Disclaimer, I don't own Genshin Impact while Mihoyo does, I only own my OCs and my ideas. Reviews, suggestions, and critiques are welcome but flames are to be extinguished.
Author's note: Since the Rite of Descension isn't happening almost immediately like in-game, some of the quest events will be chronologically rearranged.
Chapter 7: Land of Rites and Contracts
"Unfortunately, the Liyue Qixing is currently unavailable for the night. The Tianquan has sent me in her stead to show you to your quarters at the Yuehai Pavillion." Aether looked at the merchant and food stalls that filled the area near the entrance of the city, lanterns were lit everywhere and the merchants are in the process of closing their stalls. He and his group had entered Liyue without a problem and met with a secretary of the Liyue Qixing that was waiting for them.
The secretary didn't have any trouble finding the group of Mondstadt emissaries, she had already been notified by Lady Ningguang of those that she's supposed to meet. The Dandelion Knight clad in white, the Witch wearing purple, and the red Outrider. But there is someone else with the three that her boss didn't tell her about not including the strange flying child of course.
"Pardon me, who is that young man traveling with you?" She was given an answer by Jean who told her of his status as the Honorary Knight and Hero of Favonius that traveled to Liyue in search of his sister, he interjected with the part that he came here to ask Rex Lapis if he knows of her whereabouts. Nodding in understanding, the secretary told him that he will have to wait for nearly a month for the Rite of Descension before he can have the chance to do so.
"This presents a problem, only three quarters are available as the others are all being used by wealthy businessmen and other diplomats." The group was silent after that, Jean would prefer that every one of them would be close to each other but if one of them had to be excluded then it should be her as she is responsible for the well-being of all the Knights, and that included Aether. Amber was thinking the same but Lisa suggested that he should share the room with her as it would be lonely for her to stay all alone in a new place.
"No, don't even try to joke about that, Lisa." Jean gawked at the suggestion, she didn't know or care if it was a joke as it's the height of unprofessionalism. Amber wasn't having any of it either and so the three of them argued as the secretary watched in silence. It was like a scene from one of her favorite romance novels happening in front of her and she quietly wished him luck as she knew that problems could arise from it whether they're friends or merely comrades, she's not going to pry either way.
"I-I'll just sleep outside the city like I always do. Paimon you can go with them, you said that you were tired before. You deserve it far more than me after all for all your hard work." Aether said in the nicest and softest tone he could muster, this was his chance. If he slept elsewhere in a place away from them, he'd have the opportunity to roam the city looking for the local Northland Bank or at least one of the Fatui so he can make progress in cashing in his cheque for the mora without having to risk detection in sneaking away from his Favonian companions. He also has no idea how much would it cost to stay in a room or where to do so.
"Aw, that's so nice of you Aether!." Paimon said, touched that her companion would sacrifice his chance of resting in luxury and first-rate meals so she can enjoy an experience that neither of them had during their travels in Teyvat. The hotel doesn't count as the food could easily be a Fatui ploy to win her over, the others looked surprised but accepted it after seeing Aether's apparent selflessness. Neither of them even though his reasons for saying so could be born of selfishness instead of anything pure.
"Are you sure, Aether?" Amber asked the Traveler one more time, he nodded and said that they could meet at Wanmin Restaurant tomorrow morning. With that the group separated, Amber giving him one last look before following the yawning Librarian and Jean who kept a steady pace with the secretary while asking about Liyue as it would be useful for her to know anything since she'll be working with the Qixing for quite some time up the stone stairs towards Feiyun Slope.
'I think I should explore the city for a while before heading out to find a good spot to sleep.' Aether thought as he headed off into the other direction. He felt the cold nightly winds on his skin as he looked around the north wharf and the Snezhnayan merchant area, there were still some people busy and some stalls seemed to have decided to stay open for the sizable amount of people leaving the docks. He guessed that they were sailors that came back from the seas as they wore clothes that indicated as such, he passed by patrolling Millelith and walked towards the railing to stare at the moon in the dark blue sky with countless stars clear in the sky.
"Did you hear, three ships from the Crux Fleet got sunk in the battle against a bunch of no-name pirates."
"What? How is that possible, I thought the Crux was supposed to be the best of the best."
"I heard that they used a type of new weapon, one that breathes fire and spits exploding metal, unlike regular cannons. The Queen of the Crux herself had to intervene before the pirates sunk any more ships." Aether became curious as the sailors mentioned that the ships used to attack the Crux were small and the weapons usually carried on board such vessels lacked the firepower to do any real damage to large vessels.
Hearing that it may be a Fatui scheme to weaken Liyue from the sailors who now headed towards the slope to fill their bellies, Aether quietly left the wharf with some doubt in his heart that was eventually quashed and moved on to the wooden platform southwards. He admired the carvings on the wall and praised the craftsmanship of Liyue artisans. The large plants growing out of big pots and the stone around the walls were also observed before he heard faint sounds in the distance and a red glow that made it seem a part of the harbor city is currently daytime from a distance.
'I wonder what is happening over there.' He sped up his steps across the long platform until he found a part of it that lacked protective railings to lean on near several houses and saw that it may be a shortcut for glider users. Unfurling his own glider, he jumped from the ledge and glided down onto the South Wharf without any issue.
'Explosions and sparks?' Aether found the source of the light as he came upon an odd sight, a dark-skinned girl with amber eyes, and dark brown hair that led to two pigtails with spiked bands to keep its shape rocking raucously into the night on top of several crates that she's using as a makeshift stage. A crowd formed by normal civilians, dock workers, sailors, and even a few Millelith yelling and cheering the name of Xinyan that matched the ferocity of the pyrotechnics created from her pyro vision.
"If there's fire in your soul, you gotta rock 'n' roll!" Xinyan yelled as she reached the peak of her performance, and strummed enthusiastically while jumping to do a spin before landing at the cobblestone floor on her knees. Hyped to the maximum, the crowd cheered very loudly as bright flames erupted around their rock star. Aether watched with a surprised expression within the group of onlookers, he didn't think he'd encounter a rock 'n' roll aficionado in this world.
"ENCORE! ENCORE!" Xinyan grinned at the loud request and got up to oblige her roaring fans, a Millelith soldier ran down the stone steps as quickly as he could to reach the dusky girl and tell her of something important. She quickly apologized for leaving so soon to the crowd and ran towards the south to climb up a stack of logs and glide her way towards the dockyard, she barely made it to the bridge just in time for two squads of patrolling Millelith to charge down the stairs to see a dispersing crowd, crates on fire and a silhouette of their target already disappearing into the night.
