The military parade lasted the entire noon.
In the afternoon, after returning to Liyue Harbor, Jiang Yan and Morax strolled through the city together with the six other gods from the remaining nations.
Because Jiang Yan and Morax were far too eye-catching in Liyue Harbor, they altered their appearances slightly so that the people wouldn't recognize them.
If they hadn't disguised themselves, given the citizens' enthusiasm after the parade, it would probably have caused quite a stir in Liyue Harbor.
On the main street, Guizhong was walking together with the five female gods, chatting and laughing about something.
Jiang Yan, Morax, and Barbatos followed behind them.
"Hey, Morax, how did Guizhong end up mixing with all these gods?"
Since he couldn't hear what Guizhong and the others were talking about, Jiang Yan asked curiously.
Morax glanced at Jiang Yan, as if he had recalled something amusing, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"I don't know."
In the end, Morax slowly shook his head.
Jiang Yan's eyes widened as he stared at him in disbelief.
You don't know?
Before saying that, could you at least wipe that grin off your face?!
This old fox definitely knows!
He just refuses to say it!
No way.
Morax's reaction clearly piqued Jiang Yan's curiosity.
His eyes rolled, a faint smile appeared on his face, and in his mind, the Snake Talisman suddenly lit up.
The next moment, under the shocked gazes of Morax and Barbatos, Jiang Yan's figure slowly vanished.
Now Barbatos finally understood why Jiang Yan had suddenly appeared back then.
So the kid can turn invisible!
As for Morax, his shock lay elsewhere.
When did this kid learn invisibility?!
How come I don't know about it?!
Huh???
Morax wore a rather strange expression as he looked at Guizhong and her group ahead.
Jiang Yan suddenly turning invisible at this moment—his intention was obvious.
Eavesdropping.
In his invisible state, Jiang Yan quietly sneaked up behind Guizhong and the others, listening in silence.
It was a good thing he was invisible.
Otherwise, the way he was acting would definitely make people think he was a pervert!
No—
A creep!
"I'm telling you, back then, as long as you rubbed his little cheeks, he'd make these 'wuu wuu' sounds. It was especially fun!"
That was Guizhong's voice. She seemed to be recounting something.
"Huh? That fun?"
That was Raiden Makoto's voice.
"I really want to see it…"
That was the voice of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, though it sounded rather faint.
Jiang Yan frowned, feeling that he couldn't hear very clearly, so he moved a little closer.
"Right? I'm telling you, back then Jiang Yan was soft and adorable—just like a little kitten. Holding him in your arms and giving him a good rub, it felt amazing."
"And let me tell you, once he saw a treasure chest on a high mountain. Without a second thought, he climbed right up. That little butt of his, sticking up and down…"
The moment Jiang Yan heard his own name, he already felt that something was wrong.
But when he heard Guizhong talking about his childhood embarrassments, his eyes went wide.
What the hell?!
No, wait a second!
What do you mean my little butt was sticking up and down?!
Huh?!?!?!
Jiang Yan silently returned to Morax's side and dispelled his invisibility.
Only this time, his eyes had completely lost their spark.
He could already see it—
his tall, glorious, and dignified image was drifting farther and farther away from him…
The image I worked so hard to build by traveling through the six nations…
Was shattered back to its original form by just a few words from Guizhong.
Now Jiang Yan finally understood why Morax hadn't told him.
And he finally understood why, when he first arrived at Yuehai Pavilion, everyone laughed the moment they saw him.
So that's how it was.
So that's how it was…
Jiang Yan finally experienced what true social death felt like.
Back then, relying on his juvenile appearance, he had done no shortage of embarrassing things.
It's over. Judging by Guizhong's tone, everything he did in his childhood had probably already been spilled.
My image!!!!
What Jiang Yan didn't know was that, in the hearts of these gods, his image had never been proper to begin with.
Hearing the silver-bell laughter coming from Guizhong and the others not far away—pleasant as it was—it sounded to Jiang Yan like a sharp sword piercing straight into his heart.
So meaningless.
Life is really meaningless.
Jiang Yan suddenly felt that life had lost all flavor.
At this point, it was already too late to try and stop Guizhong.
Who knew how much she had already revealed!
Since his image was already ruined anyway, he might as well be straightforward about it.
If this incident caused his invisibility ability to be exposed, it really wouldn't be worth the loss.
After all, invisibility was something better kept hidden.
It made doing other things much more convenient!
At the end of the day, Jiang Yan's mental resilience was quite strong. With his "dead pig not afraid of boiling water" mentality, he accepted the situation rather quickly.
Suddenly, he remembered something and turned to look at Barbatos and Morax.
"Hey! You two—absolutely! Absolutely do not tell anyone that I can turn invisible!"
Seeing Jiang Yan's teeth-gritting expression, Morax and Barbatos exchanged a glance and laughed at the same time.
Jiang Yan stared at the two of them quietly as a dangerous aura began to spread around him.
For some reason, he felt like silencing witnesses.
Seeing Jiang Yan's expression getting worse and worse, Morax and Barbatos hurriedly nodded—though the smiles on their faces didn't fade in the slightest.
"Hey, hey, hey! That's enough, you two!"
Looking at how these two old guys were laughing harder and harder, Jiang Yan said with a darkened face.
How come he never noticed before that these two old guys were getting more and more improper?
And both of them liked slacking off too!
No—wait!
Morax!
Did you learn this nonsense from that old guy Barbatos?!
I told you to hang out with him less!
Don't you understand the saying "those who stay near vermilion turn red, those who stay near ink turn black"?!
Hearing the sudden laughter behind them, Guizhong and the five female gods curiously turned around.
When they saw Jiang Yan's dark expression, and then connected it with what they had just been talking about, they burst into laughter once more.
Laughter echoed throughout the street.
This harmonious and beautiful atmosphere seemed to freeze in that very moment.
It was just that such an atmosphere was built upon certain people's suffering.
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