novel(Raw 1875.2 Repeated Number): Inside a Dream, Outside a Dream
| ← Ch.1863 | Ch.1865 → |
"What's wrong? You don't want to meet my father?" Lan Luo asked as she purposely showed a stern face, looking upset.
Xiao Chen replied softly, "No, when do we meet?"
"Tomorrow, then. This night is already so late. You are tired as well."
"Alright."
Under Lan Luo's arrangements, Xiao Chen received an exquisite and quiet courtyard in the Marquis's Residence.
Xiao Chen liked this a lot as it suited him well.
This night was indeed very tiring.
Or rather, since entering the Heavenly Mystery Tower, to being pursued, to now, Xiao Chen had not rested at all.
Xiao Chen placed the little monk at the side. Then he lay on the bed, closing his eyes to rest.
However, sleep never came. As Xiao Chen lay there, falling leaves drifted about outside the window, sounding like rain.
Those were the leaves that fell from the ancient tree in the courtyard when the night wind blew.
The falling leaves filled the air, rustling like rain. What concerned one that one could not fall asleep?
With something preoccupying the heart, it was naturally hard to fall asleep.
Xiao Chen turned on his side and opened his eyes. The moonlight from outside the window shone on the floor.
In no mood to sleep, he appeared expressionless as his thoughts wandered.
Xiao Chen was still thinking about what the Heavenly Book Scholar had said before leaving.
Xiao Chen, although my words were harsh to the ears, there is a good chance that they are accurate...
The word reading that the Heavenly Book Scholar did for Xiao Chen did not have a good result, but it was as he said.
If they were not accurate, there would not be so many people seeking out his divination skills.
When considering the Heavenly Book Scholar's divination for the little monk, the little monk had gained a great fortuitous encounter, regardless of the process.
Is my heart destined to remain restless?
The path to becoming the Dragon Emperor was destined to be hard. This went without saying. Xiao Chen did not mind. What he cared about was whether he could meet Liu Ruyue or not.
The White Dragon Holy Daughter, an absolute beauty of her time. Even the Dragon God Crown Prince was enamored with her.
In the dead of night, if one was not sleepy, one's imagination would inevitably run wild, unable to escape the turmoil of one's thoughts.
For some reason, Jiang He's words reappeared in Xiao Chen's mind, plunging it into chaos again.
"Whoosh!"
Since Xiao Chen could not fall asleep, he put on his clothes, picked up his saber, and walked out casually.
"Big Brother Xiao, what are you doing?" the little monk asked sleepily, opening his eyes.
"I'm going to practice the saber. Go to sleep."
The moonlight was like water as it shone on the courtyard, lending the scene a hazy veil.
Xiao Chen drew his Tyrant Saber and started swinging it casually.
Countless emotions intertwined in his heart. There was anxiety, anger, regret, dissatisfaction, frenzy, and many others.
However, the more this was so, the gentler and more exquisite the saber light Xiao Chen swung out.
There was a ferocious tiger in his heart, sniffing at the roses.
Xiao Chen expertly controlled his mental state, not letting his Saber Technique lose its order and meticulousness.
If the heart cannot find peace in the end, all I seek is a clear conscience.
Xiao Chen raised his saber and gathered all the moonlight in the courtyard together. The saber light swept across, and he gently leaped up.
"Whoosh!"
Xiao Chen gently pushed off with his feet, and his figure flitted across the sky. His white robes and white hair danced and spun around.
As he danced, the boundless moonlight spread out from his body.
Immediately, the moonlight in the courtyard became like drifting snow or like flower petals dancing in the wind.
Flowers drifted in the entire garden, looking very poetic.
Xiao Chen stopped and hovered in the air. Using his saber as a brush, he was within the painting, but his heart was outside.
If this heart cannot find peace, then who can understand me?!
Who can understand my many years of lonely persistence? Who can understand my heavy burden of revitalizing the Azure Dragons? Who can understand my struggles and persistence in seeking the moon?
