# Chapter 646: Words Like Blood
The Imperial Carriage Diagram stirred, the army was about to return, and in an instant, the situation changed a thousand times. The capital once again fell under the control of Her Holiness the Saintess.
She stood atop the Heaven Book Mausoleum, looking at a certain place in the capital and said, "What are you doing here?"
After the Autumn Mountain Family Head and that honored guardian entered the capital, they had always behaved very quietly and low-key, making it easy for people to forget their existence.
But since Heavenly Sea Saintess had spoken now, they could hardly continue pretending they didn't exist.
"This entire matter has nothing to do with my Autumn Mountain Family."
The Autumn Mountain Family Head looked toward the top of Heaven Book Mausoleum, his demeanor exceptionally humble as he said, "For Your Holiness's information, we came to the capital to admire the maple leaves."
No one believed this explanation. It was particularly clumsy, even foolish.
But that didn't matter, because what Heavenly Sea Saintess needed was merely an explanation, an attitude.
The Autumn Mountain Family Head's attitude was very proper. The more foolish his reason, the more it demonstrated the correctness of his attitude.
Heavenly Sea Saintess was somewhat satisfied. She looked toward two other locations in the capital and asked, "And you? Also here to admire maple leaves?"
A carriage was parked beneath the Former Qing Gate. The Old Madam of the Mutuo Family, holding her dragon-headed staff, stood beside the carriage.
This Old Madam 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 woman simply hasn't been to the capital for a long time, so I came north to have a look, and to take care of some matters on the way. For Your Holiness's information, my 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 Heaven Book Mausoleum: "Your Holiness, please don't misunderstand. I came to see my son-in-law."
These were equally clumsy and foolish explanations, but different from the Autumn Mountain Family Head's, because these two reasons mentioned people.
The Old Madam of the Mutuo Family and the Wu Family Head left the capital in the night.
Heavenly Sea Saintess said nothing. No one knew what she was thinking—whether she felt these two families' attitudes were insufficiently proper, 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 truly declared 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 Daoist had spent twenty years laying out in the darkness, 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 Daoist, and the Old Madam of the Mutuo Family and the Wu Family Head who had never dared to step foot in the capital, no one could leave.
Not even the four Divine Domain experts before Heaven Book Mausoleum.
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 just then, a voice rang out in the capital.
That voice was very soft, like a murmured soliloquy, then gradually rose, becoming a kind of sharply edged interrogation, mixed with some laughter, heavy with mockery. Yet gradually you would feel it was self-mockery, containing infinite emotion and reverence for 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 Daoist.
He stood before a remote street market in the capital, his feet stepping in somewhat dirty sewage. Behind him was a mutton shop that gave off a bloody smell.
Butcher shops were often the first places in a city to wake up. At this time, the night was already very deep. Before dawn arrived, the first lights to come on were in the shop.
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 intent not far away, nor did they know someone was standing outside the shop.
The Calculation Daoist looked toward Heaven Book Mausoleum and said with emotion, "I always thought tonight was a scheme I arranged for you. Now I know it wasn't."
Atop Heaven Book Mausoleum, Chen Changsheng looked at the scene in the night, at his master on that scene. His emotions were still as bewildered as before, but now mixed with some indescribable meaning.
Perhaps it was because Heavenly Sea Saintess stood before him, and she had just changed his fate?
"But... this isn't your scheme either."
"I am a piece in the scheme, and you are also a piece in the scheme. This is still a scheme."
"This isn't a scheme I arranged, nor a scheme you arranged. This is a scheme that the Heavenly Dao arranged for you and me."
"A Heavenly Dao scheme."
Chen Changsheng didn't understand what these words meant.
Heavenly Sea Saintess said calmly, "You're still the same as you were hundreds of years ago. You always like to say these seemingly profound and hard-to-understand words. A charlatan is ultimately a charlatan. You want to use these words to shake my resolve? What Heavenly Dao scheme? 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 heartless woman like you could still have a moment of softness. Even less did I expect that you had already entered the Divine Concealment realm."
