Chapter 101: Changhe Bursts Its Banks

Chapter 101: The Long River Breaks Its Banks

“Wait.” Tang Wanzhuang finally sighed, rising to her feet. “I was presumptuous. That you are not a fickle man is a good thing… If you are not in a hurry to leave, do come in for a cup of tea.”

Zhao Changhe did not enter. Coldly, he said, “I suspect you are now monitoring my inn. Call it off, or things will turn unpleasant for both of us.”

Tang Wanzhuang shook her head. “I am not monitoring you. On the contrary, the roads outside are under protection. Do you know why?”

Zhao Changhe paused, unable to think of an answer.

Tang Wanzhuang smiled. “Your horse is too valuable, and you are often away. Without protection, it would have been stolen long ago. Sword Lake City is a chaotic place, and inns are not entirely reliable. You have not experienced much of this these past days because the Demon Suppression Bureau has been watching over it.”

“Fine.” Zhao Changhe sighed, acknowledging the favor. His tone softened as he entered the room and sat across from her. “Director, since you bring it up, the Demon Suppression Bureau has been guarding my horse, and I cannot ignore that kindness. But to be honest, not experiencing the chaos of Sword Lake City is hardly a good thing for me. On the contrary, it’s rather regrettable.”

Tang Wanzhuang said nothing, quietly brewing tea, as if pondering his words.

Zhao Changhe pressed on. “Do you know when I felt the most exhilarated during this trip to Sword Lake?”

Tang Wanzhuang replied, “When you rode a thousand li, sword in hand, and saved Han Wubing.”

Zhao Changhe clapped his hands. “Exactly!”

His voice grew louder. “That was true pleasure! Wasn’t it? The duel Han Wubing and I had agreed upon should have been just as thrilling… But since then, the Demon Suppression Bureau, the demon cults—it’s all been a farce, draining all the joy from our spirits. Don’t think Wubing gained much from acquiring the sword and mastering his ultimate technique. I can tell he’s listless too, feeling awkward inside.”

Tang Wanzhuang finally couldn’t help but defend herself. “This whole affair began because the Four Symbols Sect sought the divine sword. Even without the Demon Suppression Bureau, your enjoyment would have been disrupted. The Maitreya Sect came straight for Xia Chichi’s head. The Demon Suppression Bureau at least kept things from worsening. You might as well blame Xia Chichi…”

As if realizing her words might be misconstrued as jealousy, she fell silent and simply handed Zhao Changhe a cup of tea.

Zhao Changhe shook his head. “I’m not blaming anyone. I’m not saying this to point fingers… I just want to say—I’m grateful for the protection, but it’s not what I need. You might think it’s about ‘enjoyment,’ but it’s not. A protected Zhao Changhe might never grow again. That’s not what I want, and I doubt it’s what you want either.”

Tang Wanzhuang sighed. “But letting you roam the jianghu without care is dangerous.”

“If you truly see me as a prince, then I suggest you help cover up that suspicion, just like with the wanted poster back then. As long as top rebels like the Vermilion Bird and Maitreya still believe Prince Luo Zhenwu is dead, I won’t face the kind of insurmountable danger you imagine. As for other storms in the jianghu, I must weather them. I believe you weathered them too, years ago, or you wouldn’t be Tang Wanzhuang, third on the Earth Ranking.”

Tang Wanzhuang’s eyes showed undisguised admiration. Slowly, she said, “And if you die?”

“Then it’s better to die,” Zhao Changhe said calmly. “Chaos is coming. You cannot hold up the crumbling edifice alone. A storm of blood and slaughter is about to break. If I remain mediocre by then, I won’t survive long in that chaos anyway. What difference does it make if I die earlier in the jianghu?”

He paused, then added, “Perhaps your emperor thinks the same. Why else has he said nothing?”

Tang Wanzhuang finally raised her cup in a toast. “I understand now. I drink to you, Your Highness.”

“…” Zhao Changhe was speechless. Did she think he wanted to train and return to save the day? Think again, sister. He held the cup, thought for a moment, and couldn’t help saying, “Have you ever considered that what a prince wants might not be to inherit the throne, but to defy the heavens?”

With that, he clinked his cup against hers, downed the scalding tea in one gulp, and strode out the door.

He didn’t say “overturn the heavens”—that would have easily betrayed Xia Chichi. At the last moment, he changed it to “defy,” which unconsciously revealed his true intent.

He didn’t want to be a rebel, nor did he care to defend the throne. He didn’t want to be bound. His path was simply his own sense of righteousness.

He had accepted her techniques and the Dragon Sparrow blade, and could do a few things for her. But if he ever felt constrained, he would quit without a second thought. He could even abandon his cultivation and return the blade, and still be himself.

As for meddling in his love life—that was just absurd.

The maid had been by the side the whole time, pretty and charming, but Zhao Changhe had passed over her without a glance. Tang Wanzhuang, recalling his behavior, suddenly laughed to herself. How could people always think he was surrounded by women? His mind was nowhere near that.

Seeing Tang Wanzhuang lost in her own laughter, the maid said indignantly, “This Zhao Changhe dares to say anything… They say he has a rebellious bone in his body, and they’re not wrong.”

“Yes.” Tang Wanzhuang stretched lazily, then returned to her desk to finish the letter she had been writing.

It was a report to the emperor, detailing the convergence of the two great demon cults at Sword Lake and the fate of the ancient sword.

The part about Zhao Changhe had been stuck, the pen hovering over the evaluation.

