256 The Sob of the Zither Causes a Man to Die

As she watched the young lady disappear into the dark forest, Ye Xiaolianraised her head in thought. After a while, she could no longer suppress thequestion in her mind. Quietly, she asked, "Just who does Senior Xu like?" Senior Tong smiled back at her. "If it were you, who would you pick?" "If it were like before, of course I would pick Senior Qiushan, but now..." YeXiaolian answered very sincerely, then felt it difficult to continue for somereason. Chen Changsheng was oblivious to the fact that his existence had deliveredsuch a blow to this girl's perspective on life and love. Zhexiu and he werewalking amongst the mountains and forests in the night, searching forcultivators that had been injured in battle and treating their injuries.Although Chen Changsheng had not expressed it at any particular place, Zhexiuhad realized that whenever they met a person that Xu Yourong had alreadytreated, Chen Changsheng would clearly spend an extra amount of time and efforton the treatment. Similarly, that young lady was also walking in the darknessin search of people to heal. Similarly, for inexplicable reasons, whenever shefound someone that Chen Changsheng had treated, she would particularly becomeuneasy and stay for a longer time. Cloaked in the darkness, the Garden of Zhou was very quiet. The dome of thenight contained no stars, but the glimmers of fire helped to somewhat dispersethe monotony of the night. The young man and young lady moved between thoseearthbound stars. Perhaps it was because they were purposely avoiding eachother, or perhaps because of the arrangement of fate, they never met each otherdespite encountering many people that the other had treated. They were in different places, doing different things. They never saw eachother, but they knew who the other person was. The bandage wrapped around awounded cultivator's leg, the true essence left behind in the meridians, thesacred Qi that hung around the edge of the wound— they were like letters oreven simple notes that passedon a message, telling the other side what had beendone. There was also faintly a sense of comparing strengths, of betting againsteach other. Similarly, neither of them knew the reason why. At midnight, Chen Changsheng returned to the riverbank in accordance with hispromise. Seeing the sleeping master from the Clear Void Monastery, he confirmedthat she had been through here. After a moment of silence, he felt a faintsense of admiration. He had no way of taking care of those internal wounds. Hecould only support the wounded and let them slowly recover. There was truly nocomparison with her methods. Only, tonight he had treated about twenty or so people. She had probablytreated about the same, or even more. Whether it was the Orthodoxy's SacredLight technique or the methods of the Holy Maiden Peak, they were bothextremely taxing on the true essence. To keep using her strength unsparingly toheal person after person, would she be able to hold on? The human cultivators had entered the Garden of Zhou to seize treasures. Inaccordance with the rules set down by the Saints, they were all completelyunscrupulous. So even though it was just the first day, there had already beenmany fights. Cruel battles brought about bitter consequences. The fact that thegray strings had ceased to function had made those injured cultivators all themore afraid. Fortunately, she and Chen Changsheng, as well as several maidensfrom the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green, had treated dozens of people. Atthe very least, no one had died for the time being. As there were nocasualties, the mood amongst the cultivators could still be described as calm.However, the desire for revenge was impossible to disperse, especially againstthe backdrop of the north versus the south. At any point, the situation couldbe thrown into chaos. The first night after entering the Garden of Zhou was slowly passed in thisnervous and silent atmosphere. The dim light of dawn illuminated the plain and the mountain range thatextended into its depth. The early morning in the Garden of Zhou was no different from the outside. Therising and setting sun was also no different. Under the red warmth of themorning light, the mountain range seemed like the proud upturned head of agreat dragon. This place was the legendary Sunset Valley. At the peak of Sunset Valley, an old man faced the morning sun as he played azither. The sound of the zither was like sobbing, as if it were mourning forsomething. Behind the zither-playing old man, a girl of ten or so years sat with herhands wrapped around her legs. She gazed vacantly at the newly born, morningsun. She truly was gazing vacantly. Her indifferent countenance held no trace ofemotion. She seemed somewhat pitiful. Regardless of how gentle the morninglight was, it was still harsh on the eyes. However, what was even moremiraculous was that she stared with her eyes wide open directly at the sun. Notto even mention any pain or aching, she did not even squint her eyes. "Chen Changsheng's skill in medicine is truly exquisite. We don't even need todiscuss Xu Yourong. In addition, their reaction was too fast. Last night, theGarden of Zhou failed to fall into chaos." The zither-playing old man walked over to the girl's side and said, "My lady,the little wolf and Chen Changsheng are together right now. Let's go and killthem first." The old man said this very matter-of-factly, as if to signify that he wouldcertainly be able to kill Chen Changsheng and Zhexiu if he wanted to. Only Ethereal Opening cultivators could enter the Garden of Zhou. In otherwords, no matter how strong this old man was, he could not be more than thepeak level of Ethereal Opening. Chen Changsheng was already at the upper levelof Ethereal Opening. Although Zhexiu was only at the initial stage, hisastonishing bloodline talent and the battle prowess he honed on the snowyplains meant that his true power was not far from the upper level. So where didthis old man's confidence come from? The little girl continued to wrap her arms around her legs and stare vacantlyat the red light of the morning sun. She did not give any sort of reply to thequestion that came from the zither-playing old man. Her lack of response was an indication of her disapproval. Silence had neversignified a tacit agreement. Whenever the lady acted, it was always in a veryupfront fashion. The old man understood this point very well and saidadmonishingly, "In accordance with the