427 Paying Respects to the Pope

(TN: This is the same chapter title as the one for Chapter 235) Edited by: Michyrr "The word 'traitor’ was truthfully not the most fitting, or perhaps it wouldbe better to say that it was not accurate enough. In this story, it was muchmore appropriate to use 'spy' or some other word, such as this second set ofwords which broke the silence hanging over the crowd: "Chen Changsheng youscoundrel! You would actually collude with the demons to harm the outstandingtalents of Mount Li, and now you have even hounded Lord Huanyu to death!" "Hounded to death? I think some powerful figure used some shady method! Thiswas a shameless assassination! It's too disgraceful!" "Just what nonsense are you all blabbering?" After viewing the monoliths in the Mausoleum of Books, Chen Changsheng was nolonger the object of the capital's hatred and animosity. There were alreadymany people treating him as the glory of the Great Zhou. There were some peoplewho loudly denounced Chen Changsheng, and there were naturally even more peoplethat loudly came to his defense. In a few moments, this great street of thecapital had erupted into a massive argument, noisy and raucous beyond compare. Chen Changsheng looked at the window curtain, listening to those noises fromthe outside in deep astonishment. On the road, he had finally learned throughHua Jiefu the particulars of what had happened outside the Garden of Zhou. Thefirst thing he had originally planned to do upon reaching the capital wasconfronting Zhuang Huanyu, but who would have imagined that last night, ZhuangHuanyu…actually died? The noise outside the carriage window was getting louder and louder, thedisputes of the crowd growing increasingly intense, their words gettingsharper. It was such a clamor that it made one feel troubled. Chen Changshengwanted to say something, but he ultimately decided to say nothing. He loweredhis head in silence, his eyelashes faintly trembling. The childish air abouthis appearance had finally almost completely dissipated. Whether it was to ten thousand cheers or ten thousand pointed fingers, ChenChangsheng, under the gaze of countless commoners, returned to the capital.Only when the fleet of carriages pulled into Hundred Flowers Lane did the worldoutside of the window become relatively peaceful. With the priests of the Li Palace guarding the perimeter around HundredFlowers Lane, no one could approach. As Chen Changsheng gazed at thestill-very-new gate of the Orthodox Academy and those still-very-old ivy vines,he felt the dignity and silence from his surroundings and found it ratheruncomfortable. It had taken one day to view all the monoliths of the front mausoleum, and onenight to bathe the capital in starlight, after which the Pope had establishedhim as the successor to the Orthodoxy. Not much time had passed since that day.In addition, after he left the Mausoleum of Books, he entered the Garden ofZhou, and in the Plains of the Unsetting Sun, time had seemed to drag on. Afterthat, there were the ten thousand li of snowy plains, the rushed escape. Therehad simply been no time and no opportunity for him to absorb all these changes.Now, he couldn't help but feel that those were all things from another life. Many things had changed. The Orthodox Academy that had once been surrounded bycountless angry commoners of the capital had now become a place that noordinary person could approach. Although it was still far from regaining themagnificence of its past, the atmosphere had been refreshed anew. Thankfully, there were many things that had not changed. Jin Yulu still stoodby the gate to the Orthodox Academy, and those silk clothes of his studded withcopper coin designs, giving off a wealthy but unsophisticated feel, were stillas glossy as water. Xuanyuan Po was still mighty and powerful, his arms asthick as trees. Being embraced by him still gave Chen Changsheng the illusionthat he was being swallowed up. Luoluo was still Luoluo, running into his bosom like a cool breeze. Her twoarms wrapped around his neck while her forehead rubbed against his chin. Herpetite face carried a contented smile. Standing under the great banyan tree by the lake, Chen Changsheng and Luoluospoke together for a very long time. Without missing out on anything, he toldthe little girl of everything that had occurred in the Garden of Zhou as wellas everything he had encountered on the journey south. "That elf girl…was she very beautiful?" There were so many things—magnificent and grandiose scenes, schemes andassassinations, one sword being delivered ten thousand li, ten thousand swordsunsheathing themselves, a metal blade