Way of Choices: Book II - Youths We Were, Schoolmates, Part 2

by Mao Ni

  As these strange syllables emerged from his lips, his energy rapidly depleted and he grew weaker and weaker. At the same time, however, he sensed that the coldness around him was gradually weakening. After he had spoken ten-odd words, warmth finally returned to his body.

  The Black Dragon's eyes were still indifferent, but its whisker was flicking faster and faster, reflecting countless black lines under the Night Pearls. Ultimately, it was like they bore countless flowers. Each flower was a flower of joy, all of them in full bloom.

  Chen Changsheng could feel its joy, but he still found it hard to erase some of his lingering fear—he had spoken ten-odd syllables of Dragon language, but not according to the order in the final book of the three thousand scriptures of the Daoist Canon. He had just randomly picked from those sixteen hundred and one words, so it shouldn't have been possible to form them into a sentence. He didn't expect that this dragon would actually be able to understand.

  He had acted this way because of the caution embedded into his bones. He didn't know whether it was wrong or right, but it now seemed that there wasn't too much of a problem.

  The black whisker gradually calmed. Calmly departing his brow, it lightly touched his hand gripping the dagger, no hostility about it.

  Chen Changsheng accurately received its signal and finally completely relaxed.

  This period of being enveloped by the shadow of death had finally passed. The terrifying pressure that he had suffered for so long instantly vanished. His mood changed along with the environment, the snow covering his body rustling down, the dust that he had accumulated from somewhere traveling through the gaps in his clothes and into the air.

  After opening the door, he had been in a constant state of high tension. He only knew that he had seen a black-colored dragon, but only now did he clearly see the Black Dragon's appearance. To be more precise, it was only now that he dared to carefully take measure of this Black Dragon.

  This was a Black Frost Dragon.

  Even amongst the Dragon race, this was a high-class existence, a legendary divine being of the same level as the Golden Dragon and the Nine Heavens Dragon.

  However, despite how the Black Frost Dragon was described in the myths and legends—cruel and murderous yet also fond of cleanliness, beautiful and enchanting as the dark night—Chen Changsheng actually saw a lot of dust on the Black Dragon's body, and even many shattered scales!

  Those scales were on the verge of falling and looked extremely ugly, like the belly of a dead fish.

  Chen Changsheng was stunned. If the descriptions of the Black Frost Dragon in the Daoist Canon and the legends were not wrong, then how it did it come out like this? As a youth who had a slight obsession with cleanliness, he was keenly aware that a being who valued cleanliness above all else would never be able to accept such circumstances.

  Even more shocking was that as the cold retreated and the light spread farther, he saw two extremely thick chains behind the Black Dragon. Those two chains were tightly locked onto the Black Dragon's two hind claws, digging deep into the scales, a terrifying sight!

  This Black Dragon… was not a solitary guardian of the Great Zhou Imperial Palace, but a prisoner!

  Those two chains were covered in countless layers of frost, yet, perhaps due to their material, there seemed no sign that those chains would break. On reflection, this had to be the case. To be able to imprison a Black Frost Dragon in this underground space, these chains must certainly not be ordinary items.

  The other end of these chains was attached to a wall.

  This was a wall several hundred zhang high, with a massive drawing carved upon it. The colors of this drawing had already been corroded by time into nothingness, but one could clearly see what was drawn upon it. There were no sceneries or descriptions on this drawing, only two people.

  Two fiendish people.

  This stone was very tall, the drawing very large, so the two people in the drawing were naturally extremely tall as well. They were like gods, dressed in armor, one holding a metal truncheon, the other a long whip. Their faces had a godly dignity, seeming to look out with a bottomless heroism.

  Chen Changsheng recognized these two people. Every human that lived on this continent recognized those two people, because these two people were still hanging over the main doors of every house. These two people were door gods.

  The door gods were not gods, but real people, the two most powerful Divine Generals who served at the side of Great Zhou Emperor Taizong.

