"I don't know," Gu Baizhou admitted plainly. "I only know I rescued him from a human trafficker."
"My apologies." The frost in Chongyun's eyes softened; he looked embarrassed. "I was ambushed by villains earlier and misjudged you."
"No harm done," Gu said. Then, urgent: "Do you know where they plan to awaken the sea god?"
"I ran into them at Yaoguang Shoal."Chongyun pressed a hand to his shoulder; icy qi sealed the bleeding. "Let's go together."
"Alright."
They set off at a run. "A few of them climbed to the mountaintop," Gu added.
The night wind howled damp and cold through the trees, leaves rattling under the growing gloom.Gu quickened his pace. "We need to move fast—can you keep up?"
"I can!" Chongyun answered without hesitation.
They sprinted, rain beginning to fall in thin, cold sheets.
"They said when the moon rises, the sea god will awaken," Gu called over the downpour.
"The Vortex God?" Chongyun's face tightened. "During the Archon War, Rex Lapis pinned it beneath the ocean. How could mortals unseal it?"
"No idea." Gu frowned. But if they succeed…
A chill splash struck his cheek—rain now steady and blue-gray.
"Is the ritual starting?" he muttered, pushing faster. In minutes they reached the wooden bridge.
Rain lashed down. They waded the river in a rush, pant legs soaked.
Yaoguang Shoal lay empty.Countless muddy footprints stretched toward a towering boulder before fading into the rain.
"They're behind the cliff, facing Guyun Stone Forest," Chongyun said.
Through the blur of rain, elemental traces smeared across Gu's vision. He toggled between normal and elemental sight, thankful for the control.
They followed the prints across the wet sand and over the rocks—and finally saw them.
A handful of black-robed figures stood beneath the pounding rain, men and women alike, faces tilted skyward, chanting in warped Fontaine tongue, eyes alight with fanatical joy.No weapons—just cupped hands full of rainwater, gazes locked on the distant sea.
+1 Distorted Fontaine Language EXP+1 Distorted Fontaine Language EXP
Gu exchanged a glance with Chongyun.No time to debate. Capture first, ask later.
They slipped closer, bodies moving in silent tandem. Then—strike.
"Righteous backstab!" Gu growled, seizing one cultist's shoulder and driving a knee forward.Chongyun blurred in beside him, subduing another with crisp, practiced strikes.
"I surrender! Don't kill me!" a coward yelped. "I'll talk!"
Gu didn't loosen his grip. He remembered how Chongyun had been ambushed.
Wind roared—steel flashed.
Clang!A black-robed man lunged, dark skin etched with blue sigils, eyes hard as iron. His sword met Chongyun's antique claymore—and froze.Frost raced up the blade, locking his muscles stiff as rusted gears.
Gu caught his wrist, wrenched, and drove a knee hard into the man's gut.
Thud.
The attacker collapsed, gasping.
"How many of you are there?" Gu leveled the captured sword at the trembling coward's throat.
"Eight! Only eight came," the man stammered, genuinely terrified. "The ritual is already… already broken. Please—let me go…"
Gu scanned the group: five here in total. One capable fighter, the rest ordinary Liyue folk.
"The ritual's a sham," Chongyun said grimly after checking the site.
Gu had already sensed it—no catalysts, no true sigils.The strange "Fontaine chants" were nonsense, a ruse to dupe gullible followers.
"The real mastermind's on the summit," Gu said, eyes lifting to the storm-choked peak. Lightning flickered through the clouds.Below, the ocean thundered louder, waves smashing the shore.
"We're running out of time…"
Gu clenched his jaw. "Watch them," he told Chongyun, tossing the sword aside and plunging toward the cliff.
The layered rock might serve as his stairway to the clouds.
"What courage," Chongyun murmured.He dislocated the captured fighter's other arm for safety, then turned toward the mountain path. If Gu failed to climb, he would be right behind—though the trail to the Seven's statue was twice the distance. Every lost moment could spell disaster.