Mu Yang's side.
On the day of the Rite of Ascension.
He arrived at Yujing Terrace early.
Then he found a spot that was not too conspicuous.
And quietly waited for Ying to arrive.
He could not let Truthful Immortal down, could he?
When Ying finally reached Yujing Terrace.
After making her wish, she prepared to squeeze into the crowd to watch the Rite of Ascension.
Only then did he begin to act.
He found an angle where Ying could see him.
And "coincidentally" let her witness a series of his actions.
Because there were so many people who had come to watch the Rite of Ascension.
Ying might not have been able to see from the back.
So Paimon led Ying through the crowd.
Planning to get closer for a better look.
"Excuse us, could we get through? Can we move to the front?"
Ying squeezed through the crowd.
And finally saw Ningguang, who was presiding over the Rite of Ascension.
As well as that familiar young man.
Ying nearly cried out, "Mu Yang?!"
Paimon heard her. "Where?"
She looked in the direction Ying was pointing.
Sure enough, it was Mu Yang.
The Rite of Ascension was about to begin.
The two did not dare make a fuss.
They could only wave, hoping to catch Mu Yang's attention.
However, he seemed extremely focused.
And did not respond to Ying and Paimon's greeting.
Silver Wolf's livestream.
"It's starting, it's starting! The cutscene's rolling."
Silver Wolf rubbed her hands together eagerly.
The long-awaited plot was finally about to begin.
Then, following Ying's gaze.
She saw the young man she had been thinking about day and night.
"Holy crap, Mu Yang?!"
"Am I seeing this right? Honey, what are you doing here?!"
He wasn't really here to carry out an assassination, was he?
The streamer was so scared that she accidentally let "honey" slip out.
This is what I came to see! I want to see blood flowing like a river!
We greeted him, and he did not even respond?
Do you think assassinating a god does not require concentration?
Truthful Immortal is incredible, he actually called it!
Damn, he's a prophet. Kill him!
Silver Wolf had a hard time accepting it.
She was also the sort of player who cared about lore accuracy.
"Come on, I even argued with that Truthful Immortal."
"I seriously don't believe Mu Yang would do something like this."
Wow, the streamer is still talking tough at a time like this.
Her face is about to get slapped swollen.
Ningguang raised her head and looked to the sky.
Seeing that the time was about right.
She took a small step forward.
Then announced, "The auspicious hour has arrived."
The two secretaries at her side stepped back.
Ningguang activated her elemental power and summoned Starshatter.
After circling through the venue.
Starshatter flew into the ceremonial cauldron.
A beam of golden light shot into the sky.
Everyone's eyes followed that light upward.
The previously clear sky suddenly filled with dark clouds.
Which gathered into a tornado.
Ying felt that something was off.
She lowered her gaze from the sky.
And looked around.
Sure enough, those dressed like Liyue locals.
All wore varying degrees of confusion on their faces.
She instinctively looked toward Mu Yang.
But the young man had long since vanished.
Just then, Paimon's scream drew Ying's attention back to the sky.
After lightning flashed and thunder roared.
The dragon-shaped Rex Lapis spoken of by the people of Liyue fell from the sky.
And crashed heavily onto the ceremonial cauldron.
Shattering the massive cauldron.
Ningguang hurried forward to inspect him.
Her expression grew increasingly grim.
Then she turned and swept out an arm.
"The Geo Archon has been assassinated! Seal off the entire area!"
A large number of Millelith soldiers rushed into Yujing Terrace.
And surrounded everyone.
Silver Wolf's livestream.
What else does the streamer have to say now?
They even gave us Ying's perspective. Mu Yang had already disappeared.
Truthful Immortal is a goddamn genius.
He really took out the Geo Archon?! Mu Yang is incredible!
This is so thrilling, Brother Mu!
We're doomed. Can he still enter the banner now? I saved all those pulls for nothing!
Silver Wolf ignored the chat.
She was thinking.
Something seemed off.
But what exactly was wrong?
Got it!
"Guys, I'm still sticking to my view."
"Mu Yang is not the murderer at all."
"The evidence is that the Geo Archon fell only after the tornado and lightning appeared."
She carefully recalled the scene from moments ago.
The sky had suddenly become overcast.
