Chapter 212: The Weight of the World

Always there when needed, always just right.

Always deliberately wearing an annoying smile, speaking in soft, gentle, and warm tones, hovering between hypocrisy and sincerity, always separated by a layer of paper, intimate yet distant.

After getting on in years, the fox-like nature of the past has faded, and this routine has become even more practiced.

Unpleasant.

"Always on time, as always."

Ye Xian does not hide her mockery: "Always appearing after things have become simple; that is very much your style."

Lu Yingyue does not care at all, shaking the residual blood, broken bone, and minced meat off her two broken blades, her smile remaining: "Adopting strategies of advance or delay based on different situations—this is the most important survival philosophy for a salary thief."

"Are you really Tian Yuan?"

"Genuine and authentic." Lu Yingyue nods.

Ye Xian sneers, scoffing at the idea.

Lies.

Lu Yingyue smiles: "The salary is only so much; even civil servants have to take side jobs to support their families. As a bureau chief, one must know how to be flexible, right?"

"Flexibility is the path of Bai Lu and Yu Jin, but it has nothing to do with the Anquan Bureau." Ye Xian looks at her deeply, her words meaningful: "Harboring two hearts—be careful that Tian Yuan cannot tolerate you."

"Hmm, although it is difficult, I have tolerated it for the time being. How should I put it? Sometimes Tian Yuan is actually quite magnanimous..."

Lu Yingyue answers nonchalantly, looking around at the scorched earth, becoming increasingly curious: "On the contrary, it is you—haven't seen you in a few months, and you are already a Heavenly Human?"

"No, still far from it." Ye Xian replies.

Lu Yingyue sighs lightly, shaking her head.

Lies.

But it doesn't matter. She holds the broken blades in reverse, handing them over: "Trouble you to take a look—is there still any value in repairing them?"

"No saving them, throw them away."

Ye Xian is too lazy to even take a look: "With such brutal usage as yours, no matter how durable the weapon, it is useless. Don't waste your own money and the artisan's hard work; continue to grab whatever you can use.

Just you alone? Where is Tong Shan?"

"Don't know, hasn't returned yet." Lu Yingyue shakes her head, "Thinking on the bright side, at least still alive... Where is your student?"

"The same, also still alive."

Ye Xian's expression is slightly complex, "But thinking on the bad side, it might be that more people are going to die."

"Don't really understand the relationship between you master and student."

"To tell the truth, I don't really understand it either."

"You are still the same as before, always loving to say inexplicable things."

"No, this is true, from the bottom of my heart."

Just like that, after some idle chatter, they stepped over the jagged bones and walked onto the road leading to the outpost.

In the distance, the originally chaotic night sky gradually returned to silence.

A dazzling light rose from the ground, then another, and then, accompanied by the opening of the Star Heart Society's portal, breaths that were either vigorous, violent, restrained, or hovering between existence and non-existence yet omnipresent, spread in all directions...

"The Tong family, the Lou family, the Yu family, the Jiang family..."

Lu Yingyue's footsteps are light, counting the identities of the arrivals, not caring at all.

Having killed her way here, the primary credit for quelling the danger and stabilizing the chaos has already been steadily secured by her at just the right moment, so naturally, she is in no rush to show off.

"What about Tao Gong?"

Ye Xian glances at her relaxed appearance, "In the words of my student, at a time like this, one must be careful of 'stealing the home'."

"Tao Gong?"

Lu Yingyue starts to laugh: "The one who needs to be worried about the least is Tao Gong."

In the silent office, a crisp sound rings out.

A handful of chess pieces is picked up and scattered across the board, disrupting the dangerous situation of the black and white struggle.

Resigning the game.

"Lost again."

Lu Changsheng shrugs with regret.

The withered and drowsy old man lifts his eyes slightly: "Why so... unable to hold your breath?"

Lu Changsheng sighs, "In a rush."

The psychokinesis vibrates the sound, and a hoarse voice rings out: "It shouldn't have been this fast. I thought you would prepare for a while longer.

Why the rush?"

The sudden change did indeed catch the Anquan Bureau off guard.

But then what?

Not only did they lose their original hidden advantage, but they also exposed their internal chaotic composition; apart from breaking the blockade of Quancheng and forcibly dragging it into the present world, there were no other results.

Even so, the pollution was firmly suppressed by Tao Gong, with no way to spread.

The early-stage advantage brought about by secretly developing in Quancheng while hiding from the Anquan Bureau for all these years has almost been exhausted.

"No way, the weak point was poked, after all."

Lu Changsheng rests his chin on his hand, smiling helplessly: "I originally thought that was just a casual move of yours; I didn't expect it to be able to exert such an effect.

It really is unexpected.

But since the curtain has already been pulled open by the mischievous child, no matter how reluctant the actors are, they must rush to enter and take the stage.

Otherwise, the audience will boo."

