Chapter 490 "Kyushu Past 2: Forging Ahead" (2)

Watching Zhong Hao being ruthlessly taken away in silence, Zhong Yao slowly closed her eyes, and then she could feel someone putting a robe on her from behind.

Vladimir, who had seen the first part in the cinema, immediately recognized the person: Aju, the gentle and graceful girl in the previous movie.

But Aju at this moment was completely different from the Yamato Nadeshiko who wore a plain kimono with lowered eyebrows and eyes. She even wore the common men's clothing in the eastern continent. When her reserved and beautiful eyebrows were restrained and then bloomed again, she was full of ambition and excitement.

As one of the participants in this invasion chaos, Aju did not seem to feel any guilt. On the contrary, she looked at the outer robe that had a corner burnt by the war with a somewhat covetous gaze.

This is truly fine silk and embroidery, vivid and lifelike.

But such fine silk and embroidery seemed never as good as the covered arm of the person in front of her.

At this moment, her thoughts seemed to fall into memories of her early years. Beside the pool under the moonlight on a summer night, the sister whom she admired, respected and loved scooped a handful of water in her hand, and the water reflected the silver moonlight.

But such beautiful silver moonlight is still not as breathtaking as those arms that look like they were carved from jade.

Just like the Central China, no matter how many rich products it produces, people will always remember the "natural blessings" of this continent.

Therefore, in order to destroy this beauty, they can unite and use the most vicious method to break her spine, making her lose all her strength in the mist of seductiveness and lust, and slowly turn into the fattest and most plump piece of meat on their plates.

Now, it’s time to “harvest” and “divide”…

However, what Aju didn't expect was that the hand, which had lost its former beauty and was now bony, grabbed the samurai sword that was stabbing her from behind.

Bright red blood stained the blade and dripped onto the ground. Ah Ju looked up in surprise and met a pair of eyes filled with disappointment and regret.

With just this one glance, Aju could deeply understand that they could never go back to that summer night when they held the moon in their hands and laughed and played happily.

Zhong Yao's final "awakening" inspired the people who were still fighting tenaciously on the ruins. For a time, the smoke of war broke out in all directions, and flesh and blood fought against powerful guns and cannons, achieving a final victory achieved at the cost of human lives.

The war that was triggered and spread by the "Jonggu Rebellion" lasted for a very long time.

In the end, after almost all continents, all countries and regions were involved, some continents gradually changed their positions, and some people changed their original intentions due to accidents; and the "Zhong Kingdom" that used to be unyielding changed its previous tough backbone of "the offender must be punished", regardless of whether the new partners had any previous grudges or not, as long as they reached a cooperation, they became temporary allies and plunged into this war that covered all continents.

The price of this final victory was quite high, and the victory of the "Jong Kingdom" side could be considered a tragic one. However, when the red flag dotted with golden stars fluttered in the blue sky, those who gazed at it had an indescribable feeling of "worth it" in their hearts.

Even though the branches and leaves have been cut off, the most important trunk and backbone are ultimately preserved.

"What are you thinking about?" Ivan grew up very quickly. It seemed that in a blink of an eye, he had grown from a skinny boy in the north into a sturdy man who could withstand the cold wind, rain and snow in the northern continent. In the middle and late stages of this war, when he cooperated with Zhong Yao on land, he also became a defender standing at the forefront, forming a polarized situation with Tom, the ruler of the northeastern continent and the leader of the air and sea resistance forces across the vast ocean.

Looking at Ivan's changed appearance, and then at the scars on her palms, Zhong Yao just smiled softly: "I was just thinking that from now on... there will be no more emperors in the world."

Not only other countries or regions like her country that have changed the rules, but the entire world - in ancient times, the Central Continent occupied the center of the world and had the posture of the center being the king. It was the uncrowned king in the hearts of all the surrounding continents.

And now, even though two new "uncrowned kings" have been born, they still have not become the real kings in the end. What is left is a plastic cooperative relationship with two sides. Each of them guards its own territory and calls itself "the best in the world."

Ivan seemed unable to hear the hidden meaning in Zhong Yao's words. He was just very worried about her situation and kept asking her how she and the Central Mainland would live after suffering such a natural disaster and man-made tragedies.

In particular, the central mainland has long been blessed with natural advantages and has rarely experienced the various natural disasters and man-made chaos that have occurred in other continents. How can it survive after suffering such severe damage this time?

Seeing the hint of wanting to take care of and protect her in his eyes, Zhong Yao just shook her head again and told the young man the "truth" about why the Central Mainland was "uniquely favored" in the eyes of other mainland countries -

In fact, there is no such thing as being blessed by nature. Instead, it is only after long years of struggling with heaven and earth that we can achieve a period of long-term peace and prosperity.

