Chapter 530 – Caught (1/2)

Chapter 530 - Caught

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

After hearing Chen Changsheng’s words, Xu Yourong sat stunned in her position by the window for quite some time, not knowing how to respond.

In the Plains of the Unsetting Sun, they had experienced life-and-death situations together, stood side by side and back to back, and had also brushed away snow, so they had long understood each other's feelings. It was just that she had not known that he was a young Daoist boy from Xining Village, so after leaving the Garden of Zhou, she had also only thought about the promise she had made to him and prepared to end the engagement. But then, the Li Palace had announced to the world that the Sword Pool had reappeared and that many people had seen the swords from it. After making a few comparisons, she finally confirmed that he was him, finally understood that fate toyed with people’s hearts, even playing such a joke on her.

But what did that matter? As long as he was him, she clearly understood what she desired. On the Bridge of Helplessness and sitting by the pot eating ribs, she had been waiting for him to say something, but he had never said it. Only now, at such a late hour, did he inexplicably appear by her window and speak those inexplicable words.

Fine, this really was like his path of the sword.

Just like Wang Po's path of the sword, very straight.

He had used his words to straightforwardly pierce through the window paper in front of her and straightforwardly bring her back to the Divine Path of the Mausoleum of Zhou.

Xu Yourong stood up and looked at his figure through the window, and then extended her hand to open the window.

The snowflakes were buffeted inside by the wind, falling upon her face with a slight chill.

”The dilong is burning too hot, the room is a little warm.”

(TN: A dilong 地龙, floor/earth dragon, was basically a variation of the kang where channels under the floor conducted heat into a room from a heat source that was elsewhere.)

She looked at Chen Changsheng and said this seemingly to explain why she had opened the window and met with him, but she had not noticed that this explanation was rather cute.

Chen Changsheng looked at her face, not noticing the nervousness she revealed as she gave this explanation that resulted in this cuteness. He just felt that she was very cute.

”I was just standing outside and also felt it was a little hot,” he earnestly said.

It was currently in the depths of winter, in the dead of the night, the weather cold and the ground frozen, with snowflakes dancing in the air.

”How long have you been standing?” Xu Yourong asked as she looked at the snow on his body.

Chen Changsheng considered the question, then shook his head. ”I forgot.”

Xu Yourong asked, ”Why didn't you just come in?”

Chen Changsheng answered, ”I was afraid of disturbing your rest, and…Shuang'er should also be here, right? I was worried that she would see us and say something.”

Xu Yourong asked, ”Then do you want to come in now?”

Chen Changsheng replied, ”No need, I came…because there's actually something I want to give you.”

Saying this, he slipped off the string of stone pearls from his wrist and very carefully snapped it. He then stuck his hand into the window and said, ”There are ten in total. Pick five.”

In truth, he had long forgotten that there had been no agreement between them to divide up the treasures of the Mausoleum of Zhou. He simply believed it was only right and proper that since they had discovered the Mausoleum of Zhou together, anything they found in the Mausoleum of Zhou should be divided evenly, whether it was the Halving Blade Style or these ten stone pearls.

”This is…” Xu Yourong's curious voice suddenly halted and she raised her head to look at him and say in a somewhat incredulous voice, ”This is those ten…that were around the Mausoleum of Zhou?”

If this were some other expert, even a Prefect of the Orthodoxy like Linghai Zhiwang, they would be unable to see anything wrong with these seemingly ordinary stone pearls, because these stone pearls truly emanated no Qi whatsoever. However, she had begun studying the Heavenly Tome Monoliths when she was little more than ten, and she had personally seen these Heavenly Tome Monoliths in the Garden of Zhou, so she was naturally able to sense that something was different about them.

”Yeah.” Chen Changsheng looked back at her and said, ”The Garden of Zhou has not disappeared. If you want to go back and take a look, I can bring you in.”

He didn't describe it as 'entering the Garden of Zhou', instead asking if she wanted to go back. This was because to him and her, the Garden of Zhou was truly too important.

Upon hearing that the Garden of Zhou had not collapsed and that he could even enter it, Xu Yourong was astounded.

But the truly important thing was still those stone pearls in his palm.

She solemnly asked him, ”You truly plan to give them to me?”

Chen Changsheng solemnly replied, ”Without you, I would already be dead, and then how would I have possibly been able to find the Mausoleum of Zhou, let alone the Sword Pool?”

Xu Yourong thought about it, then casually picked out five stone pearls and swiftly stowed them away in the Tong Palace.

She felt that Chen Changsheng's argument made sense, so she very calmly accepted them, like the gentle wind and faint clouds, right and proper, frank and upright.

What Chen Changsheng most admired and most loved about her was this sort of temperament.

”Then I'll go now.”

Entering the palace in the snowy night, the window being opened, seeing her, and even giving her the stone pearls—everything he needed to do had been done, and now it was naturally time to return. This was what it meant to come in high spirits, but leave upon losing interest, the so-called elegance of a distinguished scholar…but he was a youth, not a distinguished scholar, so he said he was going to go, but his feet did not move.

Xu Yourong said, ”Go back first.”

Chen Changsheng affirmed, but his feet still did not move, and he still did nothing but look at her.

She slightly turned, almost as if she wished to avoid his gaze, but in reality, she was leaning out the window.

The closer she got, the more nervous he became.

She extended her hand and brushed the snow off his shoulder, just like how she had brushed the leaves off his shoulder on the Divine Path.

It was very gentle, very calm, very familiar, very composed.

The paper of the window had long been pierced through, even the window had been opened, but he still needed a final confirmation.

The action of brushing away snow was this confirmation.

Chen Changsheng felt like his severed meridians had all been healed and his body brimmed with vigor. As he looked at her, his eyes glowed with light.

Xu Yourong did not look him in the eyes, instead gazing off into the snowy night, feeling her face to be somewhat hot. She softly whispered, ”Tomorrow, I want to go to the Orthodox Academy and look around.”