Chapter 853: Riverside

When the youth arrived at Zhongtian Prefecture, he saw only a vast expanse of white, as if a heavy snow had just fallen.

The entire city was stark white, with every household hanging mourning curtains. It was currently the beginning of the fourth month, which should have been the turn of late spring into early summer, but Yunzhou was in the north, where the climate was cold; pear blossoms were in full bloom on the branches, and at a glance, the white flowers looked like snow, as if the lush trees were wearing mourning for the Gaoyuan Marquis.

The atmosphere in Zhongtian Prefecture was solemn and sorrowful; ordinary people wore no smiles, and the many officials, merchants, and wealthy individuals coming and going all wore heavy expressions, shrouded in an inseparable grief. Naturally, some among them were merely acting, performing out of courtesy, but all the officials and soldiers, large and small, in Yunzhou felt a genuine, heartfelt sorrow for this Marquis.

As the youth walked down the street, he easily spotted many acquaintances. Especially the people from the Land Inspection Department; they seemed to be in charge of security for part of the funeral, having transferred many veterans stationed elsewhere to Zhongtian Prefecture. Among those the youth saw were his old superior Chi Qianli, Mai Shiyu, whom he had met once, and Xing Ji, who had already been transferred out of the Land Inspection Department.

Xing Ji used to wear a bright red cloak, but now he had changed into a plain white one, wearing a white robe over his official uniform; his face was also very pale, like a snowman. The youth had heard that he and the Gaoyuan Marquis shared a deep bond, and he had expected him to be grief-stricken, but upon seeing Xing Ji, he found that he did not show any obvious signs of sorrow, but was instead very calm and focused. He was even working with total devotion, in charge of part of the Hou Mansion's defense, working from dawn till dusk, arranging everything in perfect order.

If there was any change, it was that the youth remembered him as a man who loved to laugh—whether it was a sneer, a cold laugh, or a strange laugh, he would always laugh once every three sentences—but as he walked back and forth working, he spoke thirty, three hundred sentences, yet he did not laugh even once.

Besides Xing Ji, the youth also saw another acquaintance, Wei Se. This Wei Se was actually wearing a white robe as well, maintaining his original appearance—that of a quite delicate young man—and he was actually grieving too.

Is this an act? Isn't it true that all his joys, angers, sorrows, and delights are performances? But why would he bother to act so hard? He has no obligation to grieve for the Gaoyuan Marquis.

Seeing this Wei Se, his heart stirred, as if he had remembered something. However... he didn't remember anything, and in the end, he only thought: Why is he here joining in the bustle?

Leaving Wei Se behind, he saw many, many guests who had rushed in from all directions to pay their respects. The most distinguished among them should have been the imperial envoy sent from the Capital to offer condolences, who was also, surprisingly, an acquaintance: the Prince Yuan Shengfei—in Changle's memory, he was vaguely once called Wang Fei. Now he was a trusted favorite of the Emperor, who held absolute power; as a Prince, his rank was comparable to a Commandery Prince, and he held real power, often traveling as an imperial envoy to the provinces, so naturally, he had to use his real name publicly. He was very familiar with Yunzhou, and although he held the status of an imperial envoy, he still tried his best to show closeness to Yunzhou.

Following Yuan Shengfei, the youth saw the new Dudu of Yunzhou, Fu Xianchan. Fu Xianchan had now succeeded to the position of Yunzhou Dudu, but she could not inherit the title of Gaoyuan Marquis; for a Dudu to pass the position privately was already treasonous, yet since the whole world did so, the Imperial Court could only grit its teeth and accept it. However, the Imperial Court's titles could not be passed on to unrelated people, especially since Yunzhou still prided itself on respecting the authority of the Imperial Court. Although Fu Xianchan was said to be a distant relative of the Gaoyuan Marquis, the relationship was not close enough to inherit the title as a matter of course.

Lacking the title, Fu Xianchan's position was not as prestigious as the Gaoyuan Marquis's had been. If the Emperor gave her face, he could confer a new title upon her, but even so, it would not be a task of a year or two for her to reorganize all the factions and reach the level of power the Marquis once held.

Fu Xianchan was still the same as before; when the youth was a child, he remembered her as a girl of seventeen or eighteen, and now that he had grown up, Fu Xianchan still looked seventeen or eighteen. She seemed to have become much more solemn; besides her mourning clothes, her demeanor seemed to bear traces of the Gaoyuan Marquis. It stood to reason that this was a manifestation of her lack of confidence, imitating the Gaoyuan Marquis's behavior intentionally or unintentionally. If she could stand firm in the future, she would naturally live out her own style, and Yunzhou would also have the style of the Li Hua Sword.

When Yuan Shengfei entered, Fu Xianchan received him very solemnly. The two first mourned the Gaoyuan Marquis and then talked about the current situation.

The world was going to be destroyed; this could be considered a great secret in the Human World. Both of them knew about this, but only understood it half-heartedly; they only knew that the crisis had passed, but had no idea how it had passed. They also lamented that the Qianxian was not easy, and that the current peace of the Human World relied entirely on the Suiyu; even the most powerful experts in the Human World seemed unable to do anything about the big picture.

The Imperial Court knew about the world-ending crisis, which had truly frightened the young Emperor—who had been gathering power and was in high spirits, planning to do something big—and he had been very well-behaved for a while. Although he was operating again now, such a blow had curbed his arrogance, making him cool his head before taking action, and the sense of impulsiveness had lessened a lot.

