"Alright, alright—we're at a banquet, so let's lighten up and have a toast!"
Paimon raised her teacup and said.
"Cheers."
Everyone raised their cups, and Fang Qiu was no exception. She wiped away her tears and lifted her teacup.
"Clink."
A crisp sound rang out, and a bit of tea spilled over.
The past was already like drifting smoke—there was no need to trouble herself needlessly.
Before long, Yun Jin made her way over to their table.
"So, how about it—I sang pretty well just now, didn't I?"
Yun Jin said with a faint smile.
"It was so beautiful! Truly the sound of heaven!"
Paimon said, sounding rather excited.
After Yun Jin took her seat, the dishes were soon served.
There were all sorts of dishes, extravagant in the extreme.
After a few rounds of eating, quite a few merchants stayed behind to discuss matters of cooperation.
As for them, they bid farewell to Ningguang and made their way back to Liyue Harbor.
With her feet on solid ground, Fang Qiu finally felt much more at ease.
After returning to Liyue Harbor, the Traveler and Paimon left, saying they had things to attend to.
Yun Jin departed along with them.
Hu Tao, on the other hand, went back to the rented house together with Fang Qiu and Shenhe. Once they arrived and chatted for a while, Hu Tao left in high spirits, hugging the ghost novels Thoma had sent.
After exchanging a few more words, Shenhe took the first volume of Sword and Fairy 1, sat down at the edge of the bed, leaned against it, and began reading quietly.
Fang Qiu, meanwhile, sat on the Jumpy Dumpty and took out the letters from Kamisato Ayaka, Naganohara Yoimiya, and that fellow Thoma.
She wanted to see just what Thoma was getting at, and then decide whether to inflict eight hundred casualties on the enemy at the cost of eight thousand of her own.
So she tore open the envelope of Thoma's letter, unfolded it, and began to read.
"Respectfully submitted—may Miss Fang Qiu be in good health."
Reading this line, Fang Qiu couldn't help but clench her fair fist.
Good health...
Both of those times he'd nearly frightened her into eternal rest, and he still wished her good health...
As Fang Qiu read on, she fell into silence...
It turned out that, because of the Sakoku Decree in Inazuma, he hadn't received her reply at all...
Which was to say... the letter she'd sent off at the post station was probably still lying there at the post station...
She'd completely forgotten about that...
Fang Qiu couldn't help but cradle her head, feeling a bit of a headache.
This time, since the Shogun had specially opened up trade with Liyue, communication between the two nations had only just been restored—which was why he was finally able to send another letter, hoping to receive a reply.
The letters from Kamisato Ayaka and Naganohara Yoimiya confirmed this as well.
No wonder Thoma had sent yet another crate of ghost novels, heedless of her reply.
Just how much did this fellow love ghost novels!
However, besides that, Naganohara Yoimiya said she had prepared a mysterious grand gift for her, and that after a while she would find out what it was.
Making it all so secretive and mysterious.
Fang Qiu let out a soft sigh, set the letters aside, and looked at the xuan paper beside her.
After a moment of silence.
"So you like reading ghost novels, hm? You want me to write ghost novels, hm? Then I'll write you a story about monsters."
Fang Qiu spread out the paper and began grinding ink.
No matter how you looked at it, monsters counted as ghost tales too, right?
In her past life, plenty of Japanese ghost novels were tied to monsters and spirits.
Just then, Shenhe's voice rang out.
"Fang Qiu, your smile is really strange."
Hearing Shenhe's voice, Fang Qiu instinctively turned her head toward the head of the bed.
There she saw that Shenhe had, at some point, set down the Sword and Fairy 1 in her hands and was looking at her with a puzzled expression.
At Shenhe's words, Fang Qiu finally realized that, without her noticing, a smile had curled up at the corner of her mouth.
"Ahem, ahem—pay it no mind."
She coughed awkwardly, smoothed away her smile, then let out a long breath and gently closed her eyes.
After letting her mood settle for a while, she softly opened her eyes.
She picked up the quill pen, dipped it in ink, and let it glide across the pure white paper.
Four characters leapt onto the page.
The Forest of Fireflies' Light.
Skipping a line, she wrote another—a sentence meant for the title page.
"Form no bonds, lest they bring nothing but sorrow."
And so, the story began on a summer day filled with the chirping of cicadas.
Fang Qiu's quill pen scratched ceaselessly across the xuan paper.
Beside her, Shenhe watched Fang Qiu writing with such earnest focus, then silently withdrew her gaze and turned back to attentively reading the Sword and Fairy 1 in her hands.
Sword and Fairy 1's protagonist, Jing Tian, was completely different from Sword and Fairy 2's protagonist, Yun Tianhe.
He was a bit of a rascal, somewhat like a hooligan.
Compared to Jing Tian, she preferred Yun Tianhe.
She kept reading, yet soon she was drawn in by the story as it slowly unfolded.
Jing Tian, too, began to reveal the gentleness and sense of responsibility hidden beneath his roguish exterior.
A xianxia world different from that of Sword and Fairy 2 was beginning.
Inside the rented house, there was only the sound of the quill gliding across paper and Shenhe softly turning the pages.
Outside the window a gentle breeze drifted past, and across the cloudless heavens the Milky Way shone brilliantly, the night as clear as water.
The streets of Liyue could still be called lively at this hour.
The cries of vendors rose and fell, one after another.
Many people lifted their heads to gaze at the Jade Chamber on the outskirts, a look of reassurance in their eyes.
"As expected, Liyue Harbor with the Jade Chamber really does feel familiar."
"Sigh, Liyue Harbor may have regained its former peace, but it's such a pity that Rex Lapis can never return..."
"Quick, look—it's Mr. Zhongli from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Truly a fine figure of a man. He's still got a long way to go, but he carries a touch of Rex Lapis's bearing. These past few days I've been in contact with a matchmaker, having her arrange for my daughter to call on the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor with a marriage proposal."
The crowd chattered away.
Meanwhile, Lumine and Paimon, who had parted ways with Fang Qiu and the others, were walking along the streets of Liyue.
"I'm so stuffed—the food at the Jade Chamber really is just too good."
Paimon stretched lazily, then patted her slightly bulging belly and said with a regretful look, "Too bad there were no dishes made with Slime mucus, or I could've eaten two more bowls of rice!"
"What's so tasty about Slime mucus? Don't let Hu Tao hear you say that."
Lumine shot Paimon a sideways glance and said crossly, "Otherwise, watch out—she might secretly tie you up and bury you at Wuwang Hill."
"Huh?"
Paimon couldn't help shrinking back, then said indignantly, "Don't scare me like that!"
Lumine merely smiled and stuck out her tongue.
"Oh, right—the construction of the Jade Chamber has reached a stopping point, and we've heard Yun Jin's new opera too, so let's set off for Inazuma. The Miko's probably getting impatient from all the waiting, and if she docks our reward over it, that'd be just awful!"
Paimon said, suddenly remembering something.
"Sure."
Lumine pondered for a moment, halted her steps, and nodded.
And so, they turned around and headed toward the teleport waypoint at Chihu Rock.
"Perfect, I've been kind of craving Inazuma's pastries. Let's walk a bit faster."
"Didn't you just eat your fill? How can you still want more?"
"Sweets go in a separate stomach."
"Just how many stomachs do you even have?"
"About seven, probably! They sell Dango Milk over there—let's go buy a cup."
"No way! If Paimon eats too much, she'll blow up."
"Don't say something so terrifying with a smile on your face!"
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