When I got back to my home world, on earth, I was shocked when I looked at the clock. It was more than 9pm, basically bed time. I had missed dinner.
Not suprising since I had been in inazuma for almost two weeks. I think about my mother, trying to find a idea of how to decieve her into thinking I was not in another universe.
In the end I decide on one idea and use my sprint and fly out the window down to the front garden, then I head up to the front door and ring the doorbell.
"Dingling! Dingling!" The doorbell rings. My mum answers the door and let me inside.
I fake a bashful expression, "Sorry mum I forgot to tell you, I was at Emily's house for a playdate."
I peer inside the house and was shocked to find the whole place turned upside down, it looked like soup inside.
My mum bonked me on the head, "Aiya. Why did you not tell me? I was worried sick, I looked everywhere for you!"
I nodded, "Yes yes mum I'll tell you next time, is it too late for dinner?"
I head back inside and go to the dinner table, my mum had saved some rice and brocolli and stuff for me. I quickly finished the food, and headed back upstairs.
I didn't bother to brush my teeth, I only came back to my house because any more time in teyvat and my mum would've called the police, so I told my mum I was going to sleep.
There was no need to go to sleep right now, I can just do that in teyvat later, and I wasn't too tired because I had slept in my serenitea pot back at inazuma.
I opened by phone again, going to my discord chat, I typed, 'I'm ready for another adventure' and I quickly grabbed my bag and stepped into the portal.
Once I was on the other side, as usual, my clothes transformed to my teyvat character outfit, which I named celestial voyage and my bag turned into a normal teyvat style sack.
I checked inside and saw that my portable tent, snacks and food was inside. I nodd and finally looked around. I was in Liyue again, there had been a small timeskip since I left.
I was grateful since every time I get dropped into teyvat it was always perfectly at the time before the next main questline.
I walked around a bit and came across ningguang at yujing terrace, she was making an annoucement.
Ningguang was saying, "I have gathered everyone here today to make an important annoucement. I am planning to rebuild the jade chamber."
"The people of Liyue are allowed to help participate. We need help to gather three key items; Sunset Vermillionite, Wonder cores and Adepti Sigils."
"We only accept sufficiently large pieces of Plaustrite, (vemillionite) this stone is what allows the jade chamber to float, and wonder cores are the central components of the mechanical structure of the jade chamber. Adepti sigils help integrate the jade chamber with adepti arts."
"Although these three items are rare, I trust that with your connections and capabilities its not a question of if we get them but when we get them."
"The first three people who collect all the materials will have the opportunity to ask me a question." hearing this we decide to help since this may help us find the abyss sibling.
"once you have collected the materials please take them to the abandoned mine outside the golden house, as that place has been selected as the building site, when you do arrive please seek out my secretary."
Ninguang ends the meeting and walks off, Paimon says, "Ningguang seems super busy, c'mon we'd better get going"
As we leave, we saw a young woman with silver hair getting scammed by some people, we were just about to help when suddenly adepti sigils materialised around her.
She was mumbling, "Master told me not to lay a finger on anyone in liyue harbour but here we are, prehaps I should call it fate."
We walk back with the millelith in tow, "Here they are they are trying to scam this young woman."
The millelith takes them away, we talk to the young woman, "Are you alright?"
She replies with her name, "Shenhe. My name." Paimon laughs, "Oh so your name is Shenhe! Paimon's name is paimon and this is the traveler and Livvy!"
She nods, "I've heard about you two before, thank you for helping to defuse the situation."
Her stomach rumbles so we decide to go get her lunch. She asks for medicinal herbs.
We head to Bubu pharmacy to go get her the herbs, and we speculate that shes an adeptus. She eats the medicinal herbs like a gourmet meal.
We asks her to help us with Ningguang's task of collecting the three building materials.
We decide to ask the Feiyun commerce guild about where to find sunset vermillionite.
