Chapter 656: Stench Unbearable

Chapter 656: A Stench Unbearable

"He saved me once, so should I have to give him my life in return?"

"Even a drop of kindness should be repaid like a gushing spring—how much more so the grace of saving a life?"

Zhao Ke's face was full of scorn: "Zhou Changji, a cowardly wretch like you, who clings to life so desperately, actually deserves to stand alongside me in the Spring and Autumn Society?"

"I only have this one life—why shouldn't I cling to it? Once I'm dead, everything turns to nothing—why shouldn't I be afraid? I have but this single existence, so why should I throw it away for Yan Dongqing's selfish desires?"

"Shared aspirations in spring and autumn, together we brave the hardships."

Zhao Ke sneered coldly: "A mud-legged peasant of low birth like you could never understand those eight words in a lifetime!"

"Share aspirations with whom? Brave hardships with whom?"

Zhou Changji said in a deep voice: "Zhao Ke, I can tell you plainly—Yan Dongqing has never considered any of our lives, including yours! If he truly wanted to share aspirations with us, he would never have sacrificed the entire Spring and Autumn Society's interests for Xu Haichao alone, letting our decade of hidden efforts come to nothing!"

"A fine bird chooses its tree; a wise minister chooses his lord."

Zhou Changji frowned deeply: "Zhao Ke, if you remain so blindly loyal, you will only drag the entire Zhao family down into the bottomless abyss with you!"

"Are you finished?"

Zhao Ke paid no heed to Zhou Changji's admonition, his expression contemptuous: "If you're done, then go crawl back to your master. Don't dirty my eyes by lingering here."

"Zhao Ke, a man who knows the times—"

"A man who knows the times is no hero, only a dog who has abandoned his will. That is you, but not me."

Zhao Ke raised his hand and pointed at the other man: "Zhou Changji, I advise you to enjoy the favor your master bestows upon you. Because it won't be long before I come myself to peel off your skin and break your bones, so you can see what fate awaits a traitor!"

"Traitor? Hahahaha—"

Zhou Changji suddenly let out a laugh, the sound dripping with mockery.

"Zhao Ke, I always thought you were merely pretending to be stupid. I never imagined you were genuinely that foolish. All these years, I mistakenly believed you were hiding your talent, even took you for someone useful, and came specifically to save your life—what a waste of my breath."

"Get out!"

Zhao Ke bellowed, his brows knitted in fury, and swept his sleeve violently.

But unexpectedly, Zhou Changji's projection did not dissipate. He still stood there quietly.

It seemed Zhao Ke had already lost control of this tower.

"They should be arriving soon… Zhao Ke, no matter how you look at it, we once worked together. On this final leg of your journey, it's only right that I see you off."

Zhou Changji made a gesture as if listening intently, then smiled faintly: "I will stay here and watch, watch how pathetically and pitifully you die!"

Boom!

Amid the sudden thunderous roar, the entire building shook violently, as if a giant beast was charging into it.

Great clouds of dust fell from the dome painted with a blue sky and white sun, settling onto pavilions and towers, green trees and rockeries. The lake embedded in the center of this floor rippled, and brightly colored carp surfaced one after another, clustering on the water like congealed patches of crimson blood.

Zhao Ke's eyes suddenly clouded with a heavy gloom, his gaze fixed on a rain pavilion in the distance where the sedan lift would dock.

Faint wails and screams drifted from that direction, like a gate to hell that had been flung open, from which some demon lord would crawl out.

"Do you hear that? The ones shielding you now are your own flesh and blood, your kin, Zhao Ke. But that's only right—after all, you've branded them all with your mark. Even knowing they're mantises trying to stop a chariot, they still rush forward to die, because at least then the women and children have a chance to live. Otherwise, once you're dead, they'll all be buried with you."

Zhou Changji had somehow come to stand beside Zhao Ke, and he laughed: "Zhao Ke, is this what you great clans mean by 'shared aspirations and shared hardships'?"

The building shook more and more violently. Porcelain ornaments shattered into pieces. Wind chimes under the eaves jangled merrily.

The fish in the pool seemed unable to breathe, opening and closing their mouths toward the sky.

"Zhao Ke, the man you're waiting for—will he come from the heavens, or from your dreams?"

Zhou Changji paused, then burst into loud laughter: "Or will he not come at all?"

Zhao Ke's face was livid. His eyes, fixed on the rain pavilion, trembled violently.

Boom!

A terrifying bolt of lightning, mixed with black and red, shot up into the sky, blasting the rain pavilion to pieces.

Li Jun stepped out from the storm of swirling dust, his stride shaking the building even more violently, sending it tottering.

"Now do you understand? Yan Dongqing went up Dragon Tiger Mountain only for himself. The words he spoke to you were nothing but a trick to make you wait here like a fool and die."

Zhou Changji's cold voice continued without pause: "After all, in the Confucian kingdom he envisions, the foundation is filled with the bones of people like us!"

"Shut up!"

