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

by Mao Ni

  "Ah!"

  With a cry, she threw away the brush and charged at Chen Changsheng, her white dress dragging a blurred image in its wake. She was as swift as lightning, her momentum frightening, and the air rumbled before her!

  Tang Thirty-Six quickly stirred from his daze and his complexion instantly changed. He hurriedly pushed Xuanyuan Po out of the way, leaving only Chen Changsheng in her path.

  In the blink of an eye, Luoluo had charged from the window to Chen Changsheng. it was only at this point that she realized that if she did not drop her speed, her teacher might become the first person in history to die in an innocent hug, and her petite face instantly became as pale as snow.

  "Ah!"

  There was another cry, though this time a clear and forceful shout.

  One of her feet stepped on the ground, and with a thud, a spider web of cracks appeared on it. A terrifying power spread to the surroundings and the entire hall seemed to slightly tremble as plumes of dust rose!

  In the dusky light, the alarmed questions of the priest could faintly be heard outside the courtyard.

  And then, there was silence.

  The dust gradually settled and the room was clear and bright once more, though the green bamboo by the wall had been dirtied somewhat.

  Chen Changsheng and Luoluo stood in front of each other.

  Today, she was wearing a brimless hat, her hair tied into a thin braid. Because she had been running too fast just now, the braid had come undone. Her black hair was pressed down like wild grass under the hat, and because she had used her true essence too suddenly, her small face was thoroughly red. Once again, she seemed very cute.

  A long time passed.

  "I pay respects to Teacher."

  She very properly greeted her teacher in the manner of a student, not a single detail out of place.

  She was still as short as she was back in the Orthodox Academy.

  Chen Changsheng rubbed his hand on her head.

  Luoluo giggled and stood on her toes, rubbing the top of her head against his palm.

  Chen Changsheng used his hand to wipe the dust off her face.

  Luoluo giggled again and then burrowed into his chest, rubbing her face against it. It didn't take long before her face was clean.

  Xuanyuan Po had gotten used to seeing this sort of scene. Although he still hadn't accustomed his mind to it, he knew that he should keep his silence.

  Tang Thirty-Six had not seen it before, so his jaw practically dropped to the floor.

  His admiration toward Chen Changsheng was already as torrential as the Luo River, as unbroken as the Tan Stream.

  Then he began to worry about Chen Changsheng—what would happen to him in the future?

  Beyond the gate of the small courtyard, Guardian Li had a rather unsightly complexion.

  From the moment Luoluo burrowed into Chen Changsheng's chest, the hand she had placed on the gate had begun to shake.

  Jin Yulu smiled but said nothing.

  Guardian Li walked toward the railing, indicating that he should follow.

  Jin Yulu glanced at the gate of the courtyard and saw the extremely deep impression left by the finger.

  This place was the Pope's Green Leaf World, and the palace was made of abnormally tough materials. That she was actually able to leave such a deep fingerprint signified that she had already reached the point where her rage was about to explode.

  "We just managed to drag Her Highness from his side. Why did you bring him back?"

  Guardian Li anxiously looked at him and said, "This really, really cannot continue."

  Jin Yulu laughed and said, "There's no problem, they're all good kids."

  * * *

  This was the roof of the palace, already in the depths of the clouds.

  Luoluo's room was in the deepest part of the courtyard. Several plants were arranged by the door, but there weren't any trees, and outside the window were the drifting clouds.

  Luoluo sat by the window and looked at the paper before her. The ink was already dry, but it was clearly very new, so it had probably been written through the night. When she thought about how well her teacher treated her, she went into a daze, barely putting any attention into the words on the paper.

  "Focus."

  Chen Changsheng still acted as usual. He was similar in age to Luoluo, and he was still a youth, so he naturally wouldn't put on the air of an elder or care too much about a student's respect for their teacher. However, in the aspects of study and cultivation, he was always meticulous, even harsh at times.

