553 Life is Difficult to Bear…

"I will learn how to grow accustomed to treating these stone pearls asbeautiful pieces of jewelry and not Heavenly Tome Monoliths." Xu Yourong looked at Chen Changsheng and calmly continued, "And now, I'msomewhat hungry." No one had lived in Xun Mei's grass hut for a long time, so it was covered indust, but all sorts of tools and utensils were still at the ready. Chen Changsheng picked two cabbages and a dozen or so peppers from the garden,covered a few slices of dried meat in honey, and steamed them. Adding on somewhite rice, he cooked a fragrant meal. Xu Yourong ate very contentedly, but also with some embarrassment. Afterwards, they discussed the next Grand Examination and next year's BoilingStone Summit, as well as how they would leave the Mausoleum of Books. In order to avoid being seen by others and prevent anybody from guessing, thusallowing the capital to continue to buzz with rumors, the two agreed to leaveseparately. Xu Yourong would leave first while Chen Changsheng would stay inthe Mausoleum of Books for another day. However, they failed to understand thatattempting to hide it only made it more conspicuous and that this would utterlyfail to conceal their relationship from others. One might even consider it as deceiving themselves. Yet before Xu Yourong could leave, the small yard received an uninvitedvisitor. The visitor was the Monolith Guardian from Scholartree Manor, Ji Jin. Perhapsit was because he had recognized Xu Yourong's identity or had guessed atsomething, but he stood on the other side of the fence, his expression ratherdesolate and his face rather pale. The hatred and unwillingness in his eyeswere no more, replaced with complex and indescribable emotions. Chen Changsheng was prepared to speak when Xu Yourong indicated that he shouldhold. Her sleeves fluttering, she walked to the fence. Gazing at Ji Jin, sheindifferently said, "I will propose to cancel your qualifications to beMonolith Guardian and have you expelled from the Mausoleum of Books." Sunlight leaked through the branches of the plum and orange trees and fellupon her face. This sublimely beautiful face was instantly suffused with a divine and augustmajesty. Because as she spoke, she was the Holy Maiden of the south that reigned above. To become a Monolith Guardian of the Mausoleum of Books was an incrediblydifficult task. One needed to swear an incredibly extreme blood oath thatseemed to contain some of the power of the Heavenly Dao. Once one swore the blood oath and became a Monolith Guardian, one wouldpossess the lifelong dream of cultivators, the freedom to interact with theHeavenly Tome Monoliths at any time of day. Simultaneously, they would alsolose the freedom to leave the Mausoleum of Books. For the rest of their lives,they could only research and study the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, forbidden fromtaking one step outside the Mausoleum of Books. From the time the Orthodoxy established this rule to now, countless years hadpassed, but this rule had only been broken once—that was the time when Su Liinvaded the Mausoleum of Books and poured a torrent of abuse on those twoMonolith Guardians that had come from the Mount Li Sword Sect, then forcefullybrought them back to Mount Li. Those two Monolith Guardians later on became the two elders of Mount Li'sDiscipline Hall and were also one of the principal causes of Mount Li'sinternal strife. The allure of the Mausoleum of Books to cultivators was far too powerful, justlike a dream that was impossible to end. The more profound one's insights into the Dao, the more one researched theHeavenly Tome Monoliths, the less one was willing to leave. Even a great Daoist possessing such extraordinary talent as Xun Mei tookseveral decades to wake up. To cancel out the blood oath of a Monolith Guardian and expel him from theMausoleum of Books was something only the Pope and the Holy Maiden werequalified to do, and this Monolith Guardian would suffer the backlash of theblood oath and suffer extreme pains. Upon hearing Xu Yourong's words and seeing Ji Jin's face instantly pale andbody incessantly shudder, Chen Changsheng became vigilant. In his view, for Ji Jin to be humiliated in this way, to receive so harsh apunishment, he would be so furious that he might even go mad and attack XuYourong. But Ji Jin did not angrily lash out. After a moment, he gradually calmed.Separated from Xu Yourong by the fence, he bowed. He clasped his hands and raised them