Then a tornado had formed.
After that came purple lightning.
And Mu Yang did not seem capable of doing any of that.
"Mu Yang uses a Cryo Vision."
"That is confirmed information. At most, he also knows swordsmanship."
"The attack from his sword earlier was ice too, wasn't it?"
Now that the streamer mentions it, that does make some sense.
We really did not see any Cryo attacks.
Streamer, are you dumb, or am I dumb? If you were assassinating someone, would you use your ultimate and make sure the Qixing could trace it?
Could he kill a god without using his ultimate? Then how weak would the Geo Archon have to be?
Could it be the Fatui's doing?
Stop arguing. The cutscene is over, just follow the quest.
Keep doing the quest, hurry, hurry!
Ying's side.
Paimon was already panicking.
"Th-This... what exactly is going on?!"
"She said, 'The Geo Archon has been assassinated'..."
Ying said grimly, "It means exactly what it says."
Her expression did not look good either.
When everyone had been looking up at the sky.
How had Mu Yang suddenly disappeared?
Where had he gone?
The more Paimon thought about it, the more frightened she became.
"The Geo Archon... died just like that?"
Ying soothed the little one.
"Don't be afraid, Paimon. Fly a little higher first."
"See if you can spot Mu Yang."
"Okay, okay."
Paimon obediently did as she was told.
She flew up a little higher and scanned the area.
Searching for that familiar head of white hair.
After circling around, Paimon landed beside Ying.
She shook her head in disappointment.
"I couldn't find him. What do we do..."
"If we had a capable acquaintance with us, we would not be so scared."
Ying did not see it that way.
She told Paimon.
That when everyone had been looking toward the sky.
Mu Yang had already disappeared.
Then the Geo Archon's assassination had happened.
"I suspect Mu Yang is connected to this."
Paimon was shocked.
"You mean Mu Yang is the murderer?!"
Only after saying it did Paimon realize she had misspoken.
She hurriedly covered her mouth.
"No way! Our friend is actually that kind of person?!"
Ying said, "I only suspect that he is connected to this."
"And some things do not add up."
"For example, Mu Yang uses Cryo, but there was no trace of Cryo in the sky just now."
That made Paimon panic even more.
She looked around.
"You mean the murderer is still among us?"
A murderer capable of assassinating a god.
Who wouldn't panic?
Lumine looked toward the exit of Yujing Terrace.
The Millelith had the participants of the Rite of Ascension line up in order.
They were to be questioned one by one.
Only after the investigation was complete
and they had cleared themselves of suspicion could they leave the scene.
Paimon glanced at her own clothes and Ying's.
"Looks like the two of us seem very suspicious."
What Lumine was thinking was
that the god was very likely the enemy she had encountered in the skies all those years ago.
If she fell into the hands of these "followers of the gods,"
she might be in danger.
"Shh... Paimon, we need to sneak out of here."
Paimon agreed.
"We aren't the murderer, after all."
"But your identity is special, and we still don't know how the people of Liyue see you."
"We absolutely can't get caught!"
Lumine carefully slipped past the Millelith's line of sight.
She was only a step away from getting out.
Who knew which damned bastard had thrown ceramic shards here?
Crack—
How classic.
There it was—the thing you always stepped on right before escaping.
On par with tripping over your own feet on level ground or the male and female leads crashing into each other around a corner.
The sound caught the Millelith's attention.
"They're here!"
"Catch them!"
Lumine hurried down the stairs.
She scrambled and rolled, trying to slip away.
But another squad of Millelith blocked her path completely.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Lumine had no choice.
She drew her Unfettered Blade, preparing to fight her way through.
A voice came from behind her.
"Miss, be careful. Don't move."
Several arrows then knocked the Millelith's weapons away.
Childe made his dazzling entrance.
He summoned two water blades, ready to finish off the disarmed Millelith.
The Millelith soldiers quickly raised their hands to shield their heads.
But after quite a while,
they felt none of their opponent's attack.
Instead, they heard the ring of a sword.
Along with a faint chill.
They lowered their guards.
Looking closely,
they saw a white-haired figure in black standing before them.
He held the Flying Sword in a reverse grip with one hand,
blocking Childe's two water blades!
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