Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 1097 – A Koi of the Yellow River Quietly Sinking Down in the Dark Night

Snow lightly drifted in the biting winds.

Daoist Wu sat on the cold ground, his legs splayed out in front of him. His face burned with resentment and his body was covered in blood as he issued curse after curse at the sky.

But he did not dare to move, not even lower his head, because the coldness at his neck was growing increasingly vivid.

It wasn’t because of the snowflakes landing on his collar.

It was because An Hua was standing behind him, her eyes fixed on his neck, her hands tightly gripping a sharp dagger.

……

……

Wang Zhice stared into Chen Changsheng’s eyes, his brows slightly rising and his gaze turning incomparably sharp.

When he saw Chen Changsheng appear in the Mausoleum of Books, he knew that Daoist Wu had failed.

But he did not care, as he believed that with Daoist Wu’s age and reputation, the Li Palace might imprison him, but they would not humiliate him.

He had never imagined that Chen Changsheng would use Daoist Wu’s life to threaten him.

One could imagine from this that Daoist Wu was in a disastrous situation at the moment.

Wang Zhice was rather unfamiliar with this sensation.

It had been many years since anyone dared to plot against him.

Whether they were out of good intentions or bad intentions.

Even when Shang Xingzhou was traveling in and out of the estates belonging to the ministers of the Lingyan Pavilion, he had never harbored any intentions against Wang Zhice.

Otherwise, history would have taken on a completely different form.

And no one had ever threatened him.

He silently stared at Chen Changsheng.

He was the most famous scholar in the last one thousand years, but he was certainly not a scholar who didn’t have the strength to truss a chicken, and he was certainly not frail.

He had once led the united armies of the Human and Demi-human races from Tianliang County to Xuelao City, leaving a trail of blood and corpses behind him.

In terms of killing people, not even the number of people killed by everyone else present in the Mausoleum of Books could match up to the number of people he had killed.

His eyes seemed like an abyss, but they also seemed to burn with a fierce flame.

But Chen Changsheng was fearless, calmly matching his gaze with no intention of taking back his words.

A light flap stirred the snow.

Xu Yourong’s right hand lightly fell on the hilt of the temple sword while her wings of pure white began to slowly beat.

Gou Hanshi, his martial brothers, and the three elders of Mount Li’s Sword Hall wordlessly unsheathed their swords, ready to charge forward.

Wang Po’s left hand was no longer wrapped around his blade. It was gripping the sheath, prepared at any moment to remove the blade.

If that metal blade that had once severed the Luo River were unsheathed once more, would the river around the Mausoleum of Books be able to continue flowing?

The elders of Gentle Stream Monastery, the Blazing Sun Sect, and the other southern sects struggled for a while before deciding to raise their weapons.

The expressions of the people allied to the Imperial Court darkened.

Was this what it meant to prepare to charge together without a single word?

But the one standing across from them was Wang Zhice!

But this was the path of Wang Po’s blade.

The path of Mount Li’s sword.

And it was the path of Chen Changsheng’s cultivation.

Straight.

If Wang Zhice did not agree to Chen Changsheng’s proposal, Daoist Wu would die.

It was just that simple, just that uncompromising.

Several of the Chen princes subconsciously looked at the Prince of Xiang.

As the strongest member of the Imperial clan, his stance was extremely important, sufficient to alter the course of the Imperial court and the army.

Prince Chen Liu had already fallen into the hands of the Li Palace.

If the two sides really did break into hostilities, would Prince Chen Liu be able to survive?

But what they saw was that the Prince of Xiang had closed his eyes again.

Was this because what the eyes did not see was clean, or was it because he was thinking about what he would choose if the life of his son were threatened?

……

……

“Several hundred years later, when you turn to look back at the past and realize that today, you began to transform into the person that you most loathed…”

Wang Zhice’s eyes regained their composure as he said to Chen Changsheng, “You might feel an unimaginable remorse.”

Chen Changsheng thought of his conversations with Tang Thirty-Six.

Those conversations had taken place on the great banyan tree, by the lake, and on the shore of the Wenshui.

The light of the setting sun had been sliced into countless golden leaves, providing such wealth that it almost made one tired of it.

A fat koi that had eaten too much was slowly sinking into the mud at the bottom.

“I will not become someone like you.”

He declared to Wang Zhice.

Wang Zhice asked, “Why?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “Because I do not want to become someone like you.”

‘I won’t because I won’t.’ There was no logical connection here, so there was naturally no reasoning.

Wang Zhice shook his head. “This is not a reasonable explanation.”

Chen Changsheng returned, “When have any of you ever spoken reason with me?”

……

……

The grass by the lake was somewhat yellowed, no green blades having sprouted

The bits of paper falling onto it were blown here and there by the wind.

The teachers and students had left in such a rush that it was somewhat hard to not leave a mess.

The Orthodox Academy now was just as cold and deserted as the Li Palace.

It seemed to have returned to the graveyard it had been for twenty-some years.

It was extremely appropriate for the coming battle.

No matter which of them died, they probably wouldn’t mind being buried here.

Both teacher and student had been the principal here, and were certain to leave an imperishable mark on the history of the Orthodox Academy.

Tang Thirty-Six stood by the lake, thinking these empty thoughts.

It was early spring, so the lake should have thawed, but the sudden drop in temperature today had caused a thin layer of ice to form on the surface.

The fish had sunk into the very bottom of the lake. Although mud and filth were everywhere, it was at least warmer.

Su Moyu had confirmed that all the teachers and students had left, and walked to the lake shore.

He worriedly asked, “You’re sure that he can succeed?”

“I don’t know.”

Tang Thirty-Six looked at the lake and said, “But I’m sure that he’s not happy.”

……

……

Wang Zhice said no more.

Because he found it impossible to reply to Chen Changsheng’s question.

Then one could also understand why he could not outspeak Chen Changsheng.

He was well-versed in the Daoist Canon and had an extremely deep well of experience to draw from. His intelligence was without par and he was exceedingly eloquent, yet there were several times today where he had found himself unable to reply to Chen Changsheng.

Because Chen Changsheng was not debating, was not speaking reason with him.

He had spoken nothing but the truth.

‘With the truth in hand, reason is on my side.’

If one used Tang Thirty-Six’s words, he was a person who lived very purely.

Xu Yourong’s words were simpler, more accurate.

Chen Changsheng was a true person.

This was why she loved him.

When Wang Zhice fell silent, she raised her right hand.

The sword Qis receded, their awe-inspiring intents returning to the forest.

The South Stream Temple sword array was dispelled.

Shang Xingzhou appeared before the people.

Before Chen Changsheng’s eyes.