"Guizhong..."
Zhongli's gaze dropped low.
Back then, he had indeed sensed something different in Guizhong's kindness toward him—something set apart from the rest.
But he was the Geo Archon.
To him, everyone around him treated him in that special way.
Admiration. Respect.
Perhaps only Guizhong had ever made him feel a flicker of something between man and woman.
But after hearing Lin Mo recount her story...
He finally understood just how fiercely her feelings for him had burned.
Zhongli turned his eyes to the same lantern-lit streets, dim and fading.
The night had deepened.
Pedestrians on the streets had trickled away one by one.
The bustling night market had grown quiet and still.
"I want to know how Guizhong saw me... before she left," Zhongli said softly.
Lin Mo didn't answer.
But his thoughts, unbidden, drifted back with Zhongli's question—to that year.
The year Guizhong departed.
Liyue, Nantian Gate.
"Ruo Tuo, you need to bathe more often from now on~"
"Look at you—those chunks of celestial stone dust flaking off your body are piling up like a mountain."
"They're so rough and sharp. What if they hurt Liyue's people?"
Guizhong patted the massive creature's head.
Her words were scolding, but her voice brimmed with indulgence.
"Mother... seawater itches. I don't like it..."
Ruo Tuo Dragon King's deep rumble carried a hint of petulance.
"Guizhong, you haven't even considered Ruo Tuo's size."
"There's no place in all of Liyue big enough to give this beast a proper bath."
Lin Mo chuckled wryly. "If we used seawater, by the time it dries on his scales, he'd be even itchier. One roll around, and who knows how many Rock Lizards it'd spawn."
"Hmm, you're right about that." Guizhong let the matter drop.
"Mother, you..."
Ruo Tuo seemed to sense something amiss.
"Shh~"
Guizhong pressed a finger to her lips.
She silenced the hulking beast with a gesture.
Then, with a sweet smile: "From now on, you have to listen to your father's words... and to Lord Archon's, got it~?"
Ruo Tuo Dragon King fell silent.
A being whose power rivaled Morax's...
How could it fail to see the scant remnants of godly essence flickering within its mother's body?
...
Not long after, Guili Plains.
"Here we are—back at the spot I asked you to watch all those years ago~"
Guizhong pointed to the stream's edge with a grin. "This is where you were napping and slacking off back then, right?"
Years had passed in the blink of an eye, and the two of them had returned once more to that place of memories.
"Yeah... Hard to believe so much time has flown by." Lin Mo's voice was quiet, subdued.
"Hey, what's with the sudden gloom?"
Guizhong pouted, hands on her hips. "I'm not blaming you for not helping me win over the Archon. It was my own fault for not having the charm."
Lin Mo said nothing.
His low mood had nothing to do with her failed pursuit of the Archon.
It was because he knew.
The girl before him was about to return to dust.
"How much time is left?" Lin Mo cut straight to it.
"Uh... heh, about half a day, I guess~"
Guizhong gave an awkward smile.
Not a trace of sorrow crossed her face.
"Go find the Archon."
Lin Mo's tone was even. "Spend your last moments with the one you want most to be with."
As he spoke, he kept his eyes from her face.
Afraid that one look would make the ache in his chest unbearable.
"Hey! What kind of talk is that~?!"
Guizhong feigned outrage. "You've helped me for so many years—sure, it didn't work out, but you put in all that effort, right? Can't you at least say 'you're welcome'?"
Only then did Lin Mo lift his gaze to her face.
"See? You can still look at me."
Guizhong's smile bloomed, radiant and touching.
At the same time, she pulled the Dust-Chain Lock from her hand. "Here—the lock's all ready. The moment I give it to the Archon, our fates in this life end."
"This life?" Lin Mo echoed, puzzled.
"You didn't know?"
Guizhong's eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Archons don't truly die."
"They return someday, in some form or another."
"Besides, why are you sadder about this than I am~?"
Lin Mo stayed silent.
Of course he knew Archons didn't truly perish.
But would the one who returned carry all her memories intact?
He didn't voice the question.
It didn't matter anymore.
Once his invitation task concluded, he'd leave this life too—off to the next.
"Hey, talk to me."
Guizhong's voice cracked with a touch of grievance.
Lin Mo met her eyes.
"Lin Mo, thank you."
"These days together... they've made me so happy." As the words left her lips,
a single tear traced down from the corner of her eye.
Lin Mo closed his eyes slowly, turning away so he wouldn't see her cry. "Go on. When you return one day, remember to pay me back."
"Mm. I promise."
That was their final farewell—Lin Mo's last words to Guizhong before she passed.
His thoughts snapped back to the present.
Lin Mo saw Zhongli still watching him,
waiting for an answer to "How did Guizhong see me before she left?"
"Lord Archon, the answer's in the lock."
Lin Mo sidestepped the question. "I just... don't want to betray what she felt."
Zhongli's gaze shifted to the Dust-Chain Lock on the table. He fell silent for a long moment.
