30 30. Inside The Serenitea Pot

Since he saw that Zhongli didn't intend to antagonize him, he was a little bit relieved. Then, he whispered.

"Ummm, Mr. Zhongli. Maybe I'm seeing it wrong. But, doesn't that old lady seem to have a grudge against me? Did I do something wrong with her?"

"Regarding that, you can talk to her by yourself." Zhongli replied indifferently as if he didn't really care why the old lady had such an expression. Regarding the old lady, she was none other than Madame Ping. An Adeptus with the title of Streetward Rambler.

"That's kinda scary, you know."

"Anyway, this isn't the right place to talk! Streetward Rambler, let's invite him inside the realm." Zhongli turned to Madame Ping while the latter widened his eyes. Understanding her expression, he continued. "This child already knew that two of us are Adepti since he saw us go inside the Serenitea Pot. So, there's no need to hide anymore."

"Alright."

They didn't ask Ryūhei's opinion and completely ignored him. Ultimately, Zhongli grabbed his shoulder before all of them sucked into the teapot.

— — — —

The three of them arrived inside the Small World, a subspace realm created by the Adepti's power with the blessing of Morax.

Zhongli led Ryūhei to the gazebo where Zhongli enjoyed Madame Ping's brewed tea earlier.

However, as soon as they sat down, the atmosphere became tense because no one said a word. Even though Ryūhei was confident that they wouldn't go too far toward him, Madame Ping's gaze made him nervously swallow his own saliva.

"Streetward Rambler, don't you want to talk to him about something?"

Ryūhei reflexively turned toward Madame Ping who was called Streetward Rambler by Zhongli. Then, he saw her mouth open.

"Youngster, did you draw and write this story?" Madame Ping showed both volumes of the Dragon Ball manga.

"Yes, ma'am. This lowly one is the person who drew the manga. Is there something wrong with my story?" Ryūhei asked.

Then, she flipped and showed the pages where she needed Ryūhei's explanation.

"Here! Why did you draw such indecent things?"

It was the second chapter where Goku laid his head on Bulma's crotch.

Now he understood why Madame Ping held a grudge against him. He immediately made excuses.

"Isn't it normal for a child who grew up in a secluded place to have shallow knowledge, especially far from settlements and left behind by his grandfather who had already departed for the afterlife? And from this story, it can be said that children of that age must be given sufficient knowledge." Ryūhei explained. "Apart from his grandfather, Goku has never met another human before Bulma appeared. He doesn't even know the difference between boys and girls. So this could also be a lesson as well so that children in Liyue Harbor or other nations need to be given sufficient knowledge by their parents or those who take care of them. I admit, there might be some dirty jokes, but I promise that I won't go too far."

Ryūhei bowed while apologizing to Madame Ping earnestly. After all, he just copied the manga from Earth and he wanted everyone to get to know the so-called manga.

In the first place, Ryūhei wasn't an actual author. He wasn't an expert at writing a story as he was just an artist and musician back on Earth.

It would be troublesome if he changed the storyline of Dragon Ball after it was published.

"If you know your work contains dirty jokes, why did you sell it to my youngest disciple?"

"Youngest disciple?" Ryūhei wondered who her youngest disciple was. But after pondering for a moment, he remembered. "Little Yaoyao?"

"She is." Madame Ping replied shortly.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I only meant to offer the Dragon Ball manga because it is a story about martial arts after I heard that she was an Adeptus' disciple."

"Is what you said true?"

"There's no advantage to deceive an Adeptus like you, ma'am."

Madame Ping glared at him.

"Even so, I still need to punish you for tarnishing my disciple's eyes."

She drew a certain formation in the air, then threw it at him. Ryūhei didn't dare fight back unless he wanted a harsher punishment.

As soon as the formation landed on Ryūhei's body, he felt his body's weight multiply by many times. And no doubt, it was a gravity formation created through the Adeptus Art.

Ryūhei could hold it at first. But, the weight continued to increase as time went by. Standing straight was already difficult, let alone taking a step.

