Childe dragged Ryou out of Liyue Harbor and into a half-collapsed shack.
Fatui were posted all around the area. The moment they saw Ryou, several of them visibly stiffened—some even bared their teeth like they wanted to tear him apart on the spot.
"Everyone out," Childe ordered.
Once most of them had cleared, Childe turned back to Ryou.
"Ryou, this doesn't have to get this ugly. You know I don't want to hurt you. But you keep making things difficult for us. You're forcing my hand."
Ryou let out a cold laugh. "Wasn't it the Fatui who came to Liyue Harbor with bad intentions first?"
Childe's gaze sharpened. "I'm talking to you nicely. If you keep that tone, you might not make it back."
Ryou just smiled.
"Go ahead and try. The moment you touch me, you'd better start worrying about yourself. My father and my wife are both Liyue Qixing. They'll use everything they've got to keep you in Liyue Harbor."
He leaned in slightly.
"Besides, you're not guaranteed to kill me."
Childe's expression tightened. For a second, he couldn't even find the words.
Ryou's confidence was too steady. Too clean. Like he was absolutely certain.
Does he have something up his sleeve?
Childe took a breath, then said, "You know why I brought you here."
"You want me to release Signora," Ryou said flatly.
"Yes."
"Fine." Ryou met his eyes. "One condition."
"Say it."
"I want the Fatui out of Liyue Harbor. All of you."
Childe refused instantly. "Not happening."
He stepped closer.
"You should remember who's holding who right now. If I spread the word that you're in my hands… do you really think Keqing and your father won't cave? They'll release Signora for you."
He started to say something else—
—and then froze.
Because Ryou vanished.
Right in front of him.
Childe swept his arm through empty air. Nothing.
"What…?"
His eyes snapped around the room.
Where did he go? How does someone just disappear?
"Where is he?!" Childe slammed into Elemental Sight, scanning every corner, every crack, every shadow.
No traces. No ripples. No residual energy.
Ryou was simply gone.
Childe's face darkened with rage. "Damn it! What the hell are you, Ryou?!"
It was like watching a cooked duck sprout wings and fly off the table.
Then, as his fury churned, a realization hit him—hard.
So that's why he was so confident.
Childe clenched his jaw. The only explanation he could come up with was a Teleport Waypoint—something blessed by the Geo Archon's authority in Liyue. A Vision user could burn elemental power to slip away in an instant.
That would explain the vanishing act.
But it also made Childe even angrier.
He swept everything off the table with one violent motion. The crash echoed as debris rattled and dust shook loose from the walls.
"Ryou. Next time, I won't go easy on you. You used a Tele—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Because a Teleport Waypoint had a requirement: elemental power.
A Vision.
And Ryou was just an ordinary man.
He didn't have a Vision.
So how did he do that?
Before Childe could chase the thought further, someone sprinted in from outside.
"Childe-sama! Two intruders forced their way in—a man and a woman! They look like they're from Inazuma, and they're strong. The big one's swinging a club—we can't stop him. And they're Vision users!"
Childe glanced toward Liyue Harbor in the distance.
"This place is too close. Liyue's crawling with Millelith tonight. If this turns loud, they'll swarm us."
He clicked his tongue.
"It's not worth it. We pull out."
"Yes!"
The messenger bolted.
Childe stood there, staring at the city lights with his fists clenched.
"Ryou… I don't know how you disappeared, but next time, I'll kill you."
…
After some time passed, Ryou reappeared inside the shack.
He took in the mess—scattered debris, scuffed floors, clear signs of a fight. Outside, the pressure in the air felt heavier than before, and the sky looked darker, like something massive was settling over Liyue.
"If I didn't have my pocket world," Ryou muttered, "running into Childe really would've been a headache."
He turned toward Yujing Terrace.
"But that's not the urgent part. I need to check whether he actually planted Sigils of Permission around Yujing Terrace."
