Chapter Summaries

Xingsu confronted Chevreuse after assassinating a corrupt noble, arguing that Fontaine’s justice ignored the nobles’ crimes while pursuing him. He knocked Chevreuse unconscious and sent Lyney to take her to the Maison Gardiennage, while telling Lyney not to return to the House of the Hearth that night.

• Xingsu stood over the scene of a noble’s apparent suicide as Chevreuse arrived and demanded evidence of the noble’s crimes.
• Xingsu challenged Chevreuse over Fontaine’s failure to punish corrupt nobles, claiming he acted where its justice would not.
• Xingsu counted down while daring Chevreuse to shoot him, but she dropped her musket and tried to subdue him with her polearm.
• Xingsu blocked Chevreuse’s strike and used Spirit Separation to knock her unconscious.
• Lyney carried Chevreuse to the Maison Gardiennage after Xingsu told him to, then was ordered not to return to the House of the Hearth that night.

Edwin Eastinghouse ignored Raimondo’s warnings and conducted a full-charge Arkhium experiment at the Fontaine Research Institute, causing a catastrophic explosion. Neuvillette quelled the disaster, and the institute expelled Edwin and announced that he had died in the blast.

• Edwin rejected Raimondo’s warning and went ahead with the risky Arkhium experiment.
• The experiment exploded, wrecking the institute and throwing its researchers into chaos.
• Neuvillette arrived and used Hydro energy to calm the residual energy and stabilize the ruins.
• The institute blamed Edwin, expelled him, stripped him of his honors and positions, and publicly declared him dead.

Xingsu ordered a formal outfit for Arlecchino from Chiori, who refused his request for sexy nightwear and his plea for yellow and purple clothes. After the outfit was finished, Xingsu gave it to Arlecchino, and they went into their room together.

• Xingsu visited Chiori’s shop and ordered a black, dark gold, and red formal outfit for his lover, giving her Arlecchino’s measurements.
• Chiori agreed to finish the outfit in twenty days, then angrily sent Xingsu out when he asked for sexy nightwear and tried again to persuade her to make yellow and purple clothes.
• Xingsu gave the completed outfit to Arlecchino, who changed into it and asked whether it looked good.
• Arlecchino teased Xingsu about what he had planned for underneath the outfit, and he carried her into their room.
• Arlecchino told Xingsu that most of the children, including Lyney, had missions that night, and he closed the door behind them.

Xingsu's voice lines described his views of the House of the Hearth, Clervie, and several people in Fontaine, while those acquaintances shared their impressions of him. The chapter left Xingsu's connections and reputation across Fontaine on display.

• Xingsu praised Lyney's imagination and care for his siblings, and described Lynette's perceptiveness and Freminet's mechanical talent and hidden strength.
• Xingsu reflected on Clervie's choice and hoped she could live freely, then spoke warmly of Navia, Clorinde, Furina, and Escoffier.
• Xingsu commented on Neuvillette, Wriothesley, Sigewinne, Chevreuse, Charlotte, and Chiori, noting their roles and his reactions to them.
• Lyney, Lynette, Freminet, and Clervie described Xingsu's influence on the House of the Hearth and their personal impressions of him.
• Navia, Clorinde, Furina, Escoffier, Neuvillette, and Wriothesley shared their differing views of Xingsu and his actions.
• Sigewinne, Chevreuse, Chiori, and Charlotte expressed interest, caution, or frustration about Xingsu and his elusive reputation.

Xingsu and Arlecchino shared details about their love, habits, pasts, and roles at the House of the Hearth. Their accounts showed how they supported each other while caring for the children and protecting them from harm.

• Xingsu described falling in love with Arlecchino and spoke about her habits, past, duties, and the children at the House of the Hearth.
• Xingsu explained that he rescued children from abusive nobles and punished the nobles who had harmed them.
• Xingsu described his work as both the children's Morning Star and a nighttime avenger, and shared his hobbies and food preferences.
• Arlecchino praised Xingsu's honesty and hatred of evil, and described how they shared the work of raising the children.
• Arlecchino said Xingsu helped ease the painful memories that haunted her and spoke about her changing feelings toward pets.
• Arlecchino shared her wish to spend relaxed time with her loved ones and named her favorite and least favorite foods.

A series of letters between Dalia and her brother Nikolay described how the House of the Hearth grew kinder under its new Father, Xingsu, and Clervie, while Nikolay remained stationed in the Chasm. Nikolay’s final letter and a desperate note revealed that he and his squad had been abandoned underground, leaving his return home uncertain.