  One Divine General was called Qin Zhong, the other Yu Gong.

  These two Divine Generals followed Emperor Taizong in a lifetime of campaigning, from the founding of the Great Zhou until the final defeat of the demons. Although they could not match up to Wang Zhice's unrivalled achievements, they still had displayed many times that they were incredibly bold, powerful, and fiendish. Their strength was unfathomable, and at the prime of their lives, they had already entered the Saint Realm. They were truly supreme experts.

  They were Divine Generals, but they were innumerable times more powerful than the current Divine Generals of the continent.

  The chains binding the Black Dragon were tied to the stone wall, gripped right in the hands of those two Divine Generals.

  Such an arrangement naturally had its reasons.

  Seeing this scene, Chen Changsheng vaguely confirmed that this Black Dragon had been imprisoned in Taizong's era.

  He thought of that turbulent era, thought of those stories on the verge of becoming myths and even those experts of the past within those myths, thought of the portraits in the Lingyan Pavilion, and he truly sympathized with the Black Dragon.

  Perhaps because of the humiliation and pressure inflicted by the demons, in that era, humans exploded with an unimaginable brilliance. Countless experts appeared one after the other. Even an existence like the Black Frost Dragon faced insurmountable odds, ultimately becoming a miserable prisoner.

  From Taizong's era to now, how many years had passed?

  In this cold, lonely, and gloomy cavern, how had this Black Dragon managed to endure through these endless years?

  "You want to talk with me, right?" Chen Changsheng asked.

  The Black Dragon's whisker once more floated, flitting past the corner of his lip like a dragonfly skimming the surface of a pond.

  "I only know how to speak them; I don't understand the meaning of those words."

  Chen Changsheng looked at it and said, "But, you can teach me."

  The Black Dragon's eyes suddenly grew abnormally bright, brighter than the light of all the Night Pearls in the ceiling added together.

  Chen Changsheng thought, You truly can understand human language. Then if you want to communicate, I only need to learn Dragon language. Gazing at the Black Dragon, he continued, "I know that Dragon language is very difficult to learn, but I'm a person very skilled in studying. As long as you patiently teach me, I will definitely learn it."

  Just then, the Black Dragon suddenly let out a low roar.

  Chen Changsheng was a little startled.

  The Black Dragon's whisker rose without the wind, lightly poking at his forehead four times, swift like lightning, light as dust.

  Chen Changsheng's brow creased as he pondered the meaning.

  The Black Dragon's whisker lightly poked four more times, the Black Dragon simultaneously letting loose a low roar.

  Chen Changsheng understood.

  In his statement just now, he had said the words 'I' and 'me' four times in total.

  This was the meaning the Black Dragon wanted to tell him.

  "Me?" Chen Changsheng pointed at himself and asked.

  Dragon language was extremely complex. A single syllable contained countless fragments that could be combined in innumerable ways, different combinations having different meanings. Completely grasping it was inevitably a very long process. He knew that this dragon roar contained the meaning of 'me' and 'I'. That was assuredly not all, but… it at least contained the aforementi
oned.

  Seeing Chen Changsheng's actions, the Black Dragon at first froze, and then suddenly began to roll around!

  Its massive body rolled nonstop around the underground cavern, stirring up terrifying hurricanes!

  Simultaneously, a bizarre noise came from the Black Dragon's mouth.

  From the time it was born more than one thousand years ago to now, it had never been this happy, so it didn't know what sort of roar it should make.

  Moreover, for certain reasons, it had to suppress its roars, suppress its laughter.

  "Zhizhi… zhizhi… zhizhi…"

  These sounds like the cries of a mouse were very comical and amusing.

  But there was incomparable ecstasy contained within.

  Chen Changsheng didn't know what the Black Dragon had done in the past, what sort of sin it had committed for the Great Zhou Dynasty to imprison it. But upon seeing it so elated over merely being able to carry out the simplest of communications with a human, he couldn't help but be somewhat moved, sympathizing even more with it.

