Without the rampant surge of elemental power, Starsnatch Cliff gradually returned to its gentle breezes and warm sunshine.
Watching Lumine and Paimon's backs as they left, Mona let out a soft sigh. She knew they would meet again, yet a faint wistfulness still lingered in her heart.
Lumine was one of the few friends Mona had made upon arriving in Mondstadt, and she'd helped her a lot.
"All right, no more sentimentality. If you miss her, you can see her anytime," Ken rubbed Mona's head, comforting her.
Mona sighed. "That's only if she has time. Traveling all seven nations… she must be pretty busy. But that's still better than not seeing her at all… Boss, Acting Grand Master Jean, I'm heading back to the Specialty Shop. You two keep chatting."
"I'm going too, I'm going too—Klee wants bread!" Little Klee piped up quickly.
Though she wanted to spend more time with her daddy, now that she had over a dozen Crimson Agate, Klee was eager to draw out their power and make new Jumpy Dumpties.
And she could snack at the Specialty Shop—much more comfortable than being under Acting Grand Master Jean's watchful eyes.
"Mona's a bit sentimental," Jean said with a gentle smile as she watched Mona and Klee leave. "But Traveler has indeed helped a lot. You even gave her the Flute Sword."
Jean's amber eyes were as clear and resolute as ever, but today they held an inexplicable softness and complexity—there was something else in her smile as well.
Jean felt she couldn't quite suppress a faint twinge of jealousy in her heart.
It annoyed her.
"Don't you have the Aquila Favonia?" Ken caught Jean's mood, took a brocade box from his system space, and said, "This is a gift I prepared for you—special invigorating coffee. I think you'll like it."
A gemstone-green wrapping paper around a solid-wood gift box.
It was something he'd won from the system's lottery—no one suited it more than Jean.
So he does care about me… Jean's jealousy slowly dissipated. "Thank you."
"But don't keep overworking," Ken reminded her.
"Mm…" Jean responded softly. Looking at the man before her, clear light-blue eyes rippled with a faint wave. She rose on tiptoe and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, .
"Ehe~"
"Well, coming to Starsnatch Cliff today wasn't in vain. I think I've found new inspiration for a poem. How about 'The Knight and the Hero'? Sounds fitting, right?"
Venti's clear voice came from afar, tinged with teasing and excitement.
He hadn't expected to not only witness Ken's strength today, but also see the dignified, elegant workaholic Jean display such an initiative, passionate side.
A fruitful trip indeed!
"Lord Venti!"
The sudden voice startled Jean. When she saw Venti sauntering over, her cheeks flushed red.
"I just remembered there's something at the Knights to handle. I'll go first… you two chat."
With polite words, Jean all but fled.
In the eyes of Mondstadt's citizens and her fellow Knights, she had always been the steady and reliable Acting Grand Master.
When had she ever been so flustered?
"Didn't think Mondstadt's god, Barbatos, had a voyeuristic streak."
Ken had sensed Venti hadn't gone far during his fight with La Signora. He'd intended to greet him afterwards, but then Jean had acted so unexpectedly.
Having his moment interrupted, Ken's gaze grew increasingly unfriendly.
"Don't look at me like that… I was just drawn by your power," Venti quickly waved his hands, smiling. "But… why is your power so similar to mine?"
"Perhaps the wind, taken to its extreme, always feels like this," Ken offered the excuse he'd prepared long ago.
Venti mused, "Ehe… that does sound somewhat reasonable. By the way, shall I compose a ballad of you and Jean to spread throughout the land? I'm sure many would love it."
"By all means—just don't expect any more Blue Star alcohol," Ken said with a squinty smile.
Venti hurriedly backpedaled. "Actually, I didn't see anything just now… Er, since I interrupted your… exchange, is there anything a bard can do to make amends?"
Ken thought for a moment. "Drop by Blue Star in a few days. There's a preview event—show up for, at most, ten minutes."
A Genshin preview livestream was necessary, but Ken didn't plan for Venti to be present the whole time—just a brief on-stream appearance would do.
An occasional appearance is a nice surprise.
As for whether frequent appearances by similar-looking people would arouse suspicion—Ken didn't care. Even if it did, the system would handle it.
Of course, that didn't mean he'd have characters show up often. Mystery is important.
These people were his friends, not his employees.
So for the preview, he planned to run mostly Mondstadt- and Venti-themed PVs, with Venti popping in to say hi—enough to heat things up.
It would fulfill Venti's little dream—he'd always wanted to interact with fans from Blue Star.
"Don't worry, I'll be there. By the way, I hear you're close with Diona from the Cat's Tail. Could you get me a cup of Kuchikamizake? I hear it's her new creation."
Venti wouldn't refuse something like that.
He was trying to learn Blue Star culture—the place could reduce his erosion, a rare boon for a god.
Only, Dvalin had just recovered from his pain, and Venti needed to spend time with his centuries-lost old friend.
Otherwise he'd be soaking in Blue Star day and night.
"You won't like Kuchikamizake."
As Ken spoke, he opened a Vortex Gate to return to Blue Star.
He'd been forging signature weapons in Mondstadt at high intensity lately. Even when his dual-travel time ended, he only returned to the Magic City to handle work, never starting new invitations.
Now, he figured it was time to open new invitations and farm some lotteries.
"Why not?"
"Because it has cat drool in it."
Venti: "…"
After saying goodbye to Venti, Ken stepped through the Vortex Gate.
…
Back in the Magic City, Ken took a shower and worked until late evening before finishing up.
"Let's start the invitations."
He checked the time—it was already 9 p.m. He began cooking himself a meal and opened the Gate of Invitations.