Ryou hurried back toward the city. The higher he looked, the darker the sky became.
The trouble was coming fast.
Maybe tonight the ancient gods would break free.
He could only hope the adepti could hold back Osial.
When Ryou reached Liyue Harbor, a Millelith patrol spotted him and rushed over.
"Ryou-sama! You need to get back to Yujing Terrace! Keqing-sama' been worried sick!"
"What happened?" Ryou asked.
"A little girl came to Yujing Terrace and said you'd been taken!"
Ryou's expression sharpened. "Got it."
He headed straight for Yujing Terrace.
The moment Keqing saw him, she practically launched herself into his arms and refused to let go.
"You're okay… thank goodness."
When Yaoyao had delivered the message, Keqing hadn't even known where to start. She'd thrown people into a search immediately, but half an hour had felt like an entire lifetime.
Now that Ryou was back—alive, standing, breathing—her heart finally unclenched.
Ryou stroked her back, slow and steady, calming her down.
His eyes also found Ganyu's worried gaze, and something warm spread through his chest.
These two… they really do care about me.
He'd stumbled into a life most men could only dream of.
And he needed to treat them better.
He already owed Keqing more than he could say. And with Ganyu now in the middle of all this… he couldn't keep messing around. Temptation or not, he had to hold the line.
"As long as you're safe," Ganyu said softly. "What happened?"
Ryou could tell she'd been holding her breath this whole time. Somehow, without him noticing, he'd carved out a space inside her heart—and it wasn't a small one.
She didn't even know when it started, only that it had.
He was awful sometimes. Shameless. Infuriating.
And yet… she couldn't stop liking him.
"Childe took me outside Liyue Harbor," Ryou said, guiding Keqing inside with an arm around her. "He wanted me to release Signora."
Keqing's face hardened at the name. "Childe."
"He also tried to use me for something else," Ryou continued. "But I slipped away using my pocket world."
He didn't hide anything from them. Not from these two.
Keqing finally loosened her grip, resting against him instead. "As long as you're okay."
Ryou nodded. "Childe wants Signora back, and now that he failed, he'll only get more reckless."
He looked toward the window.
"My guess? By tonight, the ancient gods will attack Liyue Harbor."
Keqing and Ganyu both went still.
"Cloud Retainer invited several adepti to the Jade Chamber yesterday," Ganyu said. "With them involved, we should be able to hold."
Ryou shook his head. "I don't think it's that simple."
He stared at them, voice low.
"And you're forgetting something. Guyun Stone Forest doesn't have just one sealed god. They've been suppressed for ages. If the seals break, they won't come one at a time."
Ganyu's expression tightened. Because if multiple ancient gods moved together, Liyue Harbor really could be in danger.
"We'll still prepare to fight," Ganyu said, forcing steadiness into her voice. "And Ningguang has backup plans."
Keqing added quietly, "I spoke with Venti yesterday. He'll step in too."
Ryou let out a slow breath. "Good. The more pieces on the board, the better."
Then his eyes snapped up.
"Ganyu."
"Yes?"
"Childe told me he planted hundreds of Sigils of Permission under Yujing Terrace. You need to check—now."
"Hundreds?" Keqing blurted. "He's trying to blow Yujing Terrace apart. But that's impossible—security here is tight, and the Millelith—"
She stopped.
Because Ganyu's face had already changed.
"No." Ganyu's voice went sharp. "I just swept the entire area with adeptal power."
She looked at them, color draining from her face.
"There are Sigils of Permission underground. A lot of them. And they're leaking black aura. It's real."
Keqing's eyes widened. "They've lost their minds."
"Ganyu," Ryou said, already moving, "get them cleared. Fast. We can't wait until—"
He didn't finish.
Because the entire city lurched.
The earth shook. The sea roared. A monstrous pressure rolled over Liyue Harbor from above—countless presences surging toward the city like a tidal wave.
[End of chapter]
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