Reading poems from Teyvat

Chapter 47: Alliance (Part 2)

"what do you want to say in the end?"

But in the end, Keqing calmed down and said to Ningguang.

"What I mean is, of course, that Young Master Shen should be allowed to stay in Liyue. At least, he should not be allowed to join another kingdom and oppose us."

Ningguang just spoke calmly.

"so what?"

"So, I need you, Yuhengxing, to agree on a deadline with him," Ningguang looked at the beautiful young girl who was full of youth and vigor, and thought of the poem the boy had praised her for, and said, "No matter what, he cannot stay in the immortal's cave for long, otherwise, by then, I'm afraid it will be too late for everything."

"But he needs to rest!"

Keqing really didn't want to make such an agreement with that young man.

“He can rest in Liyue Harbor,” Ningguang simply said, “You can even let him recover before going to study in the immortal’s cave.”

Keqing immediately looked at Ningguang deeply.

But in the end, she just nodded.

Perhaps that young man was really his destined disaster.

Keqing just thought.

So no matter how much she wanted to sever the ties between the two, no matter how much she wanted to cut off the connection between the two, their fates would always be connected together consciously or unconsciously in various ways. So at this time, maybe she should be more honest, because no matter what, she didn't want to see the boy against herself. Although this kind of opposition was far from the point of drawing swords, for her, just imagining that picture seemed to be depressing enough.

So, at least we can't let him lean towards those immortals.

Although no matter how she looked at it, she felt that at this moment, she was really worrying too much, because compared to the Emperor's departure, which one was closer and which one was farther away? It could even be said that even if he leaned towards those immortals, as Ningguang said, and established a force different from the Thousand Rock Army, would it be harmful rather than beneficial to Liyue?

Of course, she can also understand Ningguang.

Because Ningguang is the kind of person who always wants things to develop in accordance with her wishes. Although Liyue currently has many problems under the control of the Seven Stars, she has the confidence that Liyue can prosper under her leadership, so she does not allow the immortals to interfere in this process and destroy her own plans.

This is probably the same for Keqing herself, right?

So in a sense, they just treated the boy as a chess piece and didn't want him to escape from their control.

Thinking of this fact, Keqing couldn't help but smile bitterly:

This kind of plan, which was tainted with all kinds of complicated and strange thoughts, was probably something that the boy had always been trying to avoid, for the poetic world he wanted to pursue? And when he was clear about his own thoughts, he was afraid that he would become more and more alienated from himself and deviate further from the path he had arranged for him, right?

So she actually felt a little depressed.

Are they destined to be entangled with each other no matter what, and never be able to stand together and look at those problems from the same perspective?

……

Of course, for Shen Zhigui himself, whether he was used as a pawn by others was not that important. After all, he had learned in the Marxism-Leninism class that "man is the sum of all social relations", so in this kind of social relationship, he is always bound to exploit and be exploited, and he himself is even using these holders of the Eye of God to achieve his own goals. So if he really cares about this kind of thing, it would be like "the pot calling the kettle black when one is fifty steps away".

Not to mention, under the plan of Zhongli, the Rock King, who in the entire Liyue is not a pawn?

So Shen Zhigui just pushed forward his own plan.

Of course, the most important thing for him at the moment was to rest his mind. Although he later went to Chunxiang Kiln to find Ying'er to prepare a tranquilizing incense as Zhongli had said, and it couldn't be said that it had no effect, his recovery was still too slow. Not to mention recovering to his prime, even half of his prime was not enough. And he still had no way to interpret the "Yulei Floating Clouds Change Past and Present", so sometimes he even wanted to write it out from memory and let Zhongli help him interpret it.

But in the end he gave up the idea.

Even if he couldn't understand this martial art for the time being, he could vaguely sense that as the core martial art of "Sword Art of Mountains and Rivers", "Jade Fortress Floating Clouds Change the Past and Present" was really too advanced. Although it wouldn't make Zhongli covetous, he would be suspected of having some forbidden knowledge or something like that. He wouldn't have any power to fight back in front of the Rock God, and he would be suppressed and sealed if he fought back. It could even be said that it was a risk for him to take the initiative to expose his Qi system martial arts in front of Zhongli, although he had the confidence to do so only after he had eliminated the karma on Xiao.

And realizing that Zhongli really seemed to be interested in promoting this system in the Qianyan Army, I couldn't help but want to inquire about his subsequent plans, as well as the "riddle" that he had always been concerned about when he was going through the Liyue storyline:

What exactly is the contract to end all contracts?

Although neither of them actually revealed that Zhongli was the Geo King himself.

