Ze Tian Ji Way Of Choices Chapter 147 – Utterly Surprised

Chapter 147 – Utterly Surprised

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Guan Feibai was utterly surprised to learn that his senior brother's advice was to engage in a head-on fight. Just what was good about this sort of plan that even he could think of?

Gou Hans.h.i.+ ignored him and said to Liang Banhu, "Don't worry about whether his techniques are real or feints. You don't need to see through techniques, just exchange technique with technique."

Guan Feibai was highly accomplished in the sword, so he was keenly aware that 'exchange technique with technique' was ultimately exchanging injury for injury. He thought to himself, Junior Brother Liang is clearly stronger than that fellow Tang Thirty-Six, so why is there a need to use this method in which both sides lose?

Gou Hans.h.i.+ saw that Liang Banhu was keeping his head lowered in silence and knew that all his junior brothers were somewhat puzzled. He calmly explained, "Tang Tang is inferior to you, so Chen Changsheng will help him try and create a victory through surprise. You are stronger than Tang Tang, so you cannot walk the path of the strange and surprising. You should use the simplest, even stupidest, method to obtain the most ordinary of victories."

He stood up, took the handkerchief offered by Qi Jian, and wiped his face clean. He looked to the forest's edge at Tang Thirty-Six and said, "Why should you engage in a head-on fight? Because when that guy resolves himself, he truly is rather hard to deal with. In exchanging technique with technique, you will have to pay the price of a few wounds, but this should be the method of victory with the lowest price."

Liang Banhu thought this over, then said, "Senior Brother, I understand."

The door to the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust slowly opened. Zhong Hui, the young scholar from Scholartree Manor, had easily defeated his opponent and now walked out. To his displeasure, the examinees outside still did not turn to look at him. They were still looking at two places, perhaps even more fervently than before, because Liang Banhu and Tang Thirty-Six had both stood up.

After a few procedures, Liang Banhu and Tang Thirty-Six bowed to the Li Palace priest and then walked, one behind the other, into the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust.

The examinees all stared with extreme focus at the tightly shut door in silence.

Ten-some matches of the second round had already taken place. Excluding the match between Zhexiu and Su Moyu, this was the match with the strongest opponents. This was because everyone understood that besides Liang Banhu and Tang Thirty-Six, this match had two other partic.i.p.ants.

Those two people would not step onto the stage, but their contribution was in no way inferior to if they had personally stepped onto stage, just like on the final night of the Ivy Festival.

There were a few people in the world that could use their knowledge, thought, and teachings to directly change the course of a battle. On the frontlines of the humans' war against the demons, these people were military advisors. In schools and academies, these people would be professors or elders known for their virtue. Only in the Mount Li Sword Sect and the Orthodox Academy would two students play this role.

In today's Grand Examination, the teachers and elders of the schools and sects were not permitted on the testing grounds, so many people were quite envious of the examinees from the Mount Li Sword Sect and the Orthodox Academy. It was precisely because Gou Hans.h.i.+ and Chen Changsheng were present to instruct them, and both these people were fully capable of resolving many problems and changing many things.

Time slowly pa.s.sed, and still no sound could be heard from the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust.

Chen Changsheng's expression did not change, but his hands began to clench tighter and tighter and he felt that things were going badly. It was too quiet.

Suddenly, a streak of fiery red appeared in the blue sky. This light was cast by a sword glow within the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust. It looked extremely warm, but behind this warmth was a blazing danger.

There could be nothing more beautiful than the red clouds of sunset filling the sky.

Three Forms of Wenshui, Gathering Evening Clouds!

The crowd was filled with cries of alarm. Tang Thirty-Six's sword energy had broken through the seal of the Education Palace and appeared in the sky above the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust, revealing itself before everyone's eyes!

Gou Hans.h.i.+ raised his head and considered those evening clouds in silence. He realized that Tang Thirty-Six's progress over the past few months in the Orthodox Academy had been greater than everyone had imagined.