Zhao Ke roared, as if blinded by rage, and actually reached out to seize the throat of the man beside him.

His fingers pierced the light that fell through the air, and Zhou Changji's figure rippled like a reflection on water.

Li Jun looked at this strange scene, frowned slightly, but roughly understood what had happened.

Intrigue and deception, trickery and betrayal.

This Spring and Autumn Society was even more foul and stinking than the New Eastern Forest Faction.

"So what if I was deceived? Can you live out your days in peace?"

Zhao Ke's anger turned to fury, his face twisted: "Once you've outlived your usefulness, Jia Qi will sell you out too."

"When I've reached the point where I'm not even worth being used, I won't wait for anyone to betray me. I'll send myself out of this world with my own hands."

Zhou Changji said softly: "A man must know himself well enough to act accordingly, Zhao Ke. That one sentence is enough for you to study for a lifetime."

"Screw your self-knowledge, screw your learned gentlemen!"

Zhao Ke laughed in rage, then turned his bloodshot eyes to glare viciously at Li Jun.

"And you, screw you—"

Bang!

Lightning-wreathed fists shot forward, and a surging force like an avalanche swallowed Zhao Ke's figure entirely.

[Gained 50 Proficiency Points]

[Remaining Proficiency Points: 142]

Shattered flesh and blood splattered everywhere, but Zhou Changji had already retreated far away, as if even as a mere projection he was unwilling to touch such filth.

Li Jun looked up and studied this unfamiliar face, comparing it with the intelligence Zhang Siyuan had provided, and recognized who he was.

"You're that—Zhou Changji?"

"I pay my respects to the Pavilion Master Li."

"I remember your relationship with Zhao Ke wasn't exactly good, was it? Did you come all the way here just to watch someone else's misfortune?"

Zhou Changji shook his head: "I came originally to save him. But it seems now that I was overestimating my own worth."

The calmness Zhou Changji displayed at this moment surprised Li Jun.

"You're a bit different from the others."

Li Jun brushed the dust off his shoulders: "The Four Scholars of Spring and Autumn—there's only you left now. And you still have the heart to save someone else?"

"I won't die, and I have the ability to extend a hand to others."

"What gives you that confidence? Yan Dongqing? That can't be—he should still be wagging his tail on Dragon Tiger Mountain, trying to beg Zhang Xiji to save him. He has no time for you."

Li Jun smiled: "It seems you've switched allegiances."

The Spring and Autumn Society was founded by His Majesty himself; Yan Dongqing is merely a traitor who stole His Majesty's trust. How can anyone speak of changing allegiance?

He is a traitor, and what are you? A pillar of the state? It seems that young emperor intends to have you take over the Spring and Autumn Society?

Zhou Changji shrugged noncommittally, cupping his hands in salute and said: "The Spring and Autumn Society has suffered innocently in this affair. Now that so many have died, Lord Li should have cooled his anger. From now on, the Spring and Autumn Society will no longer be an enemy of Heaven's Gate. I hope Lord Li can show mercy and let this matter rest."

"I have to say, you are more adept at handling human affairs than those imperial relatives of the Zhu family."

Li Jun, disregarding his image completely, casually picked a spot on a broken beam and sat down, lifting his head to rub between his brows.

The long-distance assault in such a short time, breaking through two major clans in one breath, had also left him feeling somewhat weary.

"Zhou Changji, right?"

Li Jun asked suddenly, "Before your Society Leader Yan sent people to the Zhenlu Court, had you ever heard the name 'Jiang Wei'?"

Zhou Changji's brows furrowed instantly, vaguely understanding Li Jun's implication.

"The martial order of the sect never had many people, but this lad was the most straightforward and loyal. Unable to save his elders and brothers in Xin'an City, he gathered all their bones and carried them on his back to Liaodong, seeking a quiet place where they could rest in peace after death."

"I saw clearly that day—Jiang Wei swept the grave of Old Su, offered him cigarettes and wine, and only after obtaining the old man's agreement did he let his fellow disciples settle there. Was what he did excessive? Did he provoke anyone? Probably not."

Li Jun raised his eyes to look at Zhou Changji: "The only thing he did wrong was that he happened to be at Zhenlu Court that day, and his backbone happened to be too stiff to kneel. So he died, his heart ripped out alive. I ask you, was he not innocent?"

His eyes, emitting rolling cold air, stabbed into people's hearts. Even though he was only a projection at the moment and not in mortal danger, Zhou Changji still felt his scalp tingling and his throat as if gripped by someone, unable to utter a sound.

"Do you know, I don't even dare to sleep now? Because I'm afraid that once I close my eyes, I'll see Old Su appear before me, with Jiang Wei's cigarette in his mouth and Jiang Wei's wine in his cup, telling me to open my eyes and see what this is all about. Then he'll point at my nose and curse me, saying Li Jun is a damn waste."

"I only side with family, not reason. So I must send you down to see the old man and apologize to him on my behalf."

Li Jun raised his hand and tapped his own forehead: "If you feel wronged, then remember this face clearly. When you come to take revenge in your next life, don't mistake your target."

