Keqing's eyes went wide.
"Su Boss actually agreed to help us subdue Osial."
Hearing her mutter in stunned disbelief, Lumine couldn't help a small smile. After watching this world for a while, she'd noticed a pattern: in the places she'd been, women held much of the real power—Knights, Qixing, even Inazuma's god. And many of those exceptional women… held diary copies.
Exceptional people came with sharp tempers and sharper wills. If Su Xuan didn't flex once in a while, how could he quiet the buzzing of every ambitious moth to the flame—and then make them line up to bring their sincerity to him?
"Since Su Xuan agreed to 'test his sword' on Osial, you two can relax," Lumine said lightly—then noticed the violet twin-tails fidgeting.
Sure enough, Keqing's cheeks tinted. "Is Su Boss easy to talk to? I've been trying to understand him through the diary. He always says he won't help, but in the end… it's him. I… I do have a knot in my heart I hope he'll cut for me."
Lumine blinked. So even the proud Yuheng had a private wish.
Keqing laid it out plainly: the Chasm.
"Could he lift the whole underground mining zone and clear the black mud that harms miners' minds? It feels like the same corruption as the black taint on Dvalin."
Paimon's eyes rounded. "Like when he dug out that Delusion factory on Yashiori—only bigger?"
Keqing nodded. Lumine did remember that Su Xuan had said Lumine herself could handle Abyssal problems—but Lumine couldn't exactly lift an entire mine. Better to ask Su Xuan to do it end-to-end; even if nothing else, it would be the perfect introduction.
"Could you introduce me?" Keqing's face was hot. She prided herself on solving things personally—asking a favor felt painfully new. "I'm not as rich as Ningguang, but I've saved a fair sum. Take it as an introduction fee."
Lumine stared. My brother's trail is cold, and everyone lines up to book Su Boss through me? Still… if Keqing would just go anyway, there was no harm in facilitating—and getting paid for it.
"Fine. He's… busy, but I'll pass it along," Lumine said with airy arrogance.
Keqing bowed gratefully. "If my guess is right, he'll wait atop the Jade Chamber for Osial's unsealing. To meet him sooner, we should accelerate the unsealing."
"Accelerate?" Paimon blinked.
Keqing's plan was brisk: withdraw funds, pay Lumine and Paimon the finder's fee, then quietly tip Tartaglia that the "immortal husk" lay in the Golden House. "This intel is mine already—not from the diary—so it shouldn't violate any rules."
Lumine and Paimon traded a look. This girl moved fast.
"Will that mess with Morax's plan? And, uh… why aren't your savings in the Northland Bank?" Paimon asked.
"It won't," Keqing said. "The point of making Tartaglia manage the Send-Off Rite was to steer him to the Golden House regardless. Besides, the Parlor's bill has already been… ah… handled." She added, "And I don't deposit Liyue's money in Snezhnayan institutions."
She tugged them toward the money house at a run.
—
Northland Bank — Manager's Office.
Manager Andrei bowed to a young man. "Lord Childe, the front desk just received a tip—the 'immortal husk' is hidden in the Golden House."
Tartaglia: "?"
I've been working all angles and got nothing… and the receptionist learns it first?
Andrei hurried on. "A blonde girl withdrawing funds from Su Xuan's account mentioned it while chatting. More importantly, her companion was Yuheng Keqing."
"The Qixing!?" Tartaglia's eyes lit. "Excellent. If the Yuheng's rattled, they'll try to move the husk. Time to act."
—
Jade Chamber.
Ningguang's desk was… disheveled. The Tianquan who ruled with one hand over Liyue now knelt at the desk, gazing dazedly at the office door. How many times had she strode through that door, elegant and in control—only for a man from beyond this world to flip the board?
She finally understood what Yelan had meant by "inescapable." The storm she'd invited was not just ceremony, but a force that unraveled the will.
A soft sound escaped her; she slumped against the wood, trembling. "Now I see… it's not 'running' that's impossible—this power… it erodes resolve."
Su Xuan blinked, freshly composed. "…Where do these women come up with such dramatic theories?"
He flicked her forehead, half-laugh, half-scold. "You shook your brain loose."
He was about to lift her and handle clean-up when a surge of malice boiled up from below the Jade Chamber.
"…Huh?"
His diary lit:
[Emergency.]
[Morax 'retires' at noon and Osial pops out at night? Timeline mismatch.]
[Even without Lumine running errands, Morax would feed Tartaglia the Golden House intel—he needs someone to take the blame.]
[Tartaglia wouldn't release Osial blindly; the Gnosis matters more than lives to him.]
[So who's the little brat ruining my… deeper conversation with Miss Ningguang?]
[Let me catch you, and I'll turn your backside into a blossom.]
Lumine folded her arms, very proud. Yes, that 'little brat' would be us.
She hadn't expected Tartaglia to move this fast. By the time they reached the Golden House, he had already unsealed Osial.
Paimon and Keqing went pale. "We're in trouble—Su Boss knows we spoiled his… negotiation," Paimon gulped.
Keqing straightened. "I'll take responsibility. I'll explain everything to him."
Explain? Lumine almost laughed. Oh, Yuheng. Too pure. She'd read Su Xuan's tone: "little brat" and "blossom" came with no real anger attached. If she struck now with a little contrition and a lot of charm…
This was an opportunity.
Before she could act, the diary flashed again—and over Liyue the stars vanished, smothered by roiling cloud.
"Rain?" Paimon looked up.
"No. Osial," Keqing said grimly.
From the city, the Guyun Stone Forest was a pillar of storm—sea and sky braided into a blue vortex. A colossal silhouette tore free of the deep. Even at this distance, the pressure stole breath.
"That is…" Cloud Retainer's voice clipped cold in the wind. "Osial indeed."
—
Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Hu Tao flipped a stack of bills. "Consultant, whom did you treat this afternoon—how did it cost so much?"
Zhongli's gaze was fixed on the Stone Forest. Still, he answered mildly, "A man kindly assisting with the Send-Off Rite."
"Oh?" Hu Tao's voice lengthened. "The very same 'kind young man' who netted us millions today?"
"Precisely the sort of major client one entertains," Zhongli said, unblinking.
Hu Tao's mouth twitched. Liar. The Lord of Geo doesn't even blush when he fibs.
He hadn't yet told Tartaglia the Golden House location. How was Osial out already? Did he underestimate the boy's initiative?
"This deviates from plan," he murmured. "Will the Qixing and adepti—"
By his reckoning, the Qixing would lock down Liyue after his "death," the adepti would confront them, and once both sides met, Tartaglia would unseal Osial. Instead, Cloud Retainer had been… commuting strangely between Jueyun and the Harbor. The other adepti weren't even gathered when Osial rose.
"Whoa! It's pouring! And look at Guyun—that giant thing is terrifying," Hu Tao said, peeking at the diary phantom. The Jade Chamber glowed, angling toward the Stone Forest—clearly moving under Su Xuan's telekinetic control.
She waggled the diary at Zhongli. "Even you can't perceive it when he doesn't want to be seen."
"Hall Master, you—" Zhongli's thoughts snapped. "There will be someone who can defeat that monster. Have faith in Liyue."
"Really? Not because the Lord of Geo isn't actually dead?" Hu Tao widened her eyes. "Because except for the Lord, I can't think of anyone…"
Zhongli: "..."
Sweat gathered—for once—at his brow.
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