"Hm? A letter for us?"
Hearing the call, Lora paused and turned toward the little child coming up the stairs. Zhongli also looked over. Their gazes fell on the letter in the child's hand, and both showed a flicker of surprise.
With just one glance, the two old-timers could tell the child was not human. Not only that, dense Anemo energy swirled around him, no weaker than Venti's.
That color scheme, that level of Anemo energy, and he had called out both their names directly.
Could it be...
"Excuse me, little girl, who are you?" Lora raised a hand and asked.
The child looked down at himself, then frowned at her. "Are your eyes that bad? What part of me looks like a little girl?"
"Uh..."
Children spoke without thinking. Children spoke without thinking.
Lora quietly calmed herself down, then asked again, "Then who exactly are you?"
The child looked even more confused. Tilting his head, he stared at her. "Your eyes really are bad, aren't they?"
Lora was left speechless.
Zhongli studied him for a moment, then said, "If I am not mistaken, you are Mondstadt's Wind Dragon, Dvalin, correct?"
"That's right!" The little guy nodded. "Barbatos gave me a name and told me to call myself... Wynlin?"
"Don't tell me Venti tricked you into taking this form too?" Lora suddenly realized something and quickly asked.
Wynlin nodded. "Yes. He said this form is very convenient in human society."
Oh my.
A pretty little boy.
Lora silently gave Venti's taste a thumbs-up.
Like bard, like dragon. If the god looked like a delicate little bard, then his dragon had become a tiny noble-looking boy. Not bad. Very nice.
Wynlin noticed her gaze and frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is it weird? Did Barbatos trick me?"
"No! He didn't trick you!" Lora shook her head at once. "You look very good like this. Think about Zhongyue. Didn't she become something similar? She just went a little further."
"Oh." Wynlin nodded and did not dwell on it.
Lora then asked, "So who sent the letter? Venti? Don't tell me that guy was too afraid to see us and sent you instead."
Wynlin shook his head. "No. It's from Azhdaha."
"Zhongyue sent a letter? Isn't she busy with the branch store in Fontaine?" Lora took the envelope, opened it, and read.
The letter was short, and the contents were simple. But after reading it, her expression turned a little strange.
"What is it?" Zhongli noticed her look and came over to read it as well.
Then his expression also became somewhat helpless.
"What does it say? Why are both of you making that face?" Xianyun frowned.
The two looked up at her. Lora then glanced at Jiehu and Houzhang behind her. Being stared at like that made all three of them uneasy, and Xianyun took a step back.
"What's going on?"
Focalors and Furina also came over curiously. When Furina saw the letter, she immediately covered her mouth and laughed.
Lora folded the letter and looked at Xianyun. "Zhongyue didn't say much. She just reported that her shop in Poisson is doing well and told us not to worry. Lumine and Paimon will also come from Fontaine with her after a while. Also..."
Zhongli continued for her, "She told us to keep an eye on all of you and not let you run away."
"Uh..."
The group looked at one another.
In the end, Jiehu asked, "We have not offended Azhdaha, have we?"
"No. She just likes having fun." Lora shook her head. "Don't worry. It's just Lantern Rite. It'll be over before you know it. Better to get it over with sooner rather than later."
Jiehu: "..."
Houzhang: "..."
Xianyun: "..."
After a brief silence, Xiao said, "I believe there will be many demon god remnants in Dihua Marsh this time, so I truly cannot go to Liyue Harbor for the festival. Lantern Rite should be a time for everyone else to reunite."
"No way!" Xianyun, Jiehu, and Houzhang said in unison.
Lora could not help laughing. Then she asked Wynlin, "Hey, where's Venti? Ever since Zhongli sent him flying last time, we haven't seen him at all. What's he been doing?"
"He's dead," Wynlin replied.
Lora: "..."
Zhongli: "..."
"Are you serious?"
Wynlin nodded. "That's what Venti told me to say if you asked. Speaking of which, so you were the ones who sent him flying when he crashed down in front of me from the sky a while ago. What did he do?"
"You don't need to know that." Lora shook her head, not planning to let him hear about Venti saying she and Zhongli had eloped.
But Focalors, standing nearby, calmly said, "Nothing much. The Anemo Archon simply said Lady Egeria and Mr. Zhongli had eloped."
"Uh..." Wynlin fell silent. He stared blankly at Lora and Zhongli, then said, "The Seven really do play rough."
Lora clenched her fist. "You Elemental Dragons aren't much better. Are you asking for a beating? Since Venti isn't here, will you take it for him?"
"No need!" Wynlin immediately stepped back.
While everyone was chatting, Shuyu helped Yuandai walk out from inside.
"How was it? Did you remember anything?" Furina hurried over as soon as she saw Yuandai.
Yuandai nodded, then shook her head. "I remembered some things... I really did stay here back then to recover, but I can't remember what illness I had. I only remember it was very serious, and no medicine could cure it."
"No medicine could cure it?" Furina frowned. "But you're standing here now. Well... I suppose I can't exactly say you're completely fine."
"I remember this part..."
Yuandai slowly spoke to Furina and the others.
"One day, I met a traveling merchant. After hearing about my illness, he sold me a bottle of Soul-Awakening Pills. He said they were refined from adeptus blood and could ease my symptoms. After I took them, I really did recover, and the symptoms did not return for many years..."