On the pages of the book, faintly glowing with light, a hundred years had now passed.
On Qingluan Peak, the crash of the waterfall plunging into the pool mingled with the chirping of birds and beasts greeting the morning.
Mountain mists curled and drifted between the slopes.
"Good or ill, it does not matter — life is but a great empty dream; from the bloom of youth to the white of old age, it is but the blink of an eye. Only the Way of Heaven endures forever, turning and returning, never changing. They have waited for you a long, long time. There must be a great deal you wish to say to them. I shall return to Jianjia first."
Mu Rong Ziying exchanged a few more words with Liu Mengli, then took to the air upon his sword and left.
"Hm? They? Could it be that Han Lingsha didn't die?"
Seeing that line from Mu Rong Ziying, Cloud Retainer's avian brows lifted slightly.
And so she turned the page and read on.
When she came to the passage in the book where Liu Mengli saw two grave markers standing before the wooden cabin — one of them inscribed 'Tomb of Beloved Wife Han Lingsha,' with a Wangshu Sword planted beside it —
The bustling wind around her suddenly fell still; the leaves of the tree above the pool rustled and drifted down.
Falling leaves, like rain.
She remained silent for a long while.
Until the edge of the sky gradually paled to a fishbelly white.
The long night was drawing to its close.
"Hahh..."
Only then did Cloud Retainer let out a long sigh, gazing at the copy of Sword and Fairy 2 hovering in midair.
It really was well written.
The characterizations were excellent — even figures with the slightest amount of screen time had been finely drawn. Only, almost every character she had grown fond of had been killed off by Fang Qiu...
"To be capable of writing a work like this... could that child, like Shenhe, have suffered some sort of tragic ordeal in her youth?"
Cloud Retainer murmured to herself: "Ah, never mind, I won't hold this against her. After all, I was the one who asked her for the book of my own accord. Let me read the next one for a little cheer."
She remembered that, when passing through Liyue Harbor, she had overheard two mortals mentioning Fang Qiu's Sword and Fairy 1.
It had been one person recommending Sword and Fairy 1 to another, going on about how especially warm the plot was, how it healed the heart, and how the quality was exceptional.
Then she would read Sword and Fairy 1.
Just as she was about to take out Sword and Fairy 1, two figures appeared upon Mt. Aozang.
"Hm?"
Cloud Retainer paused in her motions and said, "Mountain Shaper, Moon Carver, you've arrived."
After they had exchanged greetings, Mountain Shaper spoke up: "How did this trip to Liyue Harbor go?"
"The danger has already been resolved by Ningguang and the others."
Cloud Retainer said: "As for that child Shenhe — speaking of which, she has indeed run into a most interesting person."
"An interesting person?"
Moon Carver asked.
"A person whose appearance is identical to that child Shenhe's — she and Shenhe seem to share some sort of connection. Moon Carver, you've arrived at just the right time. Back then, when you cast your divination, did you sense anything of it?"
Cloud Retainer said.
"Identical in appearance?"
Moon Carver was a touch puzzled. After a moment's thought, he said, "If we wish to know what their relationship is, we shall need her brought before us."
"Then let us speak of this matter another day. I observe that Shenhe and that child do not seem to mind it overmuch, so in a few days' time I shall have Shenhe bring her here to find you."
Cloud Retainer said: "Ah, that's right. Since you've come all this way — I've just finished reading a rather fine book, and I shall give you copies to read as well."
"A book?"
Both Adepti were a little puzzled.
In the past, whenever they had come seeking Cloud Retainer, she had always shown them some new invention or other.
They had not expected that this time she would actually be gifting them books.
This left them not a little curious — just what sort of book could have won Cloud Retainer's favor?
"It was written by that child whose appearance so resembles Shenhe's. I finished one of her works, and it was rather well done. This Adeptus even gleaned no small amount of inspiration for inventions from it — such as, for instance, a sword that lets one fly by standing atop it."
Cloud Retainer said.
With that, she gave her wings a single shake. The book that had been hovering in midair snapped shut at once, and then with a flash of light, one became three.
"You may both read them. If, upon finishing, you are satisfied, you are welcome to come find me again."
Cloud Retainer said.
"Very well, we shall take them for now."
Mountain Shaper and Moon Carver said.
The three Adepti chatted among the mountains for a while, and then each returned to their own mountain.
After the two of them had left, Cloud Retainer couldn't help but smile, looking forward to seeing those two when they had finished the book.
It served them right for always sneaking off to play together without bringing her along.
"Now, on with the reading."
So thinking,
She took out the deluxe edition of Sword and Fairy 1 and turned to a page.
The story began at Yong'an Pawnshop in Yuzhou City...
The first ray of morning sunlight came from the east, driving away the lingering remnants of night.
The faintly visible stars in the sky gradually faded as well.
The long night was over.
