Chapter 623 – A Voice Comes from the Depths of the Darkness (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Hearing this statement, Xue Xingchuan narrowed his eyes even harder, slightly tightening the grip on his spear.
He was the second-ranked Divine General of the continent, his strength far surpassing ordinary peak level Star Condensation experts, faintly exceeding them by at least half a level. Taken together with the fact that he was in the prime of his life, at his peak in terms of spirit, bearing, or anything else, many people even believed that he had surpassed the guardian of the Mausoleum of Books, Divine General Han Qing.
Even if Mao Qiuyu and An Lin joined hands and had the assistance of one of the Li Palace's important treasures, Xue Xingchuan was confident he would be able to handle them, but could he really keep Chen Changsheng here?
Just then, a massive boom could be heard from the long street running parallel to the alley of the Northern Military Department, followed by the stamping of hooves, and then the collapse of buildings into plumes of dust!
Everyone in the ruins of the courtyard turned in that direction and saw that the buildings along that street had already been destroyed, revealing the scene on the main street.
Bright candles in lanterns and blazing torches cast a dusky yellow light over the street, yet when falling upon the armor, they seemed to give no warmth whatsoever.
On one end of the street stood eighteen cardinals of the Li Palace, possessing profound cultivations, and also several hundred Orthodoxy cavalry with crossbows in hand.
On the other end of the street was a dense tide of troops belonging to the capital's City Gate Department and excellently equipped Imperial Guard. At the very front was Xu Shiji himself, a stern and solemn look on his face.
The standoff between the Orthodoxy and the Imperial Court had already persisted for the entire night.
At the very beginning, the two sides were both searching for a person, but now their swords were drawn and crossbows nocked, ready to strike at any moment. In truth, the two sides had already moved against each other. The collapsed buildings, the unsettled dust, the corpses of cavalry in pools of blood on the sides of the street, the blood trickling from the corner of Xu Shiji's lip, and three heavily injured cardinals were all proof of this.
The mood over the street was abnormally oppressive and tense. Even the warhorses could feel it, somewhat uneasily kicking their hooves.
The person who ultimately ended this standoff was someone nobody imagined.
The blood-covered Zhou Tong gasped out, "I'm still alive."
Yes, he was still alive, a matter that Chen Changsheng was utterly unwilling to accept, but one that both the Imperial Court and the Orthodoxy were. This meant that there was still a buffer to move around in this matter.
Now, Zhou Tong himself had spoken.
A carriage came from the alley facing the street. Its curtain was raised, revealing Prince Chen Liu's face.
This handsome face was covered in concern, especially after it saw Chen Changsheng.
"I came to pick him up," Prince Chen Liu said to Xue Xingchuan, his eyes calm and fearless.
After a moment of silence, Xue Xingchuan slowly lowered his right hand, shot an expressionless glance at Chen Changsheng, then ordered his subordinates, "Escort Lord Zhou Tong back to the palace."
Hooves stamped once more like thunder, yet not as hair-raising as before. The cavalry of both the Imperial Court and the Orthodoxy obeyed their respective orders and gradually retreated into the darkness on both ends of the street.
"I've added to everyone's troubles," Chen Changsheng said to Mao Qiuyu. Then, with Prince Chen Liu's assistance, he entered the carriage.
Because of various problems with both the general situation and his mind, he currently did not want to get too close to the people from the Li Palace.
The breeze ruffled the curtain of the carriage, and he saw the alley of the Northern Military Department and that courtyard which he had never been able to see in the past, saw those Imperial Guards raise Zhou Tong onto a stretcher.
Zhou Tong's eyes were closed, his complexion dreadfully pale, his body covered in blood. He looked just like a dead man.
Even if the imperial physicians of the Imperial Palace could rescue him, the soul and body of this famously villainous official would always be missing a part. He was already a cripple.
But the frustrations on Chen Changsheng's brow still could not be wiped away.
"Were my actions not presumptuous, disregarding the general situation?" he asked Prince Chen Liu.
Prince Chen Liu extended a hand and patted him on the shoulder, soothing, "Zhou Tong is naturally no ordinary minister, but to the Empress, she would only use him if he's useful. If you had really killed him just now, would the Empress really have taken vengeance for him? Would she stir up a war for him and kill the future Pope? Of course not."
In truth, he had not said all he wanted to say. In his view, if Chen Changsheng was the Empress's son, then his life was naturally more important than Zhou Tong's. No matter whether that rumor was true or not, even if the Empress wanted to kill Chen Changsheng, in her heart, Chen Changsheng's life was still one thousand, ten thousand times more important than Zhou Tong's.
Prince Chen Liu's gaze looked through the curtains at Zhou Tong on the stretcher and said in a heavy voice, "He's just a dog."
"Only a dead dog is a dog. As long as it's still alive, it's still a wolf."
Chen Changsheng recalled the words Zhexiu had once said to him and suddenly felt very tired. He said, "Tonight, I didn't truly kill him. I don't know if there'll be another chance in the future."
He was well aware that at least he would not have another chance to kill Zhou Tong.
"A person like Zhou Tong is naturally difficult to kill. For you to force him into such a state is already very outstanding."
As a member of the Imperial clan, it was impossible for Prince Chen Liu to feel any sort of positivity towards Zhou Tong. He wanted more than anyone else for Zhou Tong to die, so he was more grateful than anyone else for what Chen Changsheng did tonight.
