Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)
chapter-502

Chapter 502 – Understanding Only After Separation

The great banyan tree had already shed many of its leaves. Standing atop its branches and looking into the distance, whether one was gazing at the Li Palace or the Mausoleum of Books, they were all extremely clear, as if they were right before the eyes.

“I truly did not expect it.” Chen Changsheng turned to Luoluo by his side and was quiet for a very long time, then repeated, “I did not expect it.”

“Back then, my coming to the capital was truthfully Queen Mother’s idea. She wanted to see if His Holiness the Pope or the Divine Empress would be able to help resolve the problems with my meridians. If not, I would be unable to cultivate in the techniques of the White Emperor clan, and thus be unable to inherit the throne. I might even have had to marry some person I didn’t want to marry. But Queen Mother definitely could not have imagined that the Pope and the Divine Empress were unable to resolve my problems, but instead it was Teacher.”

Luoluo raised her head and gazed at Chen Changsheng’s face in admiration. “Teacher, you truly are extraordinary.”

“It’s only because I enjoyed considering the problems of meridians ever since I was a child…”

Chen Changsheng recalled that he had already explained this last year, so fell silent.

He really hadn’t expected that Luoluo would leave, even though her departure was a matter of course—she had come to the capital to learn or have her illness checked. Now, she knew how to cultivate in human techniques and could see the possibility of succeeding to the hegemony of the White Emperor, and her illness had been cured. So it was only natural that she should return to White Emperor City. She was the Princess of the Red River and millions upon millions of her subjects were awaiting her care.

But all this had happened far too quickly. There had been no sign, and whenever he met her in the Imperial Palace or Li Palace, she had never mentioned it.

Fine, these were all excuses. So what if it was sudden? He still would be unwilling to part, because he truly was unwilling.

In the rich twilight, both the lake and trees of the Orthodox Academy seemed to be afire. Luoluo began to make her way out of the Orthodox Academy, then suddenly stopped. She turned around and snuggled lightly into his chest.

Chen Changsheng knew what she was feeling, because he was feeling the same, and used his hands to rub her head. In these almost two years, he and she would often sit side by side, or hold hands, or she would bury her head in his chest. He was used to it and so didn’t think much of it. Moreover, in his eyes, she was a little girl, like a younger sister or a daughter…

“Teacher, there’s something I’ve always been deceiving you about.”

Luoluo raised her head to look at him, her eyelashes blinking. “In truth, I’m not twelve years old. I’m the same age as Teacher.”

Chen Changsheng was stupefied, at a complete loss for words. As for his hands, he was even more at a loss as to where to put them, feeling that putting them anywhere was wrong.

“You…how can you deceive others?”

“Teacher, you’re stupid to not be able to see, but you still want to blame me lah…” Luoluo opened her eyes wide and seriously stared at him.

Chen Changsheng had no words to reply.

Laughter akin to silver bells rang throughout the Orthodox Academy.

Lahlahlahlah.

Luoluo left, returning to White Emperor City to confront the challenges she had to face.

Yet her laughter continued to echo around the great banyan tree and lake of the Orthodox Academy for many years.

Even after many years, whenever the students of the Orthodox Academy mentioned the legendary demi-human princess, the vice principal that they had never seen before, they would give endless rueful sighs. At the same time, Tang Thirty-Six would be filled with countless complaints. Back then when he had been recruiting new students, how had he said it?

……

……

Luoluo left, but the people coming and going from the Orthodox Academy actually increased in number.

The priests of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education would come to give lessons, Priest Xin would come over when he wasn’t busy, and Mao Qiuyu would occasionally visit the tea house outside the Orthodox Academy to sit for a while.

The person who visited the Orthodox Academy the most was Prince Chen Liu. Time could change many things, including one’s opinion of others, because time was the only test of one’s true mindset. In the course of their interactions, no matter if it was Chen Changsheng, Xuanyuan Po, or even the cold and indifferent Zhexiu, they all felt the heartfelt desire to protect the Orthodox Academy from this young prince. As a result, the two sides began to grow more familiar with each other.

