The Green Knight's sudden visit and the inexplicable wager left all the ministers deeply concerned.
The Green Knight's display had truly shocked everyone. His head had been chopped off, yet he could still laugh heartily and speak normally.
He had even made a strange bet, which was utterly terrifying. One year later on a snowy day, the attacker would need to withstand the sa blow.
The Green Knight could survive having his head chopped off, but whether anyone else possessed that capability remained unknown.
The King understood the seriousness of this matter. He invited many people, first consulting with his ministers, and if that failed, planned to recruit talent from across the entire kingdom.
The problem they needed to solve was simple: how could soone survive the Green Knight's axe blow, particularly one aid at the neck, and how could they avoid it?
"Your Majesty, I believe we should place a steel collar or an extrely hard iron block around the neck."
As soon as one minister finished speaking, soone imdiately refuted the idea.
"That's impossible. That axe is too sharp, capable of cutting through almost anything."
"Our knight wielded that axe and with a single strike felled trees, effortlessly splitting steel in half. Just as the Green Knight said, this axe is a divine weapon."
The King and ministers continued their heated discussion. Seeing no solution erging, they prepared to recruit talent nationwide to see if any brave warrior would accept the challenge, or perhaps find soone to replace the knight for the eting.
At this critical mont, Beihai barged in. If he didn't intervene now, his reputation would be ruined.
"Your Majesty, there's no need to worry. I already have a solution. I need to honor my promise and keep the appointnt."
Sches, tricks, finding replacents—Beihai was all too familiar with these tactics.
He knew that if he used such thods, without fail, his reputation would be destroyed, and he might even be punished by the Green Knight. Therefore, not only could he not avoid this, he couldn't show any cowardice!
The story behind this axe was actually a test of whether the knight's virtue and character truly matched the rumors. Beihai had anticipated this long ago.
Since he presented himself as kind-hearted, helpful—or more accurately, as soone who ddled in others' affairs—he would inevitably face such tests.
"Your Majesty, please leave this matter to . Nothing unexpected will happen."
Beihai repeatedly emphasized this point. He had to, because sotis incompetent allies could be terrifying. If the King, out of concern, took matters into his own hands, he might actually make things worse. Many stories developed exactly this way.
"Ah, Knight, I haven't been able to help you at all."
The King felt helpless, sowhat excited yet also frustrated. Excited because the knight had his own solution, frustrated because once again he couldn't assist the knight.
Actually, dealing with soone of such impeccable character could be quite troubleso. After all, this person neither sought wealth and status nor wanted the princess—and currently the princess was still too young, and the King only had one daughter.
When soone helped without asking for anything in return, the King felt genuinely uncomfortable. In the past, when people offered assistance, they would openly request a bag of gold coins or express interest in the princess. Although the King would never agree, at least they had made their demands known.
After returning, Beihai gave the golden axe to Aurora, mainly because he already possessed his own weapon, and these additional weapons had co too late.
Aurora's small body hugged the axe. Thanks to her blessings, it wasn't particularly difficult for her.
Aurora hugged the golden axe, giggling foolishly. This was a gift from her guardian knight! Although the gift was sowhat unusual, even sowhat macabre for a young girl.
And because of the height difference, the tiny princess carrying this large axe created an adorable contrast.
Aurora hugged the axe while lying in bed. The night had deepened, and she would sleep while holding this gift, though before that she needed to hear a fairy tale.
After being exposed to stories from the three fairies and Beihai's old-fashioned tales,
Aurora developed an ideal.
"I want to go on adventures in the future! I must go on adventures!"
"I want to see the vast world outside, just like the knight! I'll carry my own guardian holy sword and this sharp axe to carve my own path and punish evil."
Aurora looked at Beihai, hoping for his blessing and encouragent. This was the princess's adventure!
In the stories Aurora heard from the three fairies, princesses only stayed in the palace. So unfortunate ones were even locked in high towers by kings, completely helpless, eventually marrying princes they fell in love with at first sight.
