"Truly no feelings?"
"Not even the slightest!"
"I don't believe you! Look him in the eye and say that again!"
"Why are you so stubborn! I said there's nothing, so there's nothing! One thousand times, ten thousand times, it's still nothing!"
Their argument continued in circles.
Ryen was clearly determined to excavate this gossip by brute force.
Guizhong, exasperated, spun around to glare at Zhongli.
"Morax! You say something! This guy is too stubborn, just like you! Wait… did you rub off on him?"
Ryen snorted, kissed Ganyu on the cheek, and declared:
"Don't lump me together with the celibate rock king. I have wives."
The single word wives instantly brightened Ganyu, Hu Tao, Ningguang, and Lisa, who all pressed against Ryen with delight.
"Shameless playboy!"
Guizhong huffed, then abruptly pulled Ping'er into her arms.
"What's the big deal about wives? I have them too! Isn't that right, Ping'er,
…Ping'er?
Where's Cloud Retainer?"
Guizhong glanced around, perplexed, until she spotted Cloud Retainer trying to hide behind Lumine, her gaze repeatedly drifting toward the Traveler with suspicious gentleness.
The sight practically shattered Guizhong's heart.
Pointing dramatically, she cried:
"Cloud Retainer! You're cheating on me!"
"Don't talk nonsense! I did no such thing!"
Cloud Retainer flailed in panic, waving both hands.
Guizhong pointed at Lumine.
"Then why were you just, "
Before she finished, Cloud Retainer dissolved into a streak of light and clapped a hand over Guizhong's mouth.
Facing Lumine's confused look, Cloud Retainer coughed lightly.
"Guizhong has only just revived. Her mind is… unsettled. Don't pay it any mind."
"Mmm, mmph!!"
Guizhong struggled vigorously until Cloud Retainer whispered something into her ear.
Only then did she settle down, albeit reluctantly.
With dramatic pride she wrapped an arm around Ping'er and Cloud Retainer both.
"Wives aren't special, I have two! My Ping'er and Cloud Retainer are perfect. Far better than that cold block of granite Morax calls a body!
And you, playboy, don't even think about going after my Ping'er. You can't win against me!"
"Ping'er was willing to stay old for my sake! Obviously her heart belongs to me!"
Ryen rolled his eyes.
"And what makes you think I wouldn't go after Cloud Retainer?"
"That's obvious!"
Guizhong proclaimed confidently:
"Cloud Retainer has always stayed young, you've seen her. Since you've never made a move, clearly she isn't your type.
But Ping'er, Ping'er just regained her youthful form. For all I know, you might, um,...."
Guizhong tried several phrases, all inappropriate, and finally snorted.
"Anyway, keep your hands off my Ping'er!"
Madam Ping hid a small smile behind her sleeve. Guizhong's energy was exactly as she remembered, and seeing it again warmed her heart.
For Guizhong, not having endured millennia of sorrow might truly be a blessing.
Cloud Retainer, meanwhile, bristled.
What did Guizhong mean she wasn't Ryen's type?
Obviously Cloud Retainer simply didn't want Ryen,
Otherwise, as a proud member of the Youthful Immortal Maiden Trio, she could have easily bewitched him long ago.
It was she, Cloud Retainer, who refused to compete with Ganyu for the same man.
Guizhong planted her hands on her hips and glared.
"So now you believe me, right? I feel nothing for Morax! Who would like that cold, stone-faced old dragon?"
Zhongli's teacup paused slightly midair, as though physically wounded by the insult.
Ryen exhaled, defeated.
He finally accepted that he wouldn't get his scandal.
"What about you complaining he had no heart back then…"
"Because he didn't!"
Guizhong answered without shame:
"Every immortal knew Morax had no heart! He only ever cared about contracts and his people.
We'd be drinking tea in Jueyun Karst, our first break in over a thousand years, and he'd still be worrying about sea demons and chimeric beasts."
"He had no sense of romance! Saying he had no heart is perfectly reasonable!"
Zhongli could no longer tolerate being slandered and spoke up calmly:
"In truth, I was correct. When I left, the sea-born demon god did attack Guili Assembly. And you… fell in that battle."
Guizhong flushed scarlet.
"Is now the time to bring that up?! We're talking about my reputation!
Thousands of years later, you're still this hopelessly unromantic!
Morax, you have no heart!"
Her classic verdict returned, and most of the group finally accepted that nothing romantic had ever existed between the two.
Ryen blinked.
"So that's what happened…I thought, "
"You thought it was a maiden lamenting that her lover ignored her?"
Guizhong huffed.
"That's because you've never met the ancient Morax!
That guy would stand on mountaintops alone for hours, staring into the wind. Ask him once, and he'd say something like…"
She straightened her posture and imitated him solemnly:
'In this world where demons and gods rise together, I have no wish to vie for power, yet I cannot ignore the sufferings of the people.'
"Always brooding, always serious. Who would be interested in that?
Why not chat with Ping'er about music, or talk mechanism-design with Cloud Retainer?"
"In those days, he was a complete battle fanatic. Always fighting, or preparing to fight."
Zhongli responded serenely:
"The times demanded it.
If I did not fight with all my strength, how could I protect Guili Assembly?
With the hopes of friends and citizens upon me, I could not afford to rest."
He turned to Ryen.
"Do you believe us now? In the age of ancient wars, I had no mind for personal affairs. Guarding my people was my priority."
Ryen sighed and finally nodded.