But time could not change all things. For instance, the rocks in a latrine would always be stinky and hard. Tang Thirty-Six still did not like Prince Chen Liu, not even wanting to put up a pretense. Every time Prince Chen Liu visited the Orthodox Academy, he would speak a few taunts and jeers and then leave. Today saw the same scene. Regardless of how much Prince Chen Liu had trained himself, even he couldn’t help but reveal an awkward expression.

Chen Changsheng felt rather embarrassed and said a few words of apology in place of Tang Thirty-Six. He then went off to look for him, wanting to ask just why he was acting like this. However, when he found Tang Thirty-Six in the depths of the Orthodox Academy’s forest, he forgot to ask. This was because, in the end, this matter was not very important, and also because Tang Thirty-Six was currently doing something very strange.

Tang Thirty-Six was not hitting trees like Xuanyuan Po, nor did he seem ready to bury himself in the tree leaves and lay there for seven days and nights. He was crouched by a tree, forcefully shoving something into a hole in the tree. Chen Changsheng could clearly see that the item being shoved into the tree hole was a sword. Moreover, this was no ordinary sword, but a famous sword that Tang Thirty-Six had requested from him last night.

“What are you doing?” he asked in shock.

Without turning his head, Tang Thirty-Six replied, “I said to you before, I’m prepared to hide those swords of yours for future people to find.”

Chen Changsheng said rather incredulously, “Recently, you’ve been asking me every two days for a sword…but I’ve never seen you return them. You’ve been hiding them all?”

Tang Thirty-Six wiped the edges of the tree hole, coarsely disguising it. After giving it a once-over, he felt rather satisfied and stood up. Turning towards Chen Changsheng, he said, “What else? Or can I take those broken swords of yours and sell them off to buy wine?”

Chen Changsheng was dumbfounded. “Those are my swords, quickly bring them back.”

“All together, I’ve only asked for you a bit more than a hundred swords. Is there a need to be so tense?”

“I didn’t know that you planned to hide those swords. I thought you wanted to borrow the sword intents to learn the sword styles, so I especially picked out the best swords for you…”

“So what? Look at you being so stingy! It’s just a few old swords, and in these past two years, I’ve given you so much money.”

“This isn’t a question of money…even if you did want them, you should still tell me first! If I knew you were going to be so wasteful with them, there’s no way I would have given them to you.”

“Isn’t that it right there? I clearly know that if I tell you, you won’t give them to me, so what reason do I have to tell you the reason? You think I’m Xuanyuan Po, a fool!”

“I don’t care. In any case, quickly find those swords again.”

“I also don’t care. Hiding swords is very tiresome, and to find them all again is very annoying. In addition, the latrine smells simply awful.”

“You…actually hid my swords in the latrine!”

“Just pretend like you didn’t hear that. At any rate, I’m too lazy to look.”

“Then I’ll go myself. Quickly tell me where those swords are hidden.”

“Since they’re hidden…of course I can’t tell you the location. You have to find it yourself. If you can find it, then you’re pretty good lah.”

“Please don’t use the word ‘lah’.”

“Luoluo dropped a big radish.”

(TN: This is a sort of tongue twister. In pinyin, this line reads as ‘Luoluo luoxia yi gen da luobo’)

“You…in the future, don’t discuss this thing anymore.”

“If I become as stupid as you, I might not even amount to a radish.”

“I’ll ask you again about the swords.”

“Hide-and-seek is very fun.”

“…could it be that I did something wrong?”

“In any case, my advice to you is that even after you become Pope, you shouldn’t go to White Emperor City.”

“Why?”

“I’m worried that the White Emperor might swallow you.”

“……”

“In fact, you’re a fool, but it’s said that fortune favors a fool, otherwise, if you really did marry Luoluo, that’s the equivalent of marrying a tigress, and imagine how your life would be then.”