By noon, Su Yuan and his group had arrived at the Bishui Plain of Minlin...
If they kept following this road downward, they would be able to see the peak of Mt. Aocang...
"Su Yuan, this place is called Minlin, right..."
Furina looked at a bottomless pit in front of her, visibly confused, and asked:
"Why is there such a huge pit here? Did a meteor from the sky fall here and form this crater?"
"Furina, can you tell me why meteors always manage to land perfectly inside meteor craters?"
That question rendered Furina completely speechless.
She squinted at Su Yuan and looked at him with the expression of someone staring at an idiot:
"Su Yuan, are you dumb? The meteor comes first. It crashes into the ground, and then the crater is formed. How did you mess up the order?"
"Alright, alright, I was just joking with you, don’t take it seriously. I’m not that dumb!"
Su Yuan said, letting out a slight sigh before continuing:
"Actually, there used to be a towering tree here called the Dragon-Queller Tree..."
"The Geo Archon, Morax, sealed and suppressed the crazed Geo Dragon Sovereign, Azhdaha, right here after he lost his mind due to erosion..."
"The so-called Dragon-Queller Tree was actually nothing more than his massive tail..."
"A few days ago, due to some strange cause, the seal was broken and Azhdaha escaped, triggering a massive earthquake across Liyue. It caused a great deal of property damage and loss of life..."
"In the end, Zhongli—who is actually the Geo Archon Morax—used his mysterious laws and, with great sorrow, was forced to slay Azhdaha to bring an end to the disaster..."
As Su Yuan spoke, he gathered a cluster of Geo elemental energy in his hand and said, "And now, the power of the Geo Dragon Sovereign Azhdaha resides within me—under my control..."
"The Geo-elemental Dragon Sovereign, Azhdaha..."
Furina looked at the giant crater with a trace of sorrow in her eyes and said softly, "Erosion and those eerie forces... they really are terrifying..."
"Do you think Neuvillette... might also one day become like that? Driven mad by erosion, forgetting me, and forgetting everything he once swore to protect..."
"Furina, don’t worry. Even if that day truly comes, it’s still a long, long way off..."
Su Yuan comforted her:
"Azhdaha had lived for several thousand years, and only became what he did because erosion is inevitable over time..."
"Neuvillette is just a little over a few hundred years old. For an ancient dragon, that’s still practically a child—he’s very young..."
"Yeah... I guess there’s no point worrying about it anyway," Furina gave a small smile and spoke with a hint of self-mockery, "Now the Hydro Archon’s throne and divine power have completely disappeared, and I’ve lost that so-called curse as well..."
"The current me... I guess I’ll slowly grow old like an ordinary person now... Either way, I’m destined not to live to see that day..."
"I wonder... after I leave this world, will Neuvillette still think of me from time to time?"
"Alright, alright! That’s enough! Don’t go any further with this!"
Su Yuan quickly interrupted—how did the conversation suddenly turn into something about life spans and mortality?
"We can talk about the future when it comes. What we need to focus on most... is the present!"
"Mm." Furina smiled and nodded.
"Up ahead is Mt. Aocang," Yanfei said, walking at the front.
She pointed toward the distance, where a mystical mountain shimmered with multicolored light, veiled in mist and clouds.
"So we’ve finally arrived..." Su Yuan spoke.
"From here on, we need to stay alert..."
"We don’t know what state Cloud Retainer is in right now, nor whether she’s set up any traps to ward off intruders..."
"Huh? Why are there suddenly so many people here? Are you here to visit the adeptus?"
Just then, a young girl in a plain cyan robe, with a red knot tied at her collar, appeared before them.
"But Master said she’s currently in seclusion to study the art of mechanisms, and she won’t be receiving any guests..."
"Oh? It’s Shuyu!" Yanfei immediately waved and greeted her.
"Do you still remember me?"
"Huh? Sister Yanfei!" Shuyu recognized her at once and waved back excitedly.
"If you’re here to visit an adeptus, then Sister Yanfei should count as one too, right? Why not just go see her instead?"
"Wait... so you’re not here to visit the adeptus?"
"That’s right. We’re actually here to see your master—Cloud Retainer. We have something to discuss with her. Do you know what her current situation is?" Yanfei asked, hoping to indirectly gather some information.
"Shuyu doesn’t know," Shuyu shook her head.
"I haven’t seen Master in days..."
"Before going into seclusion, Master only told me to guard the mountain gate and not let any unrelated people enter Mt. Aocang..."
Yanfei nodded—seems like Shuyu truly didn’t know anything...
"Then, Shuyu, take a look at the people behind me. This is Consultant Zhongli from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, this is Doctor Baizhu from Bubu Pharmacy, this is the well-known exorcist Chongyun, this is the famous escort master Gaming from the Liyue Sword and Strongbox Secure Transport Agency, and this is Su Yuan, a hero of Liyue..."
Yanfei introduced everyone to Shuyu one by one, then said, "All of us are well-known figures. We probably don’t count as ’unrelated people,’ right?"
"Besides, we really do have something important to discuss with your master. So please don’t stop us, okay?"
"Alright, Sister Yanfei, I understand. You all can go up the mountain," Shuyu nodded.
"Oh, right." Before heading up, Yanfei turned to Shuyu and said, "Shuyu, just stay here and keep following your master’s instructions. Don’t let any unrelated people go up the mountain, okay?"
Su Yuan nodded in agreement—he thought Yanfei made the right call.
Letting Shuyu stay at the base of the mountain to stop others from coming up would help prevent any innocents from getting caught in a possible conflict with Cloud Retainer.
With that, Su Yuan and the rest of the group began ascending Mt. Aocang.
As she watched their figures disappear into the distance, Shuyu quietly pulled a small, finely crafted communication device from her pocket and softly spoke into it:
"Master, they’ve arrived. They’re on the mountain now..."
"There are eight of them in total—Su Yuan, Yanfei, Zhongli, Baizhu, Qiqi, Gaming, Chongyun... and one person I don’t recognize. I think her name is Furina..."
"Well done, Shuyu. As expected of my disciple..."
Cloud Retainer’s voice came from the other end of the device:
"I will allow your grandmother to end her punishment training early, restore her human form, and no longer suffer from memory loss. She won’t forget you again..."
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