Ze Tian Ji

After hearing the story of Sloping Cliff Horse Farm from Chen Changsheng, Xu Yourong was rather shocked and speechless, thinking to herself, your and Senior Brother’s eyesights are really too simple…

”When I was drinking wine with him by the stream, he mentioned that he likes a girl.”

Chen Changsheng glanced at Xu Yourong while he casually said this.

Xu Yourong calmly replied, ”You’ve always had many girls at your side.”

This was true.

The earliest was Luoluo leaping over the wall between the Orthodox Academy and the Hundred Herb Garden to implore Chen Changsheng to become her teacher, and then there was the little Black Dragon that saved him with her true blood and later acted as his protector. There was also Mo Yu, that craver of the aroma on his pillow and bedsheets, who would sneak into the Orthodox Academy night after night. And now there was the little Demon Princess Nanke who had her hand perpetually grasping his clothes.

Chen Changsheng didn’t know how to explain, so he could only lower his head and eat, intending to take a piece of sticky rice cake.

Xu Yourong did not let him try.

He confusedly asked why.

Xu Yourong was a little ashamed and didn’t know how to explain, so she could only put all the sticky rice cakes onto her own plate.

Chen Changsheng thought that she was very angry. He felt that it wasn’t easy to explain the rest of those girls, but there was another matter that he could clearly explain.

”When I was ten, I found out that I had an incurable illness and that I wouldn’t live past the age of twenty… so I didn’t return your letters.”

Xu Yourong realized that he hadn’t been sleeping earlier and had heard her question loud and clear. She felt even more ashamed and lowered her head in silence.

Chen Changsheng looked at her and very earnestly said, ”Don’t get angry at me about this.”

He and Xu Yourong were of the same age, their birthdays separated by only three days.

When they were six, an engagement had been made between them.

What sort of person was Xu Yourong? At the age of five, she awakened to the blood of the Heavenly Phoenix, and she was personally raised by both the Divine Empress and the Holy Maiden.

Although she had only been six and a half at the time, let alone her grandfather the Grand Minister, even the Divine Empress would have to ask her opinion before marrying her off.

From the day she knew that she was engaged, she became very curious about the other party and sent the White Crane to deliver her letter to Xining.

Upon receiving her letter, Chen Changsheng sent one back, a process that continued until it came to a stop at the age of ten.

They had never been strangers.

But when the letters stopped, Xu Yourong began to hate that little Daoist and became reluctant to remember those times.

Now, the matters from when they were young, like the bamboo dragonfly, could be slowly remembered.

”When you asked me who I was in the first letter, wasn’t the tone really terrible?”

”How was it terrible? I was truly very curious.”

”But in the last letter, you scolded me quite viciously.”

”Who made you not reply to my letters?”

”I didn’t want to drag you down, and you didn’t actually love me back then.”

”Mm, but it really was love.”

”What are you saying?”

”I’m saying that from then to now, I’ve always loved you.”

”The same for me.”

”Where do you plan to go next?”

”Mount Li.”

Xu Yourong’s expression turned a little solemn as she inquisitively asked, ”You want to find Senior Brother?”

Chen Changsheng pondered this question, then replied, ”I want to find a senior brother.”

This was a sarcastic remark, and if Xu Yourong were not so intelligent, she would have found it very difficult to so quickly understand it. (TN: I’m not too sure what the joke is here, but I believe it’s because he’s going to Mount Li so that Zhexiu can meet Qi Jian, at which point Zhexiu would be a ’senior brother’?)

She seriously asked, ”Then what of White Emperor City?”

Chen Changsheng recalled Zhexiu’s current state and said, ”Every matter has its own priority. I’ll consider other matters after taking care of this one.”