up, seeming exceptionally reverential. His voice trembled, clearly very excited and also somewhat disappointed. "Many thanks for the Holy Maiden's pity. Ji Jin is endlessly grateful—onlywith death can I repay." As he watched Ji Jin's figure gradually vanish into the forest, ChenChangsheng felt rather confused. "Why?" "Because he wanted to leave." "I hear…that the backlash of the blood oath is incredibly frightening." "In the end, it's not as frightening as having no freedom." "But didn't they become Monolith Guardians of their own will?" "As time goes by, the thoughts of people often change in ways that they wouldnever have imagined at the very beginning." Xu Yourong walked to his side, saying, "To many cultivators, the Mausoleum ofBooks is the most beautiful dream and also the longest imprisonment." Chen Changsheng remembered that he had once heard similar words. She continued, "In fact, I've long held this opinion. I intend to convince themartial aunts back in the temple and then discuss with the Li Palace to removethis rule." Chen Changsheng gazed at her incomparably elegant and beautiful face and foundit increasingly beautiful. He spoke from his heart, "You are a good person." Then he added, "If the Li Palace does not accept South Stream Temple'srequest, then wait for me to become Pope, and I will endeavor to remove thisrule." Xu Yourong quietly replied, "You are also a good person." …… …… On the next day, Chen Changsheng exited the Mausoleum of Books. Under theescort of several cardinals, he returned to the Orthodox Academy. At this time, it was very early, the morning light was barely warm and the skyin the west was still as dark as the night. He was just preparing to go to thenewly repaired kitchen by the lake to find Xuanyuan Po and get something toeat, but he suddenly realized that there was a person on the great banyan treethat he never expected to see. Unable to hold back his surprise, he asked,"What's wrong?" Other than under extremely rare and special circumstances, Tang Thirty-Sixwould definitely not wake up so early, but now he was standing on the branchesof the great banyan tree, staring off into the distance. Chen Changsheng didn'tknow whether he hadn't slept the entire night or something else. TangThirty-Six continued to stare into the distance, not turning to look at ChenChangsheng. With an indifferent expression, he asked, "Do you know what themost painful thing in the secular world is?" Chen Changsheng shook his head. Tang Thirty-Six sneered, "The most painful thing in the secular world is thatwhen we're all working until we're tired as pigs and dogs, some people have theleisure to go on dates, and you even had a certain person keep a secret, prettygood…actually secretly meeting with your lover in the Mausoleum of Books." After the Orthodox Academy recruited new students, the first examination thesestudents would face was the Grand Examination. For the sake of the GrandExamination that was about to begin, Tang Thirty-Six and Su Moyu were busy tothe extreme, and even Zhexiu would occasionally come to teach a lesson to thesestudents, using pain and blood to tell them just what a true battle was. Yet although Chen Changsheng was the Principal of the Orthodox Academy, hepaid no mind to this matter. The true source of Tang Thirty-Six's pain, though, was still the part aboutkeeping a secret. Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong had gotten to know each other in the Garden ofZhou, had mutual affection towards each other, and would often meet in private;in the entire capital, only he knew this secret. With regards to secrets, once a secret was discovered, those people who knewof this secret would often greatly relax, just like Chen Changsheng and XuYourong over these past few days. But those who knew this secret, but could not speak of it to others, wouldbear their pain and pressure and even a little more than that. The rumor had spread throughout the capital and everyone knew that ChenChangsheng was bitterly in love with Xu Yourong but that Xu Yourong refused.Tang Thirty-Six wanted nothing more than to sputter this secret over thesepeople's faces, wanted nothing more than to reopen Clear Lake Restaurant andthen stand on its roof and tell the populace this story, announce the pair'ssecret to the entire world. But he could not act this way, so he was in terrible pain and even somewhatangry. Chen Changsheng looked at him, somewhat confused. "Back then, you were the onethat said I should bear it."