Chapter 1829: Seeing the Colored Lantern Festival Again

Seeing the Colored Lantern Festival Again

"Was it those Path of the Arts people from just now who did it?"

Jing Si didn't understand. Why would these Path of the Arts people depict and whitewash a village that no one lived in anymore... These people clearly possessed very good strength, so why not go to the Chengtian Domain to seek an official post?

"They should be guarding the Lord of the Red Dust."

"...Lord Duke of the State, to tell the truth, I still don't quite understand." Jing Si couldn't help but speak up. "The files state that the reason the major bastions can stand tall in the Gray World without falling is because the slumbering Eight Monarchs are using their Domains to support them..."

"If this is the case, the Eight Monarchs should be the guardian deities of humanity. Just like our Chengtian, they are fighting for humanity."

"Then why does His Majesty insist on having the Lord of the Red Dust continue to slumber?"

The Duke of Stars gave Jing Si a complex look:

"Jing Si... an era does not need two kinds of voices."

"Once the Eight Monarchs awaken, they inevitably won't easily submit to His Majesty. When that time comes, at best, a rift will form between Chengtian and the Eight Major Bastions, and at worst, they will turn against each other. Regardless of who is better at governing the world between the Eight Monarchs and His Majesty, once humanity falls into internal strife, it will give the enemy an opportunity to exploit our weakness."

"Therefore, the best method is to keep the Eight Monarchs slumbering. This way, not only is it more convenient to govern the world, but it can also stabilize the Eight Major Bastions without mobilizing the Chengtian Dynasty's own Demigods."

Jing Si fell silent.

When he first read the files of the Eight Monarchs, he indeed felt it was unfair to them in his heart. They sacrificed so much for humanity, yet in the end, under the governance of the Chengtian Dynasty, they were reduced to tools for maintaining the domains...

But thinking from the perspective of humanity as a whole, the Eight Monarchs remaining slumbering all along was indeed the most beneficial for humanity's unity. Otherwise, once internal strife broke out, the situation would probably be quite ugly.

No wonder the Chengtian Domain launched such a massive formation this time just to suppress the Red Dust and make her slumber again.

"Then... what do we need to do?" Jing Si asked.

The Duke of Stars' eyes narrowed slightly, and the aura of a Path of the Artisan Demigod spread out again. As the Domain covered the entire Red Dust Domain, complex and hidden mechanisms were buried one by one in the void.

"I don't care about other matters." The Duke of Stars answered calmly,

"Not letting anyone come into contact with the Lord of the Red Dust, that is my mission."

...

Red Dust Bastion, Outer Wall.

He Jing stepped onto the stairs of the Outer Wall step by step.

"Lord He, there are slightly too many people, please come this way." A member of the Grand Tai Shi Office cleared the way in front.

At this moment, the Red Dust Outer Wall was already almost completely stuffed with all kinds of figures. These elites from the major bastions had already surrounded the Red Dust Bastion three layers in and three layers out. Even the Watchtowers were almost full.

As the Head of the Grand Tai Shi Office, He Jing was also transferred to the Red Dust Bastion this time, responsible for constantly paying attention to the status of basic defensive facilities like the Outer Wall and Watchtowers...

To tell the truth, since He Jing became the Head of the Grand Tai Shi Office, he hadn't personally gone on any missions for a long time. With His Majesty personally issuing an Imperial Decree this time, He Jing brought almost the entire Grand Tai Shi Office over.

After a long while, He Jing finally climbed to the top of the Outer Wall.

He first looked outside the wall. Upon the bare and dim earth, there were always small groups of Calamities wandering around like headless flies. From time to time, there were even some bold ones who actually dared to proactively approach the Red Dust Outer Wall...

But before they could touch the wall, the elite garrison on the Outer Wall would immediately kill them.

"Have there always been so many Calamities around here?" He Jing frowned and asked.

"No." The garrison soldier answered truthfully. "We rarely saw Calamities before... It was after His Majesty swept through the Gray World that these Calamities became Leaderless and ran outside in scattered groups... We've already gotten used to it."

He Jing nodded slightly.

He turned his head to look inside the Red Dust Bastion.

Unlike the darkness and desolation of the Gray World, the city inside the bastion was incomparably lively at this moment. Pedestrians were coming and going everywhere on the roads, wearing bright red clothes. Every household had hung small red Lanterns at their doors, and there were also colorful flags fluttering in the wind on the roofs... like some kind of grand festival.

"What are they doing?" He Jing asked in confusion. "It shouldn't be any traditional festival right now."

"Oh, this is a festival unique to the Red Dust Bastion, called the Colored Lantern Festival."

"Colored Lantern Festival?"

"Mm... It also started rising in recent years, probably... nine years ago?" The garrison soldier pondered and spoke,

"It's said that there was a blacksmith whose children fell seriously ill, and his family was very poor. When dreaming, he dreamed of a Lantern Spirit appearing, guiding him to hang Lanterns and colorful flags at his door and make a wish to the Lantern Spirit... After waking up, he found that his children's illnesses were all cured. He went out to buy a lottery ticket and even won the grand prize."

"This story spread from one to ten, and ten to a hundred. Later, every year on that day, people would hang Lanterns and stick colorful flags, hoping the Lantern Spirit could eliminate disasters and bring blessings, protecting them to live in peace... Over so many years, it has already become a festival of no small scale."

"Colored Lantern Festival... Lantern Spirit..."

He Jing frowned slightly. He always felt something was not right, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Just a festival born from a beautiful dream and some rumors... What could be wrong with it? No one got hurt because of it. Instead, life became more lively. It should be a joyous occasion. If he had to say, the only suspicious point was that the time just happened to coincide with when the Lord of the Red Dust was about to awaken...

It's probably just him overthinking things.

He Jing tossed away these messy thoughts. His peripheral vision suddenly saw a certain figure also on the Outer Wall, and he walked straight over.

"Eunuch Zuo, why are you here too?" He Jing spoke in surprise.

"Lord He." Eunuch Zuo smiled upon seeing him. "It's embarrassing to say, but although the Red Dust Bastion is now gathered with elites, there is no one skilled in coordinating and commanding troops... So His Majesty issued a decree, telling this old slave to come hold the fort at the Outer Wall, also serving as His Majesty's eyes and ears."

"That's true. With Eunuch Zuo here, this Red Dust Bastion should be a bit more stable."

"Lord He praises me too much."

He Jing's gaze swept over the crowded Red Dust Outer Wall and those elite guards lurking in the dark within the city. He couldn't help but sigh and ask:

"Eunuch Zuo, the Red Dust Bastion right now can be said to be impenetrable... Even if several World-Ending Calamities led those Calamities over to attack, it would be as steady as Mount Tai... With this current formation, will that Calamity of Mockery and the Dusk Society truly still come?"

"Whether they come or not, that's not something we can predict... In short, you and I just need to follow the Imperial Decree and do our duty."

Eunuch Zuo chuckled softly.

...

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