"The Qixing should have already noticed you."
In front of Tian Ironmouth's tea stall, Orion, who had been dragged over by Zhongli, listened to the storytelling with his right ear and Zhongli's words with his left.
He pointed to himself: "Me? I know the Qixing have eyes and ears everywhere in Liyue, and I know there are various Qixing informants on the road, but I haven't done anything that would warrant special attention from them, have I?"
Zhongli: "Hehe, Little Jiang, Master Chang Jiu, One String One Pillar…"
"Alright, alright, alright!" Orion quickly interrupted. This wasn't good; after being a superhero for so long, his values had changed, and he hadn't considered that doing such things would attract the Qixing's attention. "Did they send someone specifically to monitor me? Is that level of caution really necessary?"
"Liyue has always been a place of many misfortunes in the past. Floods, landslides, the God War… countless natural and man-made disasters accumulated, forming the foundation of the Liyue people's character.
Only through unity, obedience to management, and strengthened connections can people survive natural disasters; and only by being versatile, resourceful, and cautious can you maximize your avoidance of man-made calamities," Zhongli explained slowly, sipping his tea.
Orion nodded. As he said before, he had thought about contacting the Liyue Qixing. With Keqing's legs, and Ganyu's legs, plus Ningguang's legs, who wouldn't be captivated?
But he had always thought that he would naturally get to know them when the plot started, and the earlier he interfered, the greater the plot fluctuations would be, so it was better to just go with the flow.
However, since Zhongli said that the Qixing were watching him so closely, perhaps he should pay more attention in the future?
"Zhongli, do you know who they sent to monitor me?"
Zhongli's tea-drinking motion paused, and he looked at Orion with a strange expression: "You can't sense it?"
"I sealed off my senses. I'm here for a vacation. What's the fun if my senses are always on?" Orion said as a matter of course. Zhongli paused for a moment after hearing it, then slowly nodded.
"You have a point, a very valid point. Your views and mine actually align in some ways.
In that case, I'll tell you directly, lest you accidentally deal with them as enemies."
"When you first arrived in Liyue, the Tianquan probably didn't pay too much attention to you, but then from a certain point in time, she seemed to suddenly become interested in you and started sending people specifically to interact with you.
But you and Lady Skirk move incredibly fast, beyond what ordinary people can achieve, so the Tianquan had no choice but to repeatedly raise your importance level, eventually assigning an Adeptus to observe your movements."
"Adeptus?" Orion knew that the catalyst for Ningguang noticing him was probably the letter Jean wrote to Ningguang, which not only mentioned that he was very strong but also slandered him, saying he was like a pervert.
That was completely wrong; it was clearly the girls around him who were more perverted than each other.
He thought about the Adeptuss Ningguang could command, and finally put his two index fingers on either side of his head: "Is the Adeptus you're talking about like this?"
Zhongli looked at Orion's fingers, which resembled two antennas, and thought for a while before realizing that he might be gesturing Ganyu's two qilin horns.
Zhongli understood. Orion, no matter how slow, must have long discovered Ganyu's presence. So he nodded and said, "Not that straight, bend them back a bit more."
"Like this?"
"Bend it a little more."
"Like this?"
"That's right, that's enough."
Orion also understood; it should be Ganyu. This meant that all the "good deeds" he had done for so long had been witnessed by Ganyu.
What Orion didn't know was that it was precisely these daily acts of kindness that kept Ganyu and Ningguang's evaluation of Orion in the category of "needs vigilance" but definitely "kind."
Zhongli picked up his teacup and took another sip, then said to Orion, "Actually, the main reason I invited you out today is to discuss your future assistance to the Qixing."
Zhongli was referring to the opportunity he had gained by drinking Orion's potion, which was for Orion to help the Qixing in times of crisis.
In this regard, Zhongli was very clear: if the difficulty was less than God-level, he believed the people of Liyue, perhaps with a few Adeptuss, could overcome it.
If it was a God-level difficulty, he could secretly intervene himself.
If it was a difficulty involving the underlying logic of Teyvat, presumably the Traveler, who had gained fame in Liyue in less than twenty days after arriving, would also be willing to lend a hand.
But if this was a challenge beyond Teyvat's power, who could step in? The Four Shadows? Could they really trust the one who dwelled in the celestial heights, lost forever in a long slumber? That was why Zhongli wanted to leave Liyue a guarantee—though he was well aware that simply drinking a rare potion wouldn't be enough to ask Orion to protect Liyue from all harm.
When Orion heard Zhongli mention helping the Qixing, he also remembered his agreement with Zhongli. But it was still the same point: if he were to get together with any Liyue character in the future, and something happened to their family, could he possibly not help? So Zhongli didn't need to overthink it, but Orion still replied, "Don't worry, I've already thought it through for you. I'll make a few Hiraishin Kunai and give one to Ningguang and Keqing, and I'll tell them that if they have any trouble, all they have to do is hold it and ask for help, then throw it a few meters away, and I'll appear.
"I've even come up with a name for the Hiraishin Kunai: Tasukete kudasai (助けてください).
"Hold on." Zhongli immediately stopped Orion: "Actually, I wanted to ask you to contact the Qixing a little later, or provide this insurance to the Qixing a little later."
"How so?"
Zhongli pondered for a moment, then used a sound transmission to Orion, saying, "I hope, Brother Orion, you won't spread what I'm about to say."
"Please speak."
"Do you know about the Rite of Descension? That is the day the Qixing summon the Rex Lapis, and the Archon makes judgments on Liyue's future direction.
And I, Morax, plan to feign my death on the day of the Rite of Descension, to verify whether this nation of Liyue can be fully entrusted to human hands!"
Orion leaned back tactically: "Has it finally come to this, the battle of wits?"
Zhongli:???
Zhongli thought for a moment with a strange expression before saying, "I apologize, I don't quite understand. Is there a connection between my feigned death and a battle of wits?"
"Oh, don't mind it. It's just that if I say some things first, it'll be harder for the trolls to say them."
Zhongli: …He still didn't quite understand, after all, there were no tremolos in Teyvat, so no one would be idle enough to spread rumors about him.
Nevertheless, Zhongli still told Orion his purpose. The general idea was to see how the Liyue Qixing and the Adeptuss would react after the "Rex Lapis" died.
Then, after determining whether the people and Adeptuss of Liyue were capable of moving forward without the protection of a God, he would tell them the truth through a dream.
And Zhongli said he wanted Orion to contact the Qixing later because he wanted to see if the current Qixing were worthy of trust, and also to prevent them from having a wishful thinking, thinking they still had a trump card when they encountered trouble, and thus not needing to rush.
What Zhongli wanted was to leave a trump card for the "Liyue Qixing," but he wasn't necessarily going to leave one for "this current Qixing."
If the Qixing failed this assessment, it was highly likely that they would face a complete reshuffle.
"However, my arrangement has recently encountered some unexpected events." Zhongli's tone suddenly changed, and he rubbed the rim of his teacup, saying with some uncertainty, "Originally, according to the timeline, the envoy of the Snezhnaya Archon, with whom I made a contract, should have arrived in Liyue by now. But as of now, not only has that envoy not arrived, but even Childe Tartaglia, who was already in Liyue, has been harmed and is now bedridden… It seems things have become a bit complicated."
Orion: …
Oh no, these two things seem to be my doing as well.
I'll have to find a way to bring La Signora over later and have her complete the transaction with Zhongli quickly.
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