• Dalia wrote to Nikolay about Father’s rule against children killing one another and how the new head cared for the House of the Hearth.
• Nikolay replied that he was safe in Liyue and hoped to meet Father when his assignment ended.
• Dalia described how Xingsu’s patient instruction and Clervie’s cooking brought warmth to the House of the Hearth.
• Nikolay told Dalia that his sister Katarina had joined his company and that he expected his Liyue assignment to end soon, but later wrote that no withdrawal orders had arrived.
• Nikolay sent a bloodstained letter saying his squad was stranded without supplies in the Chasm and that he had become separated from them while drawing monsters away.
• A frantic note from Nikolay condemned the Fatui higher-ups for abandoning the squad and pleaded to go home, followed by a vow urging his brothers and sisters to keep moving forward.

Clorinde executed Callas as the courtroom crowd celebrated, leaving Navia devastated. Xingsu urged Navia to take charge of the Spina di Rosula and clear her father’s name, while a flashback revealed that Callas had asked Xingsu to help her expose the true culprit.

• Callas told Navia to close her eyes, and Xingsu covered them as Clorinde pierced Callas’s heart.
• The crowd cheered the execution while Xingsu silently condemned Fontaine’s justice and watched Navia leave the Opera Epiclese with Melus and Silver.
• Navia broke down in the drizzle, insisting that Callas was innocent, and Xingsu comforted her and urged her to unite Poisson and clear her father’s name.
• Xingsu sent Navia with Melus and Silver to eat, promising to join them and support her.
• In a flashback, Callas asked Xingsu to gather evidence against the true culprit and help Navia confront the darkness in the Court of Fontaine.

Xingsu brought Callas’s body to Poisson, where Navia and the townspeople mourned him and rejected the accusations against him. Navia vowed to clear her father’s name and took up the responsibility of leading the Spina di Rosula.

• Xingsu claimed Callas’s body, mourned him, and carried him back to Poisson.
• Navia returned to Poisson in a daze, haunted by memories of Callas’s trial and death.
• Xingsu, Melus, and Silver buried Callas as the people of Poisson gathered to mourn him.
• Navia swore at Callas’s grave that the Spina di Rosula would continue and that she would clear his name.
• Xingsu urged Navia to stand up and lead the people of Poisson.
• Navia declared herself president of the Spina di Rosula and vowed to clear Callas’s name and improve everyone’s lives.

Xingsu helped Navia stabilize Poisson and the Spina di Rosula while she proved herself as a capable leader. With the town secure, he departed with Clervie and the children, leaving Navia with a box of macarons she had baked for him.

• Navia earned the trust of Poisson’s residents by managing the town’s affairs, while Xingsu secretly stopped malicious rumors about him and Callas from spreading.
• Lyney and Lynette arrived to entertain Navia with magic, allowing Xingsu to slip outside and meet Clervie and Freminet, who had brought supplies for the Spina di Rosula.
• Navia initially refused the supplies, but accepted them after Xingsu explained that he could afford them and invited her to visit the children at the House of the Hearth.
• Xingsu told Navia that he and the children would leave Poisson because the Spina di Rosula’s situation had stabilized, and Navia baked him a box of macarons before he departed.
• On the boat to Fontaine’s main city, Xingsu tasted one of Navia’s macarons and complained that it was sickeningly sweet.

Xingsu returned to the House of the Hearth and was caught by Arlecchino after helping the Spina di Rosula and secretly giving away supplies. She forgave him, then told him the Tsaritsa wanted to see him and sent him to rescue a House of the Hearth child abandoned in the Chasm, but first insisted they discuss his secret stash.

• Xingsu relaxed in Arlecchino's office and tried to explain away his recent absence and the supplies he had given away when she called him.
• Arlecchino appeared at the office door, revealing that she had returned and already knew about Xingsu's actions.
• Arlecchino said she had intended to help the Spina di Rosula herself and forgave Xingsu, who embraced her.
• Arlecchino told Xingsu that the Tsaritsa wanted to see him, but that he needed to go on a mission to rescue a House of the Hearth child abandoned in the Chasm.
• Xingsu tried to leave, but found the office locked; Arlecchino shut the curtains and asked to discuss his secret stash first.

