Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)
chapter-61

The southern ambassadors arrived at the capital as guests. From a logical standpoint, they shouldn’t ask actively but that woman wearing the white gown was close to the teachers and was a student of the Thirteen Division of Green Light. She knew Xu Shi Ji as well. After seeing the weird atmosphere in the palace, she couldn’t help but ask.

Most of the people in the palace at the moment had participated in the first night of Ivy Festival and so, they all recognized the little girl who handicapped Tian Hai Ya Er. Hearing the guest’s question, someone answered, “She’s a student of Traditional Academy. For some reason, she arrived late.”

Hearing this answer, the woman from Mountain Virgin was a little surprised. The three young men who placed their swords on their knees all raised their head and glanced at Luo Luo. Their eyes were like sharp exquisite swords drawn from their sheathes.

Even in the far south, people already knew Tradition Academy was in ruins. Earlier during their trip, they heard the incident that happened on the first night of Ivy Festival and then knew there were two new students added to the Tradition Academy. Is this young girl the genius that popped out of nowhere?

Those three men from Mountain Li were in the well-praised Seven Rules of Heaven. In their eyes, defeating Tian Hai Ya Er wasn’t an extraordinary feat, but since this girl is so young, she should be treated with respect.

Gou Han Shi also raised his head and looked at Luo Luo, but he only smiled warmly without showing much care.

Luo Luo didn’t bother with the three youngsters from Mountain Li that glanced at her. Although the Seven Rules of Heaven were respectable, all her mind right now was on Gou Han Shi. She sensed clearly that this person wasn’t an easy figure. She herself wasn’t his opponent, but what about her master? Can he defeat him?

The entire palace was quiet for a moment. She was standing near the entrance and was actually out of place.

Xu Shi Ji said coldly, “It’s already impolite for you to arrive late. Go sit down so you don’t become a joke to our guests.”

Hearing this seemingly blunt comment, Prince Chen Liu was stumped but then, he smiled and thought to himself, Xu Shi Ji still haven’t guessed this young girl’s identity correctly. It seemed that the trust of the Divine Queen to him would be limited and far from Xue Xing Chuan.

Prince Chen Liu glanced at the principal of Heavenly Academy, Mao Qiu Yu. Right now, they were the only two who knew the true identity of Luo Luo in this palace. Seeing Mao Qiu Yu’s serious expression as if he didn’t know anything, the prince thought of something and turned to glance at the bishop, Mei Li Sha. However, the bishop’s eyes were half closed and seemed to have almost fallen asleep.

“The elders sure can endure the pressure…..”

Prince Chen Liu sighed. He knew that the bishop was hiding his wisdom. It was safe to say that he already guessed the identity of Luo Luo.

Luo Luo looked at Xu Shi Ji for a second. If it was any other time and someone yelled at her like this, she wouldn’t endure such mockery or insult. She may be kind and nice in front of Chen Chang Sheng, but when she was acting out of rage, even Princess Ping Guo was scared of her.

But tonight’s situation was different. Her hand was squeezing the tiny bag in her sleeve tightly and she thought about Chen Chang Sheng’s previous words. She took a deep breath and pushed all of her rage down. She didn’t talk with Xu Shi Ji and walked straight to Tradition Academy’s spot in the corner.

Just this moment, music started playing and the curtain was lifted. Under the lead of dozens of servants, a woman luxuriously dressed slowly entered the palace.

She was Lady Mo Yu.

Although her influence on the court was powerful, she didn’t have a proper status on the surface. Speak logically, she should be more low key in these kinds of events but they are currently in the royal palace and everyone knew that she represented the Divine Queen. Therefore, they couldn’t just sit quietly. Most of the people stood up and welcomed her.

Several hundred people in the palace all stood up and the guests from the south didn’t make an exception either. The crowd was like waves under the light of the Nightly Pearls.

Only two people didn’t stand up.

One of them was the bishop of the Department of Education. The elder’s eyes were closed and a faint smile was on his lips. It seemed like he was actually sleeping.