"It is also a good thing."

Yuan Shengfei commented.

Although what he said was not wrong, it was a bit disrespectful for a subject to comment on the monarch like that. Fu Xianchan knew he was showing closeness, so she followed up: "Let's see what happens later. Being able to become braver with every setback is a good thing. The opposite is not necessarily so."

Having each been treasonous for a moment, the two sides quickly closed the distance by criticizing their leader, and then took the opportunity to chat about Yunzhou. Fu Xianchan said bluntly that Yunzhou was now of one mind; after all, the Gaoyuan Marquis had returned to Yunzhou to recuperate for three months after encountering danger in Jingcheng, so she had not passed away suddenly, but had made solid arrangements to ensure that no major incidents would occur immediately after she was gone.

But the situation remained grim.

"I am mainly worried about foreign enemies now. You know, the Turtle Bandits." Fu Xianchan said bluntly, "The Demon Sect is nothing; they do not interfere in purely human affairs, and recently there has been no major Yin Calamity in Yunzhou. Furthermore, our intelligence reports say that the Demon Sect seems to have fallen into chaos recently, seemingly because of internal problems, though I don't know if it's a feint. But the Turtle Bandits are the great enemies of our Yunzhou. When the Marquis was alive, we guarded against them making a move, but there was never any sign of activity, perhaps because they felt the time was not ripe. After all, these turtles are best at lying in wait. Now that the Marquis is gone, there is no better opportunity. I think there might be trouble during the funeral procession."

Yuan Shengfei immediately said: "Actually, the possibility is not high. The Sword Court specifically sent people down to the Human World to warn all factions not to move during this period. The Imperial Court received it, and the Turtle Bandits will receive it too, after all, they have the Eternal Night Court in the Suiyu and can directly receive news from the Sword Court. Now that this protection period has not yet passed, they should not dare to stop on their own. Furthermore, the Sword Court has also sent people down to preside over it, and the Emperor specifically ordered two Sword Heroes to come here with me; I think it will be fine to have them sit in town."

Fu Xianchan said happily: "That is truly great, it is indeed the vast grace of the Emperor." The two Sword Heroes themselves were not particularly powerful, and Yunzhou was not lacking two Sword Heroes, but the significance was extraordinary; as long as the Turtle Bandits understood anything at all, they should know there was no chance.

But had the Turtle Bandits ever understood anything?

Changle listened for a while and didn't hear any news he was interested in. Of course, he hoped for Yunzhou to be well; peace and tranquility were best, but this seemed to have nothing to do with him. He just walked out of the Governor's Mansion like this, stood on the main street, watched the people coming and going, and thought: So, where should I go?

At this moment, he saw someone.

It was Wei Se.

Wei Se's expression was calm, just that most natural look he had when he had no expression, but his eyes looked dazed, and he was just walking down the street like that, looking seemingly aimless.

His appearance... is so like me.

The relationship between the youth and Wei Se could not be called very close, nor could he think of any shared interests, but Wei Se's appearance at this moment made him feel familiar. It was that state of being isolated from the world, separated from the myriad Hongchen; from body to heart, he was already in another world.

But... he himself was indeed in another world, while Wei Se was clearly still in the midst of the myriad Hongchen?

Why would he have this state?

The youth became curious and followed behind Wei Se to see where he was going. The youth himself had no purpose, but after discovering that Wei Se had no purpose, the youth actually had a purpose.

Wei Se wandered out of Zhongtian Prefecture and walked all the way to the banks of the Tongyang River. Recently, the Tongyang River was not as busy as before because the Gaoyuan Marquis had passed away, and many waterways were blocked; therefore, the Tongyang River, where a hundred boats used to compete, was actually somewhat deserted. Wei Se came to a water bay and stared blankly at the rippling water surface, just watching it like that, watching the sunset sink bit by bit from the water surface, the afterglow shimmering in the ripples.

He lowered his head slightly, probed the water with his hand, and flicked his hand lightly, shaking off countless pearl-like water droplets.

"The water is cold."

He sighed softly, making the youth beside him feel only amused.

How could the water not be cold?

"Why is the water cold?"

The youth was even more baffled; the river water in the world was all cold.

Oh, no, originally the Tongyang River was an exception; the Tongyang River was once a world-famous warm river, but ever since... after that, the river water became cold.

Inexplicably, the youth could not help but repeat: "Why is the water cold?"

The two young men stood by the water, one void, one real, for a long time, until the sun had completely set and only the last bit of afterglow remained on the river.

"Let's go back."

It was unknown who was speaking.

Suddenly, the sound of water rang out.

On such a deserted night, the sound of water stirred by the oars was so loud that both of them looked at the source of the sound at the same time.

A white sail came with the wind, moving fast, drawing a white line on the river.

On the boat stood a youth, looking seventeen or eighteen years old. Seeing his appearance, it was as if the sun had not yet set.

Wei Se and that youth were stunned at the same time, as if a clap of thunder had reached their ears!

He...

So it was him who was missing!

How could they have forgotten him?

The two spoke almost simultaneously, wanting to call him, but the youth on the boat had already spoken first: "Wei Se, what are you doing here?"

Wei Se easily revealed a smile, natural to the extreme, and said: "Sir, what a coincidence."

The youth in the Void watched blankly; at this moment, the youth on the boat greeted him:

"Changle, you are here too."

Changle suddenly burst into tears.