After coughing out the muddy water that choked his windpipe, the scholar raised his head and looked at the Earth God Loli in disbelief.
"Xiangzhu, she … is an immortal?"
"Yes, that's right."
The girl crossed her arms and said coldly, "There is a difference between immortals and mortals. It's best if you don't continue to approach Miss."
"I refuse." The scholar wiped the corner of his mouth and replied without hesitation.
"…"
"I originally thought that Xiangzhu was avoiding me because I obtained scholarly honors. She has some … um, grudges against me." He paused for a moment and did not say 'inferiority' in the end. Instead, he changed it to a more neutral word, "That's why I wanted to use sincerity to move her. But since that's not the case, I'm relieved. "
"But you're not worthy of her!" The Earth God Loli said sternly.
"Isn't that even better? It's because I don't have the qualifications to stand side by side with Xiangzhu that this unwillingness turned into motivation for me to continue working hard! One day, I'll definitely become a man who won't be inferior to Xiangzhu even if I stand beside her! " Not knowing if he saw through the girl's clumsy acting, the scholar smiled faintly, "I'm very competitive and narrow-minded."
"Even if this will make Miss suffer a fate worse than death, you still want to do it!"
Facing the scholar who had such firm beliefs, the Earth God Loli finally lost control of her emotions and told him the things that she did not intend to tell him.
"Yunyi, what do you mean by this?" As expected, after hearing this sentence, the scholar's face showed a puzzled expression. Moreover, because this matter was related to Zhuo Xiangzhu, he seemed to want to get to the bottom of it.
Since she had already said it, the Earth God Loli did not intend to continue hiding it.
"Didn't I already say that there is a difference between immortals and mortals? The difference between you and Miss is not your identity, but the tragedy of being unable to be together." The girl tried her best to control her emotions and continued to speak coldly, "This isn't something that people made up to scare you. Although the heavenly law itself won't do anything to a mortal like you, as the Earth God of Jiang Jin, Eldest Miss will continue to be tortured by the heavenly punishment. Didn't you also feel that her body was a little unwell before? That's because the effects of Sky's Punishment are starting to show … If you continue to be stubborn, Young Miss, Young Miss, she … "
At this point, Earth God Loli choked with sobs and couldn't continue. "Sob, why is Young Mistress so stubborn!"
On the other hand, the scholar's face revealed a blank expression as if he didn't know what to do. He looked absent-minded as he swayed and sat down on the futon. His entire person looked incomparably confused.
No matter how unwilling he was to accept this fact, what he had just experienced was definitely not fake. Moreover, he had some understanding of Zhuo Xiangzhu's character. He knew that the girl would not joke about Zhuo Xiangzhu's safety.
After a long while, he looked as if he had aged several decades in an instant, and his entire person looked incomparably dispirited.
The youth's back that was originally as straight as a ruler due to his success had unknowingly bent down.
Earth God Loli could even vaguely see a few more strands of silver in his hair bun.
"… If from now on, Xiangzhu and I …" His face was haggard, and when he said this, his entire person bent down in pain as he gasped for air. Finally, he held his breath until his eyes were bloodshot. Only then did he continue to say, "If I cut off all ties with Xiangzhu … Can she recover?"
"Definitely." Earth God Loli hurriedly nodded.
"… If that's the case." The scholar tore a piece of cloth from the part of his robe that was still intact and clean. Then, he bit his index finger and wrote on it.
After a moment, a bloody letter was thrown into Earth God Loli's arms. "You go and present this to Xiangzhu … Young Miss Zhuo. From now on, I have nothing to do with her."
Seeing his miserable appearance, even Earth God Loli, who usually hated him, could not bear to see him like this. She opened her mouth and said, "As compensation, I can fulfill one of your wishes … Of course, it cannot exceed the scope of my abilities."
"If a person's heart is gouged out, what's the use of having a wish?"
The scholar stood up from the ground with difficulty. His body was bent, and he no longer paid any attention to Earth God Loli. Just like that, he slowly left the Earth God Temple.
☆
"Sir, you look so haggard. Did you catch a cold?"
The advisor that the scholar had recruited in Shangjing was trying to curry favor with him. "I feel that the wind on the river is strong. I can be the supervisor. Sir, it's better for you to return to your residence to rest."
Ever since he left the Earth God Temple, there were already a few people who asked him similar questions. Even when the scholar looked in the mirror, he felt that his face had become so unfamiliar that he did not recognize it.
However, he did not have the slightest intention of changing this.
"It's fine. I'll just watch from here. The change of the Li River's course is a major matter that even the Emperor is concerned about. There cannot be any mistakes. "
Thus, the scholar waved his hand and rejected his advisor's suggestion to go back and rest.
Speaking of the management of the Li River, it was indeed a matter of great importance to the current imperial court. Originally, according to the prophecy of the Imperial Astronomer, the Ministry of Works was already prepared for the flooding of the Li River and the deaths of countless people.
However, after ten days of heavy rain, the water level still did not break through the simple dam that could not be any more simple and crude.
However, they could not just leave it be. Thus, the Emperor ordered the Ministry of Works to send officials to manage the Li River.
As a result, the officials of the Ministry of Works could not help but look at each other. One had to know that if he was stripped of his official hat, his life would not be in danger. But this Li River … What if the dam could not bear the burden when they ran to the riverside and all the water was released with a splash? Then wouldn't his body, which was not worth ten thousand gold, be fed to the fishes and shrimps in the river like those bumpkins?
Even if they could barely survive, they would probably be labeled as incompetent in management by their political opponents. They would not be able to return to the imperial court in Shangjing in this lifetime.
Thus, a group of people tried to shirk the responsibility. In the end, the scholar, who was homesick, stood up and took on this thankless task. It was also because of this that the Emperor was very happy. He made an exception and gave the scholar the title of a fifth-rank assistant director in the Ministry of Water, specializing in water matters.
Now that things had come to this, even though he knew that the person he was deeply concerned about wasn't someone he could touch, at the very least, it didn't matter if he had to sacrifice a little bit of his strength to protect the land of Jiang Jin …
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