  Carefully considered, this was the first time the two had met after the night of the Ivy Festival.

  He now knew that Luoluo was the White Emperor's only daughter, but he still treated her with the same attitude.

  Luoluo really liked it when her teacher acted this way. With a grunt of assent, she began to carefully read the paper over.

  After quite some time, she finished reading the words on the paper and raised her head to look at Chen Changsheng, prepared to receive his instruction.

  "In the library, I found four-hundred-plus cases in total where cultivators failed in breaking into Ethereal Opening. Amongst them, three hundred thirty-three died. The rest either went insane and ultimately committed suicide or had their entire body paralyzed, suffering a fate more painful than death. The risks are enormous. I can't really help all of you, but I can do my utmost to collect and summarize the experiences of those who came before. We can't know the way to succeed in breaking through, but we can at least avoid the errors committed by those of the past. According to my calculations, the reasons for failure can be divided into three classes and ninety-seven types."

  Chen Changsheng walked to her side and pointed at the words on the paper as he earnestly explained. Luoluo earnestly listened, occasionally nodding her head. The sunlight was clear and mild, the white clouds quietly drifted by the window, and the green plants swayed outside the door. It was like they had returned to the Orthodox Academy.

  Chapter 110 – Teachings

  After a very long period of time, Chen Changsheng finally finished lecturing on the contents of the paper. Luoluo hastily offered up with two hands an already-cooled cup of tea.

  He took the cup of tea and drank it dry, then said, "Your situation is different from Tang Thirty-Six's. A demi-human cultivating in human techniques attempting to break through is a very rare occurrence, so you have to be especially cautious. However, if you can really make your internal elixir imitate the environment of the Ethereal Palace, it’s not a complete impossibility."

  Luoluo nodded, saying, "Teacher, please relax. Only after all preparations are completed and I've obtained Teacher's approval will I attempt to break through."

  Chen Changsheng looked at her and seriously said, "In truth, I've been thinking this whole time that there's simply no need for you to take this risk."

  As the only princess of the demi-humans, she had far too many possessions, and those who attended upon her were all legends like Jin Yulu. There was truly no need for Luoluo to be so diligently set upon the path of cultivation, let alone cultivating human techniques, yet she insisted on taking on that critical juncture of life and death.

  "The techniques of the White Emperor clan are only suitable for males. It's simply impossible for females to cultivate them to the peak, but my royal father and mother had only one daughter…" Luoluo's voice got softer and softer, her little head drooping lower and lower. She looked rather dejected, then she suddenly raised her head and firmly declared, "So I must find another way."

  Chen Changsheng fell silent, ceasing his attempts to persuade her. He took a prescription from his bosom and passed it to her.

  Seeing the cautious expression on his face, Luoluo knew that these prescriptions were unusual. After warily looking around to make sure that no maids had dared to approach, she turned back to take the prescription. Unexpectedly, she saw that the table had been piled high with herbs, fruits, tubers, and other such things.

&
nbsp; The medicinal herbs had already been organized into types, their names written on their wrappers. Those tubers still carried fresh dirt, and there was even still dew on the fruit. Luoluo was rather shocked, mystified as to how Chen Changsheng had managed to bring these things inside and where he had been keeping them.

  Chen Changsheng did not explain. He told her the names of those herbs, fruits, and tubers, and also gave her very simple explanations of their uses. He then pointed at the prescriptions he had given her and said, "The Li Palace should have masters of refining medicine. If there's someone you trust, have them do it. Heat control and everything has already been written out."

  Luoluo asked, "What will all these refined medicines be used for?"

  "It's mostly for strengthening your body and essence. These are also the medicines being used to train Tang Thirty-Six's body. However, it's not convenient to come to the Li Palace every day, and refined medicines should have a greater effect, so I've come up with such a method. I hope that when you break through, it will be of some help to you, or at least lower the danger a little."

