Chapter 1829: Seeing the Lantern Festival Again

"Was that done by those Blue God-Dao from before?"

Jing Si didn't understand. Why would those Blue God-Dao come to paint and decorate a village that no one lived in anymore... These people clearly possessed quite good strength, so why didn't they go to the Chengtian Domain to seek an official position?

"They were likely guarding the Red Dust Lord."

"...Duke, to be honest, I still don't quite understand," Jing Si couldn't help but ask. "The files say that the reason the major prisons can stand tall in the Gray Realm is because the sleeping Eight Lords are supporting them with their domains..."

"Since that's the case, the Eight Lords should be the guardian deities of humanity, just like us in Chengtian, both fighting for humanity."

"Then why does the Emperor insist on keeping the Red Dust Lord in a deep sleep?"

Duke Xing looked at Jing Si with a complex expression:

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

"From an objective standpoint, the Eight Lords have indeed sacrificed a lot for humanity, but you should have read the files from the Great Cataclysm period. The means by which the Chengtian Dynasty rose were not honorable... There is also conflict between the Eight Lords and the Emperor."

"Once the Eight Lords wake up, they will certainly not easily submit to the Emperor. At that time, Chengtian and the Eight Great Prisons will, at best, have a rift, and at worst, become sworn enemies. Regardless of whether the Eight Lords or the Emperor are better at governing the world, once humanity falls into internal strife, it will give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage."

"Therefore, the best way is to keep the Eight Lords in a deep sleep. This way, it is not only more convenient to govern the world, but it also stabilizes the Eight Great Prisons without mobilizing the Chengtian Dynasty's own demigods."

Jing Si fell into silence.

When he first read the files on the Eight Lords, he did indeed feel it was unfair for them in his heart. They had sacrificed so much for humanity, only to end up as tools for maintaining the domains under the governance of the Chengtian Dynasty...

But from the perspective of humanity as a whole, the Eight Lords remaining in a deep sleep was indeed most conducive to human unity. Otherwise, once internal strife broke out, the situation would likely be quite ugly.

No wonder the Chengtian Domain launched such a massive operation this time to suppress the Red Dust and make her fall back into a deep sleep.

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

Duke Xing's eyes narrowed, and the aura of a Craft God-Dao demigod spread once again. As his domain covered the entire Red Dust Domain, complex and secret mechanisms were buried one by one in the void.

"I don't care about other things," Duke Xing replied calmly.

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

……

Red Dust Prison, outer wall.

He Jing stepped onto the stairs of the outer wall, one step at a time.

"Lord He, there are quite a few people, please come this way." A member of the Grand Historian Division cleared the path ahead.

At this moment, the Red Dust outer wall was almost packed with various figures. These elites from the major prisons had surrounded the Red Dust Prison three layers deep, and even the watchtowers were almost full.

As the Chief of the Grand Historian Division, He Jing had also been transferred to the Red Dust Prison this time, responsible for keeping an eye on the status of basic defensive facilities like the outer wall and watchtowers at all times...

To be honest, since He Jing became the Chief of the Grand Historian Division, he hadn't personally gone on any missions for a long time. This time, the Emperor issued a decree personally, and He Jing had brought almost the entire Grand Historian Division with him.

After a long while, He Jing finally climbed to the top of the outer wall.

He first looked outside the wall. On the barren, gray land, there were always small groups of calamities wandering around like headless flies. From time to time, some bold ones would even dare to approach the Red Dust outer wall...

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

"Have there always been this many calamities around here?" He Jing asked with a frown.

"No," the garrison replied truthfully. "We rarely saw calamities before... It was after the Emperor swept through the Gray Realm that these calamities were left without a leader and started running around in scattered groups... We've already gotten used to it."

He Jing nodded slightly.

He turned back to look inside the Red Dust Prison.

Unlike the gloom and desolation of the Gray Realm, the city inside the prison was bustling with activity. There were pedestrians coming and going on the road, wearing bright red clothes. Every household had small red lanterns hanging at their doors, and colorful flags were fluttering in the wind on the roofs... It was like some grand festival.

"What is this for?" He Jing asked, puzzled. "It shouldn't be any traditional festival right now."

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

"Lantern Festival?"

"Yes... it also emerged in recent years, about... nine years ago?" the garrison said, pondering.

"They say that a blacksmith had children who were seriously ill, and his family was very poor. He dreamed that the Lantern God appeared and instructed him to hang lanterns and colorful flags at his door and make a wish to the Lantern God... After waking up, he found that his children's illnesses were all cured, and he went out and bought a lottery ticket and won the grand prize."

"This story spread from person to person, and later, every year, people would hang lanterns and insert colorful flags on that day, hoping that the Lantern God would eliminate disasters and bring blessings, protecting them so they could live in peace... After so many years, it has become a festival of considerable scale."

"Lantern Festival... Lantern God..."

He Jing frowned slightly, feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

It was just a festival born from a beautiful dream and some rumors... what could be wrong with it? No one was hurt, and on the contrary, life had become more lively; it should be a happy event. If one had to say, the only suspicious thing was that the timing happened to coincide with the Red Dust Lord's awakening...

I must be overthinking it.

He Jing cast aside these messy thoughts. His peripheral vision suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure also on the outer wall, and he walked straight toward it.

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

"Lord He." Eunuch Zuo smiled when he saw him. "It's shameful to say, but although this Red Dust Prison is now gathered with elites, no one is skilled in coordinating troops... So the Emperor issued a decree for this old servant to garrison the outer wall, and I can also serve as the Emperor's eyes and ears."

"That's true. With Eunuch Zuo here, this Red Dust Prison should be more secure."

"Lord He is too kind."

He Jing's gaze swept across the crowded Red Dust outer wall, swept across the elite guards lurking in the dark inside the city, and he couldn't help but sigh and ask:

"Eunuch Zuo, the current Red Dust Prison can be said to be as solid as a rock... Even if a few World-Enders brought those calamities to attack, it would be as steady as Mount Tai... With this current formation, will the Mockery Disaster and the Twilight Society really still come?"

"Whether they come or not is not something we can predict... In any case, you and I will just follow the imperial decree and perform our duties."

Eunuch Zuo chuckled lightly.

……

……

I'm sick and have a fever today, I really can't write, sorry everyone.