Chapter 107 – A Battle of Words (1/2)
Having met eyes with each other, it was no longer possible to feign ignorance, Chen Chang Sheng lightly nodded his head in greeting. Under the Cedrus tree, an older disciple of Holy Maiden Peak lightly nodded in reply, though the motion was minute, it was enough to express courtesy, prompting the other disciples to return greetings to Chen Chang Sheng in turn.
A lone girl, whose face still conveyed remnants of childishness, remained motionless while maintaining a cold expression and cool gaze towards Chen Chang Sheng. The previous older disciple, who was probably her senior, whispered a few words to the girl, yet afterwards, the girl erupted in annoyance, stating: “Will senior You Rong marry this person? It’s obviously no, so why should I greet him?”
Upon hearing this, the other disciples were at a lost, how should they answer? The older disciple was just as bewildered and rushed to the side to reason with her, this fell upon deaf ears however and the girl turned to Chen Chang Sheng with a cold smirk while saying: “A little toad wishes to dine on the Phoenix? That type of delusional fool isn’t someone we should pay any attention to, Senior should be ignoring him too.”
Her words were intentionally loud and clear, in order to put Chen Chang Sheng’s group into hearing range. Initially, Chen Chang Sheng had presumed her to be just a little girl and did not need to care for her words, but upon the utterance of the last line, he had no choice but to stop; Tang Thirty-Six refused to continue forwards.
The girl had an exceedingly young looking face, and an age to match, yet who could have guessed she would be so callous with her words? Her voice carried a fair distance; the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green opposite were restrained in their reactions, conversely, students from Temple Seminary and Li Palace College who were situated farther away, all erupted in bouts of heavy laughter.
The Li Palace’s divine avenue was a long, straight path, Tang Thirty-Six had already endured the gazes of a multitude of students and the barbs from Temple Seminary students for quite some time, upon hearing the callous words of this girl and the subsequent mocking laughter; he had already reached his limit.
Hearing laughter from both sides of the divine avenue, the girl was further emboldened, delighting in the response. She turned to Chen Chang Sheng, made a sound of indignation, and then turned to her senior: “Do you hear that? Even these people of Zhou (country) agree with me.”
Early mornings at Li Palace are very quiet, causing the sounds of laughter to reverberate throughout the palace at an ear-piercing volume.
The reason for students of Temple Seminary and Li Palace College having such a strong reaction to the girl’s callous words was because the phrase, “a little toad wishes to dine on the Phoenix”, was currently the biggest joke in the city, alluding to the engagement between Chen Chang Sheng and Xu You Rong.
No one dared to approach the doors of Orthodox Academy to say these words and were thus also unable to say these words to Chen Chang Sheng’s face, for this girl to say these words today, students that enjoyed inciting incidents couldn’t let this chance slip by without fanning the flames.
“I daresay… such a phrase should be officially recorded, so that it may become a proverb for the people of this continent.”
A voice from amongst the Temple Seminary group sounded, it was unclear if it was the same person from before, yet nonetheless it aroused another burst of laughter.
Chen Chang Sheng shifted his gaze towards the girl under the Cedrus tree; seeing her childish face, he estimated her to be around 12 years of age, an age not too different from that of Luo Luo, causing him to feel hesitant.
The older disciple from Holy Maiden Peak expressed an apology towards him.
The girl met Chen Chang Sheng’s gaze indifferently and responded with a cold laugh: “What? Have I said anything that’s a lie?”
Chen Chang Sheng quietly considered for a while, then replied: “Your words are correct.”
The girl looked at him in disdain, “So where am I wrong then? In what way are you worthy of Senior You Rong?”
“She might really be a Phoenix.”
Chen Chang Sheng said.
“But I am most definitely not a toad.”
He was also going to express that the toad wasn’t interested in the Phoenix, but was interrupted by the girl, who mockingly said: “Oh, so you’re not a toad because you say you’re not? Then who were they all laughing at?”
“I do not know who they were laughing at.”
Chen Chang Sheng suddenly shifted his gaze towards the deeper regions of the Cedrus trees, stating: “But I do know someone that will disagree with the idea of me being a toad.”
