Chaotic World Book-Chapter 541 - 525: Capsized Boat on the Waters of the Common People’s Tears

Chapter 541: Chapter 525: Capsized Boat on the Waters of the Common People’s Tears

The Temple within the Great Xia Imperial Palace was a rather special place.

Xia Longyuan, who rose from insignificance, was extremely similar to Zhao Changhe, as if he had suddenly emerged out of nowhere.

At least Zhao Changhe had a traceable origin from the Zhao Mansion; the local villagers had been massacred, and it was likely that his parents and relatives had died in that incident. Not only was there the testimony of the renowned hero of the Worldly Society Yue Hongling, but the head of the Tang clan had personally heard Zhao Changhe furiously scolding Luo Zhenwu and mentioning it, thus it was basically considered credible history.

Yet no one had any idea where Xia Longyuan sprang up from or who his parents were. After he unified the world, he didn’t follow the usual practice of posthumously honoring his parents and didn’t even establish a Temple. There wasn’t a single spiritual tablet inside.

He also didn’t worship his ancestors, causing the Imperial Ministry of Rites to stumble every time they mentioned "the illustrious line of ancestors."

Only Zhao Changhe knew that Xia Longyuan’s family was alive and well in the present world; who would curse their family by setting up a spiritual tablet for no reason?

He must have come from the same era as Changhe, only to be placed here by a blind man twenty to thirty years ago. Given Xia Longyuan’s understanding of space and time, he should know that there was still a chance to return to the starting point, where his parents were still alive, only that he had grown even older than his parents... It was unknown whether he still harbored any thoughts of returning, but seeing how engrossed he was in his current pursuits, it seemed unlikely...

Logically, it would have been better not to have a Temple at all. Setting up an empty one only attracted criticism, yet Xia Longyuan still established one, implying that, in the end, he had to die, and the Temple was to be used in the future.

Thus, in every dynasty, the normally solemn Temple was simply attended to by a few palace attendants for routine cleaning, eerily quiet and deserted.

When Huangfu Qing entered the palace, he also initially suspected the Temple, but upon covert investigation, he discovered nothing.

Now, of course, he knew it wasn’t that there were no discoveries, but rather, his cultivation at the time was insufficient to detect any trickery. Only after breaking through the Third Layer Secret Treasure could he sense something, "guessing where the true Xia Longyuan was."

The reason Xia Longyuan built the Temple in this location was clearly because there was a secluded Secret Realm here, and the building of the Temple was a very special Array, combining concealment and an undetermined special function.

There was a possibility that the selection of the capital’s location and the establishment of the Imperial Palace were related to this place.

Huangfu Qing brought the young couple to the Temple and, gazing at the Transmission Array that had mysteriously appeared at the heart of the Temple, spoke in a low voice, "It’s best not to enter. Let him come out to talk."

Zhao Changhe shook his head, "It’s pointless."

Huangfu Qing glared at him angrily.

Changhe laughed, "If you’re worried, then wait outside in support."

After thinking it over, Huangfu Qing nodded slightly and quickly vanished, saying, "If you can’t come out, within a breath’s time, the Capital will turn to ashes."

This was both a warning and a threat to Xia Longyuan... and Xia Longyuan did not respond.

Xia Longyuan was not without concerns; after observing for so long, Huangfu Qing could at least confirm one thing: the current Xia Longyuan still needed to maintain the existence of the Great Empire, no matter how precarious—the important thing was that it existed.

This probably involved some sort of world’s Qi fortune manipulation, which Huangfu Qing temporarily couldn’t unravel, but he knew there must be related explanations. Otherwise, many of Xia Longyuan’s actions would remain unexplained.

Perhaps Zhao Changhe was somewhat blindly overestimating Xia Longyuan’s strength, but in the minds of outstanding individuals of this world, as long as one had desires, they were not invincible, no matter what those desires were.

Hence, almost everyone was watching Xia Longyuan, waiting for him to show signs of weakness.

He was indeed not invincible.

Zhao Changhe, holding Xia Chichi’s hand, slowly stepped onto the Transmission Array. A soft white light flashed, and in an instant, they vanished from their spot, and the glow from the ground Transmission Array also disappeared, as if it had never existed.

When the white light faded, they were met with an exceedingly unique scene.

Xia Longyuan sat cross-legged atop a high stone platform, which was square and nine tiers high, each tier proportionally smaller than the one below. Even at the ninth tier, it was still dozens of zhang wide, which made the tall nine-tiered platform appear relatively squat.

Surrounding them was a dark celestial dome, enveloping everything like a giant cover. Above the dome, the Star Map twinkled, delineating the shapes of the heavenly constellations.

Zhao Changhe’s first thought was "Emperor Ye," but he quickly realized it was not.

This was actually the world view of ’celestial dome above and square earth below’ in cultivation, part of the inevitable journey of "overlooking the world" and "controlling the cosmos."

Emperor Ye was merely the one who had journeyed the furthest on this path, hence his moniker, but this was not exclusive to him. It was evident that Xia Longyuan was also on this path, and how many ideas he might have incorporated from the White Tiger Saintess and the Azure Dragon of old was unclear. freeweɓnøvel~com

In any case, Xia Chichi glared at the dome above with growing indignation, "You discard our mother like an old shoe, yet you utilize her cultivation ideals—claiming to be the foremost under the heavens, ha."

Xia Longyuan was not angry. He did not even get angry when Xia Chichi previously said "you’re unworthy," but instead smiled slightly with a somewhat gentle look in his eyes, "You lack experience and fortune. You see, Zhao Changhe wouldn’t bring up such an issue... Come up and let’s talk."

