The formation was withdrawn.
Aether had also left.
The adepti present looked at one another in confusion.
"Mr. Taro, that person… what is he?"
Madame Ping was the first to speak, asking with some puzzlement:
"What we sensed was hostility and Abyss."
"Then why…"
Hostility and Abyss.
These two things were precisely why the adepti had come out in full force.
Having lived through the catastrophe five hundred years ago, they understood very well how dangerous the Abyss was.
What was more, that person harbored hostility toward Mr. Taro.
That made it even less acceptable to sit back and watch.
Thus, the very moment they sensed him, the adepti of Liyue Harbor had rushed over and laid down a great formation.
But looking at it now, it seemed there had been some sort of misunderstanding?
"Him, huh~"
Taro turned his head and said softly:
"He's the prince of the Abyss Order, and Ying's real older brother."
"A poor guy who's been anchored by the will of the Abyss."
The will of the Abyss?
Hearing this phrase, the adepti present all felt a chill crawl over their skin for no reason.
"Th–this…"
Cloud Retainer's eyes widened. "Someone who's been anchored by the will of the Abyss?"
"And he is truly that Descender's older brother?"
"How bizarre~"
Moon Carver pinched his fingers to divine for a moment, then let his hands fall, frowning:
"His fate line appears and disappears. At times he seems within fate, at times outside of fate. Truly strange."
"Sir, is this person really that Descender's blood relative?"
If he were also a Descender,
he ought not to possess any fate line within Teyvat.
Yet by following Teyvat's fate lines, Moon Carver had indeed drawn a hexagram for this prince of the Abyss Order…
and from it, he'd obtained some rather unusual information.
If he were a Descender, the result should have been nothing at all.
This sort of hazy, on-again-off-again fate gave one the eerie feeling of someone jumping back and forth between tracks.
"He once had his rank lowered."
Taro provided the exact explanation.
"So that's how it is—no wonder."
Moon Carver suddenly understood and nodded slightly.
If that was the case, then there was nothing wrong with his divination.
His hexagram had been accurate.
It was just that the other party had first lowered his level of existence, then raised it back up again.
Honestly… was that guy sick in the head?
"The prince of the Abyss Order…"
Mountain Shaper pondered silently, his expression growing somewhat grave as he said:
"Mr. Taro, will that person pose any threat to you or to Liyue?"
"For the time being, he won't~"
Taro shook his head. "I've made an agreement with him. As long as I protect his blood relative, he will not lay a finger on me or on Liyue."
"Until the final moment arrives, the Abyss Order won't come into conflict with Liyue."
"As for the Abyss itself… that thing is not something the Abyss Order can control."
"We still need to maintain all necessary precautions."
To put it bluntly, the so-called Abyss Order was just a bunch of inhuman monsters transformed and corroded by the power of the Abyss.
To the Abyss, these were no more than cannon fodder, ants, dust.
Represent the Abyss?
What a ridiculous joke.
Earlier, Taro had used Aether as a bridge to anchor a small fragment of the will of the Abyss.
That endless black tide out in the cosmic void, that boundless darkness—
even that was just the surface of the Abyss.
The endless black, the lawless raging tide—
all of it was merely the tip of the iceberg of the will of the Abyss.
To control the Abyss?
That would require power on the scale of the entire universe.
Even Nibelungen had only barely managed to harness the tiniest drop of the black tide's power to pursue its revenge.
As for the true Abyss… it should be regarded as a cosmic law.
The law that all who live must eventually perish.
He had to admit, the patch of space where Teyvat was located was rather… extreme.
What puzzled Taro even more, though, was this:
Just how had those two "surprise gifts" he'd received from Cloud Retainer and Venti ended up in this world?
Was it simply that this place was another divergent branch under the same Imaginary Tree system?
Or was it a cosmic bubble that had already fallen into the Sea of Quanta?
After all, this black tide carried a hint of that "Sea of Quanta" feeling.
The more he learned, the further away the answers felt.
Forget it—if he couldn't figure it out, he'd stop thinking about it.
The experiment was done anyway, and the power of those world-class artifacts had once again been verified.
He'd also gotten what he wanted.
If, one day, this black tide truly turned out to be something Teyvat couldn't withstand…
He'd just take everyone and run.
He already had the coordinates of two other worlds in his hand.
They could change locations and still live the easy life.
"'No offense, not even by a hair,' huh?"
"In that case, we can set our hearts at ease."
The adepti exchanged glances, then nodded one after another.
Since it was Mr. Taro who said so, they chose to believe him.
Even if that man was the prince of the Abyss Order. Even if he was someone anchored by the will of the Abyss.
Things were still exactly as Mr. Taro had said:
The Abyss Order did not represent the Abyss itself.
And the necessary vigilance could not be relaxed in the slightest.
"In that case, Mr. Taro, we shall take our leave first."
Cloud Retainer was the first to speak. She manifested her true form, soared into the sky, and flew straight toward Yuehai Pavilion.
"Eh, Master… wait—"
Watching her own master run off yet again, Ganyu opened her mouth, her expression a little odd.
As expected, Master was definitely still hiding things from her.
Otherwise, why would she be this flustered and guilty,
not even giving her disciple a chance to ask a single question?
Ganyu shook her head helplessly, then turned to look at Shenhe beside her.
"Junior Sister."
"Hm? What is it, Senior Sister?"
Shenhe stopped forming hand seals and dispelled her polearm, turning her head in confusion.
"No, it's nothing~"
Ganyu shook her head. "I was just thinking… changing to a different way of life might not be so bad."
"Mm?" Shenhe tilted her head. "Does Senior Sister not like it here?"
"That's not it~"
Ganyu shook her head. "I'm just used to how things used to be."
"Changing all of a sudden… it takes some getting used to."
"Mm~"
Shenhe nodded in agreement.
"Master and I have lived in seclusion on Mt. Aozang for twenty years now."
"Suddenly descending into the mortal world like this is indeed a little hard to adapt to."
"I'll treat the days to come as a part of my cultivation."
"In that way, perhaps I'll get used to it more quickly."
"Cultivation, huh…"
Ganyu blinked, reflecting a little.
"Junior Sister Shenhe is right."
"Perhaps… I should learn from Fanan as well."
Going from a secretary of the Liyue Qixing to Mr. Taro's secretary.
A secretary was a secretary—
in the end, it didn't really feel that different?
"Sir—boss~"
An anxious shout came from afar.
Huoliya and Yingda landed quickly.
"Sir, what happened just now?"
"You're not hurt, are you?"
Yingda carefully inspected his teacher from head to toe, practically about to start patting him down.
She had clearly seen it earlier:
All the adepti had shown up.
That had to mean something big had happened.
"Alright, alright~"
Taro rubbed Yingda's head.
"There aren't many people in this world who can hurt me."
Without bragging or exaggeration,
there were indeed plenty of beings in this world capable of injuring him.
But those who could actually take his life—
for now, he hadn't met a single one.
Granted, the feeling of getting hit by large-scale attacks was actually pretty nice.
"Right, weren't you two off buying groceries? Where's the food?"
He lifted an eyebrow as he looked at their empty hands.
"It's with Mona…"
Huoliya froze, subconsciously turning around—only to see no trace of Mona behind her.
"Hiss… this is bad. We left that kid back at the market."
At that same moment—
The kid who had been left in front of the produce stall,
arms full of ingredients, didn't dare move a muscle.
All because Huoliya still hadn't paid.
"…"
Mona: Hurry up and come back, you two.
Under the stall owner's unblinking stare, the pressure was enormous…
(End of Chapter)
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