Chapter 133: The Monk by the Stream, the Taoist in the Rain
The Second Master of the Tang family remained silent.
The Great Supplicant said, "Xue Xingchuan will surely remain in the palace tonight to oversee the Imperial Map. This man's blood energy is extremely vigorous, and he is at his peak. Even if I fought him, I would have little chance of victory. Moreover, Her Holiness the Empress will most likely entrust the Frost Remnant Divine Spear to him. If that is true, then he will possess the ability to approach the Divine Domain."
The implication of these words was clear: if Xue Xingchuan wielded the Frost Remnant Divine Spear, only a powerhouse of the Divine Domain could defeat him. With the Tang family's thousand-year foundation on the continent, they might indeed be able to invite a Divine Domain expert to act, but the Heavenly Intent Killing Formation within the palace was specifically designed to target such experts.
It seemed an unbreakable situation. Only if the Great Supplicant risked an attack could there be a sliver of hope for a breakthrough.
The Second Master of the Tang family continued to remain silent.
The Great Supplicant said, "That Supplicant of the Qiu Shan family is weaker than I am. The Prince of Xiang is an old fox and will never arrive in the capital before the outcome is decided. The Prince of Zhongshan is a madman. Aside from me, there is no one else."
"No." The Second Master of the Tang family shook his head and said, "Our Tang family will only ever provide information, judgments, and money. Until the very last moment, we will not send a single person."
"Then who will break the Heavenly Intent Killing Formation? If we cannot enter the palace, even if the Old Master himself came to the capital, there would be no way to obtain the Imperial Map."
"That person told the Old Master that he would handle this matter."
"This is of great importance. Such a thing cannot be trusted to someone else. It has nothing to do with trust, only with ability."
The Second Master of the Tang family said, "That person is someone even I find terrifying. So if he says he can do it, then he definitely can."
He did not explicitly name that person.
Tang Thirty-Six naturally could not know for sure, but for some reason, he was absolutely certain that it was Chen Changsheng's teacher, the former Dean of the National Academy, Shang Xingzhou.
"Since everyone's goal tonight is to invite Her Holiness the Empress to return to the Starry Sea, why not save Chen Changsheng while we're at it?"
He tried to keep his voice calm and indifferent, not appearing too concerned.
But this could not escape the eyes of the Second Master of the Tang family. He looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said, "These are two unrelated matters."
Tang Thirty-Six said, "If it is the will of the Heavenly Dao that Chen Changsheng lives, it will more or less affect Her Holiness the Empress's state of mind."
The Second Master of the Tang family smiled silently, then said calmly, "First of all, we are not acting on behalf of Heaven's justice; we are merely doing our best as mortals. Secondly, our surname is Tang, not Chen. We are not those loyal ministers and righteous warriors following the seventeen rebel princes back to the capital. Whether Chen Changsheng lives or dies is none of our concern, because we must ensure our own survival."
Tang Thirty-Six said, "Then, Second Uncle, have you considered what happens if you fail?"
The Second Master of the Tang family smiled and said, "If that person cannot break the Heavenly Intent Killing Formation and get us into the palace, then we will naturally have no choice but to return to Wenshui."
Tang Thirty-Six said calmly, "Are you so sure that our Tang family will not be affected at all?"
"Of course, because no one will have seen us in the capital."
The Second Master of the Tang family said calmly, "Don't forget what I said earlier: our Tang family never does business that might result in a loss."
Tang Thirty-Six said, "But you also mentioned Wang Po's name earlier."
The Second Master of the Tang family did not get angry. He sighed and said, "Indeed, besides Wang Po, there is also Su Li. These are the two most unprofitable deals the Old Master has ever made in his life. If both of them were in the capital tonight, with Su Li trapping Her Holiness at the Mausoleum of Books and Wang Po calculating the formation's changes to find its weakness, then charging straight into the palace to fight Xue Xingchuan, why would we need to show ourselves? But what happened? One insisted on being a stubborn and aloof scholar, reeking of pedantry, while the other insisted on being a wandering rogue but couldn't let go of his beautiful wife and children. Truly a pity."
"Let's not bring up how you forced Wang Po out of Wenshui back then."
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him with a smile and said, "At the time when the Tang family needed them most, they happened to be absent. Perhaps it's precisely because they saw through it: our Tang family—no, your Tang family—only knows how to calculate numbers and talk about money. It disgusts them, let alone earns their respect."
His smile was innocent, pure, and dazzling.
The Second Master of the Tang family stared at him quietly, then suddenly raised his right hand and slapped him across the face.
With a sharp crack, Tang Thirty-Six slammed heavily into the wall. The left side of his face swelled up high, and a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth, making him look utterly disheveled.
But he was still smiling, still laughing with such delight, making it all the more glaring.
"I told you, I don't want to play these childish games with you." The Second Master of the Tang family looked at him very seriously.
Tang Thirty-Six staggered to his feet, took a handkerchief from his sleeve, and carefully wiped the blood from his lips. "No," he said, "it's because you know I'm right."
The Second Master of the Tang family smiled at him and said, "Do you really think your Second Uncle doesn't dare to kill you?"
Tang Thirty-Six smiled back at him and said, "Back at the National Academy, in front of so many people, I already said that you, Second Uncle, have always wanted me dead. Why would I think you don't dare to kill me?"
