534 Su Li's Letters

"I was guessing." Xu Yourong gazed towards the distant horizon that wasmuddled with the twilight and snowflakes, her small face revealing a faintsense of longing. "Since such powerful figures as Teacher and Martial Uncledecided to leave this world, besides a place of legends like the Sacred LightContinent, where would they go?" Chen Changsheng fell silent, then asked, "How do you get to the Sacred LightContinent?" How do you get to Fortune Peace Road? How do you get to the Bridge ofHelplessness? How do you get to the Orthodox Academy? How do you get to the LiPalace? How  do you get to the place that exists only in legends? This question was truthfully rather preposterous, but his expression was veryserious. Xu Yourong was also very serious. She diligently recalled that conversationthe Divine Empress and her teacher had when she was small. After a very long time, a little unsure, she spoke two words, "Cloud Grave?" Chen Changsheng fell silent once more. This silence persisted for much longerthan the previous one. The Cloud Grave was the grave of all the clouds of the world, a most remoteregion of the continent. The region was bereft of sunlight year-round and wasincomparably enigmatic and unknown. But he was very familiar with the CloudGrave. He knew that without the boundless clouds and mist was an incomparablytall mountain. This mountain pierced through the clouds, its final destinationunknown. Because this mountain was in the three hundred li behind XiningVillage, he had once gone there. He knew that in the mists and clouds of thewetland encircling the peak were countless fierce monsters, countless dangerousand murderous cultivators, as well as several noble clans of previous dynastieswho lived out bitter lives. Only today did he know that this mountain might be a path to other worlds. "In the future, can we go to the Sacred Light Continent and look around?" heasked of Xu Yourong. Even if the legend was real, even if there really was a place on the otherside of the sea of stars called the Sacred Light Continent, since no one knewabout it, it might be the case that there was simply no one who had been ableto successfully break through that spatial barrier and discover that otherworld. He and Xu Yourong were cultivating geniuses, but they were still faraway from the Divine Domain. To them, the Sacred Light Continent was nothingmore than an ethereal name and some speculations. Yet he had so seriously sentout his invitation, perhaps several centuries in advance. At this point, he had long forgotten the fact that it was highly likely thathe wouldn't be able to live past twenty. Xu Yourong smiled and agreed. "Fine." Chen Changsheng thought to himself that it truly was fine. …… …… Upon returning to the Orthodox Academy and walking into the first floor of thehouse, he found to his surprise that the door to Zhexiu's room was open and SuMoyu and the rest were all inside. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked with curiosity as he walked in. Su Moyu replied, "Ever since this morning, Tang Tang has been finding peopleand asking them whether 'love at first sight' is actually something that canhappen in this world." Tang Thirty-Six looked at Chen Changsheng and bitterly laughed. Chen Changsheng grew nervous and asked back, "How did you guys end up randomlytalking about this?" "Who knows, he started acting all strange today." Feeling somewhat wronged,Xuanyuan Po complained, "I seriously answered, but all I got from him was around of curses." Standing by the window, Zhexiu suddenly asked, "Su Li left, but she shouldstill be at Mount Li, right?" Chen Changsheng was given a scare, believing that his meeting with Xu Youronghad been uncovered. In the next moment, he realized that this was a request forconfirmation. "The news brought by the southern diplomatic mission should not be mistaken." As Tang Thirty-Six spoke, he once more shot a glance at Chen Changsheng. Chen Changsheng ignored him, asking Zhexiu with concern, "What do you plan todo?" In the present Orthodox Academy, from its principal and superintendent all theway to its head of housekeeping and academic advisor, all were extremely young,none exceeding the age of twenty. They were all youths and so were naturallymost concerned about that beauty and sadness most entrenched in the minds ofyouths—besides the engagement and battle between Chen Changsheng and XuYourong, there was also the story of Zhexiu and Qi Jian. Zhexiu looked out the window at the snow, a tinge of ferocity flickeringacross his weather-beaten yet still somewhat young and inexperienced face. "After I finish with everything in the capital, I'm going to Mount Li to pickher up." Chen Changsheng and the rest looked at each other in dismay. They had clearlyheard that Zhexiu had not used the word 'see', but the word 'pick'. They could almost see the countless battles that would take place on Mount Liin the future and those speckles of wolf blood. This was Zhexiu looking for death, but the problem was that there was as ofyet no one in this world that could prevent from seeking his death. Tang Thirty-Six did not want Zhexiu to descend into madness. Sending a signalto Su Moyu with his eyes, he asked, "What do you need to do in the capital?" Su Moyu tacitly understood, thinking, regardless of how he responds, we shouldtalk up the difficulty of the matter. Only this way can we delay from sendingoff Zhexiu to his death at Mount Li. "I want to kill Zhou Tong." Zhexiu turned and looked at them all with anemotionless expression. The room was very quiet. Tang Thirty-Six said nothing for a while, then finally stated, "Then let'sjust break it up for now. In any case, this isn't something that can beresolved in just eight or ten years." Not long after they all dispersed, he came to Chen Changsheng's room and,without the slightest concern for his body caked with mud and snow, impolitelysat on that bed so clean that it was hard to even find a hair. He then pointedat Chen Changsheng and said with almost absolute certainty, "There