Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

"Of course not." Tang Thirty-Six looked him in the eyes. "You can lose to that person, the Orthodox Academy cannot. In the future, how will His Holiness be able to speak in front of the Empress? Don’t forget, this isn’t just your matter alone, but the entire Orthodoxy’s matter."

These matters were known by the entire continent, so there was no need to keep it away from those singers and dancers. However, the atmosphere still couldn’t help but become more stifling.

Tang Thirty-Six wished for Chen Changsheng’s mood to improve. Putting on a smile, he said, "And it’s not like you want to shake up the role of the husband? You didn’t see how shocked these girls were when you said that you planned to lose."

On the side, Su Moyu shook his head. "These words are inappropriate. Whether or not His Holiness has annulled the engagement between the two of them, since Chen Changsheng is already determined to not continue with the marriage, there’s no need to use the phrase ’shake up the role of the husband’. It involves the reputation of the Holy Maiden, so it is inappropriate."

Tang Thirty-Six dully replied, "It’s just a joke. In the Orthodox Academy, there’s just you two bookworms, that cold-blooded killer Zhexiu, and also that gluttonous fool Xuanyuan Po. I don’t even have a person to chat with, truly pitiful."

Saying this, he snatched Chen Changsheng’s cup from the table and poured out all the tea in exchange for a strong wine from the Western Pass.

Chen Changsheng waved his hand, "I already said that I don’t drink wine."

Su Moyu commented, "The weather is cold and it’s snowing. We should get back a little earlier."

Tang Thirty-Six felt very helpless. "I’m helping him lessen the pressure, okay?"

Today, the White Crane had descended by the lake, Xu Yourong had returned to the capital, and Chen Changsheng had been very taciturn, like there was some weight over his heart. He had especially held this feast in the night in the hopes that Chen Changsheng could vent a little of his pressure, but he had failed to imagine that after entering the restaurant, Chen Changsheng and Su Moyu would not even drink wine. They sat prim and proper, and while their clapping for the dances of the dancing girls was quite earnest, in no way did it seem like they had come out to have fun...

Watching the dancing girl whirling around on the stage, he suddenly grinned. This grin contained an indescribable confidence and charm, causing the singing girl in his bosom to adore him even more. As he grinned, one of his fingers bent and a pine nut in a saucer on the table went flying away.

Noiselessly, the pine nut struck the dancer on the knee. The impact was not all that heavy but the position it struck was far too sensitive and one of the dancer’s feet was not steady. As a result, she fell down into Chen Changsheng’s bosom.

Chen Changsheng quickly held her up and asked in concern, "Are you okay?"

The dancer was also a person accustomed to matters of romance, experienced and knowledgeable. There was no way she didn’t know what had happened. She first shot a resentful glare at Tang Thirty-Six before sending a gentle gaze towards Chen Changsheng. Her breath smelled like orchids as she whispered, "Your servant is somewhat unable to handle her alcohol."

As she spoke, her two arms very naturally draped themselves around Chen Changsheng’s neck and she brought up her whole body against Chen Changsheng’s chest.

With such soft jade-like skin by his chest, Chen Changsheng did not feel any sort of ecstasy, only strangeness and embarrassment.

Just as he was prepared to courteously help the dancing girl sit at his side, he suddenly felt like there was someone watching him through the snowy night from far away.

That gaze, that...gaze that might not even exist was not cold, but it produced an intense sense of unease in the depths of his heart. In the next moment, through purely subconscious, almost instinctual, action, he quickly raised his hands up.

He only wanted to indicate that he had no intention of overstepping his bounds with this dancing girl, and his two hands did not touch her body, but he did not expect just how comical his actions would appear in the eyes of others.

The restaurant was silent and then exploded with laughter, especially Tang Thirty-Six. He was laughing so hard that he was almost about to cry.

......

......

Xu Yourong stood at the window, watching the scene in the restaurant. Even if her Dao heart was guarded even more closely or even more tranquil, she still couldn’t help but raise her brows.

But in the next moment, when she saw Chen Changsheng raise his hands up high and heard the laughter coming from beyond the wall, she revealed a smile, and it was only through sheer effort that she did not laugh.

Mo Yu took in all the changes in her expression and said, "If you want to laugh, laugh, no need to choke it down."

Xu Yourong was still looking in the direction of the restaurant. Seeing Chen Changsheng’s embarrassed appearance and hearing Mo Yu’s words, she finally couldn’t hold it back. Laughter came out, "Hahahaha!"

Mo Yu was scared out of her wits by this laughter. Holding her chest, she asked, "Are you okay? Why is your laughter like an old aunt’s..."

Xu Yourong’s laughter was rather broad, or perhaps imposing? In brief, her laughter was not at all like a sixteen-year-old girl’s. It was more like that of the auntie who sold youtiao and soy milk at the entrance to Hundred Flowers Lane. To be even more accurate, it was incredibly similar to the laugh of the auntie that she played mahjong with down in the village.

