Orion never imagined he would have a day like this; he was cornered against the bed, much like Rin Tohsaka.
Before him, two girls with twin tails—one blonde, one multicolored—were crawling toward him step by step like two lionesses.
"I have been breaking your curse for so many days. When it comes to breaking curses, no one in Teyvat is more familiar with it than me!" Barbara said first.
"As the chief healer, you know my abilities well. We teamed up to overcome many obstacles, didn't we?" Hyacine was not to be outdone.
Their exquisite faces magnified in Orion's eyes, their voices and fragrances washing over him.
""Come on, which one will you choose?""
.
.
.
.
"Let's choose this one! This Big Red Lotus Spicy Fire Slime."
Lumine and Paimon arrived at Wangshu Inn to find Xiao, but Xiao was not very willing to listen to them. He made an appearance and then hid again.
After failing to see Xiao the first time, Lumine and Paimon consulted the proprietress, Verr Goldet, on how to get Xiao to listen to them.
"It's not the proprietress, it's the proprietor." Correcting Lumine and Paimon's address again, Verr Goldet revealed that Xiao liked eating Almond Tofu. Only then did the two realize that the adeptus Orion wanted to summon with Almond Tofu back then was Xiao.
Afterward, following the proprietor's suggestion, they chose another dish. Lumine chose the Big Red Lotus Spicy Fire Slime.
Soon after, Lumine and Paimon, carrying two plates of food, walked to the top terrace again. This time, Xiao appeared quickly as expected.
Lumine handed the Almond Tofu to Xiao, who took it and specifically checked if there was a spoon before eating.
Paimon quickly patted Lumine's shoulder and said: "Quick, quick, quick! While he's eating, hurry up and tell him!"
Lumine, hearing this, rattled off a long list of things in one breath. By the time she finished, Xiao had just finished eating.
The spoon in his hand dropped onto the plate, splashing a little soup. For the first time, an expression of disbelief appeared on Xiao's calm face.
"The Geo Archon... assassinated?!"
His brows gradually furrowed, and his gaze began to wander, as if he were contemplating various situations and possibilities.
"I cannot imagine it. No matter how the eras change, I never thought the Geo Archon would leave us, and I never thought about what Liyue would become without the Geo Archon..."
In the end, Xiao sighed heavily and looked back at Lumine: "I will go to find the other True Lords to discuss this matter. Were you the last ones to notify me?"
Lumine and Paimon shook their heads: "Moon Carver True Lord said you would basically be here, so we came to find you first. As for Mountain Shaper and Cloud Retainer, it is said they do not always stay in one place, and we don't really know their whereabouts, so we didn't go there."
"Moon Carver True Lord didn't tell you the location of their abode?"
"Perhaps the True Lord was in a hurry and didn't mention it."
"...Fine, follow me." Xiao extended his arm: "Grab onto me, and I will take you there?"
Lumine and Paimon looked at each other in confusion, but still reached out and grabbed on.
At the same time, Lumine pointed to the other plate: "Xiao, you haven't eaten my 'Big Red Lotus Spicy Fire Slime' yet."
"...I will use my elemental skill to take you there in a moment. It might be a bit fast, so prepare yourselves mentally."
"That 'Big Red Lotus Spicy Fire... over there"
"Hold on tight!"
"Slime! Aaaaaahhhhhh—"
Amidst the screams of Lumine and Paimon, the three of them arrived near Mt. Hulao in an instant.
Letting go of Xiao's arm, Lumine and Paimon leaned on each other, panting heavily.
"I... thought... I was going to... die!"
"Me... too!"
At this moment, they finally understood that Orion really pampered them like treasures. Even when they made mistakes, he would only say a few words and never hit or scold them. He always prioritized giving them delicious food, and even when he carried them while moving at high speeds, he would find ways to ensure their comfort.
Teacher! I miss you!
After catching their breath, the three went up the mountain together. On the way, they saved two local Treasure Hoarders from Liyue, just like in the game, and the matter of getting the two to turn over a new leaf proceeded as usual. Mountain Shaper was also furious after hearing the news of the Geo Archon's assassination.
But the difference was that because Xiao had followed them, the people present decided to go together to the location of the last True Lord, which was Cloud Retainer's abode—Mount Aocang.
After trekking over mountains and through water again, the group finally arrived near Mount Aocang, but on the way up, Xiao became increasingly puzzled.
"Where did these strange flowers all over the mountain and these moon-colored pearls of all sizes come from?"
...
Nordkrai.
Nasha Town.
Jahoda woke up very early today. She prepared a hearty breakfast for herself: a glass of fresh Milk, two slices of toast, three slices of crispy bacon, and a perfectly cooked sunny-side-up egg.
After styling her hair and preparing her luggage, Jahoda thought carefully and finally decided to wear her usual outfit for the trip.
