Lumine was now terrified that Shao Yun might suddenly change his mind, so she hurried to divert the topic and pressed, "Let's not talk about that for now! Right—what exactly was the second thing you mentioned before? Hurry and tell me!"
Shao Yun began recounting the second matter.
"Actually, it's like this. Babel knew we were planning to leave here, so she came to me, saying she wanted to discuss something. What she meant was…"
At this point, Shao Yun's gaze uncontrollably drifted toward Liloupar's bottle.
Sensing Shao Yun's line of sight, Liloupar reacted as if facing a mortal threat, quickly darting behind Lumine's back.
Then she leaned her upper body forward, unleashing a torrent of curses toward Shao Yun.
"Hmph! Absolutely impossible! Don't you dare try to hand me over to that venomous woman with a heart as cruel as a serpent! Let me tell you— that hateful woman is practically a dead fish, reeking with a nauseating stench!"
Liloupar originally wanted to add that if he got involved with that woman, he too would rot and stink, but with Lumine present, she held her tongue.
Seeing Liloupar so agitated, Shao Yun quickly laughed and explained, "Relax, will you? I'm not that foolish and tyrannical! I already told Babel to talk to Lumine herself."
Lumine shook her head rapidly, firmly expressing her stance. "No way, no way! No matter what, I could never hand Liloupar over! Worst case, we just bring her along on our journey!"
"We can afford to take care of Paimon—why would we be afraid of not being able to take care of Liloupar? Besides, Liloupar seems cheaper to maintain than Paimon!"
Hearing this, Liloupar was instantly overjoyed, her voice trembling with excitement.
"Recognizing you as my master is truly the greatest honor of my life!"
Seeing Liloupar so ecstatic, Shao Yun teased Paimon beside him. "Wow, looks like Paimon has a competitor now."
Paimon blinked at Shao Yun, completely unable to understand how Liloupar—who's just a magic floating bottle—could be considered her rival.
Her cheeks puffed up in fury, hands on her hips as she shouted indignantly, "Hmph! What kind of joke is that? How could Liloupar possibly replace me, Paimon? She's nowhere near as cute and charming as I am!"
Shao Yun listened and couldn't help but nod slightly. Then he raised his right hand and stroked his chin.
His gaze first fell upon Liloupar, examining her from head to toe, before turning back to Paimon with a faint smile as he slowly spoke.
"Mm, that's true. After all, I can't exactly treat a bottle as my precious daughter."
The moment the words left his lips, Paimon's eyes widened, her tiny mouth gaping open, struck speechless.
A long moment passed before she finally recovered, shaking her head helplessly and spreading her hands.
"Aiya… fine, fine. I'm long used to you taking advantage of me like this from time to time."
"But no matter what you say, I'm absolutely never calling you 'Dad'. That's way too embarrassing!"
…
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
Just as she previously promised, Babel truly did hand over part of the tribal administrative authority to Jeht.
The posture she displayed indeed looked like she was genuinely grooming Jeht—regarding her as a successor.
Jeht herself did not slack off in the slightest. Wanting to repay the tribe, she devoted herself fully, and began actively preparing for her upcoming tribal coming-of-age assessment.
During this period, Lumine and Jeht once again snatched the Energy Transformation Capacitor from the Fatui, and Benben regained its vitality.
It is worth noting that ever since Lumine and Jeht obtained the Energy Transformation Capacitor from the Fatui, Masseira had been acting strangely.
Whenever he looked at Lumine, there was always a faint yet undeniable hostility.
On the surface, everything seemed back on track, yet beneath the calm facade, dark currents churned, danger lurking everywhere.
…
And so, on yet another ordinary day, Shao Yun lifted a cup of coffee brewed from ground beans and stood leisurely outside the tent.
Everything felt peaceful. The only flaw was that Lumine and Paimon had vanished early that morning—and even Jeht didn't know where they went.
"Strange… Lumine and Paimon disappeared first thing in the morning. Where in the world did they go?" Shao Yun muttered while slowly savoring his coffee.
Maybe they went to Sumeru City to handle daily commissions? If he'd known, he would have asked them to bring back some coffee beans…
Just as he was about to turn around and return to the tent, suddenly, a figure streaked toward him at incredible speed.
Focusing his eyes, he saw Lumine returning—her face twisted in fury, and more importantly, streaked with several bright red smears of blood on her fair cheeks, a shocking sight.
