362 Full, time Teaching Part Two

Chen Changsheng's gaze passed through the black willow forest and rested onthe armored horsemen on the snowy plains, and only then did he understand SuLi’s words. Besides the demons, the people that wanted Su Li dead the most werethe people of Zhou. The Great Zhou cavalrymen that were obviously searching fortheir target served as evidence, but he still felt like there was anotherpossibility. Perhaps they were here to rescue the two of them? "Why do you always like to think about things so pessimistically?" ChenChangsheng asked. At his question, a tinge of ridicule could be heard in SuLi's reply. "Because things will often develop in the most pessimistic fashion." As if to prove his words, a group of several dozen horsemen split off from theseveral hundred. They began to gallop towards the black willow forest,scrawling a black line on the monotonous snow. When the horsemen arrived infront of the forest, the cavalrymen began to remove their weapons from theirsaddles and let down the visors on their helmet, seeming exceptionally wary—nomatter how one looked at it, it did not seem like these cavalrymen had come torescue people, but to kill. The cavalrymen entered the forest, accompanied by the dense sound of hoofssmacking the ground. Occasionally, there would be a snap as a black willowbranch was broken. Whether it was for the purpose of rescuing or killing, theyhad no need to hide their tracks. Moreover, if the object of their search wasas described in their intelligence reports, then he was just a cripple. Thefollowing affair should be very simple indeed. At some point, Chen Changsheng's right hand had already begun to rest on thehilt of his dagger, ready to pull it out at any time. His body truly was incredibly strong. Even after crossing ten thousand li ofsnowy plains, with all his weariness and hidden injuries, they had vanishedwithout a trace with that one night's sleep on the cold kang. His true essencewas gradually recovering, and even the injuries he had suffered in the Gardenof Zhou had improved greatly. He was confident that he could completely wipeout every one of the several dozen cavalrymen that had entered the forest, evenif they were elites that had all succeeded in Purification. However, he had noconfidence that he could kill them all noiselessly or without attracting theattention of the large force of cavalry which was currently making its way tothe east side of the forest. Crucially, the cavalrymen were all part of theGreat Zhou army, and he was a person of Zhou. He truly could not just suddenlystart killing without asking for a reason first. He did not know what to do, so he only stared at the faint figures of thecavalry in the forest. As they got closer, his breathing grew more hurried andtense. The fingers of the hand holding his dagger were getting whiter andwhiter. If he allowed the situation to continue in this manner, it would not belong before those horsemen saw him and Su Li. "Senior, we should go." He finally made his decision. He turned around to indicate that Su Li shouldlean on, as he prepared to carry Su Li to escape. Since he could not continue to hide, nor could he take out his dagger andkill, the only option left was to run. It was a good thing that he nowpossessed an unimaginable speed. He believed that not even the horsemen wouldbe able to catch up to them in such a short amount of time. As for the troublesthat would be brought when the Zhou army caught on to their tracks, hecurrently did not have the luxury of considering it. Su Li had no intention of leaving. "Open the umbrella." Chen Changsheng did not understand. Taking the umbrella and opening it, hefollowed Su Li's instructions and poured his true essence into it,simultaneously activating some mechanism in the umbrella's shaft. A faintlydiscernible Qi began to descend from the edge of the umbrella, just like aninvisible and immaterial waterfall, completely surrounding them. The cold windcould no longer blow the Yellow Paper Umbrella around, but snow began to fallfrom the sky, a little of which landed upon the canvas of the umbrellasoundlessly. The several dozen cavalrymen had finally reached the depths of the blackwillow forest and had reached a place that was not very far from their currentlocation. Chen Changsheng was very tense as he looked at those horsemen that were only abit more than ten zhang away. He felt like he could even clearly make out theeye color of their commanding officer. Yet the several dozen cavalrymen seemed to have seen nothing at all andscattered to search the rest of the forest. After some time, Chen Changsheng finally confirmed that the cavalry had leftthe forest and abruptly relaxed. He suddenly realized that the two hands thathad held the umbrella had grown stiff from nerves. "Put away the umbrella," Su Li said. He complied and put away the umbrella, tying it to his waist and preparing toleave. "Don't be too rushed. Those horsemen should still be waiting on the perimeterof the forest," Su Li said again. Chen Changsheng did not question it and sat back down by the tree. Then helooked at the Yellow Paper Umbrella and sighed regretfully, "I really didn'tthink that this umbrella would have such a wonderful use!" The edge of Su Li's lips perked up. "You also didn't think about who I was." Chen Changsheng did not continue the conversation. He truly was rather fed upwith it, and he knew that even if he did not answer, this egotistic seniorwould certainly have a way of continuing the conversation himself. As expected, Su Li's two brows slightly rose up as if they wanted to fly away,and he proudly boasted, "This is a magical artifact I designed together withold man Tang. With the Heaven Shrouding Sword that formed the pivot and thecountless precious materials that formed the body, not even a MeditationCultivator was guaranteed to see through the illusion. How could ordinarycavalrymen like these see through my umbrella?" Chen Changsheng wanted to say something but stopped himself. Su Li's brows flew up even higher. "If you have something to say, say it." Chen Changsheng replied, "Senior, this umbrella… is mine." The black willow forest was very quiet and the snow fell without a sound. At the start when they were leaving the hot spring in the snowy ridge, theyhad gotten into an argument over this matter. Chen Changsheng