Chapter 72: The Heavenly Mechanism Elder's Kind Words
Waking up the next morning, Tang Thirty-Six had two extremely dark circles under his eyes as he went to find Chen Changsheng.
"What happened to you?" Chen Changsheng was genuinely concerned about his health.
Tang Thirty-Six looked exhausted and said, "Keeping watch is a very tiring job. Can you two go to sleep earlier from now on?"
Chen Changsheng felt a bit embarrassed and guilty, replying, "It's just for a few more days."
"A few more days?" Tang Thirty-Six's voice suddenly rose, shouting angrily, "Back in the capital, you said it was just a few days, and now it's still just a few days! So tell me, how many days is 'a few days'? Exactly how many days! How long are you going to keep this hidden?"
Chen Changsheng was speechless.
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him with a pained expression and said, "I'm begging you, just announce it to the world already. Keeping secrets is too damn hard."
Chen Changsheng tried to comfort him, saying, "I feel the same way, but..."
Hearing the words "feel the same way," Tang Thirty-Six flew into a rage and shouted, "What? Feel the same way? Feel your same! Way your same! This is your own business! What does it have to do with me! You get all the benefits! The snow of the National Academy, the wind at the peak of Cold Mountain—I have to endure them! If you've got the guts, give me that jujube to eat!"
Chen Changsheng was initially ashamed by his words, but when he suddenly heard the word "jujube," he became alert and stared at him, saying, "What did you say?"
Tang Thirty-Six realized he had let something slip, but he refused to admit defeat, saying, "So what? Can't I get a little benefit for keeping watch for you?"
Chen Changsheng felt helpless and said, "Didn't we agree at the beginning: don't listen to improprieties, don't look at improprieties?"
Tang Thirty-Six pretended to be shocked and said, "You did something improper with her?"
Just then, Zhe Xiu walked in and, seeing the tense atmosphere between the two, asked, "Are you two going to fight?"
"No," Tang Thirty-Six said, taking the opportunity to back down. "I asked him to check where my idol went, but he won't budge."
The idol he was referring to was Liu Qing.
With Su Li and that mysterious woman having left one after another, the former third-ranked assassin of the world should now top the assassin rankings.
But even the chief assassin was still an assassin, and the top of the killer list was still a killer—someone who couldn't see the light of day.
As Zhe Xiu had once said, for an assassin to participate in the Stone Boiling Conference was suicide.
Chen Changsheng had once asked a steward of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion to look after him, but shortly after agreeing, that steward was turned into a pool of blood by the Demon Lord.
Thinking about how Liu Qing had been severely wounded by the Demon Lord and had such a special identity, the three of them couldn't help but worry.
On an island in the Heavenly Lake, hot mist surrounded the garden all year round. It wasn't particularly comfortable to live in, but it was very helpful for healing and recovery, especially for injuries caused by the extreme cold of demonic arts. Liu Qing was recovering there now.
He didn't need Chen Changsheng and the others to worry about him, nor did he need them to ask the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion to spare him.
——The assassin rankings were issued by the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. Few people noticed the implications hidden behind this fact.
The Heavenly Mechanism Elder sat across from Liu Qing and asked, "Su Li has left. What are your plans now?"
Liu Qing wasn't a member of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, but he had done many things for them.
In fact, even Su Li had done quite a bit for the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion back in the day.
Liu Qing thought for a moment and said, "If you have no objections, I want to go to the capital."
"What will you do in the capital?"
"Kill Tianhai."
"Then I object."
The Heavenly Mechanism Elder looked at him calmly and said, "Her Majesty is my friend, and I don't want you to throw your life away."
Liu Qing said, "Then we'll talk about it later."
The Heavenly Mechanism Elder suddenly asked, "Chen Changsheng... what kind of person is he, really?"
Liu Qing thought about it very seriously for a long time before finally saying, "He's a good person."
The Heavenly Mechanism Elder raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised by this answer.
Neither Su Li, nor Liu Qing, nor he himself were good people.
They hated or despised so-called good people the most.
But when Liu Qing said Chen Changsheng was a good person, he didn't see any trace of sarcasm or mockery on his face—only seriousness and respect.
This answer was very important, to the Heavenly Mechanism Elder.
"Since he's a young man with goodwill toward the world, then I'll represent the world and give him some goodwill in return."
"When have you ever had such a thing as goodwill?"
"When a man is about to die, his words are kind, and even more so his intentions."
...
...
A light boat drifted across the lake, parting the mist, as if traveling through a fairyland.
Chen Changsheng could clearly sense that both the mist and the water contained defensive formations. As they passed the small islands in the lake, he could see disciples of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion bowing respectfully.
It didn't take long to reach the island at the center of the lake, the warmest—even hottest—place in the cold mountain range.
Walking through the hot mist, stepping on the somewhat slippery stone slabs, doubts arose in his mind. Why was the Heavenly Mechanism Elder so eager to see him? Not to mention that he had just woken up from his post-injury coma, but the Heavenly Mechanism Elder should also have been quite seriously injured. Thinking about these things, he gradually forgot the oppressive heat around him.
