TN: And we're back! sorry for the week long hiatus, it was not intentional since I had to get my right leg in a cast after tripping 3 floors down a stairwell (like an idiot ://) and be unable to use my PC setup upstairs BUT I should be OK now.
Anyways, Thanks for Arcanic Madness, WeissAkumu and WolfWTF for becoming as Supporters!
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"Hey, hey, I'm not joking. If it's inconvenient, then we just won't look, alright? But really—when we first met, you stood on the rooftop of Third-Round Knockout with such presence, relaying Ningguang's invitation to us. After getting familiar with you, though, I keep feeling like you have this 'easy to bully' kind of aura."
"'Easy to bully'… what kind of aura is that supposed to be…?" Ganyu protested weakly.
"Let me think."
Paimon tilted her head and pondered seriously, then actually summed up quite a lot. "A firm vegetarian, usually speaks very softly, looks kind of ditzy and cute, but turns out to be a total overtime maniac. You stay up late all the time, so you always have dark circles, giving off this constant lack-of-sleep feeling—like you could fall asleep anytime, anywhere. And when people ask you for favors, you usually don't refuse. Put all that together, and it becomes the 'easy to bully' aura!"
"Ugh…" Ganyu let out a pitiful groan and quickly changed the subject. "Alright, alright, we should set off now."
…
"Cloud Retainer… isn't at the abode?"
"Huh? Did we miss her?"
"Master usually keeps to herself. During festivals, it's normally other senior adepti who visit her. This is strange…"
"Maybe she just happens to be busy with something."
Failing to find Cloud Retainer at Mt. Aocang, the other four each voiced their thoughts. Victor Wang pointed out the key issue. "So… do we wait here, or…?"
Ganyu hesitated slightly. "If we only go by the condition of being a female adeptus, there really aren't many candidates. I think Cloud Retainer is still too important to skip, but there's no way to know when she'll return."
Shenhe suggested, "Maybe we can change our way of thinking. I haven't really seen Master play musical instruments before, and the ancestor of the person seeking the adeptus described the experience as 'hearing music, briefly losing focus, and when he came to, he was already rescued ashore.' If it was Master, then she most likely used one of her inventions. If we find an invention that can produce music and save people, we'll have our target."
Lumine nodded in agreement. "Cloud Retainer does love inventing things. I think the possibility is quite high."
Without further delay, Shenhe quickly dragged out a pile of mechanisms and devices from the cave abode.
"I don't really know what all of Master's inventions do. I can only bring out the ones that look related to music. We'll have to test them one by one."
"Will there be any danger?" Victor Wang asked cautiously.
"I don't know, so we need to be careful."
Hearing that, Paimon—who had been curiously holding a music-box-shaped device—flinched, her hand shaking. She didn't dare fiddle with it anymore and carefully put it back.
However, Shenhe picked it up again. "This one, I remember… It's a music box Master used when I was little to lull me to sleep. I've heard it so many times that I can hum the tune myself."
She wound it up, and a melody that soothed the mind flowed out from the music box. Everyone couldn't help but stop what they were doing and listen closely.
Not even half a minute later, Paimon couldn't hold on anymore. She clutched her head and said, "Why do I feel… kind of sleepy?"
The others immediately snapped awake. Shenhe hurriedly stopped the music box and, after thinking for a moment, said, "This was from the first half-year after I went up the mountain. Back then, my baleful energy was hard to control, so this music box seems to have had some hypnotic effects…"
The atmosphere suddenly fell silent. Everyone exchanged looks, while only Paimon struggled to regain her clarity.
Ganyu spoke gently, "Cloud Retainer probably meant well. She likely just wanted you to sleep on time…"
Shenhe nodded. "Yes. I was just too mischievous back then."
No one truly doubted Cloud Retainer's intentions. Still, looking at the dozens of remaining devices, no one dared to act rashly.
"I'll do it…"
Victor Wang took a deep breath. With his palm facing upward, he slowly raised his arm. A stone humanoid, deep blue on the outside and embedded with semi-transparent green vines within, rose from the ground. To operate those devices, this Colossus No. 2 was roughly the size of a normal person, with specially refined fingers capable of much finer manipulation.
"Let this 'Colossus No. 2' test Cloud Retainer's inventions here. We'll move a bit farther away to rest… but not too far."
Before increasing the distance, Victor Wang carefully swept his gaze over all the inventions once more.
The colossus was merely a movable stone construct, or rather, a Geo creation. Although its molded form had facial features, it didn't possess true senses. After pulling back, Victor Wang had to rely on the three-dimensional imagery formed in his mind through Thousand Winds, supplemented by memory, to simulate vision.
So, they couldn't go too far. Not only would elemental energy consumption increase, but the special effects and sounds of those inventions still needed to be observed by real people.
After they had retreated to a safe distance, Paimon started chatting again. "By the way, Shenhe is living with Ganyu right now, right? If Shenhe moves out, then Ganyu will be living alone again?"
It seemed Shenhe had only just realized this. She turned to Ganyu and asked, "Would you feel lonely? My house is quite big. There's still… one empty room. You could move in and live with us."
Ganyu shook her head. "That won't be necessary. I've lived in Liyue Harbor for over a thousand years. I'm already used to living alone. Besides, my schedule might disturb you and Cloud Retainer's rest."
"Your schedule really does need fixing," Shenhe said. "Especially these past few days—you've been coming back at dawn and leaving at dawn."
"That's because the Lantern Rite is approaching… There's a lot of work. And I still need to make time to help Dvorak look for an adeptus, so I can only cut back on rest."
"That sounds really hard…" Paimon said, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, Victor Wang doesn't know Dvorak yet, does he?"
Paimon flew over to Victor Wang's side and explained, "Dvorak is the one searching for an adeptus. He's a musician from Fontaine."
"The 'Iridescence Tour' music festival he organizes is super famous in Fontaine! This year's Lantern Rite music festival is also handled by him. We helped connect him with the Lantern Rite, and that's how the Lantern Rite Music Festival came to be!"
"That's impressive," Victor Wang replied casually, then asked, "I heard Xiangling and the others went out to sea to look for singing beasts for the music festival. You got back to Liyue earlier than I did—do you know what kind of creature it is?"
"I do, I do!" Paimon answered eagerly. "Beidou told us—it's a kind of giant clam called a Resonance Casket Clam! It's said that the 'Resonance Pearl' it produces can record all changes in external sounds and then transform them into corresponding music."
"But these clams are very rare. They usually hide in the deep sea and only float up to the surface on nights of the full moon to bask in moonlight. On those nights, the sea resonates with natural melodies formed by the waves—that's the best time to search for them."
While controlling the colossus to set aside yet another completely incomprehensible invention, Victor Wang followed up, "The night of the full moon? But this month's full moon has already passed, hasn't it?"
"Huh? Seems like it has… But Beidou said she has a way."
"I see."
Victor Wang suddenly made a shushing gesture. He frowned and listened carefully. The invention they had turned off earlier seemed to still be making noise—and it was getting closer.
Thump, thump, thump…
It really was getting closer and louder. Is it going to explode?
Just then, accompanied by the rhythmic thump-thump sounds, a voice rang out. "Who is it that triggered this adeptus' remote alarm device?"
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