436 What Are We Discussing Together?

"You guys don't need to worry about it anymore. I'll solve it." TangThirty-Six didn't explain too much to them, only saying, "If I can't solve it,then my name's not Tang Thirty-Six." These words were said with extreme self-confidence, but Chen Changsheng andXuanyuan Po were more concerned with three other problems. Firstly, a lot ofrain had fallen into this bowl of soy milk; how much more diluted was it now?Secondly, that youtiao had been in his hand for such a long time; just howdirty was it now? Lastly, Tang Thirty-Six changing his name was a very commonoccurrence. Why was it that this sort of promise sounded somewhat unreliable? His name originally wasn't Tang Thirty-Six, it was Tang Tang. In addition, hewas in the upper level of Ethereal Opening, so it was a given that he wouldleave the Proclamation of Azure Sky and enter the Proclamation of GoldenDistinction, it was just that his exact rank wasn't known. Presumably, he wouldnot be so fortuitous as to be ranked thirty-sixth again. Moreover, in theprevious changing of ranks for the Proclamation of Azure Sky, he had used theexcuse that his new rank didn't sound very nice to not change his name. Thistime, it would be difficult for him to use a similar reason to pass it off. Xuanyuan Po felt that these words of Tang Thirty-Six were too lacking insincerity. Shaking his head, he walked out of the library. Chen Changsheng wanted to clear this up, but then he had second thoughts. Hereally didn't understand all this very much, so he decided to keep it tohimself. Instead, he asked, "What name are you planning on changing to thistime?" "Let me think…I should be able to get into the top thirty?" "This is the Proclamation of Golden Distinction, not the Proclamation of AzureSky." "So what of it? I'm at the upper level of Ethereal Opening! As long as I'm notlazy, I'll catch up to you eventually, minute by minute," Tang Thirty-Sixproudly declared. His face was caked with dust, but it was possible to see that his skin hadgotten somewhat paler. In addition, he was also much thinner. It was clearlyevident that his time cultivating in the Mausoleum of Books had been incrediblyarduous. At such an age, to be able to enter the Proclamation of Golden Distinction,and to also be so self-confident to think that he could enter the top thirty,was an extremely rare sight and he truly was deserving of being proud. Chen Changsheng was happy for him from the bottom of his heart. He said, "Youhave to continue working hard." Tang Thirty-Six was rather disgusted at these words. "You really are actinglike a principal." Chen Changsheng began to laugh and prepared to apologize when suddenly, TangThirty-Six sighed. "What's wrong?" "As soon as I thought about how you and Xu Yourong ran ahead so quickly, howmy extraordinary achievement actually won't be able to shock the world, only myrelatives back in Wenshui, it really made me lose all my strength." Saying this, Tang Thirty-Six stood up and looked around the library. Heabruptly asked, "It's fine if Princess Luoluo didn't come to welcome me, butwhat of Zhexiu?" In his mind, wolf youth Zhexiu was an excellent student that he had paid aheavy price to buy for the Orthodox Academy. The problems currently facing theOrthodox Academy were exactly problems that required Zhexiu to solve, so hecouldn't let him go. Chen Changsheng said, "There are some things that I haven't had the time totell you." Tang Thirty-Six turned to him and asked, "What things?" Chen Changsheng replied, "Zhexiu is currently in Zhou Prison." From the time Chen Changsheng and Zhexiu left the Mausoleum of Books andentered the Garden of Zhou to this day—this story seemed rather long, buttelling it actually didn't require much time. The youtiao in the soy milkdidn't even have time to soften up. "So…it turns out so many things happened," Tang Thirty-Six concluded. "We candisregard the other matters for the moment, but we spent money on Zhexiu. Wehave to get him out as quickly as possible." Zhexiu was a person the Orthodox Academy had spent money on, so he was aperson of the Orthodox Academy. Since he was a person of the Orthodox Academy,the Orthodox Academy had to protect him. This was a very simple line ofreasoning. Moreover, Zhou Prison was an incredibly terrifying place. To stay in there forone day was like staying for a year in the abyss of the underworld. Chen Changsheng was also very worried about Zhexiu. It was just that theOrthodoxy and the Imperial Court were currently in conflict with each other andthere were also internal problems within the Li Palace. And now, evenArchbishop Mei Lisha was not feeling well. He was quite at a loss for what todo. "From a certain perspective, Zhou Tong is just like that Tianhai Ya'er thatyou guys couldn't deal with, just countless times more terrifying and powerful.To reach his goal, he could do any kind of cruel and deplorable deed. Everyoneknows that he's the Divine Empress's mad dog. Whoever the Empress wants him tobite, he bites. To a person like him, all strategies and plans are useless." "But why does he continue to so doggedly bite on to the Orthodox Academy?" "Because His Holiness has expressed his position. The position of Emperor ofthe Great Zhou will probably return to the Imperial clan, but the Empressclearly doesn't think this way." Chen Changsheng lowered his head and said, "In truth…I really don't understandjust why the position of emperor is so important." Tang Thirty-Six looked at him like he was a freak and said, "It's the Emperorof the Great Zhou, the position of supreme authority! Nobody can resist thetemptation of that throne." Chen Changsheng raised his head and looked back. "But I really don't thinkthat it's that great. I've always felt that the time and energy needed for allthis is really very unreasonable." Tang Thirty-Six looked into his eyes. They were still limpid and clean withoutthe smallest hint of falsehood. He couldn't help but be a little moved. "Do youreally think this way?" "Yes," Chen Changsheng replied. "Chen Changsheng you really are a freak, a real freak, not abnormal likeTianhai Ya'er." Tang Thirty-Six looked at him and said, "You can't understand us, but I alsofind it very difficult to understand you and why you don't care about thesethings." Chen Changsheng thought about it, then said, "Perhaps it's because I've seenthings that are even more important?" "Such as?" "…life and death." Outside of life and death, everything else was other people's business. Life and death are also matters of great importance. There