Investigating with Ganyu

After leaving the Jade Chamber, Bai Ye and Yelan parted ways.

Yelan continued to investigate the Fatui's activities, especially the clue Bai Ye had provided about the "Hundred Taboos Record." She naturally had to look into it further.

Bai Ye, meanwhile, returned home to prepare before meeting Ganyu.

Upon arriving home, Bai Ye immediately stripped down to just his shorts.

He quickly said to Hagintos, "Teacher, let's check thoroughly. Are there any parts of me made using the Art of Automata that I learned from you? It wouldn't be good if Ganyu noticed."

"Mhm, mhm," Hagintos readily agreed.

The master and disciple began searching Bai Ye's body.

Many devices, like handheld crossbows, were common among those who used the Art of Automata, so Bai Ye didn't need to remove those.

What Bai Ye primarily removed were devices unique to Hagintos's Art of Automata.

He then took out the mechanical diagram.

He hung it on his waist.

At the same time, based on the diagram's design, he created defensive mechanical devices on his clothes.

Only when the defensive capabilities he made were comparable to the previously installed mechanisms did Bai Ye nod with satisfaction.

"These Art of Automata are mostly replaced now. If Ganyu happens to see me using them while we're investigating, I'll just say I learned my Art of Automata from something left behind by an Adeptus. That should serve as a good excuse."

Stretching, Bai Ye muttered to himself, "Alright, time to sleep and prepare to meet Miss Ganyu tomorrow."

With that, he flopped straight onto the bed.

Good night, sweet dreams.

The next day.

Bai Ye arrived at Yujing Terrace early, ready to wait for Ganyu.

He didn't have to wait long before he heard the tap-tap of footsteps.

Turning his head, he saw a young woman walking towards him.

The young woman had long blue hair, tied back into a ponytail that fell naturally.

A single strand of hair stuck up from her head, and two small, black and red horns grew from the sides of her head.

She wore a white qipao, or rather, not quite a full one, with colored patterns. Underneath was a one-piece, backless bodysuit, with black stockings covering her legs, their rims adorned with patterns.

Bai Ye recognized her immediately as Ganyu.

The secretary of the Seven Stars, Ganyu, disciple of Cloud Retainer.

Bai Ye considered letting his teacher take a look to see if Ganyu was familiar, but he was worried about being discovered, so he decided to play it safe for now.

At this moment, Ganyu walked up to Bai Ye and asked, "Are you Mr. Bai Ye?"

"Mhm, yes," Bai Ye nodded.

Seeing his affirmative answer, Ganyu covered her mouth, looking somewhat surprised.

Although she knew it would be a young man when she came over, she was quite taken aback to see this perfectly formed youth was the one who wanted to develop roads with Ningguang.

However, her long experience as a secretary quickly helped her regain her composure.

At the same time, she felt an extremely comfortable sensation from Bai Ye.

It made her feel a little sleepy.

No, no, my work isn't finished. I can't fall asleep now.

This must be fatigue from working too hard last night.

But looking at Bai Ye, she felt a sense of familiarity, as if they had met somewhere before.

Ganyu pondered, thinking it must be a resonance between two people who studied Adeptal Arts.

The fact that Bai Ye studied Adeptal Arts wasn't exactly a secret in Liyue Harbor.

But what kind of Adeptal Arts did he study to make her feel so comfortable? Ganyu wondered to herself.

"Then, Mr. Bai Ye..."

"Just call me Bai Ye."

"Okay," Ganyu nodded, then continued, "We'll be investigating the roads north of Liyue together shortly. Shall we depart now?"

"I'm all set on my end. How about you, Ganyu?" Bai Ye asked, pulling a handheld crossbow from his sleeve and addressing Ganyu.

"Of course," Ganyu replied, taking out her own bow and arrows.

It wasn't Amos' Bow, naturally, but Bai Ye could tell it was a renowned Adepti weapon.

The two began heading north out of Liyue Harbor.

"What exactly are we investigating?" Bai Ye inquired as they walked. "Ganyu, where are we primarily focusing our investigation?"

"It's like this," Ganyu explained. "Ningguang plans to repair the road that starts from northern Liyue, passes through the Guili Plains, and eventually reaches Mondstadt via Wangshu Inn. We're going to investigate the monster situation there, assess the road's condition, and check for any potential lingering Archon remnants. Though, the last part shouldn't be much of a concern. After thousands of years, there shouldn't be any Archon remnants on the main roads."

Even though some remnants occasionally appeared in the Guili Plains, Xiao had pretty much cleared out any on the main routes.

"Mhm, mhm," Bai Ye nodded. He then proposed a division of labor: "You can handle the monsters and Archon situation, Ganyu. I'll take care of the road conditions."

"Okay," Ganyu agreed.

They walked out of northern Liyue Harbor, gazing at the official road stretching northward.

"Let's go!" Bai Ye took the lead, with Ganyu following closely behind.

To assess the road conditions in Liyue, they were measuring it entirely on foot. Ganyu walked with an elegant, graceful stride, while Bai Ye ambled along casually, looking quite carefree.

Perhaps to guard against any potential dangers on the road, Ganyu remained highly alert, scanning their surroundings. Bai Ye, with his hands behind his head, said nonchalantly to Ganyu, "Ganyu, we've just left Liyue Harbor. There's no way we'll run into any danger here."

"Some things go wrong in the details. We absolutely cannot let our guard down," Ganyu shook her head.

"That doesn't mean..." Bai Ye's words trailed off as they passed a large rock. Suddenly, over a dozen masked figures wielding swords and shovels emerged from behind it.

"As the saying goes in Liyue, 'This mountain is mine, this road is mine...'" Bai Ye, seeing that they were clearly Treasure Hoarders from out of town, slowly raised his handheld crossbow. He was so annoyed! He had just told Ganyu there wouldn't be any problems here, and then these guys show up. And they were the Treasure Hoarders he was most familiar with.

At this moment, the Treasure Hoarders sensed something was amiss. One of them said nervously, "Before we came, fellow travelers in Liyue warned us to be careful of a shorty with white hair and a handheld crossbow. Boss, do you think that's him?"

Hearing the Treasure Hoarder's words, Bai Ye's expression darkened further. You've sealed your own doom.