Chen Changsheng's expression turned grave, because based on their plan, there should have been no red clouds filling the sky.

Perhaps Tang Thirty-Six had resolved himself, but what did this mean? It meant that the still-quiet Liang Banhu had forced Tang Thirty-Six into going all-out, meant that Liang Banhu still had strength to spare, and it also meant that for some reason, Tang Thirty-Six had been unable to link those ten-some sword techniques to build up sword energy!

Another series of shocked and praising cries broke out from the crowd.

The red clouds in the sky instantly became extremely bright. The small stream was illuminated and countless red maples seemed to grow along the sh.o.r.e.

Hanging Sunset! Immediately after, a Stream of Maples!

Tang Thirty-Six's sword intent had managed to spread so far that it was affecting the outside environment. For a youth who still had not entered Ethereal Opening, this was already enough to be proud of.

Yet this only made Chen Changsheng's expression turn even graver.

Because he still had not seen Liang Banhu's sword, nor had anyone else present.

Suddenly, the evening clouds faded away, the red maples vanished into nothingness, and an extremely faint and gentle sword intent, calm to the extreme, brushed across the sky.

The sword intent was like water, countless clear lakes of water that washed the sky clean1.

Whether it was the evening clouds, the setting sun, or the red maples, they were all completely washed away, reminding people that those earlier colors had not been real, but had been drawn by someone with a sword. Since it was drawn, it had used paint, and since it was paint, it could be washed away by water, so long as the water was abundant and clear.

Half a lake of clear water could be used to wash one's feet, could be used to wash an infant, and was enough to wash the sky clean and reveal its original blue color. 

Outside the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust, all the examinees were looking up at the sky, but they were not crying out in shock, only silently watching.

Both the evening clouds and the lake water was.h.i.+ng the sky were reflections of the sword intents belonging to the two youths within the hall.

They were truly very powerful.

Chen Changsheng was quiet for a few moments, finally regaining his calm. He turned to the distant Gou Hans.h.i.+ by the stream and nodded his head in greeting.

Gou Hans.h.i.+ nodded back.

The door to the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust opened. Liang Banhu walked out, and a step behind was Tang Thirty-Six.

It had probably been decided by just this one step.

Both were injured, the sword slashes vividly displayed on their clothes.

The examiner gave the pair a praising glance and announced, "Liang Banhu of the Mount Li Sword Sect wins."

Liang Banhu and Tang Thirty-Six bowed to each other, then descended the stone steps, one to the stream and the other to the forest's edge.

Tang Thirty-Six was very tired, and perhaps it was for this reason that he did not wish to talk.

He walked back to the forest's edge, sat on the ground, leaned against a white poplar, and closed his eyes.

When Chen Changsheng came to feed him medicine, he only opened his mouth, but still did not open his eyes.

Xuanyuan Po walked up to his side and crouched down. His very young yet stubbled face was covered in concern. "Why aren't you talking?"

Tang Thirty-Six kept his eyes closed and ignored him.

Xuanyuan Po was rather discomfited and looked at Chen Changsheng. "Is he okay?"

Chen Changsheng replied, "It might that the injuries Liang Banhu inflicted were rather serious, so he needs to rest. Let's not disturb him."

Many things in the world were like this, especially to men in their youth. When many people wanted to be concerned about them, they would resist this concern and ignore others, but when those concerned people prepared to leave, those young men would begin to feel lonely and uneasy.

Tang Thirty-Six opened his eyes and shot an angry glare at Chen Changsheng. "What do you mean my injuries are somewhat heavy? Just where did he wound me?"

Luoluo pointed at the tears on his school uniform and the thin streaks of blood on his face.

"Is this called 'serious'? Didn't you see Liang Banhu, I almost cut off his leg!"

Angry and ashamed, Tang Thirty-Six shouted, "I'm just a little sleepy! I just want to lean on this tree for a while! Can all of you just leave me alone!"

