Chapter 71

""Ended……" Xier felt deeply moved.

""……" Buoluoniya raised her head, gazing sorrowfully at the golden aurora in the sky, as if she could see the departed Kekeliya.

""Mother, have you… awakened from the dream?"

Seeing her too sad, Xing, Sanyue Qi, and Dan Heng did not go to disturb her, but instead walked to the side and spoke softly.

""Wow… this expedition was truly not easy." Sanyue Qi felt exhausted all over, her voice weak: "Uh…… but what about the 【Star Core】? Previously Yang Shu handled it."

""I have already notified Qizi and Waerte; this 【Star Core】 will be left to them to seal." Dan Heng said lightly.

""Great! Now, the crisis of this world is considered resolved, right?"

""……" Dan Heng turned his head to look at the nearby wildly dancing snowstorm, then calmly shook his head.

""The snowstorm is fierce, hard to stop abruptly."

""After the 【Star Core】 is sealed, the cold wave will gradually recede. This world's rift will not expand fiercely anymore, but it will not vanish out of thin air. Yaluoluo-6 has gained the possibility of regaining vitality, but that takes time……

Although the challenge appears to have ended, in my view, the real trouble has only just begun.

On Liyue's Jade Capital Platform, Keqing, who was reviewing the architectural diagrams, slowly lifted her head. Her gaze, through the rainbow skirt flower beside the artificial mountain, looked down at the myriad lights of Liyue below.

A breeze brushed past Keqing's hair by her ear.

She slowly rose and stood by the railing; in the wind there seemed to be a faint clamor.

There were the hurried footsteps of people in Liyue Harbor, the crying of children, the tender whispers of young couples under the Sea Lantern Festival lights, and even the sound of wok spatulas striking iron pots when families in the harbor cooked.

All these sounds seemed to urge her, you still have many things to do.

As one of the few who hold the highest power in Liyue as the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue Qixing, Keqing is only responsible for Liyue's land infrastructure construction. But even though the work in Liyue Harbor is reasonably distributed among the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue Qixing and the Eight Ministries, and Ganyu serves as the secretary of the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue Qixing, assisting with various miscellaneous affairs, she still feels that time is insufficient.

"That great guardian, as the ruler of a nation, bears all the work of the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue Qixing on her shoulders; from now on, she will surely be busy."

Battle and governing a place differ; battle only requires watching friend and foe…… but governing a place is a myriad of threads, dazzling to the eye. Keqing, however, wonders how this Buoluoniya will cope with such complicated affairs.

"Keqing, you also need to pay more attention to your health." Behind the stone table, Ping Laolao smiled kindly.

"This immortal, I, the junior, naturally understand." Keqing said politely.

"Keqing, I think you can give yourself a proper break, look at how the world inside the light screen operates, look at Buoluoniya and the others……"

Sitting opposite Ping Laolao, Yanfei leaned on the stone table, one hand propping her chin, the other flipping through that thick legal code: 'For example, I want to study Beiluoboge's law, see if there's anything worth referencing and improving for our Liyue.'

The 'survival' war is over, the 'governance' battle has begun; we can also appropriately learn from Beiluoboge's experience.

Keqing lowered her head, pondering: 'Indeed, Beiluoboge can survive for hundreds of years in such extreme conditions; it must have its unique strengths. Their management and planning for the subsequent rifts could serve as reference……'

""Everyone… thank you.""

Buoluoniya, although still immersed in sorrow, could barely pull herself together and thank Xing and the others.

""Don't push yourself." Even Xing at this time couldn't make a joke, only able to comfort."

""Thank you." Buoluoniya forced a faint smile: "I'm fine, no need to worry. There's still much to do… the huge commotion caused by the Creation Engine, the city's residents must have noticed. Many doubts need clarification, many truths need to be announced…… I just don't know how to make everyone accept this."

""Let's disguise the truth." Xing proposed.

""You mean… using one lie to cover another lie?" Buoluoniya hesitated, "But if we do that, I……"

""Let's do that, Buoluoniya." Xier also supported this proposal: "In the lower levels, we repeat the same sentence to the children every day: 'Tomorrow will get better.' Everyone knows it's a lie, but at least it lets them sleep with hope."

""If we speak of what happened here, can you imagine the consequences? People would be disappointed; if even the Guardians cannot be believed—if it were me, I wouldn't know what I could still believe, or who I could believe."

Buoluoniya closed her eyes, as if finally making up her mind in her heart. When she opened them again, she slowly said: '……Mother, it was for the preservation of Beloboge that she sacrificed herself.'

With Xing and Sanyue Qi both looking bewildered, Buoluoniya slowly walked toward the device that had once imprisoned the Star Core.

""From the mouth of the Traveler who descended from the heavens, she learned the secret of the Star Core; she also knew that the first Grand Guardian could not destroy the Star Core……"

"... but she still decided to challenge this power far beyond human imagination. The Grand Guardian Kekeliya sacrificed herself, dispelling the gloom that shrouded Beloboge."

"This child really gets it instantly." Ningguang praised.

From now on, this is the truth…… it not only preserved the Grand Guardian's reputation, but also preserved people's hope in their hearts.

"But what if someone doubts it?" the assistant beside Ningguang asked.

This is the northern snowfields of Beloboge; besides Xing and the others, who could come here alone? Probably not even Jepard could do it." Ningguang said leisurely, "This lie is reasonable and extremely hard to disprove."

"But why must we lie?" the assistant still couldn't figure it out.

Yet Ningguang quietly chuckled: 'Hehe…… lying is to conceal the truth, but often the truth itself isn't important. Take Beloboge—whether the Grand Guardian preserved the people is fundamentally unimportant; what matters is making the people believe they were preserved.'

Only then will people's hearts not scatter…… only then can they coalesce, making things easier to handle.

Ningguang leaned back, lying on the soft gold-thread cushion, letting out a long sigh: 'Otherwise, rumors will spread, alarmist talk will abound, and before one knows it…… people's hearts will scatter at once.'

Back when the Invocation Ceremony took place, the Emperor was assassinated and met disaster; overnight, the people of Liyue were panic-stricken, fortunately……

Recalling past events, Ningguang only felt her body tense, but upon catching the seductive wafts of incense inside the Jade Chamber, her tightened form immediately relaxed.

Fortunately, there was that Traveler, plus all the immortals, and this…… old friend beneath her.