The illustration focuses on 'Big G,' who is a child, looking about ten years old.
Arataki Itto sucks in a sharp breath. It really appeared! A translucent ghost!
Fortunately, it's not the kind that suddenly pops up to scare people, nor is there any atmospheric buildup, so Itto isn't too frightened.
Not only is he not scared, but seeing that 'Big G' is a child tightens his heart. This kid passed away so young…
Arataki Itto's emotions are quite delicate; he's already starting to feel upset.
Readers are surprised but quickly realize: Right, 'Big G' passed away in childhood, so it makes sense he's in a child's form.
Because of the name 'Big G,' everyone subconsciously assumed he was older than Old Meng, so they were a bit shocked at first glance to see Big G as a child.
Paimon, like everyone else, is misled by the name. The difference is that others figure it out, but she doesn't.
["Paimon: 'He's Big G? Why is he a kid?!'"]
["Hu Tao explains: 'Because he's a ghost, naturally he retains the appearance he had back then.'"]
Hu Tao's explanation helps some still-confused little Paimons catch up.
Everyone brings 'Big G' back to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to discuss what to do next.
The reason 'Big G' appeared here is simply that he wanted to visit his friends in Liyue Harbor. However, he's terrible with directions and got lost.
This shows that being directionally challenged is a soul-bound trait. Even after death, a directionally challenged person remains so.
A lifetime of being directionally challenged means being directionally challenged for this entire life.
["Paimon, puzzled: 'But don't ghosts and spirits usually fly? If he just flew up, wouldn't he find his way?'"]
Yet, in Lucian's illustration, the only one floating in the scene is Paimon. As a ghost, Big G is standing firmly on the ground.
He's afraid of heights and doesn't dare fly up to see where he is, so he just follows that person named Luo Cheng.
See that? Fear of heights is also soul-bound, a fear rooted deep in the soul.
So, it turns out Luo Cheng's issue wasn't entirely psychological self-scaring. There really was a ghost following him. For him to sense it, you could say he's got high spiritual sensitivity.
Luckily, Luo Cheng didn't go to Chongyun. With Chongyun's pure yang constitution, if 'Big G' didn't flee, he might have been purified on the spot.
But if he did flee, being directionally challenged, he'd probably get completely lost in Liyue Harbor. Maybe one day he'd end up in a 'deep, soulful gaze' with Zhongli.
After all, Zhongli's also a slacker who wanders aimlessly, not much different from the lost, wandering 'Big G.'
In the end, 'Big G' is just a kid—a kid who gets lost and is afraid of heights, completely at odds with the name 'Big G.'
["Traveler says: 'Let's not call him "Big G" anymore.'"]
But if not Big G, they don't know what to call him. Surely not 'Puppy,' right?
Big G is very timid. After arriving in Liyue Harbor, he spent most of his time hiding until he was drawn out by the Ley Line Monolith, which is how he met Hu Tao and the others.
["Old Meng sighs: 'So you didn't turn into a malevolent ghost. That's great, really great…'"]
Indeed, he hasn't turned into a malevolent ghost. He's completely a scaredy-cat.
But no one would mock his timidity, as he's just too young.
Now, the task is to send 'Big G' back to Wuwang Hill, but they can't let his trip be in vain.
Hu Tao decides to bring along items from Big G's friends for this farewell ceremony—not the friends themselves, but their 'mementos.'
Hu Tao still doesn't want ordinary people to have too much contact with 'that world.'
Unfortunately, she entrusted the wrong person. The Traveler is great at fighting, but asking her to discreetly obtain someone's 'memento' is a bit challenging.
It's not Lumine's fault—it's mainly because she has a 'big megaphone' by her side.
["Paimon to Xiao Wu: 'Mhm, we heard about it. So, let's say, if you were to pick a memento to give to Big G, what would you choose?'"]
["'Just hypothetically, just an example, absolutely not like we're actually going to commemorate him.'"]
With Paimon's level of 'hinting,' anyone who isn't a fool would see through it.
In the previous story, even Arataki Itto could see through Paimon's lies at a glance.
Xiao Wu doesn't call Paimon out. He says that for himself, he'd make a 'Tender Pepper Chicken,' a dish that requires Jueyun Chilis. He asks the Traveler to fetch some.
The Traveler doesn't even need to fetch them because her inventory is full of random stuff like this. She can easily find a couple of Jueyun Chilis.
Besides, Zhongli once gave Lumine a birthday gift—yup, Jueyun Chilis.
She thought it was a stingy gift at the time, but now she realizes this is 'the most useful episode of Zhongli's gifts.' The Geo Archon's actions surely have deep meaning!
From Paimon's words, Xiao Wu has already guessed the Traveler's purpose, so he tells her to go find the others first, and he'll prepare the dish and bring it over soon.
["Paimon, confused: '(Huh? How did he know?)'"]
Yeah, how did he know? Even Arataki Itto is puzzled.
Without his 'beast intuition' triggered by being tricked, his brain capacity isn't quite up to the task.
The second person the Traveler finds is Mumu. When he sees the Traveler and hears her mention 'Old Meng,' he guesses the reason. Truly a sharp merchant.
The 'memento' he provides is a deluxe toy box.
When they were kids, everyone wanted one but couldn't afford it. Now that he can afford it, he bought dozens at once, but they rarely gather together anymore.
It's like when you were a kid, you wanted game skins or figurines but couldn't afford them. As an adult, you splurge to make up for it.
But when you check your friends list, you find your friends haven't been online in ages, and you don't know who to 'show off' your figurines or skins to.
The last person the Traveler needs to find is Congzi, who arranged to meet Mumu at the 'Sky Corridor.'
When the Traveler arrives, Xiao Wu, Mumu, and Congzi are all gathered together.
The three of them often meet like this because their hometown was destroyed. Without a hometown, they can only gather with people from their hometown.
The 'memento' Congzi prepares is a Xiao Lantern with the names of the five written inside.
Having collected the three mementos, the Traveler heads to Wuwang Hill to find Hu Tao.
["Hu Tao says bluntly: 'Paimon, you didn't spill the beans, did you?'"]
Of course! Who do you think Paimon is? She spilled the beans with her very first sentence! Proudly!
You've got to hand it to Hu Tao for reading people well—she knew right away that Paimon would leak.
But it doesn't matter. They were willing to provide the mementos, so they probably guessed something. Whether it was leaked or not isn't a big deal, as long as they didn't follow along.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice Line · Lucian: About Hu Tao
"She asked me to write a story for her, but when I did, she wasn't happy."