522 Mind Still in a Mess

This was the first time after the beginning of this battle on the Bridge ofHelplessness that the two had spoken. It was also the first conversation between ‘Chen Changsheng’ and ‘Xu Yourong’. Xu Yourong had said, "I lost." Chen Changsheng had said, "Can you say that again?" If the person saying this had been Tang Thirty-Six, then these words wouldhave assuredly been imbued with a derisive scorn intent on doing harm, and XuYourong would assuredly have used her Heavenly Phoenix true blood to burn thisbridge to ashes. However, she knew of Chen Changsheng's temperament and knewthat he had guessed upon something and was rather nervous. As a result, she wasnot angry, instead giving a silent smile. The white gauze obscured her face and also her smile. It was only possible tovaguely feel the scent flowing through the air. Suddenly, the wind and snow stirred and the white gauze hanging from XuYourong's curtained hat lifted up. This battle had been crisscrossed by sword intent, especially from thefrightening power of the Sword of Great Light. Her dress and hat had theprotection of true essence, but the white gauze was not so lucky. The white gauze drifting in the breeze was cut apart and slowly drifted to theground. The misfortune of the white gauze was Chen Changsheng's fortune. Because he finally saw her face. It was a face beautiful beyond compare, an appearance like a painting, skinthat seemed so tender that it could be broken by a gust of wind, so pale thatit was whiter than snow. She truly was very beautiful, beautiful enough to seize the morale of theentire army, to deprive the world of light. But to Chen Changsheng, this face was a stranger's. Just as he was assailed by regret, he saw her eyes. It was a sublime pair of phoenix eyes, blazing with the radiance of countlessstars, their beauty dazzling to the eyes. However, he opened his own eyes wide and stared into hers, diving all the wayinto their deepest depths. Here, there were no stars, no light, no divinity, no responsibility, only thebare mountain after a fresh rain. At the moment, this pair of moving eyes contained many words, and muchamusement as well. He definitely recognized this pair of eyes. He could never forget this pair ofeyes, and had believed that he would never be able to see these eyes again,until now, in this moment of tranquility after this battle of rain and snow onthe Bridge of Helplessness, when the breeze brushed away the white gauzecovering his opponent's face… A while ago, as he sat in front of the Mausoleum of Zhou, he had vividlyexperienced what it meant for sorrow to surge forward like a tide. Now, he finally understood that the phrase 'like being struck by athunderbolt' written in books was not exaggerated, but a real sensation. In the slightly gloomy snowy sky, an invisible thunderbolt seemed to form anddirectly strike him. His body grew incomparably rigid and incapable of speech. The hands grippingthe swords were ice-cold, but his body was blazing like an inferno. With great difficulty, he dragged his eye away from hers. In an incrediblystupid fashion, he turned around and stared upstream at the endless white skyand the waters of the Luo River. After a while, he turned around and looked at her, opening his mouth as ifready to say something. In the end, however, nothing came out. With no otherchoice, he turned back to stare at the uninhabited upper reaches of the LuoRiver. He was worried that if he continued to look at her, his already faintlytrembling legs might completely give out. Seeing his awkward and comical appearance, the amusement in Xu Yourong's eyesintensified. She covered her mouth and chuckled, flowers blooming in her eyes. She walked up to the edge of the bridge and stood at his side. Gazingupstream, she calmly asked, "Is there anything nice to see?" "You…can you not say anything to me right now? I'm in a bit of a mess at themoment." Chen Changsheng's face was a little red. This wasn't because of the lingeringpower of the Rhino Horn Finger, nor was it because of the cold weather, butbecause he was nervous. As he gazed at the Luo River and smelled the faint fragrance coming from hisside, he felt flustered and didn't even dare glance to his side. Before the match, he had also been very nervous, so he had looked under thebridge at the snow falling into the Luo River. By seeing the moving andunmoving unite as one, he was able to calm his mind. But now, no matter how he looked at the snow falling into the Luo River, hefound it impossible to calm down. Xu Yourong gently pushed her hair behind her ear. Gazing at his profile andnot wishing for him to be too hard-pressed, she withdrew her smile and calmlyasked, "With your last technique, why did you not act according to position ofthe Three Stars Constellation like you did at the very beginning, but insteadsuddenly brought your sword level with your brow?" As expected, when discussing swords, Chen Changsheng calmed down a little. Hemumbled, "I guessed." When Su Li had passed the Intellectual Sword down to him, he said it veryclearly, there are many times where one just has to guess. This statementseemed rather unreasonable, but with her talent, Xu Yourong could naturallyunderstand. Originally, she had not planned to tease him, but she couldn't helpherself, "Then why haven't you been able to guess who I am?" She spoke very calmly, but if one listened carefully, there was a faintmeaning within. Chen Changsheng had already gone stupid. His head lowered, he found it simplyimpossible to speak. Xu Yourong said nothing more. Quietly standing at his side, she watched as thesnow fell into the Luo River. …… …… From the moment the battle started, the two banks of the Luo River were filledwith cheers and commentary that reached to the skies. When the fog of snow metwith the mist of rain and the temple sword and Stainless Sword burst forth withthe brightest colors, the cheers and commentary reached their peak. The commonpeople could not understand this match, but the awe-inspiring scene on theBridge of Helplessness was already enough to move them. This battle that had been the focus of all had finally concluded, but thecheers and commentary continued because the common people could not tell justwho had obtained the final victory. "In my view, it should be Little Principal Chen. In the end, didn't the HolyMaiden back down first?" "Both of them were injured, and Little Principal Chen's injuries are heavier.For what reason can you say the Holy Maiden lost?" "But can't you see that in the end, both of the swords are in Little PrincipalChen's hands?" "And what does that mean? The Holy Maiden didn't even use her strongesttechniques. Did you see the legendary Phoenix blood, huh?" "Don't tell me you can confirm that Little Principal Chen used his fullstrength?" From the front of the river bank quickly came the news that Xu Yourong hadconceded to Chen Changsheng's sword. The two banks of the Luo River were momentarily peaceful as the crowdgradually digested this fact. "Eh…quickly, look at the bridge!" Countless gazes shifted to the distant Bridge of Helplessness and saw ChenChangsheng and Xu Yourong standing side by side at that place. They even seemedto be softly chatting about something. After a moment, they stopped talking andcalmly stood there, letting the drifting snow fall upon them. Because they wererather far from the crowd, they looked almost like they were leaning againsteach other. The noise of discussion on the two banks of the Luo River gradually fadedaway, leaving only an eerie silence. The crowd stared at the scene on theBridge of Helplessness with quite some astonishment. Just a moment ago, theywere wielding swords and fighting each other, and now they were standing sideby side and viewing the scenery? What was going on here? "The Holy Maiden…this was showing mercy, huh?" Amongst the common people spectating, very few supported Chen Changsheng, andeven these people remained silent, because they could see that this battle hadbeen marvelous beyond compare, but it was very obvious that neither side hadintentions of making it one of life-or-death. The crowds could not understandthose wondrous sword techniques displayed in the rain and snow, but now whenthey saw the scene on the bridge, they faintly sensed a certain implicationwithin. The scene on the Bridge of Helplessness was very beautiful. Standing together,they were so harmonious, so calm, that the crowd could not bear to break it bymaking some noise. Only after a very long time had passed did the crowds onboth banks of the Luo River gradually begin to sigh, each one of them havingthe same meaning. "Why must such a pair of immortal companions point their swords at each other?" ……