Little Shenhe and Little Li Mo were surprised by the man's voice.
Judging by his attire, he was no ordinary person. Though he seemed very leisurely—drinking tea, listening to storytelling, idling about with his bird—his expression was kind, and he did not appear to be a bad person. So they let down their guard and told him about the commission to find Lady Ganyu and how they had searched everywhere without success.
The deadline was approaching. If they did not find Lady Ganyu soon, the commission would fail. Not only would they lose the 10,000 Mora—they would not get a single Mora.
The bird-keeping man listened to their story and understood the situation. He was quite accustomed to Ganyu going missing like this.
After a moment's thought, he said calmly, "Have you searched Tianheng Mountain thoroughly?"
Little Li Mo sighed. "Of course we have. We searched it not once, not twice, but three or four times. Still nothing."
They had searched not only Tianheng Mountain but all of Liyue Harbor twice. But there was no sign of Lady Ganyu. It was very frustrating.
Hearing this, the man seemed to think of something. A slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Seeing this, Little Li Mo quickly said, "Sir—do you know where Lady Ganyu is?"
This was the first time they had seen this leisurely bird-keeper in Liyue Harbor. Weren't the people of Liyue supposed to be busy with their work? How could there be someone so idle?
The man said slowly, "I don't know where Ganyu is, but if you don't mind the trouble, search Tianheng Mountain a few more times. If you get tired, you might lie down in a haystack and rest. You might find something unexpected."
Hearing this, Little Li Mo and Little Shenhe exchanged glances.
Tianheng Mountain again?
All the information suggested Lady Ganyu had gone missing there. But they had searched it several times and found nothing. Did they have to go back?
Little Li Mo looked at the bird-keeper and said earnestly, "Sir, may I ask your name? If we really find Lady Ganyu on Tianheng Mountain, we'll come back to thank you."
Though Li Mo was good at fighting and enjoyed it, he was also grateful and polite.
The man seemed caught off guard by the question. He paused for a moment.
"My name? Let me think. You may call me Zhongli."
With that, he walked away leisurely, one hand holding his birdcage, the other behind his back, disappearing into the distance.
Little Shenhe and Little Li Mo watched him go, uncertain.
After all, he was a bird-keeping idler who might have just made up his name on the spot. Could they trust someone like that?
After a moment's thought, they realized they had no other options.
Little Li Mo said, "He seemed strange, but maybe he knows something. Let's take his advice."
Little Shenhe nodded. "Yes. He was quite strange."
So they followed Zhongli's suggestion and returned to Tianheng Mountain.
They searched the green grass, the tall trees, the slopes, the valleys—still no sign of Ganyu.
They even risked searching a hilichurl camp, only to be chased for their trouble. They found nothing and nearly exhausted themselves running from the hilichurls.
"That bird-keeper must have been tricking us. He's awful."
"Next time we see him, we'll catch his thrush and roast it."
Little Li Mo and Little Shenhe ran until they finally lost the hilichurls, then collapsed onto the grass, exhausted.
The grass was soft but not very comfortable. Little Li Mo noticed a haystack nearby.
"That Zhongli is really strange. How did he know there was a haystack on Tianheng Mountain? It's a good place to rest. Shenhe, let's lie down in the haystack for a while."
Compared to grass, hay was softer and drier and more comfortable to sleep on.
Little Shenhe hesitated. "Alright. But only a short rest. We don't have much time. We need to find Lady Ganyu."
The two small figures climbed into the haystack, surrounded by loose, dry hay.
But as soon as they lay down, they felt something strange.
"Li Mo, your foot is on my side."
"What? It's your hand on my side."
"It's not."
Both were confused. Together, they pushed aside the hay beneath them.
In the dim light of the haystack, they saw a pair of delicate feet, then slender legs.
As they pushed more hay aside, they uncovered the figure of an adult.
Little Shenhe quickly apologized. "Sorry. We didn't know you were resting here. We'll leave right away."
She started to crawl out, but Little Li Mo grabbed her hand.
"Shenhe, look. This lady is strange. She's very pretty, but why does she have two red horns? And why hasn't she woken up even though we're talking?"
The figure in the haystack was an adult woman with two red horns. Her features were delicate, clearly beautiful.
Little Shenhe froze.
Red horns? If she remembered correctly, Lady Ganyu also had red horns.
Could it be that coincidental?
She turned back and saw that the person sleeping in the haystack was indeed someone with two red horns.
In all of Liyue Harbor, the only woman with red horns was Lady Ganyu.
Meaning the person before them was the very Ganyu they had been searching for!
Just as Little Shenhe and Little Li Mo were about to celebrate, trying to figure out how to wake her, the secretary of the Liyue Qixing slowly opened her eyes and stretched.
"That was a good sleep."
"Oh, you two. Are you here to sleep too?"
Little Shenhe: "…"
Little Li Mo: "You were sleeping here???"