"Curses, men spread out and surround that rascal." Three Millelith went off to get buckets to extinguish the fire with the help of civilians who tried their best to buy time for their favorite musician to make her getaway while the rest scattered, the other Millelith separated to block her escape through the upper paths and follow her through the dockyard.
'I hope she eludes the Millelith' Aether thought hopefully as the event was just innocent fun other than the burning crates, when the soldiers came to question him if he knows anything about Xinyan's activities, he truthfully told them that he just stumbled upon the concert and after they gauged his facial expression, the soldiers let him go and let him be on his way upstairs.
Passing by the stone lion statues, guarded warehouses, and the still busy local blacksmith, he saw the vastness of a single Liyue district that rivaled multiple parts of Mondstadt. Orange leaves fell from the trees around him as he made his way through the side alley and into the main street. Looking up, he spotted the symbol of the Adventurer's Guild around the cloth hanging from a large building and saw that there is no receptionist on duty. 'I guess Liyue Katheryne is not here…'
Spotting the poster of the Wanmin Restaurant in front of him, Aether looked somewhat disappointed that it was closed and Xiangling is nowhere in sight. The main plaza was next and he looked at the large reddish tree that covered the local alchemist stall under its shade and the lone Dendro Fatui Mystic busy brewing a potion of some sort, its leaves littered the street as the pond lily pads swayed gently around the lit stone lantern. 'Maybe I should…No…there are still people here, it'll be suspicious for a stranger to speak with the Fatui about the bank in public.'
'Such a peaceful city, it's no Mondstadt but it's still relaxing nonetheless.' Aether left the city from its western entrance with a smile on his face not noticing the Mystic glancing in his direction before focusing back on the potion, he just realized that he still hadn't found the Northland Bank but figured that he'd find it tomorrow if the city had a branch somewhere. Yawning, Aether went down to pet some of the local dogs that slept at the wooden bridge.
"Who's a good boy?" Petting a dog's head, it let out a content sound before dozing back to sleep. Chuckling at the sight, the Traveler continued to walk on top of the bridge where there were a few civilians talking while heading back into the city. There was a farming village on the other side of the bridge which had all of its inhabitants already indoors for the night, Aether looked around to see if there's a quiet place to sleep.
He saw a small area underneath a straw rooftop held up by bamboo sticks and fenced with the same wood which was filled with trade goods and crops, he decided against choosing it as it would trouble the villagers in any way before having another look around the area, there was a path at the entrance that led into the woods which he took until it led him to a secluded area covered by a small but thick bamboo forest, it was close enough to the Harbour City and had a degree of shelter from the elements.
'This will do.' Lying down on the grass, he stared up at the starry sky not covered by the bamboo leaves and felt himself falling asleep to the soft windy breeze and sounds of crickets. What greeted him here was not blissful sleep but familiar endless darkness that he's falling through for what it felt like an eternity.
There was no wind glider to slow his fall and any attempt to summon one failed, eventually, he felt himself crash into a void of nothingness and struggled to his feet with a sense of disorientation. His eyes met someone looking at him in the darkness, someone he didn't think he'd see in a place like this. Aether screamed out a name that popped into his mind and reached for her as his legs moved by themselves and ran with full speed.
"Lumine!" Her scarf remaining always beyond his grasping fingers as she walked away from him, her empty eyes haunting his soul as the gap between them slowly increases by every second no matter how much he tried to catch up to her.
"You've come too late, Aether."
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Lumine was now a barely visible speck of light within the darkness and vanished completely from his vision which made him tear up and sob uncontrollably before falling over. The darkness was suddenly turned into an endless blizzard that froze his entire body before turning into an infernal blaze that formed many animals that lunged at him to set him aflame.
28 days before the Rite of Descension, 4 : 00.
Aether's eyes shot open and he silently screamed into the sky as the memories of a regular nightmare flooded into him, he didn't have this nightmare for quite some time and hoped that he would never experience it again. He felt cold sweat and nearly painful pounding of his own heart before finally calming down after taking some deep breaths.
'The ice and fire were new…' He wondered if it is an omen for things to come or if he's finally going insane before realizing that there indeed was a blazing hot sensation on his body, it was centered on his right thigh which he felt in an attempt to use anemo to cool it down. Instead, he felt the squishy sensation of a gecko wrapping itself around his calf, Aether widened his eyes moved to squash it only for it to scamper up to his pants and onto his bare stomach before scampering off into the tall grass.
"Disap-gah!" Sitting upright to unleash a Gust Surge to annihilate the creature that he believed gave him the fiery part of the nightmare only to wave his arms back in a shocked manner when he sees the same Pyro Fatui Mystic that was at the Wangshu Inn yesterday meditating on a rock without his mask right in front of him, the lizard that he noticed to be completely made out of pyro controlled to the point that its body heat can be manipulated by the summoner however he pleased, scampered onto the rock where it disappeared with a fizzle which prompted the Mystic to open his eyes.
"Apologies for the untimely awakening, Traveller." The dark red-haired man with a queue hairstyle that resembled a ponytail said while bowing his head slightly, Aether grumbled under his breath as he blamed him somewhat for the fiery part of his dream before visibly relaxing to remind himself that instead of complaining or saying something rude, it would be better for him to keep it to himself since this is an opportunity to get the Fatui to help him with a monetary problem of his.
"It's fine, I'm just surprised. What would the Fatui want with me, I don't think it's for assassination as you would have killed me in my sleep." Choosing his words carefully, Aether gazed at the Mystic who wasn't surprised that he would've thought that way and opened his mouth to state his reason for searching for and waking him up.
"The Kaiyang desires your presence." Aether looked quite surprised, he expected for it to be a request backed with either wealth or force from the Fatui to do something for them but instead, it was to act as a messenger for one of the Liyue Qixing. It was still odd nonetheless, the Kaiyang could've simply waited to talk to him with his Favonian friends later in an official capacity but he instead got one of the Fatui to find him before the sun is even up.
"On one condition." Impressed that he had the gall to make a request of his own instead of running off to obey at the mention of one of the Qixing. The Mystic motioned to Aether to go and ask whatever it is he wanted even if he had no guarantee of being able to grant it.
"I want you to turn in this Northland Bank cheque for me." The Mystic stared at the cheque that the supposed honorable Hero of Mondstadt gave to him in silence, he did not expect the Traveller to have already work with or for the Fatui in the past to earn such a large sum of mora. It will be exceedingly easy for him to grant as well.
