Keqing hadn't given much thought to the incident with Childe.
After settling the troops, she simply returned to Mount Shu's Cave Heaven, mentioned in passing to Ningguang that the cultivation manuals had been delivered safely, and left it at that.
As for Childe blocking her path? She didn't bring it up at all.
Whether Childe was dead or alive, Keqing doubted he had perished.
After all, he was still a Harbinger. She hadn't gone all out against him.
With the Cryo Archon's gift sustaining his life, he should still be clinging to it.
And she had no intention of kicking a man while he was down.
Childe being alive was, in fact, better for everyone.
From their brief exchange, Keqing had already gleaned a rough idea of what kind of person he was.
A man who lived for battle, who trusted in his own strength to the extreme.
Well, the latter part… was probably shaken now.
Put nicely, he was a warrior.
Less nicely—he was a brawler with a bit of brains, but not too much.
Such a man was far easier to deal with in Liyue than some scheming Harbinger.
An enemy in the open was always better than a rat in the shadows.
For that reason, Keqing still hoped he would survive.
Meanwhile, Childe had already been smuggled back to the Northland Bank by the Fatui, lying half-dead upon a bed.
Given the Bank's current delicate situation and Childe's sensitive identity, they couldn't seek outside doctors. At most, they had Fatui medics patch him up.
For an ordinary person, these wounds meant certain death.
But Childe's body was anything but ordinary. With the Cryo Archon's blessing and Skirk's lingering power clinging to him, his life was merely hanging by a thread.
Now, he was nothing more than grievously injured—weak, immobile.
Flat on his back, he silently replayed the sword he had faced earlier that day.
For a moment, it was as if he were back in those days under Skirk's tutelage.
Unable to resist.
Crushed beneath despairing power.
Yet when he thought carefully… that sword immortal today, as terrifying as she was, still did not match Skirk.
The problem was—he had no idea who she truly was.
And that gnawed at him.
He didn't know how long he lay there until a Fatui soldier finally knocked and slipped inside.
"Lord Childe…"
Childe turned his gaze, voice steady:
"Have you investigated?"
Just those few words were enough to split open the wound in his chest, blood soaking through his bandages.
But he was already used to the pain, face unmoved as he looked at the soldier.
The poor man swallowed hard.
Even within the Fatui, they privately admitted—the Harbingers were all monsters.
Not just their power, but their minds as well.
When they had found Childe earlier, he'd looked like a man subjected to execution by a thousand cuts.
Blood drenched the mountaintop platform.
Sword wounds marred his chest, abdomen, neck—every vital spot.
How could anyone still be alive like that?
Even enhanced soldiers would've been corpses long ago.
"I asked you—have you investigated?"
Childe's tone grew heavier, impatience flashing.
The fresh blood spreading across his chest was enough to make the soldier shiver violently.
"H–have… have investigated!" he stammered, bowing.
"Lord Childe, according to the people of Liyue, there is no such immortal with long violet hair and cat ears.
"Most Liyue immortals are in the forms of cranes or deer.
"At the very least, there has never been record of an immortal with a feline form.
"And besides… to wound you with a single strike—no ordinary immortal could manage such a thing."
Childe frowned. His voice sank:
"Then could it have been one of Liyue's surviving Archons?"
Truth be told, he himself didn't believe a mere immortal attendant could have nearly slain him so easily.
At minimum, it had to be an Archon-level existence.
"That is even less possible, Lord Childe," the Fatui soldier quickly denied.
"During the Archon War, many Archons fought alongside Morax.
"There was one with feline traits—the Stove God, Marchosius.
"But he is confirmed to have expended his power to save Liyue, vanishing without a trace.
"As for the others—the Dust God Guizhong is confirmed dead.
"The rest were enemies of Morax, long since suppressed and sealed. If they had broken free, their first target would have been Liyue itself.
"And then there was Azhdaha, the Geo Dragon King, equal to Rex Lapis himself. He too was Morax's companion, but having lost his mind, he was sealed away by Morax and many immortals.
"We found no signs of any such immortal or Archon."
At that, Childe grew silent. After a long pause, he asked again:
"Could it be… an outsider? Someone beyond this world, come to Liyue's aid?"
"This…" The soldier hesitated, uncertain.
"It is possible… but such intelligence is beyond our reach.
"In addition…" He faltered, debating whether to voice it.
