"Just like that, he's gone?"
The short film ended with Lingyuan's distant harmonica melody. Everyone was still processing what had happened.
If the story had followed normal logic, shouldn't the character played by Lingyuan — the woman in black — have been shot by the protagonist instead?
How did Mu Yang end up dead?
Once Lingyuan completely disappeared from view, the storybook also turned to its final page.
It read:
At the same time, somewhere else, a child was practicing drawing his gun, playing cards, and singing — hoping to build his own legend.
Perhaps he would one day meet the woman from earlier. If so, that would be the start of a new story.
A different, yet similar story.
Little Gui suddenly understood. "I get it! Mu Yang is saying there's always someone better out there — there's always a higher mountain!"
[Way too quick-witted, streamer. You summarized it perfectly.]
[That does seem to be the point.]
[The harmonica sister probably got killed in the next town too. Maybe that's the moral.]
[No dumpling-ending. Deducting points.]
Guinaifen said that although the ending was unexpected, it was still pretty interesting. Being able to turn an Easter egg into a ten-minute animated short already showed a lot of sincerity. What more could you ask for?
Besides Mu Yang's film, the others didn't seem watchable. They were probably just filler to make the selection look fuller. You couldn't expect him to produce a bunch of animated shorts on top of updating the version.
Unlike Little Gui, Silver Wolf felt like the short film was hinting at something deeper. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Why did the officials have so much free time that they released a short film starring Mu Yang while everyone else's films only had names?
Mainly because Mu Yang's film, although not literally about himself, had an extremely similar "flexing" style to his real personality.
The most intriguing part was how he died at the end.
The clothing of the two characters clearly didn't match. Mu Yang had changed outfits once before — when he came out of The Chasm. The clothes he wore then were similar to the woman who appeared at the end.
Was this really just a coincidence?
Was this short film really just to promote Natlan? Or was there something more to it…?
Teyvat.
Although players couldn't see the other films, the people of Teyvat could enjoy them.
For the past two days, Mu Yang had been taking Shenhe and Ganyu around the Film Association, watching every submission that had been turned in.
Compared to the system-enhanced Infernal Affairs, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and the Chenyu Vale promotional film, everyone else's works were clearly inferior. You could tell just from the length of the viewing lines.
Of course, there were also the extremely enthusiastic fans…
Shenhe and Ganyu were both wearing veils now. After appearing in the promotional film as a swordswoman and a fairy, they had gained a bit of fame. To avoid being disturbed, Mu Yang had gotten them veils.
Ganyu shook her head with a sigh. "Fontaine's celebrity culture… I'm still having a bit of trouble getting used to it…"
Mu Yang could understand. In Liyue, Ganyu had also been a very important figure, but because of her position, ordinary people rarely approached her directly. Fontaine was different.
Their previous Hydro Archon had been a huge star herself. Even the place where they tried criminals was called an opera house. This had shaped Fontaine's customs and culture.
After the Film Association released the promotional films two days ago, their quality was so high that word of mouth exploded overnight. Everyone wanted to see the swordswoman and the fairy — and of course, the beautiful scenery of Chenyu Vale…
This led to an explosion of enthusiasm from the people of Fontaine.
Because Mu Yang hadn't anticipated how quickly things would escalate, while they were still sightseeing in the Court of Fontaine that day, someone nearly got hurt.
That someone wasn't Mu Yang, Shenhe, or Ganyu. It was a rookie reporter who recognized Shenhe and rushed over for an interview. She moved so fast that she didn't realize how threatening her actions looked.
Shenhe thought she was being attacked and immediately activated her Adeptus arts, summoning a clone to perform an over-the-shoulder throw…
After the combo, she was about to charge in with her fists to interrogate the "attacker"…
If Mu Yang hadn't been there, Neuvillette probably would have had to work overtime today…
Mu Yang managed to save the young reporter's back just in time. The girl was surprisingly dedicated — even after being thrown like that, she still protected her Kamera. Once she realized Shenhe hadn't meant to attack her, Shenhe apologized and answered a few questions cooperatively.
After that, Mu Yang got veils for both of them. These weren't ordinary veils. Although they were just thin layers of fabric, no one without great strength could see through them to the wearer's true appearance. To others, the two simply looked like beautiful women who were easy to forget after a glance.
"Master's props are still as amazing as ever." Shenhe was very satisfied with the veils. Now no one would bother them.
System: How could they not be amazing? Who fulfilled all those weird requests of his?
Mu Yang: Of course it was the popularity points I earned through my own hard work!
After watching the films, there wasn't much else to do. They had already visited most of the fun places in the Court of Fontaine.
He wondered where Navia had taken Ei and the others sightseeing. They had been gone for so many days.
Speak of the devil and she appears.
The two groups ran into each other at Debord Grand Hotel.
"Aiya, Ganyu is here too~" Yae Miko immediately stuck close the moment no one was paying attention.
"Miko, and… the Shogun?!"
Ganyu wasn't surprised to see the Shogun in Fontaine — Mu Yang had already told her. What surprised her was the Shogun's outfit.
Mu Yang was also speechless. These three had turned Ei into a dress-up doll. How did they even come up with such whimsical combinations?
Looking at the specially made macarons in Ei's hands, Mu Yang roughly understood what had happened.
As expected of Fontaine people. As expected of Navia!
Only she could get the dignified Shogun of a nation to go out wearing such colorful clothes.
And yet Ei actually pulled off the look. Good figure, high beauty — unbeatable!
At the table, everyone started discussing the films.
Mu Yang didn't say much about his own film. Playing mysterious was standard behavior for great directors. Everything was left for the audience to interpret — there was no point in explaining it himself.
"So Infernal Affairs was Master's script. No wonder…"
"Mu Yang, you didn't tell them?"
"They didn't ask."
…
"Why didn't you film Holmes?" Ei asked.
"Apparently the person who bought the rights couldn't find a suitable lead actor."
Navia, who knew some inside information, explained to Ei on the side.
"You're not short on money. Why sell it to someone else?"
Raiden Shogun turned to complain to Mu Yang. She hadn't seen Holmes and Peanut at the Film Association, which left her very dissatisfied.
Clorinde frowned. "Miss Ei is referring to the rights for Holmes?"
Shenhe, the ever-reliable little cotton jacket, reacted extremely quickly and was about to step forward to "take the blame."
Unfortunately, she was still half a beat too slow.
Ei blurted out, "Yeah, didn't he write that book?"
...
Ei looked around the table.
Mu Yang had his eyes closed, resting. Ganyu looked slightly embarrassed. Shenhe wanted to speak but stopped herself. Yae Miko had a smile on her lips. Navia and Clorinde's expressions were extremely colorful…
"Uh… you guys… still didn't know?"
Two pairs of eyes turned toward Mu Yang.
"Now we do!"
— — — — — —