"Aren't you weary of me taking it all for myself?"
"No, you're a man of faith. You won't be lining your own pockets with anything seized from others and as a guarantee, we're going to make a contract to seal the deal." Aether recalled that Liyue is the Land of Contracts and with the jade carving on his neck as the symbol of his faith, he won't be breaking any or he will prove himself as a sham to Rex Lapis. Fatui or not, he is still a Liyuean.
"I agree to your request, clever Outlander." The Mystic smiled, the Hero knew how things work in Liyue which was a welcome change to some of the other foreigners he had dealt with in the past that expected that a sum of mora would be enough for them to do whatever they want through the Fatui. They both shook hands as it was a contract between two individuals in a non-official manner before the Mystic cast a pyro spell to seal the contract wordlessly to cause himself great harm if he dared to broke it and handed a letter to him with the official seal of the Qixing on it.
"Deliver this to him in my stead, as I won't be accompanying you. It will be needed to pass the gates.
"Gates? Isn't he in Liyue Harbour?"
"Bu, he's in the city of Shengdi to the west from here. Follow the road, the first city you see will be where you need to go. Farewell." With that, he disappeared into a red bird that flew in the direction of Liyue Harbour. Now that his bank problem has been solved, he'd have held his end of the bargain. Stretching himself and stowing away the letter, he left the small clearing he's in and went back into the farming village.
'I'll freshen myself first before the trip.' Aether lied on his stomach right next to the pond with a rock used by a few finches as a resting spot in the middle of it to reach into the water to wash his face, feeling the presence of something squishy in one of his hands Aether inwardly groaned, thinking that it was another lizard.
He brought his hand up as he grabbed it finding it fatter and heavier than what he thought was a lithe creature, it was a green frog which secreted ooze into his skin. He grimaced and threw it away, peering into the water to see several other frogs and many tadpoles in the water. Aether moved away from them and repeated his action in a section of the pond where it is actually clear of animals.
'It could be worse, it could've been a poisonous toad.' Washing his face, Aether got up to see the frog hopping in the direction of the sheltered area away from him and rushed to put it back in the pond before it can ruin crops underneath the straw roof only to freeze when he saw the same punk-like girl from last night sleeping among the goods.
Freezing in place, he became unsure of what to do as the little creature hopped into the shelter and onto the person which made her jolt and wake up with a fearful scream before running out of her sleeping spot and into Aether. Stumbling at the force of the crash, he fell over with Xinyan on top who blushed in embarrassment when she noticed what she just did.
"C-cute!" Is what left his mouth when he saw her blush that lit up her tanned complexion which caused him to get his own, Xinyan got up and after taking some time to think how she should apologize to the guy he just ran into before deciding on a Liyuean courtesy of a simple bow and pleading gesture.
"Sorry 'bout that, those things are so slippery and nasty that I lost control," Xinyan said as nicely as possible, hoping that he won't tattle on her by letting the Millelith know about her location. Blinking when he accepted it just like that, she noticed that he's a part of her audience that she saw last night as his blonde hair stood out from the rest of the crowd.
"It's no problem, it's my fault for letting the frog reach you in the first place."
"Wait, if you're going somewhere away from the city. Mind if I tag along for a bit, I need a place to hide from the lithic guys that chased me all night until the heat dies down." It would better than staying there with the frog and going off alone into the dark for a few hours, she grinned when he said yes. It may be risky to travel around with a total stranger but with him not asking for compensation after what she just did, she felt that she can trust him enough to not do anything in the dark. If she's wrong, she can always give him a wallop with her sturdy guitar.
And so into the west both went, a pair of purple eyes staring at them in a happy manner as they resolved the situation without violence before the owner went over to the shelter from under the trees where she fell asleep while coming back from her late-night snack search for Qingxin Flowers and woke up from the sound of the scream. Each step she took made a slight chime sound from the golden bell on her neck, she held the confused frog in her dark glove covered hands until it calmed down in her soothing presence. The girl carried the frog over to the pond and kindly let it hop back into the pond with a thankful croak before she made her way back to the harbour city with a smile on her face.
"Those statues…"
"Intimidating aren't they, the Kaiyang decked out his elite troops in the same armor and weaponry to make them look like some ancient asha, yaksi or whatever they were called. Don't see the point really, if he wants to make them protect folks. He should make 'em look less scary." Xinyan said, feeling herself cower in the presence of the two armored yaksha statues towering above them that faced the leftovers of a ruined shrine.
They both decided to talk instead of listening to the sounds of crickets and small animals. Xinyan was surprised that he's so talkative and willing to speak to her after the apology as most people would just find her fierce and scary like a bunch of hooligans that prowl the markets before giving her a wide berth. It was a nice change, maybe all that practice and facial activity to make herself less intimidating may finally be paying off.
'Those clothes…' Aether noticed the locks of red and orange hair on the musician who also observed him as she found the guy to be just as unique as her in appearance, the dusky girl wore a black-brown tank top and white shorts with a red and white vest. She has a black and red ribbon tied around her right leg, and a netted sock on her left. Aether started to ask Xinyan about herself who took out her white, brown, and red square ruan guitar that had an axe-like bottom and strummed it slightly.
"You wanna know more about me? Well, aren't you just odd? Most people would do just the opposite. Well, where should we start? ...Eh, guess we'll start with rock 'n' roll." Xinyan spoke of how she learned about Rock 'n Roll in Fontaine to fight against the concept of prejudicial shackles in society as she was seen as not cute like other girls and as skilled in the more feminine arts of cooking, chores, needlework.
"You ever heard of opera? It's what those rich guys listen to at their banquets back in Fontaine. It's all tenor this and falsetto that... Getting so uptight about music, ugh — it's just not rock 'n' roll." Aether widened his eyes slightly, opera existed in Teyvat as well just like in some of the worlds he and Lumine had traveled through in the past. He found himself smiling at the sight of Xinyan getting heated up about spreading the passion of Rock 'n' Roll all around Liyue in the hopes of making it popular through her own special style.
"No matter how difficult it is to make it a big thing, I'll never give up! So, what's your story for coming to Liyue? Those cool clothes don't seem local to me."
"I, I mean me and companion came to Liyue to look for my sister Lumine with the Knights of Favonius." He explained about some parts of his journey in Teyvat, keeping all mentions of the Fatui and his special dealings out entirely which made the rock star look at him in surprise as at first glance, he didn't look like someone that's well-connected especially with being personally invited by one of the Qixing as it was the first time he came to Liyue. She knew little to nothing about the Knights and so didn't ask more about them.