Xingsu arrived in Liyue Harbor to deal with Tartaglia’s reckless operation and seek out the Traveler, but he first found Tartaglia’s young brother Teucer, who had secretly sailed to Liyue alone. He brought Teucer to the Northland Bank, where the brothers reunited and Tartaglia immediately asked Xingsu to spar.

• Xingsu discussed Tartaglia’s attack on the Golden House with Arlecchino, who told him to find Tartaglia and watch for the Traveler.
• Teucer asked Xingsu for help finding his brother and explained that he had secretly boarded a ship to Liyue alone.
• Xingsu took Teucer to the Northland Bank, where Teucer excitedly reunited with Tartaglia.
• Tartaglia scolded Teucer for traveling alone, thanked Xingsu for bringing him, and then asked Xingsu to spar.

Xingsu asked Tartaglia for information about the Chasm and learned that The Rooster may have abandoned the soldiers trapped there. Tartaglia pointed him toward the Traveler or Zhongli for help, then asked Xingsu to look after Teucer, leaving Xingsu and the boy to explore Liyue Harbor together.

• Xingsu told Tartaglia that soldiers, including a child from the House of the Hearth, were trapped in the Chasm and asked how to reach them.
• Tartaglia guessed that the trapped soldiers belonged to The Rooster and said he could not help Xingsu enter the Chasm directly.
• Tartaglia suggested that Xingsu contact the Traveler through the Adventurers' Guild or ask Zhongli for help.
• Tartaglia asked Xingsu to look after Teucer while he handled a debt-collection job, and Xingsu agreed.
• Xingsu invited Teucer to explore Liyue Harbor with him, and Teucer eagerly accepted.

Xingsu led Teucer and the local children in a game of pirates while Ningguang and Beidou watched and discussed his suspicious visit. After Xingsu said he had come to find a child lost in the Chasm, Ningguang concluded that he was likely there to retrieve a Fatui force stranded in the Chasm.

• Xingsu led the children in a pirate game, casting himself as a Pirate King who hunted a sea monster and bringing the children together as his crew.
• Ningguang watched Xingsu from a terrace and told Beidou she suspected he was a high-ranking Fatui agent who had met privately with Tartaglia.
• Beidou approached Xingsu and asked why he had come to Liyue, and he said he was looking for a child lost in the Chasm.
• Teucer returned to Xingsu and asked to be taken to his brother, so Xingsu left with him.
• Ningguang deduced that Xingsu had come to bring out the Fatui force stranded in the Chasm after helping Liyue clear its monsters.

Xingsu accompanied Teucer to Qingxu Pool, where Tartaglia pretended to be a toy salesman while confronting Treasure Hoarders over an unpaid bill. Xingsu’s display of skill frightened the group into paying, and Tartaglia prepared to take Teucer home while urging Xingsu to spar with him later.

• Xingsu led Teucer to Qingxu Pool, where Tartaglia faced several Treasure Hoarders and claimed he was Snezhnaya’s greatest toy salesman when Teucer arrived.
• The Treasure Hoarders mocked Tartaglia and Teucer, and Xingsu stepped in to demand payment of the 600,000 Mora toy bill.
• Xingsu called himself the strongest Pirate King and shot down an eagle with a pebble, making the Treasure Hoarders believe he was dangerous.
• The Treasure Hoarders handed Tartaglia a bag of Mora and hurried away from Qingxu Pool.
• Teucer praised Tartaglia and Xingsu, while Tartaglia challenged Xingsu to spar and then agreed to take Teucer home.

Lumine and Paimon accepted a million-Mora commission from a client calling himself Morning Star to find missing children near The Chasm. At Northland Bank, Xingsu waited for them after encouraging a fellow Fatui guard to pursue his romantic interest.

• Katheryne offered Lumine a generous commission to find children missing near The Chasm, and Paimon eagerly urged her to accept the million-Mora reward.
• Lumine suspected the commission might involve the Fatui because it had few details and required meeting at Northland Bank, but she and Paimon went to meet the client.
• Xingsu revealed he had received ten million Mora from Tartaglia and used one million to hire Lumine, joking that spending his own money was not greed.
• While waiting outside Northland Bank, Xingsu encouraged Vlad to pursue the woman he exchanged letters with and claimed his own beloved was Arlecchino.
• Xingsu greeted Lumine and Paimon when they arrived and invited them inside to discuss the commission.

Lumine agreed to investigate Xingsu’s missing family member in The Chasm while reducing his commission fee out of sympathy for his debts. Over dinner, Xingsu described his family and beloved in ways that left Lumine and Paimon increasingly uncomfortable, and the story ended with him explaining her unusual food preferences.

