The next day.
Because of yesterday's incident, Ganyu's desk was piled high with documents, stacked like a small mountain.
Junze lay beside her desk, looking drowsy.
He did not even know how he had managed to fall asleep last night.
After an entire night of torment, he felt that the sensitivity of his horns had decreased quite a bit.
That could be considered a blessing.
Still… the idea that repeated stimulation could dull nerve sensitivity felt strange. And oddly familiar.
Junze quickly threw those bizarre thoughts out of his mind.
Looking at the stack of files nearly as tall as himself, he felt a pang of sympathy for Ganyu.
"Master, that's so much work. It must be exhausting."
Ganyu gently patted his head, picked up a document, and said with ease, "This amount is nothing. When Liyue was first established, that was truly exhausting."
"Really?"
For a moment, Junze felt his Master was truly pitiful.
She had lived like this for thousands of years.
If it were him, he probably would not last even a month.
After a brief silence, Junze said firmly, "Master, I will definitely become one of the Liyue Qixing."
It was not only because of his mission. More importantly, he truly did not want Ganyu to keep working this hard.
Maybe once he became one of the Liyue Qixing, he could assign himself and Ganyu a diplomatic mission abroad.
A publicly funded trip. Would that not be wonderful?
Ganyu smiled and rubbed his head.
"Alright. Then Master will look forward to it."
With that, she officially began her work.
Today's new documents included reconstruction of the night market, compensation for various shops, repairs to the city walls…
All of those were trivial matters that could be resolved gradually.
What truly concerned Liyue's upper ranks were the rampaging vishaps and the mysterious Adeptus who appeared last night.
"Why did the vishaps suddenly riot and charge into Liyue Harbor?"
Ganyu frowned as she approved an application regarding Millelith weapons.
Simply reading the documents gave her no clear direction.
But investigation was not her main responsibility.
She only needed to review and organize approved reports.
Finding the truth would fall to the other members of the Liyue Qixing and the Millelith.
Junze naturally noticed the reports mentioning the so-called Ink Shadow Adeptus.
He turned toward Ganyu.
"Master, what do you think about the Adeptus who saved us last night?"
He wanted to know what kind of impression he had left in her eyes.
"That Adeptus?" Ganyu thought for a moment. "Naturally, I am very grateful. If not for him, Ze, you and the others would have been in danger."
"But… he felt somewhat familiar. Yet I have no memory of him."
"I am also concerned whether he is friend or foe. That black aura was…"
She recalled the dark aura with visible worry.
"Huh?!"
Junze panicked internally.
Under that black aura, he looked completely different from how he did now.
Even if he carried the same adeptal bearing, the overall impression would have changed drastically.
So why did his Master still feel familiarity?
And her attitude did not seem entirely relaxed either.
"Perhaps I should consult the ancient records. Maybe I can find which Adeptus or god once wielded black aura."
Ganyu nodded thoughtfully.
Hearing her uncertainty, Junze secretly let out a breath.
Good. She had not figured it out.
"Then Master, if Ze becomes an Adeptus like that in the future, would Master be happy?"
Knowing she did not suspect him for now, Junze pressed further.
Ganyu smiled.
"Of course. At that time, Master would be very proud of Ze."
"Mm. I will definitely work hard."
"Alright."
After that, Junze continued as usual, completing the daily tasks he could inside the residence and grinding his skills.
His Painting and Planting skills had improved rapidly and were nearly at one hundred percent.
He was also planning to find a suitable place to plant the Delicious Qingxin seeds.
As for [Trail of the Qilin], because of his current strength, each percentage point afterward was extremely difficult to increase.
But he was not in a hurry.
Let nature take its course.
What Junze did not know was that while he practiced [Trail of the Qilin] in the courtyard, Shenhe was secretly watching him.
"…"
Shenhe observed him quietly, seemingly deep in thought.
Whenever Junze went out to complete that day's combat task, Shenhe would also disappear.
Where did she go?
And when Junze returned, Shenhe often came back much later.
What had she been doing?
No one knew.
In short, Junze repeated similar routines these days.
In the morning, he practiced his skills. In the afternoon, he sought opportunities to go out and complete missions, hoping to uncover the reason behind the missing miners and the vishap riots.
Yet despite resolving more and more such incidents, he still found no clues.
He even began to doubt whether the miners' disappearances were related to the vishaps at all.
Meanwhile, the number of missing miners continued to increase.
If this continued, many mines might have to suspend operations entirely.
Junze planned to find time to visit the nearest mine.
Perhaps he could uncover some leads there.
Aside from these matters, however, the name of the Ink Shadow Adeptus was spreading more and more widely throughout Liyue.
Almost every time Junze completed a mission, he encountered Liyue citizens surrounded by vishaps.
As such incidents increased, more people naturally began to believe in this Adeptus.
"You also met that Adeptus?"
"Yes. If not for him, I would have died in the wilderness."
"Same here."
"It's a pity he's so aloof. He would not even tell us his title."
…
That day, as Junze walked through the streets with Ganyu, they heard many rumors about the Ink Shadow Adeptus.
Ganyu said softly, "It seems I was overthinking. He truly is a kind Adeptus."
"Still, I have met every Adeptus who signed a contract with Rex Lapis, yet I have no impression of this one."
"Could it be an Adeptus who has never revealed himself before?"
At that moment, Junze felt his scalp go numb.
He had not expected matters to escalate this far.
If a real Adeptus came looking for him, he would be finished.
Junze felt a headache coming on.
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