Zhongli: Someone Is Following Me?

"What do you want to do in Liyue?" Scaramouche asked, puzzled by Kujou Takayuki's question. But after a moment's thought, he waved his hand and said, "Do whatever you want. These things have nothing to do with us Fatui."

"Knew."

When Kujou Takayuki heard the Scaramouche say this, he felt that they were far too cowardly.

He claims to be the Harbinger of the Fatui, yet he has such audacity.

"A coward."

"Foolish fellow."

Scaramouche and Kujou Takayuki exchanged a glance, cursing each other inwardly.

"I have already kept the Fatui at the port. Whenever you want to send people to Liyue, just take a ship. Remember, all your actions in Liyue are the actions of your Kujou Clan."

The Scaramouche gave a mocking smile, then put on his straw hat and strode outside.

"Of course, the Fatui are just a bunch of scheming fools. Once my plan is complete, I will definitely petition the Shogun to eliminate you all from Inazuma."

Watching the Scaramouche leave, Kujou Takayuki continued to feel disdain in his heart.

In his view, Inazuma has Raiden Shogun, so the general will always be there to protect him from any trouble.

After the Scaramouche left, Kujou Takayuki immediately gathered his men.

Soon, more than a dozen samurai and ninjas appeared before him. The samurai were tall and strong, while the ninjas were lean and wiry.

These people were assassins secretly trained by Kujou Takayuki. Although they did not possess the Genshin Eye, each of them was quite powerful and could even contend with some unknown holders of the Genshin Eye.

"I have gathered you here today for a purpose." Kujou Takayuki looked at the assassins he had secretly trained.

"Yes."

The assassins nodded.

He looked at the leading samurai. "A-Yi, you'll be leading the team to Liyue for this event..."

Because they were all suicide soldiers, Kujou Takayuki didn't give them any names; they were just called things like "A-Yi- ichi," "A-san," etc.

"This time, the Shogun was misled by the Shinto family, the Kamisato Clan the Yashiro Commission, and actually believed that someone in Liyue could resolve the matter of the vengeful spirit. As the Tenryou Commission's household, I have a duty to expose the fraudster. However, since the fraudster was invited by the Shogun, we cannot directly harm him or those around him. Therefore, I am sending you to Liyue to investigate the situation around these two people..."

The Fatui were fairly reliable; they prepared photos of Hu Tao and Shenhe for Kujou Takayuki.

"After you go to Liyue, investigate the situation around these two people. In order to persuade them to help us, go and see their close relatives besides Bai Ye. Remember to investigate their situation and find evidence of their crimes. If necessary, ninjas can take their belongings. I will use these to warn them that they must assist our Tenryou Commission."

"Yes."

The assassins nodded and then began preparing for action.

As the assassins departed, Kujou Takayuki nodded in satisfaction.

He felt this was still an opportunity. The person who could resolve the issue of the shaman's arrival in Inazuma might not only not affect him, but might even help him better achieve his goals.

After leaving the Kujou Clan, the Scaramouche returned to the stronghold of the Fatui.

He passed through the Delusion Factory and arrived deep inside the stronghold.

Deep within the stronghold was a large machine.

"That the Doctor, the doctor, said this thing can communicate with the outside world. I wonder if it actually works. I really hope he's not just bragging," the Scaramouche muttered to himself, then turned on the machine.

Drop--

Drop--

Drop--

A series of sounds rang out, and just when the Scaramouche thought the thing was completely useless, a sound came from inside the machine.

"Scaramouche, I didn't expect you to actually use that machine. What's wrong? Did you run into trouble in Inazuma and need help?"

The Scaramouche recognized the playful voice as that of the inventor of the machine, the "The Doctor."

His disgust for him intensified, and he said in a harsh tone, "I've come to tell you something. That young master of the Kujou Clan is actually trying to harm someone close to Inazuma who is about to go to Bai Ye. Go ask [The Fairytale Clown] if we need to protect his people."

He was arrogant and disdainful of others, but he wasn't stupid.

Even if someone were Gods god, he wouldn't think of killing Bai Ye; instead, he'd want to make him work for him. He wouldn't even consider Kujou Takayuki's brain-dead idea.

