"Tianquan Star, this way please!" Gongming rushed into the Golden House, with the equally brisk Ningguang following behind her.
Someone had infiltrated the Golden House; this was an extremely rare event in Liyue's history, and it had happened during her tenure.
This made Ningguang extremely cautious.
"I heard from the report that the infiltrator was a Debt Collector?" Ningguang asked Gongming, who was ahead of her, as she hurried along.
"Y-yes, that's right, but he seems a bit different," Gongming stammered, wiping the fine sweat from her forehead, clearly flustered.
The pressure on her was immense right now; such an incident occurring during her time as a director meant that, regardless of the outcome, some form of punishment was inevitable.
"Different? Hmm, normal," Ningguang mused for a moment before nodding.
Liyue had long heard of the Fatui's stealth techniques and would naturally be prepared. For someone to still be able to ascend the heavily guarded Golden House, this Debt Collector must certainly be different.
Perhaps it was a new Fatui technology?
Thinking of this, Ningguang's mood lightened a little. At least Liyue wasn't completely at a disadvantage this time.
Then Ningguang saw the Debt Collector glowing blue all over.
"..."
"Tianquan Star, our preliminary assessment is that his Delusion is malfunctioning," Gongming said, seeing Ningguang's silence, offering her own guess.
However, looking at the snot bubble on that guy's nose and the continuous drool, this hypothesis didn't seem very convincing.
Ningguang didn't speak. She carefully observed the Debt Collector lying 'dead' on the ground and sharp-eyed, noticed a note stuck to his backside.
Bending down, Ningguang somewhat distastefully pulled out the note and read it carefully.
"Report to Yujing Terrace: One villain captured!"
"Left by a passing enthusiastic citizen."
What met Ningguang's eyes was a line of somewhat familiar handwriting. She flipped the note over, and sure enough, there was another line on the back:
"Why does your Golden House still hold morning meetings? No one even bothered with me when I arrived."
"Boom!" Ningguang's expression now was the same as Yelan's when she first met Yu Jin; the veins on her forehead bulged like a '#'.
"N-Ningguang... Tianquan Star," Gongming called out cautiously, seeing Ningguang's furious, vein-popping expression.
"Gongming, write a self-reflection in your spare time and send it to Yujing Terrace. Let me remind you, if you don't write it well, pack your bags and leave!"
Ningguang crumpled the note into a ball, then shouted at the surrounding Millelith: "Everyone! Go and check if anything is missing from the Golden House! If anything is missing, I'll hold you accountable!"
"Understood!" The Millelith roared and then immediately dispersed, working diligently.
Are you kidding? Can't you see Tianquan Star is in a rage? If they didn't work hard now, did they want to be the chicken chosen to be slaughtered?
"Also, bring this person and come with me to the Northland Bank."
After Ningguang finished speaking, she turned and left the Golden House... Northland Bank. Originally, this was Liyue's largest money exchange, and naturally, it had the most foot traffic.
However, ever since the Northland Bank was 'bloomed,' this hidden Fatui stronghold was on the verge of collapse.
The reason for this was the overly sinister flowers that bloomed around the Northland Bank. Although the flowers were beautiful, they looked like interwoven flesh and blood, making people think of unpleasant things.
Liyue's people were already particular, and local Liyue banks had long been dissatisfied with Northland Bank. With both factors combined, most of Northland Bank's customers demanded to withdraw their deposited money.
Coincidentally, Northland Bank was short on Mora and couldn't produce so much Mora, so its reputation plummeted.
Not only were new customers few and far between, but old customers were also quickly leaving.
And today, Northland Bank welcomed an unexpected 'distinguished guest'.
Inside the opulent reception area, Ningguang looked around. Even after many repairs and modifications, Ningguang could still tell that the place had suffered immense damage.
As for why? That was naturally because of the huge flowers that bloomed overnight outside the Northland Bank.
Originally, Yujing Terrace was quite concerned about this matter, but after discovering that those red flowers only spread some unsubstantial rumors, they stopped bothering with them.
"Tianquan Star's esteemed presence, what brings you here?" A cold female voice came from upstairs, and then the Lady descended the stairs.
"Haha, a Qixing, this is my first time seeing one!" Childe was not as elegant as the Lady; he jumped directly from the second floor.
Ningguang had only seen these Harbingers, who were both friends and enemies, in paintings and photographs before.
And the Harbingers were the same. Liyue's Qixing, if they kept a low profile, generally had very little interaction with the Harbingers.
Childe? Ningguang glanced at Tartaglia. Just as the intelligence reports stated, that untamed aura was practically spilling out of him.
The Lady? Hmm? Why was she wearing so much? Ningguang couldn't help but take another look at the Lady. At this moment, the Lady was wearing a large coat, a stark contrast to the cool attire described in the intelligence reports.
"Heh heh, not bad. A bit faster reaction than I expected," Ningguang said with a cold snort, a fake smile on her face, as she looked at the gold-rimmed clock hanging at the reception.
"As for why I'm here, I think you two know better than I do," Ningguang said, then cleared her throat a few times.
"Clang!"
The tightly shut doors of Northland Bank opened, and then two Millelith threw in the Debt Collector, who was glowing blue all over and still asleep.
"Thud!" The Debt Collector landed on the ground, but even so, he still didn't wake up. A scratch on his backside was the most respect he showed for that fall.
Seeing this, Ningguang's mouth twitched. She didn't know what kind of sleeping potion Yu Jin had given him; even now, the blue glow showed no signs of diminishing, and the guy was sleeping like a dead pig.
If she hadn't hidden him, bringing this little blue man over would surely have attracted a crowd.
After all, it was well-known that Liyue's people loved a good spectacle.
"I've brought him to you. If he offends again next time, it won't be resolved so easily."
Ningguang glanced at the Debt Collector, who was still in a deep sleep, then gave Childe a meaningful look, and turned to leave Northland Bank.
"Clang!"
The doors of Northland Bank closed again, leaving only the Lady and Childe in the vast hall.
"Phew! I didn't expect the Qixing to be so easy to talk to. Even... a bit cowardly?" Childe said with disdain, looking at the closed bank doors.
This Tianquan Star's bark was worse than her bite, so could his actions be bolder now?
"Is this your subordinate?" The Lady narrowed her eyes. She looked at the Debt Collector, who was bubbling snot, the soft blue glow from him even illuminating her and Childe.
If this blue glow was permanent, this guy would probably be out of a job as a Debt Collector.
However, the more the Lady looked, the more a subtle unease grew in her heart. This style... why was it so familiar?
"Huh? What's going on? I... who am I? This... where is this?"
"Splash!"
Just as the waking Debt Collector was bewildered, a cool water blade slashed onto his body.
Coldness and pain swept through the Debt Collector's entire body, bringing him back to full consciousness.
"Ch-Childe! And... and the Lady!" The Debt Collector saw his superiors and immediately shivered. Then he caught sight of the Lady nearby and quickly saluted her.
"You..."
"I ask you, who did this to you, in this state?" Childe was about to say something but was interrupted by the Lady.
Although it was his subordinate, the Lady's overstepping made Childe somewhat displeased.
"Who did it?" The Debt Collector looked at his glowing blue body and said, on the verge of tears:
"I don't know? The one who attacked me was a tin can, wrapped up even tighter than I am.
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