Daoist Liyue, I live in the Hall of Rebirth!

"Did I hear this sentence before?" Shen Ming asked.

"When we first met, you also drank like this. I didn't expect that after so long, you still haven't learned how to taste tea."

"Let's not talk about this, Mr. Zhongli...Dijun, I have completed the contract." Shen Ming raised his head and looked at Zhongli.

This is the first time that Shen Ming publicly revealed Zhongli's identity, breaking the previous tacit understanding between the two.

Shen Ming thinks there is no need to hide it anymore.

He didn't do anything wrong.

But Zhong Li seemed to have known this before hearing this, and instead of speaking, he stretched out his hand, so that Shen Ming could clearly see the golden thread representing the three contracts.

Snapped--

The three silk threads all snapped and disappeared.

"Let the Hall of Rebirth be lively, help Chongyun find the evil spirits, and defend the Southern Cross Fleet for Beidou."

"I thought you would have one left, but I didn't expect to complete the third contract."

"After all, it's a matter of honesty. It's done early and you can feel at ease." Shen Ming scratched his head, but then remembered something, and said.

"Dijun, the sky above Guyun Pavilion that night..."

"It's me and Ice God." Zhong Li nodded slowly.

"Could it be that the Ice God really wants to let the Demon God out?" Shen Ming frowned.

"Heh..." Zhong Li took a sip of tea, "Who knows, since that incident 500 years ago, she has closed her heart, and who knows what she is thinking in her heart."

"500 years ago we were barely friends, but now...not necessarily."

"The Zhidong Kingdom has already infiltrated Liyue. Although it has not been made public yet, it will be a matter of time before a violent conflict breaks out. What is the emperor going to do?" Shen Ming.

"I have my own conclusions on this matter, aside from this, I am more concerned about you now." Zhong Li looked at Shen Ming.

"Me?" There was a big question mark in Shen Ming's head.

"I remember, have you ever been punished with salt?" Zhong leaned back on the chair and said.

"Ah? Yes, yes." Shen Ming said with some embarrassment.

"The contract is strict, but I usually don't make too harsh a contract. Once it is made, it must be followed, and the penalty is even more cautious. If it is not clearly stipulated in the contract, I will not use the penalty casually."

"Penalty is the final guarantee and embodiment of the credibility of the contract. This right cannot be abused, so the situation like yours, where you are punished just for having an idea, will not happen to me."

"Ah? Then I..." Shen Ming.

Zhong Li didn't explain too much, but talked about another thing, "In Guyun Pavilion, I found an interesting thing, the fools seem to have mastered a certain method, can use a certain contract to restrain people, violate the contract will be punished with salt."

"Attention, it's salt, the contract I made, even if it's a punishment, it won't be salt." Zhong Li took a sip of tea, "What kind of punishment is salt, even if it is used on people, it will only increase fear, there is no way to make it worse People know what's wrong."

"Punishments that don't have the effect of correcting mistakes are not punishments to me, but torture."

Hearing what Zhong Li said, Shen Ming gradually came to his senses.

Indeed, no matter in terms of his conduct in the world or his attitude towards the contract, the punishment he suffered did not seem like the handiwork of the emperor.

Moreover, the form of punishment of the punishment of eating rocks is more flexible and changeable, not simply sticking to one punishment method.

If you want to get something and violate the contract, then take away something that is equally important; if you want to know the truth of what you want and violate the contract, then tell the most real and cruel truth.

It is not a simple physical punishment, but multiple blows from the body to the soul and then to the concept, which can not only make the punished feel the same pain, but also prevent the death of the person due to excessive punishment.

"It was such a coincidence at that time that the punishment came to me as soon as I rejected Chongyun's request, and if I agreed again, it was reduced again. It is hard for me not to associate it with Dijun." Shen Ming said with a wry smile.

"Your mentality is out of balance. You are smart and shouldn't be unable to react." Zhong Li looked directly into Shen Ming's eyes, "Although God has His majesty, you must not blindly submit to and superstitiously under this majesty, otherwise you will die." I have lost my sense of judgment.”

"Taught." Shen Ming lowered his head.

