Zhongli followed Lin Mo's gaze toward Ganyu, who was posting a missing person's notice at the entrance to Wanmin Restaurant.
"Lady Ganyu, you're still working so late? Why don't you come in and grab a bite?" Chef Mao invited her warmly.
"Th-thank you..."
Ganyu softly declined. "I appreciate it, but I'll pass. A late-night snack will do just fine for me."
With that, seeing Chef Mao about to press her further, Ganyu bolted away like she was fleeing.
Zhongli watched her flustered retreat and couldn't help but chuckle. "Look at her—she used to be such a foodie. But ever since you mentioned you preferred slender figures, she's been suppressing her appetite ever since. Even knowing you might never return, she hasn't broken the habit."
As he spoke, Zhongli's eyes dimmed with sorrow. "Old friend, the departed are gone, and regrets can't be undone. Ganyu's still here—do you really want her love to become another one of those regrets?"
Lin Mo wouldn't, of course. He even wanted to call out to her right then, invite her into Wanmin for a proper meal.
Just as he raised his hand, Zhongli stopped him. "Old friend, hold on—answer me one question first."
"Uh... what is it?" Lin Mo asked, turning with a puzzled glance.
"You saw Lady Ningguang at the Plea of the Adepti today, didn't you?" Zhongli asked calmly.
"Yeah, briefly." Lin Mo nodded, already suspecting where this was headed.
"She's quite similar to her, isn't she?" Zhongli said, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"Mm, when she's quiet, she really does resemble her." Lin Mo nodded again. In fact, during that lifetime invitation quest with Ningguang, the first time he'd laid eyes on her, he'd almost mistaken her for Gui Zhong.
"You know... since you believe in reincarnation," Zhongli ventured, "could Gui Zhong—"
"My lord, please don't try to make up for your regrets about Gui Zhong by projecting them onto someone else. It wouldn't be fair to her."
Lin Mo's gaze turned deadly serious.
Zhongli's expression shifted subtly. From those words, he could tell Lin Mo had already ruled out Ningguang as Gui Zhong's reincarnation.
"My lord, Gui Zhong's true form wasn't human—she was a dream god." As Lin Mo spoke, his eyes drifted toward Wanmin Restaurant. Inside the kitchen, Pot Ba was stoking the flames beneath the massive wok, the fire roaring to life.
"See, the returned Stove God may have only hazy memories of her past life, but her form is still that of the ancient demon god. And most importantly, she wields the elemental power of a dream god. That's what makes her a true returning demon god."
Lin Mo looked up at the Jade Chamber, still aglow in the night sky. "Now look at Ningguang. If she already possessed such potent Geo elemental power, wouldn't it be redundant for you to bestow your Vision upon her?"
"So, my lord, whether Lady Ningguang is Gui Zhong's reincarnation... I think you've known the answer in your heart all along."
"It's just that..."
"By lavishing kindness on someone who merely resembles her, you're trying to atone for what you owed Gui Zhong. If she knew, she'd probably laugh and call me out for being such a fool."
Zhongli fell silent for a long while.
He'd always thought his heart was unbreakable. But in that moment, pierced by Lin Mo's words, he realized the truth.
So... his heart was fragile after all.
Fragile enough to pour his unspoken apologies to Gui Zhong onto Ningguang.
By now, Ganyu was nearly out of sight. Lin Mo couldn't bear to let her vanish into the night.
"Ganyu!"
The call made her body tremble. She recognized it instantly—the voice she'd longed for across three thousand years.
She whipped around, searching the direction of the sound. There, leaning on the railing of the teahouse's second floor, Lin Mo smiled and waved to her.
The sight dragged her back in time.
Back then... on Mt. Aocang, he'd smiled and beckoned to her just like this.
Memories from a millennium past overlapped perfectly with the scene before her.
"Lord Lin Mo!" Ganyu's cry summoned blooming ice lotuses one after another. In the darkness, they unfurled like a path, bridging the distance between them.
Ganyu stepped across the frozen petals, racing toward him.
"Lord Lin Mo~"
Her delicate frame tumbled into his strong, warm embrace.
"Waaah..."
"Lord Lin Mo~ I missed you so much~"
For three thousand years, ever since she'd buried her longing for him under mountains of work, she hadn't shed a single tear.
But now, the tears she'd held back for millennia finally spilled free.
"I'm back."