For so many years, the painstakingly arranged preparations, 'pooling wisdom and efforts', advancing step by step, to the point of finally achieving such a scale—if one cannot strike first to gain the upper hand, what is the point?

Wouldn't it just be the same as before?

The villain characters develop painstakingly, the heroes arrive in a single day, and the villains scurry away...

How ridiculous?

"Then what about my secretary?" Tao Gong asks.

"Hmm?" Lu Changsheng is puzzled.

"My secretary, where did he go?" Tao Gong lifts his eyes, looking at him, waiting for an answer.

"I understand what you mean."

Lu Changsheng laughs at himself, spreading his hands: "You thought I killed him and replaced him? No such thing.

I am your secretary, Tao Gong; from the very beginning, I have been."

Lu Changsheng starts to laugh: "From the moment you woke up, from the time you were preparing all of this, the person you knew was me."

"Besides, where in this world is there any perfect replacement method? Where is there a foolproof plan?

It's just that, sometimes when the workload on both sides is too heavy, I do indeed sigh at the difficulty of being Tian Yuan. But there's no way; I really can't find many useful hands, so sometimes, I have to do it myself—"

As he speaks, he suddenly stands up, walks to Tao Gong's side, takes out a silk scarf, and carefully wipes away the eye gunk and water stains from the corners of his mouth.

And Tao Gong also cooperatively lifts his chin, exposing his neck in front of this great enemy, letting him do as he pleases, not caring at all.

"It really is, flattered."

The indistinct voice sighs with emotion: "I thought you were just some spy or secret agent, but I didn't expect that the Sacrifice Master Saint of the Huaxie Sect would be like a nanny, serving me hand and foot, taking care of me for nine years?"

He says: "Determination and perseverance, admirable."

"Likewise."

Lu Changsheng sighs lightly: "For nine years, Tao Gong has run about and appealed day after day, for Quancheng, for a city that no longer exists and has been forgotten by others, pouring in so much. Even a villainous person like me cannot help but sincerely admire you."

"The ancients said, 'emerging from the mud without being stained', but if the white lotus had consciousness, I fear it would also loathe the mud, right?"

He folds the silk scarf neatly, places it on the table in front of Tao Gong, fulfills the duties of secretary and assistant for the last time, returns to the opposite side of the table, sits upright, and asks solemnly: "Why can't you come over to my side?"

Tao Gong laughs coldly, scoffing: "The filth of a room can still be swept clean. If one were to jump into a mud pond like an old turtle to roll around and still think it's enjoyable, that is what you call hopeless."

"But actually, you knew it all along, right?"

Lu Changsheng shakes his head: "You should have known all along... It's not just the identity of the secretary by your side that has a problem."

"The perfunctoriness of the Central City, the contempt of the Council. The Federation's intention to move west is already decided; decades ago, Quancheng had already been abandoned. Otherwise, how could they have let you support it alone for so long?"

"Exhausting all your strength, overdrawing all your credit, betting your future and yourself, taking over a mess like the Haizhou Garrison, while the people around you are all guys like me, crawling and scheming, each with their own ulterior motives.

That Viceroy in Yacheng who plays dead every day after being exiled, the running dog in the Ship City who only cares about making money for his master by defecting to the Central City, that incompetent person in Chaocheng who is greedy for power and clings to his position, the cruel and lawless military, the large group that only wants to take this opportunity to have a great slaughter...

And this bunch of so-called bureau chiefs of the Anquan Bureau, the perfunctory ones, the ones seizing power, the hypocritical ones—even that Lu Yingyue you trust the most is a speculator who won't act until she sees the rabbit, a politician who expects others to blaze a trail of blood for her first, and then goes to calmly reap the fruits... So ambitious, it might be that she has long coveted your position as Haizhou Garrison."

Lu Changsheng questions: "Is this the Tian Yuan you follow? Relying on this bunch of guys, how can you accomplish anything?"

Tao Gong does not speak.

Looking at him.

There is no discouragement or unhappiness, but it is more like looking at a fool.

"... Isn't this just Tian Yuan?" he asks as a matter of course.

This makes Lu Changsheng's expression slightly stunned.

"This is Tian Yuan, Lu Changsheng."

Tao Gong shakes his head with pity: "Don't you understand yet? Even if they are a bunch of crawling and scheming people, even if they are guys with ulterior motives, now that they are gathered together, don't they make you rats feel uneasy and fearful?"

Strife, internal friction, ambition, hatred, plotting, compassion, courage, greed...

These actually don't matter; they are all insignificant details.

It doesn't matter about background, it doesn't matter about purpose, and it doesn't matter about gender, age, or species—people who should have been at daggers drawn and incompatible as fire and water are actually able to walk side by side, integrated under the same framework and order, following the rules within it to act.

