290 If Life Could Be Like the Moment When We First Met Part Two

Time seemed to endlessly flow by, but in actuality, it passed very slowly.From the time Xu Yourong carried him into the forest to the conclusion of thatrevolting battle, not much time had passed. The Garden of Zhou's sun had notrisen much above the horizon. The morning wind and the morning light togetherfell upon the forest. Cut into every size and shape, the morning wind slowlyswept up the fallen leaves, causing them to softly rustle, while the morninglight suffused them with every kind of light. Chen Changsheng gazed off into the distance in silence. He had none of Zhexiu's natural instinct for danger, nor did he have theability to use Xu Yourong's Fated Star Plate calculate the dangers ahead. Inthose far off places bathed in the morning light, he saw no figures, nor did hesense any danger, much less see any of his enemies. But he felt that it was tooquiet over there. While silence was not a sufficient reason, he still felt thatsomething was off. Although there were Three Thousand Scriptures of the Great Dao, he onlycultivated the Dao of following his heart. Those two demon beauties were nodoubt still chasing after him, and he could possibly meet a treacherous andterrifying human cultivator like that old freak. And since he had no way ofprotecting himself, he could only rely on his senses, rely on the only Dao hehad cultivated over his more than ten years of life. So without any hesitation, he turned and began walking through the forest tothe other direction. His expression was somewhat hurried, but his feet wereincapable of hurrying. This was because he was still severely injured and wasnow carrying the white-clothed girl on his back. But even more importantly, itwas because his body was much colder than usual. His breathing and heartbeatwere at least a third slower than normal. His eyebrows and the hair around hisforehead were once again covered with frost. The dew which stained his shirthad frozen into flakes of snow, which were blown off his body by the morningwind, only for dew to rapidly freeze on his body once more, and then once againbe blown off by the wind. They fluttered down behind him, leaving behind a veryclear trail through the forest. Not long after he left, heralded by a chilly air, Nanke and the zither-playingold man arrived at that place. Her gaze moved across that trail of frost intothe distance. How sharp was her gaze that she could so casually glance at thistrail and obtain so much information? Chen Changsheng had already awakened andhe was carrying Xu Yourong on his back as they made their escape. His injurieshad clearly not recovered and his steps seemed somewhat slow. A hint of confusion appeared on the slightly wide space between her brows.According to what her maids had told her, Chen Changsheng had been heavilyinjured last night. He should still be hanging on the brink of death, so howdid he so quickly recover? Her spiritual sense had also sensed Bai Hai's corpsein that cave, but she had no time to find out what had happened there. Shethrust out her arms to both sides of her body. Those two demon beauties transformed into two lights, vanishing without atrace. A pair of green wings appeared behind her back, then with the whistlingof the wind, she disappeared. The zither-playing old man looked out of theforest and confirmed that the mysterious and dangerous plain was not far fromhere. He couldn't help but crease his brow as he guessed at what might occur.But he had no other choice than to follow. The forest gave way to the shore of a pool of water. Green patches of reedstook up his entire vision like they were about to fill the horizon, but infact, the moment he passed this patch of reeds, he would be in the plains. Thecold Qi had helped Chen Changsheng suppress his wounds, but it had also greatlyslowed his metabolism. Right now, his heartbeat and breathing were far tooslow, so he also walked very slowly. It had taken him a long time before hefinally reached this point. He did not know that not too long ago, Xu Yourong had carried him out of thatpatch of reeds across from him. He only knew that if he continued forward, hemight mistakenly end up in the terrifying plains. And yet he had no otherchoice except to follow his heart. Following the path upon which he had come,he made his way into the wetland. As his body moved through the water, itbrought ice along with it. He walked into the patch of reeds, and just as he was beginning to ponderwhether he should risk going forward or turning to another direction, the soundof the wind on the shore told him that there was no need to think. With a cold and clear wind, the surroundings were suffused with a pure greenlight, robbing all the trees and reeds of their color. A little girl with a cold expression appeared on the shore. She stared at himexpressionlessly as if he were a cricket or an ant. Seeing her disheveled hair and bloodstained clothes, and most importantly ofall, her appearance, Chen Changsheng was startled, like he had seen somethingthat was somewhat surprising. Besides, he was not holding his dagger right nowbecause he knew that the difference in strength between him and this demonexpert was too great. Since battle was meaningless, he chose to be silent, thusgiving off a very calm appearance. He had always been very calm and steady. No matter what big thing occurred, hewould never grow melancholy, nor would he ever lose his head in panic. Thispart of his character allowed him to possess a temperament far surpassing hisage, and also made people feel surprised. Xu Yourong was surprised, and nowNanke was also surprised. She did not believe that this was the youth who hadreceived such deep favor from the Pope, so she asked, "So you are ChenChangsheng?" Chen Changsheng had never met her, nor did