terrifying sword intent was hidden in these two letters!
He looked at Xu Yourong in shock.
Xu Yourong nodded and pointed at the two letters in his hand, saying, "Uncle-Master Su said you can open the letter in the yellow envelope anytime. Keep the letter in the black envelope safe. If you ever encounter a problem you can't solve in the future, open it then."
In the Zhou Garden, the sword intent of the Heaven-Shrouding Sword had reunited with the sword itself. Outside the Zhou Garden, Su Li had reunited with this sword. That grandmaster of the sword path, through this opportunity, had improved even further, his cultivation in the sword path reaching an unimaginable level.
He no longer needed the Heaven-Shrouding Sword now. About to travel far with the Saintess, he left the Heaven-Shrouding Sword for Qiu Shan Jun and returned the yellow paper umbrella to Chen Changsheng.
This seemed fair, but it wasn't. Although the yellow paper umbrella was a powerful defensive artifact, how could it compare to the famed Heaven-Shrouding Sword?
Still, Chen Changsheng had no complaints. After all, the Heaven-Shrouding Sword was the Li Mountain Sect Leader's sword, and it was only right that it remained with Li Mountain.
He carefully put away the two letters, thinking of the senior who had already gone far away, and suddenly felt a mix of emotion and longing.
From the snowy plains of the Demon Domain, traveling ten thousand miles south, he and Su Li had experienced much together. Though their realms and generations were vastly different, they could be considered friends across the ages.
"Where did he and the Saintess go?"
"A very far place."
"The Western Continent?"
"Farther than the Western Continent."
This answer was somewhat unexpected, yet reasonable.
For ordinary people on the continent, the Western Continent, isolated overseas, was the farthest place. But Su Li had traveled the world for centuries and had likely already been there.
Now, for the future of humanity, he had gracefully set aside all grudges and attachments, taking the Saintess and drifting far away. Of course, he would go to an even farther place.
But was there a place farther than the Western Continent?
Chen Changsheng recalled some obscure records he had seen in the Daoist Canon and looked at Xu Yourong in surprise. "Is there really another continent?"
The records in the Daoist Canon about other continents were not firsthand accounts from travelers; they were vague, more like speculations.
Reading through the Daoist Canon didn't mean knowing everything in the world, because many things were inconvenient or even impossible to record in writing.
Xu Yourong, as the current Saintess, had grown up in places like the Li Palace, the Imperial Palace, and the Nanxi Study, so she naturally knew more.
"It should be the Holy Light Continent," she said to Chen Changsheng. "I've heard my teacher say that beyond the Star Sea, on a distant shore, there is a continent. That world is bathed in light, inhabited by beings very similar to us. But the Star Sea is vast and impassable. If you don't cross the Star Sea, there is an extremely solid spatial barrier between the two continents. Only the strongest who step into the sacred realm have a chance to break through this barrier and enter the other's world."
Chen Changsheng was very surprised and asked, "Are you sure?"
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(Next chapter at eight in the evening.)
Nearly two years ago, on that spring day, he had left the Eastern Divine General's Mansion humiliated, and on another small bridge, he had felt a similar sentiment.