On the other side of Liyue, in a quiet office lit by lamplight—
Baiwen straightened her expression, sensing the tension in Baixiao's face.
"From the way you look," she said slowly, "something big must have happened."
Baixiao drew a deep breath, her expression grave.
"Lady Ningguang has given an order. Starting tomorrow, the two of you are to keep watch on the skies around all of Liyue, all day. At the same time, the Millelith in every region are to raise their alert level."
"Especially around Wangshu Inn, Dihua Marsh, and the coastal waters near Liyue Harbor. There must be no mistakes."
At that, both Baishi and Baiwen froze for a moment.
They exchanged a look, hearts rippling with shock.
"Lady Ningguang actually issued a command like that?"
Such orders were extremely rare.
Liyue was normally very stable.
Yes, there were occasional disturbances from Treasure Hoarders or the Fatui,
but there had never been a need for this kind of semi-lockdown—
much less round-the-clock surveillance of the sky.
Baiwen's gaze darkened, a trace of caution entering her voice.
"What exactly happened, for Lady Ningguang to be this cautious?"
Baishi pushed back a lock of hair from her forehead, her eyes sharp as she looked at Baixiao.
"Is this because of the Rite of Descension?"
Baixiao took another deep breath and answered, voice low:
"Just now, above the Jade Chamber… a flying ship appeared."
The words had barely left her lips when both Baishi and Baiwen's expressions changed.
"A flying ship?"
Baiwen straightened so quickly her chair creaked, eyes wide.
"Do you mean something like an adeptal flying mechanism?"
Baixiao shook her head, tone firm.
"It wasn't Liyue's mechanism arts."
She recalled that brief but unforgettable glimpse, brows knitting.
"I saw it with my own eyes. It was a huge vessel completely unlike any Liyue ship. It was fully suspended in mid-air. A black hull with sleek lines, surrounded by strange rings of energy. There is no way Liyue's mechanisms could build such a thing."
Baishi's frown deepened.
She tapped a finger thoughtfully on the desk.
"If it's not a Liyue mechanism… then that means—"
"It came from outside Liyue," Baiwen finished quietly, her voice low.
"From outside Liyue? Even Fontaine doesn't have flying ships, do they?"
"Fontaine has their clockwork railships, but those need dedicated rails to move."
"As for ships themselves, I've never heard of one that can fly."
The room fell into hushed discussion.
Only after a long pause did Baishi speak again.
"No wonder Lady Ningguang is being so careful," she murmured.
"A colossal vessel able to roam freely above Liyue's skies… whatever it is, friend or foe, we must know where it goes."
Baiwen nodded.
"I'll keep a close eye on it."
She rose to her feet, tone light but underpinned by unmistakable seriousness.
"According to Lady Ningguang's order, I'll have the watchtowers and signal posts focus on the sky from tomorrow onward. Let's see whether that mysterious ship shows up again."
Baishi inclined her head slightly, her composure unwavering.
"I'll arrange for people to keep an ear on any rumors inside the city. If anyone claims to have seen something similar, we'll report it immediately."
Seeing the other two slip smoothly into work mode, Baixiao finally relaxed a little.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
The night outside was dark and deep.
Glazed lanterns cast their warm glow over three solemn faces.
At the same time—
High above Liyue's night sky.
Paimon watched the Jade Chamber shrink into the distance, scratched her head, and said,
"So, with this thing… we could, like, just fly around to all the other nations, right?"
"Pretty much."
Kairo nodded.
"It's very convenient for traveling."
"Though if we do that too much, it'll be harder to find Statues of The Seven and set up anchors."
His power as a Trailblazer could condense special "trailblaze anchors," but they needed to be placed where the leylines were thick and strong.
If he wanted the freedom to teleport across all of Teyvat, he still needed to establish those anchors in person, one by one.
"Hehe, this starskiff is so handy."
Paimon rubbed her hands together excitedly.
"I can already imagine all our future trips—just ride this thing everywhere!"
"Is that still called traveling?"
Lumine rolled her eyes.
"If we're just flying over everything, we're going to miss half the fun."
"All right," Kairo said with a small smile, looking down at Liyue below. "It's late. We should head back and rest."
"Don't forget—we still need to properly explore Liyue tomorrow."
"And you two haven't checked in at the Adventurers' Guild yet. We should stop by there as well."
"Oh, true."
Paimon scratched at her head.
"But that Yu-Heng of Liyue said even during the Rite of Descension we might not see the Geo Archon. He only sends down an oracle."
"If not even the Liyue Qixing can meet him, or reach him whenever they want, then won't it be really hard for us to find him?"
She'd already wondered about that when Keqing talked to them earlier, but there had been too much going on and she'd let it slip her mind.
Only now, as they were winding down from the excitement of the starskiff, did it resurface.
"Kairo probably knows a thing or two," Lumine said reflexively, glancing toward him.
