Chapter 792: Naivety and Idiocy, Two Bowls of Soup
Before opening his eyes, before calming his spirit for five breaths, Chen Changsheng’s field of vision was filled with the night sky and those densely packed energy locks. The last image in his memory was of Nanke and himself falling toward the ground, the black-and-white snowy ridge surface growing closer and closer. Then came the dull impact and endless pain, followed by boundless darkness.
Awakening from the darkness, he did not know how much time had passed, only that he was still alive. While calming his spirit for five breaths, he also examined himself internally and discovered multiple fractures in his meridians. If an ordinary cultivator had discovered they were so severely injured, they would have been extremely panicked, perhaps even despairing, but he had considerable experience in this regard and remained calm, even accurately judging that the most serious injury still came from that counterattack by the Demon Lord.
He opened his eyes and saw a face full of beard. The beard on that face was extremely thick, looking like a patch of shrubbery that had not been trimmed for decades. If one did not look carefully, it would be difficult to find where the person’s eyes were. But once one saw this person’s eyes, it was hard to look away, because those eyes were very clear, with divine radiance concealed within yet harboring deep passion, like the morning sun behind clouds—though unwilling to easily reveal its true face, everyone knew it must be a moving sight.
Eyes are the windows of the soul, through which much can be glimpsed. Chen Changsheng had seen many pairs of eyes, such as the Teaching Elder’s vast, starry-sea eyes and Xu Yourong’s rain-washed mountain eyes, but he had to admit that this person’s eyes were exceptionally well-formed, far better than that full beard.
“Awake?” that person asked.
Chen Changsheng noticed the person’s clothing and saw it was a Great Zhou officer, which made him more at ease.
The young officer guessed that he could not speak yet and took the initiative to say, “This is Banya Horse Ranch. I am the officer in charge here, called…” He paused here, then continued, “Luobu.”
Chen Changsheng thought this name sounded somewhat strange for some reason.
“First, answer a few of my questions. One blink means yes, two blinks means no.”
That officer named Luobu looked into his eyes and asked, “Are you a Zhou person?”
Chen Changsheng blinked without any hesitation.
Luobu then asked, “A medicine merchant?”
Chen Changsheng hesitated for a moment, then blinked twice.
Luobu laughed, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, looking especially sunny, and at the same time revealing his true age. Such a young man, growing such a full beard—Chen Changsheng could not help but wonder why.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t dare to admit it. Anyway, you can’t be a spy. Rest well. Though I don’t know if you’ll fully recover, you probably won’t die. Also, that little girl—I don’t know if she was always like that or if she got hurt from the fall—don’t worry.”
Having said this, Luobu walked out of the room.
Nanke, holding a bowl full of meat with both hands, walked from the corner of the room to the bedside. She tilted her head slightly, looking at Chen Changsheng’s face. Her dazed eyes were full of confusion, as if she had never seen him before. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she handed the bowl of meat in front of his face, signaling him to eat.
Chen Changsheng did not know what had happened and shook his head with difficulty.
“Eat meat to have strength,” Nanke said, staring into his eyes.
Chen Changsheng thought, what does one need strength for?
Nanke seemed to understand the meaning in his eyes. She placed the bowl by the pillow, pointed at the center of her own brow, and very seriously said two words.
“Cure illness.”
Seeing this, Chen Changsheng finally understood.
During the final battle on the snowy ridge, in order to break through the Demon Lord and Black Robe’s arrangements, she had forced her soul to fully awaken for the second time, but ultimately could not pass that threshold. Her sea of consciousness had suffered extremely severe damage. In the simplest terms: she was now truly mentally impaired.
Now she remembered nothing, including who Chen Changsheng was, yet she still remembered that Chen Changsheng had promised to cure her illness.
Chen Changsheng looked into her eyes and was silent for a long time. Of course, he could not speak now anyway. He could say to himself in his heart, say to others.
—Since I promised you, I will definitely cure you, though I have little confidence.
Now Nanke did not know what illness she had, only remembered this matter. But she understood his eyes again, felt very happy, and smiled foolishly, utterly innocent and adorable.
In the Zhou Garden and on the snowy ridge, Chen Changsheng did not recall ever seeing Nanke smile. In his and the world’s perception, she was always so cold-blooded, ruthless, cruel, and bloodthirsty—how could she be connected to this smiling, gentle little girl before him?
Chen Changsheng then noticed she was wearing a cotton-padded jacket, her hair tied in two buns, very casually done—he did not know whose handiwork it was. He suddenly realized this was a Great Zhou military camp. If someone discovered her true identity, it would likely cause great trouble. She was a member of the imperial clan, her demon horns hidden, but where had her wings gone?
A piece of stewed meat was brought to his lips, interrupting his thoughts. The meat had little salt, was somewhat bland, but stewed very tenderly. Most importantly, the one feeding him meat was the Demon race’s little princess.
Naturally, Chen Changsheng thought of the Dragon race’s little princess Zhizhi and Su Li, who had married a Demon race little princess years ago.
Where was Little Black Dragon now?
As the guardian appointed by the Pope, she had established some kind of connection with Chen Changsheng. Chen Changsheng could find a way to notify her to come. But he would not do so.
A year and a half ago, he had been struck by the Sea Flute on the battlefield and had only escaped thanks to Little Black Dragon. Unexpectedly, during the subsequent journey back to the mountain, he had been continuously pursued by several court experts. He had not later asked the Li Palace to investigate this matter, but he could not help feeling somewhat disheartened.
With Su Li’s ability and spirit, even he had to endure and hide when he returned from the snowy plains back then—how much more so for him?
Having experienced these things, he realized how naive he had been when he had called out Su Li’s name in the spring light of Xunyang City.
Now, without the ability to protect himself, he absolutely would not actively contact Zhizhi, let alone let her come and expose his whereabouts.
He was no longer as naive as he had been back then.
Nanke began to feed him meat soup. It was neither cold nor hot, just the right temperature.
The stone bead was still on his wrist; everything else had been sent into the Zhou Garden. His stomach was slightly warm. Logically, he should be able to rest peacefully now, but he felt something was wrong, or rather, that he seemed to have forgotten something.
That officer named Luobu—had he really not noticed anything? How could he so easily believe in himself and Nanke? This horse ranch called Banya was clearly very remote, but for someone so young to become the officer in charge, how could he be such a naive person?
The cloth curtain at the door was lifted, a cold wind rushed in, and Luobu also walked in, holding a bowl of pitch-black medicinal soup.