Dusk was approaching, and the twilight sun cast its glow upon the sea surface.
Yujing Terrace.
"Mm."
Ganyu sat at her office desk and stretched her back, her slender body uncurling comfortably; the heavy workload was finally finished.
Next up was relaxation time.
She composed herself and took out Fang Qiu's novel.
Possessing the body of a half-Adeptus, her reading speed was much faster than that of ordinary people. Therefore, even after enduring a heavy workload, her progress hadn't lagged much; in fact, she was significantly faster than many slow readers.
Before she started work, she had already reached the part where Arima Kousei and Miyazono Kaori revealed their feelings to each other on the rooftop.
"As expected of Miss Fang Qiu, such delicate emotional descriptions. I didn't expect that at such a young age, Miss Fang Qiu could write about a love involving life and death with such profound depth."
Reading the exquisite sentences in the book, Ganyu couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
She was also looking forward more and more to the happy scenes of Miyazono Kaori and Arima Kousei being together after overcoming the trial of life and death.
She continued reading. The tearing and venting of emotions between the two in the text made her subconsciously crumple the paper.
However, as Arima Kousei's performance ended, an overwhelming atmosphere of sorrow rushed forth, causing Ganyu to freeze in place.
"Kaori... she died?"
Ganyu sat dazed at her desk, a trail of clear tears welling up from her reddened eyes.
She had watched over Liyue Harbor for a thousand years.
A thousand years was a long time, even for an Adeptus.
In these thousand years, she had grown accustomed to the partings of life and death in the mortal world.
She thought she had long since gotten used to it.
The last time she shed tears was when Rex Lapis passed away.
She never expected that today, she would actually feel such sorrowful emotions because of a fictional novel.
"To be able to write such a moving story, just what kind of person is Miss Fang Qiu?"
Ganyu murmured, looking at the Glaze Lilies swaying in the wind outside the window, bathed in the setting sun.
She suddenly felt that beneath the gentle and quiet smile she saw when she first met Fang Qiu that day, there lay a sadness hidden like a flood.
She was somewhat concerned.
...
Meanwhile, at Wanwen Bookhouse.
Jifang looked at the crowd before her, completely unable to make heads or tails of the situation.
What was going on?
Why were these people crying and laughing?
Just a moment ago they were wearing doting smiles, and suddenly their faces had collapsed.
"Wuwu, my Kaori!"
"Evil author, you have no heart! What was the author's name again... Fang Qiu! You have no heart!"
"Ouch, my heart hurts so much, Kaori, take me with you."
"Old Thief Fang Qiu has lost her conscience! I want to live and die with Kaori."
In contrast to the noise at Wanwen Bookhouse, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor was extremely quiet at this moment.
"A good story. Although it depicts the feelings of young boys and girls, it is indeed a masterpiece. I didn't expect that child's friend to grow so quickly."
Zhongli sat at his desk, quietly closed the book, and let out a slight breath. He stood up, intending to place the book on the bookshelf, but when his hand reached halfway, he felt it inappropriate, so he placed it on the shelf where he usually kept his antique collection.
"Although this book is a mundane item and mass-printed, its content holds some collection value."
After speaking, Zhongli walked towards the window.
"It is rare for it to be this quiet today. That child actually didn't come chasing after me to ask for my thoughts on the book."
However, when he cast his gaze downward, he discovered that Hu Tao was already no longer downstairs.
"Hmm? I see."
...
Fang Qiu let out a long breath and waved her hand. Azure ice mist instantly permeated the air, and an ice sword immediately condensed into existence.
The ice sword hovered in front of her, radiating a biting chill.
"It seems that the more people read my novel, the stronger my Vision becomes. I just don't know how the novel is selling; I'll ask the editor another day."
Fang Qiu murmured.
She could clearly perceive that the power within her body had been amplified at least ten times.
Now she could simultaneously condense three normal-sized single-handed swords.
Moreover, the power of the Vision was still continuously increasing.
However, compared to before, the rate of increase had slowed down considerably.
In the end, she should be able to simultaneously condense four or five ice swords.
If she previously only had the strength of one-third of a wild boar, the current her should have no problem solo-killing a single wild boar.
Hmm... the small kind.
Although for a Vision holder, being only able to solo-kill a wild boar was quite shameful...
But thinking about it from another concept, she had at least become more than three times stronger.
"I just don't know how much stronger Slimes are compared to wild boars."
Fang Qiu pondered.
After all, this body's memories did not contain memories regarding combat.
Her judgment of wild boars was also based on memories from her past life.
Although she hadn't seen a wild boar in her past life either, she had watched plenty of videos.
She had a rough understanding of a wild boar's intensity.
However, regarding fantasy-level creatures like Slimes, she had absolutely no cognitive knowledge.
Let alone the monsters like Hilichurls that were above them. It was said that many Hilichurls would use Slimes as tools.
A few days ago, when Fang Qiu went out to eat vegetarian noodles, she heard diners saying that a caravan had been attacked by a few Hilichurls. The caravan's goods were burned mostly by the Hilichurls throwing Pyro Slimes.
One must know that even if a caravan didn't have a Vision holder escorting it, they would have professional armed escorts. At the very least, they could afford a few martial artists.
But even so, most of the goods were burned, and the people in the caravan suffered varying degrees of injuries. Conversely, the Hilichurls only suffered light injuries and all retreated safely.
It was said that this matter even alarmed the Yuheng.
"I'll ask Xiangling and Hu Tao to accompany me to test it out another day."
Fang Qiu thought for a moment.
If she went alone, it would really be too dangerous.
She could already imagine the 'game over' CG of herself after fighting Slimes.
The freezing air, herself collapsing powerlessly on the ground, her chest heaving significantly, her eyes lifeless, the clothes on her body tattered, sticky Slime mucus wrapping around her body, permeating every part of her, and at the same time, waves of unbearable burning pain coming from her skin.
Thinking of this, Fang Qiu couldn't help but shudder.
Simply terrifying.
Just at this moment, a knock sounded at the door.
"Hmm? Who is it?"
Fang Qiu furrowed her delicate brows.
"It's me, Hu Tao."
Outside the door, Hu Tao's voice rang out.
"Coming."
Fang Qiu waved her hand, dismissing the ice sword in her hand, and opened the door.
Outside the door, Hu Tao stood there prettily.
"Is something the matter? Come in and sit first."
Fang Qiu smiled faintly.
Thankfully, apart from the desk, the home wasn't considered messy, otherwise it would be embarrassing.
Wait, the desk?
Fang Qiu glanced at the manuscripts with chicken-scratch writing on the table, as well as the manga she had attempted to draw, and her heart gave a thump.
It wasn't that she was afraid of exposing the manuscript; her relationship with Hu Tao was so good that she trusted her.
Moreover, those manuscripts were just the outlines she had prepared.
However, if that handwriting were seen by Hu Tao, her image would be completely ruined.
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 10 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