"No way, MiHoYo!"
"Such a handsome man and I can't even have him? Is he really not going to be in the banner? I refuse to accept this!"
Xuehua stared at Qiu Nian in the cutscene with utter despair.
She could only continue the story.
At least she had finally seen the face of the mysterious young man from the PV.
That Han-style robe, the long hair, the hairpin, his face, his height, his aura—every single detail relentlessly attacked her preferences.
The chat continued scrolling.
[Calm down, Snow. Venti doesn't have a real Vision either.]
[Yeah but Venti at least has a fake glass marble.]
[Exactly. Qiu Nian doesn't even have a glass marble. He probably can't enter the banner.]
"Nooooo!"
Xuehua was already devastated, and the chat only made it worse.
"Who are you two?"
Qiu Nian looked at Lumine and Paimon, appearing slightly embarrassed.
He had already stopped watching the livestreams.
He didn't think Lumine and Paimon would arrive this quickly.
"Uh… we're looking for that one the adepti mentioned."
Paimon explained.
"That one?"
"Which one?"
Qiu Nian looked confused.
"Could it be… you?"
Lumine looked at him suspiciously.
Qiu Nian blinked and pointed at himself.
"Do I look like it?"
Then he glanced at the pink-heart watering can in his hand.
Honestly…
Even he wouldn't believe it.
"Uh… yeah, you really don't look like it."
"Other than being extremely handsome…"
Paimon shook her head while examining him.
"Let's introduce ourselves first."
"My name is Lumine, and this is my best companion, Paimon."
Lumine introduced them.
"Travelers from afar, huh?"
"My name is Qiu Nian. You can think of me as living in seclusion."
"Well… not exactly seclusion."
"I just happen to live a bit far away."
Qiu Nian walked closer and introduced himself.
"A bit far away?"
"This is way too far away!"
Paimon complained.
After all, this place was ridiculously far from Liyue Harbor.
"Haha…"
"It can't be helped. This house was passed down from my ancestors."
"I can't afford to buy a house in Liyue Harbor."
Qiu Nian laughed lightly and explained seriously, glancing back at the house that had only been built a few days ago.
"This house looks so new."
"And it's inherited from your ancestors?"
Lumine looked puzzled.
"I renovated it recently."
"How is it? Not bad, right?"
Qiu Nian smiled calmly without a hint of embarrassment.
The livestream chat burst out laughing.
[Can't afford a house… literally me in another world.]
[Wake up bro, you're not that handsome.]
[At least he has a house. I don't even have one.]
[So that character is pronounced Nian, not Gan? I thought it was Gan the whole time.]
[Same here!]
Xuehua couldn't hold back her laughter after reading the chat.
"My Mora pouch already has at least ten million Mora!"
"Let me support you, Qiu Nian!"
"MiHoYo! Why can't I buy a house in Liyue Harbor?!"
"I want to keep Qiu Nian! I want to buy him a house!"
She protested dramatically.
"That renovation really does look nice."
Paimon nodded in agreement.
"Wait a second."
"Aren't we supposed to be looking for that one?"
"Almost forgot the main task."
Paimon suddenly realized.
"So who exactly is that one?"
Qiu Nian asked, still confused.
He genuinely didn't know who they meant.
"Well… uh…"
"Ah, I don't know how to explain it."
"It's the person who has the power to assassinate the Geo Archon."
"If only those adepti didn't speak in riddles!"
Paimon stomped in the air in frustration.
"The power to assassinate Morax?"
"Did the Geo Archon die?"
"And he was assassinated?"
Qiu Nian looked shocked.
"You…"
Lumine placed her hands on her hips and gave him a slightly sarcastic look.
The livestream chat exploded again.
[Did his village just get internet yesterday?]
[Bro's running on 2G network.]
[You can't blame him. He lives way too far away.]
[HAHAHA the entire Liyue probably knows by now except him.]
[This is too funny.]
[Why would the heavens give someone this handsome such a clueless personality?]
Xuehua glanced at the chat, then back at Qiu Nian on the screen.
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"You seriously just found out?"
Paimon asked.
"When did this happen? I went to Liyue Harbor a few days ago to buy tools for renovating my house."
Qiu Nian nodded.
"It happened during the Rite of Descension two days ago."
Lumine then explained everything from beginning to end.
"I see…"
"So the Geo Archon was really assassinated…"
Qiu Nian held his chin, frowning as if he had just learned the news.
"This is not good."
"For most people in Liyue, this is practically like the sky collapsing."
He walked over to his flowers, set down the watering can, and gazed at the distant mountains.
"Most people in Liyue?"
"Aren't you sad?"
Lumine asked curiously.
"Of course I'm sad."
"But saying the sky has fallen might be a bit exaggerated."
"I grew up here and rarely go to Liyue Harbor."
"I've only attended the Rite of Descension two or three times."
Qiu Nian explained calmly.
"So you were sent by the legendary Conqueror of Demons."
"To search Jueyun Karst for clues about the one capable of assassinating Rex Lapis?"
Qiu Nian continued thoughtfully.
"Yes, exactly!"
Paimon nodded quickly.
"I'm quite familiar with this area, so I'll help you."
"After all, being mistaken as an assassin by the entire nation of Liyue must feel terrible."
"And you can consider it my final service to the Geo Archon."
Qiu Nian said as he stepped toward them.
Lumine and Paimon smiled and accepted immediately.
This was basically a free local guide.
And so the three of them began searching around Jueyun Karst.
As for Qiu Nian…
He was just leading them around randomly.
There was no one in Jueyun Karst capable of secretly assassinating Morax.
Even he couldn't do such a thing.
Besides—
Morax wasn't dead at all.
At this very moment, he was probably busy organizing his own funeral.