"Gods can walk among mortals in disguise."
"When we met Venti in Mondstadt, you pointed out right away that he was the Anemo Archon. We checked, and it turned out to be true."
"Oh, right!"
Paimon's eyes lit up instantly as she turned to stare at Kairo.
"Then the Geo Archon too—what if he's like that bard, just wandering around Liyue City in a mortal form?"
"At the very least, he'd have the Geo element as a clue!"
"Like the bard—he's clearly the Anemo Archon, but still hangs a fake Vision at his belt to pretend otherwise."
"So the Geo Archon could totally be doing the same thing."
"Mhm."
Kairo nodded lightly.
"Even if the Liyue Qixing have never seen the Geo Archon's true form…"
"That doesn't mean he's never walked among the people."
Paimon and Lumine exchanged a startled look.
"Wait, wait—so Liyue's Archon really is roaming around the city like Venti?"
Paimon gaped in disbelief.
"What do you think?"
Kairo chuckled softly, eyes drifting toward the sea of lanternlight that was Liyue Harbor.
"The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has a 'consultant' of mysterious origin. No one knows where he came from, but he's polite, dignified, and absolutely steeped in Liyue's traditions—more than any scholar alive."
"A mysterious consultant?"
Lumine frowned slightly.
The story only seemed to be getting stranger.
"He currently oversees all ceremonies under Wangsheng's care," Kairo continued.
"Birth, death, and everything in between. Clothing, timing, venue, ritual procedure… all those tedious, complicated details—once they're in his hands, there's nothing left to worry about."
"He sounds… very knowledgeable," Paimon said, resting her chin on her hand.
"'Knowledgeable' doesn't even begin to cover it."
Kairo shook his head.
"He's refined in manner and elegant in speech. He knows every custom and rule accumulated over countless years in Liyue, and he's familiar with nearly all of Liyue's legends and historical anecdotes. Even the oldest scholars have to show him respect."
That finally drew honest surprise from both Paimon and Lumine.
"He's that impressive?" Lumine asked.
"But…"
"For someone so meticulous and proper," Kairo added with a wry smile, "he has no problem walking out the door without a single Mora on him."
"Business costs money, vehicles cost money, and yet he never seems to pay. The one who ends up covering the bill… is always someone else."
"Huh?!"
Paimon's jaw dropped.
"You're telling me this super-cultured, hyper-knowledgeable guy… is completely broke?"
"Exactly."
Kairo shrugged, voice tinged with amusement.
"He watches the most popular plays, buys the best caged songbirds, and lives with impeccable taste in everything he eats, wears, and uses. The only thing he never remembers…"
"…is paying."
Lumine: "…"
Paimon: "…"
The two of them were speechless.
"How does that not just make him some kind of lazy freeloader?" Paimon muttered, face twisted.
"Isn't he worried merchants will kick him out?"
"Even Liyue's merchants have gotten used to his eccentricities."
Kairo spread his hands.
"But they never really hold it against him—because Wangsheng Funeral Parlor always settles the accounts."
Paimon and Lumine: "…"
"If you ask him about it," Kairo went on, chuckling, "he'll probably just say—"
"Oh? No one has ever fallen out with me over money, not in all these years."
Paimon and Lumine both froze.
That attitude…
That air…
Combined with his mastery of all Liyue's culture and customs…
"W–Wait."
Paimon jerked herself back to reality, eyes as round as saucers.
"This weirdly impressive guy… don't tell me he's actually Liyue's Geo Archon?!"
Kairo only smiled faintly and watched them.
Lumine's gaze flickered, and she asked hesitantly,
"He's… a mortal vessel of Morax?"
"What do you think?"
Kairo's voice was light.
There was barely anything left to explain; all the hints were already on the table.
Paimon and Lumine looked at one another again, the same impossible thought rising in both their minds—
If the Anemo Archon was willing to wander Mondstadt as a carefree bard…
Then why couldn't Liyue's Geo Archon hide in plain sight as the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's "mysterious consultant"?
"…The more I think about it, the stranger it sounds," Paimon muttered, scratching at her head.
"Could Liyue's Archon really be working as a consultant at a funeral parlor? For what?"
"But it does make a lot of sense," she admitted after a moment.
"I mean, who else could have that deep a grasp on Liyue's traditions, perform all those intricate rites flawlessly, and be allowed to walk around freeloading without the merchants kicking him out?"
The more she thought about it, the more unsettled she felt.
Lumine looked down, lost in thought, brows drawn together.
If things were really as Kairo described… there was no chance that man was just an ordinary person.
Taken together, every clue pointed in the same direction:
the Geo Archon.
"Th–There's still a chance we're wrong, right?"
Paimon's voice was wobbly now.
"Liyue's Archon is really still walking around the city? He's lived for so long."
"Even the bard said he doesn't always stay in Mondstadt."
Kairo looked back toward Liyue Harbor, the city lights reflecting in his eyes.
