People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 574 Lin Feng: My fists are hardening, I really want to find that pink-haired fox and beat her up...

"."

"Here you are, sir, have something to eat and rest for a bit."

"Sigh, Hall Master Hu is still too much of a troublemaker."

"Judging from your condition, sir, you seem even more tired than when you spent the whole night drinking with Wendy last time."

The next day, at the dessert shop.

I brought over an extra portion of breakfast and also added a pot of tea.

Lin Feng, who had just finished having breakfast with the two little ones, came to the private room.
Seeing Zhongli's visibly exhausted appearance, I felt that this was probably one of the most serious injuries the old man had suffered in the past few hundred years.

I'm incredibly grateful that someone was able to stop Master Hu from recklessly promoting his rice cakes.

Faced with the old man who had spent an entire night finally managing to extinguish Hu Tangzhu's excessive sense of responsibility, Lin Feng knew the difficulty involved with just a little thought.

"Phew, thankfully my young friend advised the current God of Thunder to leave early yesterday, otherwise my master would probably have caused an accident as soon as he arrived."

"It was definitely the right decision to send that child to the island first. If she had arrived during the peak of the festival, the consequences would have been unpredictable."

He seemed extremely tired, as if he had been bothered by Wendy for half a month, but there was also a strange sense of relief in his words.

To avoid being exposed or having to sell his identity to the shadow warrior in public, he spent an entire night explaining the situation to his master after Thor left.

I strongly advised her to give up those well-established sales brands and to temporarily stop selling in Inazuma.

Even she herself hadn't expected to be able to persuade him in the end; Zhongli felt that the current outcome was already a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.
"To be honest, young friend, my master doesn't really believe in the idea that people can be resurrected. Actually, you can't blame the child for that."

"The dead cannot be brought back to life, life and death are in order, and everyone should live in their proper place. These are the ideas that Wangshengtang has upheld for thousands of years."

"The idea that the dead would not be buried, but instead be resurrected on such a large scale and collectively, is nothing short of a fantasy for that child."

He paused slightly, recalling the various situations that occurred during yesterday's explanation.

Zhongli sighed and began to explain:

"Although the power of the gods is all-powerful in the eyes of the world, the resurrection of the dead is too rare. Even in ancient miracles, it is often only a legend, let alone in the present, which has been peaceful for five hundred years."

"Although the child has temporarily given up on sales, she has asked me to take her to explore that secret place outside the city later."

"After such a series of twists and turns, I imagine my master won't give up until he witnesses the successful resurrection."

After taking a sip of tea, Zhongli felt a little calmer, but he also felt somewhat helpless.

Although our headmaster is unconventional, he is generally reasonable and can distinguish right from wrong in situations where it is inappropriate to cause trouble.

The reason why this effort has been so arduous is that the ideals upheld by the Wangsheng Hall for nearly a hundred generations are at odds with everything that has happened in Inazuma.

The dead should go to the border. Even if they are lucky enough to retain some remnants of their spirit, they are very easy to be corrupted by evil thoughts and become evil spirits after losing their physical bodies.

The head of the Rebirth Hall must not be greedy for life, nor fearful of death. When guiding the souls of the deceased, one must not feel pity or cherish one's own life.

This is both the most basic requirement of character and the reason why only a very few people can hold this position.

Although this child's temperament may seem unruly, he is actually one of the most suitable people for this position among all the previous hall masters.

The belief in maintaining the order of life and death was ingrained in their instincts, and they had never seen the dead come back to life before. Even though they had explained the specific reasons, their master still had some doubts as to whether the gods were deceiving them.
"Understandable."

“Normally, the resurrection of the dead is extremely disruptive to order, but Inazuma’s case is just a stubborn illness that requires strong medicine.”

"If Hall Master Hu wants to witness it for himself, that's fine too. There's not much danger in that secret realm."

"If she were perceptive enough, she might have discovered that those lingering souls still possessed some life force, and strictly speaking, they couldn't be considered truly 'dead.'"

After a slight pause and taking a sip of tea, Lin Feng explained to the old man in front of him:

"Not everyone can bear the experience of life and death, and I never intended for them to experience real death."

