Chapter 4

After a while, Shuang'er finally came to her senses.

She could tell that this young Taoist was not deliberately mocking or toying with her, but truly had not taken in what she had said. Seeing his serious and calm expression, she felt even more angry for some reason.

She said resentfully, "You will die."

Chen Changsheng opened his eyes wide and said, "Everyone will die."

Shuang'er said, "You know I don't mean that."

Chen Changsheng said very seriously, "Thank you for telling me these things."

Shuang'er's face turned grim, and she said, "Madam wants to break the engagement. If you agree, there will be a reward. Why must you insist on saying you came to break the engagement? Do you think that will save some face? If that were true, it would be fine, but why did you change your mind at the end? Your indecisiveness is really unappealing."

"Actually... I really did come to break the engagement. Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter. I just don't want to break it now."

"Why?"

Chen Changsheng tilted his head and thought seriously, a smile gradually appearing on his young face as he found a reason to convince himself. He said, "Because... you didn't ask my name."

Shuang'er didn't understand.

"Since I entered the manor, neither Madam nor you have asked my name."

Chen Changsheng looked at her seriously and said, "My name is Chen Changsheng. I know it sounds very common, but my master hopes I can live a long life. The meaning is very good, so I've always used it."

As he said this, his eyes were very bright, and his expression was very proper.

Shuang'er suddenly felt that this seemingly ordinary young Taoist exuded a certain luster, perhaps that serious demeanor? She understood his reason and felt an inexplicable sense of inferiority.

Since entering the Divine General's Manor, no one had asked his name. But he didn't show anger or a sense of humiliation. Whether facing Madam or Shuang'er, he was very polite, never lacking in manners, and even seemed a bit dull. However, the people who made him unhappy ultimately became even more unhappy.

It wasn't that he was good at making others unhappy, but that he was seriously doing what he believed he should do. Whether breaking the engagement or changing his mind, he believed it was right, with absolute certainty, making it hard for others to deny. Thus, those who made him unhappy ultimately became depressed and unable to be happy.

Shuang'er had grown up in the Divine General's Manor and, because of the young lady, held a very high status. Even the Divine General and Madam never spoke harshly to her. She had never encountered someone like Chen Changsheng before. She was very unaccustomed to this feeling and subconsciously felt uneasy. She didn't know whether she was trying to persuade Chen Changsheng or herself, but she strengthened her tone and said,

"Across the entire continent, only my young lady has the blood of a true phoenix. She is unique!"

"My senior brother's notes have a sentence that I always found very reasonable. I'll give it to you now, hoping you will seriously reflect on it in the future. He said: everyone in the world is unique."

Chen Changsheng said this to her seriously.

...

...

At the end of the long street was a simple stone arch bridge. Below the bridge was not the Luo River, but a small, unremarkable stream. Chen Changsheng walked to the bridge and looked back at the direction of the General's Manor. He saw that the area was quiet yet not lacking in prosperity, with countless grand mansions and beautiful courtyards, among which the Xu family's residence was the most prominent and prestigious. He couldn't help but shake his head.

After entering the capital, he didn't visit any scenic spots or rush to the Heavenly Book Tomb. Instead, after washing up by the Luo River, he went directly to the General's Manor to break the engagement. He wasn't in a hurry. If he and the young lady of the General's Manor were to marry, and if his illness couldn't be cured, why should he drag her down? Even if it could be cured, it would likely take many years.

He didn't want to waste her youth, but he didn't expect to face those white eyes, that contempt, and that mockery in the Xu family. Now, thinking back, after the age of ten, the temple no longer received gifts from her, and the two sides had cut off contact, indicating that she had long regretted the engagement. His coming to the capital to break the engagement should have been a natural and mutually agreeable matter, but he hadn't expected to encounter such a situation, so he changed his mind on the spot.

He hadn't practiced cultivation and wasn't a Taoist, but he had read the Daoist canon since childhood and was deeply influenced by it. Given his bleak destiny, among the three thousand great paths, he sought to follow his heart—meaning to be at peace with himself. Coming to the capital to break the engagement was following his heart. Not breaking the engagement was also following his heart—since the Divine General's Manor was impolite, he didn't want to let them have their way—because if he did, his heart would be hard to follow.

Of course, up to now, Chen Changsheng only wanted to make the general's lady, who hid her coldness behind a kind face, and the maid who only looked at the sky, anxious. In a few days, he would naturally return the marriage contract. Life was at stake, and the happiness of the Xu young lady was far more important than the cold treatment and white eyes he had received. He still believed this.

However, it was still very unpleasant. Sometimes, Chen Changsheng himself would forget that he was still a fourteen-year-old boy, but he was ultimately a boy with his own pride and dignity. Being humiliated always left an emotional impact.