is no suchthing in the world as love at first sight." Chen Changsheng glanced at the muddy water dripping from his clothes,controlled his emotions, and asked, "Just what do you want to say?" "Ah, I didn't speak accurately enough. Of course, there's a possibility thatyou fell in love with Xu Yourong at first sight. A guy like Qiushan Jun, soperfect that even I'm a little jealous of him, has a deeply-rooted affectionfor her, so it's no surprise that a little kid who's never experienced romancewould fall in love." Tang Thirty-Six looked at him and continued, "But it's impossible for her tofall in love with you at first sight, so there's something fishy about thismatter." Chen Changsheng didn't care very much about this problem, but he was justrather curious. "Why is it that she can't?" Tang Thirty-Six pointed at the dressing table by the wall, saying, "Go look ina mirror." Chen Changsheng obediently walked over and examined himself in a mirror. "I'mnot ugly." Tang Thirty-Six's mouth dropped, powerless to speak. He once more confirmed that Xu Yourong and Chen Changsheng really were peoplethat made others speechless. As Chen Changsheng looked at himself in the mirror, he chuckled. Tang Thirty-Six angrily roared, "In any case, it's impossible for her to fallin love with you just after seeing you on the Bridge of Helplessness! Even ifshe imagined you countless times because of the engagement, it's stillimpossible, because it's not that you're ugly, but you're far from beingdescribed as handsome, let alone as handsome as me!" Chen Changsheng turned around to him and asked, "And then?" Tang Thirty-Six stood up and walked in front of him. Staring into his eyes, hesaid, "I'm worried that she has some sort of plan for you." No matter who it was, as long as they didn't know of that story of the Gardenof Zhou, they would definitely think something was wrong upon discovering thatChen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were dating. Chen Changsheng understood, so he wasn't conflicted, much less angry. Heattempted to ease these anxieties, saying, "Relax, there's nothing going on." He spoke naturally, but firmly. Seeing his expression, Tang Thirty-Six fell silent, then suddenly announced,"You've met before." Chen Changsheng thought of Xu Yourong's order and shook his head. Tang Thirty-Six sneered, "She would not fall in love with you at first sight,yet she still loves you. This can only mean that this was not your firstmeeting." This conclusion could be said to be full of mistakes, yet invulnerable. ChenChangsheng didn't know what to do, attempting to explain, "We used to exchangeletters when we were little, so we can't be considered strangers." "Lie, you continue to lie," Tang Thirty-Six emotionlessly declared to him. Chen Changsheng was truly at a loss. He very seriously requested, "Youabsolutely must keep this a secret. You can't tell anyone else." Tang Thirty-Six's face instantly relaxed. He moved forward to ChenChangsheng's shoulder, not forgetting to close the window, then raised his browand said, "Who am I? You still can't rest assured around me?" If all the details of this story, big and small, were to be narrated oncemore, how much time, how many words, how many… After hearing what had happened in the Garden of Zhou, Tang Thirty-Six stoodin a shocked daze for a very long time. Finally, he looked at Chen Changsheng and once more sighed with that identicalquestion, "Are you a pig?" Chen Changsheng was quite ashamed, lacking any confidence to refute thesewords. He thought of another thing and stated, "I don't understand why shedoesn't want me to tell of this matter to anyone else." Tang Thirty-Six found himself without words to explain. "You don't understand?You truly are a pig." After being insulted twice in succession, Chen Changsheng finally felt a bituncomfortable. "Wasn't she the same in not recognizing me in the Garden ofZhou?" "So they say that fate is ordained by the heavens, and you two are called amatch made in heaven." Tang Thirty-Six opened the window. Gazing up at the starry sky after the snowhad stopped and the clouds had dispersed, he deeply sighed. Chen Changsheng was very happy at these words, saying, "Thank you for yourblessing." Tang Thirty-Six turned around and said sternly, "You and Xu Yourong are a pighusband and pig wife—of course you're very suitable for each other." …… …… Su Li's two letters were strange, a fact Chen Changsheng had affirmed theinstant he had taken them. Thus, he had not opened them in front of Xu Yourong.He waited until late at night when no one was around to walk alone to thekitchen by the lake. After making his preparations, he used the Stainless Swordto open the letter. The Stainless Sword could be called the sharpest sword in the world. It easilycut a thin line through the yellow envelope. However, his brow still wrinkled because he could clearly sense that as theStainless Sword cut through the envelope, it encountered innumerable fine yettenacious strands of Qi. Those strands of Qi were like strips of metal. If theStainless Sword were not sharp, then it might have simply been impossible forhim to open the letter with his current level of strength. He took in a few deep breaths to calm his mind, then took the letter out ofthe envelope. This was a very thin and commonplace sheet of paper, but when he unfolded itto read over it by the light of the fire, countless thin strands of swordintent shot out of the paper. They transformed into snowflakes like thoseoutside and also like the willow leaves on the Luo River at the end of summer. Swishswishswishswish! Countless sharp and even shrill sounds resounded abouthis body. It was all sword intent. The iron pots on the stove were instantly cut intonumberless pieces, the ceramic tiles embedded on the stove were cut intocountless pieces, and soon after, the firewood in the kitchen was also cut intocountless pieces. The blazing firewood in the kitchen oven was also cut intopieces, sending sparks everywhere. Even the burning flames seem to be cut intopieces.