Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

"At the time, why did you run over?"

"Because I was afraid you would be injured by the falling flower pot."

"Even though, at the time, you were deep in the dark palace and being discovered would bring great troubles on yourself?"

"I didn’t have time to think."

"Even though, at the time, you were in a hurry to get to Weiyang Palace and attend the Ivy Festival, take out the marriage contract, and destroy the Qiushan clan’s marriage proposal?"

"I didn’t think that far."

"Three squirrels."

"What?"

The peak of the Mausoleum of Books was shrouded in torrential rains.

Yet the sound of Chen Changsheng’s conversation with the Tianhai Divine Empress was not drowned out by the rain.

He did not understand what she meant by those words. ’Three squirrels’?

The Tianhai Divine Empress watched the squirrel gradually vanish into the rain, remaining silent for a very long time.

The first time she met Chen Changsheng, there was a squirrel.

Just now at the Orthodox Academy, there was a squirrel.

And now, there was another squirrel.

When she saw the first squirrel, he was in a very troublesome situation, yet he disregarded everything to come and save someone.

When she saw the second squirrel, he was in a very dangerous situation, yet he only thought about requesting that she release Liu Qing and those Li Palace priests, completely abandoning all so-called stubbornness and pride.

When she saw the third squirrel, he was in a most despairing situation, on the verge of being killed by her, yet because she had said those words, he had very earnestly thanked her.

Just what sort of youth was this?

An extremely complex set of emotions appeared on the Tianhai Divine Empress’s face. It was somewhat mocking, somewhat disdainful, somewhat angry, somewhat disgusted. Ultimately, it all transformed into apathy.

"Such softheartedness, you’re actually quite similar to your father. How did I give birth to a useless son like you?"

After saying this, a tinge of apprehension flashed across her beautiful face and then quickly transformed into an unimaginably fiendish intent.

There were no words, no sign, not even a glance at him. She raised her right hand and slammed it down against the crown of his head.

In the pitch-black night, a lightning bolt seemed to trail behind her right hand as it descended like a mountain.

Countless cries of shock arose in the dark capital, each holding different emotions but all similarly stunned.

No person imagined that she would strike out like this.

Boom!

A clap of thunder seemed to boom out from the peak of the Mausoleum of Books.

Countless lightning bolts flashed and then crashed down upon the Mausoleum of Books.

The torrential rain poured down, the darkness like ink. Occasionally, it would be torn apart by a descending lightning bolt, revealing an indistinct scene.

The Tianhai Divine Empress stood, facing the violent storm.

Her right hand had fallen on Chen Changsheng’s head.

A powerful and terrifying strength and a divine and masterly Qi almost simultaneously appeared in the world.

This strength originated from the Tianhai Divine Empress’s body.

This Qi came from the Mausoleum of Books at her feet, and even from the entire world.

These were the world’s most supreme strength and Qi, attracting countless phenomena, thunder booming in the frenzied winds and torrential rains.

This strength and Qi met in her body and then entered Chen Changsheng’s body through her right hand.

The coming of a storm.

Instantly, the seventy-two shattered meridians in Chen Changsheng’s body were crushed into powder, the three hundred and sixty-five Qi openings all destroyed. The deep wounds on the surface of his internal organs deepened and blood madly surged through his body.

The remaining star radiance still hiding in the niches of his meridians and the depths of his Qi openings was also incapable of hiding from this storm, all forced out.

Countless powder-like fragments of starlight emerged from the depths of his body onto his skin, penetrating through his soaked Daoist robe, emitting a pitiful and dull light.

No matter how fierce the rains, they still could not wash away that star radiance.

No matter how unbridled the winds, they could not drown out his cries of pain.

A moment later, his mind and will were crushed into powder by the storm. He could no longer endure and cried out in pain!

His cries pierced through the raging wind and rain, spreading throughout the entire Mausoleum of Books and then to even further places.

This cry was hoarse and torn, containing limitless pain. It was like a young beast calling out for help, invoking a feeling of absolute despair.

Everyone that heard his cries could feel his current emotions and situation. Friend or foe, they were all taken with the impulse to cry.

......

......

