204 Treading Xun Mei

TL: The name of the chapter (踏雪荀梅) is actually a pun of an idiom (踏雪寻梅). Theyare read the same (tà xue xún méi), and the idiom means “to walk in the snow toview the flowering plum” The power that was transmitted from Zhexiu’s pulse was very strong like aflood that had broken through the rock blockade of a river. It subsided with ahowl and rose in a gush. Chen Changsheng could imagine the amount of damage andpain this type of power brought to Zhexiu. However, Zhexiu’s expressionremained unchanged, which meant that he had tolerated this type of pain allyear round or even at all times. He had even become numb to it, but his eyeswould still become gloomy. This meant that even though he had alreadyacclimated to it, he was still unable to completely ignore this kind of pain.This kind of pain really seemed to be extremely scary. Chen Changsheng stayed silent for a while before placing his fingers overZhexiu’s pulse once again. This time, he channeled some true essence into it—He was somewhat lacking confidence in his own judgment. He was unsure whetherZhexiu’s problems with his meridians were severe or not, as he could notimagine how a person could withstand such pain and still live for so many years. The grass hut became extremely quiet underneath the twilight. The oil lampswere not lit, and he focused on observing Zhexiu’s expression. Chen Changshengonly saw two eyes that were filled with feelings of stubbornness andperseverance. He waited diligently and did not miss any sudden changes inpulse. However, when that had time arrived, he was still thrown off guard. With a soft pop, Chen Changsheng’s fingers were once again knocked away. This time under the dual observation of true essence and spiritual sense, hehad gained an even more precise understanding of the weird activities inZhexiu’s meridians. He had some vague ideas in his mind, and his heart began tofeel heavy from it. His eyebrows became tightly furrowed unknowingly. Whatexactly was the problem with that turbulent, tide-like shaking? He pulled back his right arm and looked at Zhexiu. He did not know what to say. Zhexiu’s expression remained the same as before, but his face was closer.Therefore, he could see that Zhexiu’s hair was vaguely soaked, glimmering fromthe reflected starlight that shone into the grass hut. It was early spring andonly slightly cold. He was a teenager with such strong willpower that even infront of the Mausoleum of Books, he would not change his expression. However,he currently had sweat profusely. One could only imagine how difficult it wasto bear with such pain. At this moment, Zhexiu opened his mouth and said while looked at ChenChangsheng, “I never actually thought that your true essence would be so weak.” Chen Changsheng had totally never thought that at this time, what he caredmost about was not his own illness but such matters. “Yes, it is too weak.” A voice appeared from the side of the table. It came from the man whom ChenChangsheng and Zhexiu had almost forgotten was sitting there. After that man pushed his messy hair behind his ear, his gaze moved from ChenChangsheng’s body to Zhexiu’s. He said, “Tide Rush of Blood. You are actuallynot dead yet?” Chen Changsheng stayed silent. He knew that the Daoist Canons had these fourwords written in it, but it was Zhexiu’s problem. There were no changes in Zhexiu’s expression. Four years ago, when ElderTianji helped him diagnose the illness, he had also spoken in such a manner.” “I won’t die.” He said while looking at that middle-aged man. The slow speech of the teenager was abnormally forceful like the rubbingbetween two rocks. It was also like a sword cutting through bone. It wasextremely definite. That man shook his head and no longer paid any more attention. He stood upfrom the table and walked to the side of the bed. He collapsed directly onto it. Originally, Chen Changsheng had wanted to speak with him about the matter ofstaying over for the night. However, he had never thought that in the nextmoment, he would hear a snoring sound from the bed, so he naturally could notmention it. The snores echoed through the grass hut like thunder. What he did notunderstand was what the man did during the day to become this tired. Hesignaled to Zhexiu to walk out of the hut with him. They arrived in the sparse,small yard surrounded by wattled fencing. After borrowing the starlight, helooked at Zhexiu and paused to speak again. “Even the Council of Divine Ordinance cannot treat me, but you might be ableto treat me.” Zhexiu