Chapter 761: The Other Side of the Mountains
Somewhere within the snowy mountain range, the deep night was torn open by torches, creating a modest rift of light.
Tianhai Zhanyi stared at Zhu Ye, his expression exceedingly ugly, speaking with shame and fury: "Just like that, you're leaving?"
Zhu Ye looked at him expressionlessly and said, "That day at the Ten Thousand Willows Garden, who was it that said he was in Tiannan?"
Tianhai Zhanyi fell silent.
That day, he had relayed the words of the Prince of Xiang. That powerful and esteemed prince represented the thoughts of the Great Zhou Dynasty—the court had always believed Chen Changsheng was hiding in Tiannan, either at the Holy Maiden Peak or in the Locust Tree Courtyard. Who could have imagined he would appear among these snowy peaks, and moreover, be the master of the Cinnabar Pill...
Ning Shiwei looked at Zhu Ye, silently asking a question.
"Too many people."
Zhu Ye's reply was terse, carrying many unspoken implications.
They were already far from that garden, but still not far enough—at least not a thousand li away—so he spoke with great caution.
Ning Shiwei and Tianhai Zhanyi both understood.
Too many people, so they left. If there had been fewer people, would tonight have ended differently?
Tianhai Zhanyi gritted his teeth and said hatefully, "Those merchants of the Tang clan are truly treacherous."
In his thinking, since the Cinnabar Pill came from Chen Changsheng's hand, and the Wenshui Tang clan was responsible for distributing it, then the Tang clan naturally knew this secret, or at least possessed some evidence. Thus, Tang Seventeenth Master's earlier forbearance and retreat were clearly meant to lure them into a direct confrontation with Chen Changsheng.
Zhu Ye and Ning Shiwei thought the same.
If they hadn't been quick to read the situation, thick-skinned enough, and resolute in their retreat, what happened by the lake earlier might have truly become an unmanageable mess.
This had nothing to do with the balance of power. Chen Changsheng's cultivation talent was naturally extremely high, and that black-clad girl was likely the legendary one. Even so, they might not necessarily be a match for the combined force of these people. However, under the watchful eyes of so many, who could bear the charge of disrespecting the Pope?
But could they really just leave like this?
Zhu Ye suddenly said, "Tonight reminds me of that storm in Xunyang City many years ago."
This naturally referred to the old affair of the world uniting to kill Su Li.
The current situation was naturally different from back then, and Chen Changsheng's and Su Li's positions in this world were also different, but the two matters had similarities.
Whether Su Li or Chen Changsheng, as long as they revealed their traces in the world, many people would naturally want to kill them.
Even if they couldn't kill openly, they could kill in secret. If they couldn't kill in front of many people, they could kill privately in the shadows.
People understood Zhu Ye's meaning.
Leaving was a necessity, a stance that had to be shown, but in truth, for Chen Changsheng to leave these snowy peaks tonight would also be very difficult.
What they needed to do now was to spread news of Chen Changsheng's location as quickly as possible, while preparing ambushes in this dark, cold snowy mountain range.
At this moment, from ahead on the mountain path hidden in the night, a zither sound suddenly came.
The zither sound was calm, faint, like water turned to snow, snow frozen into ice, covering the road—cold, and dangerous.
...
...
The Tang clan did not know that the master of the Cinnabar Pill was Chen Changsheng. At least before tonight, they, like the court, believed Chen Changsheng was certainly hiding somewhere in Tiannan. It wasn't until they obtained a complete Cinnabar Pill for analysis and suspected the red crystal threads inside were blood coral that Tang Seventeenth Master first entertained this possibility.
It was just speculation, a possibility that couldn't be completely eliminated, but also couldn't be proven. So he didn't take it too seriously—at least not on the surface.
But in truth, because of this speculation, a thought was born in his heart.
Once that thought appeared, it could no longer be eliminated or suppressed. Like wildfire, it burned ever more fiercely, burning until his heart itched unbearably.
Would the Tang clan ultimately fall into the hands of the eldest branch or the second branch?
This first depended on the balance of power between the two sides, on the old master's attitude, but it was also closely related to the external support each branch could muster.
The second branch had gained the old master's trust deeply in recent years, its power constantly growing. Why? Because Tang Second Master had the support of the Dao Sovereign.
Who was the eldest branch's backer? Years ago, when the eldest master sent his only son Tang Tang to the Heavenly Dao Academy to be trained by Zhuang Zhihuan, one could see clearly that he was currying favor with the State Church. This was even more true now. Everyone knew the relationship between Tang Tang and Chen Changsheng. No matter how great the court's pressure, no one would be foolish enough to abandon their friendship with the Pope.
If the second branch wanted to surpass the eldest branch and take over the entire Tang clan, they first had to resolve this matter. As Tang Second Master's most trusted right hand, Tang Seventeenth Master had pondered this question countless times. So upon discovering this possibility, a thought naturally arose in him.
If that person really was Chen Changsheng... then... could they find a way to kill him?
No one dared to make a move against the Pope in broad daylight. Tianhai Zhanyi didn't dare, Ning Shiwei didn't dare, Zhu Ye didn't dare, not even Tang Second Master dared.
Tang Seventeenth Master naturally didn't dare either. But that night, looking at his own eyes in the bronze mirror, gradually sinking deeper from ambition and fear, he finally made up his mind.
If it wasn't Chen Changsheng, then he would compete. If it really was Chen Changsheng, then he would watch... watch Chen Changsheng die.
He didn't tell this thought to anyone, didn't even write to his second brother to ask for instructions. That way, afterward, he could pretend he knew nothing.
He truly hadn't done anything—he just hadn't hidden the discovery of the Cinnabar Pill master's whereabouts too perfectly, letting the news leak out.
And so, many people came tonight.
Although Zhu Ye and the others had left, he knew Chen Changsheng would find it very difficult to leave these snowy peaks.
Those people would hide in the night, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Most importantly, someone else would come tonight.
That statement wasn't entirely accurate, because what was coming wasn't exactly "someone."
No one dared to make a move against Chen Changsheng in broad daylight, but those weren't people—they were demons.
Before the snow lake's mist dispersed, no one knew that the current Pope, Chen Changsheng, would live so deep in these remote snowy peaks.
But the master of the Cinnabar Pill lived here.
Tang Seventeenth Master firmly believed that once the demons learned of this news, they would certainly send true experts.
The demons came here not to snatch the Cinnabar Pill or its formula, but to kill.
Tang Seventeenth Master looked toward the north in the night, as if seeing something, though in truth he saw nothing.
The sky there was perpetually shrouded in snow clouds that never dispersed, blocking the starlight, a darkness so deep that even the tall, perilous snowy peak was barely visible.
The northernmost snowy peak of the Cold Mountains was the natural barrier between the human world and the demon domain.
Here, it was bitterly cold, with bone-piercing gales. Even the innately hardy demons, only a few experts could cross.
At this moment, on the other side of those mountains, several black, mountain-like figures, seemingly slow yet cutting through the night at incredible speed, advanced southward.
...
...
(I love that song to death. In every novel, I specifically write two or three such scenes.)