"Heaven and earth leave traces," he said quietly.
"For someone like that, no one knows where he came from—and everyone's attention is drawn to the depth of his knowledge. No one bothers to ask who he really is."
"Other than Morax himself, who do you think could pull that off?"
At that, both Paimon and Lumine fell silent.
He had a point.
They finally began to grasp one simple, disconcerting truth:
the gods might be much closer than they'd ever imagined.
"But there's still something that doesn't add up."
Paimon scratched her head again.
"Kairo, back in Mondstadt, you guessed the bard's identity—but you've only just arrived in Liyue. How do you know so much already?"
"Liyue's people don't seem to have guessed that this consultant is their Archon, yet you figured it out?"
"It's because his name is known by everyone in Liyue already," Kairo replied.
"You don't even need me to tell you. If you spend some time in a teahouse, you'll hear people talking about him on their own."
"Then why doesn't the Geo Archon meet the Qixing?" Lumine asked, thinking aloud.
"Aren't they supposed to be his followers?"
"They have met him," Kairo said slowly.
"Or at least, one of his incarnations."
"As a god, he's not limited to a single form."
"He's watched over Liyue for so long. If he wants to sit back and enjoy life for a while, away from prying eyes… is there really anything wrong with that?"
"That… actually makes a lot of sense," Lumine admitted.
Paimon nodded, stunned.
"Yeah. It does."
"Then we should head to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor tomorrow," Paimon said at once, rubbing her hands together again.
"If everything goes well, we might actually see the Geo Archon before the Rite of Descension!"
Thanks to Kairo, she already had a rough idea—and was now almost certain that "consultant" was the Archon.
But confirmation, she felt, would be much more satisfying in person.
"Mm."
Lumine nodded quickly as well.
She'd gone from disappointment with the Qixing's answer… to sudden hope thanks to Kairo.
The shift left her both surprised and quietly delighted.
"Then," Kairo said with a faint smile, "let's land first."
He eased the starskiff into a slow descent.
Below them, Liyue Harbor still blazed with light.
The sea reflected its brilliance like a river of stars poured into the mortal world.
Silently, the massive starskiff glided toward the harbor's waters.
As it approached, the hull gradually faded into the darkness, its outline melding with the night sky.
"Waaah!"
Paimon's eyes sparkled.
"Kairo, you can make a ship this big turn invisible? That's amazing!"
Lumine turned to look at him too, curiosity in her eyes.
Kairo simply smiled.
"It's not an ordinary ship, after all."
He tapped lightly on the control console.
The starskiff slipped fully into its stealth mode, floating just above the water's surface, invisible and unnoticed, as though it had never been there at all.
"Okay. Let's head back."
He gave the command, and the three of them disembarked.
"Let's go, let's go!"
Paimon flitted off toward the harbor, waving.
"The inn Keqing picked for us is probably super nice!"
Lumine smiled softly and followed, footsteps light.
They walked through the lamplit streets of Liyue Harbor, past the still-bustling stalls and quieter side alleys, until they reached the inn Keqing had arranged.
A quick wash, a comfortable bed—
The night passed without incident.
By morning, golden sunlight streamed through the windows, warm and gentle.
Kairo slowly opened his eyes, hearing the cries of vendors outside and the faint whisper of wind brushing past the eaves.
Liyue Harbor was waking up.
Even at dawn, the city's energy never really faded.
Out on the river, fishing boats were returning to port.
Workers at the docks had already begun unloading goods; merchants along the streets were setting up their stalls, calling out to the first customers of the day.
The air was rich with the smells of breakfast: fried cakes, steaming buns, freshly ground soy milk.
The aroma mingled with the mist, making one's stomach rumble.
After washing up, Kairo stepped out of his room just as Paimon and Lumine were finishing getting ready.
"Morning!"
Paimon yawned hugely, rubbing at her eyes—
then perked right up as the scent of food hit her.
"Wow! Smells amazing! Let's go get breakfast!"
Lumine nodded.
"We might as well try some proper Liyue morning tea."
"Hehe, I can't wait!"
Paimon patted her stomach, full of eager anticipation.
"Come on, come on! Let's find somewhere good! We'll eat our fill first, then head to the Funeral Parlor!"
The three of them left the inn together, stepping into Liyue's morning streets.
Stalls had already appeared along the road, piled high with all kinds of breakfast dishes.
"Let's just pick one for now."
Paimon didn't bother overthinking it—
she zoomed to the nearest stall, eyes sparkling.
"Boss!"
She pointed at the steamers and trays in rapid succession.
"I want this, this… and that!"
"How much do you plan on eating?"
Lumine sighed helplessly.
"At this rate you won't even be able to float after breakfast."
While Lumine was scolding Paimon, Kairo's expression turned suddenly strange.
Because right next to the stall sat a handsome man, quietly enjoying his morning tea.
It was Zhongli.
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