Chapter 1266: An Exaggerated Response
The Zongming kingdom had grown significantly larger than it used to be after merging with the world of black rain and all number of medium-sized and large worlds. The ranks of the wealthy and powerful had grown significantly larger, and these newcomers had no clue just how dangerous the princess was.
The men headed up to the monastery in the mountains; the women did something even more fearsome.
"I always thought I was pretty, but compared to the princess, I'm nothing but an ugly monster!" A woman ran forward and hurled herself off Mt. Tian.
"Someone jumped down the mountain!" a guest shouted in panic.
Li Zongming had arranged sufficiently many guards around the venue beforehand, who were strong enough to dive off the mountain and grab the falling women.
Before the crowd could relax, however, another woman was lifting up her skirt and charging forward.
"There's no reason for someone as ugly as I am to live!"
She jumped off the side of the mountain, and another guard hurriedly dove after her.
Woman after woman emulated her actions, as if they had all gone crazy en masse. The guards, numerous though they were, found themselves completely beleaguered by the crazed guests.
Furthermore, the women who had been saved were still struggling in the guards' arms. "Let me go! Let me die! After looking at the princess, I can't bear to look myself in the eye anymore! I can't live on!"
The elderly man whose hair was turning white couldn't help but laugh. "This generation really can't take any trauma, can they? They're far too weak-willed—well, better to let them die, rather than waste more resources on them."
The middle-aged man took a gulp of alcohol. "They can't even compare to the nouveau riche of the world of the west."
The old man sighed in exasperation. "Speaking of those nouveau riche, some of them have made their way over, did you know?"
A young man cried out, "What are all of you doing chatting over there? Aren't you going to help stop them?"
The elderly man and middle-aged man turned toward the young newcomer.
"You must be new, then?"
The young man seemed displeased. "So what? We're all ministers in His Majesty's court, aren't we?"
"You must be one of the nouveau riche, then."
The young man nodded seriously. "I was once the king of a large world. After the worlds merged together, my territory was adjacent to the Zongming kingdom, and I decided to join it."
The elderly man smiled. "Understanding the situation is important."
The young man shrugged. "After the worlds all merged together, only one unified world remained, and one ruler for that world. I lost my privileges as king of the realm, and my own power dipped dramatically. I didn't know how many people were lying in wait for me, and if I didn't give up what little power remained, I would have been eaten alive."
After losing the shield of royalty, the ability to control the realm, and even personal strength, there were only two possible outcomes—to be eaten alive by the remaining powers of the world or to be destroyed by foreign powers seeking to expand. Choosing to join the Zongming king was the only possible option left.
The former king of the realm sighed in exasperation. "I didn't want to give up on independence either, but it was far better a price to pay than my life."
The elderly man took another sip of alcohol. "A clever choice."
The former king of the realm asked, "You haven't answered my last question. Why don't you stop the young men and women? Is the Zongming court so xenophobic?"
The middle-aged man laughed. "Don't you think we've tried?"
The elderly man beside him asked in exasperation, "Do you know why I insist on dragging myself to these banquets without bringing even my son with me?"
The middle-aged man shrugged. "Don't you think we've done what you did before?"
The old man revealed an expression of shocking pain. "Last time, I brought my eldest son with me to witness the merger of the worlds of east and west into the Zongming world, so as to allow him to develop connections with the powerful and the mighty in preparation for taking over my position. I destroyed him—and now he's at home under lock and key. I don't dare let him out."
The middle-aged man asked, "Elder Sun, hasn't your eldest son recovered yet?"
Elder Sun sighed. "Recover? The moment I let him out of confinement, he insists on heading up the mountain to become a monk, to free himself from the confines of the mortal world. Do you think I can allow him to do that?"
The middle-aged man sighed. "At least your son is better off than my granddaughter. I brought her over once... she was only fifteen!"
The former king of the realm was shocked.
What had Li Qianlin done to a young girl of fifteen, about to blossom into adulthood?
The middle-aged man sighed again. "We didn't dare bring our descendants with us this time, so worried were we that meeting the princess would destroy them for life."
Elder Sun continued, "And the princess is hardly someone we can complain about. After all, our descendants are the ones who don't have the mental fortitude to live after seeing her—what can we do?"
The middle-aged man seemed equally frustrated. "And if we can't even take care of our own family, what makes you think we'd be able to help others? If we could, we would have done so long ago."
"Who's the princess' companion?"
The former king of the realm could sense the despair that had filled the eyes of the young, that blanketed them and bent their backs with a burden too heavy for them to bear.
These young men and women were all of prestigious birth; they had to be, to have received an invitation to such a banquet. Was there truly no one who could resolve such a problem, even when they were working together?
It seemed as though they had all fallen into despair—especially the two officials in front of him, who were content to let the young women of the banquet fling themselves off the mountain. Just who could the princess' companion be, to cause such overwhelming despair?
Elder Sun murmured, "You're one of the nouveau riche, so it's only natural that you wouldn't know."
"The premier hunter of the three thousand worlds... You're aware of the death spirits' invasion, as well as the crisis that almost tore this realm apart, aren't you?"
The former king replied, "I am aware of the death spirits, and I believe the crisis was related to the unification of the realm. How is this relevant?"
"He was the commander who led the realm against the death spirits. I'm not sure of the details, but all the soldiers of the Zongming world revere him like a god."
The golden-armored warriors leapt down from their peak-grade mounts, surrounding Li Zongming and Zhang Lie.
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