"And, what a coincidence." Zhongli sipped his tea and snorted, "In Guyun Pavilion, I saw fools frequently using similar methods."

"Their contract has no credibility at all, and there is no restriction on punishment. It is not so much a contract as it is a shackles imposed on the weak, but this extremely low penalty threshold is very similar to your situation."

"I've been tricked?" Shen Ming frowned.

"I'm also interested in this." Zhong Li said, "Besides, Ice God is testing my bottom line so much, it's a bit unreasonable not to pay back."

"So I let go of half of the people on the opposite side, and left my [eyes] on some of them."

"Eyes?" Shen Ming.

"It's just a small spell." Zhong Li shook the empty teacup.

Shen Ming gave Zhong Li full of knowledge.

Zhongli nodded and took a sip, "These technicians who have participated in this mission cannot be idle, and will definitely continue to devote themselves to subsequent missions, and these personnel will definitely come into contact with some secrets."

"I divided this batch of [eyes] into two parts, most of which are bright eyes, and a small part are dark eyes. The bright eyes were picked out by the Ice God on purpose. When this part is caught, the dark eyes will naturally deepen in the secrecy."

"This incident was caused by Ice God provoking me first. I let go of half of the people in order to ease the situation, give her face, and prevent the situation from rising to direct confrontation by the Seven Gods."

"Among the half of them, about one-third were planted with eyes by me. Most of the bright eyes are waiting for Ice God to discover. They are to give her a warning and pay back to her provocation. These small eyes I put a little condiment in each one."

"The remaining small part of dark eyes is my little thought. I want to see what the ice god who has been mysterious for 500 years is doing."

In the guest room, Zhongli and Shen Ming were talking and pouring tea.

Those who pour the tea listen carefully, and those who talk about it have nothing to say.

Shen Ming vaguely remembered that in the original game plot, after knowing the identity of Emperor Zhongli, the relationship could reach such a level. Apart from the Xian family, there seemed to be only a certain blond traveler.

Chapter 64 Liyue and Dijun

The next morning, Shen Ming went out early.

Yesterday's conversation with Mr. Zhongli benefited Shen Ming a lot, and it allowed him to gradually adjust the distance and position between him and the gods.

The power of God creates the environment for people to live in, and the environment affects our thinking, culture, logic, philosophy and aesthetics, but this does not come from God himself, but the objective environment.

Gods should not be worshiped blindly, and human thoughts should not be influenced by gods.

Shen Ming will always walk with divinity, but only walk together.

When he was walking on the streets of Liyue Port, he turned into the second floor by the way, and happened to see a storyteller, and Mr. Zhongli was sitting inside drinking tea.

Dijun really likes to drink tea.

With such emotion in mind, Shen Ming also walked to the side.

"Sir, are you drinking tea here?"

"En." Zhongli picked up his teacup, "The environment here is not bad."

"It's not bad here?" Shen Ming sat opposite Zhongli and looked at the crowd around him.

Noisy, businessmen whispering, interesting stories of women gossiping around, but children are rare, most of them are in their 40s and 20s, and some are in their [-]s, and they all come to listen to books.

However, no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a place where you can drink tea quietly.

"Drinking tea does not necessarily require peace of mind." Zhongli said, "There are people from all walks of life who come here to listen to books. Listening to their words can give you a more comprehensive and true understanding of Liyue's life in the middle and lower classes."

Shen Ming had nothing to do, so he simply sat down and poured himself a glass of water, and listened with relish.

"It was mentioned in the last book that the emperor was in..." the storyteller's voice sounded up and down.

To be honest, looking at the image of the emperor recorded in Liyue Book with the posture of an ordinary person is also a different flavor.

In the legend of Liyue, the emperor is powerful and majestic, and has been guiding Liyue for thousands of years, and he never misses any instructions given by the emperor himself.

Nowadays, Dijun seems to have become synonymous with correctness and faith.

"Dijun is really powerful..."

"Hey! Of course!"

"Dijun has obtained countless benefits for us traders. Every time Dijun personally gives orders, a large group of people will make a lot of money."

"Hey, I can't imagine what would happen to us without the emperor."

"Are you kidding, the emperor is with us."

