"Are you all going to see the Rite of Descension?"
Stopping in front of them, Ningguang looked at the group's leader, Kaito, and asked.
Although she had invited him once before, she didn't know if Kaito would come. So, to be on the safe side, she had to ask.
"Yes, I didn't expect to run into you on the way."
Taking a step forward, Kaito nodded again.
He had been wondering if Ningguang was already at the site of the Rite of Descension getting ready, but it turned out he met her on the road.
"Then... what about Miss Kiana and Miss Wendy? Didn't they come?"
After some thought, Ningguang voiced the question on her mind.
Rather than making baseless guesses, it was better to just ask Kaito; he would surely know the reason.
"I know about that! They... they thought this was... not fun, so they didn't come out. Right, not fun."
Paimon, eager to answer Ningguang's question, originally wanted to say they found it boring, but after thinking it over, she realized it wouldn't be good to say such a thing in front of Ningguang and hastily came up with this explanation.
Not fun? What on earth is Paimon doing?
Lumine shot a baffled look at Paimon, truly having no idea what was going on inside that little head of hers.
When did Kiana and Wendy ever say it wasn't fun? Besides, are they the type of people who are just looking for 'fun'?
Lumine was speechless.
They thought this was... not...? Not what?
Regarding Paimon's sudden pause and obvious change of words, Ningguang felt there had to be some hidden issue. If she wasn't mistaken, Paimon had almost blurted out the real reason why Miss Kiana and Miss Wendy hadn't appeared.
But what came after the word 'not,' Ningguang still didn't know.
In any case, the absence of Miss Kiana and Miss Wendy was definitely something unusual. After all, they were no ordinary people; their every move was anything but simple.
Forget it... The time is almost upon us...
Glancing at the sky above, Ningguang decided not to overthink it for now. With Rex Lapis present, she didn't need to worry too much.
"I see. In that case, I will go on ahead. The appointed hour is near, so I hope you'll make your way there soon as well."
"No problem."
Watching Ningguang's departing figure, Kaito confirmed there was no problem.
"Let's hurry too, we can't miss it."
Turning back, Kaito said this to the group before continuing to walk forward.
"Oh no, I forgot to ask Ningguang that question! She would definitely know if the Geo Archon gave any guidance about the snack shop."
Paimon suddenly blurted this out, leaving everyone speechless.
"Who are these people? To think Lady Ningguang would personally invite them?"
"They look like distinguished guests from abroad, don't they?"
"That must be it."
...
After Kaito and his group left, the crowd of onlookers instantly burst into lively discussion, chattering back and forth about the identities of Kaito and his companions.
Yujing Terrace.
"Looks like there are people here after all. I thought it would just be Ningguang and those Millelith soldiers."
Arriving at Yujing Terrace, Paimon was a little surprised to see the crowd of spectators.
She originally thought there wouldn't be many people, but it turned out there were.
"Those who want to see it will naturally come. Those who don't, you won't find them here."
In response to Paimon's words, Kaito actually wanted to say that those on the bus are always the ones who bought a ticket, but he thought better of it and rephrased.
"Haha, my friend Kaito is right. But first, let's go offer some incense. I hear it's especially effective on this day."
Because he was here today to see what would happen, Childe had done his homework and knew about the incense offering. He walked straight toward an incense burner.
"I wanna go, I wanna go!"
Since everyone was saying that offering incense today was especially effective, Paimon zipped over to the incense burner as well.
"Come on, let's go too."
Seeing that Childe and Paimon had both gone over, Kaito decided to go through the motions as well.
He actually felt that rather than offering incense here, it would be quicker to just find Zhongli directly. Of course, not everyone knew Zhongli's identity, nor could everyone just go and find him.
"Mhm," Lumine nodded.
Afterward, the group came before an incense burner and closed their eyes to make a wish.
Hello, hello? Zhongli, can you hear me?
On the surface, Kaito was making a wish with a devout expression, but in reality, he was calling out to Zhongli in his mind as if making a phone call.
Hello? Alright... Guess no one's there...
After a moment passed with no response, Kaito muttered this to himself in his mind.
But just as he was about to open his eyes, Zhongli's voice appeared in his mind.
"I can hear you."
Kaito: "!"
It had to be said, Kaito was stunned. He hadn't expected to actually hear a response from Zhongli. He was originally just trying it for fun. Since everyone had their eyes closed, he just closed his too, but it turned out Zhongli could really hear him.
"So you can hear me. I thought this incense burner was just a decoration."
Keeping his eyes closed, Kaito started chatting directly with Zhongli.
"You could say that. Its presence or absence doesn't affect anything."
"Then you must be very busy usually, right? No, wait, I see you drinking tea all the time, so you probably just listen in."
At first, Kaito thought Zhongli probably spent his days helping people fulfill their wishes, but when he remembered how Zhongli was always drinking tea and watching the world go by, he overturned his own idea.
"Even for a god, it is impossible to grant every request. Ultimately, humanity must rely on itself."
In Kaito's mind, Zhongli's voice remained as calm as ever.
"That's true. If you granted every wish, those people probably wouldn't know how to survive without you."
Kaito felt that Zhongli's response made a lot of sense. In any case, a god couldn't possibly grant every wish humans made.
And while Kaito was still chatting with Zhongli with his eyes closed, the others beside him had already opened theirs.
Huh? Why are Kaito's eyes still closed? What wish is he making?
Opening her eyes and seeing Kaito still had his closed, Lumine was very surprised.
She thought she had been making her wish for long enough, but Kaito was taking even longer; he still hadn't opened his eyes. This made Lumine really curious about what kind of wish Kaito was making.
"Wow, why is Kaito still making a wish? Is his wish too long? Can the Geo Archon even remember all that? He'll probably forget."
At this point, Paimon also noticed Kaito was still making a wish with his eyes closed, which made her equally curious.
"Perhaps he's wishing to grow old with Miss Kiana and Miss Wendy. That's something you'd really have to explain clearly to the Geo Archon."
Seeing Lumine and Paimon discussing Kaito's wish, Childe also walked over and offered a guess.
Of course, he knew that wasn't the case. He even suspected that Kaito was currently communicating with Mr. Zhongli about something, though he obviously couldn't know the details.
"What, isn't Lumine included in that? She has to be, right?"
Hearing Childe say this, Paimon replied in kind, only to be immediately met with a head-crushing chop.
"What are you guys talking about?"
Just then, Kaito finally opened his eyes.
He had actually heard what everyone was saying, but he decided to pretend he didn't, since he was, after all, "sincerely" making a wish to the Geo Archon.
"We were all talking about why you were taking so long."
Seeing that Kaito didn't understand, Childe decided to jog his memory.
Although Childe figured Kaito would be unlikely to reveal the truth, he still wanted to try. After all, there was always a chance, and he wouldn't let even the slightest probability slip by.
"Making a wish has to take a while, you know. That shows sincerity."
Kaito replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Makes sense!"
Childe nodded emphatically.
"The auspicious hour has arrived."
Just then, Ningguang's voice suddenly echoed from the center of Yujing Terrace.
"Wow, it's starting, it's starting!"
Knowing the Rite of Descension was about to begin, Paimon was thrilled.
"Let's go over."
Kaito wasn't surprised that the Rite of Descension was starting, because he had just been told. While he was still communicating with Zhongli, Zhongli had mentioned that the time was near and ended their conversation.
___
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