"Oh, well I'll be sure to keep an eye out. Good luck on finding your sis."
"Thanks, Xinyan." They had just entered a small town after passing the hole through Mount Tianheng to reach the Lisha region, all of its buildings were boarded and locked up which was odd. Some of the wooden boards were damaged and they soon found out why as bandits were dragged away by Millelith into the same direction they were heading likely after they caught them trying to break into the town buildings during a patrol, a large city to the northwest of them at the end of a green valley that lies under the shadow of several mountains.
The bandits were bound to each other in lines that were linked to the hands of a Hekatolith soldier and a Millelith Major led them beneath the gaze of a lone watchtower armed with ballistas and what looked like fireworks. Aether and Xinyan stopped their chatter when they trailed behind them, she followed him as she had never been to this part of Liyue in the past in her search of musical inspiration with no small number of anxiousness. 'Is this what's going to happen to me if they catch me back at the Harbour? I hope not, I didn't hurt anyone.'
'The first city I see outside of Liyue Harbour…that must be Shengdi." Stone lanterns flanked the road past a couple of large trees, lighting up the path as the darkness still remained with the sun not rising yet. Aether could see the tall walls of the city in the distance with torches doing the same around the areas around the parapets of the stone walls surrounding the city, silhouettes of ballista's and Millelith were visible even from where he is. He had never seen the walls of Mondstadt manned in such a way or even have such defenses placed on it his entire time within the City of Freedom.
'How often does the city get attacked to need all this?' Aether mused in curiosity before confusion appeared on the pair's faces as voices were heard up ahead that nearly sounded hostile, the troops in front of them stopped as the Hekatolith raised his hand to tell his comrades to stop for the time being. Curious to see what's happening, Aether and Xinyan went to the front of the line almost next to the Major who simply let them do whatever they want as they made sure the bandits won't try to make a run for it.
"For the last time, Miss Yuheng. You won't be getting in here, not now, not ever."
"Why? I'm just here to help. The Yaoguang and Tianji are here already, just tell them. I'm sure they'll clear things up."
"No means no, the Kaiyang has specifically ordered us to keep you out of his city no matter what but I'm sure you already know that since we've had this same conversation again and again for months. Leave or we'll be forced to use more forceful actions." The purple-haired girl gritted her teeth in frustration, again they denied her entry even after she made sure to get up extra early today in the hopes that the guards were different or at least sleepy enough to have difficulties recognizing her in the barely lit road. Why can't they understand that she's just here to survey the town and try to improve it as it's her duty as the Yuheng.
'It's the same with the other towns and villages in Western Liyue. I wonder how Ningguang does it, she had no trouble when she leaves the Jade Chamber to do business with them.'
"Men, she's not leaving. Ready the ballistas."
"Okay okay, I'm going!" The Yuheng widened her eyes in shock as she heard the order and raised her hands to show that she's not going to try anything before turning around to return to the harbour, she could've thrown a Lightning Stiletto to reach the top of the walls and get into the city that way but it would incur the wrath of the local Millelith which she doesn't want. If these were the harbour Millelith under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, it would be a different story.
Grumbling about stubborn guards and a stupid Kaiyang under her breath, she passed the Millelith and single Hekatolith waiting for her to conclude her business and felt herself get even more annoyed with none of them even trying to reason with the guards on top for her. One of these days, she's getting in Shengdi and convince the Kaiyang to let her develop the western lands of Lisha and Minlin where he can't refuse or ignore her during all her attempts to reason with him in Liyue Harbour unless he wants to lose face. 'It must be those dastardly Fatui, they must be the ones that convinced the Kaiyang…'
"Finally she's gone, it's hard to think that someone so stubborn can exist." The Millelith speaking to the Yuheng said with a sigh, his fellow soldiers shrugged as they stood at their posts while making absolutely no move to actually man the artillery. The bluff worked just like the General said it would, he can only hope that his superior is wrong about the Yuheng being relentless enough to not give up in the near future as he's getting tired of dealing with her.
"Why can't you just let the Yuheng through to humor her once before she meets her end. She may be the Driving Thunder but she's no god, we can get rid of her profane presence once and for all before pushing for a more faithful replacement." Were the words of a grinning Fatui Mystic clad in purple who leaned against the stone wall just out of the girl's sight as Skirmishers waited within the shadows of the tower on the wall, their glowing eyes the only proof of their presence within the darkness.
"Well, she's the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing and they're pretty much untouchable by the likes of us. Publically, at least." The Millelith replied with a sad smile as he shared similar sentiments with his friend, the Mystic then performed a spell that hid the bodies of the Skirmishers within illusions before they entered the light of the torches with the guise of Millelith soldiers.
"Mystic Art: Illusory Veil. Now hurry along and let them take over just like last year."
"Of course, Xenjiao. Today is a very important day after all but it seems that we'll have a few more people to process first." The guard stated after whistling in amazement, he saw the exorcist turned Fatui Elite cast the magical illusion several times in the past but it was still quite impressive nonetheless. The Mystic got every detail of his uniform correct after prolonged practice which made the Skirmishers need to only worry about their mannerisms before getting ready to leave in a bit.
"Halt, who goes there?"
"Major Dian of the fifth regiment. I've returned from a patrol to hand over a group of bandits that tried to rob one of the empty towns. Captain Liao of the Hekatolith is with me."
"Good work, major. You're free to enter the city."
"You have some official papers or something? I don't think they'll let us in without one." At that Aether and Xinyan looked at each other while the soldiers moved through the slowly opening gate where two Millelith moved aside as the Hekatolith ensured that the fearful bandits continued their walk into the city, she stared at the letter he pulled out and looked impressed. Aether walked towards the pair and showed the seal of the Qixing on the letter.
"I'm here as a messenger for the Liyue Qixing, the Kaiyang is expecting me," Aether stated with the most professional and confident voice he can muster, the gate guards then told the ones above that the seal is indeed real. They moved aside once again so Aether and Xinyan can enter, one of them questioned the musician's identity before Aether told them that she's with him and that she's a trustworthy person. "I'll take full responsibility if she does anything wrong."
"That's mighty nice of you, Aether." Xinyan looked quite touched that he's willing to trust her that much even if just a while ago they were total strangers, she promises herself that she won't make him regret doing so. The gate guard looked at each other and simply let them through without a fuss, the leader of the Millelith got ready to leave the parapets with his comrades so the Fatui can take over for a while.
