"Just a few little accessories. They look completely different from Sumeru's style, and they're quite pretty, so I wanted to buy some to take back," Sophia told Lora honestly.
Lora casually picked up a few pieces of jewelry from the stall and looked them over. "These are good."
"Yes, yes, miss, everything here is good quality, so the price really can't go any lower." The stall owner knew how to read the room and immediately followed Lora's lead.
Lora patted her chest. "I'll pay."
"Huh? You're paying?" Sophia was a little surprised. "That won't do."
"Oh, do the two of us really need to draw the line that clearly?" Lora smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "Back in Sumeru, I ate plenty of free meals at the Akademiya. Just treat this as my meal money."
"Next time you come to Sumeru, I'll cook for you myself." Sophia knew Lora meant well. How could the cost of a few meals compare to real jewelry like this?
"Ah, then I'm in for a treat." Lora sighed happily.
The stall owner wrapped the accessories for Sophia, and she walked with Lora for a while.
Sophia asked, "Where are you going?"
"Mt. Aocang. Xianyun is probably hiding from me, so I'm going to catch her and bring her back. It's Lantern Rite. How can she not be there?" Lora said with a smile.
"You really..." Sophia sighed helplessly. "I don't even know what to say to you. Don't go too far, or people won't want to play with you anymore."
"Understood!" Lora saluted her to show that she got it.
After parting with Sophia, Lora headed for Mt. Aocang.
"I say, Xianyun, are you truly planning to hide here for Lantern Rite?" On Mt. Aocang, Jiehu watched Xianyun rearranging her living quarters and frowned deeply.
Xianyun nodded. "Naturally. I've already begun tidying everything up. Do you think I'm joking? With Lantern Rite this close, I have no mood for jokes."
"But why?" Jiehu looked at her, clearly unable to understand.
Xianyun sighed helplessly. "A few days ago, I went to The Chasm for a look around and happened to see Lora returning from Sumeru. Behind her were Lesser Lord Kusanali, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, and someone I didn't even recognize."
"Greater Lord Rukkhadevata..." Jiehu looked shocked. "Wasn't she already dead? How could she..."
"Who else could it be? Lora must have revived her, just like she did with Inazuma's first Electro Archon."
Xianyun continued, "And that person I didn't recognize didn't look easy to deal with either. If I don't run before this Lantern Rite, I really will become one dead adeptal crane."
" If you put it that way, Houzhang and I should probably hide too." Only then did Jiehu react.
But Xianyun shook her head. "No. If you two leave, who will draw fire for me?"
Jiehu said, "Xianyun, that is hardly proper of you. We have worked together for thousands of years. How can you set us up like this? We already fell for your tricks last Lantern Rite. This time, no matter what, we are escaping."
"Escaping? Where do you think you're going?"
The moment Jiehu finished speaking, the door to Xianyun's cave residence was kicked open. Sunlight poured in, dust glittering in the beam as Lora strode inside.
She looked exactly like a villain boss making an entrance.
"Trying to run? It won't be that easy," Lora said to Xianyun and Jiehu with a smile.
With that line, she looked even more like a villain.
"Jiehu, was it you?" The moment Xianyun saw Lora arrive, she instinctively looked at him.
Jiehu quickly said, "What does this have to do with me? I never told Lora anything about your whereabouts."
"All right, he didn't tell me. I guessed it myself." Lora waved a hand and smiled at Xianyun.
Xianyun blurted out, "Do you have the brains for that?"
Lora: "..."
After saying it, Xianyun froze, realizing she had misspoken.
Lora looked at her with a smile and said slowly, "Very well. I'll remember that, Adeptus Xianyun."
Her voice was so sweet and drawn out that goosebumps rose on both Xianyun and Jiehu.
Xianyun's expression gradually lost all hope. She looked at Jiehu, sighed, and said, "Now I'm finished."
"Mm, I can see that." Jiehu nodded, then instinctively stepped to the side, putting distance between himself and Xianyun in case Lora mistook them for accomplices.
"Hey, hey, hey! Why are you running? Didn't you just say we worked together for thousands of years?" Xianyun frowned and shouted when she saw him move.
"Now that I think about it carefully, since Guizhong passed away, we truly have not spent much time together," Jiehu said seriously, standing off to the side.
Xianyun: "...Jiehu, you..."
"Relax. Accept your fate." Lora waved a hand and walked toward Xianyun with a smile. She gently patted her on the shoulder and said, "If you think about it, it's only Lantern Rite. Just one night. It'll be over very quickly."
"It'll burn years off my life..." Xianyun sighed.
She could sigh all she wanted, but there was no running now.
In front of Lora, who in all of Teyvat could guarantee they would escape? In Xianyun's eyes, not even Zhongli could successfully shake off her pursuit.
Lora continued comforting her. "I really wasn't planning to mess with you this Lantern Rite. You scared yourself."
"Really? You weren't planning to?" Xianyun immediately perked up when she heard that.
Lora smiled and nodded. "That's right. I really wasn't planning to before. But now I am."
Xianyun: "..."
She should not have opened her mouth.
Xianyun felt like crying, but Lora still remembered what Sophia had told her earlier. She knew she could not go too far. A little fun would be enough.
Xianyun looked at Lora, who was still patting her shoulder, and asked, "By the way, you were the one who revived Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, correct?"
"It was me." Lora nodded and admitted it. "Well? Pretty impressive, right?"
"It is quite impressive..." Xianyun smiled awkwardly, then asked, "Then... who was that girl with long yellow-green hair? I sensed a very powerful force from her as well. Is she a god too?"
"Her?" Lora blinked and said to Xianyun, "Guess."