After saying this, he closed his eyes again.

Chen Changsheng knew that this guy was always proud and so was definitely not happy to lose in the second round of matches.

But he could not watch him settle into this mood, as he had always believed this to be meaningless, a waste of life.

All negative emotions should be defeated or discarded in an instant.

"Are you lacking in money?" he asked Tang Thirty-Six.

His eyes still closed, Tang Thirty-Six sneered, "Have you met anyone that has more money than me?"

Chen Changsheng asked, "Your grade on the literary test should be fine, right? Is it enough to get you into the three banners?"

Tang Thirty-Six opened his eyes to look at him, asking back, "There should be no problem with getting into the three banners, but the real question is, why are you asking these things?"

Chen Changsheng earnestly replied, "If you're able to enter the three banners, you can view the Heavenly Tomes. You're not lacking in money either, and the junior sisters from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green and Holy Maiden Peak all like you, so what else do you want?"

Tang Thirty-Six felt like these questions all seemed to be indicating something. After a very long period of contemplation, he somewhat uncertainly said, "First rank on the first banner?"

Chen Changsheng rather unhappily said, "That's mine."

Tang Thirty-Six taunted, "You're really shameless."

Only now was he finally sure that Chen Changsheng was not intending to teach him some life lesson, only ease his anxieties, and it really had been effective. At the very least, he did not want to continue closing his eyes and feigning sleep.

"Talk about it," Luoluo said on the side.

After a long period of silence, Tang Thirty-Six said, "I was utterly surprised that Liang Banhu would fight in such a stupid manner."

Luoluo and Xuanyuan Po didn't understand what this meant, but Chen Changsheng did.

Liang Banhu was stronger than Tang Thirty-Six in the first place, so Tang Thirty-Six and Chen Changsheng could only walk the path of obtaining victory through surprise, attempting to use a method that Liang Banhu could never have thought of to give the Grand Examination a pleasant surprise.

Yet they had not expected for Liang Banhu to use the simplest method to respond. Something he did not think about? No, he simply wasn't even thinking.

"I've never seen such an ugly and stupid way of fighting."

After another long pause, Tang Thirty-Six continued, "He didn't even think about breaking through those sword techniques you thought of for me, just continued to counterattack. It was foolish as can be and completely without elegance…but I have to admit that it was very effective. I managed to use those ten-some sword techniques, but I wasn't able to link them together. They were so disjointed that I felt extremely uncomfortable. In the end, I simply didn't have the time to think about those three strange techniques. I could only use the Three Forms of Wenshui to try and seize the day.

"He was able to hold on, so I lost."

Chen Changsheng could imagine, as could every other partic.i.p.ant of the Grand Examination, that Liang Banhu's strategy undoubtedly contained much of Gou Hans.h.i.+'s wisdom.

If one were to say that Chen Changsheng and Gou Hans.h.i.+ had tied in the Ivy Festival, then in today's match between Tang Thirty-Six and Liang Banhu, Chen Changsheng had been thoroughly defeated.

He said to Tang Thirty-Six, "I'm sorry."

Tang Thirty-Six was quiet for a while, then said, "This has nothing to do with you, so you don't need to apologize. If I were stronger than Liang Banhu, then it would be Gou Hans.h.i.+'s head that would ache, and you would be able to easily break through his plan. In the end, it's still because I'm not strong enough. Now that I think about it, for causing your head to ache, it should be me that's apologizing."

Xuanyuan Po sincerely said, "I can't understand anything you guys are saying."

"Then just say that you understand."

Tang Thirty-Six laughed and then calmly said to Chen Changsheng, "We've lost two matches. We can't lose another."

As they were speaking, the matches were continuing. Another two matches had concluded.

It was almost time for Chen Changsheng to take the stage.

Chen Changsheng pondered this problem, then said, "I can win this match."

After saying this, he stood up and walked to the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust.

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1. Banhu '半湖' translates to 'half lake'.↩