The Night Raid on Chenyu Vale
The night was as dark as ink, spilling over the jagged coastline of Northeast Harbor in Chenyu Vale. The salty sea wind whipped up foam that crashed against the rocks, letting out low, mournful roars—much like the Staff of Homa spinning between Hu Tao's fingers. For a moment, moonlight tore through the clouds, casting an eerie crimson glow upon the polearm.
"Lady Keqing, one final confirmation," Yelan's voice was soft as silk soaked in seawater, nearly carried away by the wind. Her hookblade twirled in her palm, the cold glint of metal clashing with the calculation in her pupils. "Yuan Tan's soldiers change guard at the third quarter of the hour of Hai. The sentries form a triangle formation; archers on the three elevated platforms have overlapping vision covering the entire dock. There's a hidden sentry behind the west warehouse, breathing roughly seventeen times per quarter-hour—likely left-handed. My hook can wrap around his throat and silence him within three breaths."
Keqing's hair ribbon fluttered gently in the night breeze. She tightened her grip on the Primordial Jade Cutter at her waist, her knuckles whitening with pressure. Having tracked Yuan Tan's forces all the way from Liyue Harbor to Chenyu Vale, she had long memorized every detail of the warlord's defenses.
"The archer on the east platform is mine," she said. "An arrow infused with Electro will pierce the gaps in his armor. I must strike half a breath before he pulls the trigger." She paused, her gaze sweeping toward the brightly lit command tower at the end of the dock. "Hu Tao, you handle the central platform and the signal soldiers in the command tower. Remember—not a single warning light may be lit."
Hu Tao suddenly chuckled. The Staff of Homa stilled in her hand, the flame at its tip shrinking to a tiny spark. "Rest easy, Lady Keqing. The services of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor include expedited 'early send-offs'." She tapped her toe lightly against a rock, her figure gliding like a ghost into the shadows at the dock's edge. Her red skirt brushed the dewy grass without stirring a single sound.
No sooner had the wooden clapper sounded the third quarter of Hai from the distant camp than Yelan's hookblade shot forth like a striking viper, coiling around the hidden sentry's neck with a sharp hiss. The guard barely had time to turn before searing pain shot through his throat. He was dragged violently into the darkness before he could struggle—Yelan's boot pressed precisely into an acupoint on his back, stifling any groan.
At almost the exact same moment, Keqing appeared beneath the east platform. Electro energy coiled around her feet as she bounded upward using the rock's protrusions. An arrow from her Primordial Jade Cutter sliced through the moonlight in a silver-blue arc. The archer atop the platform had only sensed movement when the arrow pierced his throat. His wide eyes still held the shock of death as his body toppled from the platform into the sea below, barely making a splash.
The guard on the central platform yawned and turned to grab his water pouch, only to spot a red figure materialize from the shadows behind him. Hu Tao smiled and twirled her staff. "Young sir, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has a special today—buy one, get one free… Oh, wait, I mean I'll send you to meet Yama. On the house."
Before the words faded, the flame at the staff's tip flared violently, yet strangely cast no light. It swallowed the guard's consciousness entirely within his terrified gaze.
The signal soldier on the command tower's top floor stared out at the sea, his finger hovering over the alarm rope. A strange chill lingered in the night air. He was about to pull his coat tighter when a cold touch pressed against his neck. Hu Tao stood behind him, flipping a copper coin plucked from a guard's body.
"Shhh," she tilted her head and smiled. "Wake Yama, and your pay gets docked."
As the soldier's body slumped to the ground, Yelan used her hook to snuff out the torches on all three platforms. Keqing stood on the rocks at the dock's end and fired a lightning-wreathed signal arrow toward three faint fishing fires flickering in the distant dark.
Three breaths later, soft oars sliced through the water. Countless fishing boats carrying civilians and rebels glided silently toward the dock like lurking fish. An elderly man in an old cotton-padded jacket tremblingly stepped onto the wooden pier. Gazing at the empty sentry posts, he wiped his eyes in emotion. "It… it actually worked?"
Keqing turned to him, her voice carrying faint exhaustion yet unshakable resolve. "Northeast Harbor is secured. But this is only the beginning." She stared into the depths of Chenyu Vale, where Yuan Tan's heavily armed forces guarded the valley. Moonlight sharpened in her pupils. "Send word to our contact point in Fontaine. Tell them: as planned, we strike from east and west at the hour of Mao in three days."
Yelan retracted her hookblade and stood beside her, her eyes sweeping over the rebels quietly unloading weapons and supplies. "Yuan Tan has many private soldiers hidden in the valley, plus new artillery purchased from Snezhnaya. A direct assault would be costly."
Hu Tao jumped down from the platform, brushing dust off her hands. The flame on her Staff of Homa had long since died out. "Then let's give them a 'surprise'. I've buried some Wangsheng special 'fireworks' beneath the granaries at the valley entrance. When the time comes…" She made an exploding gesture, her eyes curving into crescent moons.
The sea wind swept across the dock, carrying growing footsteps and whispers. Keqing looked upon the civilians—faces filled with fear yet hands still clutching weapons—and suddenly recalled Lord Zhongli's words before their departure: "True protection is never the work of one alone."
She took a deep breath, turned to Yelan and Hu Tao, and spoke with calm, unyielding authority:
"Rest for two shichen. At the hour of Yin sharp, we march on Chenyu Vale."
In the distance, the first faint light struggled to break through the darkness upon the sea. On this dock, newly soaked in blood and silence, a storm that would decide the fate of Chenyu Vale was only just beginning.