When they were together, they could both feel that the other seemed to know something, but they were just hiding it. Many times, Shen Zhigui really didn't want to torture him by playing the role of a riddle man, and wanted to be frank, but Zhongli played dumb just right and suppressed the topic, preventing Shen Zhigui from revealing the secret. So in the end, Shen Zhigui could only end the topic depressedly, and said that he would never be a scapegoat for him again -

He was almost spending all his royalties.

This guy's messy hobbies are really outrageous.

Shen Zhigui touched his almost empty wallet and thought that he should not test the waters with him in the future. He would just have to wait and see what happened. As for persuading him to give up the idea of ​​handing over the Heart of God and to solve the puzzle of the contract that would end all contracts, Shen Zhigui really couldn't find an opportunity. Right now, there was no chance to trigger the system reward in Liyue Harbor, so he just wanted to find Master Liuyun Jiefeng to learn how to make the Chen Ge Pot.

But when he stood up to leave, he heard Zhongli behind him say:

"Young Master Shen said that you are pursuing the state of having everything ready, and I believe that. So Young Master Shen, you always want to finish the mundane affairs related to you cleanly and neatly, not to let yourself be involved in too many trivial matters, so that you can continue your next journey without any worries. But Young Master Shen, have you ever thought about staying in the country of Liyue?"

Chapter 48: Alliance (Part 2)

"Stay in Liyue?"

Shen Zhigui repeated what Zhongli said.

Zhongli nodded: "Yes, stay in Liyue and become a part of this country."

Shen Zhigui knew very well that the same sentence had different weight when spoken by Huai'an, Keqing, and Zhongli.

If Huai'an said that he should stay in Liyue, it would probably mean that Shen Zhigui would become a spy for a secret intelligence organization. He might live a normal life, but he would be more or less exposed to the dark side of society. If Keqing said this, it would be like having the endorsement of a senior Liyue official. Then Shen Zhigui would be one of the high-level scientific and technological talents introduced. To some extent, his status might exceed that of ordinary Liyue people. But if Shen Zhigui wanted to make progress within the system, he would soon hit a transparent ceiling. If Zhongli said this, it was as important as admitting that Shen Zhigui was a native Liyue person. He could even become one of the Seven Stars of Liyue with this endorsement!

But Shen Zhigui just thought about it, then shook his head and said, "Maybe after the journey is over, I will be asked to choose a place to settle down, and that place may be Liyue, but before that, I don't want to tie myself to one place, so, sorry."

"That's fine, as long as you're willing to stay."

Zhongli still said calmly.

Shen Zhigui immediately looked at Zhongli strangely, and finally couldn't help but test him again: "Have you really decided to let go of all this?"

"Since someone is no longer satisfied with staying in the cradle, and I have found the right opportunity, it is not impossible to let go."

"Only if they can pass your test?"

No matter how he looked at it, Shen Zhigui felt that this kind of thing was a bit insane.

"It is you who can pass that test."

Zhongli just looked at the boy calmly and said.

"But for me who already knows that this is a test, what's the point?"

Shen Zhigui said immediately.

After all, if Shen Zhigui had understood that this was a test and not a real life-and-death situation, he would have been too lazy to move to a large extent. Not to mention, his attitude was to maintain the status quo, that is, when the Geo King really chose to let go, he would directly push Ganyu up. He had told Zhongli about this a long time ago to test his attitude, and Zhongli was just ambiguous at that time.

I guess he hasn't thought about Shen Zhigui's strange idea?

"So I hope you can give up the idea of ​​letting Ganyu maintain the status quo, and choose to maintain the status quo through yourself."

At this time, Zhongli looked at the boy seriously and said.

"what do you mean?"

Shen Zhigui became suspicious for a moment.

"What I mean is that I will let those immortals know in advance that I am leaving, so they will not hinder the control of the Liyue Seven Stars over this country. Similarly, they will not provide more help besides teaching you, so, at that time, you can only deal with the test I set by human beings yourself..."

Shen Zhigui was stunned:

"Sounds like it won't do me any good, does it?"

Is he just too bored to meddle in such national affairs?

And why does he look so sure that he will take action?

He had no deep interest in the matter beyond curiosity.

"If you can pass the test, I will let Ganyu become the next 'Emperor', how about that?"

Shen Zhigui still looked at Zhongli with a dumbfounded expression:

"Did you misunderstand something?"

It seems that whether Ganyu becomes the next emperor has nothing to do with him, right?

Although this idea is actually quite touching.

He was indeed a little restless.

But he didn't do that by taking off his pants to fart...

