Ningguang accepted the Memory of Dust with a gentle smile.
"I have long heard," she said, "that among the demon gods, Guizhong's mastery of mechanisms was unparalleled. They say the people of Guili Assembly thrived under your designs.
Even if eras have changed, knowledge like this remains priceless. We will treat these gifts with care. Thank you."
Guizhong waved it off with airy indifference.
"No need to comfort me! I've already seen it through the sands… Liyue today is run far better by the Qixing and the Ministry of Civil Affairs than anything I ever managed.
And those strange machines floating in the sky, your new devices are leagues beyond my old mechanisms."
She tapped her chin, eyes brightening.
"I suppose I've fallen behind the times. But give me a bit of study… I will produce something even greater!"
She was not someone who wallowed in self-doubt.
In only a few breaths, she had fully reset her outlook.
After all, Liyue no longer needed the guidance of gods, was that not itself a triumph?
During the Archon War, every god believed their philosophy alone would best guide their people.
Their affection was genuine, rooted deep in their being, like the love of devoted parents.
But even parental love takes many forms.
Guizhong and Zhongli belonged to the kind who looked far ahead.
Open-minded, they trusted the limitless potential and intellect of humankind, and sought to cultivate a future humans could direct for themselves.
By contrast, the tyrant who once ruled Old Mondstadt, the High Tower King, also loved humanity, but with the smothering certainty of a domineering parent.
To protect meant to confine; to guide meant to dictate; and so came Mondstadt's era of suffering within that tower…
and the rebellion of mortals who finally rose to shatter it.
From that view, the High Tower King's death had been less a defeat than a breaking of his heart, betrayed by the very humans he cherished.
After all… could a mere wind spirit, even with human support, truly have toppled a peak-ranked demon god?
Without the High Tower King's own despair, even Venti's full strength would not have sufficed.
Thus, neither party was truly "wrong", merely bound to their natures.
Ryen wrinkled his brow.
"So what you're telling me is… there really was nothing between you and Zhongli?"
Zhongli calmly sipped his tea.
He had answered this question hundreds of times.
Now, Zhongli let Guizhong do the explaining.
Guizhong puffed out her cheeks and shook a tiny fist, an attempt at intimidation that only made her look more adorable.
"There! Was! NOT!"
"If you keep slandering my innocence, even though you revived me, I'll still punch you!"
Ryen lifted his chin proudly.
"You can't beat me.
So, be good and explain things clearly.
Otherwise, I'll have to teach you a lesson."
"Eh, ??!"
Guizhong stared at him in disbelief.
Her eyes gleamed; then she instantly slipped into a pitiful pose, big eyes shimmering with tears.
"You're threatening a poor little girl…?"
Ryen rolled his eyes.
"In my world, unless it's Ganyu and the others, I treat men and women the same."
"So, explain. Unless you want a beating right after revival."
Guizhong pouted, then turned toward Zhongli.
"Morax! He's threatening me! Aren't you supposed to help me defeat external foes while I help you govern?
That was our alliance! Help me fulfill it already!"
Zhongli exhaled quietly, drinking his tea.
"By universal principle…"
"One: clarifying this matter restores your reputation, and mine. Appropriate."
"Two: Liyue is now under human governance. Its people manage themselves, and defend themselves."
"Three: my name now is Zhongli."
"Four: I cannot defeat him."
Guizhong froze.
"You're joking, right?"
In her memory, the only being Zhongli openly admitted he could not defeat was the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.
Against several peak demon gods he would still say, "The tides favor me; this battle will be won."
Yet now he openly stated he could not beat Ryen?
Zhongli simply shook his head.
"What is strange? Between heaven and earth, there are foes even I cannot best. Ryen commands a world, he is its master."
Guizhong blinked, scratched her cheek, and muttered:
"…When you put it that way, I suppose it makes sense."
Immediately afterward, she brightened again and hopped closer, pulling out a scroll.
"Ryen, Ryen!
Want to sign an alliance with me? You help me handle enemies, and I'll help you govern your world!"
Ryen nearly laughed out loud.
If he didn't know she was a demon god, anyone would assume she was Hu Tao's age, with the same chaotic energy.
"No need for an alliance. My world is too strange to govern.
But protecting you…"
He drew out a string of Totems of Undying.
"This, keep these on you.
Each totem can save you once from fatal harm."
"And if something arises that even you all cannot handle… I will intervene. After all, you were revived through my world."
Guizhong's eyes sparkled.
Once again, the eccentricity of Ryen's realm astonished her.
Without hesitation, she pocketed the totems happily.
