The man gazed out silently, his sight unimpeded by the several thousand meters separating him from a plain, unassuming courtyard.
His eyes pierced through space, fixing on the residence.
Suddenly, a ball of intense flames ignited directly behind him, just a step away.
Immediately after, a man completely enveloped in a long robe, with an attached hood, appeared.
"Young Master!"
"Mmm..."
Tartaglia subtly glanced sideways. The mountain breeze ruffled his short, light brown hair, sending an involuntary shiver down the debt collector's spine.
This young man, who appeared to be a cheerful, sunny boy, was in fact.
The lowest-ranked Fatui Harbinger, yet also the executive in charge of all Fatui operations in Liyue.
But even at the lowest rank, he was a terrifying existence, unimaginable to ordinary people, and even to those with a Vision.
Don't be fooled by the Young Master's seemingly cheerful demeanor; are any Fatui truly good people?
Tartaglia was merely considered the "gentler" one among that group of mad Harbingers.
But even the Fatui working under Tartaglia understood that his gentleness was reserved only for his own family.
It was precisely because of his family that he retained a sliver of kindness.
Perhaps startled by Tartaglia's gaze, the debt collector hesitated to speak.
Tartaglia's expression remained unchanged, even carrying a slight smile in his eyes.
He chuckled softly and said, with a hint of playfulness:
"What? Do I need to invite you to speak?"
Instantly, a bone-chilling cold erupted from the debt collector's soul. He immediately dropped to one knee, drenched in sweat.
"Forgive me, Young Master! I've already managed to uncover some of the information you requested."
"Some?"
Tartaglia turned around, looking down at the debt collector.
Large beads of sweat were now dripping onto the ground from the latter.
"Yes! The power of the Fatui, and even the Northland Bank, is extensively restrained by the Qixing in Liyue, especially by Tianquan Ningguang. Our intelligence channels are difficult to establish."
Tartaglia didn't respond, merely letting the smile fade from his face.
"Tianquan Ningguang, wealthy and influential... Heh, truly a character who can give even that 'rich guy' a headache."
"Never mind. Tell me what you've found."
The debt collector breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said:
"Yes! That small courtyard belongs to Yuheng Keqing. Other than that... there were no other discoveries."
"An ordinary small courtyard? Ha..."
Tartaglia shook his head, amused.
The next moment, he blurred, appearing with a beaming smile in front of the debt collector, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him up.
Tartaglia's face still held that bright, cheerful smile.
"Are you saying that an ordinary small courtyard is guarded by five elite Millelith soldiers?"
"An ordinary small courtyard, yet it warrants consecutive daily visits from Tianquan, Yuheng, and that legendary half-adeptus, the Qixing Secretary?"
"An ordinary small courtyard, yet this very morning, a genuine Liyue adeptus, the Yaksha, Conqueror of Demons, graced it with his presence?"
"How interesting. Could it be that Yuheng wields such immense power? This level of protection, if one didn't know better, one would think it was Rex Lapis's private residence."
The debt collector's face instantly turned beet red, but he dared not reach out to grab Tartaglia's arm.
Enduring motionless might allow him to live, but if he dared to resist, he would instantly become fertilizer for the trees at the foot of Mount Tianheng.
"Young Master... there's... there's more news."
The debt collector spoke with difficulty. Tartaglia grunted and casually tossed him aside.
"My patience is limited. If this news doesn't impress me... the Doctor might be in dire need of new experimental material."
"Yes!"
The debt collector shivered, then quickly said:
"A few days ago, strange phenomena also occurred on Mount Tianheng. Not just our people, but the Liyue locals also heard about it."
"Mount Tianheng experienced continuous tremors at night. It seemed as if some giant beast was tearing apart the earth."
"In the early morning, from the peak of Mount Tianheng to the sky above the Liyue Sea, the clouds were parted, creating a path, as if... as if someone had punched through them."
"Besides that, rumors in the market say that after the first tremor that night, a large contingent of Millelith immediately set off for Mount Tianheng."
"However, they were intercepted midway by Yuheng and the Qixing Secretary, who ordered that no one, regardless of what happened, was allowed to set foot on Mount Tianheng."
"The next day, there were rumors that an emergency Qixing meeting was briefly held at the Jade Chamber..."
"After that, we couldn't uncover any more information. Even the defensive forces around Mount Tianheng and the searches within Liyue Harbor intensified."
"Many of our intelligence agents have been captured these past few days."
This time, after hearing the debt collector's report, Tartaglia was no longer as careless as before.
He frowned slightly, and the smile on his face vanished completely.
His gaze, deep and distant, fixed on the small courtyard several thousand meters away.
"It seems... everything is related to the changes in that small courtyard, or rather..."
"Who exactly is living inside?"
Tartaglia's curiosity was strongly piqued.
He had heard the legends of the tremors on Mount Tianheng, but he hadn't known that the clouds in the sky had also been parted.
If what accomplished all of this was truly a person, or an adeptus...
"Well! Whatever it is, as long as it's a living creature, it should make for a worthy opponent, right?"
