He changed Tiwat

His hand gradually moved upwards, slowly brushing across Ningguang's perfectly sculpted jawline.

Ningguang wanted to spit at him, but she couldn't move her neck.

Han Fulai continued, “Do you know? In my world, people have also studied dust. Dust is not simply ‘sand’; the main component of dust is called ‘silicate’. You want to turn me, the descendant of the Salt God, into silicate? Isn’t that asking me to ‘commit suicide’? I haven’t lived enough yet.”

His hand slowly caressed Ningguang's cheek.

“If a person always wears a mask, we might call her hypocritical, but if she can wear a mask her whole life, can she still be considered hypocritical?”

Ningguang gasped, "...Perhaps only she herself truly understands herself."

Han Fulai shook his head, "I'm afraid that she doesn't even understand herself. In the end, what she thought was a mask is her true self, and she has long forgotten her true self."

Chapter 422 Ningguang, I'm Entering Your Gate [4k5]

Ningguang felt Han Fulai's fingers tracing her face, unsure whether it was a provocation or a tease.

This seemed to be the first time in her life that she was completely at the mercy of others.

Just minutes before, she was heartbroken that she had killed him with her own hands, but in just a few minutes, her life and death seemed to be completely in his hands.

Even her master, Tianyi, who had been with her for many years, "betrayed" her.

She simply couldn't understand it.

In fact, even during that date by the Luhua Pond, or that kiss just now, Ningguang was completely in control.

This was the first time Han Fulai had gained the upper hand in his interactions with her.

If the "sibling" relationship symbolized her taking the initiative, then this time the positions have been reversed—like male and female, where the male is naturally the dominant and aggressive one, while the female can only passively accept it.

Is this his revenge on himself as a victor?

"What exactly... do you want to do?"

Her voice was filled with anger, whether directed at Han Fulai or at herself, or perhaps both.

Han Fulai chuckled softly behind Ningguang.

"I am interpreting the divination."

"Interpreting the divination...?"

Ningguang suddenly remembered that before she came, Shen He asked her to help Han Fulai. At that time, Shen He said that the divination he had for Han Fulai's trip was called "Heaven and Water Litigation", and that she, as the "great man", needed to resolve it.

Now, it seems that this divination has truly come true?

Han Fulai leisurely recited: "'When you have something on your mind, everything is difficult to do. It's like two people vying for the same path. Both want to be first, and neither is willing to give way.' You and I are 'competing for the right,' so someone needs to 'give way.' If it were before, I would give way for you, whether it was for us to jointly control Liyue or for you to secretly take the lead... But now, I don't want to give way anymore."

Ningguang forced a smile: "What if I don't want to give way to this path? Will you kill me?"

"The Emperor once asked me if I would kill you if this really happened?" Han Fulai said.

Silent stare.

The Emperor inquired about this matter.

The fact that the Emperor asked about this matter means that the Emperor knew what she wanted to do from the beginning. It turns out that... she had never been able to escape the control of that Rock King Emperor.

"Actually, it's quite clear if you think about it a little. Since the inheritance of the 'Locking of the Mortal World' was given to you by the Emperor, he must have left some precautions, just like he prepared 'Qingxupu' before the 'Golden House' stopped production, right? I guess you've thought about it, but you don't dare to think about it further, because if you think like that, you actually have no chance at all, it's too hopeless."

Tianyi's little head suddenly popped out from inside the "Lock of the Mortal World" and whispered, "Look, he could appear in your dream half a year ago, so of course he can appear in mine too... He's always known what you're going to do. He said he just wants to see how far you can go. Liyue has been peaceful for too long, so he's planning to train some soldiers or something..."

He stared intently.

Tianyi looked completely innocent: "Anyway, I'm just a 'highly intelligent assistant unit,' or as you humans would call me, a 'working person.' How much do 'working people' earn? Why would they risk their lives?"

Han Fulai laughed and said, "In my world, Master Tianyi is called the 'Crown Prince's Tutor,' which is a very powerful position. It is a position that only the most upright, respectable, and experienced civil servants can hold. If Gan Yu retires, he will probably be rehired by the Seven Stars as an advisor."

"Yes, we're both civil servants, so let's remember to look out for each other in the future."

In the blink of an eye, the sky shrank back into the "lock of the mortal world".

"See, that's how it is, Lady Ningguang... The civil service system is very powerful." Han Fulai had a mischievous smile on his face.

Ningguang sighed helplessly.

Liyue originally belonged to the Geo Archon. Compared to the Geo Archon's 3,700 years of history, her efforts over the years are perhaps not even a drop in the ocean.

But she knew it all along, yet she did it anyway, because if she didn't, she wouldn't be Ningguang.

"Are you saying I can't win?" Ningguang asked.

Han Fulai denied it: "No, the Emperor did indeed allow us to have a fair duel, and you had a chance. You see, even if you tried to kill me, Tianyi wouldn't have stopped you. It's just that your attempt wasn't swift enough, and your Master Tianyi saw through your inner wavering."

