Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)
chapter-373

Chapter 373 – Polishing the Sword Before the Battle (Part Two)

Edited by: Nora

Only avengers that were willing to die in their hearts would dare to come and kill Su Li. This was because the entire world knew that since they could not beat him, so naturally, killing him would be even harder. By seeking to kill him, they would only invite death and disgrace. But now the situation had changed. He had been subjected to the attacks of demons for several days and nights and had only escaped by a fluke, walking away with grievous injuries. To those people that wanted to kill him, this was undoubtedly their best chance, a chance that they had to grasp.

When Xue He learned that Su Li was heavily injured, he had been making his patrol through the military camp in the town. Without even having the time to take off his armor, he had been dragged off by a few old subordinates to drink quite a few rounds of wine. While his face was red and his ears were hot, he suddenly received this news. Without even thinking about it, he tossed away his glowing lamp, spilled his wine, and with a single slap, knocked out two officers that still insisted that he keep drinking. Riding his Red Cloud Qilin, he rushed off to the snowy plains, his mind wholeheartedly fixated on finding Su Li as quickly as possible, and then killing him. Where could he find the time to think about other things?

The man that had appeared on this barren mountain was in a similar situation. Four days ago, he had been in Xunyang City acting in an opera for his own amusement. He had invited the finest theater troupe from Lanling City and had invited only his closest and most influential clients. He had been singing that most famous ‘Spring Night Melody’, acting the part of the most charming and pleasant bride. Just as the song began its crescendo, his brows flying and eyes gentle, he suddenly saw the bishop sitting below sending a signal with his eyes. Soon after, he heard the message in his ear.

Su Li was heavily injured, possibly in the north of Tianliang County? He exhaled a breath of cold air and looked askance to the heavens. With an indescribable air of contempt and sorrow, he calmly gazed upwards for a few moments. Then with a bang, he leaped off the stage, kicked off his cloud shoes, threw off his headscarf, seized one of the Xunyang City Guard’s Lightning Horses, then exited the provincial city, rushing off towards the county’s north.

Chen Changsheng had said that they did not seem like assassins, but this was because they had never been assassins. In addition, it was just as Su Li had said, they had come over in a rush. They feared that they would be too late—Su Li was heavily injured. They could wait for their whole lives and not see such an opportunity again. How could they find the time to change clothes? So Xue He came in his shining armor while this man came in the elegant dress of a dancer, with ribbons and ruined makeup. They were wearing the clothes that they wore at the time, so of course, they would not have the appearance of assassins.

Xue He’s shiny armor had been covered with dust, and this man’s dancing dress was also smeared with mud. His face was rather fatigued and haggard, the makeup that had still not been blown off by the wind endowing him with a strangely enchanting and beautiful feeling.

As he looked at Su Li, his eyes grew increasingly bright, the happiness on his face growing increasingly prominent. He lifted his sleeve to cover up his mouth, making him extremely charming and seemingly extremely pleased with himself. And yet there was also a pain that seemed to originate from the deepest depths of his soul.

“With such pains, I was finally able to find you. It was truly not easy, but when I think about how you will soon die at my hands, the greatest pains would all be worth it. In these three thousand li of northern plains, we were actually able to meet. I must say that my luck is not too bad.”

Hearing these words, Su Li was somewhat moved. He said to Chen Changsheng, “Your luck is really good. We just happened to need an opponent a little stronger than you, but not too strong, and then one just happened to appear.”

With his gaze, it was very easy for him to see that this man was at the initial level of Star Condensation.

The man’s slender brows perked up as he asked with astonishment, “Do you two not know who I am?”

Chen Changsheng very earnestly nodded his head.

The man gently lifted his flowing sleeves and softly introduced himself. “I am Liang Hongzhuang.”

(TN: Hongzhuang (红妆) can variously mean ‘red makeup’, ‘beauty’, or ‘splendid feminine attire’.)

Liang Hongzhuang was a very famous person. In Tianliang County, and even in the entire northern part of the continent, he was incredibly well-known. This was because of his family, because of his elder brother, because many people knew that he loved to act in operas and to dance, and because he was very strong.