“The reasons for the ‘longevity’ of all ancient nations are all in their struggle with heaven and earth. However, ‘longevity’ and ‘unique advantages’ will eventually come to an end. Temporary glory means nothing. No matter how powerful something is, it will eventually decline.” Zhong Yao listened quietly to the sound of the salute, as if she was dreaming of the distant years on the Silk Road.

At that time, Romulus was about the same age as young Ivan. He traveled a long way across mountains and rivers and called on his friend to cooperate with him to build a trade route for the two continents to exchange what they had.

Thus, a long yet short Silk Road built by commodities and caravans was created by these two people.

The sounds of camel bells and horse hooves reflect the yellow sand and scorching sun, and the eternal wind brings a warm breath, just like the hand of a close friend who has left for a long time, gently caressing the cheek of the person who stayed.

In the minds of many people, tears represent weakness and farewell, so no matter what the situation is, we must always keep smiling.

Although he knows that the living can never win over the dead, he is the only one left by Zhong Yao's side now - the defeated Aju went to Tom's side in Far Coast, and with a face that is about 50% similar to Tom's with makeup, she managed to get a glimmer of hope in Far Coast, and gradually used means to arouse the covetousness from Far Coast.

It is impossible that there is no one who does not love this beauty, whether it is this continent or the ruler of this continent.

Fortunately, the person standing next to her now is her grown-up self, who has enough ability to protect and enough power to plunder.

At the beginning, he probably wanted to pursue mutual consent, and tried his best to please and support the person in his heart just to make her smile. Looking at the many pictures drawn by people in Central China for this "feeling", the words "eternal" always made him feel happy from the bottom of his heart.

But unfortunately, after a piece of stone has been kept warm for many years without any success, it is difficult for you to have the patience as you grow stronger and stronger.

Especially the person who is at the top of my heart has recently been impacted by foreign ideas and has become more and more "restless".

"How come you haven't changed?" Facing Ivan's question, Zhong Yao just showed her usual faint smile.

Almost everyone who is close to the peak will begin to experience this kind of self-loss.

Once the defenses are breached, the former dragon slayer will once again become an evil dragon that brings disaster to others.

Whether it is prosperity and decline or losing oneself, this is very likely a sign that a country or a person is approaching the end.

In order to prevent himself from losing everything he had worked so hard for, Ivan changed his previous gentle attitude and turned the cold wind and snow of the northern continent into a means to deal with others, and began to confront his former "friend".

Before he could make it beyond the stage of being just a "friend", he should have settled accounts with Zhong Yao for all the sacrifices he had made over the years.

It was thought that Zhong Yao, who had not yet recovered, might be defeated again - but what was unexpected was that this time, Zhong Yao and Central China, who were not facing a life-and-death situation, gritted their teeth and took the responsibility, and used this as an excuse to distance themselves from each other again.

No, it shouldn't be like this...

Watching Zhong Yao's thin figure walking away without looking back, he could no longer utter any strong or gentle words. He stretched out his hand and made a grasping gesture in the air, trying to grab something, but in the end he grabbed nothing.

Grievances, sadness, anger, regrets, and other negative emotions burned into a rage that could burn others and himself. The increasingly moody ruler of the Northern Continent made the people around him feel more and more uneasy, until the first figure appeared who could no longer bear it and resolutely left.

Just like Zhong Yao back then, once she left, she would never look back.

But Ivan was still able to learn about Zhong Yao through various channels - she and her people had worked hard to survive the darkest and most difficult period, becoming more stable and calm than before, and also accepted help from those on the distant coast who might have ulterior motives...

And it was this willingness to accept the enemy rather than him that became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Another group of brothers and sisters left quietly or with great fanfare. Ivan, who was getting sicker and sicker, had no chance of recovery.

Until the day he closed his eyes forever, those people whom he could not forget until the last moment, came rushing from all directions to bid farewell to this old friend who was once close to the peak.

A bouquet of sunflowers, which were at the end of their blooming period, and peonies, which were in their prime, were placed on the cold stone tablet. The former "friend" and the former enemy stood side by side and bowed to the departed friend at the same time.

A once great soul has fallen into eternal sleep, but those who remain must continue to move forward.

"Let's go." Tom took Zhong Yao's hand, and when he lowered his eyes, he could see a tear quietly dripping on the back of his hand.

However, corresponding to this is the close-up shot that no one knows about. The slightly raised curve at the edge of the lips with traces of tears, hidden under the scattered hair, seems to be silently telling the end and beginning of an era.