"Lumine, look here! There's a huge piece of Cor Lapis. Let's break it open and see."
Along the way, Lumine and Paimon had opened many chests by smashing Cor Lapis, even finding a Precious Chest. Paimon exclaimed that these chests, requiring no puzzle-solving, were a great deal.
Su Bai watched their actions with a headache. These two must have been terrified of poverty. He finally understood the meaning of "leaving nothing behind wherever they go." The area was cleaner than after a bandit raid. Anything of value had gone straight into their pockets.
What Su Bai really couldn't figure out was why these two had to pick every single Sweet Flower they saw. Did Sweet Flowers on Mt. Hulao taste sweeter?
"Lumine, hurry up and break this Cor Lapis. Something good must be inside such a big piece."
Lumine raised her Blackcliff Longsword and measured the stone. Geo energy gathered on the blade. With a single strike, a huge crack appeared.
"Huh? There's a person inside!"
Paimon scratched her head. Someone trapped inside Cor Lapis in such a remote place? This person was the first living soul (other than Millelith soldiers) that Paimon had encountered in Jueyun Karst.
"Spare me, adeptus, spare me! I have an eighty-year-old mother to care for and a three-year-old child to feed. I just came here looking for something valuable. I didn't mean to disturb the adeptus."
"Spare me!"
The man saw the tails behind Su Bai and immediately knelt down, kowtowing and begging for forgiveness. Su Bai's fox eyes studied the man for a moment, then he waved his hand for him to leave. The man scrambled away in a panic.
Paimon watched him go, amazed. A living person could actually be trapped inside Cor Lapis. No wonder Su Bai had said the stone could eat people.
"So these are the methods of the adepti. Pretty amazing, right?"
Mountain Shaper's technique was truly monstrous. Because a person sealed in Cor Lapis would have their physical state preserved at the moment of sealing, an ordinary person could theoretically achieve immortality.
"How amazing. I never thought Liyue's adepti had such incredible powers."
Paimon sighed, then shrank her neck. She was growing fearful of the upcoming meeting with Mountain Shaper, worried he might get angry and trap her in Cor Lapis.
When they arrived at Mountain Shaper's abode, Paimon spotted someone kneeling before it, begging for forgiveness—someone who looked identical to the man they had just freed.
Hadn't that person already gone down the mountain? Why was he here? Was he a ghost? Startled, Paimon quickly hid behind Su Bai.
"Ah, Su Bai, a ghost! A ghost!"
Su Bai sensed this person. Though he looked the same as the previous one, their auras were different. They must be brothers.
"Adeptus, please spare my younger brother! I have an eighty-year-old mother to care for and a three-year-old child to feed. I just came here looking for something valuable. I didn't mean to disturb the adeptus."
The man saw Su Bai and also knelt, begging forgiveness. Su Bai's mouth twitched—same pose, same words. Truly brothers.
"Alright, alright. I've already let your brother go. He's waiting for you at the foot of the mountain. Go find him."
"Don't come to Jueyun Karst if you don't have business here. The monsters and traps inside aren't something ordinary people like you can handle."
Su Bai warned the man. Today was lucky for these brothers. The monsters in Jueyun Karst had mostly been cleared by the adepti due to Su Bai's visit. Otherwise, these two might not have even made it to Mt. Hulao.
The man nodded frantically. Nothing could make him come back to this godforsaken place. After thanking Su Bai, he hurried down the mountain, as if the adeptus might eat him.
"Little Su Bai, releasing someone who disturbed me without my permission would be a serious offense for anyone else."
"Wait, is this white-haired child your daughter? Come, come, let this old man have a good look."
A stern voice came from the abode. Paimon shrank behind Su Bai. This caught Mountain Shaper's attention. Seeing that familiar white hair, the old adeptus rushed out and began examining Paimon closely.
Startled by the sudden development, Paimon just stood there blankly as Mountain Shaper studied her. The more he looked, the more convinced he became that Paimon was Su Bai's child. He treated Lumine and Paimon to a display of classical Liyue art, changing his expression.
"Su Bai, why didn't you tell me you got married? Did you think I would oppose it?"
"Look at this child—so thin, practically skin and bones. Come, Grandpa will take you to eat something delicious."
With that, Mountain Shaper tried to take Paimon for food. This amused Lumine. Where was the rigid, strict adeptus Su Bai had described? This one was clearly fun.
To be fair, it wasn't Mountain Shaper's fault. Ever since Rex Lapis had been "taken" by a man, he had been in Liyue Harbor trying to integrate into mortal society. He hadn't received Zhongli's message, so he naturally didn't know about the Traveler or the change in plans.
"And you, you're the child's mother, right? You look a bit young, but you're quite pretty."
Lumine, who had been laughing moments ago, fell silent. What? The child's mother? She might have lived a very long time—long enough to have forgotten her own age—but she was still a maiden.
If Paimon were truly her child, she might as well bash her head into a block of tofu. The thought was mortifying.
"Ahem, Mountain Shaper, they're just my friends. Not my daughter or my wife. Please don't play matchmaker for no reason."
"I understand. Don't worry, I won't say anything to Shenhe. My lips are famously tight, unlike Cloud Retainer's. Come on, tell me the child's name."
Mountain Shaper gave Su Bai a knowing look. During his days wandering Liyue Harbor, he had met many interesting people. Several of them spent all day showing off their grandchildren.
Watching babies babble and wiggle, Mountain Shaper felt envious. Unfortunately, none of Liyue's adepti had plans to marry. It troubled him greatly. That was why he got so excited upon seeing Paimon.