Zhao Changhe pinched Xia Chichi’s hand, indicating that she should calm down a little, and then, holding her hand, leaped towards the high platform.

Xia Longyuan’s eyes showed a hint of surprise as he carefully sized up Zhao Changhe, "Your cultivation has progressed faster than mine did, much faster."

Zhao Changhe indifferently responded, "It’s an honor."

Xia Longyuan smiled, "As I’ve told you before, if you don’t like me and want to kill me, then come and do it yourself... Although you’re already very fast, you still have a long way to go."

Xia Chichi looked at Zhao Changhe with some surprise. Back in Kunlun, Zhao Changhe had told her about their meeting, including the story with her mother, but he hadn’t mentioned this part.

At that time, had Zhao Changhe already expressed his dissent towards Xia Longyuan? Yet, Xia Longyuan didn’t seem to get angry. The relationship between these two men seemed very special... In their conversation, Xia Longyuan had used only "I," never using "We" to refer to himself.

Zhao Changhe said, "Although I disagreed with your views at the time, I wouldn’t have gone so far as calling for a fight or your death. You’ve given me things and treated me well, especially that line, ’Isn’t a father-in-law also a father?’ That made me quite fond of you. That sentence made me feel the warmth of human relationships; you aren’t as indifferent to Chichi as I initially imagined. Later, when others said you were my father, I didn’t deny it as vehemently as before. Indeed, a father-in-law is also a father."

All the tangled thoughts that had been bothering Xia Chichi were swept away by their conversation, and she became very interested. She even found a raised stone on the ground, sat down on it, and watched them talk silently.

Xia Longyuan lost his composure and chuckled, "Did you not deny it so strongly because you wanted to take advantage of the Crown Prince’s identity? For example, to use the Dragon Sparrow, to woo Tang Wanju."

Zhao Changhe: "...Partly, I admit."

Xia Longyuan nodded and suddenly smiled, "Okay, I hate those who think they’re a Holy Daughter... At least you openly admit you have personal desires, which means you’re not hypocritical. Sit down, why are you standing in front of me trying to look taller?"

Zhao Changhe did not sit, but stood upright and said, "The Sea Race certainly has more than just one God Demon Soul. You rashly took action, even risking Cui Wenjing’s and my life, just to defeat an ordinary Imperial Realm Yin God. I want to know why."

"Why do you need to know this?"

"You take care of your God Demon, and I’ll take care of the Worldly Society. I’ve said before, if you won’t, I will."

"So when I become a corrupt part of your Worldly Society, you’ll curse me to heaven?"

"Correct." Zhao Changhe said, "Cui Wenjing protects your lands, while Zhai Muzhi poisons the Southwest. You disregard Cui Wenjing, but protect Zhai Muzhi, acting no better than the worst dim-witted emperors. Whether you’re going to act or not – anyway, you’re not really interested, so if you’re not going to act, could you please let someone who wants to do it take over? Regardless of whether it’s Chichi or someone else, even letting Tang Buqi take over would be better than you."

Xia Longyuan’s eyes gleamed with amusement, "Do you realize what you’re saying to me, and the way you’re scolding me, I could kill you ten thousand times? Is this how you’ve always been so reckless in Worldly Society?"

Zhao Changhe stiffly said, "Throughout history, there wasn’t just one or two loyal officials killed for condemning foolish emperors. If everyone feared death, no one would dare to condemn, and then it would be better for humanity to just perish."

Xia Longyuan laughed loudly, "You actually consider yourself a loyal official..."

Zhao Changhe said, "I can’t defeat you, so of course I’m only a loyal official."

The implication being, if I could beat you, I’d have beaten you already.

Xia Longyuan still wasn’t angry and shook his head with a chuckle.

Zhao Changhe said, "But Old Xia... I originally didn’t know what I was going to say to you when I came to the Capital, but now after this conversation, it seems I’ve figured it out."

Xia Longyuan nodded, "Go on."

"If I were to say, ’The overturned boat in the water is the tears of the common people, you do not know until there is a raging flood’... would you find that too juvenile, cringeworthy, and scoff at it?"

Xia Longyuan was still smiling, "I love juvenile statements. Those that are cringeworthy are only so because their blood has run cold; mine hasn’t."

Zhao Changhe was stunned, slightly not knowing whether to laugh or cry. That’s right, perhaps the most juvenile person in the world was Xia Longyuan himself.

Xia Longyuan said, "You seem to be scolding me, but in fact, you are really urging me to take responsibility... truly playing the role of a loyal official, which is strange."

"What’s so strange about that? Otherwise, what am I doing coming to the Capital? You’re still my father-in-law... Even if it’s useless, I have to say what I have to say. Whether you listen or not is up to you."

"Still my father-in-law," those words caused a slight shift in Xia Longyuan’s expression. He looked again at Xia Chichi, but she wasn’t looking at him, her gaze fixed on Zhao Changhe.

Xia Longyuan sighed, slowly saying, "Then continue, I’m listening."

Zhao Changhe had a thousand words to say, but they got caught in his throat, and he didn’t know what to say anymore.

After thinking for a long time, he finally felt that anything he said would be meaningless and it ultimately boiled down to this, "Don’t be too confident, really thinking that you’re invincible in the world, thinking that everything is just a monkey show, that you can smooth over anything with just a wish. I’m leaving my words here, if you’re going to die, then the one who kills you might not be a God Demon, but the rising heroes of this Worldly Society."

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