Chapter 141: Words Like Blood
The Imperial Carriage Diagram stirred, the army was about to return. In an instant, the situation changed a thousand times, and the capital once again fell under the control of Her Holiness the Saintess.
She stood atop the Tian Shu Ling, gazing at a certain place in the capital and said, "What are you doing here?"
The Autumn Mountain Clan Head and that honored guardian had been very quiet and low-key ever since entering the capital, making it easy for people to forget their existence.
But since Tianhai Saintess had spoken now, they couldn't very well continue pretending they weren't there.
"This entire matter has nothing to do with my Autumn Mountain Clan."
The Autumn Mountain Clan Head looked up at the top of Tian Shu Ling, his demeanor exceptionally humble as he said, "Let Your Holiness know, we came to the capital to enjoy the maple leaves."
No one believed this explanation. It was particularly clumsy, even foolish.
But that didn't matter, because what Tianhai Saintess needed was merely an explanation, an attitude.
The Autumn Mountain Clan Head's attitude was very proper. The more foolish his reason, the more it showed his attitude was correct.
Tianhai Saintess was somewhat satisfied. She looked toward two other locations in the capital and asked, "And you two? Also here to enjoy the maple leaves?"
A carriage was parked beneath the Former Qing Gate. The old matriarch of the Mu Tuo family, holding a dragon-headed staff, stood beside it.
This old matriarch had bound feet, yet standing on the rain-soaked street, she was as steady as a nail driven in, without the slightest tremor. But her voice trembled slightly.
"This old body has simply not been to the capital for a long time, so I came north to have a look, and also to take care of some matters. Let Your Holiness know, my great-grandson's wife is about to give birth."
The Desheng Gate was tightly shut. The Wu Family Head stood before the gate, earnestly explaining toward the direction of Tian Shu Ling: "Your Holiness, don't misunderstand. I came to see my son-in-law."
These were also clumsy and foolish explanations, but different from the Autumn Mountain Clan Head's, because these two reasons mentioned people.
The old matriarch of the Mu Tuo family and the Wu Family Head left the capital in the night.
Tianhai Saintess said nothing. No one knew what she was thinking—whether she felt these two families' attitudes were insufficient, or whether she was thinking about the only one of the four great families that hadn't appeared, the Tang family?
But none of this mattered anymore. Even if the four great families had shown their stance, it couldn't change the current situation.
She hadn't killed Chen Changsheng, nor had she eaten Chen Changsheng. No matter how unfathomable the scheme that Taoist had laid over twenty years in the darkness might be, it could no longer affect her.
The Imperial Carriage Diagram had already been activated. A grim aura enveloped the entire capital city. Except for the Calculation Taoist, and the Mu Tuo family's old matriarch and the Wu Family Head who had never dared to set foot in the capital, no one could leave.
Not even the four Divine Domain experts before Tian Shu Ling.
Her Great Zhou iron cavalry was advancing toward the capital.
There were still many ministers and generals in the capital loyal to her.
The overall situation was settled. Now it seemed they only needed to wait for her command.
But at that moment, a voice rang out in the capital.
That voice was very soft, like a murmured soliloquy. Then it gradually rose, becoming a sharply edged interrogation, mixed with some laughter, heavy with mockery. Yet gradually you would feel it was self-mockery, containing infinite emotion and awe toward certain things, until finally everything returned to silence.
Such a complex voice and emotional thread was actually just a very brief sentence.
"Do you really think you've won?"
The speaker was the Calculation Taoist.
He stood before a secluded market street in the capital, his feet stepping in somewhat dirty sewage. Behind him was a mutton shop emitting a bloody smell.
Butcher shops were often the first places in a city to wake up. The night was already very deep now, and before dawn arrived, the first lights to come on were in the shops.
Chop, chop, chop, chop. The clear sound of cutting meat came from the shop.
The people in the butcher shop didn't know about the grim Imperial Carriage Diagram array not far away, nor did they know someone was standing outside the shop.
The Calculation Taoist looked toward the direction of Tian Shu Ling and said with emotion, "I always thought tonight was a scheme I arranged for you. Now I know it wasn't."
Atop Tian Shu Ling, Chen Changsheng looked at the image in the night, at his master on that image. His emotions were still as confused as before, but now mixed with some indescribable meaning.
Or was it because Tianhai Saintess stood before him, and she had just changed his fate?
"But... this isn't your scheme either."
"I am a piece in the game, and you are also a piece in the game. This is still a scheme."
"This is not a scheme I arranged, nor a scheme you arranged. This is a scheme that the Heavenly Dao arranged for you and me."
"A scheme of the Heavenly Dao."
Chen Changsheng didn't understand what these words meant.
Tianhai Saintess said calmly, "You're still the same as hundreds of years ago. You always like to say these seemingly profound and incomprehensible words. A charlatan is still a charlatan. You want to use these words to shake my resolve? What scheme of the Heavenly Dao? It's just a bit of your petty scheming."
"Correct. This is my scheme. It should have been perfect. No matter whether you chose to kill him or eat him, I had prepared corresponding measures. But I didn't expect you would choose to save him. Because I didn't expect that a cold and ruthless woman like you could also have a moment of soft-heartedness. Even more unexpected was that you had already entered the Divine Concealment realm."