When he entered the garden and saw the Heavenly Mechanism Elder, he finally understood something. Though he still didn't have answers, he now had clues—last summer at the National Academy, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion had sent an old steward to look at the Stainless Sword. It turned out that old steward was the Heavenly Mechanism Elder himself.
So, naturally, the Heavenly Mechanism Elder hadn't come to look at the sword; he had come to look at the person—to look at him.
The steward of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion who was guiding him respectfully led Chen Changsheng to his seat and then silently withdrew.
Chen Changsheng sat quietly, like a junior listening to instruction.
If this had been two years ago, meeting a great figure like the Heavenly Mechanism Elder would have left him unable to remain so calm.
But now he had already seen too many legendary figures, even encountered legends like the Demon Lord and Wang Zhice.
The Heavenly Mechanism Elder noticed that even after passing through such oppressive hot mist, Chen Changsheng's collar was still tightly fastened, his attire immaculate. He was very pleased with this.
"I have seen countless heroes and heroes in my time. You are no worse than any of them."
Without any pleasantries or probing, the oldest great figure on the continent began his conversation. The Heavenly Mechanism Elder looked at Chen Changsheng and said, "I have also seen countless mountains, but my favorite has always been Langya Mountain by the East Sea. That mountain was the payment Her Majesty gave me for going to the capital to see you."
Only then did Chen Changsheng learn about the hidden transaction behind this matter, and he was very shocked.
Everyone in the world knew that the Heavenly Mechanism Elder possessed unimaginable wisdom and astonishing deductive abilities. In many people's eyes, if anyone could truly see through fate, it would have to be the Heavenly Mechanism Elder. For Her Majesty the Saintess to ask the Heavenly Mechanism Elder to take a look at him and give away a famous mountain in return—the price was certainly not small.
——He was, of course, very curious about what secrets the Heavenly Mechanism Elder had seen in him back then. But even as the future Pope, he was still just a junior before the Heavenly Mechanism Elder, and the rhythm of the conversation was not his to control. He had many questions to ask the other, and the other also had many questions to ask him.
"Since the Demon Lord didn't leave at first, why did he leave later?" the Heavenly Mechanism Elder asked.
After Chen Changsheng woke up, Tang Thirty-Six and Zhe Xiu were also most concerned about this question, because his survival was an extremely incredible thing.
Even the Heavenly Mechanism Elder, who could calculate everything in the world, couldn't figure out how he had survived.
That was because he couldn't calculate that Wang Zhice was still alive and had appeared at that moment in the Cold Mountains, before that cliff.
Chen Changsheng had promised that old man that he wouldn't tell anyone about this. Tang Thirty-Six and Zhe Xiu were accidents, and Xu Yourong was an exception.
The Heavenly Mechanism Elder, though noble in status and extremely high in seniority, was neither an accident nor an exception. So Chen Changsheng said nothing, only shook his head.
This was a very direct attitude. The Heavenly Mechanism Elder didn't get angry. He just looked at him quietly, thoughtfully, his gaze calm and full of insight, as if it could see through all secrets: "You don't want to say how you survived. Then can you tell me why the Demon Lord came to kill you?"
Chen Changsheng thought to himself that the Demon Lord hadn't come to kill him, and then shook his head again.
This was still a very direct attitude. He didn't want to discuss this matter because it involved his greatest secret and fear.
"As for what happened later, you might not know. When the Demon Lord returned to Snow Old City, he was already severely wounded."
When the Heavenly Mechanism Elder said this, he paused slightly, as if to give him some time to accept and digest the shock.
Chen Changsheng was truly shocked. The Demon Lord was severely wounded? What had happened after he broke through the Cold Mountain Heavenly Stone Formation?
"He encountered the White Emperor."
The Heavenly Mechanism Elder didn't give him much time to guess and said directly, "Or to be more precise, the White Emperor had been waiting for him in the snow plains."
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng's heart gradually sank. Even in the garden on the island, warm as spring, he felt a chill.
"So it seems that the Demon Lord leaving Snow Old City to come to Cold Mountain to kill you was already anticipated by someone. He... fell into a trap."
The Heavenly Mechanism Elder looked quietly into his eyes and said, "But I don't know about this trap, and Her Majesty doesn't either. So, do you know?"
Chen Changsheng's mind was somewhat dazed at this moment. Upon hearing this, he instinctively shook his head.
This was the third time he had shaken his head since the conversation began, but it was completely different from the previous two times. He was somewhat confused, somewhat uneasy, and didn't want to continue thinking about it.
Yet the Heavenly Mechanism Elder still looked into his eyes, and his voice continued.
"Since this is a trap, then the one who set it must have been very clear that you possess something the Demon Lord would risk everything to obtain. What exactly do you have? How many people in the world know about this? You don't have to answer, but I suggest you think about it carefully yourself."
Chen Changsheng lowered his head and was silent for a long time without speaking.
...
...
(Embarking on the long three-thousand-kilometer journey home... Well, I'll have to detour westward to pay respects to my father-in-law. How cool. I'll balance the trip, work, and rest. If I don't have the energy to write, I'll unhesitatingly ask everyone for leave. Don't worry.)