While these people were making their move, the Fatui would act as saviors of Bai Ye's companions, making Bai Ye owe Fatui a favor far greater than that owed to the Kujou Clan.

As for their alliance with the Kujou Clan?

Those idiots from the Kujou Clan don't even deserve to be called worthy.

"Anyway, they're not in Inazuma, Kujou Clan doesn't know what happened. Just tell them they were arrested by the Liyue authorities."

The Scaramouche thought to themselves.

"Which close person of Bai Ye will Kujou Takayuki target?"

The Doctor was also somewhat interested in this.

Among the Fatui's Harbinger, he was the most curious about Bai Ye's situation. The Doctor still remembered that he owed him a chance to study, and if he owed him a favor, he could have him help with some experiments to remove the Archon Residue when Byakuya came to his side.

Perhaps I can gain some inspiration from it.

"Heh—" the Scaramouche said dismissively, then mentioned the names of Hu Tao and Shenhe.

"These are the two women who are close to Liyue."

"These two are close to people in Liyue..."

The Doctor recalled information about the Fatui.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha, what a brilliant clown!" The Doctor exclaimed with laughter.

After laughing for a while, he said to the Scaramouche with some regret, "Unfortunately, this time we can't sell the favor."

"Hmph, it seems that these Kujou Takayuki have offended no ordinary people."

"Scaramouche, focus on acquiring resources from the Kujou Clan during this time. I reckon the Kujou Clan won't last long."

The Doctor finally spoke to the Scaramouche.

The Kujou Clan's assassins set off.

Snezhnaya's technology was far more advanced than Inazuma's, and comfort wasn't a factor. Before Bai Ye even arrived in Inazuma, they had already reached Liyue Harbor.

As soon as they disembarked at Liyue Harbor, the Fatui left immediately.

They remembered the instructions of the Scaramouche and left immediately after delivering the suicide soldiers to the port.

The assassins had no choice but to act on their own.

After changing into Liyue clothing, they began gathering information.

Kujou Takayuki's education of them was quite reliable; after they changed into Liyue clothes, they really looked exactly like ordinary Liyue people.

It's not certain that the Ministry of Civil Affairs will discover it anytime soon.

It's not difficult to get intelligence.

One of the ninjas said to A-Yi, "Boss, that girl named Hu Tao runs a coffin shop. Besides Bai Ye, she only has one close friend, Guest Official named Zhongli. That Guest Official is always idle, so it'll be very easy for us to follow him."

A-Yi nodded.

Another ninja continued, "As for that other one named Shenhe, not many people in Liyue Harbor know her identity. Many people have only witnessed her getting close to Ganyu, the secretary of the Yuehai Pavilion."

"Ganyu?"

A-Yi immediately shook his head upon hearing the name.

A secretary of the Liyue Qixing with several thousand units of power—their status and strength are beyond their ability to fabricate.

The ninja remembered something else and reminded A-Yi, "By the way, boss, someone saw Shenhe walking with another woman wearing glasses. Should we investigate that woman?"

"Well, that's the only way things can be."

A-Yi nodded.

Then he immediately made the assignment.

After pointing out a few people, A-Yi said, "A-Yi, you guys go and follow that guy named Zhongli. He's just a Guest Official who relies on his words; he probably doesn't have much real strength."

After he finished speaking, he looked at the remaining people.

"We don't know the woman's identity, and the others followed her cautiously with me."

"Yes."

The Kujou Clan assassins made their decision and left to begin their operation.

As the city lights begin to illuminate,

Satisfied, Cloud Retainer walked out of the Xinyue Kiosk.

"Hmm, the food at Xinyue Kiosk is quite good. I secretly used Ganyu Xinyue Kiosk's identity to reserve a table there."

While picking his teeth with a toothpick, Cloud Retainer thought to himself.

Shenhe left, Bai Ye left, and Ganyu was busy with various things all day long. Cloud Retainer realized that he had nothing to do at all.

Therefore, during this period, she, who loved food, took full advantage of her power to Ganyu and drinking in Liyue Harbor.

However, transforming into human form does have some inconveniences. At least when eating, there's still the risk of food getting stuck in your teeth.

