Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

The door of the library was opened but Tang Thirty Six preferred to enter through the window. It was hard to say if he was just lazy or had some other reason in mind. If he was in normal condition, jumping through the window would be an extremely easy task, but today it was kind of difficult. He sat on the floor, breathed heavily and coughed for two times.

“You really are wounded.” Chen Chang Sheng walked towards him and squatted down and wanted to check his wrist for him.

Tang Thirty Six blocked his hand and said, “I’m fine, I’m just a little tired.”

Chen Chang Sheng obviously knew he wasn’t speaking the truth, but it seemed that this guy was actually tired. He just laid against the wall, closed his eyes and slept.

The morning light was shining outside the window and landed on Tang Thirty Six’s face. It made his face paler than before.

Chen Chang Sheng shook his head, took out a thin blanket from the room and lightly covered him with it.

The light grew stronger as time moved on. Luo Luo brough Xuan Yuan Po to the Herb Garden. As the people of the same race, they needed to talk about some stuff.

Tang Thirty Six woke up, glanced at Chen Chang Sheng who was sitting on the floor concentrating on reading books and asked, “Why didn’t you go last night?”

Chen Chang Sheng put down the scrolls and asked, “Go where?”

“Heavenly Academy. Last night was the second night of the Ivy Festival.”

Tang Thirty Six put aside the thin blanket that was on him and stood up yawning. His mood seemed to be a lot better, “During the first night, the Tradition Academy really made a name for itself. Everyone was waiting for you last night.”

Chen Chang Sheng said, “We didn’t want to go, so we didn’t go.”

Tang Thirty Six looked at him and said, “You truly are a weird person.”

Not going to an event like the Ivy Festival just because he didn’t want to go; it did seem weird in the eyes of regular people.

“I think you are even weirder.” Chen Chang Shang responded.

Chen Chang Sheng remembered the time when he last entered the Heavenly Academy, Tang Thirty Six was xiuxinging hard. “You prepared for the Ivy Festival for such a long time but never appeared during the first night. What happened?”

Hearing this question, Tang Thirty Six was silent for a while and said, “I dislike that little monster of the Academy of Priests.”

Chen Chang Sheng asked, “And?”

Tang Thirty Six said, “And I once said that if I had the opportunity, I would handicap him.”

Chen Chang Sheng’s mood got worse as Tang Thirty Six continued, “If he actually appeared at the Ivy Festival, I was ready to injure him severely, but……some people didn’t dare let me harm him and so they didn’t allow me to join the festival that night and grounded me in the dorm.”

Chen Chang Sheng was silent; a person like Tang Thirty Six wouldn’t be so easily convinced by the rules of Heavenly Academy or the authority of his teachers. Therefore not allowing him to join the festival would only mean that the teachers of the Heavenly Academy interfered directly and locked him up in his room.

He could understand the carefulness of the Heavenly Academy because the Tian Hai Ya Er was too powerful. Besides finding a more powerful background, such as Luo Luo, there were not many ways to counter him. If Tang Thirty Six actually injured Tian Hai Ya Er in the Ivy Festival, no one would know the outcome.

But he could relate more to the anger of Tang Thirty Six.

“What was the situation last night? He looked at Tang Thirty Six’s pale cheeks and asked.

Tang Thirty Six answered, “Last night was an arena. The person who obtained the first place was a young officer from the Academy of Li Palace.”

Chen Chang Sheng switched the topic because he didn’t want Tang Thirty Six to continued drowning in the negative atmosphere. Chen Chang Sheng didn’t really care about the outcome of the Ivy Festival.

Tang Thirty Six raised his eyebrows and asked, “You are not going to ask?”

“Ask what?’

“Why the young officer of the Academy of Li Palace could obtain the first place?”

“The Academy of Li Palace……he was a student under the sect of Pope, what’s so out of place about him getting the first place?”

Tang Thirty Six pointed at himself and said, “It’s not outstanding if someone won against me?”

Chen Chang Sheng was speechless that he was still this prideful of himself. Chen Chang Sheng asked reluctantly, “Okay, then….why?”

Tang Thirty Six was satisfied, “Because I didn’t participate.”

This time Chen Chang Sheng was actually a little surprised. He asked confusingly, “Why?”

“The people who entered the Honor Roll of Green Cloud like Zhuang Huan Yu didn’t participate probably because they didn’t want to lower their status and prepare for the third night. But I didn’t participate because the school didn’t allow me to. They told me to stay in the dorm.”

Tang Thirty Six’s expression got darker.

Chen Chang Sheng didn’t understand. If the Heavenly Academy’s disallowing of Tang Thirty Six to fight with Tian Hai Ya Er was a little overboard but out of good concern, then the second night was too much. Was the school not afraid that Tang Thirty Six would grow hatred towards it?

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to challenge Zhuang Huan Yu.”

Nothing but silence filled the library.

Chen Chang Sheng made sure his ear was working and felt that Tang Thirty Six grew weirder and weirder or rather, more interesting.

He wanted to challenge a senior of the same school, the very person that represented the school.

If Chen Chang Sheng was a teacher of the Heavenly Academy, he wouldn’t accept this himself.

Plus there was no such rule in the Ivy Festival.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t like him.”

“This reason…..”

“What about this reason?”

“It’s a good one.”

Chen Chang Sheng was speechless, he knew there was probably a deeper reason for Tang Thirty Six to challenge Zhuang Huan Yu, but since this guy wasn’t willing to tell him, he had no way of forcing him.

“I used half of the night to break through the seal of the school but by the time I arrived at the festival, the event had already ended.”

