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

by Mao Ni

  When the Black Dragon saw that Chen Changsheng had really come, the two balls of divine flame in its eyes continuously jumped about as if dancing. It seemed particularly happy, but when it heard this form of address, those balls of flame instantly froze into clumps of ice.

  Its terrifying might once more appeared in the cavern.

  In terrible suffering, Chen Changsheng hurriedly raised his right hand and yelled, "I understand!"

  The dragon's might slightly receded as the Black Dragon indifferently regarded him, awaiting his second greeting.

  Chen Changsheng understood. It must be that the address of 'Uncle' was too homely. Moreover, based on how long dragons lived, even if the Black Dragon had been imprisoned for several centuries, it might still be a teenager, or still young at least. Moreover, it was probably just like that woman in Xining Village who never liked being referred to as 'wife', and instead preferred to be called 'sister'…

  He greeted the Black Dragon, affectionately saying, "Big Brother Dragon, long time no see."

  With a clap, the Black Dragon released its terrifying power, causing Chen Changsheng to crash against the ground and send ice flying everywhere.

  The Black Dragon slowly flew above him, its whiskers dancing in the air like a tentacle probing out of an abyss. It was evident that it was beyond furious.

  Lying on the ground, Chen Changsheng raised his right hand with great difficulty and implored, "Senior, Senior, don't be angry!"

  * * *

  The address of 'Senior' was perhaps not completely appropriate, but the Black Dragon reluctantly accepted it. Chen Changsheng sat himself on the snow-covered ground, still feeling fear over the earlier sight. He thought to himself, If I had addressed it as 'Zhizhi', would I have been instantly blown into chunks of ice on the ground by its terrifying dragon breath?

  According to the promise he made on that night, Chen Changsheng had come to visit the Black Dragon to accompany it in speaking. However, the present scene of a human and dragon speechlessly gazing at each other made the atmosphere rather oppressive and awkward. The Black Dragon could understand human language, and Chen Changsheng understood some of the pronunciation for Dragon language, but did not understand it, so how could the two communicate?

  Suddenly, Chen Changsheng thought of the abandoned well in New North Bridge he had jumped into not too long ago. Pointing at that barely visible black dot on the roof, he asked, "Has it always been this way? After so many years, some people must have mistakenly fallen into the well; did all those people die? Or were they saved by you? If you saved them, where did those people go?"

  This was truly the problem that he was most concerned about. Although he became rather sympathetic to the Black Dragon after listening to that legend and was deeply grateful to it for letting him leave alive, if… those people that fell into this cavern ultimately became its food, he refused to continue sitting in front of it.

  He wasn't afraid that this Black Dragon might eat him, but he could not accept conversing with a Black Dragon that ate humans.

  Chapter 121 – The Dragon's Worries

  The Black Dragon indifferently glanced at Chen Changsheng, showing no emotion, or perhaps showing just one emotion. However, just like the Dragon language it spoke, this extremely simple stance contained all sorts of complex information. Chen Changsheng's and the Black Dragon's eyes met only for an instant, yet he felt like he saw countless stars and received many of the meanings that it wanted to convey.

  The abandoned well had been constructed under the personal supervision of Wang Zhice and was the gate of life for the array that imprisoned the Black Dragon, similar to how the Black Dragon Pond in the abandoned garden served as the gate of life for the Tong Palace. There had originally been three interweaving nets constructed of metal alloy at the bottom of the well that ensured both that the gate of life for the array would remain open and also that none of the capital's people would accidentally fall into the well and become the Black Dragon's food. However, not long ago—Chen Changsheng could not tell how long this 'not long ago' was, several decades or several days—someone from the Imperial Palace had come and removed those three metal alloy nets.

  The Black Dragon had required only an indifferent glance to transmit all sorts of information into Chen Changsheng's mind. He understood much, but there was still much more that he did not have the time to organize and understand. However, he understood the final idea that the Black Dragon wished to express: humans are truly boring.

