Liyue, Mount Aozang.
Azhdaha and Guizhong followed Morax to the entrance of Cloud Retainer's Adeptus Abode.
Guizhong's beautiful face was filled with unconcealable joy at the prospect of seeing her old friend after so many years.
She skipped like a young girl all the way to the entrance of the Adeptus Abode, then gently knocked on the immortal gate.
"Cloud Retainer, Cloud Retainer! Are you home?"
"Open up quickly, an old friend has come to see you!"
After all, it had been a thousand years since she last saw Cloud Retainer, and Guizhong was very much looking forward to meeting her old friend.
However, there was no response from inside the immortal cave.
....
At this moment, Cloud Retainer was oblivious to the outside world, diligently studying complex mechanisms.
Those powerful mechanisms were created a thousand years ago by her and Guizhong, combining their wisdom.
Now, Cloud Retainer was stuck in a bottleneck trying to upgrade the mechanisms.
She couldn't think of a better way to upgrade them.
Cloud Retainer decided to leave the immortal cave for some fresh air, and also to clear her thoughts.
Before leaving, Cloud Retainer looked back at the mechanisms and couldn't help but murmur, "If Guizhong were still here, this immortal wouldn't be so troubled."
"Upgrading these mechanisms certainly wouldn't be difficult for her."
"It's just a pity that the past cannot be chased, and the old friend is no longer here."
Involuntarily recalling Guizhong, Cloud Retainer looked up and couldn't help but sigh, "In the blink of an eye, several millennia have passed."
"Recalling my parting with Guizhong, it feels like it was just yesterday."
"It even feels like her voice is in my ears,"
"It must be that I miss Guizhong too much, to the point of having auditory hallucinations..."
As she spoke, Cloud Retainer paused slightly, then listened carefully.
It seemed it wasn't auditory hallucinations, but someone was truly calling her.
That voice was extremely familiar.
How could it be Guizhong's voice?!
Cloud Retainer didn't care about studying mechanisms anymore and quickly flew out of the Adeptus Abode.
As the heavy immortal gate rumbled open, Cloud Retainer saw two men and one woman.
Cloud Retainer was, of course, familiar with Morax.
As for the other man beside Morax,
He wore a pair of glasses and looked refined.
He was a new face Cloud Retainer had never seen before.
She only felt his aura was a bit familiar, like an old friend.
As for the woman who was following Morax and tightly holding his arm...
Cloud Retainer and the woman exchanged glances.
The next second, Cloud Retainer froze.
She rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things.
But Cloud Retainer looked repeatedly, several times, and confirmed she wasn't mistaken.
The woman in front of her looked very much like Guizhong from a thousand years ago!
No,
Not just similar,
But it was Guizhong herself!
Whether it was that sweet, healing smile, or those lively, expressive eyes,
They were exactly the same as Guizhong from a thousand years ago.
Cloud Retainer felt as if the Guizhong in her memory overlapped with the woman in front of her.
Seeing Cloud Retainer's astonished expression,
Guizhong chuckled and said, "What's wrong, Cloud Retainer? Just a thousand years apart, and you don't recognize me?"
"If you've forgotten me, I'd be sad, you know."
Cloud Retainer snapped back to reality and shook her head repeatedly, "How could I forget you? I was just talking about you."
Looking at Guizhong in front of her, Cloud Retainer felt as if she were dreaming, with a sense of unreality.
However, now that old friends had met, they naturally couldn't just stand there.
Cloud Retainer extended an invitation, "Let's sit down first, and chat while we drink."
"It just so happens that I brewed a kind of wine myself using morning dew and medicinal herbs a while ago, and I was troubled by having no one to taste it with me. Today, I finally have the opportunity."
Cloud Retainer extended an invitation,
Just as she had invited them a thousand years ago.
There was a stone table on Mount Aozang. A thousand years ago, the three of them often sat there to eat and chat.
However, ever since Guizhong met with misfortune, that stone table had never been used again and had fallen into disuse.
Over the years, Ganyu would periodically clean it,
Which made the stone table look as if it were frequently used.
Azhdaha's interest was immediately piqued when he heard there was wine.
He wasn't very interested in other things, but he had a unique fondness for delicious food.
Now that he no longer subsisted on ore and leylines, he naturally wanted to properly taste the strange and wonderful things of the human world.
He followed Cloud Retainer to the stone table and smelled the fragrant wine.
For Adepti, tasting the delicacies of the world was also a form of cultivation.
If Cloud Retainer weren't an Adeptus, perhaps opening a winery in Liyue would be a good choice.
Perhaps even the drunkards of Mondstadt would be attracted.
And Guizhong made herself at home, directly sitting on a stone chair.
After all, she had visited Cloud Retainer's Adeptus Abode countless times, as if it were her own home.
Cloud Retainer flapped her wings, and the pot of clear wine floated into the air, refilling the cups.
After doing all this, Cloud Retainer looked at Guizhong and then asked, "Guizhong, what exactly is going on?"
"How did you..."
Even Cloud Retainer was filled with confusion at this moment,
After all, she had personally witnessed Guizhong's passing a thousand years ago.
What exactly had happened?
Guizhong smiled, then said, "It's a long story, but to make a long story short,"
"Simply put, Makoto gave me a second life."
Guizhong recounted how Makoto had summoned her soul and then made a puppet for her.
During this process, Cloud Retainer's expression kept changing, filled with indescribable surprise and astonishment.
After the story was told, Cloud Retainer pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "I also think highly of that boy, Makoto."
"In fact, I even subtly tried to set him up with Ganyu, hoping it could become a beautiful story."
Upon hearing this, Guizhong naturally agreed.
"Wow, wow, Cloud Retainer, we truly are good sisters, we even think alike!"
"To be honest, I also think Makoto and that little girl Ganyu are quite suitable,"
"Speaking of which, Ganyu is also at the age of retirement, isn't she? She should also live a simple and peaceful life,"
"By the way... where is that little girl Ganyu now?"
Cloud Retainer heard this and replied with a light chuckle, "I sent her to undergo training."
Guizhong was a little curious, "Training?"
Cloud Retainer hummed, "I noticed that girl recently reached a bottleneck, and she must overcome that bottleneck to ascend."
"And I no longer have anything to teach her,"
"So, I let her go down the mountain to find someone who can help her ascend through her bottleneck."
Cloud Retainer paused, looked at the distant clouds, and said with a smile, "I think, in that girl's heart, she already has the most suitable person, don't you agree?"
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