The moon was like hundreds of flowers dancing for a sovereign. The flowers flew all over the place. No one was around to appreciate this poetic scene. There was no one in the painting that understood it.
"Ka ca!"
A crisp crackle rang out as the painting shattered. The lights and shadow dispersed, and the moonlight scattered. The flowers broke and withered away, but no one found it a pity; no one's heart ached for it.
If this heart cannot find peace in the end, unable to find a soul mate, what is the point of having a clear conscience?
The night slowly grew darker, and the cold strengthened.
Who pities me for my thin clothes and lone figure facing the moon?
As Xiao Chen stood amid the scattered broken flowers, the saber light spreading out showed unspeakable grief.
However, this grief did not turn into anger or hatred.
One could grieve or worry, but one should not be wrathful nor hate.
Moreover, Xiao Chen used the saber to create dreams. The dreams had wine and beauties. The beauties accompanied one to drink and get drunk, smiling together.
There was no grief or worry. Flowers drifted in the dream, and there were people to accompany Xiao Chen to appreciate them.
If one did not understand the beauty of dreams, how could one use the saber as a dream, to use a dream as a dream?
An illusionary scene appeared in the courtyard under the bright moonlight. There were drunk people, people smiling, and people dancing in the sky with the moonlight.
It was hard to differentiate which were real and which were not, which were dreams and which were reality.
If this heart cannot find peace in the end, let me enter a long sleep and never open my eyes for ten thousand years.
However, one had to wake up from a dream eventually.
When Xiao Chen opened his eyes, it was not the beautiful dream disappearing but clearly the entire world slipping away from his hand.
A vast and boundless disappointment filled his heart. Could he continue to hold the saber tightly in his hand?
"Buzz!"
Suddenly, a boundless saber hum rang out in the courtyard. The saber in Xiao Chen's hand burned with a purple flame.
When the purple flame faded, the pitch-black saber had turned into an illusory purple. It felt like this was the true color of the Tyrant Saber.
Xiao Chen tightly grasped the saber and casually swung it.
The night scene in the entire courtyard garden faded quickly. The purple saber light spread out like it was water.
Suddenly, Xiao Chen's expression changed. A black-clad person on the wall had been forced to show himself as a result of the purple saber light.
"Who is it?!"
"Whoosh!"
Xiao Chen thrust his saber, and the purple light filling the garden gathered and shot out.
That person cried out in surprise. Then, his figure flashed, but the saber light still struck his shoulder.
That person gave Xiao Chen a strange look. This figure disappeared with a few flashes, leaving in haste.
The night was hazy, and that person soon vanished from sight.
It was like that person had not appeared at all. The only sign was the purple saber light that had yet to fade, hanging in the air as proof of everything that just happened.
Xiao Chen sheathed his saber and frowned slightly. However, he did not give chase.
This person was able to appear silently without being discovered. He was only exposed when Xiao Chen surprised him by bringing out the Tyrant Saber's true form.
This proved that this person was far stronger than Xiao Chen. However, he did not attack all the while. This showed that he had no ill intent.
The Marquis's Residence was rife with hidden talents.
There would be at least ten such people in this place. If Xiao Chen rashly gave chase and caused trouble, it would be bad.
Now that Xiao Chen's train of thought had broken, he could not carry on his saber dance.
He went to the stone table in the courtyard and gently placed the Tyrant Saber on it. Then, he took out a bottle of Thousand Year Flame and started drinking alone.
With the saber dance completed, Xiao Chen's frustrated emotions settled.
After downing a few cups of wine, he unknowingly fell asleep, covered by a layer of moonlight.
When Xiao Chen next opened his eyes, piercing sunlight shone into them. His neck felt stiff and uncomfortable.
He discovered that he slept through the night with his head on his arms.
"Young Master Xiao, sorry to interrupt. The Lord Marquis prepared a family banquet and would like to invite Young Master Xiao over. The Young Miss instructed me to come and assist you, " a slender, elegant, and pretty maidservant said. She stood right outside the courtyard doors.