  Chen Changsheng was not very willing to accept that an existence that had been imprisoned for several centuries and lived a cold and lonely life unable to communicate with anyone would actually think that humans were boring. He thought, If you weren't so excessively bored, why were you unwilling to let me leave on that night and instead insisted on having me promise to accompany you in chatting? And also, why has that person taken away the three alloy nets? Were they not worried about people falling in?

  He shifted his gaze to those two chains behind the Black Dragon that extended off toward that wall in the distance. He looked at those portraits of the two Divine Generals which seemed as tall as mountains drawn on the wall and felt very puzzled.

  He had never thought about helping the Black Dragon escape. On one hand, he did not know how much was true and false about those legends, so he did not know what would happen if the Black Dragon were to leave this underground cavern, whether or not it would wreak some devastating calamity on the people of the capital. More importantly, this array that imprisoned the Black Dragon had been laid down by Wang Zhice and other peerless experts of Taizong's era. He wanted to break this array with his current ability? The mere thought of it was absurd.

  Suddenly, he thought of something. Since the Black Dragon could understand human language and he could gain information directly through its eyes, there should be no problem communicating with the Black Dragon. Now that he thought about it, that was as it should be. Cultivators at the Star Condensation Realm and up could communicate with each other very quickly using their thoughts, so why couldn't a divine being like the Black Frost Dragon?

  Chen Changsheng turned to the Black Dragon's eyes, wanting to say something to it. Unexpectedly, the Black Dragon seemed to know what he wanted to do and closed its eyes with unimaginable speed, causing frost to splash everywhere. Seeing its response, Chen Changsheng fell into a daze. He began to vaguely understand that the Black Dragon did not merely wish to communicate, it also wanted to hear the language of its own race? But why was this? Was it just out of longing?

  "On that night, I promised that I would come and visit Senior as quickly as possible, but… it's difficult to enter the Imperial Palace, and to come isn't easy, requiring great risk. Senior knows that I'm very afraid of death. But right now, I'm facing a problem that's rather difficult to resolve. I might die soon, so I thought that I should meet you at least once before then. Thus, I came."

  Chen Changsheng did not speak about the word that the middle-aged woman had left on the stone table, nor did he speak about all the energy he put into meeting the Black Dragon.

  "On that night, when I met Senior for the first time, I spoke a lot about death. Today, I will speak more about it, so I hope that Senior won't be annoyed."

  At this point, he suddenly recalled that the Dragon race had an innate grasp over the source that powered the world and the stars. With their intelligence, they probably had a deep understanding of this aspect. Chen Changsheng suddenly felt a boundless hope. He recounted all the problems he had encountered in his cultivation and then earnestly waited for it to open its eyes.

  After a long period of silence, ice rustled down as the Black Dragon slowly opened its eyes.

  It looked at Chen Changsheng, its eyes still indifferent. However, Chen Changsheng could see an extremely subtle change: a tinge of bewilderment and frustration.

  Of the three noblest and most powerful branches of the Dragon race, the Black Frost Dragons had always been famed for their wisdom, yet th
is cultivation problem of his was something that not even the Black Dragon could resolve. This fact made Chen Changsheng feel even more depressed.

  The Black Dragon's whisker drifted upward toward him, then poked him on his brow, waking him from his daze.

  This action indicated that it was somewhat losing its patience.

  Just what did the cultivation of a human youth have to do with it? It was only concerned with how it could have him grasp the Dragon language as quickly as possible and then have him do a few things for it.

  Chen Changsheng helplessly shook his head, his heart feeling rather bitter. Back in Xining Village, when he was reading the Daoist scriptures and feeling fear over the arrogance and ruthlessness of the dragons recorded in the Daoist Canon, how could he have imagined that he would actually meet a real dragon, and it was also one that liked to lecture others?

  A while passed.