breaking through a storm—but Luoluo onlycared about this. With her eyes wide, she asked Chen Changsheng inquisitively. Chen Changsheng would naturally not forget that girl called Chen Chujian, butsomehow, he could not quite remember her appearance. For some reason, his bodywent cold, as if he was at this very moment losing something. Luoluo could tell that his mood had changed. Somewhat sympathetic, she reachedout, grabbed his sleeve, and softly said, "Teacher, don't worry. I will thinkof a way to send people to check." From Xunyang City to the capital was quite the long journey requiring plentyof time. Besides organizing his memories and preparing for what he needed to doin the capital, Chen Changsheng had obviously not forgotten to have the peopleof the Orthodoxy help him check for any traces of that girl Chujian. Yetneither the priests of the Li Palace nor the people in Hanqiu City couldconfirm whether this girl really was amongst the Ethereal Opening cultivatorsthat had entered the Garden of Zhou. So it was naturally impossible to confirmwhether she was alive or not. Chen Changsheng was somewhat soothed by Luoluo's words. The Elf race wasextremely close with the White Emperor City and the Great Western Continent.Luoluo's mother was the Chief Princess of the Great Western Continent and herfather was the White Emperor of the demi-humans. For her to have peopleinvestigate should be more convenient. Luoluo once again spoke, "Zhuang Huanyu died." She had long forgotten that back when she was at the Heavenly Dao Academyseeking lessons, she had once seen this genius schoolmate of hers at PrincipalMao's residence. She brought this matter up now because she was concerned thatZhuang Huanyu's death would bring her teacher trouble. Chen Changsheng didn't speak for a few moments, then said, "Yeah, I know." Luoluo spoke again, "Teacher, I went to the Imperial Palace twice, wanting toget Zhexiu released, but I didn't succeed." Chen Changsheng rubbed her head and chuckled, "Your fault lah?" (TN: This‘lah’ is here for the same reason it is in Chapter 388, to evoke Luoluo’s nameas the ending interjection of a sentence.) Being rubbed by his palm and looking so strong and lovely, Luoluo lookedextremely cute. The sunlight fell upon the spring lake and then reflected onto the branches ofthe great banyan tree, turning into ever-changing dimples of light. One of themfell on Chen Changsheng's face. Luoluo stared at that spot of light on his faceand began to chuckle. She was very happy, because her teacher did not blameher, nor did he thank her, but instead especially taught her how to talk inorder to tease her and make her happy. Afterwards, Chen Changsheng took one hour and three large basins of hot waterto wash himself sparkling clean from head to toe. Then he and Luoluo headedtogether to the Li Palace. The Pope was waiting for him in the Li Palace— Not in the Great Hall of Light, but rather that quiet side hall. The light in the hall was very faint. Only the tender green of the Green Leafin the pot directly leapt into his eyes. After that, he saw that Divine Staffcasually leaning against the wall, saw that clear pond and that ornate andgrandiose crystal throne, as well as that Yin Yang Crown upon it that wasimpossible to describe with words. Finally, he saw that elder dressed in hempenrobes. He was different from what his zealous worshippers imagined. The supremePope seemed just like an ordinary old man, not even as eye-catching as theDivine Staff and the Divine Crown. Watching the Pope's back as he watered the Green Leaf, Chen Changsheng'semotions were somewhat disorderly. Everyone knew that he was the Pope's chosensuccessor, and some powerful figures even knew he was the Pope's martialnephew. In other words, he had always been the Pope's only successor in thisworld. But the problem lay in the fact that he had only met the Pope twice. Hewasn't acquainted at all with the Pope, much less close. The Pope took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands, then turned and smiled."I remember that Su Li is a lover of fine foods. Being with him, did you eatanything good?" The Pope plainly had an amiable expression and his voice was so gentle. He wasjust like an elder questioning a junior that had returned from afar, andbecause he didn't want the junior to be too nervous, began with a very trivialquestion…but Chen Changsheng felt like a massive mountain spanning heaven andearth was directly crashing down on him. From the snowy plains of the land of demons to Xunyang City, many peoplewanted to kill Su Li. Behind those people stood a lofty figure akin to a god. It was precisely the Pope.