Chapter 375

The Flower God is still alive.

This can be called the most explosive news of today.

Whether they are followers of the Flower God, followers of the Dendro Archon, or followers of the Red King.

Upon hearing this news,

Some rejoiced, some were shocked, some could not believe it.

One must know that the Flower God's death is a fact.

This is an event recorded in the annals of the tribal people, the Red King's followers, and the Academy.

【After the Flower God fell, the sandstorm wailed, and the Guardian Spirits lamented.】

【The Red King, at the site where the heavenly nail fell, sought the old paradise and built for the Flower God an eternal oasis where time stands still.】

【The gift from the heavens maintains its stillness deep underground; here the Flower God's final essence is preserved.】

【The Great Guardian Spirit named Feilijisi was appointed by the Red King as Oasis Governor; to guard the resting place of her lady mistress, she used her Guardian Spirit power to keep the springs flowing, thus verdant patches dotted the desert, providing shelter of the verdant dragons for refugees who lost their homes, and the Red King also built a complex water conduit network beneath the dunes to irrigate the lands of mortal nations.】

This is the record in the historical annals of the Flower God's fall and the Guardian Spirits.

Among them, the name Feilijisi.

And it matches the Guardian Spirit who just presented the Flower God's birthday gift to Nadixa.

Although the humanoid Feilijisi differs somewhat from the record in the latter half of the annals, which states: '【After the Guardian Spirits lost their master, they traded freedom for servitude, using silver bottles as cages, offered their true names to the Red King, and became his slaves.】'

But Nadixa acknowledged Feilijisi's identity.

This is the Flower God's birthday celebration, acknowledged before all the people of Sumeru Cheng.

In other words,

This Feilijisi is exactly that Great Guardian Spirit.

It must be said,

Luo De and Nadixa both underestimated how shocking the name Feilijisi is to the desert people.

The reason is also simple.

Oasis Governor Feilijisi.

This legendary Great Guardian Spirit, during the time when the Red King still ruled the desert, single-handedly kept the entire Great Red Sand Sea in an oasis state, and even enabled the Red King, with the aid of such an oasis, to build Teyvat's greatest underground water transport network.

As long as she is present,

the desert can escape the scourge of yellow sand and drought, and can also reclaim the grand oasis civilization of the era of Guer City.

The tribal people cheered at the reappearance of the Great Guardian Spirit, and the Red King's followers likewise had something to say.

Everyone knows,

The Guardian Spirit Lilu Paar, who destroyed Guer City back then, was personally torn into seven pieces by the Red King.

Now she has broken the Red King's seal and returned.

Could it be that she possesses news of the Red King?

The Academy's historians were even more buzzing with thoughts.

As historians,

To verify the desert's history, they fearlessly braved the various deadly perils of the desert, heading to numerous ruins, seeking the true history buried beneath the yellow sand.

And Lilu Paar and Feilijisi, these two Guardian Spirits who lived through the Age of Gods,

Undoubtedly are the best historical witnesses.

They have witnessed even more than the Little Auspicious Grass King.

If it were not for the inappropriate occasion,

this bunch of historians, whose heads are full of history, would surely rush to Nadixa's carriage to confirm with these two Guardian Spirits the great historical events that occurred a thousand years ago.

The commotion of the Guardian Spirits together with the Flower Spirits did not last long.

Because

an even more shocking event that left people gaping has arrived.

As the flower cart advances.

Nadixa, who had accepted the Flower God's offering, arrived at the planned celebration venue, the Grand Bazaar.

This former lower district of Sumeru Cheng, a venue for artistic performances that the Academy repeatedly ordered to be shut, now has the opportunity to perform before the gods of all Sumeru Cheng and all of Teyvat.

The shops on both sides of the street are all closed today.

Everyone in the Grand Bazaar has focused their attention on the climactic play at Zubair Theatre.

Especially the final appearance, the Flower God's Dance.

This dance, once performed for the common folk of Sumeru Cheng, now has the chance to be performed before the Little Auspicious Grass King for the first time.

As the performer,

Nilou, who routinely sews her own dance costume, is extremely nervous right now, especially when she hears theatre boss Zubair say the flower cart is about to arrive, feeling as if her heart might jump out of her throat.

Before, Nadixa once borrowed Kaiselin's body to ask Nilou once whether she wanted to invite the Little Auspicious Grass King to personally watch her dance.

But without exception, they were all refused by Nilou.

