Chapter 279: The Hanhai Lord And His New Year

Unknowingly, more than three years had passed since Chen Mo came to the Starlight World.

In these past years, the Spring Festival had become a very distant word to him.

What matters most about a festival is the atmosphere. Obviously, such a thing could not exist in the Starlight World, and the lord, busy to the point of exhaustion, clearly had no time to organize any celebrations.

In every communication from Dong Xia, they also seemed to pay great attention to these details, deliberately avoiding those festivals that easily evoked memories of home, carefully sidestepping anything that might stir Chen Mo’s melancholy homesickness.

But in fact, some things, in the end, cannot be avoided.

Whenever the North Wind began to howl, flinging fine snowflakes against the windows of the Lord’s Mansion; whenever the grass and trees of the wilderness shed their last trace of green, leaving only hard, withered branches pointing at the gray sky, Chen Mo could not help but recall an ancient poem from Dong Xia.

“On the night when the year draws to its end, one has not returned from ten thousand miles away!”

Now, as one who had yet to return, he was separated from home by far more than ten thousand miles.

So, when it came to festivals, it seemed better not to celebrate them, not to mention them, not to think about them.

Time flowed past like running water.

In the period before this, the Hanhai Territory had just enjoyed a hard-won stretch of peaceful years. Thus, this winter, the lord could finally sit peacefully in the courtyard, watching orcs in the north fighting orcs, elves in the south fighting Xiyue, watching clouds roll and unroll above the Nine Heavens, and flowers bloom and fall upon the land of Hanhai.

In such a frame of mind, Chen Mo suddenly felt that perhaps holding some kind of celebration would not be so bad.

Of course, in this Hanhai, no one knew that the lord also sincerely wanted to offer congratulations for that World Tree far away on Blue Star.

Besides, there was an even more important reason: festivals ought to be spent with relatives.

Previously, the lord had been all alone; besides skeletons, it was hard to say he had anything that could truly be called close. But this year, things were a little different.

Ever since she advanced a tier in Hanhai, Princess Liushuang had never again mentioned returning to Tianshuang City; she had simply, quietly remained in Hanhai, and did not leave.

No one knew exactly what unexpected twist had caused it. Ever since that day when the Little Princess suddenly rushed up in an emotional surge and broke through six layers of Magic Protection for the sake of a single hug, the young lady had grown increasingly attached to Chen Mo.

She would not answer when asked; in any case, wherever he went, she insisted on following.

Even seasick and blindfolded, she would follow him out to sea. At the slightest hint of trouble, she would instantly block in front of Chen Mo.

What is called “the most difficult favor to bear is that of a beauty” was roughly like this.

At the same time, Chen Mo also knew very well that, deep down, the Little Princess was someone who understood the greater good and the overall situation. She would not lightly abandon duties that should be fulfilled, lingering here over romantic sentiments between man and woman—well, in fact, there was not really any romance yet.

The Little Princess looked too young; he really could not bring himself to act. Uh, perhaps there were some other reasons as well.

However, from Hanhai City to Tianshuang City, from Xuan Shui Marsh to the Silver Moon Forest, everyone who knew them had been urging Liushuang as to what the overall situation truly was: staying by Chen Mo’s side was the greatest overall situation.

If not for Chen Mo’s heavily accumulated prestige, and Liushuang’s tier being too high, that group of civil and military officials below would probably long ago have tried every means to slip the two of them some drugged wine.

In any case, nowadays Liushuang could at least be counted as “girlfriend-level,” which meant that even in the Starlight World, he now had a relative.

Finally, the territory truly did need some territory-wide celebrations.

For the common people of Hanhai, their former superior territory, Cloud Mist Territory, had long since vanished like smoke; Cloud Mist Territory’s celebrations naturally could no longer be held.

Relations with the Emerald Duchy remained tense, so grand events like the Emerald Duchy’s founding sacrifices were obviously not occasions the people of Hanhai could attend.

Although there were temples inside the territory, the people only gave them some face with symbolic offerings, mainly because they could gain work points from the missions. The Festival of the God’s Birth had no influence at all in Hanhai.