"Is it wise to let that rock 'n' roll musician through? There are rumors of a spiked ruffian setting fires and troubling the local authority at the harbour city with that type of music involved"
"That's why I'm making sure that there will be eyes watching her every move in the city. If she behaves, that messenger will benefit from it, and if not they'll both be punished. Simple as that."
Walking through the gates of Shengdi, Aether and Xinyan looked around before noticing that while it shares several similarities to Liyue Harbour. There are more mechanical devices attached to buildings and used by the citizens while keeping their traditional appearance. Smoke and flames are belched from the many blacksmiths and foundries located deeper within the city with the presence of anemo symbols purifying the air and cleansing the sky to keep it from turning it grey.
Lit torches lighted up nearly every corner of the streets that led into the city, crowds were following the roads but left enough room for soldiers to freely pass. Xinyan wondered about the occasion that would've attracted such crowds as it was neither the Lantern Rite or one of Liyue's other major festivals. Turning their heads towards the crowded yard at the sound of a booming voice, they saw a blindfolded and gagged man kneeling face down on top of a chopping block. His red hair was messy and wild while his scaled armor was filled with holes that revealed numerous wounds.
"Wait a minute, shouldn't y'all have him be judged in Liyue Harbour and locked away instead of this?"
"-razed two villages, murdered two dozen and injured thirty Millelith, burnt down four Minlin farms, slew a Hekatolith, and defaced the statues of the honorable Adepti at Mount Qingyun. I hereby sentence Huo Yan the Infernal Lion and Terror of Minlin to death! " Xinyan's words died right after she spoke and she gave the criminal a disgusted look before the Major that led the captured bandits into the city spoke to her.
"We did, twice. Bastard broke out and fled before he can face the court, this time we broke all of his limbs before dragging him to Shengdi for an execution. Ever saw a Vision Wielder burn a man alive just by sight or speech?"
"N-no…" Xinyan looked at the man fearfully and took a step back as the Hekatolith that stated his crimes out loud stop and raise a Blackcliff Slasher with both of his hands before swinging downwards at the neck of Huo Yan who looked up and muttered insults towards his greatsword wielding executioner. When the deed was done, his bound body was kicked aside on top of a pile of beheaded brigands that wore similar scaled armor.
"Thank the Geo Archon that the Lord Kaiyang allowed the death penalty to be given to those that committed serious crimes immediately. I don't think any prison can hold that monster."
"Can't you just get rid of him out there instead of doing this?" The Traveller asked, feeling quite disturbed at the sight of the pile of headless corpses.
"No, the people have to see that the menace that plagued their land is dead. Only then can they move on from the slights he inflicted against them, every loss and fearful day spent in terror ends here." Pointing at the civilians that looked on with grim satisfaction, Aether felt himself nodding in understanding as he was told that if they were not here to see the sight then word will spread from those who did.
"See this, this is the fate that you would've met if you followed the path that you're on." The Major stated coldly to the young bandits that he brought who were already separated from the older members of their gang. Horror was evident on their faces and tears streamed when they begged for mercy.
"WAIT, NO PLEASE DON'T KILL US! HAVE MERCY! WE DIDN'T KILL ANYONE!"
"Major, wait. I know these kids, they wouldn't hurt anyone. Let me take responsibility for them, I can teach them to not stray from righteousness!" An aged man shouted, pushing through the onlookers when he noticed the youth from his village that turned to banditry when the Chasm closed down some time ago. Both Aether and Xinyan looked at the man with sadness after seeing that neither of them looked older than they are, and urged the cold-faced Major to reconsider executing them.
"Very well, none of them have bounties on their heads and you have already proven yourself to be a model of benevolence. I'll give them a chance if they proved themselves incapable of leaving their wickedness, expect one of my men at your doorstep Elder Ma."
"Oh thank you thank you, kind major. You won't regret this." The old man said with gratefulness, giving him a gesture of gratitude with his fist and palm with a lowered head. Neither of the pair knew what's going on outside of what they just saw and felt quite relieved when the young bandits were freed from their bonds who immediately got on their knees to thank the elder profusely.
"Go on, redeem yourselves. Unless you want to see yourselves lying there in the future. That's another gang of bandits dealt with, only many more to go." The Major saw them off before muttering to himself, he then left the pair to help dispose of the bodies. Aether and Xinyan quickly made some distance from the yard, ready to forget the sight of the dead there. The musician swore to herself that she'll never go overboard with her performances to the point of hurting folks or Archon forbid accidentally killing them.
The crowd had already thinned considerably which allowed them to head further into the city, Aether thought about the harshness of the rules in Liyue before his attention was taken by a large statue carved out of high-quality stone further ahead, upon closer inspection he saw the emblems of both Liyue and Snezhnaya alongside the names of a Harbinger that he knows of and several Qixing that he hasn't heard of.
"Pantalone, Kaiyang, Yaoguang, and Tianxuan. There's also enough space for one more name here as if they're expecting another to sign it…" The Traveller muttered as he examined the contract in its carved form stating that both nations have made a contract together for defense, development, and trade as allied countries.
'The Fatui looks like they have a strong influence, nothing like Mondstadt.' He thought as Skirmishers and Elites walked among the crowds openly with no hint of hostility while the crowds passed them by with no hint of fear not even the children, seeing the Hekatolith that rivaled even the largest of Vanguards with their bulky armor. Aether could see why, Xinyan looked fearful at the sight of them walking around as if they owned the place.
"I-is this how folks feel when they see me?'" Xinyan stuttered as she shrank as an Electrohammer approached her direction, the Traveller put his hand on her shoulder which calmed her down as a child went and ran towards him from her left to ask if he can touch the mask as it looked cool to him just like his father's helmet that was styled after an ancient yaksha's.
"Go on, we're supposed to be nice to the locals here on Lord Pantalone's orders. Just treat him like one of your younger brothers back home" A Geochanter suggested as his comrade looked at him with a confused look, the Vanguard then carried the boy in his arms and let him play with his masked face. The sensation is odd but somewhat pleasant, he remembered that he did the same to his sibling before being deployed overseas to Liyue.
"It's softer than papa's."
"Done yet, kid?"
