At Wangshu Inn, after a brief rest, Li Mo finally began telling the story of the fourteenth life.
"The fourteenth life. Her name was Kapatcir."
"The Thunderbird."
"Or more precisely, Kanna Kapatcir."
Li Mo sat on stage and spoke the name of his fourteenth reincarnation in the storyteller's characteristic detached tone. That life was equally unforgettable to him.
The moment he said the name, the audience below was bewildered.
"Kapatcir?"
"Kanna Kapatcir?"
"Such unfamiliar names. Who exactly is this?"
"Judging by the name, it doesn't sound like an adeptus or a god from Liyue."
"Is it another knight from Mondstadt?"
"Storyteller, can you be a little clearer?"
For the people of Liyue, the name Kapatcir was completely foreign. Not even Keqing, Shenhe, Hu Tao, and the others in the corner had heard of it.
Xiangling turned to Beidou. "Sister Beidou, you travel overseas a lot—have you ever heard of this Kanna Kapatcir?"
Beidou shook her head in confusion. "Never heard of it. I think it might be someone from over a thousand years ago. Maybe only the gods and adepti know."
Xiangling nodded. "That's probably it."
Meanwhile, in another corner, the gods, the yaksha, the fox, and Diluc were equally puzzled.
Barbatos: "Eh heh—this storyteller is truly amazing. He's mentioned a name even I don't know."
Zhongli: "Just listen. We'll understand by the end."
Yae Miko: "Exactly. Let's keep listening."
Back in Inazuma, Yae Publishing House's light novels had struggled to find readers. But ever since coming to the inn and recording the storyteller's tales, business had boomed. She had made quite a profit. Though she didn't lack Mora, who would complain about having more?
Among everyone present, only Ei's smile froze the moment she heard the name Kapatcir. She sat frozen in place.
Kanna Kapatcir. Could it really be her?
Barbatos noticed her reaction immediately. "Ei, what's wrong? Do you know this Kapatcir? Tell us what she was like."
Ei seemed lost, not even hearing Barbatos's voice. She stared blankly at the storyteller on stage.
Just then, Makoto spoke up. "Kanna Kapatcir? I think I remember now. Over a thousand years ago, there was a mountain called Mount Kanna on Tsurumi Island in Inazuma, and a great thunderbird lived there. Could it really be that one? But strangely, later on, that thunderbird vanished without a trace."
Back then, Makoto had been the Electro Archon, overseeing all of Inazuma's affairs. But in her eyes, Tsurumi Island was a remote, barren land not worth much attention. As long as the thunderbird didn't cause trouble, she had no reason to bother with it.
Barbatos seemed to recall something too. "Ah, Tsurumi Island? That small island deep in Inazuma, perpetually shrouded in fog? I passed by there about two hundred years ago. I saw blurry figures and heard beautiful singing. The people there must have been living happily. Though their behavior seemed strange—like they were performing some kind of ritual."
Barbatos loved to travel and had visited Inazuma many times. But the fog on that island was particularly annoying, so he had never set foot on it. He had only thought that the singing was so pleasant that the people there must have been living joyful lives.
Ei remained silent.
Of everyone present, she alone knew the truth of Kapatcir's death. No—the storyteller must know it too. And now, he was about to reveal it to everyone.
…
Meanwhile, on stage, Li Mo had just said the name of the fourteenth life when the audience interrupted him. But he didn't get angry. Instead, he thought back to the events of a thousand years ago.
When the audience quieted down, he began again in his slightly magnetic voice, recounting the story of that distant time.
"The fourteenth life. Her name was Kapatcir."
"She was a thunderbird as powerful as a god, living on Mount Kanna, on the remote island of Tsurumi in Inazuma."
"Long, long ago, someone once gave her a name. But the thunderbird had no need for it, and no one dared to call her by it."
"The thunderbird rarely appeared before mortals. Only when she traveled between Tsurumi and Seirai Island could the islanders of Tsurumi catch a glimpse of her vast, sacred form."
As Li Mo spoke, the Electro energy above the inn coalesced once more, projecting his words into vivid images that shifted continuously before the audience.
In the images, a thunderbird as vast as the sky, its body crackling with lightning like a great eagle, stood at the summit of Mount Kanna. Even the mountain beneath her feet glowed with Electro light.
Day after day, sunrise and sunset, after many days of stillness, the thunderbird finally beat her great wings. She soared into the heavens with a thunderous roar, her massive form streaking across the sky, startling the islanders of Tsurumi.
They cried out in joy.
"The guardian deity! The guardian deity has appeared again!"
"Great guardian deity!"
"The guardian deity has finally come! Rain is coming!"
Seeing the great form in the sky and hearing the thunderous roar, nearly every islander prostrated themselves, sincerely worshipping the departing thunderbird.
Soon after she left, the Electro energy lingering in the sky gathered once more, and thunder rumbled. Dark clouds formed, and sweet rain fell from the heavens, nourishing the parched land of Tsurumi Island.
The islanders rejoiced. They cheered in the rain, danced in the rain, celebrating the arrival of the downpour. They brought out every vessel they had to collect the rain brought by the thunderbird, treasuring it as their vital source of water.
(T/N: In the coming weeks, there may be times when chapters aren't uploaded according to my usual schedule, or when fewer chapters than usual are uploaded. This is because college is starting, and I won't have as much free time anymore. Another reason is that Webnovel's scheduled publishing feature has been acting up lately, so chapters may not always go up when they're supposed to. I don't expect this to happen often, but I wanted to give a heads-up just in case.)