"Hm?"
"Who are you talking to?"
Paimon was still absorbed in the scenery around them. When she heard Rowan speak, she turned around in confusion, scratching her head as she asked.
"Are you talking to the adeptus here?"
Lumine, on the other hand, reacted quickly and figured out who Rowan was speaking to.
Hadn't they just said there was an adeptus here?
Wasn't the reason Verr Goldet hesitated because of that person's existence?
So Rowan was talking to him?
"That's right. I'm talking to that adeptus."
"Vigilant Yaksha General… Golden-Winged… Xiao."
Rowan nodded, looking toward a certain spot on the massive tree.
Xiao was standing there, staring straight at him.
But in everyone else's eyes, there was nothing there.
Only those with great strength could see him.
Xiao's gaze shifted. He turned into a wisp of black smoke and vanished.
The next second, he appeared right in front of everyone.
Golden eyes. An icy stare. And tattoo-like markings along his arm that looked like carved dragons and phoenixes—just one glance was enough for a normal person to feel that he wasn't someone to mess with.
On top of that, there was that otherworldly, hazy aura about him—detached from the mundane.
If this wasn't an adeptus, then who was?
Even if he was a bit on the short side, his strength was truly terrifying.
At least in Lumine's eyes, she wasn't his match right now.
In her prime, Lumine should've been able to contend with the Seven Gods.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have had the confidence to roam the starry sea.
Of course, "the Seven Gods" here referred to the original Seven, not the later "gods" aside from Morax and Barbatos.
Anyone bold enough to wrestle with the Heavenly Principles' Sustainer was definitely not weak.
And Xiao's combat power—judging from Lumine's eye—was likely the strongest beneath the level of a god.
Worthy of being Liyue's adeptus. His strength was on a completely different tier.
"Is there something you want?"
Xiao swept his gaze coldly over the group, then looked at Rowan.
Other than that woman whose depth he couldn't gauge, Rowan was the only one that interested him.
"Yes. But it's not suitable to talk about it right now."
"How about we eat something together?"
Rowan didn't rush to explain the situation to Xiao. What he was going to say later required Zhongli to be present.
Just owing Xiao a favor alone wasn't something Rowan cared about.
He watched Verr Goldet bring the dishes up with the waiter—especially the last dish: Almond Tofu.
"Fine."
Xiao hesitated, then nodded and sat down at the table.
Waiting to eat together—though in the end, he would only eat Almond Tofu.
He could tell that Rowan didn't hold any malice toward him. If anything, there was even a faint trace of appreciation.
That made the last bit of hostility in Xiao's heart turn into embarrassment.
In the end, that praise had been Zhongli's appreciation of Rowan.
Yet he—an adeptus—had developed hostility just because his "old father" had spoken a few admiring words.
That made him feel ashamed, so he took the initiative and asked:
"Has my lord… been seen by you?"
"How is he?"
The "he," of course, referred to the Anemo Archon, Barbatos.
As the Vigilant Yaksha General, Xiao lived by slaughter. Ever since he entered the service of the Geo Archon, he had never stopped.
But too much killing only led to karmic debt.
Back then, the five Yakshas had all suffered from karmic debt, lost their sanity, and slaughtered each other until they vanished.
Only Xiao remained in this world—partly because he was the youngest.
And also because, even though he killed every day, he had ten friends who helped him lessen that influence.
Among them was the Anemo Archon, Barbatos, whose music could cleanse part of Xiao's karmic debt.
It couldn't cure it.
But it did ease it.
So toward Barbatos, Xiao held genuine reverence.
Not only because Barbatos—like Zhongli—was one of the Seven, but also because of the grace of saving his life.
Otherwise, the last Yaksha in this world might have disappeared as well.
But as time passed, the karmic debt accumulating on Xiao only grew heavier, and the effect of Venti's music became a drop in the bucket.
That wasn't Venti's fault—every time, he played with all his effort.
It was simply that the more karmic debt piled up, the less effective it became… and Xiao had also built up resistance.
Xiao was increasingly unwilling to have contact with humans now.
Because karmic debt could affect humans.
Yet it seemed like no one present would be affected—another reason Xiao dared to sit down.
"Him?"
"He just drinks every day. If he's not drinking, he's sleeping. He lives even more carefree than you do."
The moment Xiao mentioned Venti, Rowan couldn't help but complain.
Paimon froze, scratching her head.
"Eh… why does the person you're describing sound so familiar?"
"You're not talking about the bard, are you?"
Xiao looked at Paimon and Lumine in surprise.
He did know quite a bit about what Barbatos was like from his "old father."
He knew Barbatos loved wine, and he knew Barbatos liked composing and singing poetry.
He just hadn't expected that Lumine and Paimon—travelers—also knew the Anemo Archon.
"You know him too?"
"If you mean Venti, then yeah—we really know him. That guy drinks every single day."
Lumine leaned in as well, smiling as she spoke.
How could they not know him?
If anything, they were familiar to an absurd degree.
That damned drunkard had tricked them plenty of times just to get wine.
Lumine had already had opinions about Paimon's appetite, and then on top of that they had to deal with Venti scamming wine money while traveling.
It nearly made Lumine want to pull out the Favonius Sword Rowan gave her and smack Venti with it.
What kind of Anemo Archon are you, always making people pay for your drinks?
Of course, Venti did step up when it mattered.
After learning about Barbatos's deeds, and after personally seeing Venti save that "Stanley," their opinion of this "lazy" Anemo Archon improved a bit.
"Exactly! And half the time he makes us pay for it!"
"I seriously doubt he's an Anemo Archon at all—he's more like a Wine God!"
Paimon planted her hands on her hips and complained loudly.
But the two of them didn't lower their voices at all while trash-talking Venti.
Every word reached Jean's ears, instantly stirring a storm in her heart.
Venti. Loves drinking. Doesn't do his job. Anemo Archon.
Putting those words together…
Wasn't that describing Barbatos—the Anemo Archon—who had suddenly appeared in Mondstadt recently as the wandering bard Venti?
No way. No way…
(End of Chapter)
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