No.

wrong.

Even if he doesn't use the Heart of God, he can actually suppress those demons, right?

So in essence, he was just taking off his pants to fart, which was a waste of time.

If Liyue, the country he personally founded, really suffered a fatal crisis of destruction, he obviously would not sit idly by, so this approach was essentially just superficially complying with Keqing's idea and allowing humans to step out of the cradle protected by gods. Although he would still protect them in secret, the humans in this country had to adapt to living in this crisis-ridden land without spiritual support.

Although to Shen Zhigui, his plan seemed to have nothing to do with himself.

"But humans are not vassals of the Demon God. They deserve a brighter future instead of lingering in the shadow of the Demon God. Moreover, it is because of you and Yuhengxing that I believe that humans can bravely take this step. I myself cannot continue like this forever. The 'wear and tear' caused by the years on me is no less than the karma entangled with Xiao," Zhongli simply said, "So, I choose to believe in you, Yuhengxing, and the current Liyue Seven Stars. I also hope that you can hand in a beautiful answer sheet so that the humans in the country of Liyue can walk more freely on this land."

Are you kidding me?

No matter how you look at it, you don't look like someone who is depressed and miserable to some extent like Xiao.

Although in fact Shen Zhigui couldn't see it.

But hearing him say that, Shen Zhigui couldn't help but feel a sense of respect in his heart. The Mondstadt wind god Barbatos next door was lying around and sleeping all day long, and the Thunder God of Inazuma was like a lonely otaku who never went out, thinking that keeping himself still could avoid wear and tear. He just made a puppet of a general and put it there, not caring about the life and death of the Inazuma people at all. But this Rock God has been a saint for thousands of years, and he has been working for thousands of years despite wear and tear, so it is understandable that he wants to retire under such circumstances.

Although it is a bit unfair for him to drag himself down with him before retiring.

However, Shen Zhigui thought about it carefully and felt that it might be beneficial to agree to it:

Even if he fails, won't he still have to carry on?

Maybe I could fail on purpose and get those immortal skills for free!

Shen Zhigui's eyes lit up immediately, and he was about to agree when he heard Zhongli say, "But I have to remind you of one thing. I will not take action until the number of casualties exceeds a certain level. And, if you fail, I will let you take on Ganyu's previous position and let you be responsible for the operation of the entire Liyue center. I know that with your vision and insight, you will not let me down. If you want to cheat and renege on this contract at that time, don't blame me for exercising the power of the God of Contract."

Chapter 49: Those who disturb my heart today are full of worries (Part 1)

"I need time to think about it."

Shen Zhigui subconsciously chose to delay for the time being, just like Zhongli did when he first came into contact with the two martial arts.

"Okay, but please do it as soon as possible, and please don't let Qixing know about this."

Zhongli just nodded and said.

Shen Zhigui immediately raised his eyebrows and said, "How soon is as soon as possible? And in the end, it doesn't matter even if they find out the truth, right? You have your own difficulties. As long as you tell them about your 'wear and tear', most of the people of Liyue should understand why you want to retire. Not to mention that someone has been 'preparing for a rainy day' to welcome a future without the Emperor, right?"

But Zhongli just shook his head:

"Just give me an answer before the next Xiandian Ceremony. As for the approach you mentioned, once I do that, there will be no room for redemption."

Why next time?

Is it because the next time they are going to announce the promotion of Qi-based martial arts in the Qianyan Army?

But in this case, is the plot really about to begin?

Two years is not a short time, actually. According to his current progress, maybe he won’t need help from others at all, and he can deal with the Whirlpool Demon by himself!

Shen Zhigui thought.

But this is just a thought.

Although he couldn't help but complain in his heart after hearing Zhongli's last words:

"Does setting up this kind of test mean you have any chance of recovery?"

Shen Zhigui couldn't help but look at the man suspiciously.

But in the end he didn't say much, just continued to walk out of the room and left the place.

……

That night.

In Keqing's house.

Keqing was practicing swordplay with Shen Zhigui as usual. In the pitch-black night, the swords wielded by the two men bloomed like lotus leaves. However, Shen Zhigui was obviously not in good shape now, while Keqing had apparently mastered the art of "coming like thunder and ending with rage", and had found a way to use elemental power instead of true energy. As a result, the situation suddenly turned around, and Shen Zhigui became the one being beaten by the fast one. As a result, the girl quickly gained the upper hand, and finally she swiftly blocked the boy's sword and placed the tip of the sword against his chest, ending tonight's practice.

"You seem a little distracted?"

Keqing asked.