The second person was a merchant.
[Merchant Devotee: "With the 'Celestial Lord of the Stars' around, the Millelith might as well retire!"]
It turned out he had previously hired the "Celestial Lord of the Stars" to accompany his goods transport, and along the way, monsters kept their distance—hence his admiration.
It seemed this "Celestial Lord of the Stars" did have some method of dealing with monsters, though he was clearly using it to scam people.
The third devotee was a woman.
[Female Devotee: "Ever since my fiancé left without a word, I've been crying every day..."]
Later, she tried the "Celestial Lord's" mystical arts and felt her fiancé was truly about to return.
[Female Devotee: "It's real, not just psychological!"]
"That's absolutely psychological, isn't it?" Childe remarked.
As a seasoned playboy, if such methods actually worked, he'd have to split himself into pieces to keep up with all his commitments.
Not just Childe thought it was psychological—even the Traveler in the story shared this view.
[Traveler: "This all feels psychological..."]
[Adeptus Who Grasps the Stars and Seizes the Heavens: "A certain lofty Adeptus, Xue Wuliang, known as 'Quantum,' once said—"]
[Adeptus Who Grasps the Stars and Seizes the Heavens: "'All things are fundamentally entangled, and 'psychological effects' are but a karmic connection between the 'soul' and the 'outcome of events'...'"]
The listeners were baffled by this jargon. Some didn't understand but felt it sounded profound.
This proved that to deceive people, one needed to use obscure terminology—when others couldn't comprehend it, they'd assume it was profound and "enlighten" themselves.
In the book, the Traveler asked if the Adeptus could remove his mask. The Adeptus Who Grasps the Stars and Seizes the Heavens declared he was a "luchador" and could not remove it.
Though he wouldn't remove his mask, the Adeptus offered to grant the Traveler's wish—though something was still missing.
[Adeptus Who Grasps the Stars and Seizes the Heavens: "The path of the Adepti depends on enlightenment. If you cannot grasp the meaning in my words, then this Adeptus regrets that he cannot assist you."]
Paimon didn't understand, but Lumine did—he was simply asking for money.
[Paimon: "But we don't have anything valuable on us."]
[Paimon: "In fact, you don't even have a Vision."]
[Lumine: "And surely no one would sell their Vision, right?"]
In the end, the two decided to offer something other than money—like food.
Ningguang read this segment with an amused smile. As for whether anyone would sell their Vision... that was debatable.
Life was unfair—Ningguang wanted to sell hers, Keqing wanted to shatter hers, while Pantalone couldn't obtain one no matter how he tried.
Paimon and the Traveler weren't entirely broke, either. At the very least, Paimon had some "emergency reserves"—
Hidden in her shoes were some private savings.
In the book, the Traveler and Paimon returned to Liyue Harbor, only to find the Adeptus Who Grasps the Stars and Seizes the Heavens had also returned—to Wanwen Bookhouse to buy a book.
[Jifang: "Just this one? 'Yakshas: The Guardian Adepti'?"]
[Paimon: "Isn't that the 'Multi-Star Lacking-Heaven Celestial Lord'? Why are we running into him again?"]
[Paimon: "Why would an Adeptus buy a book about themselves?"]
At first, everyone agreed that Adepti wouldn't read books about themselves. But after Rex Lapis's stories, they weren't so sure.
Didn't Rex Lapis listen to tales about himself daily and even discuss them with others?
In the book, Lumine also found this "Celestial Lord" suspicious because [Lumine: "His mask is too ugly."]
"Reasonable." Lumine nodded, pleased with her flawless logic. She was currently reading in a teahouse with Yanfei.
Following the principle of "investigate before judging," the Traveler in the story also bought a copy of Yakshas: The Guardian Adepti.
[In ancient times, Liyue was plagued by miasma and haunted by demons.]
[The rotting carcasses of defeated gods spread their hatred and resentment across the mortal realm, becoming "evil entities."]
[Whenever these entities grew restless, plagues, specters, and anomalies would follow.]
[Thus, the Geo Archon summoned the "Yakshas" among the Adepti to purge these evils.]
Here, Lucian included an illustration—Zhongli in divine attire alongside five masked Yakshas.
[They swore an oath to the Geo Archon: to kill in defense of the divine law, to eradicate suffering. Thus passed the years...]
[In their endless bloody battles, they could not escape the shackles of karmic debt, nor the corruption of the gods' lingering hatred.]
[Some succumbed to fear and went mad.]
The Pyro Yaksha screamed at the heavens, his mask shattering.
[Some killed each other.]
The Hydro and Geo Yakshas attacked one another.
[Some lost themselves to demonic influence.]
The Electro Yaksha stood atop a mountain of corpses.
[Of the five mightiest Yakshas, three met violent ends, and one vanished without a trace.]
[After millennia of tribulation, only the "Vigilant Yaksha" remains in this world.]
The masks of the four Yakshas lay broken—only the Anemo Yaksha's mask remained intact.
[Only in the moonlit nights do the shimmering lights of Guyun Stone Forest and the flute player of Dihua Marsh still remember his silhouette.]
The final illustration showed Venti playing his flute, with Xiao's back turned in the distance.
One had to admit—this "Doctor Venti" was always putting out fires. Were it not for him, the last Yaksha might have perished as well.
The people of Liyue couldn't help but reflect on this Anemo Archon—he truly was a great god.
Though he usually seemed unreliable, he never failed when it mattered most.
Of course, he still fell slightly short of Rex Lapis—the Geo Archon was never unreliable (except when forgetting Mora).
Like the Stove God, the Yakshas were protectors of mortals who were ultimately forgotten. This filled the people of Liyue with guilt.
Unlike the Stove God, however, the Yakshas' tales were recorded—yet most still forgot them regardless.
"Huh? Such experiences..." Yanxiao murmured. "...I'll make two extra dishes today."
Madame Ping had told Guizhong about the Yakshas, but even so, Guizhong's heart ached when she saw Lucian's illustrations.
She had been close to all the Adepti, including the Yakshas. Seeing their tragic fates pained her deeply.
Yet she wouldn't ask Lucian to "revive" them. As a god, she understood that she was, to some extent, "immortal."
But the four Yakshas were different—corrupted by evil, driven to madness, they'd had no chance to preserve their consciousness.
Only those not driven to insanity might have left something behind.
"Music... truly is remarkable," Guizhong sighed.
Though she had bickered with Madame Ping about music, she never believed it could be replaced by machinery.
Others also marveled at the Anemo Archon's musical prowess. This could have been an unmitigated tragedy—
Yet the Anemo Archon stubbornly salvaged one ending. Magnificent—no further words needed.
"Hehe, not bad artwork." Venti was quite pleased with his depiction in the illustration. Compared to previous drawings, he preferred this one of him playing the flute.
Now he understood why Lucian had dragged him into posing during his last visit to Liyue—it was for "reference material."
He'd held that pose for ages! Thankfully, Charlotte had been there to direct, or he might have missed the Cooking Championship entirely.
What Venti didn't know was that his photo wasn't actually used for this scene...
===✧✦✧===
Character Voiceline · Guizhong: About the Yakshas · Geo
"Menogias loved designing clothes. If he were still here... perhaps the dress I wore for the Moonchase Festival would have been his creation..."