"I deeply admire you," he said to Chen Changsheng.
Thinking of tonight's turmoil in the capital and the tense situation on the street just a moment ago, Prince Chen Liu had grown much more solemn. He had appeared on the long street and was now sitting in the same carriage as Chen Changsheng, escorted away under the protection of the Orthodoxy cavalry. This was tantamount to proclaiming to the capital and to the Divine Empress where he stood.
Chen Changsheng did not feel there was anything worth admiring about him.
Because he still had not killed Zhou Tong.
In the Orthodox Academy, Zhexiu had once said that after killing Zhou Tong, he would go to Mount Li to pick up Qi Jian. At the time, Chen Changsheng, Tang Thirty-Six, and all the others felt this to be an impossible task.
An important figure like Zhou Tong was naturally difficult, but tonight, he had truly been on the verge of success, if not for the fact that he had been blocked by that patch of darkness.
If not for that voice that had come from the deepest depths of the darkness and resounded directly in his sea of consciousness.
It was a very familiar voice and also a voice he had not heard for a very long time.
……
……
Back when the darkness had enveloped the courtyard, only Chen Changsheng and Zhou Tong were there.
Chen Changsheng had heard that voice, and so had Zhou Tong.
At the time, he believed it to be an illusion created when he was at death's door.
The darkness was deep and quiet, cold and chilly. He did not want to die, because death was an even deeper, quieter, and colder abyss.
In that moment when he was closest to death, all of his sinister and terrifying shell was completely shattered, leaving only the malicious, petty, timid him.
After confirming that the voice was real, he agreed without hesitation to that person's conditions.
As expected, that patch of darkness had safeguarded his life, yet he could not feel the slightest warmth over this fact, but actually felt even colder.
The common people all said that Zhou Tong and the Demon Military Advisor Black Robe were equally famous as schemers, but upon hearing that person's voice he realized that those words were just a joke.
Before that person concealed in the depths of the darkness, what right did he have to call himself a schemer, how could he be considered cold and emotionless? In the eyes of that person, he was probably just a dog.
A dog that still had some use.
But even if he really was a dog, he still wanted to live.
Even if he had to wag his tail in pity and give a sorrowful look to the entire world, he still wanted to live.
Thinking of these things, his mind grew more agitated and Zhou Tong, no longer able to resist the onslaught of his injuries, fell unconscious.
Under the personal escort of Divine Generals Xue Xingchuan and Xu Shiji, the heavily wounded Zhou Tong was brought into the Imperial Palace.
Only this way, only in this place, could his survival be ensured.
The news that Zhou Tong was heavily injured had most likely already spread. In the darkness of the capital, it was impossible to know how many people wanted Zhou Tong dead.
Just like the situation Su Li encountered on his journey back south.
Watching Zhou Tong on the bed, gasping his dying breaths, his injuries an awful spectacle, Xue Xingchuan and Xu Shiji remained silent for a very long time, never speaking once.
They did not know what to say.
Just how had Chen Changsheng managed to do it?
The terrifying and miserable blade wound stretching from the left side of Zhou Tong's face to below his rib was fully exposed under the lantern light, a ghastly sight.
Xue Xingchuan and Xu Shiji both thought they understood what sort of person Chen Changsheng was, especially the latter, but neither of them could have imagined that he would possess such a valiant side.
A master of the Sacred Light serving the Imperial Court arrived, along with the best imperial physician in the palace. The chief eunuch also came, representing the Divine Empress.
Even after the treatment concluded and it was confirmed that Zhou Tong would be able to preserve his life, the Empress did not appear.
"I'll go first to handle some matters."
Xu Shiji seemed to be affected by something, his complexion rather unsightly as he left the Imperial City.
Xue Xingchuan did not leave. He carefully cleaned Zhou Tong's wounds and then moved over a chair to sit right in the middle of the palace hall's main entrance.
He closed his eyes, his spear sitting across his knees.
Anyone who wanted to kill Zhou Tong had to kill him first.
Because he was Zhou Tong's sole friend in this world.
In this world, Zhou Tong only had this one friend.
If even he left Zhou Tong, then Zhou Tong would truly be alone.
……
……
The whole world knew that Xue Xingchuan was Zhou Tong's only friend.
This was a matter that the people of the world could never understand, even after puzzling over it for several decades.
Xue Xingchuan was the second-ranked Divine General of the continent. With Han Qing guarding the mausoleum for several centuries, he was the actual leader of the Divine Generals. Whether it was his cultivation, his military success, or his achievements in the north, he could take on this great reputation without the slightest shame. It was even said that he and Wang Po were the two candidates with the greatest hope of breaking past that threshold and entering the Divine Domain.
And he had a good reputation for running both his armies and his family strictly, yet he was friends with the notorious Zhou Tong. In the past some person had speculated that this might have been because of the Divine Empress. However, the other Divine Generals loyal to the Divine Empress, although fearful of Zhou Tong, had never acted friendly towards him of their own accord, nor even looked at him with good expressions.
No person knew why this friendship existed.
The medical skills of the Imperial Palace's physician were truly superb, and the Sacred Light had also played a very important role. Zhou Tong had suffered such severe injuries, but in a short time, he actually woke up.
Xue Xingchuan stood up and returned to the bed, saying to the dreadfully pale face, "Don't rush to speak, recovering from your wounds takes priority."
Zhou Tong ignored his advice, saying with a feeble voice, "Am I not right now very much like a dog?"