Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

She thought about the scene before she fainted and that unforgettable smell. Countless conjectures appeared in her mind, stunning her into silence.

…His blood was very pure, so it could conform with her body? However, right now, the blood that flowed in her body carried a clear spiritual imprint, and was clearly her blood. How did his blood turn into her own true blood of the Heavenly Phoenix?

She gazed at Chen Changsheng with her eyes wide. She was very much at a loss and felt a little helpless, so she seemed innocent.

In the fifteen years she had been alive, it was the first time that she had been so muddleheaded and dainty.

Chen Changsheng did not know how to explain it to her, but had decided against it regardless. He was just worried that she had just left the edge of death, so she was actually still extremely weak. Because the mental shock was too great, a few new questions appeared in her. But she needed a good rest, so he decided to make up some excuse. However, as soon as his words left his mouth, they were covered up by sounds of thunder.

Rumble!

The oppressive and loud sound of thunder originated from far away and directly pierced through the main entrance of the mausoleum, echoing into their ears.

Chen Changsheng was a little confused. He thought, since the rain had just stopped before dawn, why is there still thunder? He supported Xu Yourong to the stone pillar and got her to sit down by leaning on the stone pillar. He prepared some fresh water and food, and served it in front of her. After saying a few words, he rushed out of the mausoleum.

Through the long passageway, he arrived outside the mausoleum. Gazing towards the origin of the thunder, his complexion immediately became even paler.

There was no rain where the thunder came from, nor even any clouds. However, the blue sky could not be seen, because that faraway area of the sky was taken up by a huge shadow.

Underneath that shadow was a black streak that was like the tide.

Although he could not see it clearly, his spiritual sense told him the cold and merciless truth. The black streak was a monster tide composed of countless monsters, two hundred li away. If it maintained its current speed, it would need roughly a day before arriving at the mausoleum.

Without time to ponder over why the monsters of the grassland would suddenly attack, as well as forming something like an army, or whether if there was someone in command, he turned around and walked into the mausoleum. He rushed back to Xu Yourong and picked her up horizontally. He then said, “We need to leave.”

Along the way, the two of them already had many moments of bodily contact, but this way of carrying was naturally different. Before Xu Yourong had even awoken from her blank state, she began to feel bashful, and before her bashfulness turned into annoyance, she was surprised by his words.

“What happened?”

“There is a monster tide which should be heading towards the mausoleum. It might be commanded by someone, most likely the demons.”

“Should be the Soul Wood.”

With these two simple sentences, the two exchanged enough information, and made their own judgements.

Chen Changsheng ran out of the mausoleum while carrying her. At that time, the black line formed by the monster tide seemed to still be far away, near the horizon, and did not move. However, he knew that these terrifying monsters had gotten closer. Xu Yourong also finally saw that sight that could be considered spectacular. She did not lose her head out of fear, and instead directly asked the most important question: “Where are we going?”

With such a terrifying monster tide appearing, not to mention that they currently were heavily injured and exhausted, even if they were in their peak conditions with their magical artifacts, they still could not do anything to such a situation. Just as Chen Changsheng had said, an immediate departure was crucial.

However, where would they go? The grassland was so mysterious and dangerous. If it were not for the directions of the Yellow Paper Umbrella, he could not have reached the mausoleum at all. The directions of the Yellow Paper Umbrella originated from that sword intent.

Although Xu Yourong did not know the inside story, she had already pinpointed long ago that only the umbrella could give them the directions to the mausoleum.

If they left the mausoleum and entered the grassland right now, the Yellow Paper Umbrella definitely would not have been able to give them a second targeted location. Then, they would definitely become lost in this grassland, and die like the expert seniors in the past.

Fortunately, the next sight they saw freed them from the trouble in this aspect. Of course, using positive words here seemed to be extremely inappropriate—they could see the black streak of the monster tide in the surrounding grasslands of the mausoleum, so all their directions of escape were already cut off.

Chen Changsheng had not spoken for a very long time. Originally, he still had many questions. How was this monster tide formed? Was it because they had entered Zhou Dufu’s mausoleum and activated some sort of mechanism? Along the way, why were they not attacked by monsters? Why did these monsters seem to be under the command of someone? However, these questions were already answered by Xu Yourong.

“Nanke prevented those monsters from attacking us because she wanted to follow us to find Zhou Dufu’s mausoleum.”

The Soul Pivot in the mausoleum originated from White Emperor City and could control monsters. However, the critically-important Soul Wood was not in the stone room. That piece of Soul Wood must have been in Nanke’s hands. As for why, it was something that they did not need to worry about at that moment.

There were an innumerable amount of monsters in the black line. Many of the monsters possessed unimaginable strength. Even though they were separated by a distance of two hundred li, they could still feel that the Qi that some monsters gave off were comparable to the human experts at the Star Condensation realm.

Let alone the true, horrifying body of that shadow in the sky.

