"Qiu Xue"

Zhongli stood there looking at Qiu Bai, his thoughts unreadable.

Once Lumine and Paimon saw that Qiu Bai was unharmed, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

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

Qiu Bai spoke slowly to Lumine and Paimon.

"For now?"

Paimon looked at Qiu Bai in confusion.

"You're not just gritting your teeth and telling us you're fine, are you?"

Paimon folded her arms suspiciously, a hint of worry in her eyes.

"Heh, of course not."

"I probably just haven't slept well these past few days."

Qiu Bai chuckled, then rubbed his nose as he spoke to Paimon. She had almost hit the nail on the head.

"All right, all right. Stop looking at me like that."

"Don't you have something important to do?"

Seeing Lumine and Paimon eyeing him suspiciously, Qiu Bai gave a light cough.

"Oh, right! We still have things to do."

"Traveler, bring the Cleansing Bell over."

Paimon turned to Lumine as she spoke.

Lumine stood there holding the Cleansing Bell, looking a little dazed, then showed it to Zhongli.

"Excellent. This is indeed the Cleansing Bell... hmm, it has been well cared for."

"Let us also offer the perfume we prepared earlier while we are at it."

Zhongli spoke slowly to Lumine and Paimon.

"Do you know Madame Ping?"

Lumine sounded puzzled. It seemed that only an Adeptus could perform the feats Madame Ping had shown them.

Besides, both Mr. Zhongli before her and Qiu Bai beside him always gave her the feeling that they were hiding all sorts of things.

"Hmm... there's something suspicious about both of you."

"But if you don't want to tell us, I won't press you for now."

Paimon looked at Qiu Bai and Zhongli in puzzlement as she spoke.

Zhongli and Madame Ping were old friends, and Qiu Bai was an old friend of Zhongli's.

Then there was that woman named Qiu Xue. The more Paimon thought about it, the more suspicious it all seemed.

Paimon slapped her forehead, apparently remembering something.

Then she said to Zhongli, "Oh, right! That granny asked us to pass a message on to you!"

"If you have time, you're welcome to come over for tea."

"This old woman may not have many possessions, but I do at least have a teapot."

Paimon imitated Madame Ping.

Her chubby face strained with the effort of copying Madame Ping's tone.

"Hahaha, that manner of speaking does not suit you very well."

Zhongli couldn't help laughing at Paimon's adorable expression.

"Still, her teapot is indeed quite fine. Nothing could be better for brewing tea."

Zhongli raised his head as though recalling something, then looked at Paimon.

"When the time is right, I will naturally bring some fine tea to visit her."

"Along with this old friend of mine."

Zhongli glanced back at Qiu Bai beside him and nodded.

"Huh? Does Qiu Bai know Madame Ping too?"

Paimon and Lumine looked at Qiu Bai in confusion.

"Of course I do. When you went to Madame Ping's place..."

"Didn't you see a little girl there?"

Qiu Bai smiled as he explained, taking in their puzzled expressions.

"We did! Her name was Qiqi, and she was super cute!"

"Hmm... she was just a little shy. Madame Ping said another old friend of hers had brought the girl over."

Paimon pondered this in confusion, unable to understand how Qiu Bai knew about that little girl.

Then something seemed to occur to her, and she looked at Qiu Bai in surprise.

"Wait, don't tell me you're the old friend Madame Ping was talking about!"

Paimon's eyes widened as she stared at Qiu Bai in astonishment.

"Indeed."

At Qiu Bai's confirmation, the suspicions Paimon had just put to rest flared up again, and she eyed Zhongli and Qiu Bai warily.

"These two are really suspicious."

Paimon stared suspiciously at the two men before her.

Naturally, Qiu Bai noticed her gaze.

"Ahem, aren't you preparing the Rite of Parting?"

"I won't get in your way, then. Carry on!"

Qiu Bai averted his eyes from Paimon's suspicious stare, then ran off in a flash.

Zhongli stroked his chin thoughtfully as he looked in the direction Qiu Bai had disappeared.

Then he said to Lumine and Paimon beside him, "Come, let us go to Yujing Terrace."

"We shall offer this Cleansing Bell and the perfume to Rex Lapis."

After disappearing from Paimon and Lumine's sight, Qiu Bai teleported straight to a deserted spot.

He could no longer suppress the abnormality within him. Dropping to his knees, he clutched his head in agony.

"What on earth..."

"Is going on?"

The ball of light inside Qiu Bai slowly began emerging from his body, bringing excruciating pain with it! Cold sweat poured off him.

Just as Qiu Bai was about to lose consciousness from the pain, the ball of light finally floated out of his body.

Before he lost consciousness, Qiu Bai dimly saw the ball of light slowly taking the form of a woman. The sight of her shocked him to his core.

Then Qiu Bai lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

Early the next morning, on the outskirts of Liyue Harbor.

Qiu Bai slowly stood up. As the Yin-Yang Energy within him continually replenished and balanced itself, his pain had faded away.

"Right, that figure I saw before I passed out yesterday was..."

"That was me."

A sweet, bell-like voice rang out.

Its gentle tone drew Qiu Bai's gaze toward its source.

The woman standing before him wore a long black-and-white dress and was around 170 centimeters tall.

Her two snow-white, flawless legs were pressed together, and a sweet smile graced her face. The Two-Yi Yin-Yang was tucked at her waist.

Her beautiful eyes gazed at him tenderly.

Qiu Bai froze when he looked up and saw her, staring at the graceful figure before him in utter bewilderment.

Wasn't the woman before him his female form, Qiu Xue?!

Yet something about her felt a little different.

It was hard to tell without looking closely.

Qiu Bai rubbed his eyes and confirmed that he wasn't seeing things.

Then he ran up to the woman and looked at her in astonishment.

He checked his power. It was just as it had been before he absorbed that ball of light.

He breathed a sigh of relief. That didn't really matter.

He briefly checked his authorities. Not a single one was missing, and he could still transform into his female form.

Besides, he hardly needed that little bit of power. Since he was immune to Erosion, his power would slowly continue to grow.

"Who exactly are you?"

Qiu Bai lowered his head slightly to look at this so-called "Qiu Xue."

"Hmm... I don't know either."

"After you caught me, and because of your female form..."

"I developed a personality and gained sentience, as well as some of your memories."

"But all my power comes from you. It was only through a coincidence that I ended up like this."

"So I took on the appearance of your female form."

The "Qiu Xue" before him blinked her beautiful eyes and explained with a playful air.