Ningguang recalled what Tianyi had said to her on Guili Plain: "You do things halfway, neither going up nor down, always leaving room for others, you don't know anything at all... This is not like you at all."

Yes, if I were in Master Tianyi's shoes, I wouldn't be able to stand it either.

Simply because his opponent was him.

Han Fulai said softly, "Actually, I'm not qualified to say anything to you... When the Emperor asked me, my answer to him was that I would kill you... I lied too."

He always knew he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Just as he had told Ningguang before, Ningguang was a very important part of his life, and he couldn't bear to part with her.

Zhongli clearly saw this as well.

Fortunately, Zhongli did not want him to give up his feelings.

So after asking him three questions, Zhongli told him three things.

The first thing is—

“The Demon God is not human,” Han Fulai said. “This is the most important thing the Emperor told me.”

This is what Zhongli said to him at that time:

"The reason I'm telling you this is so that you know that I'm different from you. As a demon god, my rules of conduct are different from those of humans. You may never be able to imitate my 'Immovable Mystic Stone Appearance.' I asked you those three questions to see your beliefs, but not to force you to be heartless."

“You are human, how can you be so heartless? Even I would suffer ‘wear and tear’ if I killed an old friend… Since I have entrusted this matter to you, you may act in your own way.”

"As the 'successor of the Emperor,' you only have two things to consider. First, whether this should be done. Second, whether this can be done. I don't want you to become the next Heuria, but I also don't want you to become the next me, understand?"

"Maybe I should kill you, but I can't, because I love you. Since I can't, then I won't."

Han Fulai readily admitted it to Ningguang.

"So what I need to do now is what I can do—as Yuehaiting's secretary, to show my Lord Tianquanxing the right path. Ningguang, you've gone down the wrong path."

Ningguang pursed her lips and said, "Then let me hear what kind of path you want to show me?"

"A path that truly leads to becoming a 'god of business and wealth'," Han Fulai said.

Ningguang's eyes widened instantly.

She had imagined many possible answers from Han Fulai in that instant, but she never expected this one.

He still wants to give her the chance to become a god? How is that possible? Does he even know what that means?

“As I said, I’m here to ‘interpret’ the divination for you.” Han Fulai smiled again. “‘Tianshui Song’ is also called ‘Song Gua’. You are Tianquan Star, who is in charge of the laws of Liyue, so you naturally know that ‘litigation’ arises from ‘dispute’. Therefore, ‘no dispute’ resolves the issue.”

“You and I don’t actually need to compete. My path and your path can go hand in hand. You think that if you want to become the ‘God of Commerce and Wealth,’ you must amass wealth, which will inevitably lead to conflict with me, right?” Han Fulai asked.

Ningguang remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

Otherwise, they would have been together long ago by the Luhua Pond.

“You’ve misunderstood. You’ve been in the Liyue Marketplace for many years, so you’ve been influenced by the environment and think that the marketplace is all about deceit and treachery, and that wealth can only be accumulated by taking it from others… That’s certainly a reality, but is it possible that the environment, the world, is wrong?”

"What kind of god of wealth is one who exploits others' wealth? True wealth comes from creation."

Han Fulai stroked Ningguang's cheek and whispered in her ear, "Why not try to change the world?"

Ningguang shuddered, as if some kind of power had entered her body from his voice, blasting open a certain acupoint.

"The 'wealth' you possess is, in essence, mora, money, currency—but it is not wealth in itself. Money is merely a symbol used to measure wealth, not true 'wealth'."

Han Fulai continued, "For the people of my world, the current state of commerce in our Liyue, and even on the Teyvat continent, can be described with one word—'alienation'."

"The Emperor once said: 'All the silver circulating on the continent is made from my flesh and blood. In this way, I guarantee all the sweat, wisdom, and future of humankind. This is my trust in all living beings; to betray it is to defile my blood.'"

"The Emperor created Mora only as a 'credit guarantee' for human labor and wisdom. Mora is just a 'general equivalent,' a tool that appeared to make transactions more convenient."

“The earliest ‘currency transactions’ in this world should have taken the form of ‘commodity-money-commodity’. Money was just a symbol that made it easier for people to measure the value of commodities; it was a transaction procedure. People were originally trading commodities, not money. But as time went on and too many transaction procedures appeared, transactions gradually changed into the form of ‘commodity-money-commodity-money-commodity-money…’.”

“If people only take a segment out of this process, it looks like a ‘money-commodity-money’ model.”

"Thus, the commodity as the 'subject' was replaced by money as the 'object.' People got lost in the transaction and gradually changed from chasing commodities to chasing money. Even now, doing business is to earn money. It seems that being a merchant is to turn money into more money... The meaning of the whole transaction has been distorted and changed. This is called 'alienation.'"

