Qiu Bai's Headache

Qiu Bai sat in a chair in front of the storyteller, took a sip of tea, and gave Zhongli a mysterious look.

Zhongli looked at his old friend in surprise.

As far as he knew, the dead should not be able to return to life.

But his old friend's ability to repair Erosion alone had already struck him as incredible.

So the idea that he could now resurrect a god was not quite so surprising.

He then began to ponder what Qiu Bai had said.

If Guizhong were resurrected now, he would have a dear old friend back. He truly wanted her to see Liyue as it was today.

But after considering the era Guizhong had lived in, he shook his head.

A long while passed before a breeze swept past them. Zhongli slowly rose and walked over beside the Jade Mystery.

He continued forward, stopping by the railing with his arms folded as he gazed at the distant mountains.

The sun was slowly setting, and Zhongli turned his gaze toward Sunset Point.

Qiu Bai strolled after him and stopped at his side.

"I'm not entirely sure, either. Perhaps this era would be too beautiful for her."

Zhongli spoke softly.

He had regained his usual composure, and the breeze gently stirred the hem of his coat.

After so many old friends had departed and so much time had passed in Liyue Harbor, there was a weathered air to his silhouette.

Watching Zhongli gaze at the mountains, Qiu Bai chose to remain silent.

"Then tell me once you've made up your mind."

"She is your old friend, after all."

Affected by the inexplicable emotions within him, he could not help putting a little more emphasis into his words.

Qiu Bai patted Zhongli's shoulder and spoke softly to him.

The corner of Zhongli's mouth twitched.

"I think you would be better off turning back into a woman. At least you'd be a little more reserved."

Zhongli looked at the irreverent Qiu Bai and spoke with some resignation.

Qiu Bai's body trembled again.

"What on earth is going on? Once this is over, I'll have to give my body a thorough check."

"I'm just lightening the mood."

"Looking so brooding, you'd have anyone thinking you were feeling emo."

Qiu Bai waved a hand and replied lazily.

"'Emo'? What does that mean?"

"Heh. You were saying strange things a thousand years ago, and you still haven't changed."

Zhongli chuckled and addressed Qiu Bai beside him.

The sun finally set, and the moon slowly rose.

Qiu Bai followed Zhongli's gaze toward the moon slowly rising on the horizon.

"Zhongli! Qiu Xue!"

When Qiu Bai heard someone call the name Qiu Xue, his head hurt again.

"We're back!"

Paimon's voice came from a distance, with Lumine behind her carrying a large bell.

Paimon flew over quickly, seemingly searching for something.

"Huh? Where's Qiu Xue?"

"Why are you here instead?"

Paimon looked around in confusion, then spotted Qiu Bai and folded her arms, sounding disappointed.

"Qiu Bai, good to see you again."

Lumine politely greeted Qiu Bai.

"Qiu Xue went back ahead of us, and I happened to run into Qiu Bai."

"We chatted for a while."

Zhongli explained calmly to Lumine and Paimon.

Qiu Bai smiled and gave a slow nod as well.

"It seems little Paimon has quite a problem with me."

Qiu Bai looked at Paimon in surprise.

"That's because you're always patting my head."

"Not just anyone gets to pat Paimon's head."

Paimon folded her arms and turned away haughtily.

Qiu Bai's mouth twitched. I patted your head who knows how many times during the day. Why did you let me do it then?

Talk about double standards.

And you, Lumine-now you're acting all nice. Have you forgotten how you touched my legs earlier today?

Just as Qiu Bai was inwardly grumbling about Paimon and Lumine, something happened.

A wave of excruciating pain surged through his entire body.

"Ah! It hurts, it hurts!"

Qiu Bai clutched his head tightly and dropped to one knee with a thud!

"What's wrong, Qiu Bai?!"

"Are you okay? Paimon won't ever bad-mouth you behind your back again!"

Paimon hurried over, at a loss for what to do as she looked at him.

"Qiu Bai!"

Lumine saw Qiu Bai kneeling on the ground.

She rushed over and helped him up.

"Don't worry. I'm fine."

Qiu Bai frantically concentrated his power of Yang in his brain to ease the pain.

"My old friend, what's wrong?!"

Zhongli abandoned all pretense of composure and hurried over to support Qiu Bai's other shoulder.

With Lumine and Zhongli supporting him, Qiu Bai stood up.

Only then did Qiu Bai speak slowly. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

"My head just hurts a little."

Qiu Bai rubbed his head and slowly addressed the three of them.

"Then hurry to Bubu Pharmacy and get some medicine!"

Paimon kept stamping her feet anxiously as she spoke to Qiu Bai.

But Zhongli, who was supporting Qiu Bai, sensed that something was wrong.

"I'm afraid it isn't that simple."

Zhongli spoke quietly.

He knew his old friend well. For one thing, he possessed a god's body immune to all poisons.

Moreover, this old friend of his was not subject to Erosion.

His strength even surpassed Zhongli's at his peak, so how could he have a headache?

"That's right! Zhongli, tell us what's wrong with Qiu Bai!"

"You know so much. Surely you must know what's causing it!"

Seeing Qiu Bai in distress, Paimon flew up to his forehead and felt it.

Finding that he was not feverish, she anxiously addressed Zhongli beside him.

By now, Qiu Bai had temporarily suppressed the abnormalities in his body and head and stood fully upright.

"I told you, I'm fine."

"I didn't expect little Paimon to care so much about me after saying all that."

Warmth filled Qiu Bai's heart at the sight of the anxious little Paimon, and he patted her head.

Then, as though nothing had happened, he stepped away from Zhongli and Lumine's support.

Paimon no longer cared whether Qiu Bai was patting her head.

She stared at him with wide eyes and asked, "Are you really okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Really?"

"I'm fine!"

"You weren't just messing with us, were you?!"

"And here I was, so worried about you!"

Paimon folded her arms, pulled away from Qiu Bai's hand, and angrily stamped her feet in midair.

Lumine also looked at Qiu Bai with concern.

"Qiu Bai, are you really all right?"

Lumine asked worriedly, because the pain on Qiu Bai's face earlier had not looked feigned at all.

"I'm fine, Lumine. I'm perfectly healthy."

Qiu Bai smiled at Lumine, who was worried about him.

Still unconvinced, Lumine continued staring at him.

Qiu Bai turned his gaze toward a large rock nearby.

"If you don't believe me, watch."

With that, Qiu Bai punched the large rock beside the Jade Mystery.

Bang!

A fist-shaped dent appeared in the middle of the rock.

This gave Shitou, the owner of the Jade Mystery, quite a fright. He had thought Qiu Bai was trying to extort him.

"See?"

"My punch is pretty powerful when I put my full strength into it!"

Lumine's eyes widened at the sight.

Even Paimon looked at Qiu Bai in surprise.

They had not expected Qiu Bai to be so strong.

He had actually punched a dent into a rock!

After seeing him do that, however, they finally felt certain that Qiu Bai was all right.

Meanwhile, Zhongli stood beside them with a thoughtful expression.

He watched his old friend, his thoughts unreadable.

(There were quite a few problems with the previous chapter, so I've revised it. Readers who've already read it can take another look!)

(I realized I'd bitten off more than I could chew. It was only four chapters' worth of work.)

(Yet it kept me thinking from this morning until now, and my head is still spinning. I'll never make such big boasts again. Please forgive me, readers!!! o(╥﹏╥)o)

(But I'll still stick to three chapters a day! That's one more than before! This is my first time writing a novel, and I wanted to try writing twelve thousand characters a day. Challenge failed! I'm truly sorry, dear readers!)