Chapter 633: Tonight
The Heavenly Sea Saintess walked upward along the divine path paved with white jade.
The Mausoleum of Books was the most special place on the continent. Here, the rules and principles governing the operation of heaven and earth were greatly affected. Even the strongest beings beyond the sacred domain could not fly; they could only ascend on their own two feet. Of course, aside from peerless experts like her, no one else could even hope to set foot on the divine path.
This was Chen Changsheng’s first time ascending the divine path of the Mausoleum of Books, even though his feet did not touch it.
This was a place that countless cultivators in the world dreamed of treading. He had once witnessed with his own eyes Xun Mei’s death while attempting the divine path, and the impression was deeply profound.
Now, looking at the starry, holy divine path that seemed not of the mortal world, he had no time to sigh before many questions arose.
Why had the Saintess brought him here? Why had she left such a remark to Divine General Hanqing earlier at the foot of the divine path? — The whole world knew that the armies of the Great Zhou Dynasty were under the command of thirty-eight divine generals, and most of these thirty-eight divine generals were loyal to Her Majesty the Saintess, except for… the top-ranked Divine General Hanqing.
Divine General Hanqing was the last surviving divine general from the era of Emperor Taizong, with even more seniority than Divine General Feidian. When he was commanding the snowy plains in his prime, Her Majesty the Saintess was still deep in the inner palace. There should have been no old friendship between them. It was said that he had sworn lifelong loyalty to His Majesty Emperor Taizong. The reason he had guarded the mausoleum without leaving for over six hundred years was also because Emperor Taizong had left a decree for him to do so. Yet, judging by the attitude of Her Majesty the Saintess when she spoke earlier, she seemed very certain that he would obey her orders. Why was that?
Divine General Hanqing had been infinitely close to the sacred domain for many years and was widely recognized as the strongest among those outside the Saint and the Wind and Rain. There was even a saying that if he had not been stuck guarding the Mausoleum of Books for over six hundred years, he might have long since broken through that threshold and entered the sacred domain! If he were a powerful pawn arranged by Her Majesty the Saintess at the Mausoleum of Books, her opponents would surely be greatly shocked.
Dark clouds gathered again, and the starlight vanished once more. The holy white divine path took on a more somber hue in the gloomy night, making it look chilling.
Just as Chen Changsheng was pondering these matters, the divine path beneath the Heavenly Sea Saintess’s feet turned into westward-flowing clear water, streaming into the distance, while she had already reached its uppermost point.
The uppermost point of the river was the highest place of the Mausoleum of Books, and also the highest place in the capital.
The Heavenly Sea Saintess released her grip and dropped him to the ground. With her hands behind her back, she walked to the edge of the divine path and gazed out at the world of the Mausoleum of Books.
This terrain was even higher than the Sweet Dew Terrace. As she looked out at the world, it was naturally a bird’s-eye view, the most natural form of looking down from above, because this was indeed her world.
Very few people could stand at the peak of the Mausoleum of Books. After the late emperor returned to the sea of stars, it should have been only Her Majesty the Saintess and His Holiness the Pope who had come.
Chen Changsheng was the third person to arrive here, but he could not feel honored, because he had been dragged up here, and he was in extreme pain at this moment, on the verge of death at any time.
Back then at the Mausoleum of Books, Chen Changsheng had witnessed with his own eyes Xun Mei sacrificing her life to reach the summit. Now, seeing how casually the Saintess had arrived here, he felt inexplicably downcast and sorrowful.
Despite his low spirits and sadness, he still looked around, wanting to clearly see and remember the scenery. It wasn’t that he still had a craving for and curiosity about the Great Way at this moment; he simply wanted to see this place on behalf of Senior Xun Mei. If the divine kingdom above the sea of stars truly allowed one to meet again with those who had passed away, he could tell her what it looked like here.
The peak of the Mausoleum of Books was quite ordinary, like the top of any random mountain, except for an extra stone platform.
But since this was the destination dreamed of by all cultivators, it couldn’t be as ordinary as it appeared.
Even though Chen Changsheng’s meridians were now severed and his sea of consciousness was still, unable to release his divine sense, he could still feel that between this stone platform and the surrounding unremarkable woods and rocks, there existed some extremely profound and incomprehensible principles and rules. Moreover, these rules, which should have been formless and ethereal, had some nearly tangible manifestation, though he could not see it now.
This mountain mausoleum was called the Mausoleum of Books because there were many Heavenly Book Stele scattered among the mountains. Would there also be a Heavenly Book Stele at the peak?
His gaze moved across the peak and finally settled on a dark object deep within the stone platform.
Tonight, there were many clouds and no stars. The remaining lights of the capital could not illuminate the high peak of the Mausoleum of Books. The scenery was dim and hard to make out; only from its shape could he tell it was a stele. Was this Heavenly Book Stele, like the final volume of the Origin of the Dao, inscribed with the most profound, incomprehensible, and ultimate Great Way?
Chen Changsheng thought this, but he couldn’t make out what was written or depicted on that stele.
“In the past thousand years, no more than five people have truly been able to read this stele.”
The Heavenly Sea Saintess stood at the edge of the divine path without turning around.
Chen Changsheng withdrew his gaze and looked at her back.
He was sitting on the ground, looking up at her. From this angle, she seemed to stand amidst the clouds, as if in the night sky, immensely towering.
“What are you waiting for? Kill me, and this will all be over,” Chen Changsheng said, looking at her.