"That's right, how could the emperor disappear?"

The merchant who said that the emperor was not there was spitting and attacking by the surrounding people.

"Dijun is really loved by people." Listening to the discussions around him, Shen Ming sighed.

"I'm afraid, a little too dependent." Zhongli sighed, "If this continues, sooner or later this Liyue will only have the voice of the emperor, and will not be able to accommodate others."

"Isn't that good?" One of the traders heard Zhongli's words and leaned over to retort, "Since what Dijun does is so correct, then we just need to follow in Dijun's footsteps."

"A country needs different voices. Putting the future of the country on an individual, even a god, is an extremely risky thing." Zhong Li said.

"Huh? You mean, those words against doing business can also be allowed? Or even be implemented?" The merchant said dissatisfiedly, "How can this be done?"

"Dijun is unmatched in the field of business. We businessmen just need to follow in Dijun's footsteps. Since we can make money, why should we object?"

"That's right." Another trader who heard the quarrel also came over, "If you want me to say that anyone who opposes the emperor's policy should let him have a taste of having no money."

"To oppose the emperor is to stand in our way."

"I don't object to you supporting the Emperor Yanwang, but you should also have your own ideas instead of blindly following them." Zhong Li said after taking a sip of tea.

"However, the fact is that those who obeyed the emperor got rich, and most of the underpants who disobeyed the emperor lost all their money," said the vendor.

"What did the emperor say, just follow and finish the job, where did all this nonsense come from!" said a grumpy old man.

......

"If you want to know what will happen next, please listen to the next chapter to break it down!" The storyteller finally finished speaking.

"Huh? That's all?"

"Sir, I'll give you the money, you're talking about something."

No matter how hard the guests stayed, they didn't stay. Seeing the storyteller leave, the guests also dispersed one after another.

Zhongli and Shen Ming did the same, they went downstairs from the other side.

"Sir, are you still thinking about what happened just now?" Shen Ming left half a step behind.

"Alas... Every time I think of this, I feel that the burden on my body is heavier." Zhong Li said with a low sigh.

"In Liyue, there are fewer and fewer people who can assist me and advise me. Those who are capable either disappear into the long river of history, or become pure policy implementers under what I call absolutely correct measures. .”

"If one day I make a mistake in my decision-making, or if the policy is misunderstood, will Liyue fall into the abyss?"

"Sometimes I wonder if it's too correct, isn't it necessarily a good thing?"

"Sir, don't be too pessimistic, the current Liyue has already started to have different voices." Shen Ming said in a low voice, "For example, Yuhengxing."

However, unexpectedly, Shen Ming's words made Zhong Li sigh again.

"You are wrong. It's not that different voices have started to appear, but that there are only these different voices left."

"When the time spans hundreds of years or thousands of years, you will find that these different voices are decreasing at a terrible speed, and now, there are only a handful of them."

"The Liyue in the past was not like this. When the Liyue was formed, I was just a guide at that time, simply giving advice and providing a stable environment."

"And now, alas..."

Shen Ming was dumbfounded, he didn't know what to say.

The span of hundreds of thousands or even thousands of years can only be understood by the first generation of Seven Gods like Zhongli.

As they walked, the two of them came to Gambling Stone Workshop unknowingly.

"Bless the King of Rocks, bless me to drive to the one with the highest value..." A stone gambling enthusiast was praying constantly.

It seems that he is still praying very seriously, rather than comforting his heart like a program.

"Hey, brother, you are not in business, and you need the protection of the Emperor Yan?" Shen Ming walked over and asked.

"You don't care about me, Emperor Yan is Liyue's number one God of Wealth, as long as you want to make some money, it's always right to worship him more, and, I'm a citizen of Liyue, Lord Yan will always take care of you, hehe. "

"Jade, Master is here..."

Ignoring the brother Kai Shikai who was in a daze, Shen Ming returned to Zhongli's side.

Zhong Li also saw the situation over there and said.

"Look, there are already quite a few people who take the blessings and gifts of the Xian Family and the Emperor Yan Wang for granted."

"One day, when people are used to being right and immersed in being right, and when they get used to it, they won't think about failure."