"What… what on earth just happened?"
"Why is the Geo Archon lying on Yujing Terrace? Is he hurt?"
"I don't know—this has never happened in past years."
"Don't speculate. Wait for Lady Ningguang's announcement."
Shock painted every face at the sudden turn of events. No one had expected this. Mutters began to ripple through the crowd.
Lumine and Paimon were no different.
"Paimon, what's going on?" Lumine clutched her phone and stood frozen.
Is this what the Rite of Descension is supposed to be like?
"I don't know… something went wrong, I think?" Paimon fumbled with her camera, baffled. This wasn't how the ceremony was supposed to go…
"Let's wait and see," Lumine said.
She kept filming—if something important happened, this footage might prove useful later.
Compared with the cautious curiosity of others, Old Meng had been knocked flat by terror.
"N—n—no, it can't be an accident, can it?" His voice trembled as he stammered. Had Hu Tao's teasing been prophetic?
"No, no, it's probably just a coincidence. Wait for Lady Ningguang to check," he tried to soothe himself, but inside he was full of dread.
Ningguang stared at the fallen Archon, stunned. "What is this?" Thoughts raced through her mind. When she finally knelt and examined him, the truth slammed into her.
The Archon had been murdered.
Liyue's deity—dead?
And at the very Rite she was presiding over?
Ningguang immediately understood the magnitude. This was a catastrophe for Liyue—worse even than the Vortex God's potential awakening. The consequences could not be overstated.
She rose, face grave, and snapped an order. "The Archon has been murdered! Seal the area!"
At her command, the Millelith appeared and began cordoning off Yujing Terrace. They started screening everyone present for suspicious persons.
"The Archon… murdered? Are you kidding?"
"But he's so powerful—who could assassinate him?"
"Lady Ningguang said it herself—could that be a lie?"
"What in the world happened?"
People were stunned into silence. The fact that Lady Ningguang had declared it true made them swallow hard. Liyue's sky—its order—might be changing.
Old Meng collapsed to the ground, panic-stricken. "It's over, it's over… this is truly over…" He had clung to a sliver of hope, but Ningguang's statement wiped it away. Hu Tao's warning had come true: his Death-God constitution had not been relieved—instead, it had coincided with the Archon's death. He felt like Liyue's sinner.
"One person is sitting on the ground nearby, acting nervous and suspicious," a Millelith trooper reported.
"Who?" the commander asked, stepping forward. He had been assigned to maintain order at the ritual and had just left the Solace Book House. Never had he expected to face this.
"Bring them to Lady Ningguang for handling," he ordered after a moment's hesitation. Old Meng certainly looked troubled, but the commander thought it best to let Ningguang decide.
"Those two over there look suspicious!" the commander added, directing his gaze to Lumine and Paimon. The two were unfamiliar faces and each held a strange device. They might be assassins, he reasoned; they should be questioned.
Paimon was horrified when she heard the confirmed news. The Archon—one of the Seven—was gone? Lumine scanned the milling Millelith and realized, with a sinking feeling, that they'd likely been flagged for being "too close" to the ritual.
"We were right up front… that's suspicious, isn't it?" Paimon scratched her head.
Lumine's mind froze.
Could they be considered suspects?
"Quick—Mona, the Millelith are noticing us!" Paimon panicked, as soldiers began closing in.
"It could be enemies from long ago—if the Archon's life is at risk, we can't let his remains fall into the hands of his foes," Lumine said gravely. "Paimon, we need to go!"
At her movement, the Millelith commander's face hardened. "They're trying to flee—chase them!"
Before he could even question them, their attempt to leave proved their guilt in his eyes. He barked the order and men surged after Lumine and Paimon. They had to be found.
—------------------------------
Pat reon Advance Chapters: patreon.com/YonkoSlayer