356 For Reasons of Sorrow

Xu Yourong gazed out the window, not saying a word, waiting for that person tocome out of the Garden of Zhou. Even though the azure curtain of the carriagewindow was let down, it could not obstruct her sight. Time continued to pitilessly march on and the sun slowly rose up. The light inthe sky gradually shifted, moving from the walls of Hanqiu City to the officialroad, until finally illuminating the entire world. The light pierced throughthe curtain, shining into the carriage and resting upon her face, making herface grow paler and paler. After she came out of the Garden of Zhou, she immediately told archbishop MeiLisha and Zhu Luo what had happened in the Garden of Zhou. The Garden of Zhou'ssky was collapsing. There was enough time for others to escape because in theplains at the top of the Mausoleum of Zhou, a youth was using an umbrella tohold up the sky, so they should use every method to save him as soon aspossible. If she were not Xu Yourong, Mei Lisha and Zhu Luo would definitely think shehad gone crazy. Yet even if she was Xu Yourong and Mei Lisha and Zhu Luo didbelieve her, there truly was no means of saving that solitary youth that washolding up the sky atop the Mausoleum of Zhou—only those at Ethereal Openingcould enter the Garden of Zhou, and if it was as she had described, someonethat could save that youth needed to be an expert at an even higher level ofcultivation. Perhaps Zhu Luo had the ability, but the Garden of Zhou was in themidst of collapse and was exceptionally unstable. He would only need to take asingle step into the Garden of Zhou and the entire miniature world might beinstantly annihilated. No one could save that youth; only the youth himself could do so. Thus, XuYourong could do nothing else, only wait. At this moment, a senior sister fromthe Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green hurried over to the window and reportedto her, "There's no one called Xu Sheng. In addition, I've checked and foundthat no disciples came from the Snow Mountain Sect." After a moment of silence, Xu Yourong asked, "How many people have yet to comeout?" "There are still a bit more than forty people." After a moment's hesitation,the senior from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green also softly said,"Orthodox Academy's Chen Changsheng… also has not come out." Once she said these words, the senior grew very concerned about Xu Yourong'ssituation. She thought Xu Yourong was worried about the safety of her fiancé,which is why she had asked to make these inquiries. Yet Xu Yourong had noreaction, making the senior somewhat surprised. The person Xu Yourong was waiting for was not Chen Changsheng—amongst thecultivators that had registered their names, there was no Snow Mountain Sectdisciple called Xu Sheng, but she knew very well that the Snow Mountain Sectdisciple called Xu Sheng was still in the Garden of Zhou. Moreover, he was atthis very moment at the summit of the Mausoleum of Zhou, wielding the tenthousand swords as a massive umbrella. Entering the Garden of Zhou under a false name, even changing one's sect underthe tacit approval of the Li Palace, was a very common occurrence. In her view,since Xu Sheng was the secret sect genius disciple upon which the Snow MountainSect placed its hopes of revitalization, then he would be like her and use someother identity to enter the Garden of Zhou. That his name could not be found onthe register was highly likely. In reality, she had no hopes that the youth's name would be found on theregister. After she had gotten out of the Garden of Zhou, she had silently satin the carriage by the window, staring into the foggy depths of the forest ateach person that walked out or was carried out. She firmly believed that shehad not missed a single one, because her eyes had never once blinked. She had seen many of her senior and junior brothers from the Longevity Sect aswell as some of her fellows from the South Stream Temple, saw those injuredcultivators that she had saved in those nights, saw that wolf youth carrying QiJian that ran into four trees before finally reaching the roadside, but shenever saw him. At the end, several figures walked out of the fog supporting each other, thenan unimaginably terrifying Qi erupted from the dense fog. That rainbow whichlanded in the fog instantly began to falter, as if it could snap at any moment.That magnificent courtyard faintly discernible through the fog abruptly twistedinto countless images, like it was about to vanish. Seeing this scene, Mei Lisha seemed to grow even older. Zhu Luo flew up,rushing into the air above the clouds. When the rainbow finally fractured, abright and beauteous sword light emerged from his hands and chopped at theearth, creating an incredibly powerful protective screen, separating the worldin the fog from the true world. There was a massive boom which could be heard even several hundred li fromHanqiu City. Even Zhu Luo, one of the Eight Storms and one of the most powerful cultivatorson the continent, putting his full strength behind this slash, failed tocompletely seal off