  "Owww…"

  Chen Changsheng let loose something similar to a low snarl, but it sounded more like the wind, and it was absolutely not any sort of normal sound. This sound was very simple and also complex, using many very fine muscle groups in the throat, and it even required the fine tuning of some meridians that the human mind had no conscious control over, yet it did not require the use of the tongue.

  This was the first word the Black Dragon had taught to him on that first night. When he was young, he had learned a similar sound in the old temple of Xining Village, so he quickly had a handle on it, and he had also not forgotten how to speak it. This word had a very complex meaning, encompassing at least a dozen meanings in human language. The most complex of these meanings would require a significant period of time to describe, while the simplest was just 'I'.

  The Black Dragon was extremely pleased at Chen Changsheng's performance, its whisker drifting about in pride at its ability to teach others. For some reason, two Night Pearls dropped down from the ceiling and rolled around in its front claw. If the Night Pearls were a little bigger or its claw a little smaller, perhaps it would seem like a teacher of some private school in the countryside.

  The Black Dragon slightly rolled its eyes toward that Night Pearl by Chen Changsheng's side.

  Chen Changsheng clearly remembered that on that night, this greedy Black Dragon had attempted to seize his Night Pearl, so quickly put it away.

  The Black Dragon's whisker gently drifted down as if feeling rather helpless, then the Black Dragon let out another noise.

  This was the second word it was teaching to Chen Changsheng.

  Night Pearls, colored glass, rainbows, the golden scales on the surface of a lake, the blazing clouds at sunset, or perhaps… light.

  Chen Changsheng awkwardly laughed, rubbed his brow to focus himself, and then began his attempts to imitate the Black Dragon's pronunciation. To humans, Dragon language was truly too difficult to grasp. Even the rather experienced him felt this way. Moreover, this process consumed a great deal of mental power, so his face visibly paled.

  The most crucial factor was still time. The Grand Examination was close and he still had not resolved his problem of Purification, so the risk of death was right before him. To Chen Changsheng, time was the most precious object in the world. Logically speaking, he should not have been wasting his time learning Dragon language. It must be known that it was even more meaningless than learning dragon-slaying arts.

  But he did not refuse the Black Dragon's request, nor did he leave. He continued to attentively learn. He loved to learn, and also, he had promised. He would deal with his own matters, and what he promised he would do until the day he died. This was a habit he had picked up when he was young. It might not have been a good habit, but it was a very formidable one.

  Although this underground cavern cut off from the world was illuminated by thousands of Night Pearls, it was still cold, lonely, and unbelievably vast.

  On the ground, Chen Changsheng was just like an ant before the massive Black Dragon.

  He was like an infant just beginning to learn how to speak.

  Occasionally, a very strange sound would resound through the vast cavern: he had mispronounced a word.

  Then, the 'zhizhi' laughs of the Black Dragon would echo without end.

  Chapter 122 – I Really Do Want to Live Another Five Hundred Years

  After some time had passed, Chen Changsheng estimated that it was early morning. He stood and indicated to the Black Dragon that tonight's lesson had to stop here.

  The Black Dragon was clearly not too happy, but, in its great benevolence, did not stop him from leaving.

  He raised his head to the ceiling of the cavern. From the ground, the bottom of the well was just a tiny black dot, with no morning light leaking through.

  How could he get up there?

  He recalled how he had left this cavern the first time and his expression seemed to slightly freeze. With all due haste, he took off all his clothes and put them away. He was mentally preparing himself for what was soon to come, so he failed to notice that as he was doing this, the Black Dragon was clearly showing disgust and anxiety in its eyes.

  With a flash of light, Chen Changsheng's body vanished.

  The Black Dragon raised its head to the surface. Its whisker gently waved, not in farewell, but requesting that he needed to come back soon.

  In the next moment, Chen Changsheng returned to the surface.

  It was still that side palace in the Imperial Palace, and still by that pool.

  He walked to the shore of the pool, saw that no one was around, and hurriedly put on his clothes.

