Oh no! My grandmother made me shoulder the responsibility for eight households!

Chapter 443 Chen Cang, the Rogue Daoist

Outside the capital city.

Lin Chen stood in front of the Meridian Gate and looked up at the sky once more.

It's an unreasonable blue, so blue it looks fake, like someone brushed a layer of paint on it.

He looked at it for a while, and felt that there was something hidden under that blue sky, making him feel depressed.

The imperial guards at the gate saw Lin Chen and immediately clasped their hands in salute, their movements perfectly synchronized.

Lin Chen waved his hand and continued walking inside.

In the imperial study, the Empress was reviewing memorials.

A pile of folded paper was stacked like a small mountain, stretching from the top of the desk to the bottom.

She frowned, marking one book at a time and tossing it aside, then picking up another, marking it, and tossing it again. Her demeanor was frighteningly tense.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up and saw Lin Chen. Her brows immediately relaxed, and the corners of her mouth curved into a smile.

"You're here?"

Lin Chen walked over and sat down on the chair next to her.

He casually grabbed a pastry from the table, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and mumbled a "hmm".

The Empress put down her pen, leaned back in her chair, and looked at Lin Chen.

The fatigue from grading folds all morning dissipated the moment he saw Lin Chen.

"Have you finished negotiating with the Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce?"

Lin Chen swallowed the snack, picked up his teacup, took a sip, swallowed again, and then cleared his throat.

"The talks are over. The chairman himself has arrived. His surname is Ma and his name is Ma Qiangteng."

"I agreed to all their conditions and even gave them double the amount. That old fox is very cunning; he knows that you can't do business in the Eastern Region without me."

The Empress raised an eyebrow: "So readily?"

She was somewhat surprised. In her mind, a giant like the Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce in Zhongzhou would not so easily agree to such an unreasonable request.

"He's clearly not happy about it." Lin Chen picked up another pastry, took a bite, and crumbs of pastry fell all over him, but he didn't seem to care.

"But things have changed drastically in Zhongzhou now. Doing business is secondary for them; their real goal is to find a way out."

After saying this, Lin Chen sighed, "The sky over the Central Plains has cracked; the sky over the Eastern Region should be about to crumble as well."

The imperial study fell silent for a moment.

The empress put down her pen, stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.

The sky outside is blue, high, and open; everything seems normal.

But she knew Lin Chen wouldn't say such things without a reason.

"After the great changes in the world, does the Great Evolution still exist?"

The Empress suddenly asked, her voice not loud, as if she were talking to herself, or perhaps asking Lin Chen.

Lin Chen stood up, walked to the Empress's side, and stood shoulder to shoulder with her, looking out the window at the sky.

"Yes, it's definitely there."

The Empress turned to look at Lin Chen, her gaze serious and focused, as if confirming something.

How can you be so sure?

Lin Chen looked into the Empress's eyes and smiled: "Because I'm here."

The Empress gave Lin Chen a deep look, then rolled her eyes.

But the eye roll wasn't fierce at all; instead, it had a hint of coquettishness.

She didn't say anything, but leaned on Lin Chen's shoulder and chuckled, "You're really shameless."

Lin Chen chuckled: "Don't you like my thick skin?"

The Empress lightly punched Lin Chen on the shoulder, like a tickle.

……

When Lin Chen came out of the palace, it was almost dark.

He stood at the entrance of the Meridian Gate, stretched, and prepared to fly back to Dongshan.

Suddenly, a scent drifted over from the east.

It wasn't malicious, it wasn't provocation, it was a test.

If Lin Chen's cultivation level hadn't already reached the mid-stage of True Monarch, he wouldn't have been able to sense it at all.

Lin Chen looked in the direction of that aura.

At the end of the street, under an old locust tree, stood an old man.

He wore a gray Taoist robe and straw sandals, his hair was gray and messy, and he was holding a gourd of wine, which he was drinking from.

He looks like an ordinary, slovenly old man; you wouldn't even notice him if you threw him into a crowd.

But Lin Chen could see it clearly—it was the cultivation level of a Celestial Immortal.

She wasn't one of those celestial beings who had just broken through and whose aura was still unstable.

He was the kind of "old guy" who had lived for countless years and whose cultivation had been concealed to the extreme.

Lin Chen thought for a moment, then put his hands in his sleeves and strolled off in that direction.

The old man was drinking with his head tilted back when he caught a glimpse of Lin Chen walking over out of the corner of his eye. His hand trembled, and he almost spilled the wine.

He put down his wine gourd, wiped his mouth, looked at Lin Chen who had walked up to him, paused for a moment, and then smiled.

That smile contained surprise, disbelief, and a touch of embarrassment.

"Your Highness possesses remarkable cultivation." The old man cupped his hands in greeting and raised his wine gourd.

"My surname is Chen, and my given name is Cang. I am a rogue cultivator from Zhongzhou, and I am not well-known. Would Your Highness like to have a drink if you don't mind?"

Lin Chen took the gourd of wine, tilted his head back, and took a swig.

The moment the wine went down his throat, his eyes lit up.

It's intense and spicy, like a line of fire burning from the throat to the stomach, then exploding inside, with warmth flowing through the meridians to every part of the body.

Good wine, indeed good wine.

"Good wine." Lin Chen returned the wine gourd to the old man.

Chen Cang chuckled, a smug look on his face, his expression like that of a child:

"This is something I brewed myself, buried for five hundred years. How about it? Powerful, right?"

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow: "Five hundred years? Your wine lasts longer than most people's lives."

Chen Cang laughed heartily, his laughter echoing through the empty streets.

He took a swig of wine, wiped his mouth, looked at Lin Chen, and suddenly his smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

"Your Highness, the sky over Zhongzhou has cracked."

Lin Chen nodded without saying anything.

Chen Cang took another swig of wine, this time slowly, as if using the alcohol to embolden himself.

After swallowing, he looked into Lin Chen's eyes and his voice deepened:

"I've lived for nearly two thousand years and thought I'd seen it all, but this time is different."

He paused, as if organizing his thoughts or recalling some unpleasant experience.

"There's something in the crack, looking out."

"This is the first time I've felt that kind of fear. It's not fear of death. I've lived for almost two thousand years and I'm no longer afraid of death."

"It's... the fear of an ant looking up at the sky. You know you're nothing in front of that thing, not even as good as an ant. If it looks at you, you'll want to kneel down."

Lin Chen fell silent.

For a celestial being who has lived for nearly two thousand years to say such a thing, the thing behind that crack must be even more troublesome than he imagined.

"What did you see?" Lin Chen asked.

Chen Cang shook his head, gave a bitter laugh, his smile filled with bitterness:

"I didn't see anything, it was just a feeling."

It's there, you can feel it; it's watching you, you can feel it too, but you can't see it.

Chen Cang remained silent for a while, as if he was considering whether he should say what he was about to say.

Then he gritted his teeth, as if he had made a decision.

"Your Highness, you may not believe what I am about to say, but I swear to God that every word I say is true."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow: "Speak."