Chapter 1816 - 162: Return to the Royal Capital

"The Prince’s emergence out of nowhere is truly a blessing for Great Xia!!"

Hearing this, Zhong Yue also nodded deeply in agreement, expressing his approval.

Jiang Ning said, "You two don’t need to worry too much from now on! After this trip, the Yellow Heaven Sect won’t make any big moves for a while. As for the Five Mountains Prefecture, they should let go of it."

"Thank you, Prince!!" Zhou Sheng cupped his hands and bowed in thanks once more.

Jiang Ning nodded slightly and did not say anything more.

He set down the teacup in his hand, cupped his fists toward Zhou Sheng and Zhong Yue, and said, "Now that matters here are settled, I should return to the Royal Capital. You two stay; there is no need to see me off far."

Zhou Sheng hurriedly said, "For this great kindness of the Prince, everyone in the Five Mountains Prefecture is grateful from the bottom of their hearts. Should you ever have need in the future, Zhou Sheng will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

Jiang Ning waved his hand and smiled faintly. "Marquis, you flatter me. It was just a small effort."

"Jiang, you sent me back, let me see you off then!" Zhong Ling spoke up, lifting her head slightly to look at Jiang Ning.

Hearing this, Jiang Ning turned to look at her.

As their gazes met, he saw Zhong Ling’s eyes, clear as rippling water.

He then nodded. "All right."

The two of them walked side by side through the front courtyard. A clear breeze brushed past the corridor, carrying the faint fragrance of the flowers and plants in the yard.

Stepping out of the Marquis Mansion’s gate, the gate attendants bent at the waist in salute, watching as the two of them strolled slowly along the long street.

After walking a little over a hundred steps, the street widened and the number of passersby gradually increased.

"Jiang Ning, will you really come back to see me later?" Zhong Ling placed both hands before her, unconsciously twisting the corner of her clothes.

Hearing this, Jiang Ning stopped walking and turned around to look at her.

The afternoon sunlight fell slantwise on the side of her face, tinting that originally fair complexion with a faint layer of gold. The fine, soft fuzz on the girl’s face, dyed with that golden light, could be clearly seen.

He smiled.

"Of course I will, I already promised you before."

"You won’t go back on your word?" Zhong Ling asked again.

"Of course not!" Jiang Ning said.

"Then I’ll wait for you." Zhong Ling said, then paused for a moment and added, "If you don’t come to see me at all in the next three months, I’ll go to the Royal Capital to find you!"

Her voice was not loud at that moment, yet it was exceptionally firm.

Hearing this, Jiang Ning chuckled softly.

Then he reached out and ruffled her head.

Her hair was like silk, exceptionally smooth.

Zhong Ling narrowed her eyes slightly.

The next moment.

"Let’s walk a bit more." Jiang Ning said.

"Mm-mm!" Zhong Ling nodded.

The two of them continued forward along the long street.

Though it was afternoon, the sunlight was no longer harsh.

As the prefecture city of the Five Mountains Prefecture, Sky City was still extremely prosperous.

"Times of peace and prosperity really are best!!" After walking several dozen steps, Jiang Ning sighed with emotion.

Zhong Ling lifted her head to look at him, the afternoon sunlight reflected in her eyes, and asked softly, "Jiang Ning, how long do you think this peaceful and prosperous age can last?"

Jiang Ning looked into Zhong Ling’s eyes and fell silent for a moment.

Then he gazed at the bustling crowd on the long street—the peddlers and porters, wives and children, the old and the young.

Weariness lay on some faces, smiles on others, yet all still carried a share of the tranquility belonging to ordinary days.

"I don’t know." He spoke slowly. "The depths of this world are far darker than it looks on the surface. How much longer the Martial Saint can hold on, no one knows. And what those old monsters lurking in the shadows are plotting, no one knows either."

Zhong Ling listened quietly without replying.

The two of them walked another hundred or so steps and stopped before a stone bridge.

The water beneath the bridge flowed gently. Willows trailed along both banks, and several white egrets skimmed over the river’s surface, stirring up ring after ring of ripples.

"Jiang Ning, did you know?" Zhong Ling suddenly spoke. "When I was little, Xuan told me a story."

"What story?"

"It was a story about the founding ancestor of Great Xia. There’s a line in it that I remember very clearly. The founding ancestor once said, ’The rise and fall of the realm concerns every common man.’"

Hearing this, Jiang Ning was slightly taken aback.

Then he gave a self-deprecating smile.

