Chapter 67: Preparations Before Departure

Flower God's Birthday.

This is the birthday of the Sumeru divine Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass, which is also the day the sages discovered her.

This is also one of Sumeru's oldest festivals.

Originally it was a festival to celebrate the birthday of the first-generation Grass God, the Great Merciful Tree King.

Since the Great Merciful Tree King passed away, this festival has been changed to celebrate the birthday of the Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass.

When the Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass was first welcomed back to Sumeru, the people of Sumeru would still hold a grand celebration for the deity's rebirth.

But later.

Under the Academy's intervention, people gradually stopped celebrating this festival.

What's more,

For any festival related to the Great Merciful Tree King, the Academy would meticulously make preparations, but for the Flower God's Birthday celebrating the Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass, they wouldn't even show the slightest acknowledgement.

There is a saying that generally circulates among the folk.

That is, the birth of the Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass signifies that the Great Merciful Tree King has truly passed away, so the Academy and the followers of the Great Merciful Tree King do not wish to celebrate such a day.

Up to the present day.

In Sumeru Cheng, only a small portion of residents still celebrate this festival each year.

The result of the Academy doing this is:

That is, the name of the Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass grows ever weaker in the hearts of Sumeru's people, and many, like Cyno, even believe that the Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass does not exist at all.

Even A De Ba Yi, who was clearly saved by the Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass, firmly believes that it was the Great Merciful Tree King who manifested his spirit at that time, and never considered that his savior might have been the Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass.

Including now.

When Dixiya and Luo De finished explaining what the Flower God's Birthday was, A De Ba Yi immediately started firing off cold, sarcastic remarks from the side.

"Where is there any Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass?"

"The Tree King is clearly still alive!"

"Hmph—"

"Celebrating the rebirth of the Lesser Lord of Auspicious Grass? Utterly absurd!!"

They couldn't agree on even half a sentence.

Moreover, A De Ba Yi and Dixiya aren't even that close.

Regarding Dixiya's invitation for Luo De to attend the Flower God's Birthday celebration, he vented his anger with a few remarks, then rose with a dark expression and left.

"Don't mind him; with that character, he's as stubborn as a mule—whatever he decides is right, and he won't listen to anyone's advice at all."

After getting along with A De Ba Yi for a long time, Luo De has come to understand his temperament very well.

Calling him a stubborn mule is actually praising him.

A mule isn't even half as stubborn as he is!

Upon hearing that,

Dixiya snapped out of her astonishment and said embarrassedly, "Did I just say something wrong?"

"You didn't say anything wrong; it's just that he has a problem with his head."

Luo De changed the subject, asking, "By the way, when is the Flower God's Birthday?"

"There's still half a month."

After replying, Dixiya squatted down to bring her eyes level with Ke Lai's, and said apologetically, "Sorry, Ke Lai, I can't bring you this time."

Her voice was full of regret.

Although Ke Lai didn't say anything, Dixiya could still tell from her expression that she actually really wanted to come along.

No matter how much she has experienced, no matter how mature she is,

Ke Lai is ultimately just a teenager, still filled with freshness and curiosity about the unknown, especially a festival like the Flower God's Birthday that is obviously a celebration—not being excited about such liveliness would be strange.

"Next time the celebration comes, I'll bring you along."

Luo De also chimed in from the side.

This is unavoidable.

The remnants of the Archon inside Ke Lai have just been sealed, and we don't know if the seal is stable; moreover, Cyno explicitly said that Ke Lai must not receive strong stimulation, lest her emotions spiral out of control and break the seal, which would be utterly hopeless.

Therefore, while Cyno hasn't left yet,

Luo De and the others have already reached a consensus.

That is, for the time being we still won't let Ke Lai go too far afield; at most we'll let her move around more in A Ru Cun, and we'll observe for a while before deciding.

That's why Dixiya just now didn't say she would bring Ke Lai to Sumeru Cheng.

"Hmm, I got it~~"

Ke Lai also knows her own situation, so she buried that hint of expectation deep in her heart, nodded sensibly, and said, "I'll stay here and keep watch with Mr. A De Ba Yi; you guys can go have fun without worry."

After saying that, she still struggled to squeeze out a smile, trying not to let Luo De and Dixiya see her true thoughts.

Luo De also squatted down, stroked Ke Lai's head, and said:

"When I'm not around, I'll ask Kantisi to take care of you."

"As for the test field, you just—uh, never mind, you don't need to bother with it; Kantisi is interested, so let her take over and give it a try. Anyway, the crops are almost mature, so nothing will go wrong."

"You don't need to worry about the quicksand eels either; it's simple—just prepare the feed, and when Kantisi does her daily patrol she can conveniently bring it to feed them."

"The things A De Ba Yi planted in the neighboring courtyard are your responsibility; I wouldn't trust anyone else with it. You know how to write the experiment logs—I taught you that. As for the specifics, just follow A De Ba Yi's instructions."

"The mushroom chickens and mushroom pigs at home are a bit of a hassle; I'm trying to think of who to ask for help."

At the end of the arrangements, Luo De hesitated a little.

How to say Kantisi is also the village's guardian, yet still a guardian who has to do everything, big or small.

It's fine to appropriately ask her for a little help.

Putting everything on her seems rather inappropriate.

Just as Luo De was still pondering who to ask for help, Dixiya smiled and said from the side: "Just ask Kantisi; she'll be very happy to help you with this."

Ah?

Luo De looked over doubtfully.

Kantisi has been watching what you're doing.

Speaking, Dixiya lowered her voice: "The matters of A Ru Cun, Kantisi understands far better than you; she also understands the significance of what you're doing better than anyone."

Otherwise, why do you think she last time agreed to play a word game with you, letting you openly demonstrate in the village!

It's not because she values you.

And there's also that person.

Dixiya pursed her lips toward A De Ba Yi's room, then continued speaking: "Kantisi is not a stubborn person like those old guardians; don't look at her always rigidly guarding the village's rules, but in fact she is very open-minded and also very willing to accept new things, like the technology that A De Ba Yi holds in his hand, which others consider heretical, she is also very willing to implement in the village; it's just that A De Ba Yi himself has always disagreed with this."

Finally.

Dixiya concluded: "You don't need to worry at all about whether asking Kantisi for help would be inappropriate; just remember, when facing important matters, she is more open-minded than anyone."

Oh, like that.

To say who here knows Kantisi best, naturally it's Dixiya.

After she said that, Luo De also felt much more relieved.

Then I'll go talk to her tomorrow.

(End of chapter)