• Paimon caught Xingsu’s purse of one million Mora, and Lumine asked him why he wanted to investigate The Chasm.
• Xingsu said his family member had fought Abyss monsters, sent a letter months earlier, and then vanished; he also explained that Liyue’s authorities had not answered his request for help.
• After learning Xingsu had borrowed the commission money from Northland Bank, Lumine agreed to help and reduced the fee to thirty thousand Mora.
• Xingsu invited Lumine and Paimon to Wanmin Restaurant, where Paimon eagerly ate Xiangling’s dishes.
• Xingsu said he and his beloved had taken in many orphans, then explained that she preferred raw food, leaving Lumine and Paimon awkwardly silent.

Ningguang and Keqing learned that Xingsu had enlisted Lumine to enter The Chasm and retrieve stranded Fatui troops, so they assigned Yelan to keep watch. Xingsu, Lumine, and Paimon descended into the Underground Mines, where they helped a Millelith soldier evacuate an injured miner.

• Ningguang told Keqing and Ganyu that Xingsu planned to retrieve the Fatui troops in The Chasm with Lumine's help, and they agreed to leave the matter to Yelan.
• Yelan received Ningguang's orders to monitor Xingsu and ensure he did nothing beyond taking the Fatui away.
• Xingsu, Lumine, and Paimon reached The Chasm, and Xingsu jumped into a hay-filled cart before they entered the Underground Mines using an old crane.
• Lumine imitated Xingsu by leaping from the descending crane and safely landing with her Wind Glider, alarming Paimon.
• The group found an unconscious miner after a rockfall, and Xingsu assessed his injuries before the Millelith soldier took him back to the surface for treatment.

Xingsu led Lumine and Paimon through the Chasm, where he uncovered Yelan's hidden surveillance and trapped her subordinates. After Fatui soldiers fired on the group, their leader identified himself as Anton of the Ninth Company.

• Xingsu suspected the injured miner was an impostor and noticed someone was following the group through the Chasm.
• Xingsu's traps incapacitated Yelan's subordinates, and Yelan decided to go after the group herself.
• Yelan fired an elemental arrow at a monster in the black mud.
• A Fatui soldier fired a Pyro bullet at Lumine, but Xingsu pulled her out of its path.
• Xingsu stopped Lumine from attacking the emerging Fatui soldiers and asked them to identify themselves.
• Anton saluted and introduced himself as the acting company commander of the Ninth Company.

Xingsu revealed his ties to the House of the Hearth and used Arlecchino’s token to take command of the starving Fatui trapped in The Chasm. As he prepared food and answered Lumine and Paimon’s questions, he defended the abandoned soldiers and astonished them by pulling a live cow from his magic pocket.

• Xingsu showed the Fatui survivors Arlecchino’s token, identified himself as a head of the House of the Hearth, and ordered the Ninth Company to stand down.
• Anton obeyed Xingsu’s order, and Katarina thanked him after he explained how he had learned about her group’s plight through Nikolay’s letters.
• Anton and the soldiers offered their meager spoiled food and supplies, but Xingsu sent them to rest while he prepared a proper meal.
• Xingsu told Lumine and Paimon that he was not an official Fatui member, explained that his account of growing up in the House of the Hearth had been true, and promised to pay their agreed commission.
• Xingsu said the trapped Fatui had fought Abyss monsters to protect Liyue but had been abandoned by their superiors, then pulled a dairy cow from his magic pocket to provide fresh milk.

Xingsu explained to Lumine and Paimon that the Fatui were not all villains, then shared warm soup with the Ninth Company soldiers trapped in The Chasm. After Katarina asked to search for her missing younger brother, Xingsu set out to investigate the depths, and Lumine chose to accompany him.

• Xingsu used a trick to illustrate that appearances could be misleading and told Lumine and Paimon that some Fatui soldiers and Harbingers sought justice.
• Xingsu cooked soup, and Lumine asked him to serve the exhausted Ninth Company soldiers before her.
• Xingsu thanked Lumine for helping him find the soldiers, paid her commission, and told her about extra Mora hidden at Northland Bank.
• Katarina told Xingsu that her younger brother had drawn away an Abyss monster horde so the team could escape, and asked to search for him.
• Xingsu left the soldiers to rest while he investigated the depths alone, and Lumine volunteered to go with him.