The screening of Your Name had a wonderful effect.
Especially in the moment when Tachibana Taki, tears streaming down his face, cried out toward the setting sun, "What's your name?"—the background music had been faithfully reproduced for the most part, and Sparkle, set to Chinese lyrics, rang out along with it.
On the great screen, the immensely powerful visuals paired with the music specially produced by Fang Qiu and the deeply expressive voice acting struck at the five senses of everyone present in an instant.
Inside the picture studio, many were swept up by this powerful emotional force, tears falling one after another, until for a moment they were sobbing too hard to speak.
Even Fang Qiu, who had watched it who-knows-how-many times already and had taken part in producing the original work, found her eyes misting over.
Compared to Sword and Fairy 1, Your Name was considerably shorter, and the viewing experience had improved by no small amount. In just two hours, the screening drew to its close.
Tachibana Taki and Miyamizu Mitsuha looked at each other, tears flowing.
"Haven't we met somewhere before?"
"I feel the same."
"What's your name?"
Accompanying the two's exchange, music as lazy and warm as a midafternoon rose up, the picture gradually tilting upward, the final scene freezing upon the blue sky and white clouds.
The screening was over.
As the screen dimmed, a wave of discussion immediately broke out among those present.
"Oh, my Rex Lapis, this is simply amazing! I swear, I've never seen such a perfect work!"
"What's with that weird way of talking? And what's with that intonation of yours?"
"I'm from Fontaine."
"Oh, then never mind… uh, wait, aren't Fontaine folk supposed to worship the God of Water?"
"I think Liyue's Rex Lapis is cooler, so I switched faiths."
"Are all you Fontaine people this casual about it…?"
"It's exactly like how I imagined the contents of Your Name, and that music—simply incredible. Just what you'd expect from something personally produced by Old Thief Fang Qiu!"
"My goodness… so this is animation? At first I thought it'd be like that Hidden Shadow Lantern thing I played with yesterday—the kind where little figures move behind a screen—but the instant the screen lit up, I was dumbstruck."
"Who'd have thought you could actually make the people in a picture move? What on earth is the principle behind this?"
"Damn that author—not even giving a clear ending. Now there's no telling whether Tachibana Taki and Miyamizu Mitsuha actually ended up together! I care so much about this!"
"Hm? Brother, from the way you're talking, is this your first time seeing one of Fang Qiu's works?"
"That's right. I came back from Sumeru to Liyue Harbor for the Lantern Rite."
"Ho? Is that so? Then I simply must recommend the other books she's written. Don't worry, they all have clear endings, and like Your Name, every one of them is an outstanding work."
"Really? Wonderful—I was just fretting that I had no good gift to bring my colleagues in Sumeru."
"I'm sure your friends will be very grateful to you for the gift of Fang Qiu's books."
The voices were a clamorous jumble.
"Just now I heard someone talking about whether Miyamizu Mitsuha and Tachibana Taki ended up together in the end? Paimon's really curious about their ending too."
Paimon wiped away the tears she'd shed from being moved, and asked.
"Paimon, why don't you take a guess?"
Fang Qiu blinked, smiled, and said.
"Guess? Argh, I'm so annoyed."
Paimon stamped her feet.
"You'll find out later."
Fang Qiu smiled, rose, and headed out of the picture studio.
Later?
Paimon floated in place, dazed for a moment, then her eyes lit up. Looking at Lumine, she said, "Don't tell me she's planning to write Your Name 2?"
"No idea."
Lumine shook her head.
"Wait! Traveler, you don't think—she couldn't possibly be planning to split them up, could she? Oh no, the more I think about it, the more likely it seems!"
Paimon's expression changed. "Quick, let's hurry and catch up to her!"
Faced with Paimon's pressing questions, Fang Qiu merely smiled and gave no direct answer, which so vexed Paimon that she blurted out Fang Qiu's nickname.
Qiuqiu-churl!
How infuriating!
Chatting and laughing, they made their way toward Chihu Rock.
Just then, two young men of extraordinary bearing also walked out of the picture studio.
They watched Fang Qiu and the others gradually recede into the distance, their gazes profound.
"So that's the Fang Qiu that Cloud Retainer spoke of? She does indeed look exactly like that child Shenhe."
Mountain Shaper said, "Moon Carver, did you make anything out?"
"It's most strange. Their fates intersect and entangle—alike in many ways, yet utterly opposite in many others. It's my first time seeing such a strange destiny."
Moon Carver said, "It requires more observation."
"Even you can't see through it at a glance?"
Mountain Shaper knit his brows, then said, "Never mind—it's no great matter anyway. Let's talk of proper business. How did you find Your Name after watching it?"
"A most excellent work, and a form of expression never seen before. If Cloud Retainer saw it, she would surely be interested."