Xu Yourong was rather embarrassed and put up a calm front. "You see, he looks just like a fool."

Mo Yu had no attention to spare for looking at Chen Changsheng, it was quite enough to just gawk at her.

She clearly recalled that when she first met Xu Yourong, Xu Yourong was just five. At the time, she had still been a little girl, but she had always loved to just quietly sit, read and then cultivate. She was holy and tranquil, like a miniature Holy Maiden.

When had she ever seen her with such an appearance?

"You haven’t...really fallen in love with that guy, right?"

Mo Yu was stunned and also concerned.

......

......

The banquet in the restaurant was brought to a close after the bout of laughter. Chen Changsheng and the other two jumped over the academy wall and returned to the Orthodox Academy.

They had just walked into the house when the door to the room on the side opened. They looked over and realized in shock that Zhexiu was standing there.

"You’re finally in the mood to walk a few steps today?" Tang Thirty-Six teased.

Zhexiu disregarded him, saying to Chen Changsheng, "She came."

"Who?" Chen Changsheng was rather puzzled.

"Xu Yourong."

Upon saying this name, Zhexiu closed the door. From his appearance, it seemed like he was preparing to go back to sleep.

The other three were all extremely shocked at this name. As they stared at the tightly-shut door, they all knew that they would find it very difficult to sleep tonight.

Tang Thirty-Six walked back out to the front of the house and, with wrinkled brow, looked all around. He then turned to Chen Changsheng and said apologetically, "She might have seen the scene of us drinking wine. My apologies."

Chen Changsheng covered his face. "I said I didn’t want to go, but you insisted on dragging me along."

Tang Thirty-Six felt rather depressed at his appearance and said, "You aren’t planning to marry, and she might not want to marry you. What are you afraid of her for?"

Chen Changsheng came to his senses and thought, that’s right! He felt that covering his face was a rather shameful action. Forcefully acting calm, he replied, "Right, even if I saw her, so what?"

Tang Thirty-Six sneered, "What are you acting so manly for? If you’ve got the capability, then put your hands on the girl’s body."

"I’m obsessed with cleanliness." Chen Changsheng looked at him and Su Moyu and explained, "It’s not that I suspect those girls are dirty, I’m just not mentally prepared to cross that mountain."

In a poor mood, Tang Thirty-Six replied, "Of course we know that. You don’t suspect that those girls are dirty, you suspect that everyone is dirty."

Su Moyu had been very quiet this entire time. He suddenly asked, "Why did the Holy Maiden come to the Orthodox Academy?"

"Yeah." Tang Thirty-Six no longer kept up his teasing and asked Chen Changsheng seriously, "Could she be angry and so sneaked over to stab you to death?"

After a momentary pause, he sighed, "That would really be murdering your own husband."

He didn’t seem to be teasing, but in reality, the ridicule was laid on even thicker.

Su Moyu seemed to be endowed with extraordinary intelligence, but in reality, he was rather slow. "As I just said, since the engagement is not valid, Chen Changsheng cannot regard the Holy Maiden as his fiancée. Even if she really did want to stab Chen Changsheng to death, it can’t be considered murdering her husband. You could only say she attempted to kill someone."

In reality, Chen Changsheng had already requested for the Pope to forcefully annul that engagement, but for certain reasons, he had not made this fact publicly known.

Su Moyu looked at Tang Thirty-Six and advised with heartfelt sincerity, "Moreover, she’s still the Holy Maiden. You should be more respectful towards her."

Tang Thirty-Six raised his brows. "Besides being stronger than me at fighting, I see no reason to respect her."

At this moment, Zhexiu’s voice came through the door.

"I’ve always revered Xu Yourong, so all of you should also revere her."

......

......

Matters developed far faster than imagined. On the morning of the next day, disciples from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green and South Stream Temple came to visit the Orthodox Academy.

Thinking about how Xu Yourong had come and could even have entered his own room, Chen Changsheng felt rather peculiar, so much so that he could barely get any sleep. When he appeared before the three disciples from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green and South Stream Temple, there were bags under his eyes and he seemed a little weak. When the senior sister from South Stream Temple recalled that row of restaurants she saw in front of the academy gate, she made certain conjectures. She could not help but look upon him with a hint of scorn.

Chen Changsheng and Zhexiu had once met this senior sister of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green in the Garden of Zhou and they could be said to be acquainted. She rather awkwardly chuckled and, not engaging in any chitchat, straightforwardly handed the letter over.

Ever since the Orthodoxy had begun the All-School Martial Exhibition this summer, the Orthodox Academy had already received many such letters, but when Chen Changsheng took the letter, he still felt it rather heavy.

The letter was a commonly seen letter of challenge, but the person was very special. It was Xu Yourong.

The battle that the entire continent had anticipated for many months had simply and straightforwardly come.

Chen Changsheng opened the letter and looked it over. From the brush strokes, he concluded that Xu Yourong had not written it. There was nothing special about the contents. The most salient points were the date and location.

The date was seven days from now.

The location was the Bridge of Helplessness.