Chen Changsheng and Su Li glanced into each other’s eyes; they still did not know who this person was. Chen Changsheng could recite the entire Daoist Canon from back to front, but on the true world of cultivation, he was truly very ignorant and inexperienced. As for Su Li…there were very few names he needed to remember on this continent, and Liang Hongzhuang had very obviously not achieved that distinction.

This was absolutely an enormous humiliation. Liang Hongzhuang frowned, but he was not angered. He sighed, “It somewhat hurts my pride, but if I can kill Sir Su, then perhaps, even more people will know my name.”

Chen Changsheng asked, “Could it be… you came here to kill Senior so that you could get famous?”

Liang Hongzhuang did not answer, he only laughed.

Su Li suddenly asked, “Liang Wangsun’s Liang?”

Liang Hongzhuang’s expression grew a tad more solemn. “Liang Hongzhuang’s Liang.”

(TN: They actually do share the same surname, Liang (梁).)

When Su Li heard this, he understood why this deranged fellow dressed in this red bridal gown wanted to kill him. Turning to Chen Changsheng, he declared, “This person really wants to kill me, so you must kill him.”

Listening to this very short conversation, Chen Changsheng had not quite understood its full meaning, but he had a rough idea of what was going on—this assassin in a red dancing dress presumably had some relation to Liang Wangsun.

Seeing the approaching Liang Hongzhuang, watching the silk ribbons of his dress dance in the wind, Chen Changsheng’s brain rapidly worked, continuously observing, analyzing, and calculating, seeking a gap in that dancing dress.

In order to obtain victory over an opponent, one must understand the opponent. Whether it was the Intellectual Sword or the most ordinary battle, all battles required this. He did not know who this dancer called Liang Hongzhuang was, but he knew about Liang Wangsun.

Liang Wangsun was an expert who ranked very high up in the Proclamation of Liberation, a truly famous person. What sort of famous person could be called a truly famous person? A truly famous person was a person that even an ignorant guy like Chen Changsheng knew of them. That was a truly famous person.

Chen Changsheng had very little understanding of the sects and schools of the cultivation world, but he had a very clear understanding of the Liang bloodline because the Liang clan was the previous Imperial clan. Their cultivation, lifestyle, and blood legacies were all recorded in the annals of the Orthodoxy.

Liang Wangsun’s resplendent and extravagant manner, Liang Wangsun’s achievements, Liang Wangsun’s style of swordplay, Liang Wangsun’s attitude towards Wang Po and Xiao Zhang, Liang Wangsun’s age, Liang Wangsun’s three wives… countless fragments of information floated up from the floor of his sea of consciousness and then flashed before his eyes.

Just like the myriad stars in that star region, they descended down from the night sky to in front of his eyes and began to flicker. In these stars, he needed to find the most crucial space, that single path.

“Can you do it?” Su Li asked.

Chen Changsheng shook his head. His Intellectual Sword had still not reached a polished edge. No, it was more appropriate to say that not even the shape of a sword had begun to form. He couldn’t even use it to see the weakness of a Star Condensation cultivator, so how could use it against his enemies?

“If you can’t see it, you still have to guess.”

“Senior, since you can do it, why can’t you instruct me like before?”

“As I said before, in order to block Xue He’s blade, I used up all the strength that I saved up.”

“Does seeing through a Star Domain require strength?”

“How else?”

“I always felt that it didn’t make sense.”

“Only when you’re so tired that you can’t even open your eyes will you have the qualifications to understand this reasoning.”

“Fine, then what should we do next?”

“As I said, you have to guess.”

“Guess?”

“It’s also a wild guess.”

As they were talking, Liang Hongzhuang had already arrived.

Chen Changsheng could no longer hold back. His dagger flashed like lightning out of his sheath, thrusting at the dancing silk ribbons.

On a distant hillside, two furry deer had their heads lowered as they grazed, not even glancing at their location.