"Next time you hesitate," Childe's eyes sharpened, "I'll send you to work under Scaramouche."
The soldier blanched in terror.
Everyone in the Fatui knew—among the Harbingers, two regarded human lives as worthless: the Doctor, obsessed with experiments, and the Balladeer, utterly deranged.
Serving Scaramouche was a death sentence.
Panicked, he hurried out with it:
"W–we did find a Liyue figure resembling the one you described.
"She is Keqing, the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing.
"She wears her long violet hair styled like cat ears.
"Intelligence places her near Jueyun Karst recently. These past days, she has not been seen in Liyue Harbor.
"But she is only a Vision bearer. Compared to you, Lord Childe… impossible.
"Her Vision is Electro, and though her swordsmanship is famed, there is no way she could have struck you down so effortlessly."
Childe didn't answer.
But his thoughts suddenly drifted to the Millelith soldiers beneath Jueyun Karst—the ones who had grown inexplicably strong.
After a long silence, he asked softly:
"Do you have a picture?"
"Yes!" The soldier hurriedly produced one.
At a single glance, Childe's pupils contracted sharply.
Even in death, he would never forget that back.
The violet cat-eared head!
Case closed!
The one who had nearly slain him earlier was Keqing!
That back silhouette—unmistakable. Even weakened as he had been, he could never forget it.
Especially when she had flown upon her sword—how could he ever erase such an impression?
"Lord Childe?" the soldier ventured timidly.
Inside, Childe's thoughts roared like waves, yet his surface remained calm.
"Go," he said coldly. "Investigate who left Liyue Harbor on the day the heavens darkened with thunder.
"Then find out whether the Millelith's mobilization began after that day.
"Do not track the Yuheng's movements. Her identity is too sensitive. We cannot act openly.
"Instead, focus on this—Liyue's sudden craze for 'cultivating immortality.'
"When did it begin spreading? From where?
"And above all—confirm which high-ranking figures are currently absent from Liyue Harbor."
The soldier blinked, then hastily replied:
"Lord Childe, we already have that intelligence."
"Then out with it!" Childe snapped.
"Yes!"
"On the day of the thunder, no major official departed. Only at dawn was the half-adeptus secretary Ganyu seen leaving Liyue Harbor.
"The Millelith's redeployment began three days later.
"Likewise, Liyue's collection of strange resources—and the spread of this cultivation craze—began on the third day.
"The exact point of origin is unclear. It was as if the rumor bloomed across all of Liyue simultaneously.
"As for high-level officials…" The soldier hesitated, then sighed.
"We dare not probe too deeply into the Qixing. Most are secretive, seldom seen in the harbor.
"But the Yuheng, who once made daily rounds, has been absent for days.
"And Secretary Ganyu, famed for shouldering the workload of the entire Yuehai Pavilion alone, suddenly left—the Pavilion is now flustered, even expanding its staff.
"This suggests she too is absent.
"And as for the guest consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Zhongli—he too has not been seen in the harbor of late."
Childe's doubts only deepened.
There was no question—the one who struck him was Keqing. Absurd as it seemed, he trusted his eyes.
The thunder that darkened the skies, the sudden movement of the Millelith, the rumors spread by Liyue's authorities, the gathering of materials, the disappearance of the high-ranking…
Taken separately, they seemed meaningless.
But strung together, with Keqing's departure to Jueyun Karst…
It all pointed to one place.
All of Liyue's changes stemmed from Jueyun Karst!
Something was there—something that allowed mortals to grow powerful without Visions.
The Millelith soldiers, Keqing herself, were proof enough.
Her strength, once formidable but nowhere near a Harbinger's, had skyrocketed in mere days.
From an ordinary Vision bearer to someone who nearly killed him with ease.
Unbelievable.
And yet—it was the only explanation that made sense.
So then… were all of Liyue's high officials gathered there, in Jueyun Karst?
Even that man, Zhongli—the one the Cryo Archon had specially ordered him to approach—likely an adeptus himself—was there as well?
It all came back to that cataclysmic thunderbolt that had nearly destroyed Teyvat.
As the pieces settled, Childe only felt his head ache.
"This is too bizarre…
"What kind of existence could grant such rapid growth?"
He hesitated, then muttered with a strange look:
"Don't tell me… Liyue really is cultivating immortality?"
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