"Carving words on a gravestone, huh? That's an interesting idea."
Albedo nodded in agreement. "Seems I'll need to pick up my calligraphy practice again. Wouldn't want the Abyss Order to misunderstand my message because they couldn't read it."
"Just keep it simple and legible. If you use some kind of master-level script, they might not understand it anyway," Gu Sanqiu said, waving dismissively. "Alright, I'm off. If nothing major comes up in the next couple of days, don't bother looking for me—I need to get some proper rest."
"Understood. Goodbye."
Albedo watched as Gu Sanqiu headed toward the inn, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"Thank you."
---
"My lord, you're back! Would you like me to prepare a late-night snack or a hot bath for you?"
The Fatui guard on night duty rushed over as soon as he spotted Gu Sanqiu, his expression a mixture of deference and obsequiousness.
"This is Mondstadt. What exactly are you guarding here at night?"
Even if the Fatui had done plenty of shady things in the past, this was Mondstadt. For the sake of maintaining the nation's image, the Knights of Favonius would still begrudgingly ensure their safety.
The guard looked helpless. "My lord, shortly after you left, two Harbingers also went out. Those men in teal armor have been watching us ever since."
"To avoid any of our people being assassinated, we've been taking turns standing watch, worried that we might end up mysteriously dead in the inn."
How considerate in its own twisted way.
Gu Sanqiu shook his head. "There's nothing left for you to do here. Go to bed. As long as you don't cause trouble, neither the Knights nor the Church will harm you."
"By the way, where are your Harbingers?"
The Fatui guard froze. "Uh, didn't they return at the same time as you? Both Childe and the Lady haven't come back yet."
"They haven't?" Gu Sanqiu frowned. "That's impossible. I was among the last to leave Dragonspine. Even if they didn't stick with the main group, they should've been back long ago. Are you sure they're not here?"
When the guard shook his head, Gu Sanqiu's brows furrowed. He waved the man off to get some rest, then turned and left the inn.
It wasn't that he feared for Childe and the Lady's lives—after all, they were favored by fortune, practically protagonists in their own right. What worried him was something else entirely.
Mondstadt's "beginner storyline" had already been thoroughly disrupted by his meddling, throwing many events off-script. He was concerned that their absence might mean the plot was trying to correct itself.
For instance, stealing Venti's Gnosis.
"Tch. Can't even get some peace at night."
Taking off from Mondstadt, Gu Sanqiu scanned for any sign of the Harbingers on his way back but felt no trace of them. If they were after the Gnosis, then something must have gone wrong near Mondstadt.
Perhaps they'd run into a bard lounging beneath a tree, admiring the night sky while sipping wine.
As for how they'd identified Barbatos, they likely either had a portrait provided by the Tsaritsa or some sort of detection device.
After all, Mondstadt and Liyue were fundamentally different. The latter's Archon occasionally appeared in dragon form or wandered the mortal realm incognito, while Mondstadt's Archon secluded himself in leisure, wholly uninterested in worldly affairs.
And unlike Inazuma's Archon, who buried herself in her cooking hobby, the Lady had managed to pinpoint both Archons precisely. If someone wasn't guiding her from behind the scenes, Gu Sanqiu wouldn't believe it.
"Ah, so Goldilocks remains clueless while everyone else schemes."
Each of them was a master manipulator, while Childe was left doing the hardest, riskiest work, completely in the dark. By the time everything settled, he'd only glean scraps of information from those at the top.
What a miserable existence.
"Speaking of which, that dumb poet wanted me to serve some 'princess.' Could she really be Goldilocks' sister?"
Recalling Paimon's shocked expression and Dainsleif's reaction to seeing him, Gu Sanqiu started to doubt.
"Dealing with the Abyss is one thing, but could someone from my family really have been involved with them?"
Given the twins' so-called "travel," which was really a "seven-nation tragedy tour," Gu Sanqiu seriously suspected that Dainsleif and Lumine had caused some huge commotion in Liyue—possibly even being hunted under orders from his own family. Otherwise, why would Dainsleif's memory of them be so vivid?
"Never mind. It doesn't matter. Even if Dainsleif won't tell me, I'll have Goldilocks poke around for answers later."
People reveal different things to different individuals. Even if someone knew the inquiry was on behalf of another, they'd often still answer.
Not unlike how simps will drop everything, abandon a game, and empty their wallets when their goddess calls.
"If they weren't on my way back, then they must be over there."
Gu Sanqiu picked up speed, heading toward the Windrise tree.
He doubted Childe and the Lady could move faster than he could. But if they'd already met with Venti, such a short distance was nothing to an Archon—just a single step away.
---
In the hidden domain, Decarabian observed Gu Sanqiu soaring through the sky via a wind-formed screen. The former Anemo Archon snorted in disdain.
"Hmph. Using my power as a mere flight tool? The audacity. Does that brat still not grasp the true grandeur of my gales?"
As if he couldn't tell what tricks Venti had pulled with their wager. If Decarabian couldn't figure it out, his sealed tower would've been destroyed long ago.
While he had his reasons for acting, one of them was undoubtedly Gu Sanqiu—the Liyue native who had inherited his windseed.
Gu Sanqiu's main combat techniques still relied on his earlier training, treating the windseed as little more than a flight gadget. This rankled Decarabian.
Fine, maybe I don't measure up to your Archon. But I'm still the God of Tempestuous Whirlwinds. Show a little respect for the power I granted you.
That was why he'd taken the unusual step of manifesting his tower's shadow and hurling it at Dragonspine—to demonstrate the true power of Anemo combat.
"But it seems the boy has found his path."
Decarabian mused. Personal growth in combat was the hardest to discern, as it stemmed from one's unique experiences.
As someone who occasionally monitored Gu Sanqiu's battles for entertainment, Decarabian had noticed the boy's increasingly unpredictable fighting style.
No matter how refined his spear techniques were, Liyue's martial arts carried an inherent weight. Anemo power, while capable of grand, sweeping strikes, was also innately agile and light.
Yet Gu Sanqiu's attacks had grown stranger—wild and serpentine. A spear thrust might begin as a ferocious dragon and end as a venomous snake.
Rather than copying what he'd learned, he was creating moves uniquely suited to his own mindset.
"An interesting kid. Makes for good entertainment."