Shadows flickered within the Miliastra Wonderland as Orion returned to the Domain Hall with Shenhe.
"Ouch, finally I don't have to pretend to be exhausted anymore. Making those damn paper charms didn't tire me out, but putting on that act really wore me out!"
Orion walked into the room, swinging his arms, and saw Lumine and Paimon wolfing down food on the living room coffee table.
Lumine was twirling noodles into her mouth with a fork in her right hand. Hearing the door open, she looked up and locked eyes with Orion from across the room. In that instant, the sweetness of love between master and apprentice, the pain of separation, and the joy of reunion all flashed through their minds like a slideshow.
Orion had rescued Lumine from a five-hundred-year-old spaceship, Orion had personally knitted leopard-print lingerie for Lumine, Orion had been seduced by the beauty of the three ladies of Mondstadt and sent Lumine back to her home planet, Orion had been captured by a female demon, and his second disciple, Paimon, had been sent to Lumine's home planet to find her—the events of the past all rushed back...
The fork dropped onto the table. Lumine, still with unchewed noodles in her mouth, slowly stood up and stared fixedly at Orion.
Orion didn't react when Shenhe, who had followed him in, bumped into his back. With a question mark seemingly hovering over her head, Shenhe walked around him and realized that Orion's eyes were also brimming with tears.
The next moment, the scene shifted. They were no longer in the Miliastra Wonderland Domain Hall, but on a small dirt hill at dusk.
Lumine rushed out, running and jumping happily like a lively monkey, and waved at Orion: "Master! Mas—ter!"
Orion also hitched up his priest's robes and ran towards Lumine, the wind whipping his robes: "Lumine! Lumine—!"
The two embraced in the setting sun, and then—
Lumine tackled Orion to the ground.
"Hahahaha, I've been holding back for two days, Master! Hurry up and transform! Actually, never mind, don't bother, watch me just storm-inhale you!!!"
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Without a word, Lumine pinned Orion down, and in public...
She succeeded.
This scene stunned everyone in the room. Those practicing martial arts stopped, those forging iron stopped, and those painting stopped. Everyone stared with wide eyes at Lumine, who had suppressed Orion at lightning speed.
Orion dug his fingers into the ground and roared at them, hoarse with desperation: "Quick! Pull her off, aaaaaah! Have you forgotten that Klee might come over every day!!!"
Only after this shout did the women finally snap out of it. They rushed forward to try and separate the two, and in the end, it took the combined strength of the strongest, Shenhe and Yunli, to pull them apart.
Shenhe grabbed Lumine by the armpits and pulled upward, while Yunli stepped on Orion to press him down. Even so, it took a great deal of effort.
You have to realize that Lumine's limbs were no longer touching Orion, but separating them still took a lot of effort!
Skirk was even more shocked, because she saw that Orion's waist had actually been lifted up just now!
This... just how tight a fit could that be?
Finally, under Skirk's criticism, Lumine adopted a repentant posture and promised that next time she would obtain the consent of the other women before engaging in lewd acts with Orion.
Orion: "What about my consent?"
Then, Lumine told everyone about the situation over the past few days: she had met a few Adepti, provided them with relevant intelligence, and the Adepti had gone to hold a meeting to discuss the matter.
Childe also indicated that he could take Lumine to meet someone who had the ability to help her see the Exuvia of Rex Lapis, which would allow them to see through the Qixing's conspiracy.
Unlike Lumine, everyone present had been watching Lumine's journey with Skirk from a god's-eye perspective. They all knew that the Qixing didn't actually have a conspiracy; the Qixing had simply been guarding against the Fatui causing trouble while the Geo Archon was deceased.
The Fatui had been trying to manipulate Lumine into believing that "the Qixing are hiding something from everyone," and were revealing information at opportune moments, such as "Yuheng has long been unhappy with the Adepti," in an attempt to make the public feel that the Qixing might have been planning to usurp the throne all along, thereby pressuring the Qixing with public opinion.
"That Yuheng is working with me. She is not the type to be obsessed with power; her goal is more often to enable humanity to be self-reliant," Orion prompted appropriately.
Shenhe also suddenly said: "Being able to access the Exuvia, looking at the timeline, could it be someone from WangSheng Funeral Parlor?"
