Although Ganyu was feeling somewhat uncomfortable right now, this minor issue did not interfere with her work.
So she set it aside for the moment, planning to check it later when she took a bath.
Right now, the most important matter was still completing all of her duties.
At this time, Uncle Tian had already submitted the relevant reports.
Ganyu's task was to review and edit them, record them into the archives, and finally distribute them to the other Liyue Qixing.
There were four issues in total.
They were the anomaly in Jueyun Karst, missing miners, rampaging Geovishaps, and a mysterious black shadow in the outskirts.
The first matter had already been resolved by Ganyu, so she crossed it out.
But the other three…
"The areas of the missing miners and the Geovishap rampage are quite close. There may be a connection."
"And that place also seems to seal that one."
…
While thinking, Ganyu wrote down some of her own conjectures.
"However, this mysterious black shadow…"
Ganyu frowned.
According to the report, this black shadow had not caused any harm. It had even eliminated Hilichurls and Abyss Mages.
The Millelith even suspected that the shadow might be some Adeptus.
"An Adeptus?"
Ganyu had no memory of any Adeptus with such an appearance.
She had participated in the Archon War and the founding of Liyue Harbor. She had impressions of essentially every Adeptus.
"Could it be an existence similar to the Conqueror of Demons?"
Ganyu's mind recalled Xiao.
They were like that, wreathed in ominous karmic debt, yet always protecting Liyue.
At this moment, Ze, who was reading behind her, shrank his head slightly.
He had not expected his identity to be interpreted this way.
What he did was completely unlike what an Adeptus should be doing.
"Next time I should be more careful. After all, so many tasks have appeared."
If he were exposed, then with Ganyu's temperament, she would either forbid Ze from going out again, or insist on accompanying him.
That would inevitably trouble her and delay her work.
Better forget it.
If he could hide it for a while, then he would hide it for a while.
Time slowly passed.
Soon it was already evening. This time, the master and disciple did not trouble Xiangling again.
Ganyu had someone place a large order from Xinyue Kiosk, and they made do with dinner at Yuehai Pavilion.
After that, it was work again.
Perhaps influenced by Ganyu, Ze was actually able to read and draw so seriously for so long.
Just like that, the night deepened.
Ganyu finally finished today's work.
"Ha… Master, are you done?"
Ze lay on the table, yawning as he asked.
Ganyu came to Ze's side, full of apology: "I'm sorry for making you wait so long."
Ze shook his head and said, "It's fine. Reading and drawing like this makes me very happy."
As he spoke, Ze showed his results to Ganyu.
On his drawing paper were various illuminated beasts from the books.
There were qilin, immortal cranes, milu deer…
Ze had even copied some talismans from the book illustrations.
Ganyu looked at Ze's drawings in amazement.
They were much better than last night's.
And those talismans… Ganyu even felt they looked better than the ones she drew herself.
This child really was a genius.
But after looking through the drawings and noticing there was no portrait of herself, a small trace of disappointment appeared on Ganyu's face.
Ganyu laughed at herself.
What was she even thinking.
"Master, there's also this."
As he spoke, Ze carefully spread open a drawing with his two little hands, grinning.
As expected, Master had been looking forward to it too.
The content of the drawing was precisely the scene from this morning, when Ganyu had taken Ze to the harbor to gaze into the distance.
Though the content was simple, it perfectly conveyed the warmth of that moment.
In the drawing, Ganyu was gentle and elegant. Ze was cute and adorably dazed.
Ganyu's pupils shrank slightly as she looked at Ze in astonishment. "Th… this was drawn by you?"
"Hehe, Master, I'm amazing, right?"
Ze said with a proud expression on his face.
Ganyu carefully examined the drawing, then gently stored it away.
She hugged Ze and nuzzled him, saying, "This is truly amazing!"
[Autonomous Task: Current Task Progress 50%]
The system notification sounded.
Feeling Ganyu's soft warmth, Ze suddenly said to her, "But, Master, can you teach me cultivation tomorrow?"
"Cultivation?"
Ganyu was taken aback. She had not expected her disciple to make such a request.
Ze pointed at the book's contents, his eyes shining. "The descriptions of Adepti in there are exactly like you and the others."
"Riding clouds and mist. That's so amazing!"
Seeing Ze's envious, sparkling gaze, Ganyu smiled helplessly.
As expected of a child's nature.
Originally, she had planned to wait until Ze was a bit older before telling him the methods of cultivation.
But since Ze had said this, Ganyu naturally would not refuse.
She said softly, "It's possible, but cultivation is very tiring. Does Ze have the mental preparation?"
"Mhm mhm mhm!"
Ze nodded excitedly.
Actually, from the beginning, Ze had fallen into a misconception.
He thought his skills could only be obtained through draws.
But reality was clearly not like that.
He could completely master them through learning.
This could be seen from the additional entry on his [Status] panel: [Skill: Literacy].
Although it only had three stars, this was indeed obtained by Ze through autonomous learning.
Since that was the case, he definitely could not let his own Master off.
Ganyu smiled and lifted Ze into her arms, saying, "Alright. Tomorrow, Master will teach you."
At this moment, Ganyu had already imagined Ze tearfully saying he did not want to learn anymore.
After all, she had been like that when she was little.
For a moment, she even looked forward to this child coming to her in tears to seek comfort.
"Alright now, let's go bathe with Master."
Ze was shocked. "Eh?! Bathe?"
Ganyu said matter-of-factly, "You played in the mud for so long today, and you even bought new clothes. Of course you need a bath."
"I wash by myself?"
"With your little short arms, can you reach your back?"
"… "
Ze was carried away by Ganyu with complicated feelings.
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