Yu Ren had been in the Mausoleum of Books this entire time.

He was viewing the monoliths.

When those important figures and peerless experts were speaking several li away, even several thousand li away, all the common people of the capital could not hear it, and so naturally, neither could he.

As a drizzle began to descend from the night sky, he took two steps with the assistance of his walking stick to get under the monolith hut, borrowing its roof to avoid the rain, and then continued examining the lines on the monolith.

The storm gradually worsened, the darkness fell heavier, and he continued to head deeper into the monolith hut. Since he couldn’t see, he used his hand to feel the lines on the stone monolith.

No matter how furious the storm, it could not affect his thoughts of viewing the monolith.

From time to time, a flash of lightning would illuminate the surface of the monolith, but even this could not rouse him from his trance of viewing the monoliths.

Until the cries of pain spread throughout the Mausoleum of Books, spread to the monolith hut, fell in his ears.

Yu Ren seemed to be struck by lightning, his face turning abnormally pale.

Because he recognized that these were the cries of his junior brother.

He could hear from these cries that his junior brother was in deep pain, deep despair.

He turned towards the direction of those cries.

He was currently at a very high place in the Mausoleum of Books. The only place higher was very likely to be the peak of the Mausoleum of Books.

He stopped thinking, hobbling towards that direction with all his might.

That walking stick that had accompanied him for twenty years quietly lay in the monolith hut, awaiting his return.

The higher one went in the Mausoleum of Books, the more precipitous the terrain, the more difficult to climb it became. Moreover, shrubs were scattered everywhere, the torrential rains had made the rocks incredibly slippery, and the mountain fields had all been turned to mud, increasing the difficulty.

Let alone the fact that he was a person who only had full use of one leg.

But he cared about none of this. He thrust his hand into the crevices, used his feet to step on the muddied ground and tree roots, doing his utmost to climb to the peak.

He only had one hand, and one of his feet was rather deformed.

His hand was very quickly hurt, his fingernails torn off.

His legs were also on the verge of being scraped open.

As he climbed, he left traces of blood behind, but they were quickly washed away by the pouring rain.

He should have been in great pain, but he could not feel it.

His actions were very dangerous, but he did not notice.

His junior brother’s cries were still echoing through the mausoleum, so he only knew that his junior brother was in great pain and anger.

Suddenly Yu Ren stopped.

The raging storm had suddenly ceased, and no more lightning descended from the sky.

The cries had also vanished.

In the entire Mausoleum of Books, in the entire world, there was not a single sound, only the silence of death.

This mountain mausoleum seemed to have become a true mausoleum.

He suddenly felt great fear in his heart, his body turning cold.

He turned to the peak of the Mausoleum of Books, giving out two cries of pain.

He could not speak and his cries were somewhat strange: aaaaaaaah, like a child.

Like a wronged and impatient child.

Then he wiped off the muddy water, or perhaps tears, off his face, and continued to climb towards the peak.

......

......

Chen Changsheng quietly lay on the ground, his body utterly drenched, his eyes tightly shut, no movement visible.

Those fragments of starlight that had drifted out of his body could not be washed away by the torrential rain, but now they dispersed with the night wind, returning to nothingness.

The rain stopped and the clouds scattered. Watery starlight descended over the peak.

The Tianhai Divine Empress silently gazed at the profuse stars in the night sky, her hands clasped behind her.

She stood in front of him, blocking out the starlight, and also blocking out what lay behind this vast sky of stars: fate.

"In the future, do not do such absurd things."

The Tianhai Divine Empress’s voice was rather tired, an extremely rare sight.

She and Chen Changsheng were the only two people on this peak.

Chen Changsheng was already dead.

Who was she speaking to?

Chen Changsheng opened his eyes and awoke.

His face was pale and he was feeble beyond compare, constantly coughing out rainwater.

He gazed at her back, saying nothing for a very long time. Finally, he said, "Thank you."

The Tianhai Divine Empress did not turn her head as she replied, "You’re welcome."

(TN: The title of this chapter, ’在世界中心呼唤’, is part of the title for a Chinese movie, excluding only a single word, ’在世界中心呼唤爱’, crying out in love from the center of the world.)

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