said slowly as he looked at him. His tone could not be considered asrude, but the contents of what he had said was actually rather rude. What Chen Changsheng wanted to see was all blocked by this sentence, so hecould only stay silent. He stared into the distance at the Mausoleum of Books,which was like a black mountain and sighed quietly with emotion, “Fate indeedis unfair.” Zhexiu said, “Fate gave me a powerful bloodline talent, which also broughtalong pain that was hard to live with and a gloomy future. When I look at it,it is very fair.” Chen Changsheng said, “But you had no choice, nor could you deny the powerfulbloodline, nor at the same time, could you deny such pain. I still believe itis unfair.” Zhexiu stayed silent for a while before saying, “Yes, it was never fair.” Perhaps, it was due to their extremely similar circumstances that closelyafflicted people empathized with one another, but Chen Changsheng’s impressiontowards Zhexiu underwent a very large change. He had learnt that under theseemingly cold outward appearance, this Wolf Tribe teenager had hidden a lot ofpain and unwillingness. Unwilling to let his mental state remain so cold, hesaid, “But there might be something counterbalancing fairness, such as usentering the Mausoleum of Books to view the monoliths. We will have to rely onourselves for whatever we can comprehend.” “The Mausoleum of Books is the unfairest thing.” Zhexiu looked at the mausoleum under the starlight and said expressionlessly,“On what basis should humans be allowed to determine the rules to enter theMausoleum of Books? On what basis is the demon race not allowed to see theHeavenly Tomes?” Chen Changsheng had never thought that he who had killed an unknown number ofmembers of the demon race would actually help the demon race cry out againstinjustice. He could not help but stare blankly. “I am not crying out against injustice for the demon race. I am onlyquestioning what is fair.” Zhexiu said, “Those stone monoliths within theMausoleum of Books are actually no different from pieces of leftover deer leg.They are all meat, and everybody wants to eat those pieces of meat. Also, theyare all greedy. However, only the strongest people can have the right todistribute parts of this meat.” Chen Changsheng asked, “So you want to become even stronger?” Zhexiu said, “No, I want to become stronger not because I want to distributemeat, but because I just want to eat meat.” Chen Changsheng thought about it and was about to say something. Just at thismoment, a shout was suddenly raised from far away in the night. “Where are you? Chen Changsheng, you b*stard where are you?” After hearing this voice, Chen Changsheng could not help but sigh. EvenZhexiu’s expression underwent some change——In the Grand Examination, thisvoice’s owner had left too deep of an impression onto him. “I am here, Thirty-Six, I am just right here.” Chen Changsheng yelled into thewoods at night. The Mausoleum of Books was a holy ground, and it was extremely sacred andsolemn. People who walked in it would often all hold their breath or lower thesound of their breathing. During the day, the mausoleum park was extremelyquiet, but at night, there were suddenly two teenagers shouting aloud, floodingit with noise instead. Only after yelling did Chen Changsheng realize this, andhe could not help but feel very embarrassed. Accompanying the rustling sounds between his clothes and branches, TangThirty-Six found his way and pushed over the six or seven-foot tall wattledfencing with a single push. After arriving in front of Chen Changsheng, heheavily pat his shoulder, and said with lingering fear that was hard toextinguish, “I was really worried that the problem with your mind had not beenfixed and that you had directly left the Mausoleum of Books. Luckily, youhaven’t.” Chen Changsheng was somewhat helpless and said, “Could you not yell so loudly?The Mutual Response of the Fisherman’s Song is a sword technique from theLishan Sword Sect.” Tang Thirty-Six said boldly and straightforwardly, “This place is so large,and yet the government hasn’t even installed a sound projecting array. Also,those Monolith Guardians aren’t servants, so they can’t be ordered around.Other than yelling, how else can I find people?” What he had said made a lot of sense, so Chen Changsheng actually could notrebuke him in any way. Just at this moment, Zhexiu said expressionlessly, “After entering theMausoleum of Books, everybody will make best use of their time to view themonoliths and comprehend the Dao. Who will