Each passing moment made his body heavier and caused his feet to sink to the ground. His face was reddened from holding a weight that was many times his weight while his body was covered with sweat after exerting so much effort to bear the weight. Not long after, he fell on his knee while gritting his teeth. He couldn't hold it anymore and prepared to strengthen his body with cursed energy.

However, the moment he was about to do that, the gravity formation was lifted.

— — — —

An hour later after seeing the previous matter was settled, Zhongli opened his mouth.

"Niwa Ryūhei."

Ryūhei turned to Zhongli.

"It's fine if you just call me Ryūhei, Mr. Zhongli."

Zhongli nodded.

"Ryūhei. If Liyue Harbor encounters a crisis, what will you do?"

Ryūhei narrowed his eyes as soon as he heard Zhongli's question.

"Is this a test? How to answer his question?" Ryūhei said in his mind.

Since Ryūhei didn't answer right away, Zhongli spoke again.

"You don't have to worry about your answer. I'm on the neutral side and I promise won't do anything to you regardless of your answer. I just hope that you tell me honestly what you will do if Liyue Harbor encounters a crisis."

Zhongli's expression was so deadpan that it was hard to tell what he was thinking. But since Ryūhei guessed that Zhongli was Morax who had little chance of breaking his promise, he answered.

"I will try to help Liyue Qixing to overcome the crisis. After all, I like this city. But if I can't and the crisis is beyond Liyue Qixing and my power to defend Liyue Harbor, I might back off and return to Inazuma."

Zhongli nodded and little did Ryūhei know that his answer was what Zhongli was waiting for.

"Well. Preserving your life is important. You might not know that there might be people who are so devastated by your death."

Ryūhei didn't know why Zhongli said that. But he just nodded since he also knew how painful it was when someone dear to him left him.

"But, why did you ask something like that?" Ryūhei asked.

Zhongli held his chin while looking at Ryūhei before answering.

"I was just wondering what would happen if Liyue Harbor no longer had the protection of the Geo Archon? And what would happen if Liyue Harbor encountered a crisis?"

"No longer protected? What do you mean?" Ryūhei frowned.

"Even though Archons are considered immortal, they can still die if killed. So, what would happen if the Geo Archon died or disappeared? Would Liyue Harbor still prosper? Or destroyed instead? What do you think?"

Ryūhei furrowed his brows in surprise. And from the way Zhongli said it, it was as if he hinted at something.

"When you said so, you sound like the Geo Archon himself."

"Because I'm." Zhongli replied nonchalantly.

Even though Ryūhei had suspected that beforehand, it seemed like Zhongli was indeed the real Geo Archon, Morax. However, he was confused.

"Why did you tell me your identity?"

"Because I trust my judgment. You didn't seem surprised about my identity."

"Hell, I'm surprised, alright! Though, I already guessed your identity as an Adeptus because of your lack of common sense. I just didn't think that you're the Geo Archon." Ryūhei exclaimed. "Regarding your previous question, it's likely that you're going to retire. And forgive me for being blunt. Why did you bother wanting to know whether or not Liyue Harbor could prosper without you? You really don't understand humans, do you? "What is human?" It's a simple question, yet it unwraps the bundle of complexity, contradictions, and mystery."

Hearing what Ryūhei said, Zhongli and Madame Ping said nothing and eagerly listened to Ryūhei.

So, Ryūhei continued.

"Humans are sentient beings endowed with intelligence. And don't get me wrong, some of them even have intelligence that can surpass that of Archons. Humans can't live a solitary life as they will be more comfortable when they're connected while sharing strong emotions and stories and led by a strong, charismatic leader who is keeping them safe and together. So, they learn how to communicate and express ideas.

By doing so, they can turn the impossible into a possibility. Even though humans are weak creatures, with enough resources and intelligence, they can create weapons or something to protect them. They may be incomparable to Archons or Adepti in terms of power, but if they are given enough time, they can create extraordinary things while still being one level below Archons' power.

When they encounter disaster, they will unite to fight it together eventually. The reason was obvious, some of them want to protect their homeland, some of them want to protect their families, and some of them keep their promise or perhaps a contract to keep Liyue safe and sound.

All in all, whether Liyue Harbor can prosper or not depends on them. Your time has long passed. A new era will be born if you really want to retire."