  After quite some time, the Black Dragon finally ceased its ecstatic rolling and grew quiet.

  It quietly gazed at Chen Changsheng, sensing his sincere sympathy, its eyes gradually growing gentler.

  The black whisker once more drifted up, hovering in front of his eyebrows.

  It was waiting for Chen Changsheng to speak once more.

  Chen Changsheng fell into thought, and when he spoke, it was not the words the Black Dragon wanted to hear.

  "I know that you really want to speak with someone… but I can't right now. I have a very important matter that requires me to leave immediately."

  The Black Dragon's eyes returned to cold indifference.

  Chen Changsheng's expression turned solemn. "I promise you that as long as I can conclude this matter, I will come to find you, learn from you how to speak and speak with you."

  The Black Dragon's eyes were still indifferent, but now there was also the sense that it found his words a little humorous.

  As a noble Black Frost Dragon who had been imprisoned by humans for so many years, it would never forget the words its royal father had once said to it.

  "If humans could be trusted, we would be the rulers of this world."

  Chapter 63 – Coincidentally

  The Black Dragon thought, Humans are all the most shameless tricksters, or else I wouldn't have to suffer in this ghostly abyss for so many years. Although I'm black, that doesn't mean I like the darkness. Those first few nights were truly very dark, Mother…

  Wait, how did I start thinking about this?

  Fine, on the surface, this youth looks very sincere, and he smells very nice, not like a swindler. He's just like that man surnamed Wang from back then, but I don't even know if that man surnamed Wang is keeping his word to me, so how can I trust this youth?

  You want to trick me into letting you go and definitely won't come back. Saying that after finishing with your matter, you'll come and chat with me? You think I can't see that you were also tricked by someone into this place? After you escape, how will you come back? Moreover, above us is the Imperial Palace; you think can come back as long as you wish it? Saying you're going to come back is just trying to comfort me, no, to trick me. Yes, humans are all tricksters, you are all tricksters!

  I've suffered alone underground for so many years, and besides that terrifying woman, I haven't seen any living thing—that terrifying woman doesn't even count as a human, and I'd prefer to not meet her. Finally, after so many hardships, I met a person I could speak with. How can I just let you go?

  If you leave, it will be dark days once more!

  "I understand what you're feeling, your unease, but you should believe me," Chen Changsheng said to it.

  The Black Dragon's eyes were cold and somewhat mocking as if wanting to say, You're only ten-some years old. You have no idea of the tortures of time.

  Chen Changsheng knew that the benevolence the Black Dragon had just shown to him was no guarantee of his safety. It was recorded in the Daoist Canon that these dragons, although powerful, were all very fickle. This Black Dragon had been imprisoned by humans for so many years; who knew how deep its resentment was?

  "I truly understand, even if I definitely haven't suffered for as long you have. But at the very beginning, I told you my story—my fate also isn't good. Fine, I understand that it's very difficult for you to believe, so just count it as a gamble. If you let me go, there's a chance that I'll fulfill my end of the bargain and try and find a method to see you in the future. But if you kill me, I'm confident that it will be very difficult for anyone else to appear before you. No matter how you see it, it's best to take this gamble with me."

  Chen Changsheng said with utter sincerity and solemnity, "This is your best choice."

  The Black Dragon remained silent. Suddenly, it raised its head toward the ceiling, its gaze resting somewhere amongst the several thousand Night Pearls.

  * * *

  Within Weiyang Palace, the Ivy Festival was continuing. In reality, though, it had already ended. The literary test that should have taken place tonight was pushed back to later, but no person cared about its results. How could the competition between the Ivy Academies possibly compare to the grand occasion about to take place?

  Everyone was reserved and mild because what was about to take place was a happy occasion, a marriage. Even Mount Li's Guan Feibai, the coldest and most arrogant Fourth Law of the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws, had a sort of smile on his face. This was because he knew that this was a major occasion for his eldest brother, and also for his sect and the entire south. Crucially, even he felt that his eldest brother's marriage to Junior Sister Xu was a grand occasion truly worthy of being proud and celebrating over.

