Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

After downing a mouthful of strong alcohol, Luo Bu remained expressionless.

Looking at him, Chen Changsheng felt somewhat reluctant to part.

"Then... we’re going?" he said to Luo Bu.

Luo Bu waved the wine pot in the air, indicating that he knew. Still, he said nothing.

Chen Changsheng was somewhat unhappy, thinking to himself, even if you’re not willing to speak because you want to maintain your style, shouldn’t you at least offer me a drink of alcohol before parting?

In truth, Luo Bu had been acting rather strange these past few days. After their chat by the stream over alcohol, Luo Bu had subtly adjusted his attitude towards Chen Changsheng.

It was clear that he was no longer willing to converse any further with Chen Changsheng, much less about intimate subjects. However, he also had no hostility. Instead, it felt like he was deliberately keeping a distance, wanting to be a stranger.

But he was also not completely a stranger, as whether it was when eating medicine or feeding the horses on the fields, Chen Changsheng could always feel Luo Bu watching from a distance.

This sort of watching felt more like observing.

Just why was this?

Chen Changsheng shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He could only consider Luo Bu a strange person and take Nanke and start on the mountain path.

From start to end, until his and Nanke’s figures vanished into the pine forests, Luo Bu never once turned his head.

He looked down at the town of Mount Song while he drank. He wasn’t so much sending off Chen Changsheng but rather sending off himself.

After finishing off all the wine, Luo Bu finally stood up and began to make his way down the mountain.

He did not go straight to the Mount Song Army headquarters to make his report, but chose to first enter a very unremarkable tavern.

He had his empty wine pot filled and then seated himself at a table by the window. After ordering a plate of fried beans, he peered out the window.

Three of his fingers fell on the plate and, without looking, accurately snatched up two fried beans on each trip for his mouth to slowly chew on.

As the sun approached noon, its light pierced through the thick clouds and drenched the streets of Mount Song, clearly illuminating the faces of the people walking about.

Chen Chou, the newly appointed Divine General of the Mount Song Army, was sent off from the army headquarters’ main gate by his subordinates. Mounting a horse, he began his first patrol.

As he looked at the clearly taller and more erect figure of his old friend, Luo Bu laughed and raised his wine cup to congratulate him, praying in his heart that he would not suffer an early death.

At dusk, the sunlight became much dimmer, the rays of the setting sun like flames, setting ablaze the buildings on the street and the thoughts of the people.

He had already consumed three plates of fried beans and four pots of wine. Luo Bu’s eyes were squinting more and more, but not because he was drunk. Rather, he had seen the person that he had wanted to see.

Of course, the reason he wanted to see those people was that he didn’t want to see those people.

Those people were from his clan, and also from the Wenshui Tangs, the Wu clan, and the Mutuo clan.

No other than him would have been able to pick these people out of the crowd, and so naturally no one else noticed that those people had left Mount Song and headed west.

Luo Bu continued to drink for a very long time. Yet his eyes were not overtaken by intoxication; on the contrary, they became brighter and brighter. After this long session of drinking, he finally sighed and stood. He sought a bowl of clean water from the tavernkeeper and then very carefully washed his face and beard. Then, singing a song that had never been heard in the north, he left Mount Song and headed west.

Chen Changsheng’s injuries were still far from cured, but he could now walk, so he had refused the Dragonhorse offered by Sloping Cliff Horse Farm. With Nanke’s help, his speed was not slow, and it was actually many times faster than a normal trade caravan. Leaving Mount Song and walking the mountain path, they very quickly left the mountains behind them.

On the dusk of the second day, he and Nanke reached Hanqiu City.

As they walked along the official road towards the city before them, he noticed that the forest lining the road showed signs of damage. This was especially the case for the forest on his left-hand side, which appeared somewhat messy, and after careful observation, he could see many young shrubs and willows. It was obvious that this place had suffered some devastating damage a few years ago.

He froze, recalling that a few years ago, he, Zhexiu, and many other people had passed through these woods to enter the Garden of Zhou.

At the time, a rainbow had traveled vast distances from the south to fall here, and the entrance to the Garden of Zhou had lain in that ethereal courtyard behind the forest.

At present, the entrance to the Garden of Zhou was on his wrist, in that black stone, and the key to the Garden of Zhou was also no longer at the peak of the Mount Li Sword Sect, but was now his thoughts.

He recalled many memories from that time.

At that time, Zhu Luo had been sitting in a pavilion, his long hair draped over his shoulders, overflowing with an ancient aura. His unparalleled arrogance meant that no one dared to approach him.

At that time, Mei Lisha had been sitting in a carriage, silent and indifferent, not speaking a single world. Like an old plum tree, he carried a certain type of aura about him.

Now, both Mei Lisha and Zhu Luo were dead, but many of the other people from that time were still alive.

Chen Changsheng turned to glanced at Nanke.

He had met Nanke for the first time in the Garden of Zhou. Nanke had been a cold and callous Demon Princess then, carrying out Black Robe’s order to incite internal strife between the human cultivators in the Garden of Zhou. At the same, she had also been seeking an opportunity to kill Xu Yourong, Zhexiu, and Qi Jian. She had been his most frightening enemy.

Now, she was an imbecilic and utterly ignorant little girl. She only knew to follow him, protect him, and wait on him.

"When you wake up, I don’t know if you’ll remember these days," he ruefully said as he looked at Nanke.

Nanke held a corner of his sleeve, her eyes still dull as they looked towards Hanqiu City in front of them. She was utterly unaware of what he was thinking.

It was plain to see that she had clean forgotten her experiences in the Garden of Zhou.

Chen Changsheng could not help but sigh upon seeing her appearance.

On that night in the mountains, she had even taken the risk of having her soul break out of her body to save his life, so he naturally had to fulfill the promise. But he didn’t even know if he could cure her. And moreover, just as he had ruefully sighed about, if he really did cure her, would she still remember these days after waking up? Would she kill him?

......

......

The closer they got to Hanqiu City, the denser the forest lining the road became. More and more willows appeared, symbolizing very well the flavor of this city.

Yes, every city had its own unique flavor. The flavor of the capital rested on the verdancy of the Mausoleum of Books while the flavor of Luoyang rested on its city walls. The flavor of Hanqiu City was its willow trees.

Zhu Luo had loved willow trees, so the Myriad Willows Garden lay on the outskirts of Hanqiu City while myriad willows had also been planted in the city.

Zhu Luo had long since become shards of stars in the Mausoleum of Books, a wisp of smoke that had left no trace, but Hanqiu City was still as it was in the past, with many of his marks still left on the city.

From a certain perspective, Hanqiu City had the surname of Zhu. The Zhu clan and the Emotion-Severing Sect possessed supreme status and unfathomable strength within this city. But Chen Changsheng was not at all concerned that he might encounter something here, as no one should have known of his whereabouts. More importantly, Zhu Ye was already dead, leaving the Zhu clan without any sort of outstanding individuals.

As expected, he and Nanke very smoothly entered Hanqiu City. The soldiers and disciples dressed in the sword uniform of the Emotion-Severing Sect had clearly not shaken off the shock that came from news of their master’s death. They seemed very vigilant on the surface, but their eyes were brimming with a bewilderment and unease towards the future.