As the ground began to tremble, a furious roar followed.
"Who dares run wild in Liyue?!"
In an instant, the earth shattered. A massive stone dragon burst forth from the ground, roaring angrily at Apep.
The moment the earthquake occurred, Jiang Yan had already sensed that Azhdaha was nearby.
What he hadn't expected was that Azhdaha would be this sensitive—Apep had merely released a trace of its aura, yet Azhdaha treated it like a grave threat and personally rushed over.
"Hey! Azhdaha!"
Jiang Yan waved at him.
Azhdaha seemed to hear someone calling and turned his head to look down.
When he saw Jiang Yan, his face lit up with surprise.
"Jiang Yan! When did you get back?"
After the founding of the nation, Azhdaha hadn't stayed long in Liyue Harbor before coming to station himself in Minlin.
Now, Azhdaha held an official post.
Commander of the Millelith Minlin Forces.
In other words, all the Millelith stationed in Minlin were under Azhdaha's command.
"Haha, I just got back. Took Ganyu out for a little trip."
Jiang Yan laughed and said to him,
"No need to be so nervous. Apep is my pet—one of us."
"P-Pet?!"
Azhdaha froze for a moment and turned to look at Apep, whose body was like a mountain range, radiating a terrifying presence.
At this moment, Apep lowered its head obediently, resting it near Jiang Yan's side.
It couldn't be bothered to look at Azhdaha, nor did it care to.
You're telling me this thing is your pet?!
Azhdaha was utterly stunned.
But seeing that Apep neither refuted it nor showed any resistance—and instead stayed respectfully by Jiang Yan's side—even Azhdaha had no choice but to believe him.
Afterward, Azhdaha transformed into human form and came over.
"Tell me, Jiang Yan—what exactly have you been doing in other nations these past two years?"
Azhdaha simply couldn't imagine what Jiang Yan must have done to make a grass dragon like this submit to him.
"Ah, what bad things could I have done? I just wandered around their countries a bit."
Jiang Yan's tone was vague.
If people from other nations heard this, they'd definitely roll their eyes.
Listen to that!
Does that even sound like something a human would say?!
Even Apep couldn't help rolling its eyes.
Please—you call smashing a giant crater into the Desert of Hadramaveth with a single punch "wandering around"?
"Alright, enough chatting. I still need to take Ganyu out to have some fun."
Jiang Yan patted Azhdaha on the shoulder.
"Tonight, come to Liyue Harbor. Let's have a meal together."
Azhdaha nodded, then suddenly his eyes darted.
"Is Morax and Marchosius coming too?"
"They are. Everyone's coming—let's all get together tonight."
Jiang Yan rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what Azhdaha was thinking.
Wasn't it just about drinking in front of Morax under a contract?
You think I'm scared?
Do you even know what a liquor king is, you bastard?
Careful—I'll go next door to Mondstadt and drag that drunkard Barbatos over.
Let's see who drinks whom to death!
After two years of "training," Jiang Yan was confident in his alcohol tolerance.
No—extremely confident!
"Hehehe! Good, that's settled!"
Azhdaha didn't care whether Jiang Yan understood his intent or not.
All that mattered was that tonight, they had to drink Jiang Yan into the ground!
"Alright, we're heading off."
Jiang Yan took Ganyu with him and stood atop Apep's head.
Under Azhdaha's gaze, Apep straightened its body and flew off toward the distance.
Watching that enormous dragon silhouette, Azhdaha couldn't help smacking his lips again.
"How does it even grow that big?"
Thinking about how even his true form was still a head shorter than Apep, Azhdaha felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
After Jiang Yan and Ganyu disappeared from sight, Azhdaha headed toward Liyue Harbor.
He needed to find Marchosius ahead of time and discuss a plan—
Tonight, Jiang Yan must be taken down!
At this moment, Jiang Yan had no idea that Azhdaha was already on his way to Liyue Harbor to plot with Marchosius about drinking him under the table.
He and Ganyu sat atop Apep's head, feeling the gentle mountain breeze.
The whole scene was incredibly relaxing.
Ganyu leaned into Jiang Yan's arms, and the two quietly enjoyed the peaceful moment.
With Apep around, no wild monsters dared approach.
In fact, whenever Apep passed by, monsters in the area felt an overwhelming pressure and fled in panic.
And so, Jiang Yan and Ganyu spent the day touring Liyue, returning to Liyue Harbor by evening.
That night, Morax summoned the adepti for a gathering.
Everyone gathered atop Mount Tianheng, drinking and chatting, gazing at the countless lights of Liyue below.
Naturally, Jiang Yan couldn't escape the combined assault of Azhdaha and Marchosius.
"Two little scrubs—after two years of hardcore drinking practice, you think you can knock me out again?"
Jiang Yan raised his cup, brimming with confidence.
Azhdaha and Marchosius glanced at each other.
Simultaneously, sinister grins appeared on their faces.
…
Late at night.
Jiang Yan lay sprawled on the bed like a puddle of mud, life or death unknown.
Ganyu brewed a bowl of sobering tea in the kitchen and brought it to his bedside.
"Honestly… how many times has this been already? And you still don't learn."
With a helpless sigh, Ganyu rolled him over, helped remove his clothes, and settled him properly.
To prevent him from vomiting all over the place if he woke up, she brought a small wooden basin and placed it beside the bed.
After dealing with Jiang Yan blacking out from drinking so many times, Ganyu was already experienced.
Once she covered him with a blanket to keep him from catching a chill, Ganyu left the room.
Outside the door stood Guizhong, Cloud Retainer, Streetward Rambler, and several other female adepti. They looked toward Ganyu as she came out.
"How is he? Is Jiang Yan doing better?"
Guizhong asked with concern.
When those men drank, they really had no sense of moderation—
especially Azhdaha and Marchosius. Once drunk, they sang, danced, and relentlessly forced drinks on Jiang Yan.
In the end, even Morax joined the fray.
They drank from dusk till deep into the night, emptying seven or eight entire vats of wine.
Because they had signed a contract not to use divine power or elemental energy to sober up, all of them became extremely hyped by the end.
They even shouted about jumping off Mount Tianheng without using any power to see who could jump the farthest.
Guizhong and the others were terrified and hurriedly stopped them.
"Alright, Jiang Yan's settled. Let's all go rest as well."
Cloud Retainer said to everyone.
"Mm."
The female adepti nodded.
Ganyu, however, returned to the room—she needed to stay and take care of Jiang Yan.
After all, he was drunk to this extent.
Without someone watching over him, what if something happened?
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