Now, Tang Wanzhuang dipped her brush in ink, hesitated for a moment, and wrote her comment: “His ambition is like the roc, yet to emerge from the Northern Sea; his momentum is like a dragon or tiger, but his claws and fangs are still young.”

She thought for a moment, then added eight more words: “Full of love and righteousness, yet lawless and heaven-defying.”

…

Back at the inn, Zhao Changhe saw the Dark Steed in the courtyard, washed clean and grazing leisurely.

He laughed, went over, and hugged the horse’s neck. “I’ve neglected you these past few days, but you’ve been protected and fed well. You won’t start complaining about growing fat, will you? Oh, that’s for people—what’s the word for you?”

Scratching his head, he couldn’t find the right phrase. He patted the Dark Steed’s head. “Tomorrow, I’ll take you out for a ride. No time today—I have an important guest.”

Back in his room, without even looking, he said with a grin, “Stop hiding on the beam. I know you’re there.”

Xia Chichi floated down, utterly amazed. “When did you get this good? The Chaos Chronicle didn’t announce it. I’m at the sixth level of the Profound Gate now, with my aura concealed—how could you sense me? Don’t tell me it’s my scent.”

“No.” Zhao Changhe laughed, pulling her into an embrace. “Someone tried to send me to a brothel, which told me their city-wide demon hunt wasn’t going well. They must have known you were still nearby and wanted to drive a wedge between us. Earlier, I suspected they were monitoring my inn and almost had a falling out with them.”

Xia Chichi’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Sending you to a brothel? Offering you women? Why didn’t you take them?”

“I figured that if the Demon Suppression Bureau got serious, you wouldn’t be able to hide silently. The most likely scenario was that you were here with me. They knew it, but feared I’d become estranged if they acted rashly. So instead, they tried to lure me to a brothel, leaving you waiting here alone all night. If I’d gone whoring, you might have gotten so angry you’d never speak to me again.”

Xia Chichi thought it over, then doubled over with laughter. “Tang Wanzhuang is that amusing? Ha, hahaha… She might as well have stripped and seduced you herself—that might have worked, hahahaha…”

Zhao Changhe just looked at her without speaking.

Xia Chichi giggled. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Zhao Changhe pointed at his own face. “Don’t you think I did well? Don’t I deserve a kiss of encouragement?”

Xia Chichi indeed stood on tiptoe and gave him a light kiss. Softly, she said, “Changhe…”

“Hmm?”

“If you had gone to a brothel today, I would have been upset—after all, I came specifically to see you. But other times, it wouldn’t matter much. Just find a courtesan who only sings and plays, nothing too dirty.”

Zhao Changhe: “?”

Xia Chichi smiled. “You’re always alone, young and full of fire. You have needs. Going to a brothel is better than being seduced by Cui Yuanyang… I can’t give myself to you, so why should I hold you back? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Zhao Changhe was dumbfounded.

Xia Chichi laughed. “Don’t call me a demon cult witch. Even among jianghu folk, no one cares about such trivial matters. I don’t know where you got your ideas, but what’s common everywhere else, you avoid like the plague. Yet Tang Wanzhuang, whom others revere like a goddess, you’ve insulted time and again.”

“Uh…”

“Could it be that because Tang Wanzhuang is beautiful, you insult her just to get her attention?”

“No!” Zhao Changhe immediately declared. “Absolutely not!”

“Alright…” Xia Chichi said softly. “Whether you want to be a prince or not, the Zhao Changhe in my heart should be bold and heroic, sweeping all before him, taking any woman he desires. That’s what I said back in the Water Curtain Cave. Whether it’s Cui Yuanyang or Tang Wanzhuang, I may be jealous, but if you truly want them, then take them. What’s the big deal?”

Zhao Changhe was stunned. “Hey, who possessed you today?”

Xia Chichi shook her head slightly. “I have no right to make such demands of you. I’ve done nothing for you. On the contrary, the matter of your princely identity—you’ve been bearing burdens I didn’t want you to bear.”

Zhao Changhe scratched his head. “It’s not that serious. I’ve been ambiguous about that identity myself, because it’s useful. I’m not that rigid. So it’s not entirely a burden…”

Xia Chichi smiled wryly. “That’s a different matter… In any case, if the long river is to surge forward irresistibly, then I, as I am now, have become a dam that holds you back. I refuse to be that.”

Zhao Changhe was silent.

Maybe there was some truth to that.

But the dam wasn’t her—it was his modern mindset, the thinking of an innocent college student. He was the one unwilling to let go, because once he did, he would be no different from anyone else in this world.

Yet he had to recognize that this strange way of thinking had become awkward. Not only did Xia Chichi find it odd, even Han Wubing had noticed.

“Knowing the Demon Suppression Bureau is scouring the city, I still risked coming here today to tear down the dam in your heart.” Xia Chichi slowly pushed him toward the edge of the bed, gently kissing his cheek, then his neck, then his chest, murmuring softly, “Even now, I dare not give you everything, afraid that if I go back, they’ll notice. You see, what right do I have to demand anything of you? I don’t even understand it myself.”

Zhao Changhe: “…”

“I can’t give you that, but let me do this first…” As she kissed him, her slender hand slowly moved downward, searching for the river child.

Zhao Changhe hissed, unable to speak for a long moment.

"Since we started living together at Beimang, I've held it in for half a year. Today the long river bursts its banks, and it's already too late..." Xia Chichi looked up, seeing Zhao Changhe clearly at a loss, she smiled brightly, took his hand and placed it inside her bosom: "Now you understand? Remember from now on, don't wrong yourself for me. That shouldn't be you."