"Disciple... fashion sense?"
Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun asked curiously, "Have you met Shenhe before, Lord Lin Mo?"
"Uh… no, no."
Lin Mo waved his hand with a smile.
In truth, he had seen her. Back when Shenhe was still a young girl, he had brought her to the entrance of Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun's cave abode. At the time, her unstable constitution made her prone to harming those around her, so Lin Mo had used an extremely precise binding technique—wrapping her securely in red rope—to deliver her safely to the adeptus's door.
"You haven't seen her… yet you're complimenting her fashion?" Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun's voice was laced with suspicion. "Actually, I've never really studied clothing all that much. I remember when Ganyu and Shenhe were cultivating in my cave, they both wore black, form-fitting training outfits. I thought if humans saw them like that, their graceful, curvaceous figures would be completely exposed—it felt rather improper.
"But I only had one set of human clothes, so I had to make do. Shenhe took the top half, Ganyu the bottom."
"It was clearly an incomplete outfit. How could you possibly think it looked good?"
Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun sounded genuinely puzzled. "Your reminder just now makes me think… it might be a good idea to prepare each of them a proper new set of clothes for the Lantern Rite."
"No, no, no need!" Lin Mo quickly waved both hands. "Liuyun, I'd advise you not to meddle. An incomplete outfit like that… that's the very essence of it."
"Essence?" Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun sounded utterly baffled. "Lord Lin Mo, your words are getting harder and harder to understand."
She didn't press the topic further. Instead, she gazed out toward the sea. "Well, I should return to Liyue to fetch Shenhe. Lord Lin Mo, we'll see each other at the Lantern Rite."
"Mhm, see you at the Lantern Rite." Lin Mo smiled and nodded.
He watched the white crane spread its wings and soar toward the ocean.
In his heart, a thought surfaced.
"The Lantern Rite, huh…"
"Shenhe… it's been so long."
To Lin Mo, Shenhe was someone truly special. In the Hundred Generations Pact, even when a task forced him to part ways with someone, he would eventually meet them again in a future life. But Shenhe was the exception. Her unique constitution made it difficult for her to mingle with people. After he delivered her to Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun's cave, he had never seen her again—not once.
That was why he still missed her deeply.
Watching the expectant look in Lin Mo's eyes, Kamisato Ayaka couldn't help stepping forward. "Mr. Lin Mo, is this Miss Shenhe very beautiful?"
"Shenhe, huh…"
A soft smile appeared on Lin Mo's face at the name.
Of course she was beautiful. That exquisitely aloof face paired with the already alluring figure she had possessed even as a girl—it had been almost impossible to resist. And when he had bound her with red rope to seal her fate, the sight of it…
Just thinking about it made it hard to stay composed.
Fortunately, his self-control was strong. If it had been any other man…
"From the look on Lady Yae's face, it seems she's quite taken with this girl named Shenhe~" Yae Miko's intrigued tone immediately put the others on alert.
"Ahem!" Lin Mo coughed awkwardly twice.
This fox was too good at stirring the pot. Time for a subject change.
"So, about the festival—I was thinking we could invite our friends from Mondstadt and Liyue to join us as well."
"At this hour, would we still make it to the festival if we left Inazuma now?" Ei asked.
"No need to leave Inazuma at all." Lin Mo smiled and raised the Dust Song Pot in his hand. "There's a small world inside this pot. My friends are all in there."
"Similar to… the Plane of Euthymia?"
"Exactly~"
As he spoke, Lin Mo activated the pot's portal. Before stepping through, he turned back with a grin. "Everyone, wait here. I'll be right back."
With that, he walked into the gateway.
…
Meanwhile, in Liyue's Guili Plains.
A swirl of sand slowly gathered at the peak of a certain mountain.
As the wind and dust grew fiercer, a human figure gradually took shape within the storm.
"Ah~ Guili Plains. How nostalgic~"
Accompanied by a girl's light, ethereal voice, a beautiful figure stepped out of the sand.
"How many years has it been…"
"I wonder if Lin Mo is still alive in this world…"
As the girl murmured, a wisp of sand swept across every corner of the Teyvat continent.
When that sand passed over Yunlai Sea and blew toward Inazuma City, the girl's lips curved into an involuntary smile.
"How come he went all the way to Inazuma to play~"
"Without even taking me!"
After her little pout, the girl stepped onto the sweeping sand and flew swiftly toward Yunlai Sea.
If Lin Mo had seen her peerless beauty, he would have recognized her at once.
She was the Demon God who had regained her authority and returned to the mortal realm.
The Demon God of Dust—Guizhong.
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T/N:
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