Liyue Harbor was slowly waking — a vibrant scene of life, of all things stirring into motion.
Vendors' cries and hawking calls rose and fell one after another.
Cooking smoke curled upward in lazy wisps.
"Mmh..."
Fang Qiu murmured something in her sleep, then unhurriedly opened her eyes.
She'd slept incredibly well.
With Shenhe around, there was no need to worry about ghosts.
Wait a moment...
Shenhe was here?
Fang Qiu jolted upright in alarm, suddenly wide awake. Her sleeping posture — had it been all right?
She hurriedly turned her head to look at the other side of the pillow, only to find that no one was sleeping there at all.
Seeing that, unlike before, she hadn't ended up tangled up with Shenhe's body again, she felt relieved.
But — where was Shenhe?
She lifted her eyes to look around, only to see Shenhe still seated upon the Jumpy Dumpty, absorbed in her reading — so absorbed, in fact, that she hadn't even noticed Fang Qiu had woken up.
Had Shenhe been reading the whole night through?
Truly worthy of an Adepti disciple. After a great battle, all it took was a soak in the bath and she could pull an all-nighter.
What an absolutely terrifying constitution.
Unlike herself, who, after just spending half a day on watch at the harbor with Qiqi, had been so worn out she'd gone home and dropped straight into bed...
Thinking of this, she felt a touch wistful all over again.
Just as she was about to get out of bed and greet Shenhe, she noticed that something about Shenhe's expression seemed off.
A bit sad.
Glancing over, Fang Qiu craned her neck and checked Shenhe's reading progress.
Hmm...
It looked like... she'd already reached the last two pages...
Sure enough, when Shenhe turned to the very last page, the sadness on her face grew even deeper.
Before long, a trail of tears slid down her fair cheek.
As Liu Mengli watched Yun Tianhe walking out from the wooden cabin —
The entire text came to an end.
Alongside the main body of the text, there was a small verse:
"Frozen tears, falling like shooting stars, shatter whose tender longing... Feelings that cannot be denied, hearts forever tied — envying neither mandarin ducks nor immortals; love in this life, love in the next — let no lingering bond become a final parting."
"Hahh..."
Having read the entire text, Shenhe let out a long breath.
From Chenzhou onward, every twist of the plot had been a torment.
Qin Ji and Jiang Shi — one living to atone, one dying to accompany.
The Jimo Scholar and his adopted daughter — six cycles of reincarnation, only to remain by the side of the one she loved.
The cruelty of ascension within Shennong Cave.
In the Ghost Realm, Yun Tianhe and Yun Tianqing — father and son — meeting again; Han Lingsha's uncle revealing the truth about Han Lingsha's parents.
The tragic deaths of Huaishuo and Xuanji.
Even Xuan Xiao, in the end, was nothing more than a pitiable man.
Every single tragedy had left her heart restless and yet wracked with sorrow.
It was a feeling she'd never experienced before, from childhood to now.
Perhaps it was because Fang Qiu was beside her, allowing her to take off the red cord and freely feel her own emotions.
But still — reading Fang Qiu's book, beyond the sadness, there was another feeling she couldn't quite put into words. A feeling that made her, almost involuntarily, look toward the still-sleeping Fang Qiu.
With that thought, she instinctively glanced toward the bed.
On the bed,
Fang Qiu was propped up against the headboard, watching her with a faint smile.
"Shenhe, good morning."
Fang Qiu spoke up, looking a little awkward.
"Good morning."
Hearing Fang Qiu's voice, Shenhe felt the irritation in her heart vanish at once, leaving behind only the sorrow. She looked at Fang Qiu, nodded, and said, "I've finished reading this book. It was extraordinarily well written — flawless, beyond any criticism."
"Thank you for the praise."
Fang Qiu said awkwardly.
Shenhe hadn't, like before, said that she liked it...
And, she didn't know whether it was just her imagination, but she could clearly sense in Shenhe's gaze a faint hint of reproach.
"Let's go out and grab something to eat. I'll show you around Liyue while we're at it — help you get to know the place a bit sooner."
Fang Qiu said.
"Mm."
Shenhe nodded. After closing the book, she said, "When we come back later, I want to read your other books."
Just getting up from the bed, sitting in a duck-foot posture, Fang Qiu froze slightly.
"This urgent?"
She asked instinctively.
"Mm."
Shenhe nodded and began changing her clothes, tying on the red cord as she did so.
Fang Qiu also got up, prepared some cat food for Tingyu, then changed into her clothes, and walked out the door together with Shenhe.
The door was once again sealed shut with ice.
This left Fang Qiu thinking that perhaps, going forward, she might as well stop changing the locks altogether and just use ice instead.
...
Meanwhile.
In the inn, the Traveler and Paimon were seated at a table.
The copy of Sword and Fairy 2 on the table was also turned to its very last page.
