383 There are Troubles Everywhere in the World

The street below the inn grew absolutely silent. The passersby and traderslooked up at Chen Changsheng, some people beginning to murmur in amazement, andthen they heard his second sentence. "I am Chen Changsheng. Su Li is in the room behind me. Whether you want tosave him or kill him, all the people that want to come should hurry over."  Just like his previous words, these words also fluttered about in XunyangCity which basked in the lovely spring sunlight. They fluttered swiftly andfar. Presumably, they would very quickly pass out of the city walls and flutterto every corner of the continent. Countless gazes landed on the inn's window,resting on Chen Changsheng's face. Silence once again settled over this streetin Xunyang City, persisting for a while before finally being shattered by atumultuous din, welcoming a scene of complete turmoil. There was the sound of a porcelain bowl shattering on the ground into eighteenpieces, the sound of a window being roughly closed, and the sound of sobbingcries. There were the puzzled questions of a child, the scolding and chiding ofthe father and mother, the stomping of horse hooves as they rushed off into thedistance, and even the distant vibrations of the city gate closing. With just a moment's effort, the pedestrians and merchants on the street hadall vanished. The long street became absolutely deserted, leaving behind onlythe wrapper of a doughcake floating on the street, as well as several strandsof smoke that had come from the distant city gate. In a flash, it seemed likeXunyang City had become a vacant city—not all empty cities were planned to bethat way. Sometimes, an empty city meant a dead city or a soon-to-be-dead city. Chen Changsheng stood by the window, gazing at the still and lifeless street,hearing the gradually retreating and gradually disappearing sounds of humanactivity, seeing in the cracks of tightly closed doors those eyes that timidlypeeked out. He was stunned and speechless. He did not understand. He had justyelled out that Su Li was here, so why had it brought about such a massivereaction? He could feel very faintly that he might have done something wrong,or perhaps had underestimated this matter. In late spring, the wind that wound its way through the streets of XunyangCity possessed its own small warmth. However, now that the stoves on the sideof the road had been extinguished and all signs of human life had disappeared,the wind grew somewhat chillier. Chen Changsheng subconsciously shut the windowagain. When he turned his head, he saw Su Li sitting on the chair. Somewhathelplessly and somewhat mockingly, Su Li asked, "Afraid now?" Chen Changsheng's voice was somewhat tense. "It's just a bet." At some point, Su Li's left hand had taken hold of the Yellow Paper Umbrella,his right hand gently tapping against the armrest of the chair. Lookinginto Chen Changsheng’s eyes, he said, "Then I can already tell you… you lostyour bet." ‘Su Li is here.’ With unimaginable speed, these four words spread to everynook and cranny of Xunyang City. Not even the Great Zhou army's fastest RedFalcons and Red Geese could intercept this news. A deathly stillness hung overXunyang City, but behind this deathly stillness was true chaos. Who knew howmany bowls and plates in the houses of ordinary people met with disaster? Whoknew how many people had sprained their ankles? The place where the atmosphere was most tense was obviously the inn in whichSu Li and Chen Changsheng resided. At the same time, this inn was the source ofall the chaos. The customers who had been eating ran off as fast as they could,while amongst the visitors that had been staying in the inn, many of them hadnot even had time to bring their luggage with them. As the stream of guestsfaded away, even the owner and the waiters of the inn had taken the chance tofurtively take their leave. At the moment, the inn was silent and noiseless. There were overturned chairsand tables everywhere, making for a very disorderly scene. Only on the counteragainst the wall did someone remain. An accountant stood there. Theaccountant's eyebrows were drooped, and he seemed rather poverty-stricken. Hewore a long gown that had been washed extremely clean, and yet this made himseem even more poverty-stricken. Perhaps because he was poor, he seemed to hatehis work, and yet even now, he had not left the inn. He continued to standbehind the counter, moving around his abacus and calculating the accounts. The news had gotten out, so very naturally, people began coming, one after theother. What made Chen Changsheng somewhat happy was that the very first personto come was someone from the Orthodoxy. The bishop of Xunyang City was the Orthodoxy's northernmost bishop on thecontinent. His status was extremely high and his authority extremely weighty.The current bishop appointed to Xunyang City was called Hua Jiefu, and he wasthe Pope's most trusted aide. For this reason, Xunyang City was a greatlyrevered location in Tianliang County. Whether it was the lord of Xunyang Cityor that prince's palace, he rarely ever had to personally pay a visit. However,today, he absolutely had to personally come to this inn. Moreover, the attitudehe displayed made all of Xunyang City feel that it was somewhat ill-fitting. Hua Jiefu did not allow the dozens of