"But there's one thing I have to state in advance."
Rowan looked at Zhongli and spoke plainly.
"If Ningguang asks me for help… then I probably won't be able to just stand by and watch."
Rowan was a simple man.
Honestly, he was like most men—no grand ambition, just wanting to live his own comfortable life.
He'd already put Mondstadt in a pretty good place. Once everything there was fully on track…
He planned to let go and travel around other nations.
And there was another "classic male weakness" he had.
A hero could never resist a beauty.
Rowan was no exception.
He didn't love power, and he didn't love money.
He just liked beautiful women.
So if Ningguang came to him with conditions, asking him to suppress Osial…
He really wouldn't be able to refuse.
Plus, Mondstadt and Liyue were already extremely close. Many things in Liyue were starting to follow Mondstadt's example now.
Cooperation between the two nations was only getting tighter.
If he truly sat back and did nothing, people would talk.
So he had to make this clear to Zhongli in advance—otherwise, Zhongli might think he was going back on his word.
"…Fair enough."
"But I hope you don't personally take action if you can avoid it."
Zhongli understood Rowan's difficulties and didn't force the issue.
He offered a compromise.
As long as Rowan didn't act openly himself, it was fine.
Indirect help—help from the shadows—was acceptable.
Zhongli only needed the surface narrative to look like it was the Liyue Qixing and the adepti who dealt with Osial together.
Everything else didn't need to be taken too seriously.
"Alright," Rowan nodded. "Then we'll do it that way."
"But, old man… I still have to warn you."
"Are you really going to fake your death?"
"This isn't something to joke about."
As someone who came from a world without gods, Rowan understood exactly how hard rule by humans was—and the cost it carried.
Five thousand years of history proved how unreliable "human rule" could be.
It was only because the modern world possessed something like "gods" in another form—something that restrained certain ambitions—that some people's darker intentions were kept in check.
Otherwise, without that "little boy," the world today would've long since started a new season of chaos.
Rowan knew that once a nation lost its god…
It would lose confidence.
Even if Liyue had always been wealthy and proud—
Once it faced the outside world, it would lack backbone, because its greatest pillar would be gone.
That was why, back then, his homeland had been willing to smash pots and sell iron just to create that "little boy."
You might not use it.
But you could never afford not to have it.
Same principle.
Liyue could live without Rex Lapis appearing in public…
But it could not afford to truly "lose" Rex Lapis.
Because the nations that already coveted Liyue would spare no cost to destroy it.
Even if Rex Lapis only "fake died," they could simply pretend they didn't know the truth.
Because they would say:
Since you chose rule by man, you must bear the price of rule by man.
If Rex Lapis still tried to interfere in human affairs, that would be overstepping—even deceit.
And once that happened…
No matter how high his faith once was in Liyue, it would flip into curses and contempt.
When a person who's always done good does one bad thing, all their past good gets erased.
People only remember the bad.
They spit on him for it.
Like the Lawrence Clan of Mondstadt.
Even though there had once been "good Lawrences" who helped overthrow the old nobles—
Mondstadt only remembered the oppression the Lawrence name later brought.
On the other hand, when a villain suddenly does one good deed, people call it repentance.
They selectively ignore everything that came before.
That was humanity.
No one notices you when you do good—
But the moment you do wrong, you're condemned by a thousand mouths.
Humans were contradictory creatures.
Right now, Liyue was full of "Rex Lapis fans," or twisted Rex Lapis fans.
But if Rex Lapis faked his death, and Liyue got torn apart by foreign forces…
Then Rex Lapis returned to turn the tide and save Liyue—
He wouldn't be met with relief or praise.
He'd be drowned in malice and insults.
That was people.
Human greed never had an end.
As a human himself, Rowan understood it better than anyone.
And that was exactly why so many people questioned Liyue stepping into rule by man.
They didn't believe Zhongli didn't understand this.
So why was Zhongli still choosing this path so decisively?
If Zhongli was tired, he could do it gradually.
Five years.
Ten years.
Then appear once every century.
Let people slowly get used to Rex Lapis "not being around," and let foreign nations also get used to it—
Then retire for real.
Why make it so sudden?
Why use a fake death to slip away?
Didn't he realize that without a god, Liyue would become a child holding a brick of gold?
And beyond that—Liyue controlled the minting power of all Teyvat.
The Golden House kept producing mora under the authority of the Geo Archon's divine power.
If Zhongli vanished, what would happen to ownership of the Golden House?
This was reality—not a kid-friendly game.
Games could not show it that brutally, because children were playing too.
But reality was different.
Did he really think the Fatui were obedient babies?
They ran moneylending businesses in Liyue.
Had they never killed anyone?
Had they never broken Liyue's laws?
Of course they had.
But what was Liyue's principle?
Debts must be repaid—heaven's truth.
So the authorities often turned a blind eye to the Northland Bank and the debt-collecting behavior around places like the teahouses.
The moment Liyue "lost" the Geo Archon, the Fatui would absolutely dare to make a move on Liyue.
Just look at the Liyue Qixing.
In the past, the Qixing had been personally selected and set by Rex Lapis.
But once the Geo Archon "died," even the Qixing elections started going wrong.
The Fatui directly interfered in the Qixing election.
Why?
Did the Fatui not know Rex Lapis was still alive?
Of course they knew.
So why did they dare?
Because they knew that even if Rex Lapis was alive, he no longer had the ability—or the qualification—to interfere.
On Teyvat, Rex Lapis would be treated as a "dead god."
If he truly threw everything aside and acted anyway—
Then Liyue and Morax would become a joke.
A complete joke.
And what would Liyue become internationally?
Clowns.
That was the real reason the Fatui dared to interfere.
So Rowan was warning Zhongli: think it through.
Of course, if Zhongli insisted on faking his death, then that was his own decision.
Zhongli listened, then sighed, and spoke slowly.
"I've already thought it through."
"No need to say more."
"I'm tired."
"Carrying Liyue's three thousand seven hundred years of history… even a stubborn rock like me has been worn smooth."
"Now, I only want to be an ordinary man."
"To stroll through Liyue Harbor, walk birds, listen to stories, and play mahjong."
"To be a plain, ordinary person."
(End of Chapter)
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