Jade Chamber.
Was she waiting for Keqing to return?
Watching Mobius sit in perfect silence since their conversation had ended, Ningguang couldn't help but wonder.
Since the moment they'd finished speaking, Mobius hadn't moved so much as an inch.
Hm?
Then Ningguang noticed it — Mobius's body seemed to give a faint shudder. Something had happened, though she had no idea what.
What was wrong with her?
She kept watching, genuinely curious about what had just occurred.
But just as she was studying Mobius with that quiet curiosity, Mobius turned her head and looked straight back at her.
"Wondering what I've been sitting here doing all this time?" Mobius tilted her head toward Ningguang with a small smile, her tone light.
She knew Ningguang had seen that little moment just now. But it didn't matter — there was no way Ningguang could guess the truth of it.
Hm? You're all taking turns at this?
...That really isn't necessary.
What was unfolding on the other side of that little courtyard prompted that idle thought to drift through Mobius's mind.
But thoughts were just thoughts. To Ningguang's eyes, Mobius wore nothing but her usual air of serene, enigmatic amusement.
She'd been through far too much to let something like this flicker across her face. That kind of sensation held no power over her expression.
Of course — if it had been her own feelings at play, that would have been a different matter entirely.
"My guess is that you're waiting for Keqing, Miss Mobius."
Since she'd been asked, Ningguang decided to say what she thought. Keqing had come to the Jade Chamber — there was no way Mobius hadn't noticed. In fact, Mobius had likely already been here before Keqing ever arrived.
"Keqing? That's the name of the girl with the cat ears?"
When Ningguang and Keqing had met earlier, neither had spoken the other's name aloud, so Mobius played the part of someone who didn't know it.
"That's right. Her name is Keqing — she's one of Liyue's Qixing, same as me." And with that, Ningguang had her confirmation: her guess had been correct.
At that moment, footsteps sounded from beyond the door.
So she's back.
Ningguang recognized those familiar steps. Keqing was here.
She was worried about what Mobius might do to her — but there was nothing she could do about it now.
—Creak.
"Ning— hm? Who is she?" Keqing had stepped inside with Ningguang's name already on her lips, but the sight of another person in the room made the question slip out before she could stop it.
A beat later, the description Ningguang had given her of Mobius surfaced in her memory.
"You're Mobius?" Keqing's gaze locked onto the figure before her, and she went instantly on guard where she stood in the doorway.
"Clever little kitten." Mobius regarded Keqing's wary expression with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Keqing, stay calm — she's not someone you can take on. At least hear what Miss Mobius has to say first."
Sensing that Keqing might lunge at Mobius any second, Ningguang was quick to urge her to hold back. She'd never seen Mobius's true power, but it was obvious enough — Keqing stood no chance against her.
"She's right, calm down, little kitten." Mobius's smile lingered as she continued: "All I want to know is — what were you doing at that guy's place?"
That guy?
She means Kaito?
Keqing blinked, thrown off. She hadn't expected to hear that kind of phrasing come out of Mobius's mouth.
"Miss Mobius is asking what you were doing at Kaito's. Just answer her honestly."
Afraid Keqing wouldn't follow, Ningguang clarified it for her. She understood that Keqing had no idea how deeply Mobius was fixated on Kaito — and she needed her to cooperate.
Honestly?
What exactly am I supposed to say…
Just blurt out the whole plan?
Keqing glanced at Ningguang's perfectly composed expression and felt a wave of helpless frustration wash over her.
She'd barely just worked out that plan with Kaito, and now she was being asked to lay it all bare. This had to be a joke.
She had doubts about whether the plan would even work — but being asked to reveal it before it had even been put into motion was something else entirely. Every part of her resisted it.
"My, it seems our little kitten doesn't want to talk." Mobius let out a small sigh and drifted upward from her chair — lifting off it, weightless — as though she were about to do something.
Ningguang responded immediately: "Quickly, Keqing — we are not Miss Mobius's match."
"I wonder — if I were to drop this thing, that would be quite entertaining, wouldn't it?" Mobius's gaze turned back to Ningguang, her expression one of bright, innocent anticipation. "You wouldn't mind, would you, Ningguang?"
The moment her words fell, the Jade Chamber shuddered.
"Wait!" Knowing she had no choice now, Keqing called out before it could go any further.
She had, up until a moment ago, still been entertaining the idea of fighting Mobius — after all, everything she knew of Mobius's strength came secondhand from Kaito's word alone. But that thought was gone now.
There was nothing she could do. No matter what she tried, she couldn't stop the Jade Chamber from falling.
____
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🔥 New history: Samsara Game: Starting with Shirogane Kei
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