“Hehe… well…”
Hu Tao clasped her hands behind her back and began whistling nonchalantly, dodging Gu Sanqiu’s question entirely.
“Answer honestly.”
Gu Sanqiu narrowed his eyes and gently pinched Hu Tao’s cheeks. “Otherwise…”
“Oh, hey, Sanqiu! Look over there—guess who’s back?”
Hu Tao’s eyes sparkled mischievously as she pointed to where she’d come from. Walking toward them was a golden-eyed man accompanied by a tanned girl.
“Gu, my friend, it’s been a while,” Zhongli greeted, his voice calm and steady.
Gu Sanqiu managed a strained smile. “It has indeed, but I’ve been seeing a lot of the bills you’ve been sending me.”
“Oh, that was the Hall Master’s idea,” Zhongli said, betraying Hu Tao without hesitation.
“She said, ‘Sanqiu has so much money he can’t possibly use it all. We might as well help him manage it.’ I didn’t expect it to work so well, though.”
“Zhongli! Zhongli!”
Hu Tao glared at him, practically seething. If they weren’t surrounded by bustling crowds, her Staff of Homa might have already been in hand.
Great. Her “Wallet Number One” status was now practically set in stone.
Gu Sanqiu sighed inwardly, then turned to the girl beside Zhongli.
“Xinyan? How did you end up with them?”
“Haha! Long time no see, Captain!” Xinyan greeted him with her trademark hearty laugh. “I’ve actually been back for a little while now, practicing my rock ‘n’ roll up on Yuheng Hill.”
She scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “I guess I got a bit carried away rehearsing my finale moves. The noise must’ve been pretty loud, ’cause Hu Tao and this gentleman thought there was a fire. That’s how we ran into each other.”
Of course. That was so Xinyan. Strong and loud, as always.
“Once I realized it was Xinyan, I knew what was up. The timing worked out, so we all came back together,” Hu Tao added, wrapping her arm around Xinyan’s and sticking her tongue out at Gu Sanqiu.
“Fine, whatever.”
Gu Sanqiu shook his head, mentally adding the incident to his ever-growing list of grievances against Hu Tao.
“By the way, Captain, things seem pretty weird over in Fontaine right now,” Xinyan said, her tone growing serious. “I can’t put my finger on it, but something about that place feels… off. Not rock ’n’ roll at all.”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that,” Gu Sanqiu said with a chuckle. “You’re there to learn, not to sort out their problems. Fontaine isn’t Liyue—no need to get so invested.”
“Besides,” he continued, “when have Fontaine or Sumeru ever been normal? Just the Akademiya scholars wandering all over the place are enough to give their local officials headaches.”
“That sounds about right,” Xinyan said after a moment of thought. “You’re right. I should focus on enjoying the festival now that I’m back.”
“Exactly! Let’s go shopping, Xinyan! Come on, let’s go~” Hu Tao tugged Xinyan away, leaving Gu Sanqiu standing there, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
This felt oddly familiar… Hadn’t there been another time he’d tried to settle things with Hu Tao, only for her to conveniently find an excuse to escape?
“Recently, there have been reports of large numbers of vengeful spirits gathering in various areas. Might this be related to your recent endeavors?”
Gu Sanqiu turned to Zhongli, his brow furrowing. “Uh, how’d you find out? Don’t tell me some reckless adventurer went around bragging about it?”
“It’s simple deduction,” Zhongli replied. “Given the circumstances of that battlefield, you’re currently the most plausible candidate.”
Zhongli’s gaze remained calm. “However, there are still details I don’t fully understand. Would you mind explaining?”
Ah, so that’s what this was about. He wanted a firsthand account, like a live storytelling session.
Scratching the back of his head, Gu Sanqiu said, “How about we find a quiet spot? Or, better yet, let’s go to my place.”
“That would be most agreeable.”
And so, he took Zhongli to his home. What followed was a fairly straightforward storytime session.
“Ah, so it was one of the Yaksha? That is quite surprising,” Zhongli remarked after hearing the tale, his expression as composed as ever as he sipped his tea.
Surprising, my foot! Gu Sanqiu thought bitterly. That Yaksha was your frontliner and secondary carry back in the day!
Now knowing Zhongli’s true identity, Gu Sanqiu understood the depth of his frustration—this was the pain of being unwittingly spoiled by the narrative.
“This tea,” Zhongli said after another sip, “starts with a subtle bitterness, but the aftertaste is fragrant and harmonious. The balance is impeccable—excellent craftsmanship.”
…
Why did Gu Sanqiu always feel like he was caught slacking off whenever Zhongli praised his non-work-related skills?
“Zhongli, I noticed several industrial items on the invoices you sent. How’s your research progressing?”
“The work on firearms has advanced considerably.”
Zhongli retrieved several metallic prototypes of varying sizes. “Please take a look, Gu. These are my latest results. I’d appreciate your evaluation.”
“Pistols, submachine guns, sniper rifles…”
Gu Sanqiu’s gaze landed on one item in particular—a pistol with a caliber so absurdly large it could rival small artillery used in special operations.
If this weren’t the current era of elegant, traditional architecture but a punk-tech dystopia, such a weapon might make sense. Here, it was sheer overkill.
“Zhongli, what… is this?”
“After thoroughly studying the artifact you gifted me—the so-called ‘sniper rifle’—I discovered a method to infuse elemental energy into bullets. It was no small feat, but perseverance paid off,” Zhongli explained.
“However, the technology is still immature. Caliber size remains a significant issue. To achieve sufficient destructive power, even a pistol must maintain this level of caliber.”
Zhongli looked at Gu Sanqiu, his tone sincere. “In moments like these, I am reminded of your unparalleled mastery as a descendant of the Incense-Sealing tradition.”
“Allow me to say, without exaggeration, that your depth of knowledge as a clan head enriched by millennia of tradition surpasses mine.”
(＿ ＿)ノ｜Wall
Gu Sanqiu felt a chill run down his spine. While Zhongli was clearly praising his forging skills, it sounded to him like a veiled “your cover is blown” warning.
Zhongli hadn’t revealed his identity yet, so this was probably just friendly admiration… right?
No!
It had to be!
Otherwise, what would he do? What was the punishment for deceiving his boss?
Would he be crushed under Heavenly Principles until the end of time?!
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