Chapter 561 – Seeing a Middle-Aged Scholar, the Sky Turns Dark (2/2)

Xiao De's objective was the two shores of the Red River, the throne of sovereignty over the demi-human domain.

Who could swallow such a monstrous price, invite Xiao De to risk the divine punishment of the Pope and act against Chen Changsheng?

To be more precise, who had the qualifications to promise Xiao De so much benefit in the future?

That person or those people, so vividly portrayed, were certainly the competitors for either the position of Pope or position of Emperor of the Great Zhou.

For example, the Tianhai clan in the faraway capital, or Linghai Zhiwang at the nearby base of the mountain.

Because of the rules set by the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, the Orthodoxy's powerful figures were unable to enter Mount Han. Now that they thought about it, this matter truly was rather interesting.

Because it was far too much of a coincidence.

It must be said that although a certain person's plans seemed coarse, they were really too coincidental in their clumsiness.

If not for the fact that Liu Qing had suddenly appeared at Mount Han for some reason, this plan really might have succeeded.

”Your luck is not bad,” Tang Thirty-Six noted.

Zhexiu argued, ”This has nothing to do with luck.”

Yes, if not for the fact that they had journeyed together back south for ten thousand li, fought together in Xunyang City's storm,and that Chen Changsheng had never abandoned Su Li to return on his own to the capital, how could he have been so fortunate just now?

People walked along the mountain path, those cultivators acquainted with each other grouped together and discussing the recent disturbance.

At the very front, Chen Changsheng was speaking to the steward from the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. ”I have…somewhat of a friendship with that senior from just then, is it possible…”

The steward quietly said, ”Of course it's no problem. The matter in Xunyang City is known by the world. Even if we didn't give Su Li face, we would still have to give Your Eminence face.”

In truth, Chen Changsheng was clear that the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets was giving Senior Su Li face, it was just that he had broached the matter.

”Of course, he can't kill anybody in Mount Han. Even if he encounters a foe, he can only run away.”

Finally, the steward added, ”Or else even the faces of His Holiness and the Empress combined would be of no use here.”

With this steward's promise, Chen Changsheng became much more relaxed.

He completely failed to expect that he would meet Liu Qing again so quickly.

Moreover, the current Liu Qing was in an extremely perilous situation.

The mountain path slightly curved. Directly in front of them was a clear stream. On the cliff at the other side of the stream, trees grew everywhere, covered in yellow leaves ranging from light to dark, so beautiful that their colors and shades all seemed to blur together. The trees were replete with fruits of all sorts, the burdened branches hanging like they could snap at any moment.

Near the stream, several hundred persimmon trees grew, their branches dense with persimmons. They seemed just like countless lanterns.

Liu Qing stood by the stream, staring in front of him at the innumerable yellow lanterns. His hand gripped his sword, his face was bloodlessly pale, and his breath was hurried and rushed. His two shoulders drooped extremely low, not because he could wield his sword even faster, but because they were on the verge of collapse, like some invisible mountain was resting on his body.

Countless fine streams of blood were seeping from his ears and the corners of his eyes.

His head was like one of those heavy fruits on those trees, ready to explode at any time because it was too ripe, or perhaps because it was too heavy, it would snap the branch and roll off his neck.

Either resulted in death.

Liu Qing's right hand, holding the sword, was constantly shaking. He was almost at the point where he couldn't hold it anymore.

Even now, he still did not attack.

Because it was impossible for him to attack.

At the same time, he did not dare to attack this person.

Amongst the mountain of yellow leaves stood a middle-aged scholar.

His hands clasped behind his back, he gazed at those lantern-like persimmons, almost as if he was seeing if they were ripe or not.

A pendant was tied to his belt. If one carefully examined it, perhaps one would recognize that it was a seal.

There seemed nothing remarkable about this middle-aged scholar, but when Chen Changsheng's gaze fell upon his body, the sky above the mountains suddenly went dark.

Just who was he?