He asked, “Since she can control the monsters, she could have completely relied on the monsters to lead the way. Why did she follow us?”

Xu Yourong said. “The Soul Wood must be together with the Soul Pivot to activate all of its uses. Perhaps because of this, she is unable to communicate with those monsters. These monsters will only battle with her, but will not do anything else.”

After saying that, the two of them fell silent again.

With the black line formed from the monster tide in the surroundings of the mausoleum, even if they were peak level Star Condensation experts, it would be very difficult to break out. At that moment, doing some analysis was completely pointless.

The grassland after rain was a little cold. The green trees that grew out from the cracks of the mausoleum were very short and unable to block the wind. With his face being caressed slightly by the cold, Chen Changsheng looked at her and said, “Let’s go back inside.”

Since they were unable to leave, guarding the mausoleum was the best, and the only, choice.

Xu Yourong said, “I don’t want to die in another person’s grave.”

Chen Changsheng considered things more practically and said, “But it’s a little cold outside.”

Xu Yourong pulled out the Tong Bow from nowhere, and inserted it into a crack in the rock. With a series of rustles, countless green leaves appeared out of the longbow. It fluttered in the breeze, but it blocked out most of the coldness.

When Chen Changsheng woke up in the mountain cave, he did not see that the Tong Bow had changed into a green tree. This was the first time he had seen it, and felt the great defensive Qi within. With surprise, he said, “This is actually the Tong Palace?”

Xu Yourong changed slightly in expression, and thought, was he really a secret disciple of the Snow Mountain Sect? Why does he have so many secrets on him? Actually able to tell that this is the Tong Palace with a single glance?

When Chen Changsheng carried her out, he did not forget the sackcloth wrap that was on top of her. At this moment, he spread it on the floor, and supported her to sit down. He then said, “Since you don’t want to go inside, watching from here works too.”

Unable to escape into the sky, they still had only one path— death. Xu Yourong, who had come back from a journey to the edge of death, had seen its true character. Her mental state was unprecedentedly calm. She did not think about the secrets hidden on Chen Changsheng’s body, and stayed calm but indifferent.

“I knew this already. Why did you do those things earlier? It was a waste.”

Chen Changsheng disagreed with her view and said, “Being able to live an extra moment is always good. Not even a day, perhaps only an hour, a breath, or even a moment, it is all good.”

Xu Yourong felt his honesty, and thought he was such a person who loved and longed for life. Could only these types of people be so kind? He really was a good person.

“Thank you for your blood.”

Thinking about the scene and the smell from before, even if she had returned to her original state and peak mental condition, her feelings would still have a slight but wonderful change. As a result, her gaze on him became slightly complicated.

“I know what you are thinking about.”

Chen Changsheng stayed silent for a while and then said, “There are problems with my blood. I don’t know what the problems are, but in short, people or other organisms that smell my blood will all want to eat me. No one is able to resist this type of enticement.”

Other than the broken meridians, and that his future prospects were dismal due to being doomed to die at the age of twenty, this was his greatest secret. He had not told Luoluo or Tang Thirty-Six, but right now, in front of Xu Yourong, he said it very calmly. This did not mean that he trusted this girl more than Luoluo or Tang Thirty-Six, but rather because the current environment and situation was very special. It was just like the first time he had seen the Black Dragon. Under the pressure of death, people were always willing to say anything.

Hearing his words, Xu Yourong said, “I did not think like that.”

Chen Changsheng began to laugh. He said, “What a girl who likes to excel over others. To not want to drink my blood or eat my flesh is nothing to be proud of, and also, don’t forget that I made you faint.”

He had said exactly what Xu Yourong was thinking. She did not get mad, and said with a smile, “Then just why don’t you believe in what I said?”

“You should have felt it before.” Chen Changsheng thought about himself before, how he came dangerously close to losing his senses, wanting to drink all of his own blood. He thought he had felt it himself after all. Afterwards, he said seriously, “Also, this is what my senior had said. I believe him.”

Xu Yourong was slightly surprised. “You have a senior?”

Chen Changsheng was very helpless and said, “I also have a master.”

Xu Yourong disliked the way he spoke, and was slightly displeased. She said, “Smooth-talker.”

Chen Changsheng admitted it without a hitch. “I was influenced by a friend.”

“Even you, such a boring person, has friends?” Xu Yourong made fun of him.

Chen Changsheng said, “If you, a cold and arrogant girl, can have friends, why can’t I?”

“When did I tell you I have friends?”

When she said that, her elegant eyebrows seemed to almost fly away, and she seemed very proud of herself. This was acting out of spite, or perhaps childishness, or perhaps venting. In any case, Chen Changsheng could not understand what there was to be proud of about having no friends. He once again felt that this genius girl of the Elf race was a little lonely and pitiable, and said while smiling, “...Then do I count as one?”

Xu Yourong did not expect this sentence, and looked at him with a smile. She said, “Yes.”