The Northland Bank at night, a place that should have already fallen silent, was currently a hive of chaotic activity.
Ever since a loyal subordinate of the Fatui Harbinger, Childe, had rushed back an hour ago carrying a battered and unconscious Tartaglia, the bank had been thrown into utter turmoil.
Even with the Fatui's most elite medical resources at their disposal, the healers remained helpless in the face of Tartaglia's injuries. Ordinary medical techniques were completely unable to dispel the eerie, black, freezing power circulating within his body. That bone-chilling cold, accompanied by a sharp, cutting force, continuously prevented his wounds from closing.
If not for the advanced technological means of the Fatui, which used Cryo to temporarily freeze his non-stop bleeding, Tartaglia likely would have died from blood loss by now. But while the bleeding was halted, the damage to his internal organs required immediate attention.
Such a desperate situation sent the Fatui within the Northland Bank into a state of total panic.
Fortunately, Tartaglia's own physical resilience finally began to take effect. The bleeding stopped, and his consciousness cleared slightly. The Elemental Power within his body began to fight back, attempting to expel the "foreign energy" that had invaded his system. His body, tempered through years of grueling training, refused to let him slip into death so easily.
The surrounding Fatui noticed him regaining consciousness and redoubled their efforts.
Tartaglia, however, looked on with vacant eyes as his condition stabilized. No matter how indomitable a person might be, they would inevitably feel a sense of profound confusion when faced with a gap in power that felt like an impassable chasm.
He knew that Su Ming had held back. If he hadn't, neither Tartaglia nor his subordinates could have possibly survived that terrifying sword technique.
Even in his strongest form, using the moves he took the most pride in, Tartaglia had only managed to deflect a few slashes. Compared to that dense, overwhelming sword light that seemed to blot out the very sky, what he had blocked was a mere fraction. And yet, that fraction alone had left him utterly exhausted.
It was a stroke of luck that he had invited the other party to a friendly duel rather than attacking on a whim. Otherwise, those surplus sword beams wouldn't have crashed into the empty ground beside him they would have landed directly on his body.
Had that happened... recovering his corpse would have been a nearly impossible task.
After a brief moment of clarity, Tartaglia felt his mind slip back into a heavy fog, and he drifted into sleep once more.
"Lady Ningguang, an urgent report from the Ministry of Civil Affairs."
Ningguang, who had just finished a long day of work and was preparing to rest, received yet another emergency intelligence brief. To be honest, she didn't want to deal with it.
Between the back-and-forth negotiations with the Adepti and the decision to hand over the full responsibility of the Rite of Parting to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, the resulting fallout had left even the formidable Tianquan exhausted.
But on this late night, right as she was about to sleep, something else had happened. Her sense of responsibility to the Liyue Qixing ultimately overrode her fatigue.
"What has happened?" Ningguang asked, rubbing her temples and forcing herself to focus.
"According to reliable sources, the Fatui Harbinger known as Childe has been gravely injured and is currently receiving emergency treatment at the Northland Bank."
"What!?" Ningguang was instantly wide awake. "What happened?"
"The specific details are unknown. The Fatui have not released any information. The only lead we have is that this afternoon, Childe arranged a dinner at the Liuli Pavilion."
"The known participants included the Honorary Knight from Mondstadt and her travel companion, as well as the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's Consultant, Zhongli. Additionally... there was the young man who uses an unknown power, the one mentioned in the reports from Wangshu Inn."
"Consultant Zhongli left the Liuli Pavilion before the dinner ended to return to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and prepare for the Rite of Parting. The rest of the party left together once the dinner concluded."
"The Traveler and her companion later went to Secretary Ganyu's residence at Feiyun Slope—the courtyard you gifted her. Meanwhile, Childe left with the mysterious youth and headed toward Mt. Tianheng."
"Shortly after, loud booms and tremors were heard from Mt. Tianheng; the vibrations were felt even within Liyue Harbor. By the time our men arrived to investigate, the Conqueror of Demons had already beaten them to it."
"The clearing at the foot of the mountain suffered catastrophic damage. According to the Adeptus, the destruction was merely the aftershock of a battle. Based on our intelligence, we conclude that the mysterious youth and Childe had a conflict and fought a duel there."
"In the end, that mysterious person also headed to Secretary Ganyu's courtyard."
"The specific details and photographs of the battlefield will take a moment to compile. They will be presented to you in ten minutes."
Ningguang sighed after hearing the report. "Troubled times... but Ganyu might know something. Is she still working at Yuehai Pavilion?"
"Secretary Ganyu is still working overtime," the subordinate replied.
"Invite her to the Jade Chamber. I have questions for her."
"Yes, ma'am."
Ningguang actually felt a bit more settled now. The mysterious man was clearly connected to Ganyu, which was undoubtedly good news. As for the Fatui Harbinger being unconscious? That was of little consequence, as it wasn't Liyue's doing.
Given the Harbinger's bellicose personality, Ningguang had every reason to believe that Childe's heavy injuries were, in all likelihood, entirely self-inflicted.
"Just who is he?" she mused. "To easily defeat a Harbinger and appear completely unscathed... a man of such strength cannot possibly be a nobody."
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