Seeing this, Shao Yun's heart tightened, assuming Lumine was wounded. He rushed forward in a few quick strides, urgently asking, "What happened? Lumine—this blood on your face—?"
But Lumine's eyes were stubborn and blazing with resolve; it was as if she hadn't heard Shao Yun's question at all. She simply shouted, "Where's Masseira?! Shao Yun, did you see him?!"
At this moment, Lumine was wearing her "Cowgirl Gunslinger" outfit, both hands gripping a pair of gold-and-silver Schofield revolvers, her entire being radiating a razor-sharp killing intent.
Shao Yun immediately understood—this appearance of Lumine must be tied to Tadhla.
But he still pressed her again, "What exactly happened?"
Faced with his questioning, Lumine clenched her teeth so tightly that the muscles in her face twitched; she looked possessed, repeating only one sentence over and over.
"I must find Masseira!"
Shao Yun grabbed her shoulders, shaking her with all his strength as his anxious voice rose again, "What happened?! Tell me, quickly!"
Jostled like this, Lumine finally snapped out of her daze.
She lifted her head, her gaze gradually settling upon Shao Yun's deeply worried face.
Drawing a deep breath, suppressing all the emotions surging within her, she finally began recounting everything she experienced with Tadhla over the past few days.
However, there was one key difference—Lumine had not met Tadhla because of Masseira's commission.
This time, Lumine had approached Masseira on her own.
Originally, Lumine wanted to understand the specifics of the Tanit tribe's coming-of-age assessment so that she could offer Jeht helpful insights and assistance later.
Thus, during her conversations with Masseira, she happened to learn about Tadhla.
Afterward, Lumine made contact with Tadhla, and the two gradually became familiar.
When she reached this part of the story, Lumine pressed her lips tightly together, eyes reddening as tears welled up.
After a moment, her trembling hand reached into her belongings, carefully taking out Tadhla's Feather, and she choked, "Tadhla taught me how to better dissect prey. We… became friends."
"But Masseira ordered her to kill me. Yet Tadhla didn't want to—she deliberately let herself lose to me…"
Before she could finish, Lumine suddenly threw herself into Shao Yun's arms, crying loudly like a child who had been grievously wronged.
While sobbing, she continued brokenly, "I never wanted to kill Tadhla…! She was tricked by Masseira! I wanted to spare her!"
"But when she realized I couldn't bring myself to finish her off… she threw herself onto my blade without hesitation… and then… she never woke up again…"
Shao Yun gently stroked Lumine's silky hair, his eyes half-closed as he murmured, "Tadhla…"
Although Shao Yun had barely known Tadhla, since she had become Lumine's friend, he still felt a pang of regret at her death…
Still, the gain was considerable—after this, Lumine probably wouldn't have any psychological burden when killing members of the Tanit tribe.
Just then, Jeht returned from her morning training.
Seeing Lumine nestled quietly in Shao Yun's warm embrace, softly sobbing—
She rushed over in just a few strides, anxiously asking, "Lumine! What happened—did someone hurt you?! I'll go teach them a lesson right now!"
At her side, Paimon hurried to explain everything that had happened.
Upon hearing it all, Jeht's fur practically bristled in fury, and she roared through gritted teeth, "Masseira, that bastard! No wonder he was sneaking around early this morning—so this was the reason!"
Then Jeht turned toward Lumine, offering a firm promise.
"Lumine, don't worry. I'll go kill him right now! Anyone who dares lay a hand on you—I'll take their life!"
Jeht then prepared to search the desert like finding a needle in the ocean, hoping to track down Masseira's whereabouts.
Shao Yun quickly stopped her and said, "Alright, Jeht, leave this matter to me."
Hearing that Shao Yun intended to personally deal with Masseira, Jeht looked worried, as though she wanted to say something.
"But—"
She barely uttered one word before Shao Yun refused to give her the chance to finish, cutting her off. "No buts! That's settled!"
…
In the blink of an eye, it was the following night.
Across the Desert of Hadramaveth, there was a makeshift camp.
At this moment, Masseira—filthy, exhausted, and panicked like a startled bird—was crouched beside the campfire, trembling.
He tightly gripped a wooden stick, absentmindedly stirring the bubbling hot dinner in the pot.
Just as Masseira lifted his head to gaze at the glittering stars in the night sky, desperately considering where he should flee next, suddenly, a familiar and bone-chilling voice drifted from behind him.