With her small backpack on her back and the boat ticket that Nefer had prepared for her, Jahoda happily embarked on her journey to Liyue.
"Wow, this ticket allows me to take a boat directly from here to Liyue Harbor! This should be much faster than traveling by land, right?"
Putting the ticket into her backpack pocket, Jahoda skipped toward the pier.
On the way, she was curious about a stall selling something, so she squeezed in to watch for a while. It seemed that the Clink-Clank Krumkake Craftshop had developed some new electronic equipment.
It was a very novel device with many magical uses; it was so powerful that it was breathtaking.
However, because there were too many people, Jahoda did not notice a man beside her taking note of the ticket in her pocket.
Not long after, Jahoda arrived at the pier and saw this quite luxurious passenger ship, which greatly increased her excitement for the trip!
However, when she reached into her pocket, she was surprised to find that her ticket was already gone.
"Eh? Eh?? Where is my ticket???"
Jahoda searched for a long time but couldn't find the ticket. The impatient crew members had to ask her to leave.
Not knowing where to go, Jahoda stood dazed on the pier. She even wondered if she should swim to Liyue? But the sea in front of her could be said to be: Kaiya looking at Focalors—you couldn't see the end of it.
This really poured a bucket of cold water on her.
"Little girl, can't find a ship to travel on?"
At this moment, the captain of a black ship found her. He pointed to the large ship behind him: "We are just two or three people short of being able to leave the port. We can send you directly to Port Ormos in Sumeru, okay? Do you want to take our ship?"
Jahoda thought that if she didn't go, her vacation would be wasted, so she asked about the price, but it scared her: "Too expensive, too expensive! This is half of my travel expenses! I can't afford it!"
The captain of the black ship grinned; this was exactly what he was waiting for: "Then how about I send you to the Children of Echoes? Natlan is nearby, so it will be much cheaper!"
Jahoda weighed the options for a long time and finally agreed: "Alright, then, I'll go to the Children of Echoes..."
Jahoda walked toward the black ship with a slightly disappointed look, but she didn't see the black ship owner behind her showing a smug smile and stuffing the ticket he had stolen from Jahoda deeper into his pocket.
"Hahaha, these people in Nasha Town are really easy to fool! And this silly girl, I just stole a ticket and sweet-talked her a bit, and she got on my ship. Let's see how I fleece you guys later!"
The ship's whistle sounded. On this much smaller passenger ship, many passengers who had been tricked onto the ship by the black-hearted captain using various means stood on the deck, and because there was a lack of entertainment, they could only feed the seagulls.
But when the ship was halfway through its journey, Jahoda was surprised to find that the luxurious passenger ship she had seen in the distance was actually being entangled by pirates!
That's right, pirates. Unlike in the game, the real Teyvat is very vast, and there are many uninhabited islands, so naturally, there are pirates.
These pirates originally operated mostly between Liyue and Inazuma, but guess what? Inazuma had locked its borders!
So what to do? They originally survived because the sea area between Inazuma and Liyue was vast and the merchants were all very wealthy. Now that there was no money to be made, they had to find another way. So some came to this side of Nordkrai, and when they saw it, wow, this was a lawless land without a government!
Wanton and reckless.
From afar, it could be seen that there were armed forces on the luxury passenger ship, but there were too many pirates, and they were overwhelmed.
In the end, Jahoda and the others watched as the passenger ship was occupied by pirates.
The black-hearted captain also swallowed hard, but he didn't expect two pirate ships to come toward them!
"Damn it! It's bad! Run!" The black-hearted captain increased the throttle, but he still couldn't outrun the two modified pirate ships.
Just when everyone on the ship was filled with despair, Jahoda suddenly jumped to the highest point, and the Anemo Vision on her body flickered with a faint light!
She drew her bow and nocked an arrow, and several arrows were sent out with the breeze, accurately blowing up the fuel tanks of the pirate ships!
Amidst the cheers and thanks, Jahoda jumped down in embarrassment, and everyone arrived near the Children of Echoes without incident.
After getting off the ship, Jahoda was about to head to the tribe of the Children of Echoes, but she didn't expect to be called back by the captain.
He stuffed a bag of Mora back to Jahoda, said thank you, and ran away quickly.
Jahoda opened it to take a look, and it was actually the Mora she had paid the captain earlier, and inside was a crumpled ticket!
Jahoda took out the ticket, and soon the clues connected one by one, and the truth surfaced!
At this moment, her clever intelligence occupied the high ground; she understood, she understood everything.
"Captain, could it be that he knew there would be pirates at sea, so he specifically stole my ticket so that I could take his ship and avoid the pirates?"
After all, she only shot two arrows, but the captain had sent so many people to Natlan!
Jahoda put away the Mora, closed her eyes, and hot tears streamed down her cheeks.
"There are still many good people in the world!"
-
-
-
-