Chapter 1536: A Different Kind of Parting

"Acting weird?"

Chen Ling rested his chin on one hand and recalled.

Come to think of it, Jian Changsheng had indeed been acting abnormally lately. Ever since he woke up and finished the hotpot, he seemed to have something on his mind. He wasn't causing trouble or being sarcastic, and he even spoke less. The whole person seemed to have become... deeper?

"Deep"—Chen Ling couldn't imagine Jian Changsheng being associated with that word.

However, after waking up, Chen Ling had been busy collecting Dao Foundation fragments and dealing with the Lingxu Domain, so he hadn't directly noticed Jian Changsheng's strangeness. It was only after Sun Bumian's reminder that he realized the problem.

"When I first woke up, I saw a sneaky shadow晃来晃去 (shaking/moving around) nearby... When I looked closely, I found it was Spades." Sun Bumian continued with a strange expression, "Guess... what he was doing?"

"What?"

"He washed that pair of walnuts I'd been playing with for years!"

“……？”

"I was stunned at the time. Later, when I asked him what he was doing, he said he saw me touching these walnuts all the time and felt they would get dirty after a long time, so he just washed them... At first, I thought he was being a jerk, but then I found out he had even folded my clothes neatly..."

Sun Bumian clapped his hands hard. "Tell me if that isn't weird!"

"It is quite weird... but, it's not hard to guess."

Chen Ling looked into the distance and paused for a moment.

"Based on my understanding of him, he... probably has his own things to do."

This wasn't the first time Jian Changsheng had fallen into this abnormal state. When they left the underground palace and headed to the Xuanyu Domain before, it was a similar situation... The 6-generation was already so familiar that Jian Changsheng's little thoughts couldn't escape Chen Ling's eyes.

Sun Bumian seemed to have a similar guess and nodded slightly: "Hmm... with Bai Qi dead, his pressure must be even greater."

Chen Ling sighed softly.

"Let's go back and see."

When Chen Ling returned to the bridge hole, Jiang Xiaohua was still sleeping in the dirt, and Jin Fugui was nowhere to be found—he must have gone out to beg for food. Only a figure in a black leather jacket was sitting on the spotless ground with a broom, staring blankly at the sunset gradually sinking into the horizon.

Seeing that back silhouette stretching slowly in the sunset, Chen Ling was silent for a long time before walking behind him.

"...When are you leaving?"

“？！！！！”

Jian Changsheng was startled by the sudden voice.

"Dude, why don't you make any sound when you walk????"

"Used to it."

Jian Changsheng calmed his pounding heart before coming back to his senses and looking at Chen Ling blankly. "What leaving..."

"Aren't you leaving?"

"You... how did you know?"

"You were being pretty obvious." Chen Ling replied with a guilty conscience.

Jian Changsheng was indeed being obvious, but he had been too busy to notice...

Jian Changsheng hesitated for a moment before nodding:

"Yeah... I'm going to the Ancient Path of the Military Dao. Probably... leaving tonight."

"In such a rush?"

"I was supposed to leave two days ago, but Diamonds hadn't woken up yet, and I wanted to say goodbye to you all before I left."

Chen Ling frowned. He caught a hint of something unusual in Jian Changsheng's words:

"Is it dangerous?"

"No, it's not dangerous." Jian Changsheng waved his hand immediately. "It's just... I don't know when I'll be back. If it goes smoothly, a few months? If not... it might take a long time."

Chen Ling lowered his head, looked into Jian Changsheng's eyes, and said earnestly:

"You actually don't have to push yourself so hard. You've come a long way from being a nobody in Aurora City to where you are now; you're already very impressive."

"Hehe, true..." Jian Changsheng subconsciously raised the corners of his mouth, but then suppressed it again. "But... it's not enough. I can become even stronger!"

"Why are you so obsessed with becoming stronger?"

"Only by becoming stronger can I beat you down!" Jian Changsheng waved his fist at Chen Ling. "I haven't beaten you even once yet! This time, when I come back from the Ancient Path of the Military Dao, I'll definitely make you admit defeat willingly!"

Chen Ling smiled helplessly. He didn't try to persuade him further; he knew that things Jian Changsheng had decided weren't so easily changed.

"Then let's eat before you go." Chen Ling looked to the side.

"There's still some hotpot food left from last time, and Diamonds was complaining about not getting any... Let's have a meal together as a farewell."

"...Okay!"

Jian Changsheng nodded heavily.

……

Night fell, and an orange campfire was lit in the dimness, crackling and popping.

Under the crude bridge hole, four figures gathered around the fire, skillfully opening packages of ingredients and pouring them into the boiling hotpot...

Jin Fugui didn't return—whether he had run too far to beg for food or was being held back in some corner of the domain by a black-skirted girl acting on someone's orders... In any case, this was a farewell dinner belonging only to the 6-generation.

Chen Ling poured the opened ingredients into the hotpot;

Sun Bumian held the chopsticks and blanched tripe for Jian Changsheng;

Jian Changsheng did nothing, just sat to the side with his chopsticks, watching somewhat awkwardly as Sun Bumian put the steaming tripe into his bowl.

"Eat." Sun Bumian raised his chin like a boss. "I grilled this for you myself."

Jian Changsheng: ...

"Plum Blossom, look at what this is?" Chen Ling reached out and tapped the ground lightly.

The next second, the soil next to Jiang Xiaohua loosened, and a small centipede the size of an arm poked its head out from underground, carrying a jar of Five-Poison Wine, and placed it into Jiang Xiaohua's hands.

Jiang Xiaohua's eyes lit up visibly!

"Five-Poison Wine!!"

"I promised you this before we entered the Ancient Ghost Path Treasury." Chen Ling smiled. "It took some time for them to send it over from the Abyss of Ghost Mockery... But today, you can drink to your heart's content."

Jiang Xiaohua didn't say a word, opened the lid of the wine jar, and started drinking heartily.

"Slow down, leave some for me!" Jian Changsheng was a bit anxious.

"You want to drink too?"

"Of course! I have to drink today!"

Otherwise, who knew if there would be another chance to drink together in the future?

Jian Changsheng didn't say the second half of the sentence... Going to the Ancient Path of the Military Dao this time was extremely risky; one wrong move and his soul would scatter. Plus, with the current turbulent situation in the human domains, who knew what the future would look like?

Even Jian Changsheng, who didn't usually like to drink, didn't want to miss this opportunity and poured himself a cup.

The campfire reflected on Chen Ling's face. He saw everything about Jian Changsheng...

He didn't say much.

After a while, he raised his glass:

"Alright then, cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The campfire roared, and the wine and meat continued;

It wasn't as if they hadn't experienced partings before, but in those processes, there might have been concealment, unwillingness, anger, or misunderstanding... They would chase each other and question each other. But this time, they only had reluctance and lingering feelings.

At this moment, all four of them had a faint feeling in their hearts.

This parting,

seemed... a bit different.