By the time they returned to Liyue Harbor, it was already deep into the night. Yujing Terrace was still under heavy guard.
The Millelith stood watch with utmost vigilance over all the items they had spent lavishly to purchase and place on Yujing Terrace.
When the incense balm was set down as well, Jiang Bai noticed there was still one empty space left on the altar.
"Still missing something?"
Zhongli nodded. "Mn. We still need a wild glaze lily."
Jiang Bai's eyes lit up. A wild glaze lily—then his formal-apprenticeship tea would be secured!
"Go rest for now. It's not something that must be done this instant."
"Mm, mm."
Jiang Bai yawned his way back to his own courtyard—only to find two bigshots already waiting for him there.
"Huh? Back so soon? Did you deliver the message?"
"Didn't see him. Katheryne passed it along—said Venti already knows what we're after, and that he's on his way to Liyue." Paimon spread her hands and shook her head.
"Don't tell me Venti can foretell the future?" Jiang Bai rested his chin in his hand, feeling that Venti's abilities weren't as feeble as he made them seem.
"Well, he is still a god. Weak or not, an Archon's authority is still an Archon's authority. Maybe he just overheard us talking!" Paimon felt her guess was perfectly reasonable.
That made Jiang Bai think of Xiao. "Come to think of it, Xiao has that kind of ability too. Is that something unique to Anemo?"
Most of what he had developed was Geo, and the element he used most often in daily life was also Geo. Anemo's uses were too limited, not all that practical—so he rarely touched it.
No one had ever taught him how to use Anemo either, leaving him with no idea of what it could really do.
"Xiao has that ability too? You mean hearing other people talking?" Aether was still curious about the Conqueror of Demons he had only met once.
"He can hear someone calling him. If you're in danger, just shout his name and then 'Help!'—and shua! he'll be right in front of you."
"For real?" Paimon was skeptical.
"Don't believe me, then." Jiang Bai had no intention of demonstrating. You couldn't just call him out casually—what if you were really in mortal danger one day and Xiao didn't show up?
"Heh heh, if that tone-deaf bard really can hear me…" Paimon smirked, clasped her hands together, and loudly declared her wish:
"I wish that when he gets to Liyue Harbor tomorrow, he brings me a serving of sticky honey roast!"
---
High above, Venti was sprawled comfortably on Dvalin's back.
A breeze brushed past his ear, carrying Paimon's wish—he ignored it completely.
Dvalin's back was very comfortable—comfortable enough to make him want to nap.
"At this speed, we should get to Liyue Harbor by morning," he murmured, rolling onto his side. "Feels good not to have to travel under my own power."
Hearing that, Dvalin was sorely tempted to throw the lazy, wine-soaked bard right off his back.
He'd thought Venti had called him for something important—but no, it was just because he couldn't be bothered to fly himself.
With a rumbling roar, the dragon flipped in midair, dove toward the ground, then shot upward again, spinning in a 360-degree spiral. After a few rounds of that, the bard on his back finally looked like he might vomit.
Venti clung to the dragon's neck, fighting to keep down the fine wine in his stomach.
"Dvalin… all I did was ask you for a ride. You don't have to take revenge like this, do you—"
"Hmph!"
The only answer was another steep dive.
---
The moon was shrouded in cloud. On the roof of Wangshu Inn, several adepti had gathered.
"Everyone's here?" Moon Carver's gaze swept the group.
There was Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper… and the Conqueror of Demons.
Liyue had more adepti than these, of course—but many had long since hidden themselves deep in the mountains, no longer involving themselves in mortal affairs. Even other adepti might not be able to find them.
These were the ones Aether had been able to notify using the information Ningguang provided.
"What do you all make of the Archon's assassination?"
"The Archon couldn't possibly have been assassinated," Mountain Shaper shook his head.
"But the exuvia falling during the Rite of Descension is a fact," Cloud Retainer said.
Of course they knew it was impossible for the Archon to be truly slain. What they had to consider was the meaning behind the event.
Moon Carver turned to the silent Xiao. "Conqueror of Demons, you have long been stationed in Liyue. What do you think?"
Xiao shook his head. "I cannot imagine the Archon being slain…"
As one in the know, he wasn't sure if he should reveal the truth—and worried that doing so might affect the Archon's plan—so he chose silence.
"The Archon could not have been assassinated, and yet the exuvia at the Rite of Descension is indisputably real. There's only one possibility: the Archon has feigned death," Moon Carver voiced his conclusion.
Since the day he'd heard the news, he'd been pondering the meaning of it, even taking human form to go down to Liyue Harbor himself.
"Officially, the Liyue Qixing invited us to examine the Archon's exuvia and investigate the cause of death. But we all know—no one could harm the Archon. That explanation is merely a pretext to inform us of the situation.
Liyue was built by the Archon and the adepti together. If the Archon steps down willingly, we adepti, who recognize only the contract, not the Qixing, become an uncontrollable factor. To the Qixing now in power, we are not something they can command. And we adepti will never bow our heads to the Qixing."
And thus, the conflict was born.
The others listened in silence, none interrupting.
Moon Carver paused, then spoke of what he'd learned in the harbor regarding the current Tianquan.
"The present Tianquan is ambitious, skilled in calculation, and hard of hand. Concealing the truth of the Archon's death and hiding the exuvia without a word—given Liyue's current undercurrents, such actions can still be understood. But without the Archon, can the short-lived Qixing truly govern Liyue well?"
The adepti did not believe the Qixing could manage Liyue, while the Qixing did not want adepti interference in human affairs. This was the real point of contention.
"So what exactly are we supposed to do?" Cloud Retainer was starting to get a headache from his long speech.
If the Qixing had committed no clear wrong, there was no need for them to march in breathing threats. As for whether humans could govern Liyue—she herself did not believe it, but she was no good at ruling a nation either.
"What we do depends on what the Archon wishes us to do," Mountain Shaper said calmly, his eyes shifting to Xiao. "The Conqueror of Demons surely knows at least a little."
Xiao was silent for a while, then said, "The Archon's concern is the same as yours."
Adepti had never cared for power. The only thing they had ever truly cared for was Liyue itself.
Could the people of Liyue guard their own Liyue?
That was what the Archon—and they—were truly concerned about.
As for whether anyone had truly tried to assassinate the Archon, or whether the Qixing had anything to do with his death—in the eyes of the adepti, these things were irrelevant.
Mountain Shaper let out a long sigh. "…Has the Archon truly decided to let go of Liyue?"
The Archon had walked with Liyue for three thousand seven hundred years. They could not imagine a Liyue without him.
---
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