Chapter 808: Autumn City Where Spring Breeze Is Hard to Find
A mouthful of strong liquor went down his throat, yet Luobu’s expression remained calm and indifferent.
Watching his figure, Chen Changsheng felt a trace of reluctance.
“Well… we’ll be going now?” he said to Luobu.
Luobu lifted his small wine flask and shook it, indicating he understood, but said nothing.
Chen Changsheng was somewhat displeased, thinking to himself: even if he wanted to maintain his composure and didn’t wish to speak, shouldn’t he at least let me have a drink before parting?
In truth, he had found things a bit strange these past few days. Ever since that night of drunken conversation by the mountain stream, Luobu’s attitude toward him had undergone some very subtle changes.
Clearly, he was no longer willing to talk much with Chen Changsheng, let alone be close, yet there was no hostility either. It was more like he deliberately wanted to keep his distance, to act like a stranger.
But it wasn’t entirely like a stranger, because whether Chen Changsheng was taking medicine or feeding the horses on the meadow, he could always sense Luobu watching him from afar.
That kind of watching felt more like observing.
Why was that?
Chen Changsheng shook his head, deciding not to dwell on these matters any longer. He simply classified Luobu as an eccentric, then led Nanke toward the mountain path ahead.
From beginning to end, until their figures vanished into the cold pine forest on the mountain, Luobu never looked back.
He silently drank his liquor facing the town of Songshan below. If anything, it was less about seeing Chen Changsheng off and more about bidding farewell to himself.
When the strong liquor in his flask was finally drained, Luobu stood up and headed down the mountain.
He didn’t go directly to report at the Songshan Military Prefecture. Instead, he picked an inconspicuous tavern and walked in.
He asked the shopkeeper to refill his empty flask, then sat down at a table behind the window, ordered a dish of fried soybeans, and gazed outside.
Three fingers dipped into the dish. Without looking, each time he precisely picked up two fried soybeans and sent them into his mouth, chewing slowly.
Time reached noon. Sunlight pierced through the thick clouds, spilling onto the streets of Songshan Town, illuminating people’s faces very clearly.
The newly appointed Divine General of Songshan Military Prefecture, Chen Chou, escorted by his subordinates, exited the prefecture’s main gate, mounted his horse, and began his first patrol.
Seeing his old acquaintance’s noticeably more upright figure, Luobu smiled, raised his wine cup in a toast, and silently wished him not to die too soon.
When dusk arrived, the sunlight grew much dimmer. The glow of the setting sun licked at the buildings on the street and stirred people’s hearts like flames.
He had eaten three dishes of fried soybeans and drunk four flasks of wine. Luobu’s eyes grew increasingly narrow, but not because he was drunk—rather, because he had seen the people he wanted to see.
Of course, the reason he wanted to see those people was that he didn’t want to see them.
Those people came from his own clan, and some from the Tang family of Wenshui, as well as the Wu family and the Mutaku family.
Apart from him, no one could distinguish these people from the ordinary pedestrians on the street, and naturally, no one noticed that those individuals had left Songshan Town and headed westward.
Luobu continued drinking for a long time, but there was no drunkenness in his eyes—instead, they grew brighter and brighter. Finally, after a long while, he let out a sigh, stood up, asked the shopkeeper for a basin of clean water, carefully washed his face and his thick beard, then sang a song that no one in the north had ever heard. He left Songshan Town and headed westward.
Chen Changsheng’s injuries were far from healed, but he could now walk normally. He had refused the Dragon Colt horse offered by the Banya Horse Ranch, and with Nanke’s help, his pace was not slow—many times faster than ordinary travelers. After leaving Songshan Town and traveling through the mountains, he quickly left the peaks behind.
By dusk the next day, he and Nanke arrived outside Hanqiu City.
As they followed the official road toward the city ahead, he noticed some damage to the trees along the way. The forest on the left side, in particular, looked somewhat disordered. Looking closely, he could see many newly grown shrubs and fresh willows, clearly indicating that the area had suffered severe destruction several years ago.
He paused, recalling that several years ago, he, Zhexiu, and many others had passed through this very forest to enter the Zhou Garden.
At that time, a rainbow had fallen from the southern sky thousands of miles away, and the entrance to the Zhou Garden lay in that courtyard behind the forest, where reality and illusion blurred.
Now, the entrance to the Zhou Garden was on his wrist—that black stone—and the key to the Zhou Garden was no longer at the peak of Lishan Sword Sect; it had become his divine thought.
He remembered many scenes from years ago.
Back then, Zhuluo sat in the pavilion, draped in long fur, ancient and aloof, unmatched in pride, with no one daring to approach.
Back then, Melisandre was in the carriage, silent and indifferent, not uttering a word, like an old plum tree with its own aura.
Now, Melisandre and Zhuluo were dead, but many of those people from back then were still alive.
Chen Changsheng turned and glanced at Nanke.
It was in the Zhou Garden that he had first encountered Nanke. Back then, she was the cold and ruthless little princess of the demon race, carrying out the Black Robe’s orders, stirring up infighting among human cultivators in the Zhou Garden while seeking opportunities to kill Xu Yourong, Zhexiu, and Qijian—his most fearsome enemy.
Now, she was just a silly, simple-minded little girl who knew nothing, only following him, guarding him, and waiting for him.
“I wonder if, when you wake up, you’ll still remember these days,” he said to Nanke with emotion.
Nanke’s hand clutched a corner of his sleeve, her gaze still vacant, staring at Hanqiu City ahead on the road, completely unaware of what he was saying.
Clearly, she had already forgotten all those experiences in the Zhou Garden.
Seeing her like this, Chen Changsheng couldn’t help but sigh.
That night on the Snow Ridge, she had risked the danger of her soul shattering to save his life. Of course, he had to keep his promise. But now, he didn’t even know if he could truly cure her. And as he had just lamented—if he did cure her, and she woke up remembering the days along this road, would she kill him?
…
…
The closer they got to Hanqiu City, the denser the forests on both sides of the official road became, and the more willows there were, perfectly illustrating the city’s character.
Yes, every city has its own unique character. The character of the capital lies in the green of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, the character of Luoyang lies in its city walls, and the character of Hanqiu City lies in its willows.
Zhuluo had loved willows back then, so outside Hanqiu City there was a Ten Thousand Willows Garden, and within the city, ten thousand willows were planted.
Now, Zhuluo had long since turned into starlight fragments beneath the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, vanishing like green smoke without a trace, but Hanqiu City still bore many marks he had left behind, just as in years past.
To some extent, Hanqiu City belonged to the Zhu family. The Zhu family and the Peerless Sect held supreme status and unimaginable power in this city. But Chen Changsheng wasn’t worried about running into trouble here, because no one should know his whereabouts. More importantly, Zhuye was also dead, and the Zhu family now had no one of great significance.
Indeed, he and Nanke entered Hanqiu City without any trouble. The soldiers at the city gates and the disciples wearing Peerless Sect sword uniforms were clearly still reeling from the shocking news of their master’s death. On the surface, they appeared especially vigilant, but in their eyes, there was nothing but confusion and unease about the future.