And while each race had its own traditional festivals, within the territory there were humans from the south and humans from the north, there were orcs and half-beasts, dwarves and elves… each race was happy enough celebrating privately; there was no festival that everyone could celebrate together.

Shared celebrations are capable of forming shared consensus.

In light of this, after careful thought, Chen Mo decided: very well, let us celebrate the Spring Festival.

When the lord formally presented this idea at the territory’s year-end summary assembly, the entire Hanhai Territory instantly burst into joy.

A festival belonging to the citizens of Hanhai themselves.

Originally, Chen Mo had intended to provide a somewhat more official interpretation, such as bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, sacrifices at the start of the year, comforting the departed, praying for blessings in the year to come, and so on, but he quickly discovered that this was entirely unnecessary.

For these citizens under his command, they did not care what day it fell on, nor what meaning it held. It was enough to say one sentence: this is a celebration organized by the lord.

If it was to be celebrated, then it must be celebrated; it must be celebrated well.

Of course, in order to celebrate properly, the territory conducted a thoroughly grand preparation.

From its founding to now, aside from a very small number of newly purchased slaves, all others in Hanhai Territory had already become quasi-citizens or citizens, possessing formal status in Hanhai. However, because of Hanhai’s quasi-collective mode of operation, and the relatively short time for citizens to accumulate wealth, there remained an objective fact: the citizens of the territory had little surplus property.

Therefore, for this first Spring Festival, Chen Mo had no intention of making citizens pay their own way. Instead, the Lord’s Mansion took on all expenses.

First came decorations across the territory.

The lord provided sample lanterns and arranged for personnel to promote the production techniques thoroughly. The territory provided the materials free of charge and paid work points to purchase the finished products.

The young ladies and housewives, idle in this winter month, threw themselves into the work with great enthusiasm.

The side hall of the administrative office was temporarily turned into a workshop, full of cheerful voices, the air thick with the fresh scent of bamboo and wood and the faint sweetness of paste.

In a mere twenty days, from the eaves and corridors of the Lord’s Mansion to the streetlights in the city center, red lanterns hung everywhere, bathing the city in light.

There were also window decorations, “Fu” characters, and couplets.

All of the couplet-writing tasks fell upon the professional students of the Hanhai Military Academy. Unfortunately, although the lord had created an excellent environment for them to study Xia Wen, he had evidently not yet had time to set up calligraphy as an elective course.

At first, when everyone tried copying from several sample couplets sent from Dong Xia, the characters they produced were crooked, uneven in size, with ink blots everywhere—truly hard to look at.

But very soon, Chen Mo realized the strength of Starlight World professionals.

Warrior-type professionals, relying on terrifying micro-control over their own muscles, even while awkwardly gripping the thin brush, were able, after just a day or two of adjustment, to swiftly adapt and trace out complex squares of Xia Wen, strokes perfectly horizontal or vertical, angles crisp and clear.

Mage-type students simply resorted to “cheating” with spiritual-energy spells, using an invisible Mage Hand to constrain the ink’s boundaries, turning writing into a game of filling in outlines.

And in the face of these novel items, how could the enchanters—renowned as “the world’s most happily meddling hands; everything can be enchanted”—possibly be absent?

Thanks to long-term policy support from the lord, the enchanter community in Hanhai Territory had grown lush and vigorous, with the main traits of relatively low average tier but explosive vitality.

Though there were few in the mid-level backbone, at the top sat several highly respected masters; below them was a mass of apprentices teeming with wild ideas.

Even apprentices who had only just gotten started were particularly bold and daring, because Hanhai was not afraid of “waste” and openly encouraged innovation.

Thus, faced with these festive “ritual items” personally brought by the lord, the enchanters racked their brains and displayed their skills.

A whole batch of odd and imaginative products was soon presented before Lord Chen Mo.

There were lanterns improved to automatically draw in faint spiritual energy from the air and burn with an unending flame.

There were “Fu” characters written in special living ink on glass windows, slowly crawling about and making various movements yet never leaving their frames.

There were couplets outlined in ink mixed with special spellcasting materials, ensuring a “clean and fresh as new” look that would last at least a full year.