…
Teyvat · Liyue · Wuwang Hill.
A solitary moon hung in the night sky, its wan light washing over the silent land, adding to Wuwang Hill's already eerie gloom.
In the moonlight, the shapes of trees wavered and blurred. Rumors of monsters kept people away even in daylight.
But now, in the depth of night, a tender, dopey little voice drifted from deep in the woods.
"Seven-two-three-four, seven-two-three-four… five-six-Qiqi, five-six-Qiqi…"
Under the pallid moonlight, a small figure was diligently working through stretches, chanting out exercise counts with earnest seriousness.
Her little face was pale and stiff, and a yellow talisman was stuck to her forehead.
Look closely and you'd see she wasn't an ordinary human girl, but a little jiangshi.
"Hehehe… Qiqi! This Director finally caught you!"
Just as the little jiangshi pushed her rigid body through its routine, a mischievous voice suddenly rang from above.
Qiqi reflexively looked up and saw a face she knew all too well.
A girl in a Harmony Hexagram Hat hat, a brown Liyue-style cross-collared coat, silky chestnut twin-tails hanging to her thighs, and a crimson plum blossom pinned to her hat. Even in the dim night, one could not miss her fair, delicate features and sparkling, impish plum-blossom eyes. She was none other than Hu Tao, the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
And the "Qiqi" she'd called to was the little jiangshi exercising in the moonlight.
Long, long ago, Qiqi had been just an ordinary herb-gathering girl. But fate dealt her a cruel hand—during an outing she wandered into a battlefield where adepti and demons clashed, a sight mortals rarely witness.
Terrified, Qiqi injured her right leg in a fall and hid in a cave to bandage it—only for the cave to collapse from the collateral force of the battle, burying her inside.
By sheer will to live, on the verge of death, Qiqi gained her own Vision.
The prolonged battle ended when both adepti and demons were moved by Qiqi's attachment to life.
Feeling pity for the innocent Qiqi who'd been caught up in their conflict, the adepti each injected a wisp of immortal energy into her in hopes of reviving her.
Though Qiqi awoke with life restored, she couldn't control the immortal power within and fell into a frenzy.
To calm her turmoil, the Mountain Shaper had no choice but to seal her in amber.
Centuries later, the amber containing Qiqi was found and sent to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor for burial. The seal had weakened by then, and Qiqi slowly awakened.
One night, she finally came to—transformed into a jiangshi.
Though her body and memory had changed beyond recognition after that long slumber, she still clung to her herb-gathering habits from life.
So, upon awakening, Qiqi headed straight to the mountains and forests. While gathering herbs, she met Baizhu, the owner of Bubu Pharmacy.
Baizhu happened to be researching immortality. Seeing Qiqi's undead state, he took her in.
Qiqi knew Baizhu had ulterior motives, but after centuries of loneliness and suffering, she was still grateful for the outward kindness.
To keep her daily life running smoothly, Qiqi exercised and trained her mind every night, trying to loosen her stiff body and strengthen her extremely poor memory.
All of that changed after she met Hu Tao.
As the 77th Director, Hu Tao unilaterally deemed Qiqi her good friend upon meeting her—and racked her brains to lay Qiqi to rest.
It wasn't that Hu Tao wanted to harm Qiqi. In Hu Tao's eyes, life and death have their order and balance. Since Qiqi had already died, existing as a jiangshi meant she was trapped in the mortal world without release—a sufferer in need of rescue.
So putting Qiqi to rest would free Qiqi and restore balance between yin and yang.
Thus Hu Tao would find ways to capture Qiqi and cremate her.
But each time, Baizhu intervened.
Recently, Hu Tao noticed Baizhu sent Qiqi out to gather herbs, and Qiqi seemed to forget how to get back—she kept foraging out in the wild, even wandering all the way to Wuwang Hill.
To Hu Tao, it was the perfect chance. She picked an auspicious hour, grabbed a sack, and headed to Wuwang Hill.
Seeing Qiqi doing calisthenics in the moonlight, Hu Tao climbed a tree and descended with the sack from above.
"Ah… Hu… Hu Tao!"
Even with Qiqi's terrible memory that required a notebook to manage daily life, she remembered Hu Tao very clearly.
Hu Tao… meant death.
Qiqi did not want to die!
Recognizing Hu Tao, Qiqi turned and ran.
"Qiqi, trying to run? You won't get away tonight!"
Hu Tao chased with the sack, and in the place countless people feared as haunted, the two began a game of cat and mouse.
She fled, she pursued—no wings could save her.
In the end, Hu Tao caught Qiqi, stuffed her nimbly into the sack, leaving only that dopey little head poking out.
"Finally caught you… I'll dig a hole and burn you now. May you rest in peace."
Burial was a solemn affair. For others, Hu Tao would have made it grander.
But Qiqi was an exception. Too many attempts had been thwarted; now, having caught Qiqi at an auspicious hour, Hu Tao pulled out her prepared iron spade and started digging in earnest.
Under tonight's bright moon, she'd dig a pit in Wuwang Hill and carry out cremation.
"Heave-ho… heave-ho…"
In the moonlight, Hu Tao dug with gusto.
With no Baizhu to interfere, her spirits were high.
Just then, the silvery moonlight suddenly turned prismatic. Hu Tao instinctively looked up to see a vortex had appeared above at some point.
In the unnaturally silent Wuwang Hill, the vortex hung eerily quiet.
The next moment, Hu Tao and her were both sucked in.
Seeing this from inside the sack, Qiqi blinked curiously, then began shuffling her body quickly.
Hu Tao was gone…
Qiqi must escape!
…
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