"The ley lines in Inazuma have been treated beforehand. I have kept the state of most people fixed at the moment when their souls temporarily leave their bodies. Although under normal circumstances it is still a matter of life and death, there is always a sliver of a chance to come back from the dead."

Every country has a different concept of life and death and different boundaries between them, and Liyue and Nata are particularly unique.

The maintenance of the boundary between life and death in Nata relies on the Night Gods, the Great Spirits, and some Priests of the Smoke with exceptional spiritual vision, while in Liyue, it is mostly handled by the "Hall of Rebirth" who are mortals.

"Alright. This child should be with that young lady from Wanmintang now. I'll take her there in a while."

"Her sensitivity to such things may be partly due to the presence of the child's father and grandfather."

The reason why I became a guest elder in the Hall of Rebirth is inseparable from the succession of the previous hall masters. Hu Tao was forced to take on this responsibility when she was very young.

After his father passed away in an accident, the child's first job was to bury his grandfather; without someone to take care of him, he would be too lonely.
A moment later, the room returned to calm.

After resting there for a while, Zhongli, still somewhat uneasy, chose to leave to find his master.

The mechanical clock on the wall ticked, and the morning sunlight streamed into the hall through the carved window lattices.

Stepping out of the main gate, I enjoyed the rare sunny weather.
Bathed in the warm but not overly scorching sunlight, Lin Feng immediately spotted a white-haired little girl tending to the flowers in front of the door.

"I remember you've been out for quite a while now, haven't you? You should have watered all the flowers by now."

"The Tree King said he was going out for a stroll early this morning, and you've been busy ever since?"

A gentle breeze blew, and golden sunlight shone on the little one's white-green gradient hair, adding a touch of dazzling vitality to Naxida, who doesn't get much sun most of the time.

Lin Feng glanced at the few swaying emerald green leaves on the little guy's head, and, not wanting to touch them in public, decided to greet him first before approaching.

"These little guys are well taken care of, and it's a joy to listen to their stories."

"Every guest who comes at any given time is carefully recorded. If you're lucky, you can sometimes even see yourself taking care of them at the door in your memory."

Setting down the watering can, Nasita gently touched the emerald green leaves of the small rush in front of her. In a good mood, she straightened up, expressing her approval of Lin Feng's skill in cultivating plants.

"It was just an unexpected bonus. After all, I didn't have much to do for a while, and these plants from different countries are a selling point for dessert shops to attract customers."

"However, they are growing much faster than expected, and I have instructed them to be as careful as possible when there are guests."

He glanced ahead at the small lamp grass that was swaying slightly toward him and Nasita.
As the first plant to develop a faint intelligence, Lin Feng was not surprised that Nasita would be here listening to its "storytelling".

"."

"Speaking of which, the God of Geo seemed to have left in a hurry just now?"

"It's rare to see this kind of reaction from this senior. He and that Miss Hu Tao have a really good relationship."

Turning to look at Lin Feng in front of her, she didn't remove the hand that had somehow been placed on her head again.

Naxida recalled Zhongli, who had just left her, and spoke with some emotion.

"Yes, we have a very good relationship. After all, he's probably one of the people who has been with me the longest under the identity of 'Zhongli.'"

Lin Feng nodded, agreeing with Nasita's conclusion.

"After such a long period of time, only a walnut could give a god who has lived for thousands of years such a headache."

It's hard to say whether the old man would choose to accept Kurumi's prank or to fight an old rival.
But after thinking about what happened on the island yesterday, Lin Feng felt that the answer might not be too hard to guess.

"."

"Alright, the flowers are watered, and breakfast is ready. How about we go for a walk?"

"The summer festival will officially begin in two days. Although it's a little early, the decorations should be almost finished by now."

There's nothing much to do for the time being, and Nasida hasn't really gone out much since she arrived.

With such fine weather, and sunshine that wasn't scorching even in summer, Lin Feng felt it was a good time to go out.

"Want to go out together? Sure, but where do you want to go?"

Nasita didn't know much about Inazuma's side, and she was curious about what recommendations Lin Feng had.

"Just wander around. There are plenty of stalls selling local delicacies and souvenirs. Consider it a chance to familiarize yourself with the venue for the festival later."