And there were Xia Country knots with embedded miniature magic arrays.

Because the structure of these knot ornaments was so complex, they could hold three-dimensional, more versatile miniature magic arrays, allowing far more flexible effects.

Among the many elaborate offerings sent to the City Lord’s Mansion, some could clear the mind and aid sleep; some could purify the air, spreading a fresh fragrance; some came with a built-in silent barrier, ideal for noise reduction; and some carried “Undead Creature Warning”…

Uh, the last enchanter was clearly new and did not understand the lord’s profession.

The moment that Xia Country knot entered the City Lord’s Mansion, it flared into a large glowing sphere and consumed its preset spiritual energy cycle within minutes.

Chen Mo was not angry. Instead, he rewarded them all without exception, then had people attach instructions to these various enchanted props, pack them up, and send them home.

Of course, for the lord’s festival, decorations were only the most basic step.

Food—vast quantities of food, all kinds of food, dazzling varieties of food—filled every counter of the territory canteens.

At the human counters were freshly baked bread, slathered with honey, warm and fragrant; at the orc stalls, whole roasted sheep and smoked meat sizzled as dripping fat hissed on the coals; and of course there were all kinds of strange mushrooms, limbs of Desert Beetles, ribs of unknown creatures, and heaps of strong liquor stacked like hills.

Though they had already escaped hunger and cold, eating was forever the most direct and effective source of happiness.

Of course, this food still had to be purchased with work points; aside from military families or technical workers, the average person only dared to sample a little.

But that did not matter; the lord had said that on New Year’s Eve, all food would be open, free, and supplied without limit.

Everyone would also receive a brand-new set of winter clothes; even ogres were no exception.

One had to know, because of their unusual body shape, small numbers, and those double necks that were a nightmare to tailor for, these big fellows had always made do with simply wrapping themselves in some waterproof coarse cloth.

Now, at the lord’s command, the chief tailor—famed for exceptional skill and an explosive temper—personally led more than a dozen apprentices, circling the somewhat bewildered ogres big and small many times over, cursing and complaining about “these damned necks” and “this stupid waistline” while still precisely recording their measurements.

Next New Year, the ogres too would be wearing new clothes.

In the three days before New Year’s Eve, the territory also, rarely, opened a Grand Market, inviting traveling merchants from beyond Hanhai and various friendly factions to come display and sell their goods.

In the past, because the official supplies of Hanhai Territory were enough to meet everyone’s basic needs, and work points were far too precious, people had formed a habit: selling everything to state-run markets and buying only from designated territory shops. Almost no free trade existed.

But at this Grand Market, for the first time, everyone saw countless non-standardized, colorful products of various races beyond the usual issued goods.

Elves brought all sorts of delicate wooden and rattan wares, and delicious fruits in bizarre shapes said to possess magical effects. Orcs sold tanned furs and bone tools, which drew the curious hands of necromancers rushing from the Return to Cemetery.

Merchant houses from the south and caravans from the north shouted at the tops of their lungs, loudly praising their own goods until they rang. There were even stalls of the mysterious Sea Tribe, and nearly every passerby cast curious glances at those finned fellows soaking in water.

All the bustling noise reached its peak when the Hanhai Lord arrived at the market with Liushuang.

Cheers exploded at one end of the market and quickly swept across the entire plaza. Those who had been merely browsing in curiosity were stunned for a moment; then they heard the cry: “The lord has arrived!”

A tidal wave of roaring celebration surged up.

Very soon, the entire market echoed with one united voice.

“My lord!”

Liushuang walked slightly ahead of Chen Mo, her eyes constantly darting left and right. The young Fifth Order swordsman could not help but tense her nerves.

In the past, when her father’s prestige in Cloud Mist Territory was at its height, she had also witnessed his might.

Hooves swept by with the wind, and people on both sides of the street fell to their knees like grass cut down by a scythe, row upon row, knocking their heads heavily against the stone-paved ground.

Children had their mouths tightly covered by adults, not daring to cry; grown-ups held their breath, not daring to make a sound; even crippled veterans struggled to press themselves to the ground, offering their most humble respect to the lord who ruled them.

