Ganyu knew she shouldn't be suspicious of her master, Cloud Retainer.
But...
Just a while ago, when Cloud Retainer first met the Traveler, she had almost blurted out the story of Ganyu being a chubby ball tumbling down the mountain and choking a god to death.
Fortunately, Ganyu stopped her in time.
Otherwise, Lumine and Paimon would definitely have laughed at her upon hearing those things.
When Ganyu faintly heard people discussing this, she felt incredibly shy. She even wanted to find a hidden place to quickly hide away from everyone.
Just as she was preparing to flee!
Suddenly, amidst the surrounding chatter, Ganyu heard a name that shocked her once again.
Skybracer!
Although a thousand years had passed, Ganyu still remembered the scene of Skybracer's death in battle.
She abruptly stopped in her tracks.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she walked up to those discussing and asked weakly, "Excuse me... excuse me, how do you know about... about Skybracer?"
"Did Master Cloud Retainer tell you?"
Ganyu originally wanted to ask about tumbling down the mountain and choking the god, but out of shyness, she quickly changed the subject to ask about Skybracer.
The people discussing were startled to see Ganyu arrive.
They stammered in reply, "Lady Ganyu... I... we didn't make it up, nor did we hear it from the adeptus Cloud Retainer!"
"We heard it from the people on the streets!"
Right now, almost all the citizens on the streets were talking about these things.
Some marveled at Ganyu, while others were moved by Skybracer.
Ganyu asked in a small voice, "Can you tell me where these stories came from?"
The people discussing replied cautiously, "We heard that someone is telling stories at Wangshu Inn, recounting both Lady Ganyu's story and Lord Skybracer's story!"
Hearing this, Ganyu's vision went dark, and she nearly fainted on the spot.
Someone had actually told her entire story.
Who on earth was telling it?
Was it not Master Cloud Retainer, but some other adeptus who did this?
Ganyu avoided eye contact, not daring to look at the people around her.
She asked in a weak voice, "Please tell Ganyu... what exactly did that storyteller say about her?"
Hearing this question, the people around her suddenly became interested.
Like listing family treasures, they recounted all the stories. "They said a lot of things... like the story of tripping over a threshold and tumbling into the room... the story of angrily using the Qilin Charge... the story of tumbling down the mountain..."
"And also... we heard Lady Ganyu choked a god to death. Is that true? Is Lady Ganyu really that amazing?"
All these people looked at Ganyu with expectant eyes.
They wanted to ask more, wanting to consult Lady Ganyu on whether the contents of these stories were actually true.
It wasn't until they noticed the looks from the people beside them that they suddenly realized they had said too much!
Saying these things in front of Lady Ganyu would definitely make her angry.
They were just thinking about how to beg for Lady Ganyu's forgiveness.
Who would have thought!
Before they could even open their mouths, Ganyu had already covered her face with both hands, said nothing more, and hurriedly ran away.
She never expected that just by sleeping on the Tianheng Mountains for one night, her story would spread across all of Liyue!
Who on earth was it that told everything?
After running out of Yujing Terrace, the citizens on the streets saw Ganyu appear and greeted her one after another.
"Lady Ganyu, you are truly amazing, slaying a god at such a young age to protect Liyue!"
"Lady Ganyu is indeed an adeptus, so promising at a young age!"
"Lady Ganyu, where are you going?"
"Amazing, truly amazing!"
"Wait a minute, Lady Ganyu's figure is obviously so good now, why would she roll on the ground?"
"You can tell you haven't listened to the storytelling. Lady Ganyu back then wasn't like this... back then, Lady Ganyu was three feet in diameter, otherwise how do you think she choked the god?"
"Stop talking, Lady Ganyu is running away!"
"Ah, I haven't finished talking yet!"
"Lady Ganyu, are the stories told by those storytellers actually true?"
...
Seeing Ganyu run away with her face covered, the citizens wanted to chase after her to express their gratitude, thanking Lady Ganyu for protecting Liyue, and to verify the truth of those stories.
But as an illuminated beast qilin, Ganyu's speed was not something ordinary people could match.
In the blink of an eye, she was gone.
A few minutes later, on the Tianheng Mountains!
Ganyu sat shyly on the hilltop, not daring to return to Liyue Harbor.
Not only that!
The moment she arrived at the Tianheng Mountains, Ganyu once again felt a familiar aura emanating from the giant rocks at the foot of the mountain.
It was radiating from the antlers!
It was the aura of Skybracer!
Feeling this aura, Ganyu thought of Skybracer again, her eyes filled with sorrow.
She thought of what the citizens had just said!
In that Wangshu Inn, the storyteller had not only told her story, but also told the story of Lord Skybracer.
Should she go listen or not?
Ganyu lay on the grassy lawn of the hillside, looking at the clouds in the sky, and began to struggle in her heart.
Counting the clouds, she muttered to herself, "Go listen, don't go listen, go listen, don't go listen..."
When she counted to the last cloud!
Ganyu muttered, "Go listen!"
It seemed that even the clouds in the sky wanted Ganyu to go listen to Lord Skybracer's story.
Thinking of this, Ganyu finally overcame her shyness.
She stood up from the grassy lawn of the hillside.
Hopping and skipping, like a happy little qilin, she ran in the direction of Wangshu Inn.
Perhaps she was too focused!
As she ran, Ganyu didn't pay attention to her feet and suddenly tripped over a rock.
Thud, she fell onto the hillside.
"Ouch..."
"It hurts..."
This fall seemed to awaken an instinct from her childhood.
Turning her body sideways.
Following the grassy slope of the hill, she tumbled down, tumble tumble.
...
Just as Ganyu decided to go to Wangshu Inn to listen to the storytelling and began heading there.
At this moment!
In the northwest of Liyue, in the snow-covered nation of Snezhnaya.
Because of the cold, there were not many pedestrians on the streets.
It gave people a solemn feeling.
In the center of this icy city, inside those massive palaces, everyone working for the Tsaritsa was busy.
In one of the palaces!
The Tsaritsa, as usual, was reviewing important documents one by one.
And signing her name on these documents.
Just at this moment!
A maid walked cautiously up to the Tsaritsa and said carefully, "Your Majesty, Lord Pantalone has arrived and wishes to see you!"