Before the Second Master could speak, he continued with a laugh, "I'm sure the Old Master already knows about our conversation at the National Academy by now. I'm sure Grandfather Supplicant will also relay our conversation back to Wenshui. When I go home, I'll personally tell the Old Master about this myself. So, Second Uncle, if you don't kill me today, it might actually cause you some trouble."
The Second Master of the Tang family smiled at him and said, "You should know the Old Master's eyesight and temper better than I do."
Tang Thirty-Six chuckled and said, "Well, the old man's eyesight may be good, but it's getting dim. His temper may be fierce, but he dotes on his only grandson. Even if you, Second Uncle, had a son and raised him to my age with such a sweet tongue, it would take at least a few years. I reckon it's too late. So, Second Uncle, if you want to continue your life of debauchery, or keep up the pretense of playing the wastrel while everyone knows the truth, you might really need to kill me before I return to Wenshui. Otherwise, this game where you hide things from me and I pretend to hide things from you just can't go on."
As they spoke, both were smiling faintly. Their similarly handsome faces faced each other, but the scene was far from harmonious—it was chilling.
What a pair of uncle and nephew this was.
The Second Master of the Tang family's smile finally faded. He looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said, "Are you forcing me to fight for the family inheritance?"
Tang Thirty-Six laughed and said, "Our Tang family... no, your Tang family doesn't love using profit to manipulate people's hearts? I want to try it too."
Hearing this, the Second Master of the Tang family smiled silently again, his mouth open, looking somewhat frightening.
"Stop smiling like that, Second Uncle." Tang Thirty-Six suddenly dropped his smile and looked at him seriously. "It looks stupid. It really makes you look like a damn fool."
...
...
Because it was closer to the night sky, on nights with stars, the summit of the Mausoleum of Books should have been brighter than the ground. But tonight, with many clouds and no stars, the darkness here was deeper than anywhere else in the capital. The scene formed by the clear light in front of the divine path was thus rendered even clearer, allowing even the finest details to be seen.
Earlier, Chen Changsheng had seen the National Academy up there, and he had seen that middle-aged man who looked very much like Tang Thirty-Six. He didn't know who that man was, but he could roughly guess. However, at this moment, he could never have imagined what was happening between that uncle and nephew, nor did he know what the people of the Tang family from Wenshui had come to the capital to do.
Tianhai Sheng Hou probably knew a lot, but she didn't care.
She had anticipated that the Tang family would send someone, and they should send someone. How could that old man, whom she had suppressed with her supreme authority by the banks of the Wenshui River for over two hundred years, miss tonight's opportunity?
It seemed that everyone who should come had already arrived.
"Someone who shouldn't have come has also come."
Tianhai Sheng Hou's gaze left the scene in the night and looked into the distance.
The "distance" she referred to was an extremely faraway place.
Earlier, whether it was Zhu Luo and the Stargazer, Infinite Blue and Unparalleled Red, or the appearance of the seventeen rebel princes and the four great clans, none of them had caused any change in her expression.
But now, as she looked toward that distant place, her demeanor finally grew several shades more serious.
The capital was at the center of the continent. The farthest places from here were either the Great Western Continent, the islands in the Southern Sea, or the endless snowy plains north of Snow Old City.
Or perhaps it was that Cloud Grave.
Within the Cloud Grave stood a solitary peak. Three hundred li outside that peak was a sparsely populated town called Xining Town.
Outside the town was an old temple, and behind the temple was a small stream. It was said that this stream flowed from the solitary peak within the Cloud Grave.
At some unknown time, a monk had appeared by the stream.
The monk wore a black robe, covered in dust and cracks, yet it possessed an ethereal, otherworldly quality.
The monk had a handsome, clear countenance, his age indeterminate—perhaps middle-aged. A few faint wrinkles lined the corners of his eyes, and his gaze was serene and profound, filled with infinite compassion and love, as if he could see to the farthest reaches and perceive everything.
The monk dipped his feet into the cool stream water and let out a sigh.
The emotion in that sigh was extraordinarily complex.
These feet of his had walked hundreds of thousands of li; they were too tired.
He and his people had left this continent nearly a thousand years ago; it had been too long.
A faint smile appeared on the monk's face. Above the stream, rain suddenly began to fall from the sky.
The Cloud Grave was the resting place of all clouds and the source of all water. This place was very close to the Cloud Grave, and this rain was the freshest rain.
Thousands of li away, in the capital, it also began to rain. Threads of rain, like smoke, pierced through the night, scattering between the streets, alleys, and hills.
On an ordinary straight street in the southern city, the falling raindrops slightly distorted, light refracting and reflecting within them.
A Taoist emerged from the rainy night, appearing out of thin air.
He stood on the rainy night street, yet gave the impression that he was not there.
He was somewhere, anywhere in the world, his true position constantly shifting, utterly impossible to pin down.
The fine rain fell silently. On both sides of the ordinary street, the people of the world were fast asleep. Not a single one awoke.
Only he was awake.
The Taoist looked toward the hill further south, his expression calm.
At the summit of that hill, Tianhai Sheng Hou was quietly watching him through the night.
Chen Changsheng was also watching that Taoist.
He silently called out "Master," but did not speak aloud.
Because that Taoist was not looking at him; he was only looking at Tianhai Sheng Hou.
He remembered that during the more than ten years he had lived in the old temple in Xining Town, his master had often only looked at his senior brother, never at him. It was as if, in his master's eyes, he had never existed.
"Your Holiness, abdicate the throne." That Taoist spoke toward the Mausoleum of Books.