After Lumine and Paimon filled in the details, Cloud Retainer was livid.
"Preposterous... absolutely preposterous!"
"There is nothing more to say! A meeting? What is the point of a meeting! I shall go and suppress Liyue Harbor myself! Su Ming! Go and deliver a message! Tell those two old fools, Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper, to meet me at Liyue Harbor immediately!"
"The time for talk is over!"
Seeing his Master on the verge of losing it, Su Ming stepped in to intervene.
"Master, Rex Lapis is a figure of immense power. How could he be assassinated so easily?"
"There must be more to this than meets the eye."
"Moon Carver likely realized this, which is why he wants to discuss it first."
He added, "And... if the Lord of Geo truly has passed, the priority should be his funeral rites, not jumping into a conflict with the Qixing."
Su Ming's words finally reached her. She let out a heavy sigh, looking a bit crestfallen. "Sigh... To think I have lived for thousands of years, yet I do not see as clearly as you."
"You are right... If the Lord truly has met an unfortunate end, and we adepti start a war with the Qixing before even seeing him off, we would be the ones breaking the rules."
"Very well. I shall go to Moon Carver's for the meeting. Regardless, we must ensure the Lord's funeral is handled with proper decorum."
"The Rite of Parting has not been held for many years. I doubt the mortals of Liyue Harbor even remember the proper procedures. If they do not, then us old-timers shall handle it ourselves."
She turned, and a terrifying aura of bloodlust erupted from her, making Lumine visibly uncomfortable. Su Ming marveled this was the killing intent of an adeptus who had fought through the Archon War.
"As for the truth of the assassination and the Qixing's lies... we shall settle that account later!"
"If I find the Qixing were pulling strings behind the scenes, do not blame me for being heartless!"
With a beat of her wings, Cloud Retainer soared toward Moon Carver's dwelling.
With her gone, only Su Ming and the others remained.
"Where do you plan to go next?" Su Ming asked.
"Um... Moon Carver said there's one more adeptus to invite. The Conqueror of Demons. He's supposed to be at Wangshu Inn."
Su Ming smiled. "In that case, would you mind if I joined you?"
Lumine was curious. "Why do you want to come with us?"
Su Ming explained, "The Conqueror of Demons was one of the Guardian Yakshas under the Lord of Geo, and he is the last one remaining. For millennia, he has followed his contract to purge demons from Liyue."
"Over time, the Yakshas became tainted by Karmic Debt. This karma is a poison to humans. For an ordinary person or even a Vision holder, touching it is almost always fatal."
"More importantly, even the Conqueror of Demons doesn't know when the karma might drive him mad. To protect the innocent, he avoids humans entirely."
"If you just walk up to him, it won't go well. Even with the Sigil of Permission, he might show his face for a second, but he won't listen to you."
Su Ming pointed to himself. "But I'm different. As a disciple of the adepti, I've been taught how to cleanse evil and avoid being tainted by karma. Besides, it's easier for an adeptus's disciple to deliver a message than a stranger, right?"
Paimon nodded. "Lumine, he has a point. It's better to have someone who knows the adepti helping us."
Lumine smiled and reached out her hand. "Then you're welcome to join! We're counting on you!"
"I'm Lumine... oh, wait, you already knew that. I don't know your name yet."
Su Ming took her hand. "Just call me Su Ming. I look forward to working with you."
Lumine looked a bit flustered as they shook hands, her voice stuttering slightly. "N-no problem. So... we're traveling companions now?"
"If you'll have me, Lumine."
Su Ming let go of her hand and smiled. "Alright. I caught a big fish earlier. I was going to save it for dinner, but since we're leaving, let's just eat it now."
Paimon's eyes lit up. "Yay! Food!"
Lumine pulled on Paimon's sleeve. "Behavior!"
"Hahaha, it's not food yet," Su Ming laughed. "Let me cook it first. Do you want Grilled Fish or Black-Back Bass Stew?"
Paimon twiddled her fingers. "Can we have both?"
"Then we'll prepare it two ways."
Lumine apologized, "Sorry, Paimon is always like this when it comes to food. Let me help you; it's too much for one person."
"Alright. You handle the grilled fish. Stewed Black-Back Bass is a Liyue specialty, so I'll take care of that one."
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