be like you, yelling out to friendslike you haven’t forgotten anything?” “Hmm, is it actually you?” Only now did Tang Thirty-Six notice Zhexiu. After being vaguely startled, hewalked up enthusiastically and said as he reached for his hands, “You havefinally arrived. Have you come for your debt?” Zhexiu was not used to this type of close interaction, so he took a step backand dodged his hands. Tang Thirty-Six retracted his hands very naturally and then heavily pat ChenChengsheng’s shoulders. He said, “If you can resolve the debt, then quicklyresolve it.” Chen Changsheng rubbed his shoulder. He thought that if he had not undergoneperfect Purification under the Black Dragon Pond for some reason, perhaps, hisshoulder really would have been broken today by Tang Thirty-Six. He said, “Iwill try, but I lack confidence.” Just at this moment, that man walked out from the grass hut. His loose andmessy hair covered up the fatigue on his face. Chen Changsheng bowed and asked, “Senior, why do you not rest a little longer?” That man looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said, “Too noisy.” “Sorry, my friend came to find me. He is in a bit of a cheerful mood.” ChenChangsheng apologized and then introduced him to Tang Thirty-Six, “This senioris the owner of the grass hut. I thought that since I have to stay in theMausoleum of Books for a month, I cannot live out in the open. It is bad forthe body, so I wanted to ask for lodging…” He minded his own business and spoke continuously until he noticed that TangThirty-Six was not listening to him at all. Instead, he was staring blankly atthat man. That man tied up his messy hair, which revealed his face. This was also thefirst time Chen Changsheng and Zhexiu had seen his full appearance. They onlysaw that this person was handsome, and he had eyes that carried a hint ofcoldness. However, this did not give people a cold-blooded feeling, but rathera clean feeling although he was not truly clean. Tang Thirty-Six looked at that man’s face, and his expression became a littleweird. He seemed slightly bewildered, and afterwards, he seemed to remembersomething. His eyes suddenly glimmered and said with astonishment, “You… youare…. You are Xun Mei.” That man was slightly startled. He stared at Tang Thirty-Six and stayed silentfor a very long time before speaking plainly, “Correct, I am Xun Mei. Who wouldhave thought that there are still people who remember me.” After hearing these two words, Xun Mei, Zhexiu raised his eyebrow slightly. Itwas very obvious that he was also remembered the identity of this person. OnlyChen Changsheng still did not know. “How can anybody not remember Senior Snow-Treading Xun Mei?” Tang Thirty-Sixlooked at the middle-aged man called Xun Mei and said with astonishment, “Therumors say that ever since after the Grand Examination that year, senior hasalways stayed within the Mausoleum of Books to view the monoliths andcomprehend the Dao. Who would have thought that it was actually true.” Xun Mei looked at the indistinct lights within the mausoleum. He revealed aslight disappointment and said, “So the Grand Examination this year has alreadyended. No wonder so many people appeared today.” “Yes senior, today is the first day the top three grades of the GrandExamination have entered the mausoleum.” Tang Thirty-Six thought of something and pulled Chen Changsheng in front ofhim. He said proudly, “This is my friend Chen Changsheng. He is the same assenior years ago and has also placed first upon the first banner. “Oh? What academy are you from?” Xun Mei asked. Tang Thirty-Six said, “Orthodox Academy.” Xun Mei nodded and said, “It is common after all for geniuses to come out fromunder the Banyan tree.” Hearing what was said, Chen Changsheng was slightly startled. He thought thatwhen people normally heard that the Orthodox Academy was revived, they wouldalways be slightly surprised. But this senior….only after thinking about itagain did he suddenly fully realize that this senior did not know about thegreat calamity that had occurred to the Orthodox Academy a dozen years ago.Wouldn’t it be saying that this person had already stayed in the Mausoleum ofBooks to view the monoliths for at least a dozen years and had never left? Tang Thirty-Six said to him, “Senior Xun Mei obtained first place upon thefirst banner in the Grand Examination thirty-seven years ago.” Chen Changsheng was very surprised and thought to himself wouldn’t that meanthis senior had already stayed within the Mausoleum of Books for thirty-sevenyears?