Tartaglia grinned, gazing deeply at the small courtyard. He had no intention of exploring it now.
He was belligerent, but not foolish.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have risen to the rank of Harbinger.
Forcing himself to calm his surging battle-lust, Tartaglia said softly:
"How is my colleague in Mondstadt faring?"
The debt collector quickly replied:
"Lady Signora's endeavors are going smoothly. She just arrived in Mondstadt City yesterday, and no one apart from our own people knows her whereabouts, but..."
The debt collector paused, then added:
"I heard that a few days ago, Mondstadt suffered a dragon disaster, and a traveler from another land actually drove back Dvalin."
"Lady Signora missed out, and she seems a little angry..."
Tartaglia pursed his lips and leisurely turned to walk towards Liyue Harbor.
"Heh, that crazy woman. Returning to Mondstadt, she'd get angry even if someone entered with their left foot first..."
"But I'm impressed she didn't immediately conjure a blizzard to force out Barbatos."
"Don't worry about her. Direct all our forces to investigate that small courtyard. Remember to be discreet. It's not yet time to openly antagonize the Qixing."
"Yes..."
Their figures faded into the distance, and soon, they vanished without a trace.
Not long after they left, a rather aged sigh echoed through the mountains.
"Alas... a time of many troubles."
A few tender leaves rustled down from the mountain, and then the wind settled.
Zhongli, even after thousands of years, still liked to keep a contingency plan.
It wasn't to guard against Jiang Xuan, but to worry about external forces affecting him.
Jiang Xuan certainly wouldn't be in trouble, but if he were to unleash a furious punch.
Wouldn't Teyvat end up with a center parting in its hair?
After all, Zhongli still remembered the contract he signed with the Cryo Archon, the contract to end all contracts.
And there were quite a few Fatui in Liyue Harbor right now.
…
Jiang Xuan naturally didn't realize that his existence had quietly become a vortex, attracting many complex changes.
But even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
Whether it was the Fatui or any other force, Jiang Xuan wasn't concerned.
After all, there were no conflicts of interest, and Jiang Xuan's physique, which could be called a 'one-punch man' in Teyvat, allowed him to disregard any danger.
However, Liyue was special.
Jiang Xuan was currently in a honeymoon phase with Liyue, cooperating and planning for shared development, having a wonderfully joyous time.
Therefore, for the sake of his grand construction project, and for the sake of his good friends.
Whoever touched Liyue was touching his Jiang Xuan's world development progress, affecting his progress, and that would make Jiang Xuan unhappy.
And if Jiang Xuan wasn't happy.
Who knew where he might throw a punch.
And then...
All past grievances would vanish.
Those with differing opinions would first have to survive his punch to voice them.
After clearing out the monsters, Jiang Xuan quickly told Ganyu to rest while he collected the items dropped by the monsters.
The drop rate was very high, thanks to Ganyu's good luck, mostly good items were obtained.
But Jiang Xuan wasn't happy.
Without a hopper, just picking up items was painstakingly tedious.
Jiang Xuan couldn't wait to quickly go mining for iron.
After counting the monster drops, about half an hour had passed since entering the MC world.
Jiang Xuan looked up at the sun, then walked back and called over Cloud Retainer and Ganyu to go down together.
Cloud Retainer gazed nostalgically at the stone generator and the mob grinder not far away, then transformed into a crane and leisurely flew down.
Jiang Xuan and Ganyu, however, still had to climb down step by step.
This made Jiang Xuan vow to find a way to achieve flight as soon as possible.
Below, the busy Keqing and Ningguang, seeing Cloud Retainer fly down, also understood it was time to leave.
They all stopped their work and went to wait below the Sky Island.
They landed almost simultaneously with Jiang Xuan.
Without Jiang Xuan needing to say anything, everyone cheerfully reported their gains.
"Jiang Xuan, I only made twenty-one stone pickaxes, an average of three per person. Should that be enough?"
"Jiang Xuan, the crops have been collected. Twenty-seven potatoes, eighteen carrots, and I also went out and gathered some straw to make thirty loaves of bread."
"I've also roasted all the chicken and pork into cooked meat. I think that should be enough."
"The magma is in place, and there are five stacks of cobblestone."
Seeing everyone else finish their work, with only himself carrying two stacks of stones in his pocket, Cloud Retainer fell silent.
She felt like everyone else was working hard, and she was just slacking off...
If she reported, the Archon was right there watching. She couldn't very well say she'd been playing around for half a day.
But if she didn't report... the Archon had already implied, 'Are you trying to be special?'
For a moment, Cloud Retainer was in a dilemma.
Fortunately, Jiang Xuan chuckled and clapped his hands.
"Alright, we've cleared out the monsters above and brought three stacks of torches and some other things."
"Since preparations are complete, let's head down to the mine!"
Suddenly, Keqing raised her hand, her face full of conflicted emotions.
"Wait a moment, Jiang Xuan!"
"I... I still want to know what that mod is..."
Hearing this, Jiang Xuan smiled mysteriously.
"You'll know once we enter the mine."
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