Lumine hurried over, taking out a handkerchief with her right hand and conjuring a small whirlwind with her left, then went straight to work on Zhong Baiye's hair.
Keqing was stunned by how quickly Lumine had moved, but she hurried over as well.
Keqing immediately pulled out something resembling a hair dryer and said smugly to Lumine,
"This is Fontaine's latest invention, the Rapid Hair Dryer. It's much more efficient than some handkerchief."
Seeing Keqing's smug expression, Lumine immediately sent a small gust of wind at the Rapid Hair Dryer in her hand.
Keqing reacted in time, frantically using Electro to block the gust.
The two stared each other down. Even Paimon could sense that things were about to explode, so she quickly fled to a safe distance.
Zhong Baiye caught on as well. He snatched the Rapid Hair Dryer from Keqing's hand, then took the handkerchief from Lumine.
He stepped between Lumine and Keqing, holding the handkerchief in his left hand and the Rapid Hair Dryer in his right. He quickly tidied his hair himself, smiling at the two of them as he spoke.
"These two work best when you use them together."
Keqing and Lumine, who had been enemies a moment ago, seemed to realize something upon hearing Zhong Baiye's words. They both turned their fire on him.
"Hmph! Scumbag."
After saying those words in unison and looking at Zhong Baiye as though he were scum, Keqing and Lumine walked away side by side.
"Keqing, you're so pretty."
"You're beautiful too, Lumine."
Watching the two of them chatting and laughing, Zhong Baiye actually felt a little lonely.
He still couldn't understand how what he'd just said had managed to anger them both.
Paimon looked at Zhong Baiye with admiration. "You're really brave. Even I have to admire you for daring to suggest something like that to them."
Only after Paimon gave him that hint did Zhong Baiye realize what was wrong with what he'd said.
But Zhong Baiye felt terribly wronged. He hadn't meant anything like that at all.
Paimon flew straight to the small hidden door and slowly pushed it open with all her strength, muttering excitedly to herself.
"Treasure, treasure, here I come."
Keqing and Lumine immediately followed, eager to find out what was hidden inside.
Zhong Baiye trailed behind all alone.
Everyone was curious about what was hidden here. After all, the conditions for opening it were incredibly strict, and an almost unbeatable Anemo Slime had even been stationed here as a guard.
If that Slime hadn't inexplicably left, their group would never have been able to open this secret passage.
"Ah!!"
As soon as he entered the doorway, Zhong Baiye heard startled cries from Lumine and Keqing up ahead.
Zhong Baiye immediately ran over to them. Seeing their shocked expressions, he hurriedly asked what had happened.
Keqing and Lumine slowly raised their hands and pointed behind Zhong Baiye.
Thinking there was some monster behind him, Zhong Baiye tensed up in fright. He drew the Skyward Blade and spun around in a flash.
"Whatever monster you are, don't even think about ambushing me!"
But when he saw what was actually in front of him, he froze too.
"Hiss..."
There was no Slime before him, nor any invincible monster, but Zhong Baiye still sucked in a breath of cold air, directly worsening the greenhouse effect across Teyvat.
Before him stood a wall, but that wall was covered in photographs of Zhong Baiye.
They had been taken from all sorts of impossible angles, and some even showed Zhong Baiye fast asleep.
"There's no treasure here! Snap out of it, you guys."
Paimon gave Zhong Baiye a few kicks, finally jolting him out of his shock.
He examined the photographs carefully, but he had no recollection of any of them.
He hadn't even visited the places where those pictures had been taken. In theory, it should have been impossible to take them.
He turned to look around. This was clearly a room full of girlish touches, but strangely, all the plush dolls had Zhong Baiye's face.
Even the lamp in the room had Zhong Baiye's face printed on it.
"I know why that Slime disappeared after seeing Zhong Baiye."
Paimon spoke with the expression of a detective.
Hearing Paimon's words and remembering that the Slime had been guarding this place, Zhong Baiye instantly understood as well. It must have noticed that he matched the photographs here, which was why it hadn't attacked them.
But Zhong Baiye had no idea why a room like this existed here, or why it was full of his photographs.
Seeing all this, Keqing and Lumine had a vague suspicion, but they exchanged a glance and decided not to say anything.
Just then, a whirlwind swept in, blowing so hard that none of them could keep their eyes open.
When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves outside the Domain.
"What's going on? How did we suddenly end up outside?"
Zhong Baiye spoke in confusion.
But Lumine and Keqing looked just as bewildered. Neither had any idea what had just happened.
"Ahem..."
Hearing that sound, everyone immediately turned and saw a crane.
The crane was none other than the adeptus so fond of chatting whom they had met just yesterday.
Strangely, though, Cloud Retainer had her back to them, and her crane legs were trembling.
"To think that my abode... contained such a room... I had never... seen it before. Do not dwell... on it. I shall... deal with that room... shortly."
Cloud Retainer said this with her back to them.
But Zhong Baiye and the others felt that Cloud Retainer sounded somewhat nervous, her words coming in fits and starts.
Zhong Baiye felt as though he could connect all these things, but just as he was about to think it through, Cloud Retainer spoke again.
"Since you have finished cleaning, hurry back to Liyue Harbor. I hear that the matter concerning Rex Lapis has thrown Liyue Harbor into utter chaos."
Keqing trembled upon hearing this, guilt rising within her.
Seeing Keqing's guilty expression, Zhong Baiye stopped pursuing his train of thought and comforted her instead.
"Keqing, it's all right. Ningguang is still in Liyue Harbor. You have to trust her."
"Keqing, I've heard Ningguang is very capable. She'll definitely be able to manage Liyue Harbor. You don't need to worry."
Lumine came over to comfort Keqing as well.
"Phew..."
No one noticed Cloud Retainer let out a deep breath once she saw that their attention had shifted.
Then Cloud Retainer handed Zhong Baiye a feather.
"This is one of my feathers. With its help, you will be able to return quickly."
With that, she flew away.
Before you continue