After a plate of loose sand is integrated into one place, one in body and mind, they are actually able to safely entrust their backs to those who are completely different from themselves, and whom they don't even look up to...

Isn't this a miracle?

Isn't this the most solemn and vast power in this world?

"Great is Tian Yuan! Mighty is Tian Yuan!!"

Tao Gong laughs loudly, indistinct and hoarse, spreading his withered and slender arms from the recliner, showing this achievement: "The thing I pursue and admire, for these nine years, hasn't it always been right before your eyes, Lu Changsheng?

I clearly never hid it, so why haven't you noticed?

I see the mountains are high and the waters are far, and I know the vastness of Tian Yuan is infinite, but what kind of mountains and waters do you see in your eyes?"

Lu Changsheng is silent.

For a long time.

From the long silence, he sighs with respect.

"Tao Gong's heart is as firm as a rock; I fear it is no longer something that a person of evil and lust like me can shake. I admire you."

"I don't care." Tao Gong says.

"I know."

Lu Changsheng lowers his eyes, looking at the messy chessboard between the two, reaching out and pressing on the Tian Yuan position in the center: "I still want to play a game of chess with you."

"Speak."

"Still the same as before, still the same as just now, just follow what you think—you and me, the Anquan Bureau and the Huaxie Sect, Haizhou and the evil fools, let's have a showdown."

He says, "Don't worry, I won't detonate Quancheng and cause the situation to be beyond redemption. If the Heavenly Humans don't come out, let's decide the ownership of Quancheng based on our victory or defeat, how about it?"

He proposes: "If you win, take Quancheng, and I will turn around and leave. If you lose, you can throw the agreement aside, set up your horses, and fight us to the death again.

How about it?"

Tao Gong does not answer.

His turbid eyes are lowered, drowsy, as if he had lost his train of thought, but for a long time, when that pair of eyes lifts again, they become sharp.

Like a sharp blade washed of dust and rust, cold to the bone.

"So that's how it is..."

He murmurs in realization: "You planned it this way from the beginning, didn't you?

You gathered so many evil fools, prepared for so many years, just as if you wanted to overestimate your capabilities and have a head-on fight with the Anquan Bureau in the present world? Why?"

"Why?" Lu Changsheng suddenly asks back, the same question.

"Hmm?"

"Why does Tao Gong think we must hide our heads and show our tails?" Lu Changsheng asks curiously: "I don't understand why a character like me must be like a rat that cannot see the light, hiding in a corner you can't see, living by eating rot?

To the point that even everyone in the Huaxie Sect feels: this is how it should be, this is normal?

Rats have been crawling in the sewers for too long, fearing the light of heaven. But why do you take it for granted to despise me?

For these years, I have been thinking about this question—"

He grins and laughs: "If one day, a rat that overestimates its capabilities takes the lead, raises its arms and shouts, and the snakes and rats crawl out from under the manhole, following their own kind to walk through the market grandly, dancing and showing off in broad daylight, will those terrified and screaming masters understand: so there are other people coexisting with them under this same sky?

Or will they still block their ears, cover their eyes, and deceive themselves, acting as if they can't see anything?"

Tao Gong lowers his eyes, restraining the coldness in his eyes: "Provoking Tian Yuan, are you prepared to be smashed to pieces?"

"How does Tao Gong know I don't have the ability to stir up the present world and turn the sky upside down?"

Lu Changsheng lifts his head and asks: "And how can you conclude that I will be afraid of being smashed to pieces?"

For a moment, in the silent room, it was as if infinite waves appeared, and the malice lurking under the ocean rose like an iceberg, showing its ferocity.

But in the end, everything dissipated without a sound.

Hidden again.

From beginning to end, Lu Changsheng made no move and did not change his expression.

Only on the recliner, the old man sighs: "Unlike those fools who pursue power and ambition and throw themselves into evil and foolishness, you are indeed a great disaster to the present world."

"Perhaps so, but in time, maybe the great disaster is in Tao Gong, in the Federation, in the Empire, in you people of supreme goodness!"

Lu Changsheng laughs loudly, reaching out his hand.

Waiting.

Until Tao Gong's withered and thin palm slowly lifts.

Colliding in one place.

Striking palms to make an agreement.

Within five days, in this Quancheng, a final showdown!

The moment the applause dissipated, Lu Changsheng disappeared like a phantom.

The office returned to silence, leaving only the frail old man on the recliner, his eyes lowered, gradually falling into a deep sleep.

And on the chessboard, in the game piled with chaotic pieces, a piece of black chess that had been strangled slid down, revealing a white piece buried underneath.

Involuntarily bathing in the chaotic flames reflected from the window, trembling incessantly with the earthquake.

It lay crookedly in the corner of the endgame, unable to influence the approaching storm, yet with nowhere to escape.

Can't live, and don't want to die.

Just like that, in the turmoil, helplessly and reluctantly, it moved...