  Mount Li Elder Xiao Songgong was already standing and speaking. The southern diplomatic mission was formally offering a marriage proposal to the Great Zhou Dynasty. Some processes had already begun; after only going through a few more steps, this marriage anticipated by the entire world would move from the discussions held by countless people over these past few years into reality.

  The archbishop's eyes were closed as if he was once more on the verge of sleep. Prince Chen Liu had on a gentle expression as he chatted with Xiao Songgong. Mo Yu had a calm look as she gazed out of the palace into the darkness. Luoluo watched these people, her right hand tightly clutching the silk bag in her sleeve. She had already decided to open it.

  * * *

  There was another prolonged silence, the underground cavern as silent as a grave.

  Chen Changsheng gazed at the Black Dragon, nervously awaiting its decision.

  The Black Dragon glanced at him and then suddenly began to fly backward.

  The several thousand Night Pearls on the ceiling instantly extinguished, leaving only some surplus light to illuminate the forward part of the Black Dragon's body.

  It seemed that it was gradually vanishing into the darkness.

  Chen Changsheng understood the meaning of its glance. It wanted him to remember his promise and come visit.

  Entering the Imperial Palace was very difficult, much less breaking through the Tong Palace to enter the underground cavern so that he could see it, but without any hesitation, he nodded his head.

  He was very grateful to the Black Dragon and wanted to say something. The dragon could understand human language, but he had no idea what he should call it.

  'Teacher'? He had a master. 'Senior'? This seemed too distant. 'You'? Too disrespectful. 'Hi'? Was he seeking death? …They all seemed inappropriate.

  Chen Changsheng pondered this problem, then called out to the gradually vanishing Black Dragon, "Dragon… Uncle."

  The Black Dragon turned stiff, its eyes somewhat at a loss. It was clear that it was quite shocked by this address.

  "Uncle Dragon." Chen Changsheng did not know what else to say. Words of thanks on their own seemed too little. He suddenly thought of a matter and pointed up toward the ceiling. "I have to t
ake that Night Pearl up there back with me."

  The Black Dragon gave a low roar, seeming extremely angry. It had simply not imagined that this despicable fellow would actually want a foot after gaining an inch.

  Chen Changsheng was very firm. "Uncle, it belongs to a girl. In the future, I have to return it to her."

  * * *

  In the garden of a side palace in the Imperial Palace was an extremely small pool.

  The darkness lay heavy and the lanterns within the palace hall had already been extinguished. Standing by the pool was a middle-aged woman, her appearance very ordinary, her clothes very plain. She was clearly not one of those imperial concubines who only knew how, and were only allowed, to waste time on dresses and makeup. Nor was she one of the palace maids in the prime of their youth.

  She stood by the pool, perhaps preparing to wash her hands or wash some clothes.

  Just then, the water in the pool began to slosh and surge upward as a youth was flushed out in a very sorry condition.

  It was precisely Chen Changsheng.

  In the underground space, his clothes had been covered in frost and ice. Now, after being flushed out of the waters of the pool, he was utterly drenched and looked most miserable.

  The middle-aged woman had never expected that a person would appear in the darkness. Seemingly frightened, she took a step back.

  The woman was wearing wooden clogs, so when she took a step back on the gray stones lining the pool, there was a soft clop.

  In the trees by the pool was a squirrel eating a snack. Startled by this sudden noise, it cast away the fruit it was holding in its forelimbs and jumped from the tree to the second-floor balcony of the palace hall, speedily running out of the courtyard. Its bushy tail waved around in the air, coincidentally bumping against a flower pot on the edge of the balcony.

  The flower pot tottered, on the verge of falling from the balcony.

  Coincidentally, the middle-aged woman was standing right below.