were no other important events in life, only birth and death. These were all things written in the scriptures that people had once said. Chen Changsheng was well-read in the Daoist Canon and could remember a lot,but it was not necessary. It was enough that he remembered the two words 'life'and 'death'. To an ordinary person, death was something they would have to face in thelater part of their one hundred years. To cultivators, death was something they would face in the later part of theirseveral hundred years. To Chen Changsheng, life and death had always been right before his eyes. Itwas always on his mind, making him keep it in his mind constantly. In front of life and death, how could he possibly show any interest to thoseattachments of life? At the very least, before he resolved this problem of his,he would not be too interested in them. Tang Thirty-Six didn't know of Chen Changsheng's problem, but when he heardthe words 'life and death', he for some reason felt like the rain outside thewindow had brought a sudden chill unbefitting of summer. Soon after, Chen Changsheng began to think about other things. He thought about the ill archbishop and the internal disputes of theOrthodoxy, and he also thought about those words that Su Li had once said tohim. He said, "Is this world really so unbearable?" Tang Thirty-Six replied, "At the very least, it's not as clean we hope it tobe, just like how nobody understands how you could become Principal of theOrthodox Academy." Even after he had performed such great merits for the Orthodoxy and the GreatZhou in the Mausoleum of Books and the Garden of Zhou, Chen Changsheng was onlysixteen years old. There was absolutely no justification for why he should bethe Principal of the Orthodox Academy. In the view of Tang Thirty-Six as well as many other people that didn't knowthe inside story, this matter was certainly very fishy. There must have beenmany exchanges carried out that couldn't see the light of day, or perhapsinside information. Chen Changsheng did not believe that these matters could not see the light ofday. He could at least tell Tang Thirty-Six. "My teacher is His Holiness's senior brother." His gaze looked out the window and rested on the verdant campus of theOrthodox Academy. "He was the previous Principal of the Orthodox Academy." Tang Thirty-Six was in absolute shock. He was even more shocked than when ChenChangsheng had reached the part of his story about Su Li and Xunyang City. The bloody incident of the Orthodox Academy ten-odd years ago had directly orindirectly changed the entirety of the human world. Even the Longevity Sect andMount Li in the distant south had been greatly impacted. The previous Principal of the Orthodox Academy, that was a powerful figurethat no one could forget, even though his name had long been struck from theannals of the Orthodoxy and was forbidden from being mentioned in the capital. "No wonder you're just some Daoist youth from the countryside but are actuallyable to know the Daoist Canon so well. No wonder why His Holiness let youbecome the Principal of the Orthodox Academy and seeks to nurture you as hissuccessor…no wonder Zhou Tong would work behind the scenes against the OrthodoxAcademy." Tang Thirty-Six gazed at him, mumbling, "As it turns out, you werethat powerful figure's only successor." Chen Changsheng corrected him, "No, I also have a senior." When he was leaving Xining Village, his teacher had explained a few things tohim, so ever since he had arrived at the capital, he rarely brought up hissenior. Until now, he had only acknowledged this to Xu Yourong and TangThirty-Six. Tang Thirty-Six asked, "You also have a senior? What sort of person is he?" Chen Changsheng pondered this question and realized that Senior Yu Ren wastruly very difficult to describe with words. Perhaps it was because Seniornever spoke? "Senior…is a very extraordinary person." "How extraordinary? Could he be more extraordinary than me?" "Senior is ten thousand times more extraordinary than the past you. Now thatyou've gotten more diligent, Senior is only one hundred times moreextraordinary than you." Chen Changsheng looked at him as he spoke. He wasn't intentionally mocking ordisparaging Tang Thirty-Six. This was a conclusion he had reached after earnestconsideration. Tang Thirty-Six did not speak for a very long time. Finally, he said, "Itseems that he really is a very extraordinary person." Chen Changsheng agreed, "Yes, he's my idol." Tang Thirty-Six suddenly asked, "Just what does your teacher want to do?" After a moment of silence, Chen Changsheng replied, "I don't understand yourmeaning." Tang Thirty-Six looked into his eyes and said, "You should have a clearunderstanding of what I mean." As Daoist Ji was not merely Daoist Ji, but also the previous Principal of theOrthodox Academy, the leader of the opposition against the Divine Empress,everything he did was worthy of careful consideration. He was probably keenly aware that Chen Changsheng's origins could not be kepta secret forever. Through Mei Lisha and the Pope's attitude, one could evenconfirm that he had gotten in touch with the Li Palace before Chen Changshenghad even arrived at the capital. Thus, he should be even more certain that theDivine Empress would, sooner or later, discover Chen Changsheng's origins. Thisalso signified that Chen Changsheng's situation would become extremelydifficult, even incredibly dangerous. But he still insisted on sending ChenChangsheng to the capital to take the examination, and he didn't even give himany explanation. Why was this? Just because of that engagement with Xu Yourong? This was a very important question. It was just that Chen Changsheng had neverthought about it, or perhaps, he had intentionally not allowed himself to thinkabout it. Until Tang Thirty-Six pierced through this window paper. "Reporting to the Lord. The newest information has been sent over from HanshanCounty. There really was a person practicing medicine called Daoist Ji in thatarea, but by the time the scout cavalry had hurried over, that person hadalready disappeared." "It is Principal Shang, not even the Empress could kill him back then. Howcould we possibly be able to find him?" Zhou Tong sat behind the table, not raising his head as he carefully lookedover the dozen or so case reports that had been sent over last night. The subordinate stood in front of the table and said in a low voice,"According to the reports from Xining Village, we've verified, Daoist Ji…thetraitor Shang really does have another disciple."