"Commodity exchange is the main body of commerce; money is merely an object, a medium. Money is not meant to increase in value; simply increasing the value of money is meaningless. What humanity needs is more goods, not more money—can you fill your stomach by eating morra?"

"Is this what 'alienation' is...?" Ningguang closed her eyes slightly, recalling the little girl who used to catch fish barefoot on Yaoguang Beach many years ago.

"Those stories you told about yourself, though fabricated, prove that deep down you actually yearn for those to be the real stories, right? Accumulating wealth through hard work and wisdom, becoming rich by fishing and selling fish... That's the story that Ningguang, who sold fish barefoot on Yaoguang Beach, wanted."

Han Fulai's breath got even closer to Ningguang's ear, making her earlobe tickle.

"I've heard that what every businessman remembers most vividly in his life is his 'first pot of gold,' just like Ningguang, you will always remember that Qunyu Pavilion was just a small room back then."

Ningguang felt her body become even softer... Why could this person always see into the depths of her heart?

Was it a coincidence or an inevitability?

“Let’s continue with the example of the Jade Pavilion. Imagine, the Jade Pavilion was also gradually expanded from a small room, built brick by brick. Let’s imagine that if you were given enough raw materials and time, you could actually build the Jade Pavilion from small to large, from nothing to something, and even… build Liyue Harbor.”

"Of course, you don't have that much time and energy by yourself, so we need a lot of people to do this together, so you pay to hire craftsmen to do this... What inspiration did you get from the 'Building the Jade Pavilion' project?" Han Fulai asked again.

Ningguang thought for a moment and then said, "What I actually bought with money was time."

"Time is money," this ancient proverb has been passed down in Liyue, but Ningguang now thinks about it carefully and feels that she has come to understand a different meaning.

"Yes, in fact, this is the hidden meaning of money, the 'alienation' that no one on the continent of Teyvat has been able to escape. Money equals 'power'—the power to control other people's time."

"In other words, the currency in your hand has actually become a symbol of 'power'. People chase after the Mora not because the Mora is so beautiful, but because the Mora represents the 'power' to control the working time of others—what people are chasing is actually the 'power to control time'."

"Only time is the most valuable thing that is equal for everyone, unique to each individual."

Han Fulai gently turned Ningguang's body to face him and gazed into her eyes.

"So you like walking in the bustling city, playing with children, tasting desserts, making chess games... This is the 'Ningguang' you want to be. Those times, those experiences, represent the unique you. I remember every little detail of our date that day, and I remember all the time we spent together."

"We are insignificant humans, humans with limited time. What we should cherish most is the precious time that belongs to each of us."

Ningguang's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes seemed to hold swirling nebulae.

If the path of the "Goddess of Business and Wealth" is not about accumulating wealth, but about creating wealth, then she has actually been on the wrong path all these years... perhaps even the whole world has been on the wrong path.

"The Goddess of Wealth should create more wealth for mankind—just as Gui Zhong invented all sorts of mechanisms and taught all sorts of technologies for her people, making them live happier and more joyful lives, and giving them time to wander in a sea of ​​glass lilies and listen to music... instead of making people toil and struggle their whole lives to compete for precious metals. The true Goddess of Wealth should do is 'develop productive forces and improve relations of production'."

"This is the kind of world I want. That's why I said we can walk this path together. Ningguang, are you willing to try walking this path with me?"

Han Fulai stared at Ningguang.

Ningguang was also watching him.

She finally hugged him tightly and rested her head on his chest.

She said, "I do."

Although there was no divine power to witness it, Ningguang knew that this was a "contract" that belonged only to the two of them.

Han Fulai also held her, stroking her smooth long hair, when suddenly he remembered something.

"Honestly... The Emperor bestowed upon you the legacy of the God of Dust, yet you plotted to usurp his power—that's betrayal; as the ruler of Liyue, colluding with the Fatui and plotting war is also a heinous crime of treason. Oh, and you even caused me to be stabbed and nearly die... Although both attempts failed, Tianquan Star knowingly broke the law, so they deserve to be punished properly..."

Ningguang touched the wounds on his body, not daring to look at him, and asked in a muffled voice, "How do you want to punish me?"

Han Fulai recalled what he had said not long ago.

At that time, Rouran asked him how he would face Ningguang afterward, and his answer was...

Han Fulai lowered his head and bit Ningguang's ear, saying indistinctly, "When we get back... Ningguang, I'm going to enter your trap."

Chapter 423 End and Rebirth [4k]

Keqing felt that something must be wrong with this world.

Otherwise, there's no way to explain Ningguang, the petite and charming woman in front of her.

Yes, Ningguang, so sweet and gentle—no one in Liyue would believe it if you told them.

Ke Qing wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.

Is this still the Ningguang she knows?

Ningguang's eyes and brows were practically dripping with allure, and her affectionate gaze was completely undisguised! Especially now that she was leaning against him without any restraint, it was as if she were glued to him.