Unknown to all, the doors to a guesthouse had been opened and from inside, Gou Han Shi and his three junior disciples from Li Shan Sword Sect emerged, they crossed the woods and arrived at the divine avenue.
Gou Han Shi managed to hear the girl’s previous words and understood the allusions behind them, his expression was hard to read, as he shook his head and said: “You’re naturally not a toad, if you were, then what would that make me?”
The laughter suddenly subsided, leaving a wake of silence.
At the Ivy League gathering, Orthodox Academy triumphed over Li Shan Sword Sect, anyone that was present at the time, knew of the key figure behind that victory.
Though it could not be said that Chen Chang Sheng was stronger than Gou Han Shi, he was undeniably capable of standing up to him.
If he were to be a toad, then what would that make Gou Han Shi? What of the Divine State’s Seven Laws?
Laughing at Chen Chang Sheng was therefore no different from mocking Li Shan Sword Sect?
Subsequently, no one dared to raise their voice again, let alone laugh, the girl from Holy Maiden Peak became flustered while looking at Gou Han Shi and wanted to open her mouth to give an explanation, yet words would not come.
Amidst the Li Palace College group, Su Mo Yu who was watching from the side lightly crossed his eyebrows in a frown, he couldn’t understand, why did Gou Han Shi make an appearance to defend Chen Chang Sheng?
The reason for this was only privy to Chen Chang Sheng and Gou Han Shi; apart from needing to express the magnanimity of the Li Shan Sword Sect, considerations also had to be paid towards the state of Qiu Shan Jun. Chen Chang Sheng and Xu You Rong were betrothed to each other, all Qiu Shan Jun could do was to observe them from a distance, therefore this event couldn’t be allowed to become too much of a mockery.
A beautiful silence enveloped the evergreens.
Chen Chang Sheng and Gou Han Shi exchanged formal greetings (揖礼) towards each other.
Subsequently, no one paid any further attention to the girl from Holy Maiden Peak, including her seniors, but the quietness of the surroundings cause her to become anxious; offending a senior from the Longevity Sect was an unthinkable situation for her, further increasing her anxiety. Near bursting into tears, she said: “I… I didn’t mean that, this… this person can’t even cultivate properly, isn’t he nothing more than trash?”
Upon these words, the atmosphere once again turned heavy.
Guan Fei Bai raised his eyebrow, finding the actions of the girl distasteful; the fifth Law, Liang Ban Hu, shook his head; even Qi Jian, who only cared about cultivating The Way and cared little for worldly affairs, thought her actions crossed the line, he turned his gaze towards Gou Han Shi, hoping that his senior would handle this affair.
Gou Han Shi had a gloomy expression, yet did nothing. Though disciples from the Southern schools all referred to each other with the greetings of senior and junior, akin to being from a single body and school, they were still independent of each other. As the second disciple of the Longevity Sect, he had no right to interfere with Holy Maiden Peak and its matters.
Though there was someone that didn’t care about interfering.
“I’m rather curious as to why you loathe Chen Chang Shang so much… though admittedly, he is rather annoying at times.” Tang Thirty-Six suddenly interjected.
The girl only continued to glare at Chen Chang Sheng, ignoring the question.
Tang Thirty-Six continued, “No matter how gifted you may be, you cannot possibly be a match for the Phoenix, putting aside your personality, you’re still too young to be a disciple of the Nan Xi Institute, so you must be a disciple associated with Holy Maiden Peak? I would guess… a disciple of Ci Jian Temple?”
Hearing him mention her personality, the girl was mortified and wanted to refute him, what was wrong with her personality? Yet upon hearing those last few words, she felt stunned, Holy Maiden Peak had over a dozen schools and sects, how did he manage to guess that she came from Ci Jian Temple?
“That’s right, I’m called Ye Xiao Lian, a younger disciple of Ci Jian Temple, once I’m old enough next year, I’ll be entering the Nan Xi Institute, what of it?”
She faced Tang Thirty-Six with her small face, not caring to temper her look of pride and guarded vigilance.