adbindia Chapter 478 - 63: Indifferent
Chapter 478 - 63: Indifferent
May 2, 2018
The transition of the City Lord in Golden Jade City caused a sensation in Xiangzhou, turning this city, equally famous as Heaven-Reaching City, into a laughingstock overnight. People from Feiyan Mountain, Nether Sea, QingCyan Cloud City... everywhere in Xiangzhou were discussing the multiple changes in the City Lord’s position that day.
From Zhao Chenlu to Zhao Hongxue, then from Zhao Hongxue to Zhao Hongwu, followed by repeated handovers between Zhao Hongwu and Zhao Hongxue. On May 1, these two people crazily escalated their self-harming actions, forcing the City Lord handover to occur nearly 10 times.
Throughout the process, Zhao Chenlu had no intention of calling it to a halt. Instead, she watched with great interest, silently encouraging them to continue showcasing the depths of their ineptitude. Hence, neither of them dared to refuse the position of City Lord, only to think of ways to toss it aside after accepting it.
Eventually, Zhao Hongwu was the first to be sent to the emergency room, with a critical condition notice issued. In the eyes of many, this coward finally erupted with a decisive and fierce side of being a man, willing to swallow heart-excavating and bone-corroding poison to reject the City Lord’s throne, rolling his eyes and striding towards the gates of hell.
Upon hearing the news, Zhao Hongxue, who was brewing tea for diarrhea, was simply astonished, then sighed deeply, feeling ashamed of herself.
However, things had reached such a point that, even with Zhao Hongwu out of the picture, Zhao Hongxue could not smoothly take over as City Lord. The two had previously performed their acts of feigning illness in an excessively vile manner, akin to wantonly streaking across a plaza of a million people, utterly shameless. To have someone like them become City Lord would be a disgrace to Golden Jade City.
Therefore, there was no need for Zhao Hongxue to say anything. That evening, indignant citizens of Golden Jade took to the streets protesting against such shameless acts, strongly urging Zhao Chenlu to come out of retirement and save Golden Jade City from disaster.
Though Zhao Chenlu was capricious and self-centered, never considering others in her actions, compared to the so-called elders like Zhao Hongwu and Zhao Hongxue who easily bent under pressure, utterly lacking any sense of shame, Zhao Chenlu was practically a radiant saint.
If people had known that the so-called elders of Golden Jade City were of this caliber, no one would have supported a coup. They would have protested in the streets the moment Zhao Chenlu was suppressed. Now, people only hoped that it’s not too late to mend the barn after the sheep are lost.
As long as Zhao Chenlu forgives the public’s momentary foolishness and retakes the position of City Lord, Golden Jade City would still have a bright future.
However, Zhao Chenlu never appeared.
Even as tens of thousands of Golden Jade citizens took to the streets, angrily lighting the black-and-white portraits of former coup leader Zhao Hongwu, causing numerous fires— even as many Golden Jade citizens who had supported the coup were besieged by their neighbors, plunging the entire city into chaos... Zhao Chenlu refused to respond to the cries of the people.
For she had always been this capricious and self-centered. Once she made a decision, not even the sight of a million people slitting their wrists to commit suicide in front of her would shake her resolve.
——
"...You’re really going to just leave it all unattended? My God, people are already relieving themselves in front of Zhao Hongwu’s door! If this continues, the fruits of your twenty years of efforts will all be for naught."
In the Golden Jade City Lord’s Mansion, Shen Qingming watched the entire city’s disgraceful acts through the Water Mirror, curling her lips in disgust.
Zhao Chenlu, packing and tidying her luggage, responded, "It’s never been something I cared about; what does it matter if it turns to nothing? Would you shed tears over sandcastles swept away by waves, casually built?"
Shen Qingming looked at Zhao Chenlu, somewhat bemused, realizing that this former Immortal Venerable’s face truly showed no trace of concern.
Whether the future of Golden Jade City would sink into the abyss or continue to shine, it was all indifferent to her. Compared to spending time with Wang Jiu, nothing in the world could count as a big deal.
Indeed, Zhao Chenlu was just such a capricious person.
But looking from another angle, entrusting the entire city’s future in the hands of such a person, the Golden Jade people were simply digging their own graves.
Had Zhao Chenlu not appeared suddenly, the political leaders of Golden Jade City, unsurprisingly, would be the likes of Zhao Hongxue and Zhao Hongwu. This would be the rightful outcome for Golden Jade City, produced by a political leadership mechanism inherited over two thousand years. The current political farce is merely an expression of everything returning to normal.
Indulging in unearned happiness, refusing to wake up; thus, not waking from the dream is only deserved. The splendid accumulation of two decades will ultimately turn to dust, and the once acclaimed flourishing scene will become fleeting memories. The world will have no more affluent and luxurious Golden Jade people, only a crowd of Golden Jade castaways drowning their sorrows in liquor, reminiscing.
"Lingbo, shut up."
Just as Zhao Lingbo, in a drunken reverie, sang the sad song of Golden Jade City, Zhao Chenlu threw a stone directly at her face, making her spit out broken teeth while showing an incredibly blissful expression.