At that time, when Nadixa and Luo De spoke of this matter, they were also heartbroken over Nilou's refusal for a long while.

However,

Nilou actually does not refuse to perform the Flower God's Dance for Nadixa; she simply thinks that if the Little Auspicious Grass King were to personally come watch the performance, she would surely be very nervous.

In fact,

her premonition was correct.

From knowing that this year's Flower God's birthday celebration had the Flower God's Dance set as the closing act, and that Nadixa would personally come to watch, Nilou has been in a state of tension ever since.

Especially upon learning that this Flower God's birthday celebration will be a grand affair, with all the gods of Teyvat coming, and the high officials of various nations also coming to watch the performance.

Nilou repeatedly made serious mistakes during rehearsals.

Such an impression state of nervous emotion.

Not only did it make her more flustered when the ceremony truly arrived, but the whole theatre was also filled with a tense and uneasy atmosphere.

Nobody knows the difficulties of Zubayr Theatre better than they do.

As the largest and most accessible performance theatre in Sumeru Cheng.

Since its establishment, Zubayr Theatre has never been valued by the Academy, and even applying for maintenance funds and touring venues has been impossible.

Moreover, they persisted in holding the Flower God's Birthday Festival for the Little Auspicious Grass King, even though everyone in Sumeru Cheng ignored the Little Auspicious Grass King.

This also made the Academy, feeling embarrassed, even more angry, and its suppression intensified.

Such a difficult environment.

This caused the actors of Zubayr Theatre to leave in batches.

Consequently, this generation.

Including the owner Sheikh Zubayr, they all were in a state of working for love, relying solely on selling costumes and props to maintain the theatre's expenses.

The worst times.

They didn't even have money to repair the leaks in the theatre's roof.

Until Nadixa returned, lifted the Academy's art ban, and allowed encouraging Academy scholars to go to Zubayr Theatre to appreciate and learn artistic performances; meanwhile the Academy also renewed its attention to Zubayr Theatre, allocating a fund sufficient to fully renovate the theatre, which finally let Zubayr return to a profitable state.

Everyone at Zubayr Theatre knows this.

They have made it to today.

It's all because of the Little Auspicious Grass King.

So if they mess up this Flower God's Birthday Festival, causing the Little Auspicious Grass King sir and even all of Sumeru to lose face, even if the Little Auspicious Grass King sir doesn't pursue the matter, the Academy will surely use this as an excuse to cut support for Zubayr.

"Little Auspicious Grass King sir, bless us, may we not make too many mistakes later."

In the dressing room backstage, Nilou, dressed in fine attire, pressed her palms together and prayed to Nadixa.

The actors of Zubayr Theatre have already come in several batches.

But no matter how they tried to comfort her,

Nilou still couldn't suppress the tightness in her chest, and even her hands began to tremble.

She had never experienced this before.

She had no doubt that she would make a mistake later; it was almost a hundred percent.

And the more she thought this way, the more nervous she became; even slapping herself hard couldn't suppress her body's trembling.

"Nilou."

"Are you nervous?"

Just then, a gentle voice came from behind Nilou.

Immediately after,

A pair of arms like white jade wrapped around Nilou's neck and pulled her into an embrace from behind.

"Nab."

"Are you not nervous?"

Nilou didn't turn around.

This voice was all too familiar to her.

That was the dancer who recently joined the theatre.

Normally speaking.

As the Flower God's Birthday Festival approached, hastily adding a new dancer who had never rehearsed with them was highly inappropriate.

But after Nab performed an improvised dance to the music,

everyone at Zubayr Theatre fell silent.

They couldn't help but admit.

This new dancer, in terms of dance skill, was in no way inferior to their mainstay Nilou; such a performance also made them wholeheartedly accept her.

Through Sheikh Zubayr's arrangement.

Nab was ultimately designated as the dancer to perform the Flower God's Dance alongside Nilou on stage.

This decision also caused considerable controversy in the theatre.

Since the Flower God's Dance program existed, it had always been a solo dance, with no precedent for a duet.

But Sheikh Zubayr insisted on his decision, and given Nab's strong dance skill, Nilou also said she didn't mind, so everyone relented.

In the subsequent rehearsals,

Nab displayed even more astonishing dance talent.

No matter the performance, after just one practice she could match Nilou's level.

Even saying,

her dance appeared to be somewhat better than Nilou's.

Nilou is not a jealous person.