  Chen Changsheng had her put the prescriptions away and then said to her, "After today, I have to put all my focus into preparing for the Grand Examination, so I won't be able to visit you often. Take good care of yourself."

  Luoluo did not understand why he placed such importance on the Grand Examination, but in her few months living in the Orthodox Academy, she had come to clearly understand that this was so. When she thought of how her teacher still did not forget about her and cared for her at such a period, she was deeply moved.

  Then she recalled what Jin Yulu had said earlier about Chen Changsheng being jeered at and humiliated on the Divine Avenue, and her slender brows rose. Earlier, she had been deeply moved, and now she became just as furious, harshly saying, "Those people dared to disrespect Teacher; that's truly too impudent!"

  When she spoke, she was just like a little tiger, both cute and extremely menacing.

  Chen Changsheng rubbed her head and smiled. "This is like the daughter of the White Emperor."

  Luoluo stuck out her tongue, instantly causing her menace to vanish.

  After finishing his urgent task, Chen Changsheng finally had the attention to spare on worrying about her environment. "Is everything okay here?"

  At this question, Luoluo began to pout as she grumbled, "It's so boring. I think about the Hundred Herb Garden, the Orthodox Academy, and Teacher."

  Chen Changsheng now knew that this space called the Green Leaf World was formally called the Minor Li Palace and was connected with the Pope's divine sense. Even if Luoluo had thoughts of sneaking out, it would be impossible. Although the Minor Li Palace was vast, it was not connected to the outside world. It was difficult to not feel somewhat stifled after living in it for a long time.

  "I'll think of something."

  Chen Changsheng very naturally said these words, but with his current status and strength, it was simply impossible for him to do anything about it. However, he had made a habit of treating Luoluo's problems as his problems, not knowing how arrogant and lacking in awareness that seemed.

  Fortunately, only he and Luoluo were in the room, and Luoluo would certainly not think this way about him. She said, "The Grand Examination is almost here. Teacher, you should be a good student, resting and preparing. You absolutely shouldn't be distracted by me. After all, Teacher has to get first rank of the first banner."

  The trust she and Tang Thirty-Six had in Chen Changsheng was almost approaching a blind trust and far exceeded the trust he had in himself. For this, Chen Changsheng was both deeply moved and deeply grateful. Every time he was about to lose his self-confidence, she and Tang Thirty-Six would always use their words or attitudes to help him regain it.

  "Earlier I saw that you were biting on your brush again?" Chen Changsheng recalled this matter and looked at her.

  Luoluo was somewhat anxious. In the Orthodox Academy, Chen Changsheng had chided her several times that brushes were not clean and that it was easy to get sick if she nibbled on them. It had not been easy for her to finally change this bad habit, but after she came to the Minor Li Palace, nobody was there to watch, so she fell once more into the habit of biting her brush.

  "This… this…"

  She rather nervously explained, "Teacher, I've recently been growing in new teeth and it really itches, so there are times when I can't endure it."

  Up to now, Chen Changsheng still believed that she was eleven or twelve years old. Logically speaking, at that age, one's permanent teeth should have grown in. He couldn't help but grow nervous at her explanation. After cleaning his hands with clear water and herbal powder, he had Luoluo open her small mouth by instructing, "Ah…"

  Luoluo very obediently went 'Aaaaaah', opening her mouth wide.

  Chen Changsheng placed his finger in her mouth, carefully checking over her teeth. He realized that she really was growing new teeth, though there didn't seem to be any problems.

  "Teacher, I have to keep growing new teeth until I'm sixteen. It's so troublesome."

  Because her mouth was open, Luoluo's words were muddled. The word 'Teacher' (Xiansheng) sounded just like 'shengsheng', as if she was calling Chen Changsheng by a nickname.

  Chen Changsheng suddenly remembered that Luoluo was a demi-human princess, and there were many aspects in which she was different from a human.

