Bleed Enough and It Won't Be Awkward (Continued)

"Ah?"

Heulia looked up in confusion, only to see that the store was clean and tidy, with people coming and going, and inside were jars of pure white salt.

Heulia was startled, then looked at Maria with a racing heart.

Maria offered no explanation, but simply reached out and gently stroked a jar of salt crystals before bringing her salt-covered index finger to Heulia's lips.

"I know this is what you care about most, just like me. Let's give it a try."

"Yes, my king."

Heulia's eyes sparkled as she gently put Maria's index finger into her mouth and savored it carefully.

After a moment, she seemed relieved, yet also quite moved, and said softly:

"It has almost no bitterness and is of very pure quality. Although it is not as good as mine... it is still a top-quality salt."

"I see. Well, it seems they did a really good job."

Maria smiled with relief.

At the reunion banquet immediately after she awoke, Heulia inquired with the immortals about the fate of the Salt People.

According to the Celestials, after arriving in Liyue, they took over the salt production and business operations, which is now the Silver Plain Hall in the Seven Stars and Eight Gates.

Initially, they used Salt Lamp and Salt Ruler left behind by Heulia to produce salt to meet Liyue's needs. Later, they painstakingly explored the processes of refining mineral salt and making salt from seawater, and after hundreds of years and several generations, they successfully met the demand for salt production by manpower.

Then, the Salt People built large ships and crossed the sea that covered the salt in Dihua Marsh and the Salt of the Earth, delivering Salt Lamp and Salt Ruler to the City of Salt of that time.

When asked why they did this, the Salt People said that these were sacred artifacts of the Salt King and the Salt God, and should rightfully be placed to the left and right of their statues, receiving offerings from the Salt People. To squander their divine power in distant Liyue Harbor would be disrespectful to the Salt God and the Salt King.

The Salt People exhausted the efforts of generations just to return the sacred artifact. Their piety and unwavering faith moved even the immortals.

"Your Majesty, thank you."

"We've known each other for so many years, why are you still being so formal?"

"I didn't mean to say that you brought me here. I meant to say thank you, Wang, for taking care of me and the Salt People."

"Um?"

Maria was puzzled.

Heulia simply held Maria's hand, carefully wiping her fingers, which were stained with salt and saliva, with a gentle and beautiful smile on her face.

Heulia understood perfectly well that if her people had only followed her from the beginning, they would never have developed that kind of ambition.

Security must come first before development can take place. Only with prosperity can a proud and indomitable spirit be cultivated.

It was the King who protected the City of Salt, bringing safety and prosperity, which is why the Salt People who came to Liyue could always remember their pride and ultimately accomplish such a feat. These are things that Heulia herself could never achieve.

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry."

"Huh? What are you thinking about now?"

Maria had a slight headache and pinched Heulia's cheek. She couldn't understand why the girl seemed upset when she'd come here specifically to make her happy and reassure her.

Heulia forgot that she was in the middle of a bustling crowd, and wrapped her arms around Maria's waist, pressing her against her chest.

"It was me and everyone else who dragged the King down. I've been thinking, if I hadn't held the King back then, you would have gone to Guili with Sister Guizhong. If it were just the two of you, it would have been a powerful alliance, and the King wouldn't have needed to travel back and forth between two places, nor would he have needed to keep sacrificing for us powerless ones. That way, the King could definitely have gone much further, and with Sister Guizhong by his side, he could have easily competed with Morax for that position, instead of..."

Heulia sniffed.

At that time, when City of Salt was in imminent danger, she was naturally happy to see Maria fly over to her rescue.

But after the initial joy, I noticed the ominous lines on Wang's face.

Heulia then realized that she and Salt City had once again dragged the king down.

So before falling asleep and after waking up, Heulia often thought that if it weren't for her and the City of Salt, such a calamity wouldn't have been a danger to the powerful yet gentle king at all.

It was her incompetence that caused the king to eventually die from exhaustion.

It has always been this way: the king is fighting, the king is working hard to protect everything, and she, the goddess, can't help at all.

Heulia embraced Maria, feeling extremely guilty and remorseful towards her king.

Maria stroked the little head nestled in her arms. From Heulia's emotions and her understanding of Heulia's gentle and insecure nature, she gradually came to understand what she was thinking.

Maria pinched Heulia's cheek and said helplessly:

"You should learn more from Guizhong. Stop thinking about all that nonsense and eat more good food, okay?"

"Your Majesty, I want to learn mechanical arts and magic from Sister Guizhong."

"You can just tell her about this yourself. But her own level is indeed extremely high, though I'm not sure about her teaching ability."

"It's okay, I'll try my best. I may never learn how to fight, and I may never be able to fight alongside the king, but I will be of help in other ways."

Heulia knew Maria didn't want to see her wallowing in self-pity, and besides, it was pointless. Rather than worrying the king, she should try to improve herself.

"I'm really looking forward to it."

Maria smiled encouragingly. She didn't expect Heulia to become anything extraordinary; that didn't matter. She simply hoped Heulia would find her own value soon; that would give her peace of mind.