Regarding Nab, who suddenly came to the theatre and stole her spotlight, her attitude was extremely friendly, and she even taught Nab all the details and her own experience of the Flower God's Dance.

When teaching her, Nab would always say some strange things.

Like saying, "Her steps back then weren't like this," "This move should be harder," "Still, we can't be too demanding; Nab's dance is still too difficult for mortals," etc.

Every time Nilou asked what she was muttering,

Nab would always brush it off with various excuses.

I don't know why.

Sometimes even though I clearly know she's talking nonsense there, Nilou still feels her reasoning is completely justified, with no problem at all.

Just like that.

After a period of adjustment and rehearsal that wasn't too long.

Nabu had fully integrated into the Zubair Theatre.

Today she, like Nilou, also put on the exclusive dance costume for the Flower God's Dance.

To avoid clashing with Nilou's outfit.

Nabu didn't choose to sew it herself but asked Nilou to make an extra one, so that at first glance their performance would look more in sync.

"Hehe—"

Facing Nilou's question, the Great Merciful Tree King dyed their hair red, touched her horn, and laughed, "Of course I'm nervous, but the more nervous I am, the more excited I get."

"Ah."

Nilou heard that, a hint of dejection appearing on her face: "Sorry, today I might drag you down."

"It's fine."

"Believe in yourself, you'll definitely do well."

The Great Merciful Tree King bent down, once again pulling Nilou into an embrace and taking her hand in theirs: "Believe in yourself, this Flower God's Dance is an offering to the Little Auspicious Grass King—you'll definitely do well."

The Great Merciful Tree King's voice seemed to have some kind of magic in it.

Listening to her gentle voice, unconsciously, Nilou's hand stopped trembling, her body returned to a calm state, and her mind was left with a single thought: 'Today I must offer the Little Auspicious Grass King the very best Flower God's Dance.'

"Come, let's rehearse one more time—I'm afraid I'll make a mistake later."

Seeing Nilou regain her calm, the Great Merciful Tree King took her hand and stood up, laughing as they began rehearsing the Flower God's Dance together again.

Just as they were rehearsing.

Nadixa's float had already entered the Zubair Theatre, and a livestream that could be called the grandest in all of Teyvat was now opening its curtains.

As the host.

Although Sheikh Zubair was clearly excited to the point of almost losing coherence, under Nabuu's soothing he actually managed to stay composed, smoothly offering blessings to all the Sumeru Cheng people and the gods and guests present.

The performances at the Zubair Theatre all went smoothly as well; even those that usually had mistakes all exceeded expectations, and cheers and applause echoed throughout Sumeru Cheng.

As time passed.

The Flower God's Dance, the closing act, finally arrived.

When Nilou and the Great Merciful Tree King appeared together, the audience in Sumeru Cheng all turned their eyes to them as one, and even the gods inside the Pure Virtue Palace stopped doing their own things, all coming to the light curtain to fix their gaze on their old friend the Great Merciful Tree King.

The Flower God's Dance remained as graceful and magnificent as ever; no matter how many times it was performed, people could never get enough of it.

Nilou felt she had never performed this well before.

When the music ended, even though she was in the Zubair Theatre, she could clearly hear the thunderous cheers; raising her head, she saw the Little Auspicious Grass King, delighted like an ordinary spectator, greeting her.

And just then.

Even though the music had stopped and the Flower God's Dance had ended, the cheers and shouts erupted again.

Nilou turned her head to look.

She saw Nabu, who had just danced with her, now performing a dance she had never seen before.

In a haze.

Nilou saw clear spring water gushing from her sleeve, a flourishing oasis instantly sprouting from the ground, flowers and herbs closely following her steps, silvery white moonlight pouring down from the high heavens, spontaneously clearing a path ahead for her.

And where she stopped, one after another purple blossoms as beautiful as a moonlit night suddenly burst into bloom.

Its name is.

Pati Shalan!

Such a spectacle.

Nilou had only heard of it once.

That was a legend she had heard since childhood: when the mistress of plants and trees celebrated her birthday, the mistress of flourishing flora came from afar to present her with a dance that made flowers and plants rejoice.

And wherever that mistress of prosperity went, such purple Pati Shalan flowers would appear.

Flower God, your majesty

Nilou covered her mouth, trying not to let herself cry.

But her tears still couldn't help flowing.

A thousand years have passed.

The true Flower God's Dance.

It finally appeared again before the Dendro Archon.

(End of chapter)