CHAPTER 350: CHAPTER 221: THE DEATH OF THE RED DRAGON, THE EVOLUTION OF THE PHOENIX

A few dozen seconds ago, the meteor summoned by the "Tunguska explosion" shattered, raining fragments like a storm.

The Christmas Sled wove between the meteor fragments, the blood-red dusk spilling onto the cheeks of the blue-eyed boy. His ponytail had come undone, and his long white hair fluttered wildly in the wind.

"Li Qingping—!" Cezar turned his head from the sled, anxiously looking at the island, a teetering silhouette reflected in his azure pupils.

From the shoulder blades down, half of Li Qingping’s body suddenly disintegrated, turning into dust dispersed by the wind. His body slowly knelt before the five members of the Royal Court Team.

"Li Qingping..."

Cezar stared blankly, mumbling the name repeatedly, knowing it might be the last time he ever spoke it, but Qingping could no longer hear him.

He suddenly recalled being locked alone in the castle as a child, often resting his chin on his hands while leaning against the windowsill, thinking the world was beautiful, but no one would play with him. He would often reach out idly to catch the tide dripped down by the flying fish.

Only Li Qingping would occasionally come to see him.

The first time they met was when the King brought Cezar to meet the seven members of the Royal Court Team.

Everyone slightly nodded, their eyes lowered, hands behind their backs, and no one dared meet Cezar’s gaze.

Except for Li Qingping. He curiously raised his eyebrows and stared motionlessly at Cezar.

Young Cezar froze, gripping his father’s hand tightly, trembling as he looked at him.

Finally, Li Qingping hesitated, then suddenly said, "Prince Cezar, there’s some rice on your face."

"Really?" Cezar paused, raising his hand to wipe his cheek, "But what’s rice?"

"Just kidding." Li Qingping smiled with his hands behind his back, "There’s no rice in the Whale Terrarium."

After that, one night the old King suddenly came to Cezar.

The old King said he really liked Li Qingping; Li Qingping was a genius among thousands, but his heart was not in the Terrarium. If Cezar could persuade him to stay in the Terrarium, it would be great.

Cezar didn’t quite understand, just nodded, feeling a bit anxious yet happy.

So, with the task of persuading Li Qingping to stay in the Terrarium, Cezar would summon Li Qingping every day for a chat in the castle.

Whenever that happened, eight or nine-year-old Cezar would act like he was facing a great enemy, sitting upright with the posture of a monarch, worried Li Qingping would look down on him like everyone else, and gradually stop playing with him.

But Li Qingping was actually quite happy to chat with him, because he hated the tedious affairs of the Royal Court Team. If the Third Prince summoned him, he could proudly take a break.

The two would often sit on the bed in the bedroom, chatting about everything, or they would sit cross-legged under the maple tree in the yard.

Cezar loved writing poetry, but Li Qingping lacked such artistic talent, yet one day he still sat alongside Cezar on the bed, picked up paper and pen, thought for a while, and wrote the first half of a sentence.

Cezar glanced at him: "’A bird in a cage’... What’s the second half?"

Li Qingping thought for a moment, said he hadn’t figured it out yet, then suddenly put down the paper and pen, leaned against the windowsill, and began telling the Third Prince about his past.

He lost his parents as a child; his foster father died of illness when he was six due to long-term alcoholism, leaving Li Qingping to follow the village’s fishermen leader as an assistant, barely scraping by on fish from the sea.

Most of the time, Li Qingping sat on the railing of the deck, silently watching the sea under the dusk.

Then one day, Li Qingping sneaked into the Anecdote Academy, tried to touch the Crystal Ball used for talent testing, and when the Mentor turned to look and saw the brilliant colors on the Crystal Ball, he froze in place.

After that day, the Mentor sponsored Li Qingping to attend the Anecdote Academy at personal expense, and his life began to improve.

But he seemed to grow lonelier. The people in the village who had been close to him began to drift away, knowing that becoming an Anecdote Envoy offered the chance to join the Royal Court Army, to aspire to the high-standing Celestial Court.

Li Qingping’s reputation grew from boy genius to "Red Dragon," eventually becoming the deputy captain of the Royal Court Team, yet the people around him dwindled.

He told Cezar, "I feel like I’m suffocating. That time I returned to the village, seeing those who once hated me, including the fisherman who took me in, kneel before me, I suddenly felt I shouldn’t stay here."

So after that, Li Qingping finally made the decision to leave the Terrarium.

He couldn’t create an equal world, nor could he change this cramped Terrarium; he could only seek such a world, though it might be a fool’s dream.

Cezar was quite moved by his story, and asked him, "Li Qingping, why did you tell me all this?"

Li Qingping simply said, if Cezar becomes a King, he hopes he could personally visit the island to see those unseen, unheard people.

As Cezar and Li Qingping grew to know each other better, one day they sat in the yard, silently watching the spiraling fallen leaves, and Li Qingping suddenly said:

"The world outside is vast; compared to it, the Whale Terrarium is quite small. To claim kingship in such a place isn’t really a grand achievement."