In those brief minutes,
his first meeting with Guizhong replayed in his mind.
The battles they'd shared.
Their parting.
Every scene flickered to life within him.
He searched his heart: Had he felt nothing for her at all?
The truth was... he had.
Especially now, hearing Lin Mo speak of all she'd sacrificed for him—
Zhongli's heart finally stirred.
At last, he spoke:
"If this Love's Lock can only open with true affection..."
"Then the most likely moment to unlock it... is right now, isn't it?"
As Zhongli finished, his hand reached across the table for the Dust-Chain Lock.
The instant his fingers brushed it—
Click~
A soft sound echoed.
The Dust-Chain Lock sprang open.
"It's... open!"
Lin Mo stared in disbelief.
He hadn't expected Zhongli to actually unlock it—not in such a short time.
Had his tale of Guizhong's devotion finally moved this man?
But that hardly mattered now.
What did was the note left inside for Zhongli.
"This girl..."
Zhongli glanced at the paper and let out a wry smile. "Such a prank... it's just like her style."
"Prank?" Lin Mo frowned, confused.
"Mm. I'm sure you didn't see it coming either."
Zhongli's tone was calm.
As he spoke, he slid the paper across to Lin Mo.
Lin Mo leaned down—and froze. "A blank sheet?"
He'd imagined so much.
A heartfelt confession on the paper.
Words of lingering regret.
But never this: a completely empty page left by Guizhong.
A woman who adored the Archon so deeply...
Why, after finally getting him to open her Love's Lock, would she leave nothing but blankness?
"I think I know what she intended."
The Archon spoke mildly.
"What intent?"
Lin Mo couldn't help asking.
Zhongli smiled faintly, explaining:
"She knew you—stubborn as you are.
"Out of stinginess, perhaps...
"Or resentment toward me over this whole affair...
"You might withhold your knowledge of mechanisms and artificing from Liyue."
"So she hid everything you taught her inside the lock itself."
"But the price to claim that knowledge...
"Was to fulfill her one regret."
"Only when I truly had the power to open it would she willingly pass your legacy to Liyue."
...
Lin Mo nodded slowly as Zhongli spoke.
"It makes a certain sense...
"But... isn't that a bit childish?" Lin Mo asked, baffled.
"She was always one to follow her whims."
Zhongli replied evenly:
"The blank prank of a note...
"Was probably her way of hoping I'd be annoyed enough...
"To forget any guilt over not responding to her feelings back then."
Lin Mo listened and nodded again.
Childish, sure.
But thoughtful in its own way.
It was exactly like Guizhong.
With that realization, Lin Mo couldn't help but wonder aloud: "Lord Archon, you seem to understand her so well. How did you miss her burning affection back then?"
"Back then, every old friend treated me much the same."
"Admiration, respect, reverence."
"To me, Guizhong's attitude...
"Was no different in essence from the adepti."
"Like you—with me, you're deferential, but to others? Not so much." Zhongli asked lightly.
"Mm, true enough."
Lin Mo conceded with a nod.
"If you hadn't told me of all she did for me back then..."
Zhongli paused, a faint smile crossing his face. "My heart might never have stirred... and this lock would stay shut forever."
In that smile, Lin Mo caught a glimpse of relief.
As if millennia of knots had finally loosened.
Or perhaps because he'd gained the artificing secrets hidden within.
"Old friend... thank you." Zhongli's gratitude rang sincere.
"Mm... it was nothing."
Lin Mo shook his head.
But as he met Zhongli's eyes, a flicker of doubt lingered.
Even now, he couldn't be sure.
Had Zhongli unlocked the Love's Lock out of genuine love for Guizhong... or just a momentary surge of emotion?
But...
Guizhong was gone.
It hardly mattered anymore.
Just then, Zhongli spotted a bustling figure in the distance.
After a gentle sip of tea, he said softly: "As for Guizhong... I admit, I let her down."
"But old friend, have you done right by your own?"
"Me? What about me?"
Lin Mo blinked, utterly lost.
Zhongli set down his cup with deliberate care. "Guizhong is gone; the regrets are set in stone.
"But the woman you let down in those days... she can still be saved."
"Who?"
Lin Mo followed Zhongli's gaze without thinking.
There, a girl with flowing blue curls...
Was laboring by the roadside, painstakingly pasting up missing person posters.
Who else but the ever-diligent Ganyu?
"Ganyu? I was always good to her back then."
"She just admired me like an elder, that's all~ How did I let her down?!" Lin Mo was thoroughly bewildered.
"Looks like you and I were the same back then... both blind to love masquerading as admiration." Zhongli chuckled.
Today marked the most smiles he'd worn in thousands of years.
"No, come on—Lord Archon, tell me, where's the love in how she looks at me?" Lin Mo pressed, skeptical.
"I'll skip your shared history for now."
Zhongli said mildly. "Let's just talk about the days after you left. Deal?"
"Go on! If you don't explain this properly, don't lump me in with the likes of you."
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T/N:
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