The next day, in the thin mist of early morning, Ji An joined a merchant caravan and set off on the road to Mondstadt.
The caravan belonged to Liyue's Feiyun Commerce Guild, introduced to Ji An by Ningguang.
The journey to Mondstadt was long, and having a guide was a genuine necessity.
Herloxia, following Ji An's instructions, trailed far behind the caravan at a high altitude, staying out of sight.
According to the caravan leader, they would depart from the North Gate Bridge of Liyue Harbor, pass through the Guili Plains and Dihua Marsh, and reach the borders of Mondstadt in roughly eight days.
Of course, these eight days would not involve pushing through day and night. When darkness fell, the caravan would stop to rest. There were few proper inns along the way, so for the most part they would be camping outdoors.
The caravan leader, Zhang Hong, had never met Ji An before this trip, but he was immediately attentive insisting that Ji An take the main tent for sleeping.
After all, who in Liyue Harbor hadn't heard of the great contributor to the Chasm incident by now? And the man was on good terms with two of the Liyue Qixing. His future prospects were extraordinary. When else would an opportunity like this come along?
Ji An declined.
He wasn't that delicate.
Thinking back to when he had first arrived in Teyvat sleeping with the sky as his blanket and the earth as his bed and to the difficult stretch he had spent wandering with the hilichurls afterward, sleeping in a tent was nothing.
---
On the evening of the third day after their departure from Liyue Harbor, Ji An was sitting in the cart, chatting with Herloxia in his mind — or rather, talking at her, as was usually the case.
The carriage suddenly came to a stop.
Faint voices from the accompanying staff drifted in from outside.
Then the curtain was lifted, and Zhang Hong's face appeared, smiling.
"Mr. Ji An, we've arrived at today's resting place."
"Is this place...?"
Ji An stepped down from the carriage and looked up. Before him, perched atop a towering stone pillar, stood a magnificent and intricately built pavilion. His eyes lit up involuntarily.
Zhang Hong said, "This is Wangshu Inn — the largest inn for hundreds of miles in any direction. That pavilion on the stone pillar has become a landmark of Dihua Marsh."
He looked back at the rest of the caravan crew, smiling warmly. "The road to Mondstadt is long. Everyone endures hardships eating in the wind, sleeping in the open. Fortunately, this inn sits right in the middle of the journey, and getting to wash off the dust of travel here is something everyone looks forward to."
"Wangshu Inn..."
Ji An turned the name over in his mind, then understood. He had been wondering where he had heard it before this was the place Xiao had mentioned, where he entrusted the innkeeper with sheltering spirits that couldn't yet be put to rest.
The caravan secured the horses and carts, and Zhang Hong led the group onto the suspended elevator and up to the main building at the top of the stone pillar.
"Verr Goldet, hahaha, we're back!"
Zhang Hong stepped forward and called out to a woman with long brown hair standing behind the front desk, dressed in a qipao.
The woman — Verr Goldet — smiled. "Welcome back, Mr. Zhang. You're all regulars here. Oh, and this must be..."
Her gaze settled on Ji An's face, and she covered her mouth with a light laugh.
"Do you recognize me?" Ji An couldn't help asking.
"I'm not 'the boss's wife' — I'm the owner of Wangshu Inn," she corrected him pleasantly, then added with a smile, "Mr. Ji An, don't you know that your name has already spread throughout Liyue?"
Ji An: "..."
Was it really that widespread?
"Just teasing." Verr Goldet smiled behind her hand. "It's simply that I have some connections with the Liyue Qixing, so I happened to come across your portrait. But, ah — let's leave it at that."
Ji An: ??
What portrait? Please, elaborate.
Who painted it?
He really wanted to know, but no matter how he tried, Verr Goldet remained tight-lipped and refused to say another word on the subject.
Zhang Hong booked rooms for everyone in the caravan double rooms for most, and a single superior room for Ji An.
This time, Ji An didn't refuse Zhang Hong's consideration. He genuinely wasn't comfortable sharing a room with strangers.
He couldn't help thinking to himself: Zhang Hong really was a perceptive man. Throughout the journey, it had been small gestures like this, one after another, that had already given Ji An a very good impression of him.
Zhang Hong also ordered a large spread of dishes to welcome the group and celebrate their arrival.
---
Amid the clinking of cups, Ji An noticed a strangely dressed young woman at the next table. A high-cut bodysuit paired with black stockings, and a large purple hat — it was difficult not to notice her presence.