the explosion of this powerful Qi. A hurricane gathered upthe leaves and earth and rolled them into the forest, shrieking all the while.In an instant, the hurricane engulfed the official road. Only when it collidedagainst the sturdy walls of Hanqiu City did it finally cease. As the wind died down and the dust settled, the world became clear and brightonce more. The forest was filled with coughs and groans. As the crowd lookedinto the forest, they saw that the dense fog had already completely scattered.As for the green hill that should have been behind that fog...it had alreadydisappeared without a trace. The gate to the Garden of Zhou had disappeared, and the Garden of Zhou itselfhad also vanished. It was a mystery whether there would be anyone else who inthe future would be able to open the gate to the Garden of Zhou. Even if itcould be opened, there would be no meaning. The energy that the Garden of Zhoureleased before its collapse had disintegrated a real green hill, so how couldthe Garden of Zhou itself still exist? The forest was silent. Those birds that had taken flight in alarm had beenstruck dead by the Qi shot out by the destruction of the Garden of Zhou, theirstiff corpses dropping down amidst the leaves and dirt. Breaking the silence were the sounds of mournful weeping. Many teachers fromthe sects and schools adopted expressions of grief while there were also manyyoung cultivators who bitterly wept without end by the corpses of their fellowdisciples. The priests of the Li Palace and the government officials put awaytheir emotions and once again began to take count. They determined that out ofthe human cultivators that had entered the Garden of Zhou, twenty-seven had notcome out. But they did not know if these people had been killed in the courseof the demons' schemes or if they had lost their lives in the destruction ofthe Garden of Zhou. In addition, in the forest, there were more than tencorpses. The curtain was covered by a thick layer of dust, blocking out the light, andalso blocking her sight. It also caused Xu Yourong's face to become ratherdarker. She closed her eyes, her long lashes gently blinking. She said nothing, her right hand trembling as it softly caressed the pheasantat her side. "Let's go," she whispered. The carriage of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green, following theofficial road, rolled off into the distance. The wind on the road blew off the dust on the curtains, letting her see thescene on the side of the road of the wounded groaning on their stretchers. This made her feel somewhat aggrieved. In that first night in the Garden of Zhou, she and Chen Changsheng, withoutonce meeting, had continuously saved lives. These wounded people were peoplethat they had saved together. And Chen Changsheng had also not come out of the Garden of Zhou. Only then did she understand that the young Daoist boy she had exchangedletters with several years ago… was also dead. She originally felt that she would not grieve over his death, but now she feltrather upset. If it were not for that engagement, he would not have come to the capital,would not have participated in the Grand Examination, would not have enteredthe Orthodox Academy, and would not have entered the Garden of Zhou. Naturally,he also would not have died. Presumably, he would still be in that old templein Xining village reading through those three thousand scriptures of the Dao. She had originally long forgotten about those letters, but for some reason,she suddenly began to recall them. She remembered that Chen Changsheng used towrite to her that every day, he had to recite Daoist scriptures, something hefound very laborious, and yet… no matter how laborious it was, it must bebetter than death, right? The wheels of the carriage rolled across the official road, rumbling along asthey went. This was to leave. Every person had to learn about leaving. Leaving was always a most sorrowful and grievous affair. Even if she was XuYourong, she was still just a fifteen-year-old girl. What made her sad most of all was that the person she was waiting for did notcome out in the end. Were you really called Xu Sheng? Were you really a disciple of the SnowMountain Sect? Did you still not know that I was Xu Yourong? Does anyone knowthat in those plains, we shouldered responsibilities together, overcamelife-or-death situations together, and calmly faced crises together? Yourrelatives and teachers might mourn for you, but I...I don't even have thequalifications to mourn for you. Ah, this is a truly sorrowful affair. Not long after the carriage of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green hadtaken its leave, another sorrowful affair occurred. A person was about to die. In this year's opening of the Garden of Zhou, because of the demons' schemes,the human cultivators had suffered disastrous casualties. By all reason, deathshould be a very normal affair. However, the person that was about to die was the Mount Li Sword Sect's LiangXiaoxiao. This affair was no longer normal and was very grievous. Then, this grief very quickly transformed into anger.