If Possible, Please Try to Act Like a Person

"What are you going to do?"

Bai Ye looked at Yelan and asked.

"I have a smuggling case involving the Fatui. I need someone to investigate it with me, an assistant, so I came looking for you."

Yelan did not suspect Bai Ye of being a Fatui member.

Anyone who truly wanted to hide would never be so high-profile, and anyone so high-profile would surely expose their Fatui identity.

"This is the Fatui we're talking about—the Fatui that exist everywhere across the entire continent. They have formidable strength and highly trained personnel..."

"So you're scared?"

"No. I mean, shouldn't we add a little more Floating Stone to the payment?"

Bai Ye did not care about dealing with the Fatui at all. He did not care about ordinary Fatui soldiers. Even Debt Collectors, Mirror Maidens, Elegies of Falling Stars, and the like were beneath his notice.

The ones who could give him trouble were those Harbingers.

But Bai Ye did not think Yelan would be reckless enough to take someone she had only met today to confront a Harbinger.

"No problem."

Yelan readily agreed to Bai Ye's request for a higher price.

After all,

she was not the one paying.

If the Ministry of Civil Affairs truly could not find any, then she could just pry a few pieces off the Jade Chamber.

Even if a few pieces were missing,

it probably would not affect the Jade Chamber's flight too much, right?

Yelan left.

Before leaving, she arranged to meet Bai Ye at the entrance of the Feiyun Commerce Guild the next morning and gave him a small piece of Floating Stone.

It was the size of his palm, but very thin.

Bai Ye took it in his hand.

The Floating Stone gave off fluctuations of energy. Bai Ye felt that energy begin to enter his hand, then flow straight up his arm.

In just a few seconds, all the energy within the Floating Stone was exhausted, leaving behind an utterly ordinary stone.

Then, by Bai Ye's ear,

his teacher's voice rang out once more.

"Ah? Absorbing the energy from such a small piece of Floating Stone instantly made me feel much more alert. Bai Ye, I didn't expect you to get Floating Stone so quickly. You didn't do anything dangerous, did you? Although I need Floating Stone to sustain myself, I do not want you getting into danger. I can survive for a long time while remaining asleep. There is no need to rush so much."

Hagintos actually felt rather sorry for Bai Ye.

He was only in his teens, yet during the month since arriving in Liyue Harbor, he had spent every day taking down various Treasure Hoarders, using most of what he earned to purchase Floating Stone.

"Hey, it's fine. This piece of Floating Stone is the advance payment for a commission I'll be taking on next. You don't need to worry, Teacher."

Bai Ye said indifferently.

Then,

with a slightly teasing tone, he said, "Besides, I want to see you recover sooner, Teacher. Once you fully recover, I'll have a god teacher. Wouldn't that mean I could swagger all over Teyvat? Then I'd be taking beauties everywhere—Ningguang can massage my shoulders, and Keqing can rub my legs."

"If I had the strength right now, I would clean house."

Hagintos said speechlessly.

Still, in her heart, she was deeply touched by Bai Ye's actions.

She had already taught him everything she could. Her worn-down soul had lost all its memories, and she could barely provide Bai Ye with any further help.

She knew full well that even in her prime, when she had been a god, she had been relatively weak. She could only rely on the Art of Automata to protect herself.

Now, she was even more useless.

She was even afraid that she would drag Bai Ye down with her.

During the Archon War, she had clearly been one of the losers. The god of Liyue now was the final victor. Had she fought him before? Had he killed her? Had she ever harmed his subordinates?

All sorts of things,

made her worry that she would implicate Bai Ye.

So she worked hard to conceal herself.

She did not want the god who now ruled Liyue, or his subordinates, to discover her.

"Then you'd better come out soon and clean house, Teacher."

Bai Ye said with a smile to Hagintos, who was still lost in thought.

As he spoke, he raised his right arm. Several threads on his sleeve needed adjusting.

When Yelan had "attacked" him earlier, the mechanism on his sleeve had sensed the energy fluctuations and naturally driven his arm, along with the Handheld Crossbow, to aim at Yelan's lower abdomen. Now that it was over, he needed to readjust the mechanism so that if someone attacked him from behind again, it would not misfire.

With a few light flicks, Bai Ye reassembled the device.

"Hmph!"

Hagintos gave a dissatisfied snort at her student's lack of respect.

Still, she asked with concern, "Oh, right. You said that was an advance payment for a commission. Is this commission dangerous?"

"Not really. It's just dealing with the Fatui, that's all. Getting Floating Stone in return makes it well worth it."

"Is that so?"

Hagintos was awake for only brief periods and knew nothing about the Fatui.

"Besides, through Yelan, I can get in contact with the Seven Stars. That will make it easier to find information about your identity, Teacher."

His teacher's memories had already been worn away, and Bai Ye wanted to help her recover some of the memories that had once belonged to her.

But,

Bai Ye was still worried that directly asking Zhongli or those Adepti would be dangerous.

If there really was some old grudge between them,

then even if they did nothing to Bai Ye, he believed the Adepti would definitely seal away Teacher Hagintos.

Bai Ye could understand why the Adepti would think that way for Liyue's safety.

But Bai Ye could not accept it.

He would protect his own teacher himself.

And aside from the Adepti, the Seven Stars were the most likely source of information about the gods.

Perhaps the Jade Chamber had some information as well.

"Oh, right, and there's one more thing. The largest piece of Floating Stone in Liyue Harbor is up in the sky right now. If we ever manage to get up there and quietly absorb all of it..."

"If possible, please try to act like a person!"

Hagintos complained helplessly.

"Hehe~"

The next morning,

Bai Ye arrived at the entrance of the Feiyun Commerce Guild.

He held a Mora Meat in his hand and was about to find a place to eat while waiting for Yelan.

But before he could even take a bite,

a short-haired young man in black clothes and glasses stepped in front of him.

"What kind of outfit is this?"

Bai Ye looked at the "young man" and asked quietly.

To others, she might look like a somewhat handsome young man,

but how could someone like Bai Ye, who worked with the Art of Automata every day, fail to notice the subtle details of the "young man's" disguise?

This was Yelan in disguise.

"Of course, it's for going to the Feiyun Commerce Guild."

Yelan lightly opened her fan.

"I heard the Feiyun Commerce Guild has some dealings with the Fatui, so I came specifically to investigate the situation."