For Zhao Lingbo, any punishment from Zhao Chenlu was sweet as honey. During the previous suppression with the Seventeen Linked Rings, Zhao Lingbo had already made the resolve for execution or a fate worse than death when she subdued the oblivious Zhao Chenlu who was lost in the Sword Scabbard business.
Hence, now, condemnation from Zhao Chenlu or corporal punishment alike was akin to redemption, soaking through her soul.
Until a cold voice interrupted.
"Chenlu, you’ve forgotten the pattern we summarized earlier; to genuinely punish Zhao Lingbo, you must do the opposite."
The Celestial Divine Sword earnestly corrected Zhao Chenlu’s mistake: "Zhao Lingbo is an exceptionally rare pervert, just like the lump under the Demon Emperor’s command that absorbs all Five Elements True Essence. You must act contrary to the usual to genuinely harm her."
Zhao Chenlu’s movements in packing her luggage immediately froze: "So, you mean...?"
"Give her healing herbs and sweets, then pat her head saying ’good girl’."
"And then cut off my own hand and soak myself in disinfectant to purify my mind and body?" Zhao Chenlu said, "Am I being too gentle to a traitor, who exactly am I punishing, her or myself?"
Wang Jiu said, "The effect of force is mutual; when you punish others, it’s equivalent to punishing yourself."
Zhao Chenlu was silent for a moment, then smiled: "Such poetic and philosophical words, I’ll remember them."
"Such discriminatory words with double standards, I will definitely remember them for life." Zhao Lingbo cried tears of joy.
"My dear, I still feel like just killing her."
Wang Jiu said, "To attain supreme pleasure, one needs corresponding patience."
"I really wish you’d say that to me on other occasions, that would be the utmost joy. Unfortunately, I guess you wouldn’t agree."
Wang Jiu said, "If it’s just reciting lines, I can cooperate."
"Eh? So considerate? Then hold on while I add a couple of lines..."
"Zhao Chenlu, enough! Bullying Ah Jiu just because he doesn’t understand, speaking obscenely without restraint, do you have any shame?"
Shen Qingming couldn’t bear it any longer, slamming the table forcefully, her momentum so strong it surpassed the great gap between Cloud Surge Realm and Mountain-Overturning Realm peak, allowing her to justifiably roar at Zhao Chenlu.
Zhao Chenlu still had a tone of teasing a small animal: "Alright, then I’ll first teach him, then speak obscenely. Dear, what I meant earlier was to..."
"Enough! Are you a beast in heat?"
Zhao Chenlu unabashedly said, "Yes, this is something dear should understand the most."
Wang Jiu nodded: "Yes, her twisted mating behavior does indeed have a high resemblance to certain female beasts, like dolphins, teddy bears, and burrowing rabbits..."
"I didn’t ask you to educate me on biology!"
Wang Jiu nodded again, displaying tenderness: "Understood, given your intelligence level, it’s indeed unwise to covet miscellaneous knowledge, wasting brain capacity."
"...You two really are in sync."
Wang Jiu said, "Of course, first, we have long-term combat experience together, under my absolute leadership, every mount will have absolute tacit understanding."
Zhao Chenlu nodded and said, "That’s right, those who have cooperated with Celestial Divine Sword will leave a deep imprint in their bodies, but looking at you, it seems you haven’t had the chance to taste the flavor of the imprint."
"I also signed the Master-Servant Contract!"
"Well, then enjoy the contract," Zhao Chenlu said, with a tone of "the contract is just an appetizer, you haven’t even tasted the main course, so don’t show off," further provoking Shen Qingming’s sensitive nerves.
Wang Jiu added fuel to the fire: "Secondly, the intelligence index difference between me and Zhao Chenlu is only 1 point—though her current state has declined. But it won’t be lower than 7..."
"So annoying! If she’s so good, go find her as your mount!"
The girl shouted while running out the door.
Zhao Chenlu gently nudged Wang Jiu’s Sword Spirit True Form: "Hurry and chase her."
"Why?" Wang Jiu asked curiously, "Based on my understanding of humans, she was just trying to escape from me, if I were to respect her personal will, maintaining distance is what I should do. Unless she sees me as a dog and herself as a frisbee..."
"No, the correct answer is, women often say the opposite at times like this, on the surface angry, but actually hoping you’ll go and comfort her, if you don’t chase her, it’ll only make her sad."
"I see," Wang Jiu said, "After all, humans are low-level creatures, although weak and of shallow intelligence, they are outstanding in emotional complexity."
After speaking, he turned and left the door, going after Shen Qingming.
In the room, Zhao Lingbo couldn’t help but ask, "Miss, with his emotional quotient, chasing after her will surely make things worse, right?"
"Why else would I let him chase after her? Although she might not stand out now, it’s unnecessary to keep such a calamity, better to let her give up and perish on her own early," Zhao Chenlu said, while finishing packing the last piece of luggage, looked at the small bundle in front of her, and couldn’t help but start to fantasize about the upcoming journey to the Saint Sect.