She had once thought that was the nobility’s most glorious moment.

But now, she felt something completely different.

None of these citizens of Hanhai knelt, nor was there that bone-deep awe. Their faces were flushed, their voices loud as they shouted, standing just a few steps from their lord, stretching out their hands as hard as they could, waving wildly, and when the lord raised his hand in response, tears streamed down their faces.

It was hard to describe this atmosphere and emotion. In short, these ordinary people, whom professionals had never taken seriously in the past, made even her, a Fifth Order swordsman, feel a faint tremor.

She mimicked Chen Mo’s gesture and waved to the crowd.

An even greater, more fervent cheer rolled in, and the young Little Princess could not help but break into a smile.

On this day, the two lords were extremely busy.

After returning from the noisy market, having added one more point to their “joy with the people” achievement, they immediately hurried to the barracks.

They consoled the Hanhai warriors who still held their combat posts during this time of universal celebration, and the next stop was the factories in the Industrial Zone still working overtime.

They walked through workshop after workshop, along assembly line after assembly line, and finally, in the Steel Mill’s Reduction Workshop, the lord and the workshop workers shared a lavish working meal.

During the meal, the lord made a promise.

“You lot have served various territories and factions in the past, but in these days you have worked hard without complaint, diligently and conscientiously. Director Li has reported everything to me, and I am deeply gratified.”

“From now on, we set a rule: as long as you have not committed major crimes within Hanhai Territory like killing, looting, or stealing critical secrets with serious consequences, we will deal with you leniently. After working two full years in the Reduction Workshop, you can regain your freedom!”

“If you are willing to stay in Hanhai, I will arrange for mercenary groups to help bring your families here to be reunited. If you do not wish to remain here, you will be given travel funds and may return to your hometowns. From then on, we part ways with nothing owed.”

“However, if I catch you again next time, it will not be so easy!”

The lord spoke with a smile and clear teasing in his tone. The various spies all nodded repeatedly, faces full of obsequious grins.

Old Eri exchanged a complicated glance with his child.

By the timeline, Old Eri was about to complete his sentence, but young Eri still had more than a year to serve.

Should this family go home, or not?

After visiting every workshop, the two lords’ next stop was the Return to Cemetery.

After some time apart, the necromancers had visibly become far more robust, and the various undead creatures in the valley were draped in red ornaments, their bones seeming to radiate a lively energy.

The lord was very busy, extremely busy, so he only spoke a few brief words of encouragement and blessings, instructed the managers of the Return to Cemetery to distribute the New Year gifts and extra specialty products, and then hurried to the council hall.

There, he offered thanks to the territory’s officials at all levels who had worked hard for years, then went on to visit the territory’s solitary elderly, bringing winter supplies and care.

After that, he went to the embassies and consulates of the elves and the Sea Tribe established in Hanhai to say a few words about cooperation and mutual benefit, sharing the same boat and facing challenges together.

Finally, as the grand finale, he shared New Year’s Eve dinner in the City Lord’s Mansion with the families of martyrs, officers’ families, model workers, outstanding individuals, and others.

Without a Spring Festival Gala to watch, the lord actually saved quite a bit of time. That thing—if you did not watch it, you felt itchy; if you did watch it, you felt vexed. It was truly an awkward burden.

The bustle slowly faded, and the night deepened.

On the second floor of the City Lord’s Mansion, several wide chairs had been set out. Chen Mo sat among them, quietly admiring the moonlight, and in his heart looking back toward that hometown hidden somewhere beneath an unknown stretch of starry sky.

After running about all day, Liushuang seemed tired as well, but still refused to sit alone. She squeezed in beside Chen Mo, her long hair, like flowing clouds, spilling across his chest, her pointed ears exposed, occasionally trembling slightly.

Chen Mo could not help reaching out to gently pinch one. Her ear twitched sharply as if startled, dodged quickly, and then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, a flush spread from the tip of her ear outward.

Just then, an ill-timed voice broke the silence.

“My lord, High Priest Todd Farrell requests an audience!”