Moon Carver said, "Next time let's bring Cloud Retainer to see it too. She ought to be quite interested in this thing called animation."
"They say this form of expression was also that child Fang Qiu's idea. Who'd have thought—she's such a rare genius."
Mountain Shaper said.
"Having watched this animation, I find myself wanting to go back and ask Cloud Retainer for the child Fang Qiu's other books."
"Mm, count me in."
"Come to think of it, the two of us abandoned Cloud Retainer to come out and watch Fang Qiu's screening—she won't be angry if she finds out, will she?"
"We came to protect Liyue's Lantern Rite. Watching the screening was merely incidental."
"True enough. Oh, right—I hear Fang Qiu has put out a new book called The Forest of Fireflies' Light. When we return to Jueyun Karst this time, let's bring it along for Cloud Retainer."
"That works."
The Lantern Rite would go on for quite a few days. Though it had snowed, perhaps because Keqing and Ganyu had gone back yesterday to work overtime—there was no telling—the streets held little accumulated snow. The scant snowflakes instead became an exquisite adornment.
The streets were as lively as ever.
Couples had set out early for their dates, and relatives who hadn't seen each other all year gathered at restaurants, drinking and eating meat while boasting about whatever great deeds they'd accomplished over the past year.
Mostly it was how much Mora they'd earned this year, and which places they'd gone adventuring.
And of course, the traditional routines were not to be missed either.
At the dinner table, the family elders would ask the younger generation: Where are you working?
How much Mora did you earn this year?
Got a partner yet? When are you going to bring them home for us to see?
How'd you put on weight again? Old Zhang's daughter from next door made secretary at Yuehai Pavilion—want to go on a matchmaking date and check her out?
In her past life, at family gatherings, Fang Qiu had often heard certain relatives interrogate her unmarried, getting-on-in-years older cousin just like this.
Aside from these standard routines, there were a few exceptions.
For instance, someone eating with friends got blackout drunk in broad daylight and started bragging that he'd robbed tombs and pilfered a great many cultural relics for Sister Bao'er—only to be overheard by a passing Millelith, who then hauled him away.
It left Fang Qiu and the others gaping in astonishment.
That such a thing could even happen.
There was also someone at the table boasting that while gambling at the Yanshang Teahouse, he'd finally won for once, saying that this afternoon he'd go win back all the money he'd lost before.
Hearing this, Fang Qiu instantly cast the middle-aged man a pitying glance.
Poor thing.
Nine times out of ten, gamblers lose.
That one win was absolutely the house deliberately letting him win, so the fellow wouldn't lose too much, would come back to gamble again, convinced he could surely win back all the money he'd lost—becoming a leek to be harvested, stripped of everything he had.
In her past life, a distant uncle of hers had been just like this.
He'd gotten hooked on gambling, lost the whole family fortune, his wife and children scattered. The last time she'd seen him, he was still planning to gamble, going on about how he'd take back everything he'd lost.
The lines sounded dashing enough, but the actions he put into practice were truly too ugly to watch…
Fang Qiu subconsciously looked toward the Yanshang Teahouse not far off, only to find a woman standing at its entrance.
The woman had shoulder-length short hair and wore blue, with a white fur garment draped over her gorgeous attire.
The instant Fang Qiu looked over, her heart gave a sudden jolt—because the other woman was, in fact, looking right back at her!
Under that woman's gaze, Fang Qiu actually felt as though she were utterly naked, stripped bare without a stitch of clothing.
Had she been seen through?
Fang Qiu swallowed, her whole body tensing without her meaning to.
"What's wrong?"
Shenhe noticed something off about Fang Qiu, and asked.
"It's nothing."
Fang Qiu smiled, and when she looked again, the woman had already turned and headed into the Yanshang Teahouse.
"Fang Qiu, you were just looking toward the Yanshang Teahouse, weren't you? Isn't that person Sister Yelan?"
Xiangling poked her head over and asked.
"Yelan? Xiangling, you know her?"
Fang Qiu was slightly taken aback.
"Sort of, I guess. The first time we met, I thought she'd like light, mild dishes—but it turned out she's the most spice-tolerant customer I've ever seen. When a dish wasn't spicy enough, she actually chewed Jueyun Chili straight up."
Xiangling said, her face full of amazement.
"That's… that's incredible!"
Fang Qiu was shocked.
That woman called Yelan was just too fierce…
Chewing Jueyun Chili raw?
What kind of monster was she…
She had witnessed the spiciness of Jueyun Chili—though of course only by watching others eat it.
If she'd experienced it herself, she'd probably have ended up in Bubu Pharmacy…
Those who ate dishes containing Jueyun Chili—talk about faces drenched in sweat, red in the face and ears.
