Lumine and Zhongli's group arrived at the wilderness near Mt. Tianheng, searching for the so-called "Cocogoat," but after searching for half a day, they still came up empty-handed.
Paimon felt exhausted from flying. She drooped her limbs and said to Zhongli, "Why can't we find anything? Zhongli, can't you use your invincible high-society knowledge to figure something out?"
Zhongli rarely showed a troubled expression: "I don't know everything. Take this Cocogoat, for instance; I have never heard of this type of adeptal beast, and it hasn't been recorded even in ancient texts."
He pressed his hand against his chin and muttered to himself, "Could it be some kind of elemental creation that suddenly evolved in the last hundred years? But then why would it be an adeptal beast?"
Just then, Lumine suddenly noticed something. She pointed at a high platform among the ruins: "Zhongli, do you know what that is?"
Zhongli looked in the direction she was pointing and nodded: "This is indeed a good tool for us to search for the Cocogoat."
Arriving at the high platform, Zhongli continued to introduce it: "This object is called the [Guizhong Machine]. It is a ballista invented two thousand years ago by the Dust God, Guizhong. Besides possessing immense power, it also features automatic aiming, automatic firing, and high-magnification imaging."
"That powerful?!" Lumine was startled. Was this level of technology supposed to exist in that era?
However, Lumine and Paimon quickly realized something. Paimon excitedly said, "Does high-magnification imaging mean we can see things very far away? Lumine, let's quickly use this Guizhong Machine to look for the Cocogoat!"
Thus, under Zhongli's guidance, Lumine began meticulously operating the Guizhong Machine.
"Wow! We can really see so far!"
"Really?! I want to see too! I want to see too!"
Lumine and Paimon were like two children fighting over a telescope, scanning everywhere for any species that resembled a goat.
As they watched, the two suddenly discovered something fluffy in a patch of grass! With that blue curly fur, it looked soft to the touch.
Not only that, but this blue fluffy thing also had a pair of black horns that looked exactly like goat horns!
"Wow, Lumine, did we, did we find it?!" Paimon clapped her hands excitedly.
Lumine was also a little excited. She kept the crosshairs aimed at the blue object, wanting to confirm if it was the Cocogoat she was looking for, but suddenly something unexpected happened: a red circle appeared in her sight and began continuously shrinking, and next to it, a number counting down from 10 appeared.
Just then, Zhongli, who was nearby, spoke up to remind them: "Oh right, you need to be careful. Once the Guizhong Machine aims at a living target for more than ten seconds, it will automatically fire."
Lumine's mouth twitched. She turned back to look at the reading, which had just hit zero: "Zhongli, why didn't you say that earlier!"
Zhongli was startled by the shout, and immediately realized something was wrong. The muzzle had already spat out a tongue of flame, and a gigantic arrow carrying adeptal power instantly launched!
Zhongli hadn't expected Lumine to actually trigger it, and that the machine lacked a safety mechanism. In his haste, he shot out a burst of adeptal energy, but it was too late; he barely managed to reduce the ballista bolt's speed to Mach 5, but the arrow still flew out.
Zhongli frowned inwardly, thinking that explaining this later might be troublesome. He prepared to stop concealing his strength and intercept the arrow directly, but he suddenly stopped, having noticed something.
He patted the shoulder of Lumine, who was frozen in shock nearby: "Let's go. That arrow was intercepted. Your master is over there."
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Orion grabbed the incoming giant arrow and instantly neutralized the adeptal power on it.
Huh? Isn't that residual power partly Zhongli's? Are they nearby?
Sure enough, Orion looked up and saw Lumine gliding over with a wind glider.
Orion quickly stretched out his hands, ready to catch Lumine, but Lumine landed halfway and then jogged over.
Orion: You guard against me like I'm a thief.
Orion then turned around to look at Ganyu, who was sitting paralyzed on the ground. He reached out and supported Ganyu's fair, tender arm: "How are you? Can you still stand up?"
In Ganyu's eyes, Orion, surrounded by red roses in a shojo manga style, had sparkling eyes as he asked: "My Little Adeptal Beast, what happened to you? Were you so scared that you collapsed on the ground? O kawaii koto."
Ganyu completely overheated.
Lumine, who had just run over, was startled by Ganyu standing up: "Ganyu, why is your face so red?"
"Ah? N-nothing!" Ganyu fanned her face with her hand.
Zhongli and Paimon also rushed over afterward. Paimon immediately started apologizing profusely: "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! We didn't know that thing called the Guizhong Machine would fire after aiming for ten seconds! We are truly sorry!"
Lumine also realized what happened and quickly apologized, but Ganyu was completely preoccupied with the fluttering deer in her heart, so she waved her hand, indicating she didn't mind the incident.
Paimon then explained to Orion and Ganyu why they had come here, saying they wanted to use the Guizhong Machine to find the adeptal beast Cocogoat, though they weren't sure what they would do after catching the Cocogoat.
"It's not going to be milking, is it? If you catch a goat, you either shave it or milk it, right?" Orion pointedly asked. However, having said that, Orion subconsciously glanced in Ganyu's direction and swallowed.
Ganyu also noticed Orion's expression, and those keywords—Cocogoat, adeptal beast, milking—flashed quickly through her mind.
Logically, no matter how deadly the 'modeling' was, staring at a girl's chest was rather impolite. But Orion hadn't expected Ganyu to suddenly shield her "front armor," giving him a slightly annoyed side-eye and quietly cursing, "Honestly, acting like a child!"
Orion:???
What part of me looks like a child? What childish behavior did you think of?
Orion secretly glanced in Lumine's direction. Lumine's eyes were glowing red as she stared at him.
I'm done for. I won't be able to sleep well tonight again.
Finally, Orion and Zhongli exchanged information. Sure enough, neither side had seen the Cocogoat. Of course, Orion didn't plan to clear up the misunderstanding caused by Qiqi; they would find out naturally when they returned.
The three empty-handed travelers—Zhongli, Lumine, and Paimon—prepared to head back. Lumine even wanted to drag Orion along, but Orion refused, citing the need to return to the construction crew.
Lumine pointed at Orion and mouthed the words: "Wait for my [Riding EX]!"
Orion nodded. That would be great.
At the last moment, Ganyu called out to Zhongli's group of three. She quickly took two steps forward and handed over the flower she had been carefully guarding: "Mister Zhongli, you are preparing for the Rite of Descension, correct?
Then please accept this glaze lily as well. This is a wild glaze lily that I picked. The Rite of Descension requires this, right?"
Zhongli accepted the flower and looked at Ganyu with some surprise: "Miss Ganyu, the glaze lily is rumored to bloom in response to the thoughts of those nearby. I sense a distinctly joyful emotion emanating from this flower. Have you encountered something good recently?"
Ganyu lowered her gaze but still answered with a smile: "I shouldn't feel this way upon the passing of the Geo Archon, but after experiencing several emotional ups and downs..." She subtly glanced at Orion, who was being chased by Lumine trying to pinch the soft flesh around his waist: "I feel it's time for me to make some changes, and time to establish my true home."
"Oh? To establish rather than search?" Zhongli also smiled genuinely: "Then congratulations, Miss Ganyu, on resolving your inner turmoil."
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Orion and Ganyu returned to the camp tent, where they found a mature woman juggling two dice in her hand, discussing something with Keqing.
Seeing the two return, Keqing stood up and got straight to the point: "Quite a few Millelith soldiers and construction workers have gone missing, and the numbers are increasing. We must find them quickly!"
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