He walked down the stone bridge and bought two baked cakes from a street vendor, squatting on the stone slab by the stream. As he chewed on the cakes, he looked at the distant Divine General's Manor, feeling a slight bitterness. He knew where this emotion came from but was also clear that if he let it overwhelm him, it would harm his body and not help solve the problem.

In the distance, the Luo River was dotted with sails like clouds. On the opposite bank, the long street was filled with wolf riders from the west. Even from a great distance, he could almost smell the putrid odor from the giant wolves' mouths. Shadows drifted on the water. He looked up and saw a magnificent carriage being pulled by a white-winged celestial horse flying north. At the distant city wall, red hawks responsible for military communications were constantly taking off and landing. In the distant blue sky, there were flying carriages patrolling the city, looking like the annoying dragonflies outside the temple...

This was the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, with countless magical scenes that rural people could hardly imagine. Chen Changsheng chewed on the baked cakes, eyes wide open, enjoying these sights, comparing them with the records in the Daoist canon. He wondered when he would have the chance to see the legendary magical creatures, like the spirit turtle that had supported the stone pillars for three thousand years in the Imperial Palace, or the noble and majestic dragons in the palace, especially the rare and most prestigious golden dragons, which had not appeared in the human world for tens of thousands of years. Would he have the chance to see them in the future? And, of course, the phoenix...

The baked cakes were very fragrant but also very hard, requiring a lot of effort to eat. Chen Changsheng thought he had put the events at the Divine General's Manor behind him and successfully dispelled the slight bitterness. However, when he thought of the phoenix, he naturally remembered the true phoenix blood he had heard about today, the Xu family young lady with the true phoenix blood, and the small trinkets he had received years ago...

He looked at the last piece of cake between his fingers, stared at it for a while, then put it in his mouth, chewed it carefully thirty-two times, and swallowed it. He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, wiped the crumbs from his hands, stood up, shouldered his luggage, and disappeared into the crowd.

He didn't notice that a nondescript carriage was parked at a nearby street corner. On an inconspicuous part of the carriage, there was a slightly dark blood phoenix emblem. Of course, even if he had seen it, he wouldn't have known that this emblem represented the Eastern Divine General's Manor—after the Xu young lady was born, the Empress had bestowed the blood phoenix on the Divine General's Manor as a new emblem, a supreme honor and a declaration.

The warhorse in front of the carriage had the bloodline of a unicorn and looked at the stream below the bridge with a cold expression. The old woman in the carriage also had a cold look, but it also contained some surprise and unease.

Since Chen Changsheng left the Divine General's Manor, she had been following him. She hadn't expected the young man to remain so calm after seeing the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, not acting like an unsophisticated country boy. This was because she didn't know that the young man had read countless books since childhood and had already seen countless landscapes and traveled countless miles in those books.

...

...

Xu Shiji sat in his study, his mountain-like body emitting a faint bloody smell. A green bird on a tree more than ten yards away from the window was so frightened that it hid its head under its wings, not daring to make a sound. The powerful and bloody aura proved the terrifying strength of the Great Zhou Divine General and indicated his current bad mood.

What made him so irritable was the half-jade pendant on his desk.

"Back then, when my father was the Grand Chancellor, he was deeply trusted by the Divine Empress and was ordered to go to Mount Tai to preside over the burning of books in the Heaven-Announcing Ceremony. The demon race sent Gongyang Chun to secretly assassinate my father, who was severely injured. The Pope himself went to Mount Tai but couldn't cure him. It wasn't until a wandering Taoist passed through Tai County that my father's injuries were healed, and thus the marriage contract was made."

Xu's wife said softly, "It seems that the Taoist did have some skills."

Xu Shiji raised his head and looked at the blue sky outside the window, saying, "In this vast world, there are countless strong people. The Taoist was a master in medicine, of course, not ordinary. Otherwise, how could my father have promised Rong to his descendant?"

Xu's wife was uneasy and asked, "The most critical thing now is the marriage contract... If the Taoist has no significant background and is not an important person, it wouldn't be so difficult to handle the matter."

Xu Shiji said coldly, "Make that little Taoist come to his senses."

Xu's wife's voice became even lower, almost inaudible if not listened to carefully, "That little Taoist doesn't seem to be someone who can be easily bought off. What if he insists? Next year, when the Heavenly Book Tomb opens, the Southern Saints will definitely send an envoy, and they will formally propose the marriage to the court. We can't afford any mistakes."

Xu Shiji narrowed his eyes slightly, like a tiger about to sleep, and said, "Then burn him to ashes and throw them into the Luo River."

The rainy season would start in a few days, and the Luo River would soon rise. Whether ashes or bones, they would instantly disappear in the river.

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