Lin Mo took the wine cup and smiled faintly.
It had been… how many years now?
Several thousand years had passed since Barbatos last saw him.
Ever since Lin Mo learned that the bodies of his ninety-nine previous lives had merged into one, he knew Barbatos would come looking for him sooner or later.
After all, as the Anemo Archon, nothing that happened across Mondstadt could truly escape Barbatos's notice.
Holding the cup, Lin Mo looked at him with a smile and asked,
"Should I call you Barbatos… or Venti?"
"Hehe… I'm already using your name and your body anyway. I can stop using them in the future, can't I?"
Barbatos laughed awkwardly.
"What do you mean my body? I'm not that short!"
Lin Mo protested at once.
"Eh? But I remember very clearly—when we first met, you were exactly this short~"
Barbatos said smugly.
"Don't 'eh-he' me!"
Lin Mo couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
"When we met, I was only fourteen! I hadn't even finished growing yet. Couldn't you at least turn into how I looked the last time we met?"
"But I really miss how you looked back then."
Barbatos smiled with his eyes half-closed, clearly seeing no problem at all with keeping this youthful appearance.
"Fine, fine. Do whatever you want."
Lin Mo waved his hand indifferently.
He had long since stopped using the 'Venti' persona anyway.
This appearance only resembled his current self by maybe ten percent at best, so it didn't really bother him.
If Barbatos liked this form and this name, then so be it.
"Oh, right—Lord Venti."
At this moment, Barbatos voiced the doubt that had been bothering him.
"You're not a god. So how were you able to return to the mortal world?"
In his understanding, only gods were truly immortal.
Even after a god faded away, they would eventually return one day—
just like Guoba, the Stove God of Liyue.
Lin Mo had already prepared an answer for this question.
But instead of explaining right away, he corrected him first:
"First of all, I'm not called Venti in this life. My name is Mode Ganqing. You are Venti. Don't get it wrong again."
"Secondly, as for why I returned…"
He put on a solemn expression.
"It was due to the blessing of the Moon Goddess."
Barbatos never once suspected Lin Mo of lying.
His eyes widened instantly.
"You… you met the Moon Goddess?!"
The Moon Goddess, the Abyssal Moon Goddess, and the Crimson Moon Goddess—
the three most ancient deities of Teyvat.
And the Heavenly Principles were none other than the Crimson Moon Goddess, the ultimate victor of the ancient divine war.
Lin Mo nodded and continued his improvised tale with a straight face:
"That's right. After I died, I met the Moon Goddess at the boundary between life and death in Mondstadt."
"She admired my selfless devotion to Mondstadt."
"And promised that one day in the future, I would be allowed to return to the mortal world."
"So… I came back."
Even Lin Mo felt that this lie was absolutely flawless.
"Being able to see you again… is wonderful…"
Barbatos smiled, his expression filled with emotion.
"Now I can finally quit drinking~"
From the fact that he had taken Lin Mo's appearance and inherited the name 'Venti,'
it was clear just how deep their friendship had once been.
Because he missed his old friend too much, he had even learned to numb himself with alcohol.
"Well, you don't really need to quit," Lin Mo said casually.
"You don't do any real work even when you're sober."
"I— I do too!"
Barbatos protested.
"Then what about the dragon crisis?"
Lin Mo smiled.
"Dvalin, the Anemo Archon's own companion, was corrupted and deceived by the Abyss right under your nose. Don't tell me you didn't know."
"Cough, cough… I was drunk those days. Slept for several days straight…"
Barbatos looked embarrassed.
But in the next moment, he puffed out his chest righteously.
"Hey! I was filling in as the Anemo Archon for you, you know!"
"If you hadn't sacrificed yourself back then, the position of Anemo Archon should've been yours!"
"For Mondstadt to develop this far, I've already worked really hard, okay?!"
…
"Worked… hard?"
Lin Mo's cheek twitched slightly.
Mondstadt's prosperity had nothing to do with Barbatos at all.
After the fall of Decarabian, the Lord of the Tower,
Barbatos had adopted a completely hands-off policy toward Mondstadt.
The city's current state was built entirely through the joint efforts of several great families.
"Hey—if you think I'm bad at being the Anemo Archon, then you do it!"
A sly glint flashed in Barbatos's eyes.
As he spoke, he took out his crystal vessel containing the Gnosis and handed it toward Lin Mo.
"Here! Take it—once you have this, you'll be the new Anemo Archon!"
"Go to hell. Don't even think about dumping your mess on me."
Lin Mo rejected him without hesitation.
He didn't believe for a second that possessing a Gnosis meant one could stand against the Heavenly Principles.
After all, the Gnosis itself was nothing more than a tool created by the Heavenly Principles to govern the Seven Nations.
What's more, this particular Gnosis played a crucial role in the story's future.
Taking it lightly would almost certainly derail the entire course of events.
"But… I don't want to be the Anemo Archon…"
Barbatos looked genuinely distressed.
"I don't want to either. I've got enough of my own troubles. I don't have the time or energy to guard Mondstadt for you."
"Oh, right!"
Barbatos suddenly remembered something.
"Earlier, you looked pretty troubled. Is there anything I can help you with?"
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T/N:
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