After dealing with the Abyss Mage, everyone continued reading.
At the end of the story, there was also a small bonus chapter: [The Night the Sun Ran Away].
[Klee: "Traveler, I'll tell you a secret!"]
["Actually, at night in Mondstadt, there are devils roaming around!"]
["Quiet! Shhh!"]
["I'm telling you, don't tell anyone else!"]
["After everyone goes to sleep, they emerge from the darkness, transform into Knights of Favonius, and come out to deceive people!"]
["You can hear their footsteps in the solitary confinement room..."]
["So, I 'bang' blew up the door, wanting to chase away those bad guys for Mondstadt!"]
["But the Acting Grand Master Jean who appeared before me and took me away was the real deal, how strange."]
["You absolutely, absolutely must not tell anyone!"]
["Kaeya told me about the devils; he only told me!"]
Kaeya lightly coughed, "Cough, I can explain."
"You'd better be able to," Diluc said expressionlessly, but his tone had a rare hint of a smile.
The story finished, and Lin Qiu and Ganyu also arrived at Jueyun Karst.
Ganyu used adeptal arts on the way, so they arrived very quickly.
To be honest, Lin Qiu was a little disappointed; he originally thought that when Ganyu cast her spell, she would transform into her original form and carry him.
What a pity, he thought he would finally get to ride a qilin, a divine beast everyone would want to ride at least once.
If it weren't for Zhongli's disapproval, Lin Qiu even wanted to ride the old man's dragon form.
Liyue is truly great; divine birds, divine deer, qilin, and dragons can all be ridden.
In contrast, in Inazuma, you can't ride fish, foxes, cats, or dogs.
At Mount Aocang in Jueyun Karst, Lin Qiu and Ganyu reached the summit.
"Cloud Retainer," Ganyu called softly.
However, it wasn't Cloud Retainer who appeared, but Shenhe.
Shenhe looked at Ganyu expressionlessly, then met Lin Qiu's gaze.
She thought, 'Who is this person?'
She knew who Qiu Cheng was and really wanted to meet him.
But having never read any news magazines, she naturally didn't know who Lin Qiu was.
"Senior Sister," Shenhe said calmly.
"Junior Sister, let me introduce you; this is Mr. Lin Qiu," Ganyu said.
Shenhe nodded, acknowledging Lin Qiu.
Mr. Lin Qiu? I don't know him, he shouldn't be an adeptus from any family.
Cultivating with adepti in these mountains, this is the first time I've interacted with a mortal.
In the past, although she had saved mortals who came seeking adepti, she had never interacted with them.
But why does he look at me as if he knows me? Do I know him?
Shenhe always asked what she wanted to know, "Do you know me?"
Lin Qiu nodded, I naturally know you, it's just that you don't know me.
Shenhe became even more puzzled, she didn't remember having this bond in the mortal world; perhaps I should go down the mountain and return to my old home to see...
But whether or not it was a bond from her mortal life, it should be severed now.
An Isolated Star, Calamity Fiend should not befriend mortals...
Thinking of this, Shenhe stopped talking to Lin Qiu; she worried her fate would affect Lin Qiu.
But for some reason, a premonition in Shenhe's heart always told her that this person was different.
She didn't know that this was the uniqueness of someone from outside this world, completely unaffected by her fate.
"Where is Cloud Retainer?" Ganyu asked.
I clearly called out to Master just now, why did Junior Sister come out?
"Cloud Retainer is inventing things in her abode," Shenhe replied.
It turned out that the inventor Cloud Retainer had been relieved since she learned that the Geo Archon was not dead, and was now tinkering with her inventions again.
The three waited for a while; Ganyu and Shenhe both had calm dispositions and said nothing.
After a moment of silence, Ganyu said, "I'll go call Cloud Retainer."
Shenhe agreed; in her opinion, Cloud Retainer was very good at conversation, and this occasion called for her to be summoned.
Ganyu left, leaving Shenhe and Lin Qiu staring at each other.
Lin Qiu couldn't hold back and started chatting with Shenhe.
Lin Qiu talked to Shenhe bit by bit, and Shenhe did respond, but only with a few words each time.
Lin Qiu talked to Shenhe about food; Shenhe didn't understand, she only ate medicinal herbs like Qingxin.
Lin Qiu talked to Shenhe about adventures; Shenhe didn't understand, she had hardly ever left these mountains.
Although Shenhe didn't quite understand what she was hearing, she quite liked the feeling of chatting with someone.
After cultivating in the mountains for so many years, adepti would not talk to her about things like food or adventures.
So, she was quite happy to listen to what Lin Qiu said, though her expression didn't show it.
Lin Qiu also didn't know that Shenhe was enjoying listening; he thought about it and still felt that he was speaking incorrectly. How could Shenhe chat about things she didn't understand at all?
To chat, it's best to talk about things everyone understands. What does Shenhe understand?
The taste of Qingxin? I don't understand that...
The 'music' in the mountains? I'm not that refined either.
Oh, right, Shenhe understands adeptal matters, so why not...
"Let me tell you stories about Ganyu when she was little," Lin Qiu said mysteriously and earnestly.
"Senior Sister's stories?" Shenhe's eyes seemed to widen a bit, looking somewhat expectant.
"Want to hear stories about Ganyu when she was little? I know them! Ganyu, she..." Cloud Retainer suddenly appeared.
"Cloud Retainer! Mr. Lin Qiu!" Ganyu's small face flushed, and her soft voice gained a hint of firmness.
She hadn't expected that not only Cloud Retainer knew her embarrassing childhood stories, but even Lin Qiu did!
It was one thing for Cloud Retainer to know, but how did he know too?! Ahhh, it's too embarrassing, oh no, it's too embarrassing for an adeptal beast!
The front tip of the great bird's wing curled up, like a hand making a fist, and placed it near its beak for a light cough.
"Cough, as soon as this adeptus came out, I heard Lin Qiu talking about Ganyu's stories, and I couldn't resist..."
"Never mind, even if I don't tell stories about Ganyu's childhood, this adeptus is very good at conversation." The adeptus who was good at conversation was confident.
"Hello, Adeptus who is good at conversation," Lin Qiu said.
"Presumptuous! This adeptus is named Cloud Retainer!" Cloud Retainer retorted.
That's not right, you clearly wrote about me when you wrote the book, you know my name.
"Hmph, don't make fun of this adeptus," Cloud Retainer lightly snorted.
Cloud Retainer transformed, taking on human form, and sat on the stone chair, saying, "This adeptus has prepared tea; please be seated."
Lin Qiu obediently sat down; he was also curious why Cloud Retainer had summoned him.
Cloud Retainer already knew the news that the Geo Archon was not dead, but she hadn't known when she told Ganyu she wanted to see Lin Qiu.
Originally, she invited Lin Qiu to inquire about the Geo Archon.
But now that she knew the Geo Archon was not dead, she naturally wouldn't ask about that anymore.
The Geo Archon had his own plans, surely with deep meaning; there was no need to ask too much.
"You two sit as well," Cloud Retainer said immediately when she saw Ganyu trying to avoid them.
Everyone took their seats, and Cloud Retainer began by asking.
"Should this adeptus address you as Lin Qiu, or Qiu Cheng?"
"Lin Qiu is fine."
Hearing their conversation, Shenhe then realized that this person was Qiu Cheng, whom she had wanted to meet.
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Character Voice Line · Ganyu: About Lin Qiu · Part 1
"He knows everything about my childhood; he wouldn't write it in his book, would he? He… wouldn't, right…?"