Xiao Chen recovered from his sluggishness and replied, "Wait there. I will come over after I've washed up."
After tidying himself up a little, Xiao Chen carried the little monk to participate in the family banquet, led by the maidservant.
Typically speaking, the large family banquets would be held at night.
Holding this family banquet in the morning meant that there would not be other people. It was possible that aside from the Marquis's children, it would be just Xiao Chen and the little monk.
The Marquis's Residence was enormous. There were many corridors, paths, ornamental rocks, and rivers. It was like a maze, with many of these features intersecting.
Without a guide to lead the way, one might get lost in it, taking many wrong turns.
Along the way, Xiao Chen discovered a group of people walking in a grandiose procession in front.
It seemed like that the group had the same destination as Xiao Chen.
However, Xiao Chen could tell that most of the people were only attendants or guards. The true master was the youth in brocade clothes, leading the group.
That youth looked handsome and easygoing, showing a smile on his face.
As that youth spoke to the maidservant leading the way, he did not put on airs at all. This made that maidservant feel bashful.
Aside from that, that youth exuded an overwhelming sense of nobility.
However, the youth's easygoing air happened to cover up this noble aura, making one feel exceptionally intimate and close.
Xiao Chen stopped and pondered. There was nothing really much to mind about that youth.
However, he had discovered a rather pure dynasty's Luck on that youth.
The four dynasties were the main rulers of the Central Great Realm. All those of the dynasties' bloodlines would receive protection from their respective dynasties' Luck.
Naturally, the purer one's bloodline, the more of the dynasty's Luck one received.
In the vast territories of the Yanwu Dynasty, such a person would have more Luck than an ordinary person with the protection of the dynasty's Luck.
Aside from that, the Noble Clans, who were conferred titles by the dynasty, and officials would also enjoy the protection of the dynasty's Luck.
This was just like the Soaring Dragon Marquis. He was conferred as a marquis, a rank that was only lower than a duke, which required one to be related to the emperor.
No matter what dynasty it was, those with king titles were extremely rare. Normally speaking, marquis was already the highest.
[TL Note: For Chinese nobility in certain dynasties, the title or rank would sometimes have the king character as the second character in a two-character set. In this case, those with the king character are those related to the emperor. Duke would be one such title, which is conferred to the emperor's brother, or possibly brother-in-law. ]
The Soaring Dragon Marquis also has the Luck of the dynasty. It was just a matter of whether it was noticeable or not.
The maidservant leading the way stopped when she noticed Xiao Chen's gaze and said with a smile, "That is Monarch Yu. He was also invited to the family banquet. I heard that he is here for the Young Miss, to invite her to join the Rank 7 Divine Sword Pavilion with him."
[TL Note: Chinese nobilities do not entirely correspond to the English ones. Monarch Yu is actually the son of a duke. The nephew of a king (the ruler, so emperor equivalent) has the title prince. However, this will be confusing since even the princes (direct sons of the emperor) in Chinese nobility have different ranks among themselves. Hence, since there is a king character in his title, I chose to use another word for king as his title but one that sounds less impressive. The direct translation for Monarch here would be County King. ]
The maidservant seemed to be knowledgeable about this Monarch Yu. She stated a lot of information about Monarch Yu when Xiao Chen asked.
Based on the maidservant's expression as she looked at Monarch Yu, she was one of his admirers.
Rank 7 sects already stood at the peak of this world. Even when considering the entire Great Thousand Realms, the number of Rank 7 sects could be counted on the fingers of one's hands.
In the vast Yanwu Dynasty, there were probably just a few.
The competition in such a sect was exceptionally intense. Even the relatives of the emperor would not get any special treatment.
Since this Monarch Yu so confidently came to ask Lan Luo to go with him to join the Divine Sword Pavilion, he probably was not weak.
Xiao Chen did not overthink this. He smiled faintly and said, "Continue leading the way, then."
| ← Ch. 1863 | Ch. 1865 → |