"Now that I've accepted your gift,
time for you to tell me the gossip!"
Ryen smirked.
Guizhong froze.
Her gaze darted sideways, and locked onto Ganyu.
In an instant her expression blossomed into honey-sweet affection.
"Well, if it isn't little Ganyu!
You've grown so beautifully!
Back then you were such a chubby little qilin, rolling down Cloud Retainer's mountain every other day!"
Ganyu collapsed inwardly.
Cloud Retainer's poor conversational habits…
Were they inherited from Guizhong all along?
Ryen rolled his eyes and pulled Ganyu into his arms.
"Don't use my Ganyu to dodge the question. Even if she were still a chubby little qilin, I'd love her just as much. Soft and round is adorable."
In an instant, Ganyu's despair evaporated.
Her eyes softened into delighted affection.
Her chubby qilin youth?
None of it mattered.
She had long since grown into a graceful qilin woman, and she had someone who cherished her.
As long as Ryen liked her, any past embarrassment was irrelevant.
Guizhong blinked, then grinned mischievously.
"So little Ganyu already found herself a man… Congratulations, truly."
Ganyu nodded happily.
"Thank you, Lady Guizhong."
Ryen exhaled in helpless frustration.
"Can we not derail the topic? All we want is a clear answer!"
Guizhong puffed up in irritation.
"Why are you so obsessed? This is where you're supposed to follow my lead and forget the entire thing!"
"Not a chance."
Ryen chuckled.
"I've waited ages for the gossip about Zhongli, Liyue's six-thousand-year-old bachelor dragon. Right, Venti?"
Dragged into the crossfire, Venti stiffened.
He felt Zhongli's icy gaze stab into him.
With a forced laugh, he whispered, "I, I'm not that curious. Only… the tiniest bit… a tiny…"
Ryen slapped Venti's back.
"See? Barbatos is dying of curiosity. Speak!"
Venti nearly wept.
Ryen could afford Zhongli's anger, he could not.
Those "drinking sessions" Zhongli demanded afterward were terrifying.
Feeling herself cornered by the crowd's eager stare, Guizhong sighed in surrender.
"Fine, fine. I'll talk. I don't know what Morax thought back then, but I only ever saw him as an older brother. A confidant."
Then, with hands on her hips, she added proudly:
"Of course, if Morax did like me, that'd be understandable. I am a youthful, unbeatable beauty!"
Zhongli calmly sipped his tea.
"By universal principle, you are overthinking it. I saw you, as you saw me, as a confidant and younger sister. And I am called Zhongli now."
"Yes, yes, Morax, I hear you."
Zhongli sighed.
So long as she didn't shout his old name in front of Liyue's citizens, he could endure it.
Ryen squinted.
"Really?"
Guizhong shrugged.
"Of course! It was the Archon War. Battles every day, demon gods everywhere, and I still had my people to protect. Who had time to worry about romance?"
Ryen frowned.
"I don't believe you."
"You, ! You stubborn rock! Can I punch him?"
"You can't beat me."
"Can't you at least pretend to lose? I'm a girl!"
"What's this? You're challenging me to an honorable warrior's duel?"
"…How did a heartless brute like you ever win over Ganyu? You didn't drug her, did you?!"
"Hah. Natural charm. Not just Ganyu, Hu Tao, Ningguang, and Lisa too!"
The two were moments away from a full verbal brawl.
Everyone else watched, torn between laughter and disbelief.
Zhongli observed quietly.
In the past, Guizhong had always been sharp-tongued and impossible to handle.
He, Morax, the God of War, could defeat demon gods with ease, yet Guizhong remained the one person he could neither overpower nor out-argue.
He had long mastered the art of ignoring her until the storm passed.
Now, finally, someone else had taken up the task of managing her energy.
As for her explanation… it aligned with his own memories.
Back then he had no time for matters of the heart.
He fought constantly, ensuring his starving, endangered people survived another day.
Guizhong, too, spent every hour maintaining Guili Assembly.
Two overworked leaders, burdened by war and responsibility.
They were partners, yes.
Comrades.
Coarchitects of a nation's future.
But romance?
Impossible in those years.
Perhaps, Zhongli reflected, had Guizhong survived beyond the Archon War, ten thousand peaceful years might have allowed new feelings to grow.
But the past remained the past.
Neither of them had ever clung to what-ifs.
Fate touches gods and mortals alike.
And in the end, Morax, now Zhongli, was a god without a heart.
Destined, it seemed, to remain a solitary king for six thousand years.
~~----------------------
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