550 Continuing Matters of the Past in Front of the Broken Monolith

Ji Jin, from Scholartree Manor of the south. After swearing a blood oath andbecoming a Monolith Guardian, he could not leave the Mausoleum of Books for therest of his life. Last year, this person attempted to help the Scholartree Manor student ZhongHui to view the monoliths and comprehend the Dao so that he could surpass ChenChangsheng and Gou Hanshi. He had issued many biting jeers and criticismstowards Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi's method of comprehending the monoliths,but Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi ultimately used facts to shame him intosilence. Ji Jin stared at Chen Changsheng, his eyes containing hostility and hatred. Although the Monolith Guardians could never leave the Mausoleum of Books, theyweren't cut off from the world. Bit by bit, news from outside the Mausoleum ofBooks had also made its way into his ears. Chen Changsheng took a single day to view the entire front mausoleum; he hadbecome the youngest Principal of the Orthodox Academy; he had gone to theGarden of Zhou; he might have died but then turned out to have survived; hejourneyed together with Su Li back south; he traveled one thousand li on thepath of the sword in a single day and surpassed cultivation levels to defeatStar Condensation cultivators, and even defeated the pride of the generation,Xu Yourong; he had finally been confirmed as successor to the Orthodoxy… Zhong Hui, the student of Scholartree Manor that he had placed his hopes on,had obtained third rank on the first banner of last year's Grand Examination,beneath Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi. In the brief span of a year, Zhong Huihad achieved enormous progress and shocked the entire south, but how could hebe compared to Chen Changsheng? Crucially, this place was the Mausoleum of Books, the Mausoleum of Books thathe had been willing to offer his life and freedom for so that he could remain! For what reason can you just casually walk in! Xu Yourong did not recognize Ji Jin, but she could perceive that this MonolithGuardian with unfathomable cultivation was clearly hostile towards ChenChangsheng. Chen Changsheng seemed to understand where Ji Jin's anger came from. Heslightly bowed his body, not saying anything. Based on principle, it was Ji Jin that should have bowed to him, but he feltthat given Ji Jin's age and his life spent here, he should greet first. But Ji Jin seemed to have no intention of greeting him, only staring. Xu Yourong was very calm, her eyes gazing at Ji Jin gradually growing brighter. Chen Changsheng shook his head and led her to the other side of the mountainpath to walk past. The two hands extending from Ji Jin's sleeves were trembling, and when ChenChangsheng and Xu Yourong brushed past his body as they walked past, theirveins were even showing. In the end, he did nothing, because he did not dare. He had lived these last few years in depression and wished deeply to vent hisfeelings. Chen Changsheng was naturally the best target. But even though he was in the Mausoleum of Books, his family and ScholartreeManor still remained outside of it. If he did not wish for his family and Scholartree Manor to be burned to ash bythe Orthodoxy's fury, he could do nothing. He did not need to bow to Chen Changsheng, but he could not move against him. …… …… The sun gradually rose but the clouds had already dispersed. The capital inwinter had a different feeling, imbued with a sort of broad and open beauty. Standing amidst the trees of the mausoleum and gazing at the distant streetsof the capital, Chen Changsheng thought of how he used to sit on the greatbanyan tree in the Orthodox Academy and gaze at the streets with Luoluo. Hesaid, "I once had Luoluo help me investigate any information on you. Since…I'vefound you, I feel I should tell this matter to her, so I mentioned it in aletter I wrote to her." Xu Yourong softly replied, "When I was at Mount Li, I had thought you weredead, so I told Senior Brother of the events in the Garden of Zhou. SeniorBrother was somewhat worried about me. A few days ago, after eating beef ribs,I wrote a letter to him." After meeting that day on the Bridge of Helplessness and then eating beef ribstogether, they had confirmed some things and should now clear some thingsup—this was a very responsible attitude. Even though he and she had noexperience in this aspect, nor had they thought about them specifically, theystill did it. Their mentioning of these two letters was naturally their own way ofdisplaying their intentions. From the Garden of Zhou to now, he and she had displayed their intentions toeach other many times, but they had always used rather special methods, likebrushing away snow, like touching shoulders, like writing letters to otherpeople. Chen Changsheng's eyes were very clear, like a small stream, so it was easy tosee the happiness that swam through his eyes like fish. Xu Yourong whispered, "I had you come to the Mausoleum of Books, notbecause…because of a serious matter." The words were not complete—the 'not because' in this sentence should reallyhave been 'not merely because'. To meet in the Mausoleum of Books, what serious matter could there be?Naturally, it had to do with the Mausoleum of Books. Behind them was the monolith hut of the Reflecting Monolith. On the surface ofthe black monolith, the poem was exceptionally vivid, but those remaining lineswere still nigh incomprehensible. Chen Changsheng approached the monolith and, recalling the time last year hespent viewing this monolith, felt somewhat emotional. "At the time, I was cooking rice in the grass hut while watching the lightfall upon the fence…" Without excluding anything, he explained what he had experienced as he viewedthe monoliths and comprehended the Dao as well as the various methods he hadused. Xu Yourong quietly listened, her two hands behind her constantly shaking inthe refreshing breeze. It was like she was moving the Fated Star Plate,performing calculations according to his words. After Chen Changsheng finished, she began to explain her experience and gainsfrom the first time she viewed the Reflecting Monolith, "…so in essence, theshades are also fluctuations in the rays of light." Chen Changsheng was somewhat unsure, replying, "The ink of the rubbings havetheir own varying shades—might not some meaning be lost?" Xu Yourong replied, "The Heavenly Tome rubbings kept in South Stream Templewere made by the first Holy Maiden by using the will of the heavens to imprinton her soul and then placing this imprint on new monoliths. At least twenty tothirty percent of the true meaning is retained." Upon hearing these words, Chen Changsheng could not help but feel a limitlessreverence to the Holy Maiden that founded the southern faction of the Orthodoxy. To only preserve twenty to thirty percent of the true meaning sounded like arather poor example, but it must be known that the true meaning here was thetrue meaning of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths. The first Holy Maiden had actuallybeen able to take this true meaning, imprint it on her soul, and then once morelay out those lines. This really could be regarded as a divine ability. This sort of rubbing of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths was naturally completelydifferent from those rubbings sold at the stalls in front of the Plum GardenInn. "Moreover, I wasn't speaking of rubbings just now. The shades I was speakingof are the shades of the brush strokes on the Heavenly Tome Monoliths," XuYourong explained. Chen Changsheng was somewhat slow to come around. He asked, "You came to theMausoleum of Books to view the monoliths before?" Xu Yourong said somewhat embarrassedly, "When I was five, I was dragged hereby the Empress." Chen Changsheng fell silent, thinking, truly a person that makes othersspeechless. After they finished viewing the Reflecting Monolith, they moved on to the nextHeavenly Tome Monolith. They would occasionally see a few monolith viewers, butthere were not many, and those people had stayed many years within theMausoleum of Books. Their Dao hearts had long been still and all their focuswas placed upon the monoliths. Thus, the pair's arrival was not noticed. The two casually strolled within the mausoleum, discussing their firstexperiences viewing the monoliths and their enlightenments. Now that theycompared notes, they benefitted even more. When they arrived before the broken monolith, the winter sun had alreadyreached its zenith. There was no one in front of this monolith hut. Chen Changsheng walked intothe monolith hut and gazed at the shorn monolith base in silence. Xu Yourong walked by his side and shook her head at him. Softly, but firmly,she said, "Don't." ……