priests attending him to enter the inn.He stood in front of the stone steps and tidied his scarlet garments, thenwalked into the inn alone. He seemed rather low-key, even faintly humble. If SuLi were not so heavily injured, with his life running out, then this respectwould naturally have been for him. However, today, this respect was for ChenChangsheng. Chen Changsheng was the current Principal of the Orthodox Academy. UsingArchbishop Mei Lisha's words, within the Orthodoxy, besides the Pope, he didnot need to bow to any person. Other people should be bowing to him. It wasjust that when an honorable cardinal was respectfully bowing to him, he stillfelt that he was not used to it, and so he subconsciously inclined his body alittle. Hua Jiefu straightened his body, and without even glancing at the shut doorbeside him, said to Chen Changsheng, "We just recently learned of the news thatYour Eminence was still alive, but we could not confirm it. For me to see YourEminence today is truly a joyous occasion. I believe that once this news isbrought back to the capital, His Holiness will also be very delighted.Countless people in the capital will raise up their heads in anticipation forYour Eminence's return." Without even finishing his words, he had already spoken straightforwardlyenough. The bishop had gotten straight to the point and invited Chen Changshengto leave Xunyang City. If Chen Changsheng agreed, the Cathedral of Xunyang Citywould undoubtedly send a powerful escort, and even Hua Jiefu himself would takepart. Chen Changsheng turned to the closed door and silently thought for a fewmoments, then said, "You know that right now, I have a little trouble on myhands." "I admit that this sir is truly an extremely large trouble, perhaps even thegreatest trouble that has been seen in the past several centuries." Hua Jiefuglanced at the door, and then continued, "But this is not Your Eminence'strouble, nor is it the Orthodoxy's trouble. If Your Eminence insists on stayingin the inn, this trouble will only get larger and larger, until it becomes solarge that even I will not be able to resolve it." Chen Changsheng asked, "Those… troubles—when will they appear?" Hua Jiefu replied, "Very quickly. In addition, news has come from the capitalthat a person from the Scholartree Manor has most likely come north. At themoment, we cannot confirm their identity, but we can definitely confirm that itis very troubling." After a moment of silence, Chen Changsheng asked, "Can I not bring Sir Su Liback with me to the capital?" Hua Jiefu did not need to think about it, directly answering, "The Li Palacedid not mention it." Chen Changsheng once again fell silent, understanding his meaning. From thetime they had encountered those first two assassins and Xue He until now, quitesome time had passed. The Li Palace had most certainly found out that Su Li waswith him, but they had ordered their subordinate churches to escort ChenChangsheng back to the capital. That they did not mention a word about Su Lialready indicated the Li Palace's position. "I might have to wait in this inn a little longer." "We can definitely safeguard Your Eminence, but we have no means of protectingthat sir in that room because Your Eminence wants to protect that sir. YourEminence should understand that is not fair." "Yes." Chen Changsheng looked at Hua Jiefu and declared, "So you can pretend that youdon't know that I am in Xunyang City." Hua Jiefu replied, "But Your Eminence is in Xunyang City, and how long doesYour Eminence plan to stay? Every person must solve their own troubles in theend, not even speaking of the fact that the sir within is himself a trouble." Chen Changsheng pondered the question, then replied, "I want to wait untilsomeone from the Mount Li Sword Sect arrives, or… someone he trusts, that hasthe ability to protect him, comes." Hua Jiefu sighed regretfully, "The entire world knows that Su Li has nevertrusted anyone… he has no friends, not a single one. Your Eminence wants towait until such a person appears—how long will that be?" "Perhaps…but I always feel that there should be people willing to help him." With these words, Chen Changsheng turned around and walked into the room. Hua Jiefu suddenly began to say something behind him. "Your Eminence probablydoes not know… something happened outside the Garden of Zhou, and Your Eminencereally must return as quickly as possible to the capital to resolve it." Chen Changsheng stopped and asked, "What happened?" Hua Jiefu replied, "Liang Xiaoxiao died." Chen Changsheng did not think that he would hear this sort of news. Afterstaring blankly for a few moments, he asked, "He was a spy of the demons—whokilled him?" Hua Jiefu's expression grew somewhat complex. "He said that Your Eminencekilled him." Chen Changsheng was incredibly shocked. "He said I killed him?" "Yes, although he did not make himself clear before his death, everyone thereunderstood his meaning." Hua Jiefu looked into his eyes and said, "He diedunder the final move of the Mount Li Sword Style. In the Garden of Zhou, onlyQi Jian and Your Eminence know this move." Chen Changsheng was at a loss, unable to makes heads or tails of what wasgoing on. Finally, Hua Jiefu said, "Liang Xiaoxiao said that Your Eminence and Zhexiuwere spies for the demons. Zhexiu… has already been put in Zhou's prison."