felt that Su Li'sinjuries were too heavy and so did not continue the argument. But now, he couldno longer hold it back, because he felt that this umbrella was his. Su Li coldly laughed. "You know about the origins of this umbrella?" Chen Changsheng had heard Zhexiu speak about some of the stories related tothis umbrella. Coupled with what he had seen and heard in the Garden of Zhouand the snow plains, he basically knew everything, so he nodded his head. Su Li paid no attention to him and narrated the story of the umbrella one moretime. At the very end, he stared into Chen Changsheng’s eyes and declared, "Ifound the sword, and I designed that umbrella. You actually have the audacityto say that this umbrella is yours?" Chen Changsheng answered, "But this umbrella's materials were all found by theOld Master Tang. Back then when Senior left this umbrella behind at the WenshuiTangs, wasn't it because Senior could not find the money?" Su Li's expression gradually grew frigid. "Repeat what you said." Chen Changsheng felt that not being able to find the money was truly ratherimprecise, so he changed his phrasing. "Isn't it because Senior repudiated thedebt that this Yellow Paper Umbrella returned to the Wenshui Tang clan?" Su Li furiously laughed. "As Mount Li's supreme elder, I have wandered thefour seas, plundered houses, and committed every sort of crime—how could I lackmoney?" Chen Changsheng completely ignored his talk about robbing houses andcommitting crimes and earnestly explained, "But Senior still didn't pay." Su Li found he had nothing he could say, so he said nothing. The atmosphere grew rather awkward. Chen Changsheng hesitantly got up andclimbed up a tree to observe the distant movements of the Great Zhou cavalry,at the same time letting the cold wind disperse the heat on his face. After a while, he descended from the tree and said to Su Li, "Senior, Ibelieve that those horsemen have really withdrawn." Su Li ignored him. Chen Changsheng continued, "Senior, if the cavalrymen really are searching foryou, do we still need to hide our tracks? Senior does not believe in us Zhoupeople, but there should still be people that Senior trusts. Just like Seniorsaid before, although there will be people that come to kill Senior there arealso people that would come to save Senior. Although Mount Li is far away,those people that want to save Senior could be very close by!" Su Li looked into his eyes and said, "Herein lies the question, are there morepeople that want to kill me, or more people that want to save me? Who are themore urgent ones?" Chen Changsheng somewhat hesitantly replied, "Senior… don’t you think toodarkly of human nature?" "It's not about nature, but hearts. Human nature cannot be tested, and humanhearts cannot be guessed. Zealous love and rejection are both ultimately aboutprofit. Emperor Taizong is clearly a shameless follower who murdered hisbrothers and compelled his father. Zhou Dufu is clearly a butcher whoslaughtered people without regard. Yet why is that in the eyes of ordinaryfolk, these two seem to have a golden aura about their bodies? Because EmperorTaizong and Zhou Dufu brought them sufficient profits. They expelled the demonsback to Xuelao City and spared the humans living in the Central Plains from theblade of the soldiers and the flames of war, spared them from being enslaved byanother race. Thus they naturally became what the hearts of the people longedfor." Su Li seriously asked him, "And me? I live in this conflict-free and peacefulgeneration. Besides killing a few Demon Generals, I've not done too much. Whathave I done for the human world? What sort of profits have I obtained for thecultivators and the common folk? Enough so that they would lightly journey tenthousand li to help me? Just because my path of the sword is powerful withoutequal, that my bearing is exceptionally free and easy-going?" It was clearly a very serious, even solemn discussion, or perhaps a lecture,but because of how those last few words changed the flavor, Chen Changsheng hadno idea how to continue, so he asked, "What about the southerners?" In the minds of the common people, Mount Li's Junior Martial Uncle Su Li wascurrently the strongest expert of the south. It was also because of hisexistence that the south could protect its final vestiges of dignity and pridein the face of the flourishing Great Zhou. "Of course, there are many southerners who have thanked me, but there are alsomany southerners that loathe me. As I've said these past few days, I've killedmany people. Since I grew up in the south, the vast majority of people I killednaturally are southerners. They all had relatives, fellow students anddisciples, and later generations. How could all those people like me? Ofcourse, even if these people who loathed me were even more numerous, theywouldn't be in the majority, or else wouldn't I be a rat crossing the streetthat everyone is shouting out to kill? The problem lies in the fact that manyyears ago, I did something that made the entire south despair, so the peoplethat dislike me grew in number." "What thing?" Chen Changsheng asked curiously. "A bit more than ten years ago, the bloody case of the Orthodox Academy. Youshould know about it." "I know about it." "Speaking of which, is Daoist Ji really your master?" "Senior… in truth, I'm really not really clear on this matter." "Fine, let's go back to the main topic. In brief, after that incident in theOrthodox Academy, the Pope was severely wounded, the army was in internaldisorder and the Imperial Court at odds with itself. Zhou Tong was randomlykilling people, and the entire capital was in complete chaos. Your Zhou Dynastywas in complete shambles. In the eyes of the southerners, this was undoubtedlytheir best opportunity. Moreover, it must be admitted that the Longevity Sectwas truly very powerful back then, on par with your Li Palace." "And then?" "Just as the southerners had completed their several years of preparation andwere ready to sortie, because of a certain matter, I trampled into theLongevity Sect and slaughtered all those elders. As a result, the things theyhad prepared to do were naturally left unsettled." "Senior, this sort of secret is really too shocking, or else why would Ialways feel like Senior is making up ways to praise yourself?" "Such a tragic affair, what's there to praise about it?"