"That's…" Xinyan was utterly speechless, sure she saw them in Liyue Harbour giving folks the spook just by walking around but here not even the children were scared of them despite the possibility of it all being an act that they have to do for some shady bigwig, it gave her plenty of hope that she won't be seen as a fierce and scary hooligan in the future within the harbour city. Aether wondered if it's truly just orders to the point that he'd turn on them if he was given the command by the Harbinger while children crowded around the unarmed Vanguard who looked didn't know what to do with them after putting down the child as they asked for permission to do the same.
"Now, now little dears. The Rite's already begun, you don't want to miss the show where the Adepti defeats the bad demons." An old woman came to his rescue as his geo partner left him to his fate in order to continue reading a novel. A Legend of Sword is what Aether could see, written by someone named Xingqiu.
"I'm sorry about that, sir Fatui." The old lady apologized which the Electrohammer waved off as he flipped the pages of the novel in retaliation which enraged the Geochanter, Xinyan, and Aether quietly followed the children while both Skirmishers argued. They were curious about the Rite the old woman mentioned and the latter surmised that the Kaiyang would probably be there as well with the number of people showing up which made it seem to be quite the major event for the region.
"Jeez, it's real crowded," Xinyan grunted as the further they went in, they were bumped into each other by the sheer number of civilians. Thinking that it would be better for them to wait until most of them went on ahead first, Aether told the rockstar his idea which she quickly agreed to since it's starting to be too much even for her.
"Hey! That's mine!" Xinyan shouted, feeling a certain weight disappear from her back before a child ran off with her drums in hand into a group of farmers. He beat on it with his hand which gave him an opening as they scattered at the sudden sounds before making a run for it. They both were in pursuit and in turn pursued by Millelith who caught sight of it.
Before long, the busy streets turned into one populated by non Liyueans as they followed the child who made sure to keep just out of their reach. Aether was about to give his steps a burst of Anemo to catch up only for the boy to trip over a quarterstaff held just above the ground in front of him from the other side of a building. Falling face first, Aether found himself suffering the same fate which was joined by Xinyan.
"Fancy meeting you here, young man." A look of recognition appeared on the Traveller's face as he saw one of the merchants he helped save from the Abyss ambush back at the canyon near Wolvendom. A Fatui guard seized the drum from the grip of the thief before handing it back to Xinyan who groaned, she stumbled backwards and uttered her thanks before she fiddled with it to fix the slight damage the brat caused.
"Didn't think I'd see you here Kristoff, where's Gregori?"
"He's just left to get ready for work at the harbour city." Kristoff answered with a smile, helping the Traveller that saved him and his group of merchants in the past up. The Guard moved the quarterstaff onto the arms of the thief who struggled to make a run for it, he kept his foot on the quarterstaff long enough for the Millelith to arrive and arrest the child.
"This is the third time this week, one more and you're getting the stick unless you'd prefer the bamboo clappers."
"Try me, when father hears of this I'll be free and you'll be punished severely."
"Unfortunately for you, gentry Wang is not in the city, and even if he is. This isn't Liyue Harbour." One of the soldiers said with a smile, tying the thief to a nearby lamp post before stamping his forehead with a mark of the punished youth before whistling. Both of them gawked as a group of children appeared from one of the houses in makeshift armor made out of household objects, the thief asked the girl among them if she likes him now.
"No need to worry, this is a normal occurrence here," Kristoff told Aether who continued to stare as the Millelith told the children to make sure that the thieving child doesn't escape until the sun sets before returning from the direction he came from with his comrades after promising a reward in fruits. Xinyan couldn't believe the guts on the kid even if his father's some bigshot, she'd never think come face to face with one to taunt them about being able to get off scot-free.
"What brings you to Liyue?"
"I'm looking for my sister, I thought that Rex Lapis would know of her whereabouts so I came here for the Rite of Descension."
"Ah, I wish you luck. You'd have to wait for quite a while, several weeks in fact as this is the Rite of Prosperity." The merchant wondered where his flying friend was but figured that she'd be elsewhere admiring the wealth of Liyue with what he saw of her greed in the mines. Xinyan saw the girl reject the thief harshly and prodded him with a stick as the other children marched around him as if they're soldiers.
"Might as well jam to pass the time. We won't be goin anywhere for a while." With the guitar in her hands, she found a lit place on the floor and started to make a riff after seeing that the crowd in the distance is still quite big. She was pleasantly surprised when some bystanders made a small crowd around her and one of the Fontaine merchants among them introduced himself as a fan of Rock 'n' Roll. Grinning at that, Xinyan started to get fired up as Aether continued his chatter with the Snezhnayan merchant who had happily given him a place to sit at the food stall.
'Good to see that she's gotten over the execution.' Aether thought with a smile as Kristoff told him of the region's customs that kept itself separate from the rest of Liyue in both superstition and piety. The Fatui Guard found himself nodding his head to the music as he sat to finish his broth, Aether then looked around and saw the Snezhnayan Embassy in the heart of the foreign district. Even with it being several streets down the road, he could see the Fatui snowflake on the tall building sticking out like a sore thumb and felt strangely at ease.
"I'd give you a suggestion, friend. Don't speak ill of Rex Lapis anywhere within earshot of the locals here, their fervor puts those of many of my civilian countrymen to shame." Aether wasn't too surprised about the word of caution but the knowledge that many Snezhnayans weren't as zealous is surprising. The merchant gave the owner of the stall some mora to get some food ready for the Traveller who thanked him and tried to pay him back only for the Snezhnayan to wave it off stating it as a common courtesy for one that helped save him and his group of merchants in the past.
"Yeah, there was a bard from Mond that got drunk enough to insult the Geo Archon near a couple of farmers a few days back. The only reason he survived the encounter is that he's a foreigner, a policy that the Yaoguang herself pushed for to lessen the likelihood of a diplomatic incident occurring." Aether flinched and looked at the sight of the children continuing to march around and repeat the thief's crime again and again. Xinyan was enjoying herself greatly and her audience has only grown with the help of her uncommon music.
"A serving of Jueyun Guoba and Crystal Shrimp coming right up." The man said, placing the dishes in front of Aether alongside some utensils. Aether stared at the chopsticks and noticed how the Guard is using it to eat the meat in the broth. Following his example, he picked it up reasonably quickly after having the shrimp fall back into the container a couple of times. The shrimp stuffing and its flour-made outer skin tasted springy and gave a tasty chewy sensation.
'So this is how Xiangling's friend got his name.' Chowing down on the fragrant crust and the steaming ham sitting atop it. The spices and spiciness race neck and neck into his nostrils making him quicken his pace in finishing the entire plate, it almost felt addicting. When the subject of prototype weapons came up, the Guard leaned in and looked surprised when Aether said that it's quite powerful.