"And from now on... no more pushing yourself so hard with overtime. It breaks my heart to see it." Lin Mo's gentle words made Ganyu lift her tear-streaked face to meet his eyes.
She was still sniffling, but her teary gaze seemed to ask: Lord Lin Mo, how did you know I was working myself to the bone?
"It was the—"
Lin Mo started to say it was the Geo Archon who'd told him, but when he glanced back, Zhongli was gone from their table.
As Lin Mo scanned for him, a familiar voice drifted up from the bustling street below.
"To buy osmanthus wine and share it with old friends... Alas, when shall we meet again?"
Lin Mo peered down hurriedly. Zhongli walked alone amid the throngs of people and lantern light.
Yet... amid all that lively clamor, his solitary figure seemed profoundly out of place.
"Lord Lin Mo... who are you looking at?" Ganyu asked curiously from his arms.
"Oh... just..."
Lin Mo gave a wry smile. "An old friend who invited me for tea but left me to foot the bill."
"An old friend..."
"Lord Lin Mo... when did you return?"
"Just now. I spotted you posting that missing person's notice of mine~"
Ganyu blinked in surprise and glanced at the notice in her hand. The portrait matched Lin Mo about fifty percent—close enough that she'd almost dared to hope it was him at first.
But she'd been too afraid to believe it. Hope that great could shatter into even greater despair.
After all...
The notice sought one "Mod Gan Qing," a diplomat from Mondstadt.
"Mod... Gan Qing..."
"Gan Qing..."
"Lord Lin Mo... what does that name mean?" Ganyu asked timidly, her tear-dampened eyes flickering with a hint of anticipation.
"Gan Qing," Lin Mo said, brushing away the tears from her cheek with a gentle smile. "It means every day with Ganyu by my side feels like a warm, sunny day."
"Lord... Lin Mo..."
Ganyu had never heard such sweet words. Held in his arms, her body went limp, melting against him.
Gazing into her dazed eyes, Lin Mo couldn't help himself. He leaned down slowly, claiming her lips in a tender kiss.
It was a kiss that left him lost in the moment.
But it carried a twinge of heartache too.
Because the little fox hidden in his collar had reached her limit. She nipped at his chest, her tiny fox mouth grumbling furiously.
"That's not what you said earlier~!"
"A few hours ago, you swore you'd give everything for Keqing!"
"Why'd you change your tune so fast?! Slag!"
Yae Miko's heart brimmed with resentment.
Though she'd been touched by Lin Mo and Ganyu's story, watching him use a pet name to charm another girl made her itch to bite down harder.
Meanwhile, deep in the thirteenth layer of the Abyss.
"My lord, about that plan we discussed against Boreas, the Wolf of the North, Andrius..."
The Abyss Lector bowed low as he inquired.
"Put it on hold for now."
Aether waved him off curtly. The threat Lin Mo posed lingered fresh in his mind—no harming his friends.
Andrius might seem unconnected to Lin Mo at first glance. But the wolf was deeply tied to a boy named Razor.
And Razor's mentor was Lisa, whom Lin Mo called "sister."
With ties like that, Aether wouldn't dare provoke Andrius.
"Sigh... The Wolf of the North should've been an easy mark, remnant soul or not," the Abyss Lector lamented. "If we shelve this, we'll have to scout for some other mighty beast to—"
"I said put it on hold. Didn't you hear me?"
Aether's tone sharpened like a blade, silencing the Lector.
Of course Aether knew a remnant like the Wolf of the North would make a perfect vessel for Abyss corruption and control.
But picturing Lin Mo's unfathomable power, he'd sooner target something even stronger than risk drawing that bottomless monster's ire.
Just then—
Ding-a-ling~
An Ice Abyss Mages phased through a rift into the grand hall.
"My lord! Intelligence from Liyue!"
The mage bowed hastily.
"What is it?" Aether asked, brow furrowing.
"Our Abyss infiltrators in Liyue—our flower spies—picked up a rumor. Apparently, La Signora of the Fatui and the Geo Archon Morax plan to have Childe, Tartaglia, unseal the Vortex Demon God Osel beneath Guyun Stone Forest. A trial for Liyue, they say."
"What do you think...?"
"Osel..."
A glint of excitement sparked in Aether's eyes.
Lin Mo, surely even you can't have ties to this ancient demon god.
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T/N:
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