470 Those Stricken by the Sorrow of Parting

Luoluo assuredly had no idea what the gift Chen Changsheng spoke of was, butthis did not stop her mood improving a little—her teacher would especially giveher a gift! This indicated that in Teacher's heart, she was more important thanTang Thirty-Six, Xuanyuan Po and Zhexiu added together! In Teacher's heart,there was no way that she was just a student…right? Thinking of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths in the Garden of Zhou, Chen Changshengremembered that very important matter and asked Luoluo what she had found fromher inquiries. In the past few days, he had also asked the priests of the LiPalace to help him check, but there was no news from them. He could only placehis final hopes upon her. Luoluo lowered her head, indicating that she did not want to say it. Chen Changsheng felt his lips were somewhat dry. With a hoarse voice, heasked, "There's no news from the Elf race?" Luoluo raised her head, confronting his questioning and apprehensive gaze.Biting her lip, she mustered her courage and said, "The elves that remain onthe continent all live scattered across the plains. It's very difficult tocompletely confirm, but there is one thing that can be confirmed. There is nogirl of Teacher's description that left the Garden of Zhou." Chen Changsheng gazed at the fish in the lake, for a long time saying nothing. Luoluo was rather sad, but she still managed a smile on her petite face."Teacher, don't panic. I'll have someone go check again." Chen Changsheng did not hear her words. He mumbled to himself, "I clearly sawher fly into the mountains on top of the Great Peng. The MountainsideWhispering Wood wasn't far, even if she was heavily injured…" And then, he fell silent. She was not able to leave the Garden of Zhou. She could not leave through the same method as he had. She was probably still within the Garden of Zhou. Perhaps she was still alive, but it was even more likely that she was alreadydead. This was the end. If life was like the moment when we first met, when she was quietly sleepingon the pile of reeds, how fine it was, because there would always be a timewhen she would awaken. Chen Changsheng was heartbroken. This was the first time he had genuinelyexperienced this sort of feeling. Although there were a few occasions when hethought of the possibility that the girl was no more and felt this feeling,that was just grass under a stone, still not able to tear through the hardsurface and reveal itself. Although when he went to the Tong Palace and walkedbefore the Black Dragon, he had also felt this sort of feeling, that was alsojust a parting. It was completely different from now. He was parting from this world. The world was parting from him. It was probably this sort of difference. And then he remembered, he had promised her that he would do something. "In two days, I will go to the Divine General of the East's Estate to end theengagement." Luoluo was rather surprised. Raising her head, she thought to herself, afterTeacher entered the capital, he's already gone to the Divine General's estateto end the engagement twice, but failed both times. Last time, Xu Shijideclared that if he still wanted to end the engagement, he should do it infront of Xu Yourong…in a few days, Xu Yourong will return to the capital.Teacher, why are you in such a rush? Why not wait a little longer? "I promised her…to end the engagement." Chen Changsheng stared at the fish in the lake, his eyes unblinking. "SinceI've confirmed she's no longer here, I even more have to do it. And I have todo it quickly, or else I'm afraid she'll think I was deceiving her." Luoluo sat in the carriage, looking out the window at the walls of theacademy, her face somewhat pale. No one could understand just how much courage it had taken to deliver thatnews to Chen Changsheng. Because she clearly understood that, given Chen Changsheng's temperament, themoment she gave him the news, there would be no more hope for herself. As expected, Chen Changsheng quickly resolved to go to the Divine General ofthe East's Estate to end the engagement. That fiancée of his had no more hope. Let alone she who was just his student. Outside the carriage, Jin Yulu seemed to have vaguely sensed something andsighed. It was this gentle and pitying sigh that caused Luoluo to cry. She drew down the curtain and sobbed in sadness. She thought to herself, noneof you understand anything. Those who had departed would always be more important in the hearts of others. Those who had departed forever would possess an unimpeachable and eternalposition in the hearts of others. She understood this principle. At the age of five, after her belovedgrandmother went to her eternal rest in the Red River, she understood. She knew that she would never be able to defeat that girl who she had nevereven met, because that girl had already departed. Or perhaps, only through parting could one really be remembered. Luoluo raised her head, wiped the tears off her face, and raised the curtainsonce more. She gazed at the gradually receding trees of the Orthodox Academy. She knew that the time had come for her to depart. Teacher, I will definitely make you remember me. She stubbornly thought. Tang Thirty-Six noticed that Chen Changsheng's mood today was somewhat off. Heasked, "Are you okay?" Chen Changsheng took the wet clothes out of a basket and hung them up on theclothesline as he replied, "I'm fine." He didn't want his friends to worry about him. Moreover, he always felt thatthe memories of that time in the Garden of Zhou were his and hers alone. Thus,he changed the subject, "Back then when His Highness Prince Chen Liu wanted tocome to the Orthodox Academy, why didn't you agree?" Tang Thirty-Six perked his eyebrow and teased, "Oh! I'm not even the Principalof the Orthodox Academy, do I have the right to disagree?" Chen Changsheng carried the basket and walked into the small building. As hepassed, he said, "You might not have said, but that face of yours was sounsightly that it was like…" He was originally planning to say 'like someone died’, but what came out wasdifferent. "…like something big had happened." "With this handsome face of mine, even if I were to make a face at him, howcould it possibly be ugly?" Tang Thirty-Six took the washboard that he was carrying with one hand andfollowed him. "I just don't like that guy. It's not like you don't know." This was something that Chen Changsheng had never understood. "Just why isthat?" "I just feel that guy's too hypocritical," Tang Thirty-Six answered. Chen Changsheng replied, "Without solid evidence, don't criticize." Tang Thirty-Six sneered, "You don't think that whether it's this guy's wordsor actions, he always gives off the feeling of a cleansing spring breeze?" Chen Changsheng was thoroughly confused. Wasn't this praise? he thought tohimself.   "He's a man, what reason is there to assault us all with the spring breeze?"Tang Thirty-Six disdainfully made his verdict: "He must have a plan, and a bigone at that. It's better to keep him at a distance." Chen Changsheng thought it over. These words were truly rather reasonable.However, in the present situation, the Imperial clan had been driven off intothe various counties. Besides the Orthodoxy and Zhu Luo, there was no otherpowerful external aid. For Prince Chen Liu to deliberately forge a goodrelationship with the Orthodox Academy was also rather understandable. As the two spoke, they entered the small building. After putting the thingsdown, Chen Changsheng went to Zhexiu's room. Zhexiu's injuries were graduallyimproving. Although he still could not walk, he could move. In the past fewdays, they had moved him back to the small building. Chen Changsheng sat at thebedside, attentively reading Zhexiu's pulse. He then took out his needles andbegan to treat Zhexiu. Only after a very long time did the day's treatmentconclude. Beside him, Tang Thirty-Six looked at Zhexiu's still-pale face inconcern and asked, "Just when is he going to fully recover?" Chen Changsheng shook his head. "That's dependent on his own vitality." Zhexiu opened his eyes and said without the slightest emotion, "You guys don'thave to concern yourselves over this point." At this moment, Xuanyuan Po came from the library with a thick stack ofletters of challenge. "This is just the first batch. I heard from Priest Lu that there's still a bigpile at the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education. It seems that the Tianhai clanhead is truly very angry." Tang Thirty-Six said, "At his age and with his status, why does he like to getangry like a little kid?" The blue lobster of the Great Western Continent…in all of the capital, ClearLake Restaurant was the only place where it could be eaten. Now that the ClearLake Restaurant had closed for endless renovation, it was naturally much moredifficult to eat. If one's beloved food were suddenly impossible to eat, anyonewould get angry. Xuanyuan Po imagined what sort of mood he would be in ifsomeone prevented him from eating roast lamb leg on the other side of the lake.He clearly understood and even sympathized with the Tianhai clan head. After a moment of silence, Chen Changsheng said, "Just for a plate of lobster…" With the Tianhai clan's position in the human world, the whirlwind invoked bythe Tianhai clan head really was impossible for the Orthodox Academy to standagainst. Starting from today, there would definitely be countless letters ofchallenge descending like snowflakes. Now matter how good the three youths ofthe Orthodox Academy were at fighting, even if they could win every battle, howcould they last through so many matches? Even if they weren't beaten to death,they would probably be exhausted to death. Even if they weren't exhausted todeath, they would really be disgusted to death. As he looked at those letters of challenge, he felt a pain in his chest. Justas he had said yesterday on the great banyan tree, living like this every daywas really not the life he wanted to live. The most troublesome thing was that, amongst this pile of letters, there wasone letter that was very heavy. Neither he nor Tang Thirty-Six could take it on. "Bie Tianxin, once the most powerful expert of the Li Palace Academy. Initiallevel Star Condensation, but…it's not the initial level Star Condensation ofZhou Ziheng and Mu Laoban. In his year's Ivy Festival and Grand Examination, heonly lost to Guan Bai. Many people even suspect that he could have alreadyentered the middle level of Star Condensation, except for the fact that thetechnique passed down through his family is far too powerful and secretive. Asa result, he's temporarily stopped at his current level." "The technique passed down through his family? He's not a student of the LiPalace Academy?" "If your family were even more powerful than the Li Palace Academy, if youwere you, what would be your final decision?" "Ah…whose son is he?" "His father is called Bie Yanghong, his mother is called Wuqiong Bi." "Ah…his family really is very powerful." Chen Changsheng did not sigh and say that these two new names were verystrange, because even someone as ignorant and ill-informed as him had heardthese two names before. These two names were the same as Zhu Luo and Guan Xingke, all signifying thestorms of the world. But this was the first he realized that these two Storms of the EightDirections were originally husband and wife, and that they even had a son. Chen Changsheng sighed, "Even if we could win, it's not good to win." If they beat the young one, then presumably the father and mother would comecalling. "Can you not be so narcissistic as me?" Tang Thirty-Six chided. "Just wheredid you get the confidence that you can beat this opponent?" Chen Changsheng really wanted to say, whether it was the wilderness outsideXunyang City or these battles in front of the Orthodox Academy's gate, just howmany initial level Star Condensation experts have I defeated? And then herecalled that Tang Thirty-Six had said that this initial level StarCondensation was different from an ordinary initial level Star Condensation. "That Bie Tianxin was unable to defeat Guan Bai back then doesn't mean thathis strength was any less than Guan Bai's. You can basically treat the two ashaving equal strength." Tang Thirty-Six looked into his eyes and said, "You'veseen Guan Bai. How much chance do you think you have?" Chen Changsheng recalled that scholar he had seen on the side of the streetand the sword intent he had sensed. After a moment of silence, he affirmed,"Not a single chance." Tang Thirty-Six replied, "Then if you want to beat Bie Tianxin, there's alsono chance." On the bed, Zhexiu once more opened his eyes. "I once fought with him before."