"I don’t have such lofty ideals. I only want to protect the people around me! If the sky falls, there will be taller men to hold it up."

Hearing this, Zhong Ling smiled slightly, her eyes curving with mirth.

"What Jiang Ning says and what Jiang Ning does are completely different!"

"You say you don’t have such lofty ideals, yet the peace of the Five Mountains Prefecture now is entirely thanks to you."

"You clearly knew that Xisha County was the lair of the Yellow Heaven Taoist, a place like a dragon’s pool and a tiger’s den! But you still braved the danger, went alone, and forced the Yellow Heaven Sect to lie low for the time being!"

Jiang Ning shook his head lightly at her words.

"Those two things were just done along the way! Now that I have the ability, and they pose no real danger to me, naturally I won’t stand idly by."

Then he turned his head to look at Zhong Ling, his gaze clear and steady. "I’m not doing this for the rise and fall of the realm, nor for the common folk. I just feel that since I’ve walked this far and gained this strength, then the things I can do, I might as well do as they come. If I were to watch the innocent suffer and feel nothing, wouldn’t this power of mine have been cultivated for nothing?"

Zhong Ling listened quietly, the light in her eyes growing soft and bright.

"So," Jiang Ning smiled, his tone a bit more relaxed, "you don’t need to praise me so highly. I’ve only done what’s within my capabilities, nothing more."

Zhong Ling lowered her head slightly, but the corners of her lips curved up, her voice light as a breeze. "But... there are many people who can do what’s within their capabilities, yet very few who are willing to do it."

Then she went on, "That Yellow Heaven Taoist, the Heavenly King of the Yellow Heaven Sect, isn’t invincible. Yet none of those powerful people came forward to stop them!"

Speaking up to this point, she raised her head, her gaze earnest as she looked at Jiang Ning. "Jiang Ning, of all the people I’ve met, you’re the one I admire the most."

Hearing this, Jiang Ning let out a helpless laugh and flicked her forehead lightly. "Such a little girl, where do you get all these sentiments from."

Zhong Ling covered her forehead and glared at him in mock displeasure, though the laughter in her eyes could not be hidden no matter what.

A moment later.

Jiang Ning looked to the distant horizon. "All right, I really should go."

"Remember, you must come back to see me!" Zhong Ling reminded again.

"I won’t forget!" Jiang Ning lightly flicked her forehead.

Zhong Ling covered her forehead, then continued, "If you don’t come to the Royal Capital in three months, then I’ll come to see you."

She then added, "Across ten thousand rivers and mountains, I’ll still come!"

Jiang Ning smiled, gave her a look, then waved his hand.

In the next instant, black and white qi rose from all around his body, transforming into a brilliant rainbow of light that shot into the sky in a flash, disappearing at the northern edge of the heavens.

On the street below, countless gazes lifted toward the sky, looking at that black-and-white rainbow light and letting out exclamations and murmurings of awe.

Zhong Ling also stood on the street, staring blankly at that gradually fading rainbow, motionless for a long time.

...

The Royal Capital.

Magnificent towering walls encircled the vast city.

On the distant horizon, a streak of black-and-white rainbow light suddenly appeared.

In an instant.

That black-and-white rainbow light pierced half the sky, forming a clear line that plunged straight down into the Royal Capital.

At that moment, within the city, countless gazes lifted toward the heavens.

Seeing that anomaly in the sky, everyone knew that King Luoshui had returned from abroad once again.

Within the Li River palace.

"It wasn’t for nothing, after all!" Ji Minghao wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead, his face full of feeling.

"Why was the Holy Emperor so insistent on waiting this long?" Shen Mengyun asked.

"You wouldn’t understand!" Ji Minghao looked at the Li River palace, which was still being repaired in the distance, and smiled as he spoke.

After seeing that black-and-white rainbow in the sky, his expression finally relaxed.

Just now, he had almost given up on waiting.

For nothing is more trying than aimless waiting.

He did not know how long Jiang Ning would be gone, where he had gone, what he was doing, or when he would return.

Only at this moment did the stone hanging in his heart finally fall completely.

He also knew that his waiting just now, with Jiang Ning’s return, would no longer be in vain.

Now that Jiang Ning was back, the inner guards waiting at the Dongling Marquis Mansion would pass the word to him that Ji Minghao had been waiting here in the Li River palace since noon, all the way until now.

Then Jiang Ning would come to the Li River palace to see him, understand the importance he attached to him, and recognize the effort he’d put into restoring the Li River palace.