  He washed his hands again and then wrote another prescription. This was not a prescription for illness, but methods on increasing appetite and also on how she could make a biting stick.

  "Only the branch of the iron tree will do."

  Luoluo took up her brush. The end of the brush was covered in many clear teeth marks. "This brush was made with iron tree wood, or else I would have bitten it to pieces."

  Chen Changsheng then recalled that she had the White Emperor's blood. Getting the materials to make a biting stick that could last was truly rather troublesome. Looking out at the potted plants arrayed outside the door, he asked, "Are those iron tree saplings? They look a bit different from the pictures in books."

  Luoluo explained, "Those are banyan saplings. I don't know if they'll be able to grow."

  There was a lake in the Orthodox Academy, and by the lake was a great banyan tree. She and Chen Changsheng often stood on the banyan, watching the sunset.

  Chen Changsheng laughed and said, "They will definitely grow."

  * * *

  When the autumn sunlight passed through many eaves and windows to finally arrive at the true depths of the Li Palace, it became much purer and fainter. Only when it was reflected by the crystal throne at the highest point did it become dazzling once more. The clear and pure crystal was carved into a lotus blossom, and upon the lotus blossom was a crown. The crown was colored black and white, but there was no clear boundary between the two colors. However, they also did not mix into gray, but instead, through some mystical and incomprehensible method, fused into one perfect whole that exuded a divine Qi.

  To the side of this lotus blossom throne was a chair carved completely from black wood. Upon the chair sat an old man wearing a relaxed hempen robe. His grizzled hair spilled over his shoulders like a waterfall in winter that was in the middle of freezing.

  This old man was currently reading.

  Across from this old man was another old man.

  Archbishop of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, Mei Lisha, as one of the few people of the same generation as the Pope, was naturally extremely old. Whenever the priests of the Li Palace and the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education saw the liver spots on his face, they would be overcome with boundless concern, always concerned about which day the elder would return to the starry sky.

  Mei Lisha himself could not see the wrinkles or liver spots on his face, because ever since that day two hundred years ago when his first hair began to go white, he refused to look at himself in the mirror. Whether it was in a luxurious bronze mirror in one's own room or a water mirror formed using true essence
, to watch oneself grow old was a most harrowing ordeal. This was especially the case for people like them, for whom growing old was an extremely long process that might last several hundred years, up to even one thousand, making it all the more harrowing.

  Not seeing did not mean that one did not know, and blinding oneself did not mean the starry sky would cease to exist. Mei Lisha was well aware that he was old, because he was becoming ever drowsier. Different from those normal old men who would wake at three in the morning, he became more and more fond of sleep. He always had this feeling that his own body was gradually accustoming itself to a long sleep.

  At the moment, he had the greatest seniority in the Orthodoxy, and because of the matter of the Orthodox Academy, he was regarded by many people as the leader of the conservative faction, or at least its symbol. It was believed that right now, he was using many matters to oppose the Pope. He lived in the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education year-round and had not taken even one step into the Li Palace for a very long time. He did not even attend the Orthodoxy's regularly scheduled Congregations of Light. This fact seemed proof that those rumors were true. Who could have expected that he would appear in the Li Palace today, and that he was even able to sleep there?

  Pop!

  Because this hall was too quiet and serene, this light sound was heard loud and clear.

  Mei Lisha opened his eyes, and it took some time for his turbid gaze to gradually clear. He looked across that hempen-robed old man reading, hobbled to his feet, and looked with a slightly bent body toward that potted plant at the old man's side.

  The pot was a light gray pot, very ordinary. One could probably go to the streets of the capital and buy three for one hundred coins. The plant within the pot was very strange. It had several stems, but it only had one leaf. This leaf was very green, its veins extremely clear.

  The clear pop had come from the green leaf. The very front of the vein seemed to be slightly shaking. It was not the leaf that was shaking, but the vein. This trembling was so faint that in the entire Li Palace, only he and this hempen-robed elder could see it.