442 The Bell Rings Out the Call to Return Home

The great hall of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education was very quiet. Luoluoremained seated, not coming over. The Pope calmly gazed at Chen Changsheng, saying, "It is my view of the world,so it can only change because of the world." Chen Changsheng contemplated this, then said, "I still don't understand." The Pope calmly replied, "You do not need to understand…old people like ushave experienced too many storms, seen too many sunrises and sunsets. We havealready become numb to many things. Often we regard the ways of the world asvapid and dull. We do not mind using a few methods that are not so beautiful,and even do some things that go against our own convictions. However, in manycases, we do things this way not because we want to protect something or theother, but because we clearly understand where our responsibilities lie." "Responsibility?" Chen Changsheng asked. "Yes, the longer you live, the greater your responsibility," the Pope replied."The responsibility we have towards this world only gets heavier and heavier astime passes by. We have a responsibility to seek an even better future forhumanity. For this, we can bear any bad reputation, disregard any price. Backthen, I became an enemy of your teacher. Now, I have become an enemy of theEmpress. Both were for this reason." Saying this, the Pope walked into the depths of the great hall and then didnot emerge again. Chen Changsheng and Luoluo walked out of the great hall, walked down the stonesteps, and came to the row of maple trees in front of the Bureau ofEcclesiastic Education. The maple trees in spring were green, but in the twilight, they were the redcolor of blood. Now in the night, they had become black. Originally, all colors were painted by the heavens and the earth. After not too much time had passed, the heavy ringing of a bell rose up fromthe hall. A bell also rang out from the Li Palace. The bell rang out. It was the call to return home. The scriptures of the Orthodoxy had always held that the death of a person wasnot like the extinguishing of a lantern. The soul would not stay on this worldbut would return to the sea of stars. Amongst the ocean of stars in the night sky was the Divine Kingdom, Heaven;this was the true eternal homeland. In the instant the bell rang, Archbishop Mei Lisha's soul calmly departed thehuman world, his divine soul silently returning to the sea of stars. There was no conspiracy and also no grand and magnificent conclusion, only acalm and ordinary departure in compliance with the rules of life, just likemany ordinary old people. But, in the end, he was no ordinary old man. He was the eldest member of theOrthodoxy, an Archbishop of the Sacred Halls that held the highest status. He had seen three Popes appointed and four generations of Holy Maidens. He hadseen Emperor Taizong, he had seen Zhou Dufu, he had seen Chen Xuanba, and hehad seen Wang Zhice. He had witnessed life and death in the Hundred HerbGarden, witnessed blood and fire rage through the Orthodox Academy. He had seencountless years and knew countless secrets. As he departed, those years andsecrets were buried together. Hearing the ringing of the bell, Chen Changsheng raised his head to gaze atthe starry sky, the windblown leaves sometimes obscuring and sometimes cuttingoff the night sky. He did not know which star was the archbishop's Fated Star, much less see it,but he knew that the star was most likely growing dim at this very moment. If death really was the soul returning to the sea of stars, why would thatstar grow dim? The bell continued to ring and carriages arrived in a constant stream fromvarious places in the capital. Powerful figures, one by one, came to the Bureauof Ecclesiastic Education and came forward to personally offer theircondolences. Chen Changsheng stood amongst the trees and watched this scene,saying nothing. He saw the head of the Tianhai clan, saw Xue Xingchuan, saw MoYu, saw Prince Chen Liu who was forcefully suppressing his tears, and he saw XuShiji. He did not want to meet with these people. With Luoluo leading him by thehand, they crossed through the trees and came to a relatively lonely mainstreet. Together, they returned to the Orthodox Academy. This was the first time in a very long time that Luoluo stayed the night atthe Orthodox Academy. Jin Yulu followed them all the way. Knowing thattonight's circumstances were special, he did not say anything. Chen Changsheng brought her directly to the lakeshore. They climbed up thegreat banyan tree and then sat side by side, gazing up at the countless starsin the sky above and the lake below as he softly spoke to her. He spoke of many matters, concerning Xining Village, concerning the Garden ofZhou, concerning the many things he believed to be sinister, bloody and cruelon his journey south. Tonight he told her everything he had not told her lasttime. Luoluo quietly listened, not saying anything. "Maturing is a very challenging thing. Because it's difficult to grasp theconditions within, once a fruit has matured, it's very easy for it to rot." Chen Changsheng continued, "I still persistently believe that life should notbe a battle." With these words, he let Luoluo go to sleep while he remained seated on thegreat banyan tree, contemplating a few matters. Su Li had taught him three swords. The Intellectual Sword was very powerful,involving every sort of calculation and deduction. That was a battle. TheBlazing Sword was very powerful, involving every sort of method for ignitingand blazing his life. That was a battle. But the one he really loved was stillthe Stupid Sword, because the Stupid Sword required courage and it was not abattle. He only wanted to live and had never thought that he would need to battle. Hehad never liked to battle, but to live, there were times when battle wasinevitable, especially when one needed to bear some responsibility. Even now, he did not understand what responsibility Archbishop Mei Lishawanted him to bear, but he had comprehended that sort of bearing. Atop the great banyan tree, he closed his eyes yet did not sleep for theentire night. At five o'clock in the morning, he opened his eyes, just as he had normallydone every day, only this time his eyes were bloodshot. He took five deepbreaths, steadied his heart and cleared his mind, then descended from the tree.After making a circuit around the lake and loosening his somewhat stiff andaching body, he went to the kitchen and ate two bowls of the porridge XuanyuanPo had made. He even made an exception and ate half a salted duck egg. "Today, there should be many people visiting the Bureau of EcclesiasticEducation to offer their condolences. You should go as a representative of theOrthodox Academy," he said to Luoluo. Thinking about the match that would take place today, Luoluo did not want toleave. However, she found herself incapable of resisting Chen Changsheng's eyesand nodded her head in assent. As the morning faded away, the area outside Hundred Flowers Lane graduallybegan to grow lively. The space under the temporary awning was already full ofseated people. The best seats did not belong those people with the most power,but rather the painters and storytellers of the Four Great Markets. They hadthe responsibility of recording all the details of today's match and thenspreading it to the entire capital and continent. Zhou Ziheng had already arrived. He stood in front of the Orthodox Academy'sgate, his mood somewhat regretful. To use his Star Condensation cultivation and challenge a youth at EtherealOpening, it was shameful no matter how he thought about it. In the end,however, his opponent was the Principal of the Orthodox Academy. Thus, hebelieved that this fight today would inevitably cause his reputation to greatlyincrease. He didn't dare to say how much he would rise in the Proclamation ofLiberation, but he could at least spread his name to many more people. As an honored guest, reputation was often more important than strength.