He glanced over once or twice.
As if she had eyes in the back of her head, she suddenly turned around.
The girl looked directly at Ji An. A flicker of azure light seemed to pass through her eyes. Some unreadable expression crossed her delicate face and then vanished in an instant, so quickly Ji An almost thought he had imagined it.
She turned back as if nothing had happened.
Ji An came back to himself.
That girl... gives off a very peculiar feeling.
She seemed to finish her meal not long after. When she stood and left, Ji An glanced at her table out of habit. On a small plate sat a single clean bamboo skewer.
By the style of it, she had ordered Mushroom Chicken Skewers. Their table had ordered the same dish — but since each skewer held barely a mouthful, Zhang Hong had ordered a full platter piled high.
That girl appeared to have ordered just one skewer for dinner.
That was far too little. Could she really be full on that?
Well — looking at her slim figure, Ji An supposed he had his answer.
---
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they returned to their rooms early to save their energy for the next day.
---
Late at night.
Ji An finished washing up, chatted with Herloxia for a while, and settled into bed. Drowsiness was already pulling at him.
He was on the edge of sleep when he felt something tickle the tip of his nose — and caught the faint trace of a subtle fragrance.
Ji An opened his eyes.
The girl from the dining hall was sitting on the edge of his bed, one hand braced against the mattress, looking down at him with the corners of her cherry-colored lips curved upward.
"Heh heh. Worth waiting two days for. I've finally found you."
Ji An: ??
"Miss — who are you? Do we know each other?"
What he actually wanted to ask was: sneaking into a man's room in the middle of the night — isn't that a little inappropriate?
The girl with the large hat smiled lightly. "Whether we know each other doesn't much matter. The point is, now we do."
She pointed at him with certainty. "You're the person I've been looking for. My astrology is never wrong."
Astrology.
Ji An stared at her.
The word conjured memories of unreliable zodiac readings from his previous life. A girl breaking into someone's room in the dead of night and claiming it was written in the stars — something was definitely not right with her.
"Heh heh. With you by my side, I'll definitely win this contest— hey, what are you doing?"
She hadn't finished talking before Ji An, expressionless, got up, placed both hands on her shoulders, turned her around, and walked her firmly to the door.
Slap.
The door shut.
Ji An rubbed his forehead and said through the door, "Miss, please don't sneak into people's rooms at night. What you did is against the law. Next time I'll report you to the Millelith."
"I'm not from Liyue. The Millelith has no jurisdiction over me."
A flash of blue light — and the girl's voice sounded directly beside his ear.
She had teleported back inside.
Ji An stared at her for a moment, then noticed the blue Vision at her side. He sighed. "Miss, I genuinely need to sleep. I'm also not interested in your astrology. It's very late."
The girl said abruptly, "You don't belong to this world, do you?"
Ji An went still.
He almost denied it — but her gaze was completely certain. Saying no would accomplish nothing.
He nodded reluctantly. "How did you know?"
This was his greatest secret, apart from the simulator. Even Hu Tao didn't know.
How had this girl figured it out? Had she actually divined it?
The girl reached up to flick the ends of her hair, a little smugly. "Simple. What I practice is real astrology."
She added, "No more questions — let's go."
"Plenty of questions."
"Ugh, so troublesome." She sighed with great feeling. "Fine. I'll explain."
"My name is Mona Megistus — Astrologer Mona Megistus. Since misremembering that would be quite rude, you may simply call me Mona."
She placed a hand over her chest. "I am an astrologer. I'm currently traveling to Mondstadt on my master's behalf to collect a box — the fulfillment of a promise she made with a friend fifty years ago. My master is elderly now and cannot make the journey herself, so the task falls to me."
Ji An hesitated. "Collecting a box on your master's behalf... that doesn't seem to have anything to do with me. Why do you need me to come along?"
"Well... it's also because I want to have a contest with the person holding the box."
Mona lifted her chin. "My master and her friend spent their whole lives competing in the mystic arts and never settled who was better. If I could win against her friend's successor, wouldn't that mean I've surpassed my master?"
She crossed her arms. "But from what I've observed, my master's friend has already left Mondstadt. The person now holding the box is her successor — which means they're almost certainly formidable. I can't take this lightly."