We meet Xingqiu and he tells us of a secret place where theres lots of sunset vermillionite. We head there to fetch it.
We arrive at the domain where the sunset vermillionite is rumoured to be and head inside. We found a domain like adeptal ruins.
We activated the mechanisms and were met with lots of monsters, I shot a spell at one of the hilichurls killing it instantly.
Aether slashes at a mitachurl and shenhe creates a cryo incarnate of herself that ravages the monsters like a blizzard.
We make our way through the maze like puzzle to the inner chamber of the domain where the plaustrite (Sunset vermillionite) and to our astonishment, Shenhe lifts the whole huge, small mountain like, chunk by herself!
We bring it back to the building site and everyone is shocked by how huge the chunk of unactivated plaustrite is, "Oh my god I can't believe my eyes."
Ningguang's secretary Baiwen nods when she sees it, "This is top tier. In size and quality, the condition its in is simply immaculate. Congratulations this item is approved for submission."
Baiwen took our name and we finished the task for the first item.
Baiwen continues, "As a side note, Lady Ningguang has rented a dwelling in the nearby area to serve as accomidations for the contestants. If you need a place to rest you're welcome to stay there."
Paimon says to shenhe, "Shenhe, just now on the way here pretty much everyone were singing you praises!"
Shenhe looked unenthused, "Oh really. I've had similar compliments before. They call me an adeptus, treat me with great reverence and respect, as if I'm set apart from the common folk."
Paimon frowned, "Yeah cause thats how adepti are. Way different from normal people."
Shenhe groaned, "But I am not... Ugh."
Paimon didn't seem to hear, the first bit, "Shenhe are you ok?"
Shenhe replies, "I'm fine, I've just been exerting myself a bit too much, and feeling a bit fatigued."
So we head to the dwellings to rest, after we made sure shenhe went to rest we saw cloud retainer standing on a cliff nearby and head to check out what going on.
We walk up the path up the cliff, meeting cloud retainer at the top she said in her echoing voice, "One trusts you have met shenhe so are you getting along well?"
Paimon answers, "Yeah so far so good, so cloud retainer you know shenhe too?"
Cloud retainer nods, "Naturally, save for ganyu who spends the majority of her time in liyue harbou all the adepti living today are aquainted with shenhe to some degree."
Paimon asks for shenhe's adeptus name.
Cloud retainer frowns, "Her adeptus name? Why pray tell would shenhe have an adeptus name?"
Paimon gasps, "Is shenhe not an adeptus?" Aether thinks deeply, "No wonder she was so upset when we called her an adeptus earlier."
Cloud retainer starts explaining how she met shenhe, "One first met shenhe by chance in a cave. One was passing by and sensed the presence of a god's remains. So, one entered immediately to inspect the scene."
"Inside was shenhe, then aged around six years old, holding a dagger, with which she was confronting a monster that was the god's remains incarnate."
"When one arrived, she had already been locked in confrontation with this monster for several days. She was not fragile like most mortal children."
"That she was able to endure such terrible danger was not only due to her strong willpower, but also to the bloodlust and homicidal instincts with which she was born."
"One dealth with the monster immediately. Although even if the stalemate had continued, one suspects that shenhe may have still emerged the victor of the confrontation."
Paimon gasps, "Thats so dangerous though, why was a tiny little kid battling against the wrath of a god in the first place?"
Cloud retainer explains how she then adopted Shenhe. Aether thinks, "So when shenhe talks about her 'master' she means you cloud retainer?"
Cloud retainer continues, "Due to her bloodlust an homicidal instincts she is prone to bring harm to those around her, so the adepti made her red strings to restrain her instincts. They may have suppressed her human nature and emotions as well, prehaps thats why she presents like an adeptus."
"One has heard that a playwright in Liyue harbour once wrote an opera based on the legends about Shenhe. It is called, 'the divine damsel of devastation.'"
And that concludes our brief chat with cloud retainer. We head back to the dwelling for the night.