Chapter 208 – Thank You and You’re Welcome (2/2)

Chen Changsheng seemed like he wanted to say something but held back.

Xun Mei smiled. “Did you want to talk about borrowing a room?”

Chen Changsheng thought to himself you’re about to die, how could I ask such a thing?

Xun Mei said, “It’s just a shabby hut. If you all want to live in it, then live it. I have stayed here for thirty-seven years. After the Grand Examination every year, I would always see several children eat and sleep outdoors for several days before realising and finding a place to stay, ….however, I liked the quiet. You all can stay there, but just don’t let other people in too.”

These words concealed some other meaning, but how could Chen Changsheng and the others have taken note of it?

Gou Hanshi picked Xun Mei up and placed him on Guan Feibai’s back. These youths sent Xun Mei out of the mausoleum.

For some reason, those Monolith Guardians never made an appearance.

After arriving at the front gate of the mausoleum, there was no need for Tang Thirty-Six to call anyone over. The stone doors slowly opened by themselves.

The ground trembled, and the lamps outside the mausoleum rocked back and forth. The soldiers guarding the mausoleum were already waiting outside.

Xun Mei indicated that Guan Feibai should set him down, and then he walked outside of the mausoleum.

Chen Changsheng and the rest looked at his back with extremely complex emotions.

This former proud son of the Heavenly Academy was finally leaving the mausoleum of Books after thirty-seven years.

However, he probably only had this one night to live.

Xun Mei himself seemed to have no regrets as he casually walked out.

Entering the mausoleum and exiting the mausoleum. These thirty-seven years were just between the opening and closing of the stone gate. Life and death was also in between an opening and closing.

Outside the Mausoleum of Books were two people that had been waiting for Xun Mei for the whole time.

Chen Changsheng and the others recognized the Heavenly Academy Principal, Mao Qiuyu, and they paid him respects from within the door. However, they curiously wondered who was the other person?

If it were any other day,, he would have given some encouraging words upon seeing youths like Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi. However, today, he only had eyes for Xun Mei;ow could there be a place for anyone else? He urgently took two steps forward to support Xun Mei. His lips trembled as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

Xun Mei forcefully took two steps back and paid his respects. Then with a trembling voice, he said, “Senior, I’ve disappointed you.”

Upon hearing the word “Senior”, tears began to fall from Mao Qiuyu’s eyes. “That doesn’t matter. None of that matters.”

After seeing his senior cry, Xun Mei could not hold back. His eyes moistened, and he replied, “The fact that I woke up in the end can already be considered fortunate.”

Then, he looked at the other person. “I really didn’t think you would be waiting here for me.”

That person’s mood was very complicated. “I always felt that today would be the day you would leave the mausoleum, but I hadn’t imagined that you would come out in such a way.”

Feeling somewhat ashamed, Xun Mei told him, “In the past few years, I have also disappointed you.”

The man’s expression suddenly became solemn. With extreme disapproval, he replied, “What disappointment? In tonight’s battle, you turned the stars into snow and glimpsed the great Divine Dao! If Divine General Han Qing was not the Mausoleum Guardian, if he was not wearing that suit of armor, then there would have been no way he could have defeated you. With regards to cultivation, you have already surpassed me.”

Xun Mei was stunned at these words. In disbelief he asked, “Are you saying that I have already surpassed you?”

That person replied, “You know that I never tell lies. This is true, even now. ”

Xun Mei stared blankly at him. “Starting from the age of twelve, I’ve fought with you one hundred and twenty-seven times, but I could never beat you. I didn’t think that I would finally win one at the last moment.”

After saying these words, he was so happy he began to laugh, as joyful as a newborn child. The hint of coldness around him vanished.

Only after hearing all this did Chen Changsheng and the rest realize who that other person was. They could not help but feel shocked.

This person, whose clothes were extremely clean, and whose eyes were set a bit close to each other, giving off the impression that he was distressed, was actually that man?

Yes, the man that controlled half the wealth of Scholartree Manor, was this seemingly poor and destitute looking man, one of the world’s most famous names and powerful cultivators, Wang Po of Tianliang.

Wang Po earnestly said to him, “In the future, when I become a Saint, I will take you to see the peak of the Mausoleum.”

Xun Mei chuckled. “That’s you, not me. In the end you still want to make angry?”

Wang Po asked, “Then in the end, what should I say?”

Xun Mei was also clearly very interested in this question, and asked, “What do you want to say the most?”

Wang Po seriously thought it over, then finally said, “Thank you.”

As he gave his thanks, his expression was one of complete sincerity. There was no falsity or consolation.

Yes, the shockingly talented and exceptionally gaudy Wang Po of Tianliang of the past was no more. Otherwise, why would Xun Mei have locked himself away in the Mausoleum of Books for thirty-seven years?

If there had been no ever-chasing and determined Snow-Treading Xun Mei who refused to concede defeat, then how could there have existed the present-day Wang Po of Tianliang?

Xun Mei calmly looked at him and said, “You’re welcome.”

The stone doors slowly closed.

The last picture that Chen Changsheng and the others saw was Xun Mei in Mao Qiuyu’s lap, his eyes closed.

Back at the grass hut, some of the youths sat on the doorstep, others walked on the fence, and more others looked at the mausoleum, but none of them had anything to say.

Gou Hanshi was the oldest and his cultivation was the most profound, so at this point, it was reasonable for him to say something. However, he did not.

To young people like them, succeeding in the Grand Examination and entering the Mausoleum should have been the highpoint of their lives. Who could have imagined that they would encounter this sort of situation on the first night?

In the future, who amongst this group would be saying “Thank you” and who would be saying “You’re welcome”?