The sight of Liyue Harbor's grand, golden roofs rising to meet them was a profound relief. The journey had been a resounding success, but it had also been fraught with dangers, both monstrous and political, that Ren was glad to leave behind.
The moment they stepped through the gates of the house on Feiyun Slope, a blur of blue and white shot towards them. Ganyu, who must have been watching from the window, enveloped Ren in a hug so tight it lifted him off his feet, her relief a palpable, trembling force.
"You're back! You're safe!" she whispered, her voice thick with a week's worth of accumulated worry.
Xianyun was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed, a look of stern relief on her face. Her gaze immediately went to Keqing, a silent question in her eyes. Keqing gave a single, almost imperceptible nod, confirming that the mission was a success and the child was unharmed.
But the peaceful reunion was short-lived. A formal summons was already waiting for them. Ningguang wished for an immediate debriefing.
They reconvened in the same private meeting room at the Yuehai Pavilion, the atmosphere thick with a new, heavy tension. Ren, Ganyu, Xianyun, and Keqing sat on one side of the large table. Ningguang sat opposite them, her expression calm and unreadable.
Keqing gave her report, her voice crisp and efficient. She detailed the overwhelming success of the heater demonstrations in every settlement, the positive reception from the villagers, and the gratitude of the merchants. She praised Ren's skill as a presenter and his natural ability to connect with the people.
Then, her tone hardened. "However, the mission was not without incident. We encountered a Fatui Harbinger."
Ningguang's calm expression did not change, but her amber eyes sharpened with a new intensity.
Keqing recounted the entire, bizarre encounter with Sandrone in Qingce Village. She described the conversation, the Harbinger's unsettling interest in the heater's technology, and the gift of the communication device, which now lay on the table between them, a silent, crimson threat. She concluded by relaying the intelligence about La Signora's impending visit to Mondstadt.
As she spoke, the temperature in the room seemed to drop by several degrees. The source was not Ren's burgeoning Cryo abilities, but the two adeptal beings sitting beside him.
Ganyu's gentle, loving demeanor had vanished, replaced by a cold, protective fury. Her hands were clenched into tight fists in her lap, and her amethyst eyes, usually so soft, were now like chips of ice. The thought of a Harbinger, one of the Tsaritsa's chief lieutenants, approaching her little brother, speaking to him alone in the dead of night… it filled her with a rage so profound it was almost a physical force.
Xianyun's reaction was even more chilling. She was utterly still, her face a mask of cold, analytical fury. Her golden eyes were narrowed, and the air around her seemed to crackle with a barely suppressed power. She was looking at Ningguang, and her gaze was not that of a partner, but of a predator who has just discovered a threat to its nest.
When Keqing finished, it was Xianyun who spoke, her voice dangerously quiet, each word perfectly enunciated and laced with a frozen, adeptal wrath.
"A Harbinger of the Fatui was permitted to operate, unmonitored, within the borders of Liyue. She was allowed to approach a child—my disciple—and you, Tianquan, were unaware?"
It was a direct, undisguised accusation.
Ningguang met her gaze without flinching, though a lesser woman would have withered under the sheer pressure. "The Fatui have diplomatic immunity within the Harbor, as you know, Cloud Retainer. Their movements in the countryside are… harder to track. She was discreet."
"Discretion is not an excuse for negligence," Ganyu interjected, her voice shaking with a suppressed anger that shocked everyone, including herself. "She got close to Ren. She spoke to him. Anything could have happened. The Qixing's surveillance of the Fatui is clearly inadequate!"
The air was thick with their combined fury. They were not Ganyu the secretary and Xianyun the inventor. They were two ancient, powerful beings, a half-qilin and a full adeptus, and their collective maternal rage was focused like a spear point on the leader of the Qixing.
And then, Ningguang did something completely unexpected. Something that baffled Keqing and stunned even Xianyun into a momentary silence.
She deferred.
She did not argue. She did not defend the Qixing's intelligence network. She did not make excuses. She simply inclined her head, a gesture of profound, almost apologetic, respect.
"You are right," she said, her voice calm and devoid of any defensiveness. "Completely. It was a lapse in our security. A significant one. That a Harbinger was able to approach Ren without our knowledge is an unacceptable failure on my part."
She looked from Xianyun's cold, furious face to Ganyu's trembling, angry one. "I will not insult your intelligence by offering excuses. I will simply offer my assurance that it will not happen again. The surveillance protocols on all Fatui activity outside the Harbor will be tripled. I will personally see to it that Sandrone's movements, and those of all her colleagues, are tracked with a new and... vigorous level of scrutiny."
Her deference was a strategic masterstroke. By immediately, unreservedly agreeing with them, she had completely disarmed their anger. She hadn't engaged in a battle of wills she might not have won; she had instead validated their concerns, acknowledged their authority in this matter, and aligned herself with them as a fellow protector of the child in question.
She had, in essence, conceded that when it came to Ren's safety, their authority superseded even her own.
The icy tension in the room began to thaw, replaced by a grudging, reluctant acceptance. Ganyu's anger receded, leaving behind only a deep, simmering worry. Xianyun's cold fury lessened, her analytical mind re-engaging as she processed Ningguang's tactical capitulation.
"See that you do, Tianquan," Xianyun said, her voice still cold, but the immediate threat of her wrath had passed.
The meeting concluded on a somber, uneasy note. They had brought back good news of their success, but it was now overshadowed by the long, cold shadow of the Fatui. As they left the Yuehai Pavilion, Ren walked between his two powerful, fiercely protective guardians, and he knew, with a certainty that was both comforting and terrifying, that his quiet, simple life was over. The game had begun, and he was, whether he liked it or not, already a piece on the board.