Chapter 359 – A Lion Keeping Watch on the Night and its Attendant (1/2)
Chapter 359 - A Lion Keeping Watch on the Night and its Attendant
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Mantou
The moment Chen Changsheng awoke, he realized that he was lying on the snowy ground and the sky had almost turned dark. Dusky light spilled out from the west, illuminating the low walls of that distant town as well as the rag Su Li had wrapped around himself.
The rag had been found during their escape in an abandoned hunting lodge, its edges and corners in tatters. At this moment,it seemed to be on fire as it lit up in the twilight. Su Li sat cross-legged on the snow, his head lowered and covered by that rag, causing him to appear somewhat like Black Robe. Chen Changsheng asked, ”I was lying on the snow, and yet… Senior does not care?”
After running incessantly, he had finally managed to cross the long ten thousand li of snowy plains, far away from the demon menace. One could imagine what sort of effort and price he had to pay and how exhausted he was. The moment he saw the human town, he immediately collapsed and was unable to rise. Yet, even in this sort of situation, Su Li did not come to his aid. This caused Chen Changsheng to feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Su Li's voice rang out from within the rag, carrying a sense of righteousness and self-confidence. ”If I had the strength to move you, would I still need you to carry me around on your back and take me everywhere? In addition, when you fall over, would you mind paying attention to your position? Don't forget, I'm on your back. When you suddenly crash down like that, do you know how miserable I was when being squashed by you?”
Chen Changsheng felt very helpless. During their escape, he would occasionally talk to this senior, so he had long confirmed that he who had never been skilled with his tongue could never obtain any advantage from conversation, even when reason was on his side. He propped up his aching body and slowly rose from the snowy ground. He walked over to Su Li and put him on his back, then once again began making his way into the distance.
By the time he reached the human town, the sky had already turned pitch-black. Fortunately, the wall blazed with countless torches, lighting up the ground before of the town. This was the only reason his utterly exhausted self avoided tripping on the protrusions of ice on the road.
This was an exceptionally crude, yet incredibly firm little town. To be more precise, this was the furthest military stronghold of the Great Zhou Army's Northwest division. There was no such thing as a curfew in this military stronghold, but if they wanted to enter the stronghold, they would have to undergo a very exhaustive process of inspection. It must be known that other than the most daring of adventurers, ordinary commoners would rarely appear in this place.
As they were being searched, Chen Changsheng was extremely worried that Su Li would get angry. The entire time, he kept anxiously looking over, but he didn't think that over the entire search, Su Li acted extremely obediently, just like a real disabled person.
The soldier in the stronghold began to ask his routine questions. Chen Changsheng had no customs document to take out, nor did he have any evidence of his journey. He was just about ready to admit his identity and have the military send someone to pick him up until he suddenly saw Su Li shaking his head in a mysterious manner. The eyes covered by the rag held a resolution that was difficult to oppose.
Su Li took out two custom documents from somewhere. They were two perfect, absolutely flawless custom documents. This perfection even included the shabbiness of the documents. In brief, there was nothing suspicious about it. The soldier's critical gaze took note of the pair as he listened to Su Li's answers. With a wave of his hand, he let the pair in, simultaneously reminding them to keep watch over their belongings.
The only establishment in which commoners could stay within this military stronghold was an inn, which, as expected, contained one large shared bed. However, tonight, there was only the two of them staying. The cold and stingy inn owner would naturally not heat the kang too warmly and did not even provide hot water. Thus, even after Chen Changsheng and Su Li and wrapped themselves up in the sour bedding for a long time, they still could not fall asleep.
(TN: For a kang, see: )
Chen Changsheng opened his shining eyes and gazed up at the oil-stained ceiling as he thought of some trivial things. Like how this inn might have been constructed from a kitchen, or how that waiter being yelled at by the inn owner seemed very pathetic. Then he heard Su Li sigh, so he asked inquisitively, ”Senior, you carry prepared identity documents and answered the questions exceptionally, so you should have a lot experience living outside. Why is it that senior can't sleep?”
Everyone knew that Mount Li's Junior Martial Uncle Su Li most loved to travel the four seas, rarely returning to Mount Li. In terms of traveling experience, logically, there should be none that was more experienced than him.
Su Li said angrily, ”What are you thinking?Who am I? How could I stay in such a run-down rotten place like this?”
Chen Changsheng thought to himself, previously if you had made your identity known, then we two definitely would not be sleeping on this cold kang. Don't even speak of this stronghold's commanding officer, even the generals of the south would have to immediately send somebody over. This idea, this question, which had always lingered in his mind, was finally voiced. ”Senior, why is it that we can't reveal our identities?”
Su Li replied, ”Do you know what I'm most famous for?Why the entire continent fears me?”
Chen Changsheng thought to himself, I grew up in the countryside in Xining village. Although I'm well-versed in the Daoist Canon, I know very little about worldly affairs. I only know that your cultivation is extremely high and your path of the sword is incredibly strong. Why is it not respect, but fear?
Su Li's voice seeped out of the icy bedding, causing them to seem even colder. ”Although I've killed many demons, I've killed even more humans. Besides Zhou Dufu of the past, I don't think there's anyone else that's slain more humans.”
Chen Changsheng was speechless. Senior is narcissistically showing off again, he thought to himself. If it really was this way, wouldn't you be a butcher whose hands were drenched in blood. Why hasn't the Mount Li Sword Sect expelled you out of the sect yet?
As if he had sensed what he was thinking, Su Li's voice sounded out once more. ”In Mount Li, my status is the highest, the strongest, therefore, I am also the eldest. The Discipline Hall and those guys on the mountain had long since ceased to see eye to eye with me, but what can they do to me?”
Chen Changsheng was speechless.
Su Li did not continue to expound upon his killing exploits. ”I naturally have my reasons for killing humans. Pulling up by the roots, exterminating families; I would never use such crude and empty methods, which has brought me quite some trouble. Therefore, the more people I kill, the more enemies I have. At this point, even I can't remember clearly how many enemies I have.”
Chen Changsheng's body became somewhat stiff. This can't be real, right? Then how you could survive until now?
”Very rarely will someone come find me seeking revenge, because I'm too strong. Of course, there are some guys who lose their heads in hatred and even forget about their own lives, their only thought is to kill me!”
As he talked about it, Su Li's mood clearly grew much worse. He angrily complained, ”When I wake in the morning, they come to kill me. When I sleep, they also come to kill me. At every moment of the day, they want to kill me. Wave after wave after wave, and the thing I don't get is that even though these guys have such awful standards yet still can never kill me no matter what they try, they still continue to come. Don't they find it annoying? Even if they don't find it annoying, I'll find it annoying, ok?”
Chen Changsheng was even more speechless. To put life aside, those people who want to kill you must have a real blood feud with you. However, you would actually say that they've lost their heads in hate, and that they're just annoying?
Su Li continued, ”This is why I rarely stay in Mount Li. Whenever I travel the continent, I've never used my true identity. If you don't want to be woken up on the toilet by some person with a magical artifact, I recommend that you do the same.”