Chapter 2089: Responsibility Is Karma

The black dragon didn't like being touched by strangers, and with a splash it began to swim, moving along the city wall and disappearing into the distance.

It seemed alive.

"How amazing!" the child exclaimed, eyes full of admiration, "Is it alive?"

"Of course."

The woman took the opportunity to teach her son: "As I told you, this city has received the protection of the divine dragon!"

He Lingchuan put the child back on the ground, and the woman asked her son: "What should you say?"

The boy was very polite, loudly saying to He Lingchuan, "Thank you," before following his mother into the city.

After walking just a dozen steps, He Lingchuan heard his cheers again, as fire trees and silver flowers suddenly burst in the sky above the southern gate square—red, green, blue, yellow—gilding the heavy city in five-colored splendor.

Citizens and visitors alike gathered to watch.

Indeed, He Lingchuan suddenly remembered that tonight was Panlongcheng's biannual fireworks festival.

Besides the fireworks, there were temple fairs, archery games, delicious food, and more to enjoy, with residents from nearby towns also coming to join the fun.

The scene before him was lively and bustling, the crowd thronging and flowing.

He Lingchuan let out a soft sigh.

What he had just said to Sun Fuling were words from the heart.

In reality, he was already the Lord of Flash Gold, the emperor of mankind, having restored order and peace to this land shattered for a thousand years.

Just this alone was enough to be called an unparalleled achievement.

Speaking only of his current accomplishments, how many heroes and mighty men dream of such a peak of success, the end of their struggle?

He Chunha would be satisfied after taking a single country, thereafter happily governing.

He Yue should also be satisfied, thereafter happily serving as his heir apparent.

And if He Lingchuan ceased to strive, merely guarding his position as ruler of Cangyan would bring boundless glory and a place for him in this vast world.

He was already a mighty leader of hundreds of millions of people, no longer the desperate youth forced to cross the ocean and flee the pursuit of Bekka.

But He Lingchuan is human, not a god, and after so many years, so many heart-pounding battles and adventures, he too would grow weary, would feel fatigue, and had once thought of stopping to rest for a few years.

Given his achievements, what could possibly be wrong?

Yet when he returned to Panlongcheng as an ordinary citizen rather than an emperor, feeling the city's festive atmosphere, he knew he was far from the time to relax.

Cangyan had just been founded, and the people were generally destitute.

The people of the Flash Gold Plains struggled even to feed and clothe themselves, having also experienced the upheaval of the Dragon God War.

Their lives were far less affluent than those in Panlongcheng.

Their smiles were also far less radiant than those of Panlongcheng's soldiers and civilians.

Cangyan is the realm He Lingchuan won, and also the realm won by the Flash Gold people.

He Lingchuan planned strategies and exhausted his efforts, while they bled and sacrificed without hesitation, because they believed He Lingchuan could bring a better future to this land.

This is a silent promise, a wordless contract between them.

He Lingchuan chose them, and they chose He Lingchuan.

This promise, this responsibility weighing on He Lingchuan, is heavier than Mount Tai, so heavy that perhaps no one has the courage to bear it.

Responsibility itself is the karmic burden he cannot escape.

That is why he told Sun Fushi, she and Panlongcheng are his heart's lamp.

The warmth he feels here, the strength he draws from them, is precisely the source of his courageous advancement and fearless forward motion in reality!

He gazed at the scene before him and murmured: "The road ahead is still long."

And he must walk it resolutely.

But first, he must go find Zhong Shengguang, to test whether there is any room for maneuver in the relationship between Panlongcheng and Ling Mountain.

……

Zhong Shengguang was not at his usual workplace.

He Lingchuan asked his personal guards, and only then learned that Commander Zhong had gone to the attic on the third floor of the official office.

This is Zhong Shengguang's temporary resting place; sometimes when he works late he doesn't return home, but stays overnight in the attic.

When He Lingchuan entered the attic, Zhong Shengguang was standing by the window, watching the fireworks over the southern gate square.

This position is excellent, allowing him to take in the entire scene of the square at a glance.

Boom boom boom, the fireworks exploded.

"Commander Zhong."

"You've come." Seeing He Lingchuan enter, Zhong Shengguang put down the white porcelain bowl in his hand.

At the same time, He Lingchuan smelled a strong sesame aroma.

It turned out he was hiding here to eat a snack.

"Red bean soup with sesame balls from Mei Xiangzhai?" He could even add, "With aged tangerine peel."

A useless bit of trivia:

Zhong Shengguang likes sweet food.

He rarely reveals his preferences, and among Panlongcheng officials, few know he likes sweet food.

Zhong Shengguang laughed: "How did you know?"

Mei Xiangzhai is a new shop, open only three months. Its dishes include many newly transmitted from Baoshu State.

"Master Sun also loves this." He Lingchuan was very familiar with this flavor, "If I anger her, I'll buy this to make amends."

Zhong Shengguang chuckled: "Next time try the hawthorn milk cake from Dongyuan on Chuanxiang Street."

"Dongyuan?" He Lingchuan blinked, "Never heard of it."

"It opened ten days ago. At that time you were still in the south, hadn't returned to Panlongcheng."

"Good, we'll try in a few days." He Lingchuan changed the subject. "When I came in, it seemed an envoy from some country had just left?"

"Suoxiang City. Also here to seek an alliance with us." Zhong Shengguang casually pressed his neck, and a series of cracking sounds immediately followed. "It doesn't just represent itself; it also represents three small countries and two forces to the south."

"They themselves are a small alliance, and now they want to conduct external relations with Panlongcheng as a single whole."

He Lingchuan thought for a moment. "These places of the Suoxiang City alliance share a common enemy: Kao Country."

Honestly speaking, this small Suo City alliance always reminded him of the former allied forces on the Shanjin Plains — the one led by Boss Situ's clan.

"But their position is excellent, right on our soon-to-be-developed second trade route." Zhong Shengguang asked He Lingchuan, "Do you know about this plan?"

"Just heard about it a moment ago."

"Mm, you just got back too." Zhong Shengguang explained the course of events in a few words, then said, "Suoxiang City and the others want to ally with Panlongcheng, and they sent heavy gifts as well, also hoping to borrow our momentum to deter Kao Country. If the two sides war again later, they also hope for allied assistance."

"Then it depends on their sincerity."

Once He Lingchuan said this, both of them laughed.

Zhong Shengguang personally went to shut the doors and windows tight, then released a divine ability to scan the room. Only after confirming no divine abilities or abnormal creatures remained did he walk to He Lingchuan's side and say in a low voice: "There is one more matter: the Bright Lamp has been successfully refined."

He Lingchuan was startled.

He hadn't heard this term in a very long time, and across the entire Panlong Wasteland, those who knew what the "Bright Lamp" was probably didn't exceed seven or eight people.

Zhong Shengguang had said before that the Bright Lamp was the key to Panlongcheng and the Red General's opposition against Mitiian.

Its successful refinement was naturally a great piece of good news; after all, if it had been ruined, He Lingchuan wouldn't have known where to get another Bright Lamp Grass.

However, did this also mean—

"The confrontation between the Red General and Mitiian will come ahead of schedule?"