At the foot of Mt. Tianheng,
Qian Er, the Feiyun Commerce Guild's second-in-command, arrived with several trusted subordinates and a collection of antiques.
Though this place was close to Liyue Harbor, the steep mountains meant that aside from a few monsters and Treasure Hoarders, no one else came here.
Before Qian Er arrived, a merchant from Snezhnaya, several Fatui soldiers, a Debt Collector, and an Elegy of Falling Stars had already been waiting there.
When he saw Qian Er arrive, the Snezhnayan merchant immediately stepped forward.
"Mr. Qian, we've been waiting here for half a day already. Did something happen on your end?"
he asked Qian Er.
"Nothing. I was merely delayed on the road."
Qian Er was too embarrassed to admit that he had delayed because he simply could not bear to part with those antiques.
"Mm."
The Snezhnayan merchant nodded.
"Fine, let's continue discussing our deal." Qian Er did not wish to dwell on such matters and turned the conversation back to their transaction.
"This is the final batch of antiques before the operation. Once you accept them, it'll be time for you to do your part."
"Of course."
The Snezhnayan merchant began carefully inspecting the antiques.
Although he was from Snezhnaya, he had spent many years in Liyue Harbor and was highly knowledgeable about appraising cultural relics.
When he picked up the maze map, his fingers lingered over it a few extra times, and his gaze rested on it for several seconds longer.
After finishing the inspection, he nodded at the Debt Collector behind him.
The Debt Collector instantly appeared at Qian Er's side.
In a hoarse voice, he said, "Good. We've received the payment. As for the rest, that depends on whether your intelligence is accurate."
"Don't worry. A shipment of specialties from Sumeru will arrive tomorrow. I hear the goods were purchased from a super merchant in Sumeru known as Sangemah Bayt, the Magnate. This is the first transaction between both sides, and they intend to establish cross-border cooperation between Liyue and Sumeru afterward. The boss and young master take this very seriously, so they'll both go there personally to speak with her."
"That is your business, not mine. As long as your intelligence is accurate, we will naturally cooperate with you in taking down the owner of the Feiyun Commerce Guild and his eldest son."
The Debt Collector spoke coldly.
Qian Er did not care about his tone. He merely checked the time before saying to him, "All right, I'll head back first. If I'm seen in Liyue Harbor too late, it'll be hard to explain."
Then,
he bade the Debt Collector farewell and turned to leave.
Once he had gone far enough, the Debt Collector sneered and asked the Snezhnayan merchant,
"Andrei, what do you think this Feiyun Commerce Guild man is trying to do? Does he think that once his boss and the eldest son are dead, the Feiyun Commerce Guild will be his?"
"Mm. Aside from the eldest son, the guild master only has a second son left. According to the intelligence I've gathered, that second son does not care much about the Feiyun Commerce Guild. If his father and brother meet with an accident, Qian Er may truly be able to hollow out the guild from within." The Snezhnayan merchant paused. "As for the more important reason, I think he has no choice but to act now. According to our commercial intelligence, Qian Er has embezzled quite a lot from the Feiyun Commerce Guild. He probably can't cover it up any longer, so he has resorted directly to violence."
"You merchants really are a dark bunch."
The Debt Collector said disdainfully.
"I hope you'll say the same thing when you meet Lord The Rich," Andrei retorted.
The Debt Collector did not dare say another word.
He was a subordinate of Childe, the lowest-ranked Fatui Harbinger, while Andrei was a merchant subordinate of The Rich. They belonged to different chains of command and could dislike one another, but slandering the other's superior was simply courting death.
"This matter has nothing to do with me until it is finished. The ambush will depend on you. You have already obtained what you wanted and can report back to Lord Childe. I'll take the remaining antiques first."
"Mm."
The Debt Collector took the seemingly most ordinary maze map into his hands and allowed the Snezhnayan merchant to take away the other antiques.
After the Snezhnayan merchant also left,
the Debt Collector pointed at several people.
"You few, come with me and deliver this Art of Automata left behind by a Liyue Adepti to Lord Childe. The rest of you, stay here and prepare the ambush. We Fatui value our credibility. If we promise something, we will see it through."
"Yes."
The Fatui soldiers immediately obeyed.
Thus, most of the Fatui soldiers remained there, while the Debt Collector, the Mirror Maiden, and several soldiers prepared to deliver the maze map to Childe.
The Debt Collector led his people away from Mt. Tianheng and headed straight for the Fatui outpost at The Chasm.
As long as they delivered this Adepti mechanism, it would naturally count as a great merit.
To prevent any accidents along the way, they moved swiftly and soon left the Mt. Tianheng region.
"Once we leave Mt. Tianheng, we'll reach the main road. There are fewer Treasure Hoarders and Hilichurls here. We'll continue along the road, and we'll be back soon."
The Debt Collector looked at the road ahead and spoke to his subordinates.
As he spoke,
he prepared to continue onward.
But after taking only one step,
he suddenly sensed a wave of danger.
The Debt Collector immediately dodged,
but he was still a little too late.
A sharp pain instantly shot through his left leg.
The Debt Collector dropped to one knee.
At that moment,
to their left,
Bai Ye slowly walked over from the distance, a Handheld Crossbow in his hand.
He casually spun the Handheld Crossbow around his palm,
then approached the Fatui.
"An enemy!" Enduring the pain, the Debt Collector pulled the crossbow bolt from his calf.
"Hurry up and take care of this brat for me!"
The Fatui soldiers immediately charged at Bai Ye.
At that moment, Bai Ye fired his Handheld Crossbow again, and another bolt pierced through the Debt Collector's right leg.
"I'm only fifteen, and I still have room to grow taller! If I couldn't use you to make money, I'd definitely let you experience the might of Adepti interrogation techniques!"
As he fired his bolts, Bai Ye voiced his displeasure at the Debt Collector's way of addressing him.
With Bai Ye's Art of Automata, he would have been more than qualified to serve as Minister of Justice.
At that moment,
the Fatui soldiers finally rushed to Bai Ye's side.
Bai Ye raised his right hand,
and immediately flung seven or eight Handheld Crossbows from his sleeve,
then,
the Genshin Eye on the back of his hand glowed green.
His Anemo Genshin Eye activated.
A whirlwind immediately rose around Bai Ye, lifting every Handheld Crossbow he had thrown into the air.
They formed a row, their bolt tips all pointed directly at the Fatui soldiers.
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