military advisor's plan, we were toavail ourselves of the chaos in the garden last night to kill the humancultivators. Since no chaos occurred, we should be moving on to the next stageof the plan." The girl's expression was cold and her gaze seemed rather dull. As she staredinto the rising sun, she said, "I want to kill her." The old man knew what 'her' the lady referred to. The lady had risked herinvaluable body in such a dangerous place as he Garden of Zhou for the solepurpose of killing that human woman. The old man continued to admonish her. "XuYourong is no normal human……" He had narrowly avoided the words that were the absolutely taboo for thisgirl. He could not help but still be afraid, and it was only after he composedhimself that he continued, "……even if she consumed most of her true essenceusing the Sacred Light technique last night, killing her still would not begood. According to the military advisor's arrangements, we should first killthe other people first, then kill Xu. Only in this way can we avoid anymishaps." With the two words 'military advisor', the girl descended into silence.However, after a long period of thought, she still shook her head and said, "Iwant to kill her." She needed to kill Xu Yourong. She wanted to kill Xu Yourong. She only thoughtabout killing Xu Yourong. The other human cultivators were naught but trash inher eyes, not even worth a glance. Awaking to the sound of water, Chen Changsheng felt his entire body ached.Last night, as he walked around saving lives, he had walked several hundred liat the very least. Even though his body was now incredibly valiant, he wasbarely holding on. The most crucial factor was that his mind was stillexhausted. That rush of activity had been like a tide, and it had truly beendifficult for his mind to bear. The morning sun had risen long ago and five in the morning had long sincepassed. Chen Changsheng got up and walked over to the river, using some of the chillywater to wash his face. Feeling somewhat more awake, he took the field rationsthat Zhexiu had brought over and began to eat silently. Last night, the injured or solitary cultivators had, in accordance with ChenChangsheng's instructions, come one after another to gather at the riverbank.Now, as those people successively woke up, the scene suddenly grew much morelively. After Chen Changsheng finished eating the rations, he drank some water, thensat back down so as to disperse the exhaustion that pervaded both his mind andbody. Only then did he stand back up. The wound on Senior Tong's shoulder had been treated by him last night, and atthe present, she had mostly recovered. The Clear Void Monastery master'scondition had also improved. Although he still could not walk, his life was nolonger in any danger. As for the other cultivators, whether their wounds wereheavy or light, they were all in an okay condition. After a night's rest, theycould probably handle the journey towards the garden that sat right in front ofthe gate. Chen Changsheng walked over to Senior Tong and softly relayed his plan for theday. Senior Tong nodded her head. Chen Changsheng seemed to hesitate, but was unable to suppress his questionand asked, "She……did she say anything about me? Or leave behind a message forme?" Senior Tong thought about the frustrated monologue that Xu Yourong haddelivered at the riverbank last night, and she could not help but smile as shereplied, "She didn't say anything that was particularly meant for you." For some reason, Chen Changsheng felt both at ease and disappointed. At this moment, a cry of surprise arose from the forest by the river. Upon hearing this cry, Chen Changsheng, Zhexiu, and a dozen other cultivatorsquickly rushed to its location. An expert of the Heavenly Bestowal Sect stood there, his face pale. At hisfeet was a middle-aged man whose face was deathly green. He had long sincestopped breathing. Dead. Somebody had died. "What happened here?" “Could it be that Sect Master Fei couldn't hold on?” "Could it be that last night, some person snuck into the woods and tookadvantage of the wounds Sect Master Fei suffered to execute some evil scheme?" The forest resounded with angry and somewhat panicked discussion. Ascultivators that had roamed the world— even if no one present had faced a lifeor death situation— they would, at the very least, not have been so mentallyaffected by death. However, the closing of the Garden of Zhou had cast a shadowon their hearts, not to mention that the middle-aged man was the Sect Master ofthe Heavenly Bestowal Sect. Although the Heavenly Bestowal Sect was an obscuresect of the south, he was still a Sect Master, moreover......last night thewounds Sect Master Fei had were not serious. Relying on his cultivation at themiddle level of Ethereal Opening, he should have been able to very easily makeit through the night. How could he so noiselessly die? Chen Changsheng squatted down by Sect Master Fei's body, put on the glovesthat were handed over by Zhexiu, and opened the eyes of the deceased man. Heexamined the nose and mouth, then inserted a copper needle into the neck.Extracting the needle, he brought it up into the sunlight and closely examinedit. His expression slowly grew grave as he delivered his conclusion, "It waspoison." With these words, the crowd grew even more nervous. Who had used poison? Thatperson could sneak past so many people and stealthily poison Sect Master Fei todeath. What did that imply? Did it mean that as long as the person was willing,he could fatally poison any person present? And the most important cause oftheir anxiety was: why did that person want to kill Sect Master Fei?   "It must be a shaman." A southern cultivator said hatefully. "Yesterday whenentering the garden, I spied a few of their ilk. I don't know what the LiPalace and Holy Maiden Peak are thinking, to let these people that love to usesuch strange things as the shamanistic arts and poison into the Garden of Zhou." ”Chen Changsheng shook his head, "Although it's true that poisonous plantswere used, the poison is nothing like the plants grown in the south." "Then whose poison was it?" Out of grief and anger, the expert from the Heavenly Bestowal Sect did notcare for Chen Changsheng's status. Staring at him, he shouted, "Last night,senior said he didn't need your treatment, but you insisted and then had uscome here. In the end, he died! Who knows if it wasn't because you didsomething while you were treating him!" At these words, the entire forest suddenly became quiet.