Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 1150 – One Carriage, One Painting

This year’s first snowfall was earlier than the ones from years past.

According to the records from the Ministry of the Army, this was the earliest official record of first snowfall over Xuelao City in the last three hundred years.

The snowfall did not mean that the weather would immediately chill, but it did mean that it was starting to shift.

But even more frightening were the mental implications it had on both exhausted sides. It was sufficient to change the entire state of the war.

Accumulated snow might not melt for half a year in the winterbound Xuelao City. To the human soldiers, fighting in such a climate was no different than sending themselves to their deaths.

Everyone understood what this snowfall meant for the war.

In order to crush the renewed confidence of the demons, to smash this inauspicious sign, and perhaps to even stop the human soldiers from thinking about this problem, Divine General He Ming immediately decided to begin another assault on the city. The Western Army was also ordered to hasten their cleansing of the battlefield.

At this most crucial of moments, the humans displayed an extraordinary courage and resolve, especially its experts.

In order to recompense for his error at Mount Nuorilang, the Prince of Xiang bravely entered the battle once more and was once more heavily injured.

Xiao Zhang also appeared. His kite had been able to fly past Mount Yanzhi, but it could not fly past those walls before once more disappearing.

Liang Wangsun finally appeared on the battlefield, his golden lotus blooming in front of Xuelao City.

In the end, he was heavily injured and fell into a coma, so he was carried back to Xunyang City.

Liang Banhu had died in battle, as had Liang Hongzhuang, and Liang Wangsun had been heavily wounded.

The Liang clan of the previous dynasty had put aside their old grudges with the Chen clan in this expedition against the demons. Their performance could even be called heroic.

If Liang Xiaoxiao, who had colluded with the demons back then, had lived to see these sights, what would he think?

The solemn and stirring actions of the human experts and the deployment of the troops by Divine General He Ming succeeded in slightly alleviating the oppressive air brought by the first snow.

But as the snow continued to fall, and the siege continued without success, the morale of the human army continued to drop.

Just when Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were intending to move out, something happened.

To be more precise, a carriage arrived outside Xuelao City.

This carriage was not drawn by a horse, ox, mule, or any other beast, yet it was able to travel forward on its own. It was a rather mystical sight.

The wheels crunched along the snow and mud. It looked like it was very slow, but it managed to very quickly travel from the south to the camp.

Even more mystical was that the long path from the south was probably crawling with leftover soldiers and ferocious bandits, yet this carriage had arrived unscathed despite its complete lack of escort.

Countless gazes fell on the carriage.

The carriage curtain was raised and a young Daoist boy poked his head out. Upon seeing the tens of thousands on the plains, he covered his mouth in surprise and hurriedly retreated back inside.

In this very short time, many people were able to clearly see that this young Daoist boy was very beautiful. He seemed to be carved from jade, his eyes were like black dots of paint, and his face was brimming with intelligence.

……

……

“Do you think I look more stupid?”

Chen Changsheng looked to Xu Yourong and hesitated before adding, “And… not as handsome?”

Xu Yourong knew what he was thinking and said, “When you were little, you were prettier than he is.”

Chen Changsheng replied, “We only exchanged letters when we were little, but we never actually met.”

Xu Yourong explained, “Lord Crane said this.”

The cry of a crane came out of the sky.

The White Crane was offering its testimony.

……

……

The small carriage stopped at a small mountain outside the battlefield.

The carriage curtain was raised again, this time held up with wooden hooks.

The young Daoist boy jumped to the ground and helped the other person in the carriage step out.

Countless gazes had followed this small carriage from the southern plains all the way to this small mountain.

Even the tribal warriors outside Xuelao City stopped their cursing.

Once they saw that boy who seemed to be carved from jade, many people had guessed who was inside the carriage.

Just because it had secluded itself for ten years now did not mean that the common people did not know what was going on in the Monastery of Eternal Spring.

Many people knew that there was a young Daoist boy within that monastery.

As for whether that master and disciple were angry at each other again, who knew?

……

……

Shang Xingzhou had still come.

It was right when the morale of humanity was at its lowest, when the war had reached its most critical and dangerous point.

After several hundred years, he had come once more to Xuelao City.

