Now, at Wangshu Inn, on stage, Li Mo spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, slowly telling the story of his fifth life. In this life, he was the boy in the tale—and his name, coincidentally, was also Li Mo.
Below, the audience listened while watching the projections above the stage. When they heard that the little girl in the story was named Shenhe, they were stunned.
They looked at the girl in the image, then turned to Shenhe in the corner. To their shock, the resemblance was uncanny. Aside from the hair color, they were nearly identical.
Could the little girl in the story truly be Shenhe, the disciple of the adepti?
And the boy in the story was named Li Mo—the same as the boy from the first life, the Raiden Shogun's brother. It had to be the same reincarnated soul.
The audience was astonished. Murmurs spread through the crowd.
Even Hu Tao, Keqing, and the others were shocked.
Hu Tao said matter-of-factly, "See? I told you. That little girl is probably Shenhe."
"But why are their hair colors different? And why doesn't Shenhe remember any of this?"
There were too many questions. Even Hu Tao, clever as she was, could not figure it out.
All eyes turned to Shenhe, hoping for answers.
But as Shenhe watched the stage and listened to the story, her mind went blank. Fragments of memories surfaced, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not recall what had happened.
In the past, no matter how moving the stories, she had never been affected. But now—now that it was her own story—the usually ethereal, indifferent Shenhe could no longer remain calm.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't remember what happened back then."
"But we can be sure that the little girl in the story is me."
Watching her past unfold on stage, Shenhe felt a flicker of fear. She was afraid to remember. Afraid those memories would disturb her heart as a disciple of the adepti.
Yet she could not look away. She found herself longing to hear more.
Hu Tao and Keqing did not fully understand what Shenhe was feeling, but they knew this must be difficult for her.
Keqing said slowly, "Ganyu is in this story too. I wonder what kind of story they'll tell about her."
Hu Tao looked puzzled. "Ganyu? What story does she have?"
Keqing replied seriously, "I'm not at liberty to say. You'll have to ask her yourself."
Hu Tao: "???"
...
In another corner of the inn, when Ei, Makoto, and the Raiden Shogun heard that the boy in the story was their brother's reincarnation and that his name was Li Mo again, they grew agitated.
And in this life, Li Mo had saved a girl named Shenhe right from the start.
Ei stamped her foot in frustration, nearly cracking the floorboards.
Makoto patted her arm comfortingly. "Ei, this is only one of his many lives. There's no need to be jealous."
Ei huffed. "Who's jealous? I'm not!"
Zhongli smiled faintly. "So this is the story from that life. I do know a little about it."
As the Geo Archon of Liyue, he remembered almost everything that had happened over the long years.
Ei immediately pressed him. "You know this story? Tell me how it ends."
Zhongli shook his head. "I only know the broad strokes. You'd better let the storyteller tell it."
Ei pointed at him angrily. "You—"
Makoto gently took her sister's hand. "Ei, let's just listen to the story."
Ei relented. "Fine. I'll listen. Morax, I'll let this slide for now."
Zhongli, holding his birdcage, looked unconcerned. In Liyue, he was the true master. He had no fear of the Raiden Shogun.
Then they all turned their attention back to the stage.
...
Now, on stage, Li Mo took another sip of tea and continued his fifth story.
As he spoke, the Electro projections above shifted once more.
The image showed the outskirts of the city. Little Shenhe and little Li Mo had opened the commission paper and were reading it.
"Locate the missing Lady Ganyu."
"Reward: 10,000 Mora."
Both children were stunned.
Lady Ganyu was missing?
Though they were just children, they knew who Lady Ganyu was—one of the most important figures in Liyue. She had served Liyue for longer than anyone could remember.
How could someone like that go missing?
And if Lady Ganyu was missing, shouldn't the Millelith be searching for her? Why was this commission given to two children?
Little Shenhe and little Li Mo were baffled.
But when they saw the reward, their eyes went wide.
10,000 Mora!
To important people, 10,000 Mora was nothing—barely enough to buy a birdcage or a thrush.
But to two children like Shenhe and Li Mo, it was a fortune.
Li Mo quickly said, "Read the details. Liyue Harbor is huge. Without clues, finding one person won't be easy."
They read on. There were indeed some details.
"She went missing while eating out?"
"Even if she got lost, she wouldn't be gone this long, would she?"
"Probably not. Maybe she fell asleep somewhere?"