Chapter 57: The Bai-Style Physical Deep Hypnosis Method
The Goth Grand Hotel was one of the largest and most luxurious hotels in Mondstadt. Every time the Windblume Festival came around, it would be filled with tourists and merchants from all over the nations.
But in recent years, the sight of those visitors had disappeared, because the entire place had been rented out by the Fatui.
Three years ago, the Fatui diplomatic counselor Anastasia, acting in the name of the Harbinger Pantalone, had leased the hotel indefinitely and turned it into an embassy.
From the guards at the entrance to the cleaning staff, everyone had been replaced with members of the Fatui.
Many people couldn't help but sigh in amazement—perhaps only an organization as wealthy and extravagant as the Fatui would do something like this.
"Ausbilder, sir!"
Seeing the black figure approaching from afar, Luke immediately straightened his posture.
Originally, Luke had been the captain in charge of security at the Goth Grand Hotel. Unfortunately, he had been tricked by Kaeya into revealing far too much information. In the end, Counselor Anastasia personally decided to strip him of all his duties and assign him to the entrance as a mere doorman.
But he had no complaints.
After all, another man with a similar offense, Krupp, still hadn't had his corpse fished out of Cider Lake.
"Open the door."
Even though his face was hidden behind a mask, no one dared question his identity.
"Yes, sir!"
Luke quickly opened the hotel doors for him and watched as he entered.
As for the girl on his back…
Whatever. He just needs to guard the door properly. If he angered the Ausbilder, he might be demoted again—next time to toilet-cleaning duty.
Bai Luo refused help from anyone. Alone, he carried Collei back to his room.
After all, the plague in her body had not yet been fully cured.
He might be able to ignore such things, but others could not.
He placed the still-unconscious Collei on the pristine white bed, then went into the bathroom and began filling the bathtub.
Perhaps she had been tormented by the whispers of a god for far too long. Now that everything had suddenly grown quiet, her tightly wound nerves finally relaxed.
The exhaustion from their long journey, combined with the mental strain, had finally caused her to collapse.
Just as the tub was nearly full, someone knocked on Bai Luo's door.
It was Lyudmila—the female Fatui envoy often seen whispering with her companions near the teleport waypoint.
After returning, Bai Luo had asked her to procure some medicine.
Although these drugs couldn't cure Collei's illness, they could at least ease some of her suffering.
After pouring the medicinal solution into the bath in the proper proportions, Bai Luo returned to Collei's side.
The sweat from the long journey, along with the marks left by the plague on her skin, filled the air around her with a strange odor.
Bai Luo showed no disgust. After removing her tattered clothes, he also began unwrapping the bandages wound around her body.
The bandages had long since yellowed, even sticking to her flesh. As he removed them, pieces of foul-smelling tissue were sometimes torn away as well.
"Mm…"
Collei's eyelids trembled slightly. Pain at this level was enough to show signs of waking her from unconsciousness.
Seeing this, Bai Luo slowly raised his arm.
Over many years, he had developed a method for knocking people out without injuring them.
He called it the Bai-Style Physical Deep Hypnosis Method.
And now, he used it on Collei.
With a muffled groan, her head tilted to one side, and she lost consciousness again.
After confirming she had fainted, Bai Luo carefully continued removing the remaining bandages.
Once they were all gone, even he couldn't help but sigh.
Compared to back then, the child had grown so much.
Gently lifting her, Bai Luo carried her into the bathroom and placed her into the tub filled with medicinal liquid. Apart from her head, her entire body was submerged.
The medicine worked well. The deep frown on Collei's face gradually eased, and she even began to emit faint snores.
After soaking her long enough, Bai Luo lifted her out, applied ointment, and wrapped fresh bandages around her.
However, before he could dress her, a rapid knock on the door interrupted him.
When he opened it, Anastasia stood outside—the highest-ranking Fatui member in Mondstadt besides Bai Luo.
"Ausbilder, sir, Mr. Garifla was assassinated before leaving Mondstadt. It seems to be…"
Anastasia did not continue speaking. As a Fatui diplomatic counselor, she knew very well what that kind of flame represented.
She even began to suspect that the method used to make those documents and people disappear from the world might have been the work of the man standing before her.
"I leave the matter of pressuring Mondstadt to you. You're better at handling this kind of thing. Inform me only if something arises that you can't control."
"Understood, sir!"
Having received permission, Anastasia immediately accepted the order.
She liked superiors who delegated authority like this, while Bai Luo liked subordinates who took everything upon themselves.
The two of them could be said to be birds of a feather—cough… kindred spirits.
Speaking of which, he also needed to hurry up and start making his own small moves. After all, this was a task personally arranged by Her Majesty the Tsaritsa. Slacking off was not an option.
Before that, however, he should first change the little girl into a new set of clothes.
The previous set… could practically be described as barely covering her body.
Taking a brand-new outfit, Bai Luo returned to the room.
But the moment he opened the door, what greeted him was a sharp fruit knife.
Collei's angle of attack was extremely tricky. If caught off guard, anyone would surely have been struck by her.
The reason she had been able to travel safely across the Seven Nations after Bai Luo left her back then was not only due to the natural protection of her illness and the power of the Archon Residue, but also because of this very assassination technique.
Unfortunately… she had chosen the wrong opponent.
The one who had taught her this set of assassination skills in the first place was Bai Luo.
And how could Bai Luo possibly be injured by his own techniques?
Avoiding the wound on her wrist, he grabbed her arm, first disarming her by taking away the fruit knife, then throwing her back onto the large bed.
Collei flipped herself upright without hesitation and activated her trump card—the power of the Archon Residue.
Yet the whispers that had once constantly tempted her to use that power were now completely gone.
Those powers could no longer be mobilized.
"Wh— why?"
"Because it's only the remnants of some Archon. And on me… there is the aura of a living Archon!"
Throwing the clothes in his hand toward Collei, Bai Luo explained.
So far, he was actually quite satisfied with this child.
She was sufficiently vigilant and ruthless. Every strike she made had been aimed straight at his throat.
She was far better than the debt collectors he had trained back then.
If he had known earlier, he would have taken her back with him at the time. Maybe she could've even formed a Cipher Pol within the Debt Collector unit or something.
"Then… who exactly are you?"
Staring fixedly at Bai Luo, Collei did not immediately put on the clothes he had thrown to her. Instead, she asked cautiously.