Three days after the great battle with Osial, the Rite of Parting, which had no adepti to send off, finally began.
The venue at Yujing Terrace was packed with Liyue citizens who had come to pay their respects. People were discussing the Rite of Parting, with some suspecting that the assassin of the Lord of Geo and the one who released the God might be the same person. Others found it hard to believe that Lord Rex Lapis had truly been killed, and some even claimed that the Lord of Geo was assassinated by Childe, a Fatui Harbinger.
Amidst everyone's speculation, the Millelith's drill sergeant, Fei Yan, finally issued an official announcement from the Qixing:
"All must know: Though dragons and flying kirin may live as long as mountains, they eventually turn to dust. The Lord of Geo's immortal registry, whose life matched the sun and moon, was touched by the occasional gloom, coinciding with a thunderous tribulation. The Lord of Geo encountered a heavenly tribulation and his soul returned to the high heavens. Therefore, this is proclaimed to Liyue, and we pray that all citizens restrain their sorrow, lest their hearts be wounded. Furthermore, do not believe rumors circulating in the market, nor make groundless conjectures."
The Qixing's announcement was flowery, but the general meaning was that the Lord of Geo did not die by assassination, but rather unfortunately perished while undergoing a tribulation. This explanation seemed quite perfunctory to Lumine and Paimon, who knew the details.
But after a moment of thought, they had already guessed the truth: Zhongli had likely informed the Qixing that he was not dead, which led them to stop investigating the killer.
However, this did not mean that the Qixing would give the Fatui a pass, because it was an undeniable fact that they had sent troops to the Jade Chamber to cause trouble while the adepti were fending off the God. It was said that Ningguang was relentlessly pursuing this matter on the diplomatic battlefield, leaving the Fatui envoys in a state of utter disarray.
Those poor Snezhnaya diplomats, if not for Childe's high-ranking status as a Harbinger, would surely have pinned all the blame on him and announced his dismissal.
Not only in diplomacy, but because of this incident, the Fatui's reputation in Liyue was completely ruined, and even Snezhnaya merchants' trade in Liyue was severely affected. Simply put, Snezhnaya goods couldn't be sold, and their own food, clothing, housing, and transportation in Liyue were either unavailable or priced several times higher.
"Huh? Yuto, you're here to see the Rite of Parting too?"
"Lumine, Paimon, you're here too. I at least contributed to this Rite of Parting, so I came to see the result. It seems that while the people of Liyue have complex feelings about Lord Rex Lapis's departure, they have, on the whole, silently accepted it. Oh, by the way, you must have learned the details at the Northland Bank, right?"
Lumine nodded silently. Regarding this, her expression towards Yuto became even more complex. Coupled with the astonishing strength Yuto displayed in the battle against Osial, it made her even more suspicious of Yuto's identity.
"I can't believe this was a scheme you set up! It's too much! You kept it from me for so long. Just thinking about how I ran myself ragged over this makes me furious! No, you must treat me to a big meal to compensate me."
"Haha, Paimon, can't you fly? You shouldn't have run yourself ragged, right?"
Paimon performed her signature aerial stomp, saying angrily, "Flying is tiring too, okay? My phantom limbs have been so sore these past few days. I need to eat something good to replenish myself."
"Alright, that's all easy to arrange."
The people in charge of this Rite of Parting were Ningguang, Keqing, and Ganyu, who is the secretary of the Qixing. While only one Qixing attended the Rite of Descension, having such a lineup for the Rite of Parting was enough to show its extraordinary nature.
Ningguang: "The Lord of Geo's soul returning to the high heavens is the severing of a contract and the end of an era. The people of Liyue were once happy, forgetting the harshness of time in their happiness. After awakening from their dream, people learned to bid farewell. After the contract is re-established, will you—will you bless the next era?"
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