he know that she was the DemonLord's most beloved daughter. However, yesterday on the lakeshore, he had heardZhexiu mention that name. From the look on Zhexiu's face back then, he was verycertain that this little girl was extremely frightening. Similarly, he did notknow that her target was the white-clothed girl on his back. He thought thatshe had come to kill him, so he was even more vigilant than usual. But he wasalso childishly happy—to think that not too long ago, he was just a young andunremarkable Daoist fresh from the countryside of Xining Village, but now hehad already matured into a target worthy of even the attentions of the mostfrightening and powerful demons. As he thought this way, he returned thequestion. "So you are Nanke?" This was the first time that Chen Changsheng would meet Nanke, and this wasalso the first time Nanke would meet Chen Changsheng. In the future, they wouldrepresent the humans and demons and meet many times on the battlefield,engaging in hand-to-hand combat and creating a not at all interesting storythat would only cause one to feel exhausted. More than once, Nanke would thinkback to that morning they first met and would often feel a faint sense ofremorse. She would think to herself, if I had been a bit more decisive that dayand not listened to any of his nonsense, then maybe I really could have killedhim there, and then there would be none of these troubles or stories. But time would always fly like an arrow. The Nanke of the present had no wayof knowing of the future. As expected, her focus was still on Xu Yourong, eventhough she was clearly unconscious. As for Chen Changsheng, he was just aperson she was talking to. "If you put her down, I'll spare your life." When she said these words, Nanke maintained her cold expression, but the twomaids at her side were rather shocked. They thought to themselves, what'shappened to the master? To actually negotiate with a human, and it seems likeshe's just going to let Chen Changsheng go like this? The heated battle theyfought by the lakeside yesterday… didn't this mean it would be meaningless? The reason they thought this way was because they did not know that last nightin that battle on the peak of Sunset Valley, Nanke had also been severelyinjured. More importantly, Nanke could clearly see that since Chen Changshengwas standing on that patch of reeds, he could at any time escape into thewater. Within that seemingly clear and empty water, there was actually adividing line, and on the other side of this line was the plains. Nanke did not want Chen Changsheng to think that he had already taken the pathof no return and thus jump into the water, because even she feared thatboundless and mysterious plain. Hearing Nanke's words, Chen Changsheng was rather shocked. It was only thenthat he realized that her target was not him—but he definitely could not leaveXu Yourong behind and escape with his own life. At this time, he still did notknow that the white-clothed girl on his back was Xu Yourong, nor was heaccustomed to carrying things on his back as he walked like Xu Yourong was. Itwas just that he had promised her that he would not abandon her. "I can't do that," he said very truthfully to Nanke, then he looked at herappearance and seemed to hesitate. In Nanke's somewhat dull and indifferent eyes appeared some confusion. She didnot understand where Chen Changsheng's odd expression came from, so she asked,"What's wrong?" Chen Changsheng thought it over, then said, "You are ill." At these words, Nanke's eyebrows suddenly leapt up, just like a little girlwho had gotten up early in the morning to gather a basket of pigweed and wassnatched away by her drunken neighbor. She was very angry and her voicesuddenly got higher. "You're the one that's ill! Your entire family is ill!Everyone in the Orthodox Academy is ill!" The furious shouts of this childish yet exceptionally cold little girlresounded throughout the peaceful reeds. The two maids were silent. They didn't know why their master had suddenlygotten so angry, nor why Chen Changsheng's words had triggered such a hugeresponse. Hearing the stream of shouts and curses from the shore, Chen Changsheng feltsomewhat helpless. He thought to himself that if she did not insist on asking,he would not have said anything. However, the anger and sensitivity meant that his conclusion was true. ChenChangsheng suddenly thought that perhaps he could use this matter in exchangefor the chance to leave. He waited for Nanke's sharp and angry voice togradually die down, then very sincerely said, "I don't know whether the spiesyou demons have placed in the capital have grasped who my teacher was. If youdo know, then you should also know that my medical skills are not bad." Nanke's eyes were exceptionally cold, like she was looking at a dead man. "Idon't know what you're talking about." Chen Changsheng mentally adjusted his choice of words so that even a demoncould understand, then continued, "There's a problem with your bloodline. If itis not quickly treated, then when the divine soul within you awakens for thesecond time, there is a very high possibility of a backlash. Even if you manageto protect your life, it's very probable that you will end up as an imbecile." Nanke's face paled. Perhaps it was from the aftershocks of last night'sbattle, or perhaps it was because of his words. Yet her voice was still coldand indifferent. "I don't know what you're talking about." As a Demon Princess and Black Robe's only disciple, even if the Garden of Zhouwas annihilated before her eyes, her expression would probably not change inthe slightest. But she was still young, so even if she thought she hadconcealed her true emotions superbly, she did not know that Chen Changsheng,her two maids, and even the zither-playing old man had heard a problem in herwords.