Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

The alcohol in Chen Changsheng’s throat was like a thread of red-hot metal. Chen Changsheng almost choked but barely managed to swallow it down, his face instantly turning red.

He did not expect that a person like Luo Bu would drink such fierce alcohol.

Of course, the primary reason was that Chen Changsheng truly did not drink much alcohol.

He had only gotten his first taste of alcohol after coming to the capital, and it had only been with Xu Yourong when they were eating beef ribs at Fortune Peace Road, and with Tang Tang.

To people who did not drink alcohol, the only reason they would do so was the partner that they were drinking with.

He began to yearn for the beef ribs of Fortune Peace Road, the Plum Garden Inn, and the great banyan tree in the Orthodox Academy.

Several years ago, on top of that great banyan tree, he and Tang Thirty-Six had engaged in a long chat in the twilight.

He returned the wine pot to Luo Bu and said, "I have a friend who wants to do a few things, but his family won’t agree, and feels that he’s just messing around. As a result, he has a lot of pressure."

Luo Bu smiled. His eyes were like the stars in the night sky, extremely bright and holding an infinite warmth, a boundless enthusiasm.

Chen Changsheng’s eyes were also very bright, but it was not because of the light in their depths. Rather, they were very clean, as if they had been washed by water for many years.

Luo Bu looked at him and asked, "Has anyone ever mentioned that your eyes are like mirrors?"

Chen Changsheng didn’t understand what he meant. Confused, he softly grunted in affirmation.

"A bright mirror can reflect a person, can reveal the finest movements of the world, can easily perceive many problems."

Luo Bu used two fingers to carry the wine pot and lightly sway it in the air as he said, "You guessed correctly. My problem does not come from me or from the outside world, but from my family. More precisely, it was my father that had me transferred from the roaming cavalry to Sloping Cliff Horse Farm."

Chen Changsheng considered this information, then asked, "He wants you to be safe?"

"No one knows what that father of mine is thinking. Many years ago, many people, including me, believed that he was just a mediocre person who only thought about what was best for the clan. But events later on proved that those who thought this way were the truly mediocre people."

Luo Bu took a sip of wine and then continued, "Ever since I was small, my father has always treated me with extreme favor. I once doubted this favorable treatment, but after that event, I never doubted him again. But this sort of true favor has now became a true problem of mine."

He once more recalled the past.

His father descended down the mountain path, not even glancing at his severely injured son.

Startled birds flew out of the forest, carrying with them his father’s cheerful and pleased laughter.

Chen Changsheng was also thinking of the past.

He walked down the Mausoleum of Books while his master walked up. On the Divine Path, they brushed past each other like strangers.

"In truth, I’m quite envious of this pressure brought about by concern."

After he said this, the stream bank welcomed a few moments of silence.

They were both youths, yet they each carried their own weight.

Suddenly, there was a splash as a silvery-white fish leapt from the water and swam up the stream in pursuit of the starlight.

The gazes of the pair followed it, ultimately resting on the vast barrens at the stream’s end.

"If the injuries to your meridians were healed, then if you carefully looked, you might be able to see that it’s a little brighter over there."

Luo Bu raised the wine pot in his hand, pointing at the distant north, seemingly out of respect, but also as if making an offering.

Chen Changsheng knew what he was speaking of. Back when he was traveling with Su Li across the snowy plains back to the south, on the first few nights, he would occasionally see that disc of light in the north. Moreover, in the Orthodox Academy, the taciturn Zhexiu had spoken of it to them several times.

Besides the river of stars in the south, the night sky there also contained a bright celestial body.

The legendary Moon of the Demon race.

Drinking wine was a leisurely affair, and so the content of their chat was naturally idle gossip. Starting with the Moon of the demons, they talked about the forbidding aura of Xuelao City, the terrifying abyss, the decadent and crazed inclination towards art that the demon nobility had, the green gems on the Demon Commander’s armor, and then about the conservatism and dullness of the Great Western Continent.

Luo Bu was the one speaking the vast majority of time, with Chen Changsheng occasionally responding with a sentence or two.

In this chat, Luo Bu revealed his unimaginable experience, his words containing a vast expanse of rivers and mountains and tens of thousands of years.

If Chen Changsheng had not become well-versed in the Daoist Canon as a child and also traversed tens of thousands of li, he would have found it utterly impossible to respond.

But it was precisely because he was well-versed in the Daoist Canon and had traversed tens of thousands of li that, though he was not skilled at speaking, he could occasionally offer a few sentences, discuss a few things.

Geniuses often wanted not for friends, but for someone that could understand the meaning behind their words.

Perhaps it was for this reason that this chat over wine proceeded very happily, with both Luo Bu and Chen Changsheng finding the experience very pleasant.

As their chat lengthened, its scope broadened and it became more profound. The more Chen Changsheng heard, the more he admired Luo Bu. Luo Bu was like a pool of clear water, seemingly unremarkable, yet with unfathomable depths. Was there anything in the world that he did not know?

Just who was this heavily-bearded young officer?

The more Chen Changsheng thought, the more he felt that this person was truly extraordinary, both his experience and his elegant bearing incredibly enchanting.

When Luo Bu began to recount the five mistakes Emperor Taizong and Wang Zhice made on the second northern expedition of the Great Zhou cavalry, Chen Changsheng could not help but consider all the extraordinary individuals he had met in his life. He realize that no one, not Gou Hanshi, or Zhexiu, or Tang Tang, or Su Moyu, matched up to this person.

He even felt that Senior Su Li was inferior to this person in certain aspects.

No matter how much a person like Luo Bu could make merry with soldiers, in such a remote horse farm, how could he not feel dejected or lonely?

If he was not, why he was sitting by his lonesome, far from the bonfires and under the stars, and then chatting for so long with him?

The more he thought, the more Chen Changsheng felt that he could not allow Luo Bu to remain in Sloping Cliff Horse Farm, that he should have him go to the Mount Song Army headquarters.

Luo Bu saw his hesitant expression and guessed what he was thinking. Smiling, he said, "The demons have already retreated; what’s the use in my going to the Mount Song Army headquarters now?"

Chen Changsheng replied, "There will come a day when the demons return."

A streak of admiration appeared in Luo Bu’s eyes as he said, "In these past few years, there aren’t very many people as clear-minded as you, but...I still will not go to the Mount Song Army headquarters. After a few days, I’ll send you off to the Mount Song Army headquarters, and then I will take my leave of this place."

Chen Changsheng asked in concern, "Where are you going?"

Luo Bu replied, "Returning to the mountain."

Chen Changsheng wanted to invite him off the mountain.

But he had begun yearning for that mountain.

Of course, he had always been yearning for that girl on the other mountain.

Chen Changsheng had been spending more than two years doing the same.

It was truly easy to infect others with the emotion that was yearning. There was no need to speak, no need to see each other’s eyes.

The stream bank fell quiet once more. For a very long time, neither of them spoke. As they gazed at the barely discernible moonlight in the plains of the north, they silently yearned.

After some time, Luo Bu turned to Chen Changsheng and asked, "Do you also have a girl that you like?"