  The morning light was slightly warm, but the late autumn was cold. A wind blew from the palace and, in a very short amount of time, it made him almost unbearably cold. Even those bones of his tempered by many years of medicinal broths and beatings could barely endure it.

  Now how was he to get out of here?

  His two arms wrapped around him, he recalled the path from that night, but then suddenly spotted the Black Goat on the other side of the pool.

  He was slightly startled, but his hands gradually relaxed. Every time he went to do something, the Black Goat would appear. Today, he did not encounter the middle-aged woman by the pool, but he still saw the Black Goat. He was finding this stranger and stranger, beginning to think that there was some connection here that he was missing.

  But he didn't know who to ask, and he was certainly not going to obtain an answer if he asked the Black Goat.

  He walked to the other side of the pool. The Black Goat gently nudged his knee, just like it had done before, then it began to show him the way. For some reason, perhaps because it was too early, there was no around the Imperial Palace this morning, not even a servant sweeping a courtyard. One human and one goat very smoothly reached the palace walls.

  Ivy grew along the walls, concealing an old door. A lock was on the door.

  A key was hanging across the Black Goat's neck.

  Chen Changsheng took the key and opened the door. He walked into a quiet passage and shortly afterward returned to the Orthodox Academy.

  This was not the door used by the middle-aged woman, but the one used by Mo Yu.

  Chen Changsheng tried to retie the key onto the Black Goat's neck, but the Black Goat tilted its head in refusal.

  He fell silent, then said a word of thanks before solemnly putting the key away.

  The Black Goat walked back to the Imperial Palace, and the old door closed once more.

  * * *

  In the following days, life on the surface was very calm. The Divine Empress's orders had been transmitted through Mo Yu to all the factions in the capital. The Orthodox Academy's gate remained unrepaired, but no one dared to come and make trouble. Jin Yulu acted as the main gate, and when he sat down on the bamboo chair, a pot of tea in hand, it meant that the gate was closed.

  Chen Changsheng acted as he had in the past, spending each day diligently studying and cultivating. However, in preparation for the Grand Examination, he had made the appropriate adjustments. For
instance, he had begun studying the test from the last Grand Examination, and he had also brought Tang Thirty-Six and Xuanyuan Po to the neighboring Hundred Herb Garden to once more pilfer all sorts of medicinal herbs. Xuanyuan Po's right arm had completely recovered and Chen Changsheng had found an appropriate technique for him to cultivate in, but he didn't know if there would be enough progress by the time of the Grand Examination.

  As the pampered grandson and young master of the Wenshui Tang clan, Tang Thirty-Six's participation in the Grand Examination was naturally a matter of utmost importance for his clan. Although the Old Master had expressed in a letter his deep resentment toward Tang Thirty-Six for voluntarily withdrawing from the Heavenly Dao Academy, the resources prepared for Tang Thirty-Six were not decreased in the slightest. On the contrary, the amount actually increased. It seemed that the Tang clan was well aware of recent events within the capital and knew the Orthodox Academy's situation.

  In addition to all this, the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education had taken care of many matters so that the Orthodox Academy could participate in the Grand Examination. Priest Xin had personally stepped forward and handled all the paperwork. Of course, it was still Luoluo who had the greatest contribution. She had had all the herbs Chen Changsheng had brought refined into pills and medicines according to his instructions. Along with many other things, she sent them to the Orthodox Academy.

  Everything was prepared and it seemed like all that was needed was to wait for the day of the Grand Examination. However, in this period, a small interlude took place.

  One morning in the early winter, Chen Changsheng concluded his usual session of drawing in starlight for Purification and walked out of the library to return to the house, upon which he once more saw Mo Yu. Lady Mo Yu's black hair was like a waterfall draped over her shoulders, yet she was not sound asleep. Instead, she was holding her waist and standing by the bed, her face seething with anger, looking for all the world like a dissatisfied housewife itching to argue.