Having said that, Li Jun pushed off his knees and stood up.

"Oh, and one last thing. You'd better run fast now, or else you'll die too."

He grinned at Zhou Changji, bent his knees slightly, then straightened them. Thunder exploded, crashing a huge hole through the dome of the mansion.

Black and red thunder drew a clear broken line, heading north.

Boom!

Brick and rubble rained down, causing Zhou Changji's figure to tremble incessantly.

He stared woodenly at the hole above him, finally able to speak.

"Madman!"

As his voice fell, Zhou Changji's face rapidly changed expressions, then he angrily flicked his sleeve, and the projection instantly dissipated.

In a moment, the floor fell into utter silence, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Amid the wreckage all around, a pond of fish huddled closely together, raising their heads to the sky, their mouths opening and closing continuously.

As if emitting silent mockery.

"What are you looking at? So absorbed."

In the Dream-Catching Pavilion on the periphery of the Eastern Courtyard, a face squeezed into the glow of blue light emitted from an electronic document.

"Heavenly Will Society Project: Analysis of the Development Path of a Solitary Martial Order"

Zou Sijiu glanced at the title on the document panel and exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't this the project that Old Han prepared for Shen Li back then? How come you, a Daoist Seq, are studying it too?"

"Are you out of things to do?"

Chen Qisheng closed the document in his hand, asking with irritation.

"Of course I'm idle. Old Li is fighting so fiercely in Beizhili, but we have not a single stir here. I wonder what those bastards are brewing again."

Zou Sijiu pressed his arms against the railing, crossed his legs, looking languid.

"Old Ox, tell me, how could this empire have become like this in such a short time? The Zhu family, Mount Longhu, the Eastern Palace, and Zhang Siyuan's father—none of them willing to live peacefully, why must they fight to the death?"

"Because they all want us to live the lives they have demarcated for us."

Zou Sijiu sneered, "Look at the sun, it rises in the east and sets in the west. Look at the plants, they flourish in summer and wither in winter, never changing for anyone. After a hundred years, who's not a handful of yellow soil?"

Chen Qisheng couldn't help but roll his eyes, "It seems you really are too idle. You, a Yinyang Seq who can't even calculate hexagrams properly, are now pondering the philosophy of life?"

"It's strange, you know. When I used to wander around as a fortune-teller, all I hoped for every day was to encounter some rich fool that I, Master Zou, could fleece thoroughly. Even if I only managed to squeeze out a little bit, I'd be happy for half a day."

"Sometimes, scraping and saving for half a year or more, I could only afford one or two junk backdoors. High-level access was beyond my wildest dreams, only seen in fabricated fantasies."

Zou Sijiu sighed, "But now someone has placed in my hands a permission so vast it's staggering, and yet I can't feel the slightest joy. Tell me, what's the reason?"

"You're thinking of Old Zhao?"

For this seemingly nonchalant charlatan, Chen Qisheng knew him all too well; with one glance he saw through Zou Sijiu's inmost thoughts.

It wasn't that the joy had faded, but that the person to share it with was gone.

"Yeah."

Zou Sijiu took a deep breath, "Tell me, are we really that unlucky? Yan Bihuang, Su Ce, Zhao Mengze, and your master, Daoist Sun—these old bones, no matter who, as long as they treat us a little well, they can't even enjoy their old age. What kind of reasoning is that?"

Chen Qisheng remained silent, then slowly raised his right hand, clenching his fingers into a fist with a crisp crack of bones.

"This is the reasoning."

Chen Qisheng said calmly, "It's just that we were too weak before, so we had no ability to reason with others."

"Now that we have the ability to reason, the ones who suffered injustice are all gone. Damn it all to hell!"

Zou Sijiu exhaled and cursed angrily, then turned to look at Chen Qisheng and asked, "So that's why you've been studying Old Li?"

Chen Qisheng said frankly, "Both at Seq Three, but the gap between us and Old Li hasn't narrowed at all; on the contrary, it's growing wider. Don't you want to know why?"

"No."

Zou Sijiu answered cleanly and decisively, without hesitation.

"When we were still at Seq Seven or Eight, I didn't think he was anything special—just a bit more capable in fighting and a bit tougher. But as the sequence went higher, I understood clearly: Old Li is simply a monster. Who in their right mind competes with a monster?"

Chen Qisheng said calmly, "I just want to know how strong Old Li really is now, and how big the gap is between us."

"That's simple. I'll give you an idea."

"Hm?"

Chen Qisheng's expression immediately stiffened upon hearing this.

"Go to Mount Longhu right now. Once you're up there, tell Zhang Xiji, that old bastard, that you were just young and hotheaded before and didn't mean to smash the gate of Mount Longhu. Now you've seen the light and intend to return to the sect to support him in his old age and send him off at his end."

Zou Sijiu looked at Chen Qisheng with a deadpan expression and said, "That way, before long, you should be able to find out just how fierce Old Li really is."