Seeing the earnestness on both their faces, he had no choice but to accept the truth.
Still… what a pity.
From now on, Ryen could no longer tease Zhongli with imaginary scandal.
A profound loss, in his opinion.
"Honestly, where did that ridiculous rumor, that I liked Morax, come from anyway?"
Guizhong planted her hands on her hips, clearly offended.
"This concerns a maiden's purity! How can people spread such nonsense so casually?"
Her words fell, and everyone's eyes slowly turned toward Cloud Retainer.
Cloud Retainer's composure cracked at once. Under Guizhong's stare, sharp as a blade, she looked even more flustered.
She cleared her throat and muttered:
"Curiosity is… normal…"
"You're an immortal! And my best friend! Cloud Retainer, I am deeply disappointed in you!"
Guizhong cast her a wounded glance, then looked at Lumine.
A moment later, enlightenment dawned on her face.
"So that's it! You were planning to betray me from back then!
You don't like me anymore, you want to be with Lumine, !"
Before she could continue, Cloud Retainer flashed forward, covering her mouth again, whispering hastily into her ear.
Only when Cloud Retainer finished did Guizhong relax, reluctantly, and behave again.
Ryen sighed, both amused and helpless.
"Well… that's that. No more Zhongli gossip. A pity."
Zhongli gave a soft laugh.
"The innocent remain innocent.
But though my name is cleared, your gossip is far from exhausted."
Ryen raised a brow, unfazed.
"Gossip? Mine? Everything about me is fact. I'm not afraid of you talking, unlike you, I actually have a heart."
Zhongli actually paused at that.
Fact…?
Thinking back, it was disturbingly true.
They had gossiped about Ryen and Ganyu, then the two really became a couple.
Then they suspected something between Ryen and Hu Tao, Ningguang,
and those relationships also materialized.
Recently, they noticed something off between Ryen and Lisa,
and soon enough, those two were together as well.
And the most unimaginable thing of all:
the women in Ryen's life all got along perfectly.
No rivalry. No discord.
How was one supposed to gossip under such circumstances?
In fact, every rumor about Ryen seemed to appear after he had already succeeded in courting the person involved.
Zhongli recalled last night's gathering in the Twilight Forest.
Wendy had murmured something about Jean and Ryen seeming… unusually close.
Lumine and Cloud Retainer had also whispered about how Ryen and Yae Miko looked "different lately."
A terrifying realization dawned.
So all their so-called gossip…
was actually Ryen's courtship roadmap?
If that was the case,
Jean and Miko probably weren't escaping either.
And given their apparent willingness… perhaps they had no intention of running.
Zhongli's expression grew complicated.
At this rate…
would there someday be rumors about Ryen and Guizhong?
Or Ryen and Ping'er?
Would his own old allies… end up in Ryen's "household"?
Zhongli took a slow sip of tea, deciding firmly not to think about it.
He only cared about two things now:
reviving his old friends, and overturning the Heavenly Principles.
Everything else, especially Ryen's romantic adventures, was irrelevant.
As long as Ryen stopped gossiping about him, his peace in retirement would remain untouched.
Meanwhile, the dinner that Ningguang had arranged finally arrived.
No one planned to go to the Jade Chamber.
That place suited formal banquets and state affairs, not family gatherings.
Today, Guizhong's revival was a joyous occasion,
but fundamentally… she had simply come home.
A household meal needed the warmth of a household.
Ryen's estate was far better suited.
They all gathered around the long table, talking casually.
No rigid etiquette, no divisions of rank,
just friends who had walked the world together.
Guizhong, newly revived, was unfamiliar with most of the modern age.
She had missed too much:
the end of the Archon War,
the rise of the Seven,
centuries of human governance,
the catastrophe of Khaenri'ah…
Even the people seated at the table, besides Zhongli and the adepti, were strangers to her.
She didn't even recognize Venti.
Thankfully, Zhongli took on the role of introducer.
"This is Barbatos, the first ruler of Mondstadt, the Anemo Archon, and my long-standing friend.
You may call him Venti."
Guizhong inspected Venti briefly.
"A shameless god if I've ever seen one!
You were just gossiping about me with Ryen earlier!"
"Ehe~"
Venti grinned, unrepentant, raising his cup toward her before downing it himself.
Zhongli continued.
"This is Beelzebul, younger twin of the original Electro Archon Baal.
She too once ruled Inazuma as its second Archon.
The situation in Inazuma is complex, speak to her when you have time.
She now walks as a true shadow warrior."
Guizhong studied Ei, already impressed.
During their earlier interactions she had sensed the dense elemental power and tightly forged martial spirit in Ei's body,
comparable even to Zhongli.
Another powerhouse.
Guizhong smiled brightly and greeted her.
These people, after all, were now Liyue's sworn allies,
and therefore, by extension, her own.
"Even after all this time, Morax, you're still fond of alliances," she remarked teasingly.
Zhongli shook his head.
"To challenge the Heavenly Principles, alliances are essential."
Guizhong nodded; she was familiar with the entity called "Heaven."
The Archon War's origins had already hinted at its shadow.
But as for Zhongli's new plans, she wasn't in a hurry to learn the details.
As the God of Dust, time was her ally.
Zhongli then pointed toward the quiet Cryo Archon at the table.
"This is Tsaritsa, the second Cryo Archon of Snezhnaya."
"Second Cryo Archon?"
Guizhong's interest sparked.
~~----------------------
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