Let alone chewing Jueyun Chili dry—just thinking about it made her stomach start to cramp and ache.
A proper amount of spice enhances the flavor, but freakish levels of spice are just torturing yourself.
That woman called Yelan—she couldn't be some kind of masochist, could she?
The kind who enjoys pain?
But then again.
Wasn't Xiangling's web of connections a little terrifying?
She knew the Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean, knew Sister Beidou, the boss of The Crux Fleet, knew that supremely mysterious Yelan, and knew Keqing of the Yuheng.
And word had it that her master was even one of the Adepti living in seclusion in Liyue.
What kind of protagonist template was this?
Sure enough.
In a place like Liyue, where the people regard food as heaven, knowing how to cook is what gets you ahead.
According to folk rumor, back when Rex Lapis still walked the world, he once took human form, came to Wanmin Restaurant, tasted Xiangling's cooking, and even praised how delicious her dishes were.
That said, this rumor was somewhat unreliable.
Setting aside the fact that there's no documentation of it anywhere—where would Rex Lapis find the spare time to come eat at Wanmin Restaurant…
Was he really that idle?
"A while back, the owner of that teahouse seems to have had his fraudulent accounts exposed by someone from Snezhnaya called Childe, and then he was clapped in irons and thrown in jail. So that teahouse got bought out by Sister Yelan."
Xiangling said.
"I see."
Fang Qiu nodded.
"Childe?"
Paimon's eyes went wide.
"Uh, Paimon, you know this person called Childe?"
Fang Qiu was slightly startled, and asked.
"Know him we do, but how to put it… our relationship is a bit delicate, I suppose."
Paimon said hesitantly.
"He's a Harbinger of the Fatui. We've had disputes with him before, and we've cooperated too."
Lumine said.
"Right, it's complicated. In short, he's an out-and-out fight maniac. Fang Qiu, you'd be better off not getting to know him."
Paimon stroked her chin and said, "Though that guy probably has no interest in you anyway. He only likes fighting strong people—someone like the Traveler, for instance."
"Uh…"
Fang Qiu felt she'd just been looked down upon by Paimon.
Though, well, Paimon was only telling the truth…
Her own physical fitness was too poor, her mobility too poor. Though her long-range spell attacks were beginning to take on some power, she still had a long way to go before reaching the level of a true expert.
A powerhouse like the Traveler, for instance.
The night before, in front of the fireplace, Paimon had told quite a few stories of the Traveler's adventures along the way.
Such as defeating Dvalin, the Dragon of the East Wind—one of the Guardians of the Four Winds, who had been transformed into Stormterror; contending against the Wolf King of the North Wind; ripping apart Ruin Guards and Ruin Graders with her bare hands; effortlessly defeating several Hilichurl Kings on the snowy mountain; helping the Liyue Qixing and the Adepti stand against the Overlord of the Vortex; and awakening the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma through battle.
Any one of these, picked at random, would be nightmare-hell-level difficulty for her.
After all, she was still at the level of barely being able to beat two or three Mitachurls.
And apparently, not all Mitachurls could be lumped together either—supposedly some Mitachurls could lift up enormous rock shields to use for both defense and attack.
That kind was no weaker in attack than the axe-wielding ones, but many times higher in defense—a single charge could smash a carriage to smithereens.
There was no telling how good her odds would be if she ran into that kind of Hilichurl now.
Word had it that The Chasm had been quite unsettled lately—she'd have to hurry and prepare a new book.
The path to growing stronger brooked no delay.
Just as Fang Qiu was mulling over the new book, Paimon turned to look at Lumine and said, "Uh, right—next time we run into that guy Tartaglia, if he dares drag you into a fight again, we'll recommend Fang Qiu's books to him. Hmph! Even if that guy's head is full of nothing but fighting, reading one through seriously would still leave him miserable for a good while!"
"Sure, let's do that."
Lumine nodded.
"Wait, no, no good—what if that guy reads it and takes revenge on Fang Qiu?"
Paimon said.
"Don't worry. That guy may be neither wholly good nor wholly evil, but he wouldn't make trouble for Fang Qiu over something this trivial."
Lumine said.
"True. That guy did say he doesn't want to raise a hand against the weak unless it's absolutely unavoidable."
Paimon nodded and said.
Hearing their conversation, if she'd had paper and pen, Fang Qiu would surely have slowly drawn out a question mark. A question mark.
She'd actually been looked down upon twice now by Paimon, whose strength amounted to one-fifth of a wild boar's.
No way!
Start a new book!
Tonight, after hearing Yun Jin's opera, she'd start a new book!
Uh, wait!
That's not right.
From the sound of what they were saying, they were going to recommend her book to that dangerous combat maniac?
That doesn't seem quite appropriate, does it?
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