"Uwaaah... Lingsha is so pitiful... Tianhe's pitiful too... and Xuanji's so pitiful... and Ziying's so pitiful... and Mengli's so pitiful... and Huaishuo's so pitiful... and Qin Ji and Jiang Shi are so pitiful... and Jimo's Lianbao and the scholar are so pitiful, and..."
Listening to Paimon listing them off one by one, like rattling off the names on a menu — voice choked with sobs as she named every pitiful soul in the book — Lumine's reddened eyes couldn't help but well up with tears too.
"Fang Qiu said Han Lingsha and Yun Tianhe got married. Paimon thought it would be a good ending — who could have guessed that Han Lingsha still ended up dying..."
Halfway through, Paimon went on, a little unwilling to accept it: "But, a hundred years had passed by then. Han Lingsha must have lived a very long time before she died, right?"
Lumine, however, shook her head.
"Uwaaah..."
Paimon clung to Lumine's shoulder, weeping as she spoke: "No, no, Paimon absolutely has to come up with a... a nice-sounding nickname for her... call her... ! Forget it... let's go out and eat. Paimon's so sad, she needs delicious food to recover!"
"Let's go to Wanmin Restaurant."
Lumine said.
And so they put the book away and set off toward Wanmin Restaurant.
Upon reaching Wanmin Restaurant, they found Xiangling busy cooking. The moment she saw them, she came over to wait on them at once.
"After eating her fill, Paimon really does feel a lot better. Still, Fang Qiu's book really is terrifying — even I could barely eat at first. Lucky Xiangling's cooking is so good; it whetted Paimon's appetite right away."
Paimon patted her slightly distended belly, looking thoroughly satisfied.
"Heh heh, thank you for the praise."
Xiangling scratched her head bashfully, then her tone shifted: "But, Fang Qiu's books really do have a certain power. I remember when I first went with Hu Tao to buy her books — once I brought them back, I read them right away. But after finishing, I was so sad I could hardly muster any interest in cooking... The Lantern Rite is coming up soon, and Wanmin Restaurant is sure to be slammed with business. I need to give Pop a proper hand, so I haven't dared to read Sword and Fairy 2 even now."
"Truly."
Paimon nodded in deep sympathy.
After eating, drinking their fill, and chatting with Xiangling for a while, they set off toward Yujing Terrace.
They were heading to ask Ningguang for a favor — to have her consult with Liyue Publishing House about the matter of getting Fang Qiu's books sent over to Inazuma ahead of time.
"Paimon wonders what kind of reward Miko will prepare for us. If the reward is good enough, we can take on more like this in the future. Oh, and Paimon doesn't know how Fang Qiu's books are selling over in Mondstadt either. Let's go take a look later, too. Once we get this deal settled, we can use teleport waypoints to ferry books between the two nations — that way, we'll never run short on Mora for our travels, and we can have feasts every single day! What do you think?"
Paimon said.
"To think Paimon could actually come up with such a constructive idea."
Lumine said.
Her tone carried a note of surprise.
"But of course. You may call me... mm... Wisdom Star!"
Paimon planted her hands on her hips, brimming with confidence.
"It's only Paimon, after all..."
Lumine rolled her eyes at Paimon.
"Hey, look — there's a Dango Milk shop from Inazuma over there. To think they've actually opened a branch here in Liyue."
Paimon said in surprise: "Speaking of Dango Milk, Paimon's reminded of Ei — wonder how she's doing. Speaking of which, when we head over to Inazuma, let's bring her along to Yae Publishing House and have a look at Fang Qiu's books."
"Mm."
Lumine nodded.
Just as they were discussing it on the way to Yujing Terrace, they saw Yun Jin conferring with Ningguang's secretary, Baiwen, about that evening's performance at the Jade Chamber.
The discussion seemed to have reached its conclusion.
By the time they walked over, Yun Jin and Baiwen had already finished their consultation.
"Yun Jin, Baiwen, good morning."
Paimon called out, smiling and waving as she flew.
Lumine greeted them as well.
"Good morning, Traveler and Paimon."
Yun Jin gave a quiet smile and greeted them.
Baiwen also greeted them in turn.
"Traveler, is there something you've come to Yujing Terrace for?"
Baiwen asked.
"Mm, we'd like to consult Miss Ningguang about a few matters."
Paimon nodded and said.
"Lady Ningguang is currently handling Lantern Rite affairs. Still, if the Traveler wishes to see her, I'll go and announce you."
Baiwen finished, then turned to look at Yun Jin and said, "About tonight's performance, Master Yun, do you have any further instructions? If not, I'll go on ahead and announce the Traveler."
"All matters have been settled. There are no other requirements."
Yun Jin shook her head.
"Then please go on with your conversation — I'll go on ahead and announce Lady Ningguang."
With that, Baiwen took her leave, turned, and stepped into Yuehai Pavilion.
____
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