Chapter 553: Old Tales Told at the Thirteen Mausoleums
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A few days ago, Xu Yourong had mentioned that if they wanted to know about the situation in the Mausoleum of Books, they could ask someone. Even if the Holy Empress wouldn't say, someone surely knew. Since it concerned the Mausoleum of Books, who in this world could know more than this person? This person had already sat in stillness within the Mausoleum of Books for several hundred years.
She and Chen Changsheng walked past the clear channel of water, arrived before the pavilion, and bowed to the man beneath it.
There were very few people in the world worthy of being bowed to by both her and Chen Changsheng at the same time, but the man beneath the pavilion was ultimately different.
The continent's number one divine general, Han Qing, was of extremely high seniority, the oldest, and possessed profound cultivation. Many years ago, he had already been infinitely close to the sacred domain. On the battlefield, he was truly invincible. In the present world, he was the only one who could be compared to the legendary divine generals of the past. Figures like Xu Shiji and Xue He were not even in the same league. Even the current Eight Winds and Rains would not dare claim they could surely defeat him.
What most inspired awe and reverence among the people was that this man had guarded the Mausoleum of Books for several hundred years without ever leaving, as if he intended to sit there until the end of his life.
"Greetings, I am Xu Yourong. By order of my master, I have come to ask you a few questions, Senior."
Xu Yourong looked at the man inside the armor and said softly.
Because of the covering, it was impossible to confirm whether the man inside the armor had opened his eyes, but Chen Changsheng saw very clearly that some dust in the gaps of the armor suddenly flew up, dancing like tiny moths in the sunlight. At the same time, he felt very clearly a gaze like an iron spear land on him and Xu Yourong.
"Who is your master?"
An aged voice emerged from deep within the armor, carrying a rust-like quality, sounding immensely weathered.
Xu Yourong said, "I come from Nanxi Zhai."
Nanxi Zhai was divided into an outer sect and an inner sect, but only the current Saintess or a direct-line descendant could walk the world in the name of Nanxi Zhai.
The winter sunlight fell on the surface of the armor, adding no warmth but instead making it appear even colder, just like the voice coming from within the armor.
"Why didn't she come herself?"
"My master said that the questions she had, you could not answer back then, and you still cannot answer now. So she left this opportunity to me."
"Then ask."
"How many Mausoleum of Books steles were actually taken away?"
Xu Yourong's gaze, passing through the dancing dust and winter light, fell on the divine general's armor, calm and gentle.
But her question was as direct and sharp as the sacred path on the southern slope of the Mausoleum of Books, as if it would pierce the sky itself.
Chen Changsheng glanced at her, thinking that Divine General Han Qing had guarded the Mausoleum of Books in stillness for centuries, guarding its sacred path and secrets. Many Mausoleum of Books steles were not inside the mausoleum but had been lost outside. This was undoubtedly the greatest secret of the Mausoleum of Books. How could he possibly answer you?
Unexpectedly, the next moment, that aged and harsh voice came from within the armor.
"Twelve."
Hearing this answer, Chen Changsheng was somewhat surprised. First, that Divine General Han Qing was willing to answer this question at all, and second, the answer itself.
He and Xu Yourong exchanged a glance, seeing the shock in each other's eyes—twelve Mausoleum of Books steles had been lost outside?
"Were all of them taken by that person?" Xu Yourong continued to ask the man beneath the pavilion.
"Eleven."
"And the remaining one?"
"Taken by the Grand Ancestor Emperor."
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng recalled the notebook Wang Zhice had hidden in Lingyan Pavilion.
In that notebook, Wang Zhice had once mentioned that in his later years, the Grand Ancestor Emperor was confined to the palace, indulging in pleasure, and finally gave him something...
"Zhou Dufu took the Mausoleum of Books steles, which is why there is the concept of the Former Mausoleum?"
"Correct. So the current Mausoleum of Books is actually thirteen mausoleums."
One broken stele served as a boundary marker; twelve steles naturally made thirteen mausoleums. This was not a particularly difficult calculation. (Note)
"Where... are those Mausoleum of Books steles now?"
Xu Yourong finally asked the most critical question.
Before coming to the pavilion on the sacred path, both she and Chen Changsheng had assumed that all the Mausoleum of Books steles were in their hands. Now it seemed that was not the case.
"No one knows where the steles that person took are now."
Hearing the voice from within the armor, Chen Changsheng lowered his head and said nothing, thinking to himself that he actually knew.
"But one Mausoleum of Books stele... should be in the hands of the Demon Lord."
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were finally shocked.
The mountain mausoleum was silent, and the clear, shallow water in the channel flowed slowly, also making no sound.
"What use do they have for taking these Mausoleum of Books steles?"
"First, this already exceeds the scope of what I originally promised Nanxi Zhai. Second, if I knew, why would I have sat here in stillness for several hundred years?"
After saying this, no more sound arose.
The winter wind howled around the pavilion, carrying dust from the armor and stirring the clear, cold light. That divine general seemed to have turned back into a statue.
Leaving the pavilion and returning to Xun Mei's small courtyard, Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong looked at the several plum trees outside the fence and were silent for a moment.
"Initially, there were eleven Mausoleum of Books steles around Zhou's Mausoleum. If the stele Wang Zhice received from the Grand Ancestor Emperor was not originally there, that means we were all wrong from the start. The person who entered Zhou's Garden and took that stele, forcing Zhou Dufu to suppress it with ten thousand swords, was not Wang Zhice—it was the Demon Lord."
"That stele is now in the Demon Lord's hands, and we have eleven in ours."
Xu Yourong turned to him and said softly, "There's no need to worry too much."
Besides Chen Changsheng, she was the only one in this world who had personally seen the ten Mausoleum of Books steles around Zhou's Mausoleum and the black stone he had taken from the sword sheath. Since Zhou's Garden had reopened, Chen Changsheng should have eleven Mausoleum of Books steles in his hands. But that night by the palace window, he had taken out ten.
Xu Yourong had never asked him where the remaining stele was. She could probably guess, and even if they split them evenly as Chen Changsheng had said, they should originally have had ten. That black stone, secretly given by the Grand Ancestor Emperor to Wang Zhice and then passed to Chen Changsheng, was something he had brought into Zhou's Garden—it was his own possession.
"I never worry about whether I might get lost in worlds I'm not yet capable of entering."
Chen Changsheng looked at her and said, "I only worry that you might have to bear pressure you shouldn't have to because of me."
This was a question they had never discussed.
Xu Yourong was the current Southern Saintess. Since childhood, she had been regarded as the future leader of the human world. From the moment she was born, she had grown accustomed to living with a sense of responsibility.
Back in the snow temple on the Never-Setting Sun Grasslands, she had once told him that this kind of life was indeed somewhat tiring, but she was used to it. The re-emergence of the Mausoleum of Books steles was a very important matter for the human world, possibly even affecting the balance of power between humans and demons. With her heart devoted to the world, if this matter had not been related to Chen Changsheng, she would probably have announced it to the world long ago and returned those steles to the Mausoleum of Books.
That snowy night, after Chen Changsheng handed the five stone beads to her, he only then remembered this issue.
He didn't want her to bear that kind of pressure.
...
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(Note: Actually, to make sure I had the thirteen mausoleums right, I did do a careful calculation. And then, see you at 8 PM. I really am always on the verge of running out of saved drafts and stopping updates.) r1148