The Calculation Taoist's voice mixed with the sound of cutting meat from the butcher shop. It wasn't muddled, but instead exceptionally clear, echoing atop Tian Shu Ling.
Other than this, no other sound could be heard in the entire capital.
The Li Palace was completely silent. Below Tian Shu Ling was dead quiet.
Her Holiness the Saintess had already entered the Divine Concealment realm?
Many people had guessed this before, but tonight it was finally confirmed. This news would still shake the entire continent.
"You are indeed very strong. Even if you ate Chen Changsheng, this fruit, even if the starry sky truly descended divine punishment, it might not be able to harm your foundation."
The Calculation Taoist's voice echoed in the night.
A slightly cold wind blew atop Tian Shu Ling, lifting Tianhai Saintess's black hair.
She stood there quietly, at the highest point in the world, like a demon god, giving people a feeling of invincibility.
Whether it was Chen Changsheng close at hand, the countless Guanxing guests below Tian Shu Ling, or that monk by the stream tens of thousands of li away, they all vaguely felt that even if the Heavenly Dao changed, even if fate was in chaos, even if lightning struck her body, she wouldn't care at all.
"What can harm your foundation, what can make you weak, is only yourself."
Accompanied by the sound of cutting meat from the butcher shop, the Calculation Taoist's voice became hard and cold.
"In your view, your will is more important than the Heavenly Dao, and also stronger. When the Heavenly Dao wanted you to kill him, you insisted on letting him live. I must admit, your confidence is still as admirable as ever. But have you ever thought, when you try to place your will above the Heavenly Dao, what answer will the Heavenly Dao give?"
Tianhai Saintess said, "When have I ever cared about others' thoughts, even this starry sky?"
The Calculation Taoist's voice was full of emotion: "So... you chose to save him."
Tianhai Saintess said, "What if I saved him?"
"You are perfect and strong. We originally had no chance of victory. But tonight, you chose to change his fate for him. I believe you paid a great price for this as well."
The Calculation Taoist's voice became cold and hard: "For example, your realm has now fallen. You are no longer invincible. And this... is the Heavenly Dao's answer to you."
Hearing these words, countless people hidden in the capital's night began to think, shocked.
Was what the Calculation Taoist said true? Had Tianhai Saintess really paid such a great price to bring Chen Changsheng back from the edge of the abyss of death?
Chen Changsheng looked at Tianhai Saintess's back, at her hands clasped behind her. His mood was strange, his thoughts hazy.
The cool night wind threaded through the streets and alleys, carrying away the remaining warmth and faint smell of blood.
After a moment of silence, Tianhai Saintess's voice rang out, very cold, very condescending, with a hint of faint mockery.
"What I want to do, you mortals can never understand."
She looked at the world shrouded in night and said, "My will, even the so-called Heavenly Dao cannot control."
These words weren't domineering, but they faintly revealed absolute confidence.
She didn't deny the Calculation Taoist's words—that to reconnect Chen Changsheng's meridians and defy fate, even she, who had long entered the Divine Concealment realm, had paid a great price.
So where did her current confidence come from?
"Yes, I was wrong just now. Your Holiness, you didn't hesitate to lower your own realm to save him. It naturally couldn't be for such a ridiculous reason as a mother's love for her child."
The Calculation Taoist stood on the rainy street, looking calmly at the top of Tian Shu Ling and said, "You want to use this act to resist the blood oath you made when you sacrificed to the starry sky back then, to erase the shadow that the four words 'defying fate' left on your soul. Only then can you have the chance to obtain true freedom."
Not everyone could understand these few brief exchanges.
Only Divine Domain experts like Zhu Luo, or those who had already seen that threshold, could grasp the true meaning.
Tianhai Saintess was the strongest person on the continent today, possessing unimaginably powerful will.
Her only weakness, or the gap in her soul, lay in the oath she made when she sacrificed to the starry sky to defy fate back then.
This didn't refer to the oath itself, but to the act itself. As she had said to Chen Changsheng earlier, back then, she had once bowed her head to the Heavenly Dao.
Now what she wanted to do was erase that old matter, that layer of dust that had settled on her soul.
She wanted to let Chen Changsheng live.
If she could accomplish this, then she would be complete, with no weaknesses left.
In this state, even if she fell from the Divine Concealment realm to the Saint realm, she would still be invincible!
Tianhai Saintess said, "You think too much and talk too much. This makes things very boring."
The Calculation Taoist said, "Is that so? Then what if I said that Chen Changsheng is actually not Your Holiness's son? Would that be more interesting?"
His voice was very calm, without any emotion, and thus seemed exceptionally cold.
In the deepest room of the shop by the street, the heavy oil knife fell heavily onto the chopping board. Mutton was being cut open continuously, blood splattering everywhere.
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(October 7th, the simplified Chinese book signing for Ze Tian Ji is at Shanghai Book City. Online registration is required, the address is on Qidian's homepage. Some friends asked me if I would be there in person... Dear readers, this is a book signing. If I'm not there, how could it work? No more chapters today. Tomorrow there will be two chapters, and then I'll start saving manuscripts for my trip.)