“The problem is, I don’t want this to end so quickly.” The Heavenly Sea Saintess gazed at the world of the Mausoleum of Books, from the farthest sea to the night food stalls across the river outside the mausoleum, and said, “How many want you dead, how many want you alive—tonight, I can see them all clearly. I want to see.”
Chen Changsheng asked, “Why do you want to see this?”
The Heavenly Sea Saintess said, “Those who want to save you tonight are my enemies. Those who want you dead are not necessarily my people. If they appear tonight, even if they’re watching from thousands of miles away like rats in the shadows, they harbor ill intentions, and thus they are also my enemies.”
“Why do you need to know who your enemies are?”
“Usually, those fellows hide very well. Taking this opportunity, I’ll find them out and kill them all.”
“What if the whole world is your enemy?”
“Then kill half the world. The remaining half will naturally dare not be my enemy anymore.”
Chen Changsheng fell silent. Only now did he understand what she intended to do.
What a fearsome and terrifying woman she was.
Sitting on the cold ground, leaning against the steps, looking at the seemingly serene night world above the Mausoleum of Books, he wondered how many people would die tonight. It depended on how many would appear in the capital today, or, as she said, on how many, somewhere in the darkness, were secretly watching the capital.
The Heavenly Sea Saintess flicked her sleeve. A flash of clear light passed, and a luminous surface about several feet square appeared in the night sky before the divine path.
That luminous surface was neither too close nor too far, right before their eyes, allowing them to see very clearly.
The images in the night sky kept changing. Sometimes it was the imperial palace, sometimes the National Academy, sometimes the official road outside the capital, sometimes faint shadows barely visible in the darkness.
The images changed too quickly for Chen Changsheng to see clearly. He only knew that the people appearing in those images later would be those she intended to kill tonight.
Tonight was an ordinary night in early autumn.
But after tonight, this night would surely become the most important night of the Zhenguan era of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Those who had the qualifications or the courage to come to the capital tonight to save Chen Changsheng were certainly not ordinary people. Those hiding in the darkness, watching the capital’s situation, were also not ordinary people.
The dark clouds in the night sky grew thicker. The lights in the capital’s streets and alleys grew fewer. The world became darker, and the atmosphere grew more tense.
Faint disturbances could be seen in certain parts of the capital, then quickly subsided, ultimately returning to deathly silence.
Suddenly, a patch of brightness appeared in the night sky to the northwest of the capital. That brightness was not dazzling. The thick dark clouds there seemed to have been torn away, revealing the star-filled night sky behind. Behind the stars, there was a faint, even more crystalline radiance—could that be the moon that only the demons were said to be able to see?
On the official road there, the weeping willows on both sides swayed without wind, as if bowing to the middle of the road.
There was no army or convoy in the middle of the road, only two people.
A man in a bamboo hat pushed a wheelchair, seemingly slowly approaching the capital from the distant official road.
From the ruined Ten Thousand Willows Garden in Tianliang County to here, it had taken a long time. For the man in the wheelchair, he had been walking for over two hundred years.
Two hundred years ago, when the late emperor fell ill and ceased to hold court, and Tianhai officially took power, the man in the wheelchair had never come to the capital again, because he feared her.
Tonight, he finally came. Perhaps because he knew he had little time left in this world, other fears became much lighter in the face of death.
Two of the Eight Winds and Rains, Zhu Luo and the Stargazer, had arrived at the capital.
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Looking at the images in the night sky before the divine path, at Zhu Luo in the wheelchair, and at the famous sword at his waist, Chen Changsheng naturally recalled the rain battle in Xunyang City.
He remembered clearly that Su Li had once humiliated Zhu Luo, saying that because he feared Tianhai, he dared not take a single step into the capital.
Zhu Luo’s coming to the capital tonight might be with a resolve to die. Together with the Stargazer, also of the Eight Winds and Rains, though there were only two of them, their presence outweighed thousands of troops.
“The Stargazer’s temperament is too indifferent. He has no love or hate for the world; his mind is only among the stars. Loneliness is pitiful, and his path stops here. He’s not worth worrying about.”
The Heavenly Sea Saintess, with her hands behind her back, looked at the two people on the official road in the image and said, “Zhu Luo was scared out of his wits by Su Li, yet he still dares to come to the capital. There might be some variables, but he’s already crippled. Coming here is just sending himself to his death.”
Zhu Luo and the Stargazer were both peerless experts in the sacred domain, ranked among the Eight Winds and Rains, but in her assessment, they were like mere chickens and dogs.
The images in the night sky changed again, and the light falling on the divine path shifted accordingly. Chen Changsheng’s expression was lit up in an uncertain manner. His mood was the same, because the image had now turned to the waterway southeast of the capital.
That was the canal used to transport grain from Luoyang to the capital. The water surface was extremely wide, but according to court law, night navigation was strictly prohibited. Yet at this moment, an absurdly large ship was sailing on the canal. The ship cut through the water, stirring up waves. The canal water, which should have been clear, had turned somewhat deep blue due to the night, but it could not conceal the hint of crimson within the water.
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( Yesterday, I went to Beijing to attend the Tencent Pictures launch event. A rushed day, back and forth flights, truly exhausting. “The Legend of Chosen” is about to start filming. I mainly wanted to report this to everyone, just like Chen Changsheng looking at the scenery at the Mausoleum of Books, thinking to report to Xun Mei. Eh, that metaphor feels a bit off. Pretend I didn’t say it… )