The other one was Luo Luo in the corner. She stared straight into Mo Yu’s face in a moderately impolite fashion.

Everyone in the field stood up except two people. Of course she was a bright spot and everyone looked at her.

Xu Shi Ji’s face turned gloomier. Although he knew this young girl named Luo Luo had a powerful background, tonight was the night that the southern ambassadors will propose which meant that he need everything under his control. This was the reason why he yelled at her previously. He needed to see if there would be any changing variables in this event.

The changing variable seemed to be coming.

The bishop’s status was higher than him and so, Xu Shi Ji couldn’t express his anger towards him. He could only direct it to the last person remaining.

He looked coldly at Tradition Academy’s spot in the corner.

Just like him, no one dared to look straight at the bishop who sitting in the front. Everyone’s eyes landed on Luo Luo. Their eyes turned low on Luo Luo since she was sitting. *

Luo Luo didn’t even care or notice the eyes of others. She continued to stare at Mo Yu. Her eyes were calm and her expression was serious. She was trying to warn her.

Everyone’s heart began to race. They didn’t know what would happen next.

Just when Xu Shi Ji was ready to yell at her, a crispy voice was heard.

“It’s fine.”

Mo Yu smiled and said. She extended her arms while her sleeves were lowered. She gestured everyone to sit.

Her sentence seemed to direct everyone including Xu Shi Ji to show her forgiveness to Luo Luo.

But Luo Luo knew her sentence was directed to her.

She promised Luo Luo that Chen Chang Sheng wouldn’t be harmed.

Luo Luo knew Mo Yu wouldn’t lie, especially at a critical moment like this. She knew that Mo Yu did something and warned her.

Although her heart relaxed a bit, her body didn’t.

She sat in the corner and quietly looked at Mo Yu. Her eyes didn’t turn an inch away.

She was like a tiger hiding in the forest and looking at its prey silently. It could leap out at anytime and rip its prey into pieces.

Mo Yu felt that pressure from the eyes in the far corner. She raised her eyebrows slightly because she was surprised. Her thought was the same as Princess Ping Guo’s. They thought that Luo Luo was only going to school at the Tradition Academy because she was bored of staying in the Herb Garden and was trying to play a game with an ordinary person.

Even if Luo Luo was in any kind of relationship with Chen Chang Sheng, she shouldn’t value him this much.

Since Mo Yu could feel the pressure from her eyes, other xiuxingists in the palace also noticed it as well — especially people around the position of Tradition Academy. They suddenly felt a cold shiver go down their spine.

—————————————————————

Chen Chang Sheng thought he died, but he didn’t.

The Black Mighty Dragon stopped in midair in front of him and didn’t continue any further.

The two were dozens of yards apart, but because the black dragon was gigantic, this distance was close. He could actually see the frost and snow on the dragon’s teeth. The black dragon was breathing deeply and freezing wind was blowing. Countless snow and ice pieces were swirling around in the air.

Chen Chang Sheng felt he was standing outside of Xue Lao City in the far north.

What made the black dragon stop wasn’t his bravery nor the words he said before, it was the short sword in his hand.

The seemingly ordinary short sword.

Looking at the short sword in his hand, countless stars seemed to light up in the depths of the black dragon’s eyes. Then, the stars were demolished.

Every star was a different mood and feeling.

Confusion.

Misunderstanding.

Surprise.

Insecurity.

Hatred.

Separation.

Encounter.

Kindness.

Caution.

Rage.

Generosity.

Indifference.

Compassion.

Oblivion.

Unforgettable.

Disappointment.

Helplessness.

Hope.

And there was hope.

—————————————————-

Countless emotions and expressions were shown in the cold eyes of the black dragon.

It was hard to understand as a human why a single expression from the eyes could contain so much emotion.

Chen Chang Sheng didn’t understand. Snow was covering up his body but he still held the sword tightly. He looked at the black, mighty dragon silently.

The black dragon looked at him quietly as well, for a long time.

Suddenly, the black dragon……let out a deep roar!