"No need to worry Vlad. Since he still has them, the Fatui branch in Mond has decided to let him keep them for himself." Instinctively feeling alarmed for some reason, he gave his environment a cautious gaze as if fearing that someone would eavesdrop on them. There was no one but them within earshot, a sudden sense of paranoia appeared which also caused him to be extra thorough. The masked guard had already returned to his meal while chatting with the merchant, not even the stall owner noticed the sudden shiftiness in his eyes as he too was preoccupied with brewing some tea.
Calming himself down, he finished the remaining shrimp and guoba as if nothing had happened before graciously accepting the tea that was given to him. A door on one of the houses nearby opened which revealed a dazed Pyro Agent stumbling out, his mask was broken which exposed most of his face and there were cracks all over his armor with holes that looked like they were caused by sharp projectiles.
"Ugh, where's that healer? I want to thank him for keeping me from dying."
"Debtor giving you trouble, Gennady?"
"Trouble doesn't even begin to cut it, that Gentry Wang got vision wielding mercs protecting him. I don't know how much of the ninety million mora he borrowed from the bank was spent on them but all I know is that I'm coming back with back up later." The Agent noticed Aether finishing his food and rushed to take out his sacrificial knife, cursing himself for blabbing in front of a non-Fatui aligned civilian. He fumbled and only stopped from lunging at Aether who felt oddly calm about the whole thing.
The situation was swiftly defused by Kristoff who told him that Aether won't be running off to warn the gentry as he brought it upon himself as consequences for his own choices and had the support of the locals.
"May Rex Lapis guide your every move, Agent. As he said, you may do as you please. I don't care if that Wang gets knocked down a few pegs or put six feet under. His greed is unsightly." The stall owner stated which stunned both Aether and the Agent who composed himself and told Kristoff to tell the guy that healed him before to find him in the Embassy at a later time.
"I hope you're right, merchant. Gah, if Javert or Kliment hears about my failure. I'll be a laughingstock…"
"Now, I think I should be going. The crowd should've thinned enough for me to get in there." As the Agent mumbled to himself while walking off to the Embassy, Aether got up to talk to Xinyan and try to get deeper into the city.
"No need for that, just take the gate intended for foreigners next to the Snezhnayan Embassy." Aether nearly slapped himself, all this time he didn't even think to look for alternate paths to get in with climbing not even an option in a place like this.
"You go on ahead, attending those events is not my sort of thing y'know. I've got lots of inspiration to put into my music." Xinyan said as her audience had only grown, she was having so much fun to the point that she did not notice the little encounter he had with the Agent. The Traveller nodded in understanding and head towards the direction of the tall Fatui building, the musician smiled when she saw that he isn't disappointed and grinned when she rocked on even harder with her guitar to the excitement of the crowd.
Examining the extravagant building more closely, there were Fatui Guards guarding the premises and plenty more Fatui troops roaming around the place. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the opposite side of the road was shorter but no less luxurious and was connected to the Embassy through roofed bridges. It was an odd sight to him, he expected it to be located in the capital city that is Liyue Harbour, not a smaller city but thought to himself that it's designed that way by the Liyue Qixing.
He glanced towards the direction that he and Xinyan went during the chase and saw that the crowd is still quite sizable compared to the very few around the gate he's passing through. The number of foreigners steadily increased around him until he reached an elevated stone platform that overlooked a vast plaza that was utterly packed with civilians, it must be at least several thousand at least. Several women in religious garb sung to narrate the dances of to the beating of drums and the sound of a gong around the brightly lit plaza floor that has been converted into a stage filled with people wearing masks and costumes of Rex Lap, many Adepti, and various evil forces that threatened Liyue in the ancient past.
"And so, Rex Lapis vanquished Osial the Overlord of the Vortex and pinned his body to the ocean floor with spears of divine stone in order to secure the Sea of Clouds and crush the leader of the sea beasts." A performer in blue feigned defeat as he fell over backwards with poles surrounding him to symbolize the grand act as another man that filled the role of Rex Lapis hurled even more poles at his direction from his magical inventory. It was precise and neither came close to injuring the blue performer after many rehearsals.
Tourists and foreign dignitaries were in awe of the spectacle as the chanting and singing continued. Aether squeezed in between several of them until he reached the stone railing to get a closer look, there were four individuals seated in front of them on slightly elevated ground. The symbol of the Liyue Qixing was on the cloth that covered the seating but of which of the Qixing were on them he couldn't tell exactly outside of the guess that three of them were among the ones that signed the contract with the Fatui.
One was a youthful-looking woman with bright skin and black hair tied in a bun held with elaborate golden hairpins dressed in long-sleeved light brown robes known as the Yaoguang. the second is the Kaiyang. A young brown-haired man with a focused look in his eyes that wore a dark red coat that is lined with slight golden lines that matched the rest of his clothes while also donning a top knot bound by a golden metal band , beside him was the Tianji who's a middle-aged man with long white hair dressed in the white and yellow garb of an official as well a black bead necklace with an impressed look on his face. The last of four Qixing is the Tianxuan, a thin man with short hair covered by a black four-cornered flat cap and sharp mustache that wore fine vestments complete with gem-encrusted golden jewelry befitting a typical rich merchant within novels.
"Impressive performance but each of the performers are Liyue born Fatui, how is that supposed to convince me to sign the contract with them?"
"You'll see." The Kaiyang stated confidently to the doubtful Tianji who looked to his sides to see the clapping Yaoguang who's obviously proud of the men and women that she handpicked to form the Fatui Mystics and praised her choice. He had heard rumors of their actions abroad and within Liyue which weren't the model of benevolence but he had to admit that they were effective in strengthening Snezhnaya's influence despite their inferior economic strength.
"Must you be so boorish outside of your Pearl Galley?" Shaking his head at the Tianxuan who was more focused on ogling the female performers than the ceremonial act itself, he knew how he got on board with the Fatui as his greed and lust were easy to take advantage of by his fellow Qixing. The man simply shrugged and mentioned that the human physique is finely crafted like a premier art piece and so deserved keen observation no matter the place which made him frown.
The Tianji wasn't surprised at the fact that he was invited to the Rite of Prosperity at Shengdi instead of the other three Qixing, he was the only one that didn't have strong reservations about working with the Northlanders. He planned to reject the Kaiyang's offer and stay neutral towards the whole affair with the Fatui but his words piqued his curiosity.