Or when the kingdom faced problems, after the issues were resolved, the princess would inexplicably marry the kingdom's hero—who might be a fraud or even a beggar.
Late at night, Aurora listened to such stories before sleep, but found herself unable to fall asleep, tossing and turning until finally,
She refused to be just a decorative vase, nor did she want to inexplicably live happily ever after with so prince. She wanted to see the world, to go on adventures.
Aurora, blessed with so many gifts, clearly possessed the qualifications for such endeavors, especially when other princesses were notably helpless.
Now Beihai didn't know what had stimulated Aurora, making such a young child want to go on adventures. He could only think that the three witches must have told so strange stories that triggered the princess's rebellious streak.
However, what Beihai never expected was that Aurora developed these thoughts precisely because of his own old-fashioned stories. Although conventional, the template was well-applied and truly inspiring.
For this era, it represented dinsional superiority—thrilling stories about saving the world.
"My little princess, what story would you like to hear today?"
"Of course, stories about the knight's adventures!"
Beihai paused for a mont, then imdiately began fabricating tales. The general situation and template went like this:
When darkness devours light, the chosen hero awakens from slumber. He unites with seven legendary companions to collect nine sacred crystal fragnts,
To confront the approaching, inevitable, absolutely inescapable, destined-to-destroy-everything, uh, big villain!
During etings, there must be a group of important figures saying inexplicable things.
"Regarding that matter, I believe we must deliberate carefully, as it concerns the plan we ntioned earlier and the fate of the person involved."
Then the protagonist must be a teenager, either suffering from amnesia or just an ordinary high school student living in the countryside.
His true identity is definitely the reincarnation of so ancient divine dragon, or the biological son of so sealed demon king—basically the chosen one capable of destroying planets with a single sword strike.
He himself doesn't know this, but his parents definitely do, yet they simply won't tell him. Then he bumps into a girl at the village entrance.
This girl must be mysterious—either a princess from so kingdom or the last survivor of so ancient race.
She also knows all the secrets but chooses not to reveal them, preferring to spout nonsense like "the world's fate rests in your hands."
Next, the team adds a muscular but dim-witted brother whose catchphrase is "leave it to ," yet he's the first to fall in every battle. His purpose is to highlight how intelligent the protagonist is.
Finally, they add a bespectacled four-eyes responsible for explaining everything. Whenever the plot stalls, he pushes up his glasses and launches into a half-hour lecture,
Explaining the world's history, politics, geography, magic, alchemy. "We must use the power of bonds to protect the people most important to ."
And the forgiveness culture—JUST, FXXKlNG, KILL, HIM, WTF!
He killed your companions, destroyed the entire world, and you just let him go? That final boss who slaughtered your entire family, burned your house to ashes, and slept with your wife—after you defeat him, he tells you,
He only beca psychologically twisted because a neighbor's child stole his lollipop during childhood. Then the protagonist extends a hand with tear-filled eyes saying "I understand you."
Even if he doesn't redeem himself, most protagonists still choose to spare him.
All those so-called grand narratives—the millennium-long conflict between empire and republic, the ultimate battle between light and darkness—ultimately devolve into personal grudges. That ambitious empire general wanting to rule the world? He just did it because the girl he loved didn't return his feelings.
That ancient evil god wanting to destroy all life? He just wanted to find a worthy opponent.
As long as the protagonist team holds hands, shouts a few slogans, and sings a song about love and hope, all power struggles and class conflicts lt away like snow, and all powerful enemies can be defeated!
These are the conventional plotlines. Although sowhat clichéd, the story developnt remains gripping, completely captivating the little princess Aurora.
These are legendary tales! Also called hero stories about saving the world. Although Beihai had never experienced such adventures himself—he didn't even have teammates—that didn't prevent him from telling these stories.
Fooling a child was more than sufficient.
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