Chapter 53

At the same time Ye Xuan went to the Kunlun Mountains, inside the Sihe Academy in the Imperial Capital.

On the sandalwood chessboard, the black pieces had nowhere to escape.

"Lost, huh."

Li Cheng'an sighed softly and put the black piece between his fingers back into the chess jar. He looked up at the person opposite him, his eyes complex.

The "young man" sitting opposite him was wearing a dark gold robe with dragon-scale-like dark patterns embroidered on the hem, his long hair was tied up with a jade hairpin, and a few strands of hair fell down, fluttering slightly in the wind.

His handsome face did not look like a mortal, and his eyes contained vicissitudes that did not match his age. His expression was as calm as water, but it inexplicably made people think of towering mountains.

"Now, should I call you Shanhai, or should I call you Zhong Li."

Li Cheng'an sighed in his heart.

He and Zhong Shanhai grew up in the same courtyard, and their relationship was very good when they were young. After growing up, although they had different beliefs and support for some reasons, and it was difficult to unify their opinions in some aspects, their relationship was not affected.

He thought that after they got old, they would gradually let go of the power in their hands, and then drink tea, fish, and chat every day to enjoy a peaceful life, but he didn't expect the world to change like this.

Recovery of spiritual energy, dimensional invasion.

All things began to evolve under the nourishment of spiritual energy, awakening special abilities; and things from fantasy works created by humans appeared in reality.

The two of them, who were almost sixty years old, also changed their life trajectories because of this.

He had white hair, but Zhong Shanhai had become like a young man.

Li Cheng'an did not envy him.

For the sake of Da Xia, he voluntarily suppressed his self-will and forged himself into a vessel that fit "Zhong Li"; although his strength became more and more powerful, his lifespan became longer and longer, and even his aging face returned to youth.

But now, who is he? Is he Zhong Shanhai, or is he that Rock Emperor of Liyue?

Although Li Cheng'an did not say this, the other party had already seen through his thoughts.

"Every time we play chess, you have this expression."

Zhong Shanhai, or Master Zhong, gently pressed the chess piece on the chessboard, his tone calm.

"The world does not lack a Zhong Shanhai, but it lacks a god who can truly regard this land as his own child, rather than his own possession."

"We all know the crux of our own problems. Power corrupts the human heart. Even if you are clean and self-disciplined, what about your family? Your friends? Your students?"

"Under the sun, no one is truly clean; whether it is you or me, it is the same."

After Master Zhong placed the chess piece, he continued:

"But it's different now."

"I have the ability to change all this, and I also have the determination to carry it through to the end."

"The former me ultimately retained human weakness, would open the net because of emotion, and would break the rules for old friends to make things convenient; but the current me will not do so."

"We are the signers of the contract, and we are also the perfecters of the contract. If even we don't abide by the contract we have formulated, who do we hope will abide by it?"

"The contract has been set, and those who break their promises shall be punished by eating rock."

Li Cheng'an was a little silent. How could he not understand these principles?

It's just that this muddy world has never been non-black or white; in their position, even if the original intention remains unchanged, it is inevitable to be stained by power.

Not seeking profit for oneself, but always thinking of paving the way for descendants; not coveting wealth, but difficult to resist the requests of relatives and friends.

Zhong Shanhai is now detached from human nature, so naturally he feels that everything can be cut with one knife; but this human world is originally a quagmire where yin and yang are born together.

As a god who only exists in fantasy and has been invested with countless beautiful words in human works; Zhong Shanhai completely turned himself into Zhong Li, descended as a god, reshaped the universe, and it is naturally the blessing of the common people.

But for those who have had their financial paths cut off and their official careers ended because of Zhong Shanhai, what will happen?

Including those who are lurking now, they just don't have the power to contend with him. If they have it in the future, they will inevitably restrain each other at all costs.

A god who loves humans more than humans do is salvation for the common people, but for some people, it is the nightmare that should not exist the most.

Li Cheng'an shook his head and did not continue this topic.

At least in his heart, he was grateful for the appearance of "Zhong Li".

In this turbulent era different from the past, Da Xia needs such a guardian who transcends human nature, even if this means that they, the former vested interests, have to give up some power.

But what if they give it up?

Occupying high positions, they were already living very well.

Generous treatment, noble status, all kinds of benefits that ordinary people want but don't have, isn't this enough?

Human greed always makes them dissatisfied with what they have and want to have more.

"I saw a new future yesterday, different people dying in different ways."

"Being crushed by an out-of-control truck on a zebra crossing, sudden myocardial infarction in a conference room, falling on the road and being pierced through the brain by a tree branch..."

Master Zhong's originally calm eyes suddenly condensed, and his rock-gold pupils shrank slightly.

Li Cheng'an was still continuing to speak.

"Logically speaking, this is not a special place. Nearly ten thousand people die in Da Xia every day due to accidents, and these are just a very small part of them."

"But I don't think my ability would suddenly make me see these futures that I think have nothing special."

"So, I remembered the appearance of some of them, and after waking up, I asked people to investigate based on my description."

He took a stack of documents from his arms and slowly pushed them toward Master Zhong.

"Slander, deduction, bullying, hurting people..."

"Every incident had caused some ripples, but every incident would be quickly quelled in a short time."

"Even if some had results, they were not satisfactory."

"We stand too high, so we often can't see these things. Now that we see them, we naturally have to deal with them."

"Otherwise, in a while, I'm afraid we won't be needed."

Master Zhong's gaze moved away from the document, and his rock-gold pupils stared at Li Cheng'an.

"Do you think that their deaths in your prediction were not accidents?"

Li Cheng'an nodded slightly, his tone calm:

"If it's an accident, it's naturally the best, but you and I both know that there is no such thing as evil having evil rewards in this world."

"So, it's highly likely to be man-made."

"They are in different cities, thousands of miles apart, and the interval between their deaths in the prediction basically did not exceed ten minutes."

"If it was done by ordinary people or people with special abilities, then there must be a force behind it that spans half of Da Xia, and can accurately grasp the whereabouts of these people."

"I am more inclined to believe that their deaths are the effect of some Myriad Realms treasure."

Unlike the young people now, most of the works Li Cheng'an read were written by authors of his era, and his imagination was far less extensive than it is now, and the types were also quite different.

So many Myriad Realms treasures now are very strange to him.

(End of chapter)