'The High Administrator and the owner of the Northland Bank is here as well, likely for the contract but those Harbingers are nowhere to be seen.' Glancing at the area reserved for the foreigners for a few seconds, he then went back to watching the performance as it reached its end and saw the sun starting to rise. It was time, if there was anything the Kaiyang wanted to show him to convince him it will happen now.
DUM
DUM
DUM
The costumed Mystics had finished their performance right after Rex Lapis created the Liyue Qixing out of the seven most capable humans of the time to rule Liyue under his watchful gaze and cleared the plaza of the props used before replacing them with several objects: the month's finest harvest, choice coins of Mora, several massive crystalline containers with Sigils of Permission on them, five large crates that that had emblems of Snezhnaya were wheeled and dropped off by Fatui Elites wielding prototype polearms arranged in a line under the instruction of a sigil holding Fatui Mystic in purple in his regular outfit with plush carpets of rich brown underneath them all.
Several young women from the excited crowd emerged which the Tianji noticed had their newborn wrapped in white cloth towards the offerings where they awaited for something as the three Qixing left their chairs to approach the back of the offered goods with sigils in hand before giving each of the mothers one for them to hold. Suddenly cool mist enveloped the entire plaza as dawn fully fell upon Shengdi, anticipation was plentiful within his mind and when the mist dissipated he had to drop his jaw in awe.
There they were, the Adepti of old. Four in number: a grey weasel riding atop a lion, to their left a boar, and to their right a brown panda. Each of them radiating adeptal energies as they peered into the eyes of the mortals in front of them. Praying, chanting, and crying were heard all around the plaza as they gazed upon the fortuitous sight.
"We hereby accept the offerings given by the mortals of Liyue." The four Adepti approached the offerings and consumed the harvest, the weasel deemed the Mora to have the perfect shine and collected them, the panda took the guise of a beautiful woman who kindly examined the newborn carried by their mothers and pressed her thumb onto the foreheads of the babies in order to give them her blessing.
"Now, reveal to us the fruits of mortal hands, Kaiyang of the Liyue Qixing." With those words, the Kaiyang commanded the Fatui Mystic to open the crates to reveal a sight that elicited cries of amazement. The Tianji was utterly shocked and stood up to approach his fellow merchants to get a closer look, walking out of the crates were the Five Guardian Yaksha made out of exotic metal which were a testament to Snezhnayan engineering.
'Bosacius, Indarias, Bonanus, Menogias, and Alatus. I never thought I'd see the day if the Fatui really managed to recreate the ancient five with or without Liyuean aid. Then perhaps cooperation with them may not such a terrible idea after all if Liyue can develop robotic technologies of their own or something similar…' The Kaiyang was right, this was more than sufficient to get him on board with him and his plans. Hopefully, he could make sure the actions of the Fatui within the nation are more controlled and less brutal.
"Impressive, children of Liyue. You have proven yourselves worthy of our blessings for this year."
"We are eternally grateful, honored Adepti." The four adepti were quite impressed with the results, all that Jade Maker gave to the humans were a few paintings of the five and it was enough for them to create artificial objects of their likeness with incredible accuracy, masks included. They then imbued the crystalline containers with vast amounts of adeptal energy before repeating it. The ground glowed brightly beneath them all until the leylines under the city were fully charged, guaranteeing it's protection from earthquakes and misfortune for a year's time.
"You have fulfilled the terms of our pact, you do your people proud. Son of Liyue." The lion raised his paw and materialized a sphere of pure jade that cracked slowly like an egg, dozens of Juvenile Jade Scales flew around the paw before they were sent towards an awaiting luxurious chest placed there by the Mystic who had had already removed the crates that contained the mechanical Yakshas.
The panda adeptus had returned to her animal form and rejoined her fellow Adepti before the mist returned for a brief period of time and dissipated, taking the four holy beings with it. The plaza remained quiet as the populace absorbed what had just happened while the Fatui Mystic cleared the area until only the five Yaksha remained. The Qixing walked in front of the machines that imitated beings of legend with reverent looks on their faces, the Kaiyang however was grinning at the Tianji who had quietly admitted that he was right as the people crowded around them.
"You were right, I will sign the contract with Fatui. I hope that it won't make me regret it."
"Just relax and follow our lead, we simply need your support and whatever aid you could give when required." The Kaiyang was extremely pleased, the day could not get any better with the Rite of Prosperity being a smashing success and another Qixing agreeing to support him, all that is needed now is to update the contract with the Fatui and he would have a majority four to three among the Qixing to deal with the Fatui, no matter what the Tianquan and Yuheng does the majority would keep them in check as the Tianshu is of no threat.
Aether looked on speechless, he didn't expect any of this to happen and most of the foreigners around him had similar thoughts while a few had already seen it before but it was an incredible experience nonetheless. Several tourists tried to snap pictures with Kameras but there were spells in the air that rendered them only able to see and zoom in instead of anything else much to their dismay.
'I guess I'll have to wait until the Kaiyang leaves or until the crowd disperses. Wait, that bird…' The Traveller saw the same red bird from before flying towards the center of the plaza after giving him a knowing look and perch itself on a man's shoulder which he believes is the Qixing he's looking for before vanishing into embers. The bird whispered into his ear and told him to look at the foreign platform before the merchant excused himself just in time for the people to start throwing themselves onto the ground in the hopes for further blessings from where the Adepti had stepped on to the point that the Millelith had to get involved to keep them from injuring one another under his orders. The other Qixing were busy marveling at the craftsmanship of the mechanical Yakshas alongside the crowd, checking every little detail.
"Sir Zhongli, what do you think of the Rite. Incredible is it not?"
"Indeed it is, the costumes are exquisite and the acting worthy of the highest praise. Even the musicians were at their finest."
"Of course, it's all thanks to you milord. Without your vast knowledge to fill in the gaps in the knowledge of the historians and the folklorists, the Rite wouldn't have succeeded like this"
"The people deserve most of the credit Elder Ma, I've only provided my words. They were the ones who turned it all into action."
"Modest as always, sir Zhongli. If only the seventy-seventh Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor share's your great wisdom." Aether heard the talk between civilians just below him and smiled to himself before turning around to leave the foreign area and meet the Kaiyang face to face, he's also looking forward to the mora that the Pyro Fatui Mystic will be bringing to him. A feeling of intense anticipation came over him and he found himself rubbing his hands together greedily in the midst of the foreigners chatting about what had transpired a while back.