The Calculation Daoist's voice mixed with the sound of meat being cut in the butcher shop. It wasn't muddled; instead, it was exceptionally clear, echoing atop Heaven Book Mausoleum.
Other than this, no other sound could be heard throughout the entire capital.
The Li Palace was completely silent. Below Heaven Book Mausoleum, there was not a sound.
Her Holiness the Saintess had entered the Divine Concealment realm?
Many people had speculated about this, but tonight it was finally confirmed. This news would still shake the entire continent.
"You are indeed very strong. Even if you had eaten Chen Changsheng, that fruit, even if the starry sky truly descended divine punishment, it might not be able to harm your foundation."
The Calculation Daoist's voice echoed in the night.
A slightly cold wind blew atop Heaven Book Mausoleum, lifting Heavenly Sea Saintess's black hair.
She stood here quietly, standing 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, or the Boundless Green and Star Gazing Guest below Heaven Book Mausoleum, or that monk by the stream tens of thousands of miles away—all vaguely formed the same thought: even if the Heavenly Dao changed, even if fate was in chaos, even if lightning fell upon her, she could remain completely unconcerned.
"What can harm your foundation, what can make you weak, is only yourself."
Accompanied by the sound of meat being cut in the butcher shop, the Calculation Daoist's voice became tough 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 convincing 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?"
Heavenly Sea Saintess said, "When have I ever cared about what others think, even this starry sky?"
The Calculation Daoist's voice was full of emotion: "So... you chose to save him."
Heavenly Sea Saintess said, "So what if I saved him?"
"You are perfect and powerful. 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."
The Calculation Daoist's voice became cold and tough: "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 frantically amidst their shock.
Was what the Calculation Daoist said true? Had Heavenly Sea Saintess really paid such a great price to bring Chen Changsheng back from the edge of the abyss of death?
Chen Changsheng looked at Heavenly Sea Saintess's back, at her hands clasped behind her. His mood was somewhat strange, his thoughts somewhat dazed.
The cool night wind threaded through the streets and alleys, carrying away the remaining warmth and the faint smell of blood.
After a moment of silence, Heavenly Sea Saintess's voice rang out, very cold, very condescending, carrying a faint trace of mockery.
"The things I want to do, you mortals can never understand."
She looked at the night-shrouded world and said, "My will is something 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 Daoist's words—that to reconnect Chen Changsheng's meridians and defy heaven to change his 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 Daoist stood on the rainy street, looking calmly toward Heaven Book Mausoleum: "You want to use this act to resist the blood oath you swore when you sacrificed to the starry sky back then, to erase the shadow that the words 'defying heaven to change fate' left on your soul. Only then can you have the chance to obtain true freedom."
These few brief exchanges weren't something everyone could understand.
Only Divine Domain experts like Zhu Luo, or experts who had already seen that threshold, could grasp the true meaning.
Heavenly Sea Saintess was the strongest person on the continent, possessing unimaginably powerful will.
Her only weakness, or the gap in her soul, lay in the oath she swore when she sacrificed to the starry sky to defy heaven and change 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 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 Chen Changsheng to live.
If she could accomplish this, then she would be complete, without any weakness.
In this state, even if she fell from the Divine Concealment realm to the Saint realm, she would still be invincible!
Heavenly Sea Saintess said, "You think too much, and you talk too much. This makes things very boring."
The Calculation Daoist 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 it seemed exceptionally cold.
In the deepest room of the shop by the street, the thick oil knife fell heavily onto the chopping board. The mutton was being cut open continuously, blood splattering everywhere.
...
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(On October 7th, the simplified Chinese book signing for Ze Tian Ji will be at Shanghai Book City. Online registration is required, and the address is on Qidian's homepage. Some friends asked me if I would be at the scene... Dear, this is a book signing. If I'm not there, how would it work... That's all for today. There will be two chapters tomorrow, and then I'll start saving manuscripts for my trip.)