Anyway, let's get out of here first.
Lin Feng felt that Nasita was often too hesitant to take a step because she prepared too much in advance. He thought that occasional aimless wanderings should be quite nice for the little one.

"Lots of lanterns, colorful flags, and stalls selling trinkets."

"There are already so many people preparing even before it has started. It feels even more lively than in Mondstadt."

Along the streets, colorful flags and lanterns have been hung on shop signs and the sides of doors, and various amusement projects that have not yet officially started are being set up at a frantic pace.

At first glance, apart from various traditional games such as dart throwing, ring toss, and goldfish catching, there are several larger booths that are temporarily idle, seemingly to be used for some applied-for activities.

Currently, the signs and similar items are not yet fully set up. The only signs that Nasita can recognize are the "Arena Challenge" of the Sky Territory, the "Secret Realm Exploration" of the Adventurers' Guild, and the "Miss Sheena Meet and Greet" of the Yaedo Hall.
"Hmm? I can understand the other two, but is 'Miss Sheena' a very famous person? She's taking up such a large space."

As I was looking, I suddenly discovered something I knew absolutely nothing about.

Curious about everything new, Nasita turned to look at Lin Feng, who had also paused beside her.

Lin Feng: "."

Who is Miss Sheena? How do you explain this? Isn't it obvious at a glance that Goro was tricked by some scumbag fox?
They not only gave them such adorable character art, but they also wanted to meet them in person.
If we were to actually meet, I vaguely remember that Ichito was a huge supporter of Ms. Hina.
"Well, this is a bit hard to explain. You can think of it as a light novel column exchange meeting mainly organized by Yaedo, and Ms. Hina's fan meeting event is also part of it."

"During the previous war, many people experienced psychological problems. 'Miss Sheena's Heart-to-Heart Column' comforted and consoled all the letter writers through letters. Because it helped so many people, it's not wrong to say that it was quite famous."

Lin Feng gave a brief explanation.

"Then is Miss Sheena a canine monster like the one on the billboard?"

"Hmm, she looks very gentle and cute, which definitely gives people the feeling that she will be popular."

Narcida had a vague sense of familiarity with Miss Barbara, and she blinked, feeling that she understood a little better.

"."

"Well, it's probably true that there are canine-demon hybrids. But the situation is also a bit complicated. The promotional image, which resembles an illustration from a light novel, might not be the same as the actual appearance."

In modern times, one could use terms like "suit," "promotional material," or "image for reference only" to explain it, but Lin Feng always felt that the pink-haired fox wouldn't so easily let Goro reveal his true identity at the meet-and-greet.
"Well, that's basically the situation. I'll explain the specific activities to you in detail later. I think you should look forward to the fireworks exhibition led by Naganohara Fireworks Store more than that."

"This year's summer festival, with the general's tacit approval, will be held directly in Inazuma Castle. Not only will it be much larger than in the past, but the fireworks display should also be exceptionally spectacular."

"In addition, Tianling has set up a challenge tournament, and our staff have also taken some self-regulatory organizations as extra test questions and paid challengers to help with the tests."

"I remember the challenge rules were quite interesting. The winner of the regular challenge could request a sparring match with an opponent, including the general and the head of the Heavenly Territory Envoy's family. If you're interested, you can check this out more than the light novel exchange meeting."

"—Hahaha, Nine Tengu! I'm here to sign up for the competition! You're not going to run away in fear, are you?"

"I still remember the grudge of having my eyes stolen! Once I win, you can't refuse this sumo match."

Lin Feng:? ? ?
Before he could finish his introduction, he was suddenly interrupted by an incredibly loud voice from the side.

Turning around, as expected, I spotted an incredibly burly young man from the demon race, who was holding a flyer in his hand.

"."

The movement paused slightly, and the fist was clenched.
Looking at the familiar pink fox logo on the flyer, a somewhat weary Lin Feng suddenly felt an urge to drag out the organizer of this festival and beat him up.

I originally thought that compared to letting Narcida learn strange things like cross-dressing meet-and-greets, watching her watch a competition wouldn't be a big problem.

But after only briefly imagining the scene of Ichito inviting Kujo Sara to a sumo match, Lin Feng felt that the various activities at this festival could easily corrupt children.
(End of this chapter)