Tang Thirty Six thought about what happened last night and was silent for a while, “I was kind of disgusted by the smell of the school and didn’t want to stay there for a while. But I’m not familiar with the capital and had no where else to go, so I came to find you.”

Chen Chang Sheng realized that he was wounded from forcefully breaking the seal that the teachers of Heavenly Academy had set up.

The Heavenly Academy was prestigious and serious, but it wasn’t suited for Tang Thirty Six.

Although the capital was vast, he couldn’t even find a single place to go and stay.

He walked around aimlessly in the streets before the sunrise and noticed that he only knew only one person, Chen Chang Sheng.

Chen Chang Sheng walked to him and folded up the sheet of thin blanket. Then he sat down next to him under the window. He didn’t speak.

They didn’t look at each other or converse, but Tang Thirty Six knew what he was thinking.

“Do not sympathize or pity me…..I’m a genius on the Honor Roll of Green Cloud.”

“Being a genius doesn’t mean you don’t need sympathy.”

“But you are in the same situation as me. In the entire capital, you only know me.”

Tang Thirty Six mocked. Upon remembering this fact, he felt a little better about the situation.

Just this moment, Luo Luo and Xuan Yuan Po walked in from the front door of the library.

Xuan Yuan Po held a much bigger lunch box than normal.

Luo Luo walked toward Chen Chang Sheng and said, “Master, it’s time for lunch.”

Chen Chang Sheng looked at Tang Thirty Six and opened his palm to show that this wasn’t intentional.

Tang Thirty Six always though Chen Chang Sheng’s personality problem was worse than his. He didn’t make any friend in the Heavenly Academy but this guy has already made two and one of them was a pretty, young girl. It landed a large impact in his heart.

Then he remembered what the vice principal told him after the first night of the Ivy Festival.

“You are the one who handicapped Tian Hai Ya Er?” Tang Thirty Six looked at Luo Luo and asked.

It was even hard for him to compete with the little monster of the Academy of Priests in the amount of qi in their body, speak less of handicapping him just from collision of their qi. This young girl of the Tradition Academy surely was no ordinary character. In addition, after the incident, the Tradition Academy was untouched which proved that this girl’s background was extremely powerful.

Now a lot of people in the capital was guessing the background of the Tradition Academy and how it was untouched after the incident. Some people were suspicious of Chen Chang Sheng’s background, but Tang Thirty Six knew that he was just a rural youngster who came from Xi Ning Village. Then it only could be this young girl.

Therefore his expression was serious and sincere when asking this question.

Luo Luo didn’t pay attention to him. Instead, she walked toward Chen Chang Sheng and opened the lunch box and wiped the chopsticks clean. Then she handed them to Chen Chang Sheng.

Observing this scene, Tang Thirty Six couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

Chen Chang Sheng was a little shy. He handed the chopsticks to Tang Thirty Six and introduced him, “His name is Tang Thirty Six.”

“I know, Master.” Luo Luo replied.

Of course she knew Chen Chang Sheng was familiar with Tang Thirty Six. Or to be exact, before her, he only knew Tang Thirty Six.

Chen Chang Sheng thought that since Tang Thirty Six was a young genius on the Honor Roll of Green Cloud and Luo Luo wasn’t an ordinary person, then it wouldn’t be strange for her to know him.

Luo Luo understood what he was thinking and said, “I know who he is, but I’m not familiar with him.”

Chen Chang Sheng said, “I thought since you were familiar with Zhuang Huan Yu, you would be familiar with him as well.”

Luo Luo peaked at Tang Thirty Six for a second and said, “Zhuang Huan Yu was right next to me, it was hard for me to not be familiar with him. Tang Thirty Six……was a little far.”

Chen Chang Sheng thought he heard this before but he still didn’t understand. Tang Thirty Six didn’t understand either but he could hear the mocking of the young girl. He was a little irritated and therefore, he picked the most expensive dishes in the lunch box and started eating.

Luo Luo wasn’t very happy.

Xuan Yuan Po sat there and ate quietly.

After finishing lunch, Tang Thirty Six took the black tea that Luo Luo prepared for Chen Chang Sheng and drank it in one go.

Luo Luo looked at him and smiled coldly.

Chen Chang Sheng didn’t know what to do, he asked Tang Thirty Six, “Then what are you going to do next?”

“I will definitely participate in the third night. The school won’t stop me from going.”

“How are you so sure?”

“This time, the four of the Seven Rules of Heaven will come. Is Zhuang Huan Yu able to counter all of them by himself?”

Chen Chang Sheng was confused, “What?”

Tang Thirty Six set the black tea on the floor and looked at him, “You don’t know? The southern ambassadors will arrive at the capital early this year.”

Chen Chang Sheng remembered the variable that Officer Xin talked about that day and realized this is what it was. Then he asked curiously, “Didn’t they always come after the winter solstice? There would still be some time before the Great Trial, why did they come so early?”

Tang Thirty Six answered, “At first no one knew, but now, everyone on the continent knows.”

Chen Chang Sheng asked, “What is the reason?”

Tang Thirty Six said, “The southern ambassadors wanted to propose officially on the day of Qi Xi. (Chinese Valentines Day)”

“Propose?” Chen Chang Sheng asked.

Tang Thirty Six answered, “Yes, Xu You Rong….. is finally going to marry someone.”

Chen Chang Sheng was stumped. He was silent for a long while.

Suddenly, he stood up and walked out of the library.

“Where are you going master?” Luo Luo asked.

Chen Chang Sheng didn’t turn his head, “The dishes were a little salty. I want to go rest by myself.”

Today’s dishes were a little salty.

His voice was a little weak.

This sentence was a little messy.

Because his heart was a mess.