"Masseira, my good sir… disappearing without a word is rather discourteous of you."
Hearing this voice, Masseira jolted as if struck by lightning; his entire body stiffened violently. Then, as if a spring burst beneath him, he shot straight to his feet.
He spun around instantly, terror written all over his face, stammering, "H-How… how did you even find me?!"
Shao Yun did not answer him. He simply walked toward the blazing campfire, eyes fixed on the pot of rolling, bubbling stew.
Upon seeing what was in the pot, Shao Yun's expression instantly shifted into one of obvious distaste, and he mocked,
"Your dinner sure is bland—no flavor at all. Just boiling crocodile meat in plain water? I wouldn't even feed Paimon something like this. Your taste buds must be suffering as badly as you are…"
Masseira didn't need to guess why Shao Yun had come; he hurried to explain, "Don't mock me yet—listen! I have my reasons! Lady Babel ordered me to do all this!"
Shao Yun didn't respond—he only stared at him.
After a moment, Shao Yun added lightly,
"I recall telling you—people should know their place."
Hearing this, cold sweat poured down Masseira's forehead. He knew that unless he came up with a foolproof plan to save his life, he might die the very next second.
So, thinking quickly, he offered what he believed was a flawless plan.
"Listen!" Masseira leaned close to Shao Yun with a flattering smile, lowering his voice. "I can return with you and confront Babel face-to-face."
"Then we dump all the blame onto her. After that, we work together to get rid of her, and I'll personally support Jeht becoming the new matriarch of the tribe. What do you think?"
Shao Yun stood expressionless, his right hand casually resting on the Cowboy Revolver holstered at his waist.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and replied in an utterly bored tone, "I have zero interest in your tribe's petty schemes and power struggles…"
Then he emphasized his next words.
"And to be honest with you, if I actually wanted to kill all of you, I could do it easily within the time it takes to smoke a single cigar."
Masseira's heart sank at those words, but then another possibility came to his mind.
He quickly continued persuading, "Don't tell me… it's because of that woman, Babel?"
"You mustn't be fooled by that lovely face or that fiery figure of hers! Sure, she looks decent enough, but inside she's as venomous as a serpent!"
"A man as exceptional as you—what kind of woman in this world couldn't you get? Why risk your life for such a vicious woman?"
The more he spoke, the more excited he became, as though he had forgotten he was in mortal danger.
But Shao Yun only shot him a cold glance and sneered, "Who do you think I am? If I couldn't control myself, I'd already have girls out there raising my illegitimate children…"
Shao Yun extended his left hand and lazily wiggled his fingers, beginning to list examples.
"For instance… Noelle—ah… no, she's still a child… so that only leaves Ningguang and Yae Miko…"
Suddenly, a wave of disgust washed over Shao Yun, and he quickly corrected himself, "Pah—pah! What disgusting nonsense am I saying? You almost dragged my thoughts off a cliff!"
Steadying himself, he turned back toward Masseira and asked sternly, "Tell me—why do you think I'm killing you because of Babel, that foul-smelling 'fish'?"
Faced with Shao Yun's unwavering resolve, Masseira's fear only grew.
Seeing that begging was his only hope, he persisted desperately, "Please, I beg you—spare me! If you let me live, I swear I can still be of great use to you in the future!"
Hearing this, Shao Yun's lips curved upward into a faintly mocking smile as he said slowly, "Oh? Really? Then tell me—what is your greatest use right now?"
After a brief pause, Shao Yun stared straight at Masseira and enunciated, "Let me tell you—your greatest use at this moment is becoming the EXP fodder Lumine needs to level up her Deadeye."
"So, tell me—should I just tie you up and bring you back, so Lumine can practice her marksmanship on you?"
After saying this, Shao Yun suddenly seemed to reconsider, gently shaking his head to deny his own idea.
"Mm… on second thought, that seems like too much effort for too little gain. Lumine will have plenty of EXP later anyway. After all, every single one of your tribe's members will become her EXP fodder…"
Hearing the increasingly terrifying words coming out of Shao Yun's mouth, Masseira swallowed nervously and said, "What are you even talking about?! What's a Deadeye? And why are you saying things I don't understand?!"
Shao Yun dug at his ear with his pinky and said, "Because I'm talking to a dead man."
Then he slowly drew John's Cattleman Revolver and said calmly, "Now—say cheese."
===BREAK===
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