Lumine looked at Orion: "You've met Childe?"
"Not me, but Shenhe is right. It should be another consultant of our WangSheng Funeral Parlor, named Zhongli." Orion also looked at Lumine: "He is a trustworthy person. You can be wary of Childe, but you can listen to this Zhongli; he will not harm you."
Lumine quickly sorted out the relationships. In essence, the various factions in Liyue were still on the same side; it was the Fatui who wanted to use information asymmetry to make Liyue's own people fight each other.
Paimon was a bit confused: "But what is their reason for doing this? Just to cause destruction?"
Orion rubbed his forehead: "The Gnosis. In Mondstadt, didn't I take you both to get the Gnosis from Venti with Signora?"
Paimon shrugged: "I know about the Gnosis, but Rex Lapis is already dead. How are we supposed to find the Gnosis?"
"Just dig it out," Orion pointed to his chest area: "Do you remember where Venti took the Gnosis from when he gave it to Signora? Childe's goal is to let you find the Exuvia, and then he will follow and take the Gnosis."
Lumine and Paimon looked at each other, and Paimon smiled awkwardly: "It went so smoothly back then, there weren't any memorable moments, so I forgot."
Lumine suddenly looked around and asked: "By the way, where is Signora? Didn't she come here the night before the Rite of Descension? Why haven't I seen her for so many days?"
The scene instantly fell silent, and then everyone's gaze turned to Orion.
Orion's scalp tingled: "Holy crap... I forgot about her. She, she's still locked up!"
Having said that, he rushed to a certain room at top speed. After he unlocked the door with a key, the sound of machinery vibrating inside could be heard even in the living room.
Not long after, Orion carried Rosalyne out in a princess carry, wrapped in a bedsheet, and placed her on the sofa bed with some heartache.
Half an hour later, Rosalyne finally stopped hesitating, and she regained consciousness.
"The punishment... is it finally over..."
Everyone:...
Wow, she was just left there.
Not long after, sipping a warm drink to replenish fluids, Rosalyne slowly said: "It was Her Majesty the Tsaritsa who ordered us to collect the Gnosis; it has something to do with a certain goal of Her Majesty. I don't know the details, but the Gnosis itself holds a great secret. I fear Her Majesty intends to accomplish something... that will shake the Heavenly Principles."
Then she looked at Orion: "By the way, the Fatui have already started investigating you, Master. However, because you haven't done anything too flashy in Liyue (thinking about the name "Archivist of the Arcanum of the Void" that has been circulating)... well, you did. Therefore, the Fatui here in Liyue haven't grasped much information about you."
"Also, because you went to find Barbara and the others, you often showed your face in Mondstadt, so the Fatui still think you are staying in Mondstadt."
"So that means Childe won't pester Lumine asking about my whereabouts, right?"
"Yes."
"Then Lumine, just act according to your own plans," Orion said to Lumine. Lumine nodded. This was basically Orion telling her that if something went wrong, he would have her back, which made Lumine feel much more at ease.
After the intelligence sharing ended, Lumine pulled Orion toward the room; she wanted to finish what they hadn't finished earlier!
Arriving in the bedroom, Lumine lifted the blanket and patted the bed: "Come on, let's have fun~"
Orion sighed. She's his apprentice, might as well spoil her.
But his eyes narrowed quickly, and then he opened the bedroom door rapidly!
There was no one outside the door.
He started scanning the room again, opened the maintenance hatch, no one.
Opened the wardrobe, no one.
Finally, he even opened the suitcase!
Still no one.
Orion felt relieved, and he said gently to Lumine: "You've been too tired these past few days, just lie down properly. Today, I will 'take care' of you."
After saying that, Orion kissed the expectant Lumine.
Then, under the lights, their shadows overlapped.
The next day, Orion had to drop off Shenhe before picking up Hu Tao, and then go be a double agent for Ganyu and Keqing.
After freshening up, Lumine took Paimon to find Childe. If Orion was right, today they were going to meet that consultant named Zhongli.
After the two left the room, the room returned to silence.
A moment later, a small head slowly crawled out from under the bed.
Xiangling lay on the floor just like that, quietly looking at the ceiling.
"Thrilling!"
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