She pointed at Ji An with an air of self-satisfaction. "So I thought of you. If I arrived with a renowned hero from Liyue as my apprentice, it would make an impression. Walking in with an apprentice would immediately give me the upper hand."
"Don't call me a hero — please don't say things like that carelessly."
Ji An shook his head quickly. If that got around, people would get the wrong idea about him entirely.
He added, "And when did I ever agree to be your apprentice?"
"Oh, I don't need you to actually be my apprentice — just pretend!"
"Then I still won't do it. I have serious matters to attend to in Mondstadt. I don't have time to get caught up in your contest with someone's successor."
"Don't refuse so quickly."
Mona pressed on. "Coming with me to collect the box will benefit you too. When I meet that successor, I'll have the opportunity to exchange knowledge with her which means I'll be able to read your fate more clearly."
"Not interested."
Mona's composure began to crack. "You're as immovable as a rock at the bottom of a swamp! Fine what would it take for you to agree?"
Ji An had been holding back. Now he let it out.
"Agree to three requests from me."
It wasn't that he truly didn't want to go — after all, Mondstadt was his destination either way. And this astrologer named Mona was clearly no ordinary person. Someone versed in the mystic arts like hers would be invaluable for what he had planned at Dragonspine.
"Th— three requests?"
Mona was taken aback. Then her gaze dropped briefly to Ji An, dressed only in thin sleepwear, the lines of his abdomen faintly visible a consequence of everything he had been through lately.
Her fair face flushed red. "Absolutely not. What if you make unreasonable requests? I won't agree to that!"
"Don't overthink it." Ji An gave her a flat look. "And for the record when you barged into a single man's room in the middle of the night, you weren't thinking about any of that, were you?"
Mona opened her mouth and said nothing.
"The requests I'm referring to are simply wanting your help with astrology readings."
"Oh." Mona let out a breath. "In that case fine, I agree. But I should be upfront: although my astrology is powerful, there are some things I can't see clearly either. For instance..."
Her gaze rested on Ji An, thoughtful.
She murmured, too quietly for him to catch:
Actually, I've been wondering since I first observed you, why are you so unusual? On you, I can see not only threads from outside this world, but countless threads of fate from within it as well, all tangling and branching together. Could what my master once spoke of actually be true...
---
Liyue Harbor.
Three days after Ji An's departure.
The city carried on as it always had. The world does not pause because one person is absent.
But at Heyu Tea House, there was one new addition: a melancholy girl who had taken up residence at a corner table.
"Sigh."
Hu Tao let out a quiet, deflated breath, chin resting on the table, expression completely listless.
"Director Hu, would you like more tea?" a waiter asked carefully.
Hu Tao glanced at him. "No. Your tea tastes terrible."
Waiter: "...Of course, Director. We'll work on that."
"I don't know how you brew it. It's bitter and astringent."
Bitter and astringent? Their osmanthus tea had a light, sweet taste. The waiter desperately wanted to say: could it be that your heart is bitter, and so everything tastes that way?
He did not say this.
After he retreated, Hu Tao was left alone with her thoughts, staring vacantly at the tabletop.
So boring.
Ever since Xiao An left, nothing feels right. Not even my favorite cremation work sounds appealing anymore.
Wuwuwu... I really want to go find him, but the letter said he's off doing something important and it's not convenient to bring anyone along. If I showed up anyway, he'd probably be annoyed, wouldn't he?
Xiao An, so heartless. He couldn't even come see me once before leaving.
And Guoba terrible! He clearly knew Xiao An was about to go, and said nothing. Just delivered the letter to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor after he was already gone.
Decided: next time I see Guoba, I'm going to jump out and scare Xiangling right in front of him.
Mmmph—!
While Hu Tao was stewing in her thoughts, the chair across from her scraped back.
Someone sat down.
Which oblivious person is this? Can they not see the Director is in a terrible mood?
Hu Tao looked up, prepared to glare.
The person who had sat down was a strikingly beautiful woman with long white hair. Without a word, she picked up the teapot, poured herself a cup, and quietly took a sip.
"Excuse me who are you? Did I say you could drink my tea?"
Never mind that she had just called it terrible Hu Tao was now indignant about it.
What was this woman doing, appearing out of nowhere like this, and also—
Hu Tao's gaze dropped involuntarily to the white-haired woman's figure, and her expression soured further.
-------
A/n: New content and stories posted on my patreon go check it out!
patreon.com/deadlygoober