The Jade Chamber floated in the air, so naturally there was no ordinary way to get up to it.
After all, they couldn't fly.
Mm... at least she couldn't....
Along the way, she'd heard the Traveler and Paimon talk about it: when they had first come to Liyue, they'd put in quite a lot of effort to help arrange Rex Lapis's funeral rites, and it was while having a meal with that consultant from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor at the Third-Round Knockout that they first met Ganyu.
Ganyu had come as an envoy representing Miss Ningguang.
Because Rex Lapis had passed away, the Adepti suspected that the Liyue Qixing had assassinated him in a bid to seize power, and in their fury they wanted to settle accounts with everyone.
Fang Qiu had heard about this too. Apparently, with three factions all tangled together at the time, the whole of Liyue Harbor had descended into utter chaos—just like Li Yunlong laying siege to Ping'an County.
All of Liyue Harbor had the look of an approaching storm.
And the reason Ningguang had sought them out was precisely to mediate the matter.
Back then, Ganyu hadn't told them how to get up to the Jade Chamber...
Paimon had even once thought of strapping Lumine onto the Guizhong Ballista and just firing her straight up onto the Jade Chamber.
That way she'd be able to fly.
Of course, that idea was mercilessly shot down by Lumine.
Later, after some asking around, they learned that over at Yujing Terrace there was a device much like an elevator, specifically meant for carrying people up to the Jade Chamber.
And so, they made their way to Yujing Terrace.
They arrived just in time to see several people who looked like wealthy merchants step onto a stone platform. After the platform gave a slight tremor, it glided ever so smoothly off toward the Jade Chamber.
"Amazing!"
A flicker of astonishment flashed through Fang Qiu's beautiful eyes.
So this was the power of the Adepti?
The technology of her past life could come nowhere close to this, surely...
And the Jade Chamber, too...
To make an entire little island float in the air—by the standards of her past life's technology, that was far beyond reach...
It made her wonder whether Liyue hadn't taken a wrong turn somewhere on its tech tree....
The stone platform soared up into the clouds and very soon came flying back down.
Only this time, the people on the platform were gone.
Just as Fang Qiu was wondering whether this thought of hers was a bit strange, Lumine, beside her, patted her on the shoulder and said with a smile, "It's our turn."
"Mm."
Fang Qiu nodded.
Paimon flew up onto the stone platform, with Shenhe following close behind, then Hu Tao, and finally Lumine.
When it was Fang Qiu's turn, Hu Tao, Shenhe, and Lumine all reached out their hands toward her at the same time.
For a moment, Fang Qiu froze where she stood.
Two people would have been fine—she had two hands, after all, one for each. But with three people all reaching out at once, what was she supposed to do?
She could take two with her own two hands, but the third one was bound to feel awkward...
She could hardly let one of them grab hold of her hair, could she?
Just as she was caught in this awkwardness, the middle-aged man operating the platform off to the side gave a soft cough and lowered the platform a touch, so that Fang Qiu could step onto it easily without anyone having to pull her up.
Once Fang Qiu had stepped onto the platform, she shot the middle-aged man a grateful look.
Thank you, Tho— ...stranger.
No, that's not right. Thank you, mister.
The middle-aged man simply returned a smile.
Once he saw that they were all standing steadily, the platform gently started up.
Feeling the platform rise slowly, Fang Qiu couldn't help but marvel. As expected of something crafted by the Adepti—truly extraordinary.
Standing on it, aside from that slight tremor at the very start when it began to move, the ascent was without the faintest sensation of shaking.
It was nothing at all like the elevators of her past life.
Mm... of course, it might also have been because she'd never ridden a high-end elevator in her past life....
After all, she'd been poor.
However, as the platform climbed higher, Fang Qiu discovered a flaw in its design.
This stone platform had no railings!
Oh my goodness!
Watching the platform rise higher and higher, the city beneath her feet gradually shrinking, Fang Qiu's legs went a little weak....
She'd never expected that, on top of her frail body, she was actually afraid of heights too....
All at once, she remembered some videos she'd seen online in her past life.
Videos of people walking across glass skywalks, so terrified they'd collapsed onto the ground in tears.
She remembered that in her past life, every time she saw such videos, she'd laughed with great delight.
Only, now that it was her turn, she found she couldn't quite laugh anymore....
After all, those glass skywalks in her past life had at least been safe....
This railless stone platform beneath her feet—falling off would cost her her life.
And who knew whether this platform had ever claimed a life before....
Fang Qiu let out a long breath, forcing herself to calm down.
She was, after all, the future Cryo Empress—what kind of figure would she cut, being frightened like this by a mere bit of height?
Just as Fang Qiu's legs were trembling faintly, she suddenly felt three hands placed upon her.
Was it Hu Tao and Shenhe, and the Traveler?
The Traveler steadied her by the waist.
Hu Tao and Shenhe held her left and right hands.
With people supporting her, Fang Qiu felt much better at once.
As the platform rose, they finally stepped onto the deck of the Jade Chamber.
On the deck of the Jade Chamber, quite a few exquisitely crafted round tables were now set out, and on the tables were arranged tea.
And at the main entrance stood an enormous opera stage.
But... the Jade Chamber... had no railings either!
Were they really not afraid of accidents?
What if, on a rainy day, a working secretary slipped—wouldn't they just plunge straight off?
Or was it that, in fact, both the stone platform and the Jade Chamber had protective measures laid down by the Adepti?
Such as, if someone leapt down from the Jade Chamber, they'd be enveloped in Adeptal power and sent right back up to it?
Mm...
Highly likely.
The sky was at the very crossover of day and night—the Hour of Meeting Demons—but the appointed time had not yet come.
Bathed in the dusk sunlight, many of the guests Ningguang had invited were already seated at the tables, chatting with one another about their business dealings.
And the seats Ningguang had arranged for them were at the table nearest the very center of the opera stage.
After they sat down, they fell to idle chatter as well.
In passing, Fang Qiu mentioned to Hu Tao that the fellow named Thoma had sent her yet another crate of ghost novels, and asked whether Hu Tao might, after listening to the opera tonight, help carry those ghost novels over to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
"No problem."
Hu Tao patted her own chest and said, "I have to say, the people of Inazuma write some pretty interesting ghost tales—Knocking Ghost, ghosts that crawl out of mirrors, cursed houses, all that sort of thing. It's a shame you can't write, Fang Qiu, otherwise I'd really love to see what kind of ghost tales you'd come up with."
Saying this, Hu Tao couldn't help but let out a sigh, looking a little wistful.
"If I get the chance, I'll write some."
Fang Qiu said with a smile.
Mm...
If she got the chance.
Probably about when both Hu Tao and Shenhe were around....
Mm... when they were all going to spend several nights sleeping by her side!
As for ghost tales—her past life had no shortage of them...
And speaking of it, if there were anything that could awaken the very deepest fear in the hearts of the people of Liyue, then it would undoubtedly be that one!
That kind of fear of gazing into the abyss.
After all, the god had run rampant across the seas several times now.
Just think about it: when a fisherman is rowing his boat out at sea to fish, only to find the surface of the water has suddenly turned black.
And then a gigantic maw snaps out and swallows the fisherman down, boat and all—just thinking about it sent a chill through Fang Qiu's whole body....
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