Many people, including himself, had already guessed that this would be his last visit to Xuelao City.

Other than the injured Prince of Xiang, the important individuals in the army all came to this small mountain to pay their respects.

In the plains outside Xuelao City, dust was rising constantly between the various camps and this small mountain.

Though he had secluded himself in Luoyang for ten years, Shang Xingzhou’s prestige was undiminished and had even risen.

……

……

As he saw plume after plume of dust rising from the plains, Linghai Zhiwang’s face grew even more fraught with concern. He looked to Chen Changsheng, wanting to advise him with a few words, but he knew that it was not the right time.

Archbishop An Lin had returned from the dangerous front lines with Guan Bai’s body.

The tens of thousands of demon warriors encamped outside Xuelao City had come from the various tribes and did not have the complete trust of the Imperial clan, but they were exceptionally lethal on the battlefield.

Chen Changsheng sat by Guan Bai’s body for a very long time.

Back in the All-School Martial Exhibition, Guan Bai had been standing by the road and glanced at him. That had been their first meeting.

Afterward, Wuqiong Bi entered the capital and tortured a stray dog to death. And after that, Guan Bai lost an arm.

For this matter, no matter what Bie Yanghong said, no matter how miserable Wuqiong Bi had ended up, Chen Changsheng had never forgiven her.

He felt that someone like Guan Bai was worthy of even greater respect, deserved an even better end.

He hadn’t expected him to still end up like this, to only end up with this.

“What about Liang Banhu?”

Chen Changsheng asked Archbishop An Lin.

He remembered it very clearly.

As the first to reach Xuelao City, the North Third Camp of the Eastern Army had always been a thorn in the side of the demon armies. They had almost been surrounded multiple times.

Late one night, several days ago, ten-some of the Demon race’s great tribes cooperated in a counterattack. Their objective was the North Third Camp.

The battle that night had been exceptionally desperate, and only after Guan Bai led one thousand Orthodoxy cavalry in an overnight march to reinforce them was the danger finally resolved.

But Guan Bai died in battle, and Liang Banhu, one of the three cavalrymen to reach Xuelao City first… had also died in battle.

“Liang Banhu chose self-combustion.” Archbishop An Lin recalled the sight of that desperate battlefield. An expression of sorrow on her face, she looked at Chen Changsheng for some time before finally saying, “I don’t know if he was trying to repent for the crimes of his brother, but I heard that he was particularly courageous on the battlefield.”

Chen Changsheng fell quiet. At these sorts of moments, he didn’t know what to say.

Archbishop An Lin added, “There’s something wrong with Guan Feibai’s mood. We must think of a way to make him retreat.”

Chen Changsheng replied, “Discuss the matter with Yourong.”

An Lin left to carry out this order.

Linghai Zhiwang asked, “Shouldn’t we go over there to take a look?”

He was naturally referring to the small mountain where Shang Xingzhou resided.

Chen Changsheng had still not gone there, so neither had Linghai Zhiwang and the other priests of the Li Palace.

In truth, many of the priests were constantly looking over at that mountain.

Chen Changsheng was the Pope and of most esteemed status. But he was still the student, so it was somewhat unreasonable for him to not take the initiative to pay a visit.

“There’s no need.”

Chen Changsheng pulled up the white cloth to cover Guan Bai’s face.

He and Linghai Zhiwang walked out of the tent. As he gazed at that distant mountain, he wanted to say something, but he ultimately chose not to.

Doing nothing, Chen Changsheng returned to his own tent.

Shang Xingzhou remained in his own carriage.

Separated by a hundred-some li, teacher and student maintained their silence.

Occasionally, Chen Changsheng would glance in that direction.

On the other hand, Shang Xingzhou’s eyes remained closed as he allowed the sun shining over the demon realm to cast its heatless rays upon his face. It was like he wanted the elderly wrinkles on his face to be somewhat smoothed out.

Everyone, including the demons in Xuelao City, wanted to know what Shang Xingzhou would do next.

Presumably, he would not just sit in his small carriage and watch the battle.

Early on the morning of the next day, they finally saw what Shang Xingzhou wanted to do.

He had hung up a painting in the sky.