The freezing wind started blowing violently. The ice and snow on the walls of the underworld started to collapse. They flew around in the air.

That roar was a word because it contained a specific meaning.

That deep roar seemed to be a simple sound, a single syllable.

A short sound, yet complex one.

It was like a storm — although it seemed to be violent and simple, countless streams and directions of wind were contained inside.

This was the language of the Dragons.

This was the dragon language that disappeared in the human world for thousands, or even tens of thousands of years.

Until this day, perhaps no one heard the dragon language and people who spoke the dragon language……would be hard if not impossible to find.

Dragons are the highest life form in the world. They have the most perfect body and soul. Only with the combination of their strong and complex living structure and their powerful spirit could they communicate like this.

The most simple things are also the most complex.

“Is this the legendary language of dragons?”

Chen Chen Sheng was shocked.

Even if he wasn’t affected by the wind and snow, it is easy to imagine that he would still be frozen at this moment.

He was actually shocked.

His shock was different from anyone else’s shock after hearing the words of a dragon. Or one could say his surprise was greater than anyone else’s.

He has heard this voice before.

Back in the old temple of Xi Ning Village, he and his senior read all of the Three Thousand Scrolls of the Way. The last scroll of them contained a thousand six hundred and one words and each word hinted the secret of this world. They didn’t understand the words on the scroll and so, they went to ask their master. Their master said he didn’t understand as well but….he knew how to read them.

That’s why Chen Chang Sheng and his senior began to learn how to read those words.

Although they didn’t understand the meaning behind it, they knew how to pronounce them.

He never knew what the strange words meant.

Only until now, in the underground of Zhou Palace, in front of a Mighty Frost Dragon did he realized what the words were.

Those words were the language of dragons.

The last scroll of the Three Thousand Scrolls of the Way was actually written in the language of dragons.

Silence.

A long period of silence.

The black dragon looked quietly at Chen Chang Sheng as if she was waiting for something.

Chen Chang Sheng didn’t know what she was waiting for and so, he stayed silent.

The black dragon’s eyes again lit up countless stars only to have them be put out moments later.

The dragon stayed silent for a moment, then roared deeply.

This roar was really deep. Freezing wind wasn’t blowing but a hint of death was contained inside.

Chen Chang Sheng’s eyelashes were blown off.

His Taoist hairstyle was blown off, his black hair was flowing behind him. It landed on the ground moments later.

His shirt was blown out of his body and landed on the ground as well.

The dragon’s roar was deep. The end of fury was disappointing, and then hopeless.

Chen Chang Sheng knew he was about to die again — “again” wasn’t funny, it was sad.

The black dragon seemed to have some sort of hope in him which is why he let him live a while longer.

But now those hopes were gone.

Chen Chang Sheng suddenly felt sad but not because he was hopeless and not because of his approaching death.

For some reason, hearing the deep roar of the black dragon made him extremely sad.

It felt as if he saw countless years of endless loneliness.

In the dark underground, deceived, cheated and guarded with hopelessness.

He experienced those before as well.

The shadow of death was like the darkness of night. It tortured him for years and never stopped for a second.

He could tell no one and hide no where. He could only wait for the final judgement in loneliness.

He suddenly wanted to comfort this black dragon.

He didn’t know what to say, he just felt he should say something in a situation like this.

Therefore, he said one word to the black dragon.

He didn’t know the meaning of this word.

It was the first word that he had learnt in the last scroll of the Three Thousand Scrolls of Way when he was younger.

It was a word with a single syllable, and its pronunciation was strange.

That single word seemed to contain countless information.

Hearing this word, the eyes of the black dragon started to shoot out millions of violent light rays!

But the entire world fell into silence.

*Translator Note: In the original text, the author was using a word pun, “Their eyes landed on Luo Luo, or in chinese ‘落在了落落身上’. In this case, landed and Luo were the same characters in Chinese. However, I can’t directly translate and fully express this pun, therefore I changed the context to “Their eyes turned low on Luo Luo since she was sitting” in hopes that it will at least represent some effort of giving similarity of sound between “low” and “Luo”