"This is what Cloud Retainer thinks to himself."

Ah~

After stretching, Cloud Retainer wanted to go to Ganyu's place to sleep.

But at that moment, a strange aura emanated from the air, causing Cloud Retainer to stop his actions.

Is someone observing the fairy?

As Adepti, her ability to detect auras is unmatched by ordinary people. What ordinary people cannot detect is as dazzling as a beacon in the darkness to Cloud Retainer.

"Hmph, there are actually such rude people in Liyue Harbor."

Cloud Retainer was furious.

However, because the Geo Archon had told her not to cause trouble in Liyue Harbor, her expression didn't change. She simply walked silently to other places.

In her hand, the mechanism slowly appeared.

"Phew, thank goodness I wasn't discovered."

Seeing Cloud Retainer leave like that, A-Yi breathed a sigh of relief. He had been genuinely worried that he might have been discovered when he saw Cloud Retainer stop moving.

Fortunately, she continued walking and seemed unaware of her presence.

"Let's go and take a closer look at where she lives."

A-Yi said.

Then he ordered the others to follow his lead.

Cloud Retainer walked slowly, with A-Yi and the others following behind at a leisurely pace.

First came the bustling streets of Liyue Harbor, then the dark and winding alleyways...

As they walked, A-Yi and the others discovered that their surroundings had turned into a vast grassland.

Um!?

Will there still be such an empty place in Liyue Harbor?

A-Yi thought to himself.

Next,

He suddenly realized something was wrong and immediately turned his head back.

At this moment, A-Yi realized that there were no more Liyue Harbor buildings behind him.

"What did they send?!"

A-Yi immediately drew his katana, cautiously preparing himself.

At this moment, Cloud Retainer walked up to A-Yi and the others with an unfriendly expression.

"How dare you people follow the Immortal? Which of you is so blind as to do this?"

She spoke to A-Yi and the others.

"Third-Round Knockout," Zhongli said, eating his food while listening to the storyteller Tian Tiezui tell his tale.

When he heard Tian Tiezui say that it was wonderful, he was generous with his reward.

Anyway, recently the dojo has been going to Inazuma, and now Zhongli is in charge of the journey from Liyue Harbor to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

He was holding the teacup, about to drink it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed several people watching him from a distance.

Interesting.

For so many years, no one has been following him since the Archon War.

Zhongli thought to himself, then drank the tea.

The way these people were lurking on the rooftop wasn't the usual tactic of the Liyue Treasure Thieves; it was more like the ninja techniques used by the Inazuma Treasure Hoarders. As for the people standing on the ground, their stance also resembled that of someone holding a samurai sword.

Are these people who are tracking themselves from Inazuma?

Zhongli found it interesting.

He only had that one acquaintance left in Inazuma. And that Beelzebul wouldn't use such lowly men to follow him.

"It seems to be something that happened between Bai Ye and Tang Yi."

With a thought, Geo element immediately emanated from beneath his feet.

Then he stood up and walked towards the assassins.

Seeing Zhongli walking towards them, A-Er quickly decided to leave.

However, at this moment he suddenly discovered that he could not move his legs at all.

It was as if it were firmly nailed in place.

Could this be that Guest Official who looks like an unemployed bum?!

When A-Er saw Zhongli's sly smile, he assumed it was the smile of a lazy bum slacking off and stealing his pay. As a loyal follower, A-Er had no respect for such a person.

Looking at Zhongli's smile now, A-Er only felt that it was unfathomable.

This person,

It's much better than I imagined.

Zhongli walked towards him, and a strange, oppressive aura emanated from him.

A sense of fear washed over him.

I thought that as a dead soldier, I would have no fear at all.

But now it seems there is an even greater terror than death itself.

A-Er felt like a rabbit being watched by a tiger.

This is fear from the creature.

The root is immobilized.

He couldn't help but recall an old saying from Liyue.

Those who understand the times are wise.

The two were locked in a fierce battle, and before Zhongli could even speak A-Er was already trying to make a move.

"You've come from Inazuma, is there something you need?"

Zhongli smiled and said to A-Er.

After he finished speaking, A-Er found himself able to move again. His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.

My legs went weak with him, and so did my heart.