The walk back to Liyue Harbor was a blur, Ren's mind replaying the bizarre, terrifying encounter on the beach. He felt no gratitude towards Sandrone, only a deep, chilling sense of unease. He had not been saved by a friend; he had been claimed by a rival predator. He was no longer just a person of interest to her; he was, in some strange, proprietary way, hers.
He went straight home, the need for the comforting, sane presence of his family overwhelming. He found Ganyu and Keqing in the main room, going over some trade documents Keqing had brought from the office.
"Ren!" Ganyu said, her face lighting up. "How was your practice?"
Her smile faded the moment she saw his face. He was pale, and the usual bright, calm light in his eyes was replaced by a shadow of fear and confusion.
"What happened?" Keqing asked immediately, her hand instinctively moving closer to the hilt of her sword.
Ren sat down, his legs feeling a little weak, and recounted the entire, surreal event. He told them about the Balladeer's sudden, venomous appearance, his scornful words, and the crackling, murderous energy that had surrounded him. Then he described Sandrone's equally sudden arrival, her strange, mocking defense of him, and the bizarre, almost petty, clash between the two powerful Harbingers.
As he spoke, the atmosphere in the room grew heavy and cold. Ganyu's face was a mask of pale, horrified fury. The thought of not one, but two Harbingers getting close to Ren while he was alone was her worst nightmare made real.
Keqing listened with a sharp, analytical intensity, her brow furrowed in concentration. When Ren finished, she was the first to speak, her mind immediately jumping to the strategic implications.
"This could have been a performance," she theorized, her voice sharp and calculating. "A staged encounter. Sandrone establishes herself as your 'protector' to gain your trust, to make you feel indebted to her. It's a classic intelligence agency tactic. A 'good cop, bad cop' routine on a global scale."
Ren, however, immediately shook his head. He knew the characters, the personalities, from his past life. He knew the Balladeer's history, his deep-seated arrogance and his utter disdain for everyone, including his fellow Harbingers.
"No," Ren said, his voice quiet but firm. "It wasn't staged. The Balladeer… the way he looked, the things he said… he wouldn't help Sandrone. He wouldn't help anyone but himself. His pride wouldn't allow it. They genuinely hate each other."
His certainty was so absolute that it gave Keqing pause. She looked at this child, who somehow seemed to possess an impossible, innate understanding of the inner dynamics of the Fatui's most dangerous agents, and she decided not to question it.
If the encounter was real, the implications were even more disturbing. It meant the Harbingers were not a monolithic entity, but a collection of powerful, rivalrous predators, and Ren had somehow become a point of contention between them.
It was Ganyu who voiced the fear that was now consuming her. "That's three of them," she whispered, her voice trembling with a mixture of anger and dread. "Three Harbingers, right here in Liyue."
Keqing and Ren looked at her, confused.
"Lady Ningguang's intelligence network has been working overtime since the incident in Qingce," Ganyu explained, her eyes dark with worry. "She informed me a few days ago. The Eleventh Harbinger, Tartaglia, has been operating out of the Northland Bank for months, but his activity has increased. And now we know the Sixth and the Seventh are also here, moving freely. Our city… it's becoming a nest of vipers."
Three Harbingers. The number hung in the air, heavy and ominous. Liyue was being quietly, insidiously infiltrated by the Tsaritsa's most powerful agents.
Ren's blood ran cold. He thought of Sandrone's words from Qingce, her parting gift of information. La Signora is scheduled to make a diplomatic visit to Mondstadt. That mission, he knew, was now ongoing. The Gnosis of the Anemo Archon would soon fall into the Fatui hands.
And he knew, with a dreadful, sinking certainty that he could not share with the others, what came next in the story. After her success in Mondstadt, the next target on La Signora's list, the next piece to be taken from the board, was the Gnosis of the Geo Archon.
His mind flashed forward, to the coming Rite of Descension. To the grand, terrible play that Zhongli was about to stage. He knew that soon, it wouldn't just be three Harbingers in Liyue.
Soon, La Signora, the Fair Lady, the Eighth of the Fatui Harbingers, would arrive to complete the set.
The nest of vipers was about to get even more crowded, and a great, terrible storm was gathering over the peaceful, golden city of Liyue.