Jiang Xiaofeng landed on the ground with La Signora in his arms.
"You can leave now. Don't worry about them."
Jiang Xiaofeng gave the Fatui an order directly.
The Fatui Skirmishers all looked at La Signora, who had just struggled free of Jiang Xiaofeng's arms.
"What are you waiting for? Do as he says."
La Signora glanced at the people around her as she spoke.
They exchanged looks and began retreating.
"There's something strange on you."
La Signora came to a stop and spoke to Jiang Xiaofeng.
Jiang Xiaofeng shrugged.
Whether La Signora could sense his system or the Cursed Blade he always wore at his waist, either qualified as something strange.
He would just let La Signora stay confused.
Jiang Xiaofeng said to La Signora, "Let's put that aside for now."
"Can I join the Fatui now?"
Jiang Xiaofeng had thought it over from every angle. At present, only the Fatui and the Abyss might accept him.
After all, he couldn't get to Inazuma yet, and Jiang Xiaofeng didn't think those two in Inazuma would accept him either.
Jiang Xiaofeng looked back at the departing Dvalin, smiled, then turned around and continued forward.
The devotion of my past life can stay in my past life...
That was what Jiang Xiaofeng thought.
He should focus on the present and the future.
"Hey, Rosalyne, where would my current strength rank in the Fatui?"
La Signora answered Jiang Xiaofeng with a blast of cold.
Jiang Xiaofeng immediately lit the flames on his head and swallowed the cold La Signora released.
After all, La Signora's Cryo Elemental Power came from the Tsaritsa, while her Pyro Elemental Power came from herself. She had always used Cryo Elemental Power to conceal the Pyro Elemental Power within her, waiting only for the right moment to unleash it and burn everything to ashes.
Thus, when La Signora attacked, she generally used the Cryo Archon's Cryo.
That was precisely why Jiang Xiaofeng kept provoking La Signora with all sorts of remarks, continually absorbing the Cryo Archon's Cryo.
After all, it wasn't time to absorb La Signora's fire yet.
"With your strength, petty tricks like these are all you're good for."
La Signora stopped attacking and spoke coldly.
Jiang Xiaofeng shook his head helplessly.
No one in all of Teyvat has fully uncovered my trump cards. How could a mere Fatui Harbinger like you know...
La Signora, Jiang Xiaofeng, and the main Fatui force soon left Stormterror's Lair. Meanwhile, the Fatui from Mondstadt City had long since left the Goth Grand Hotel in Mondstadt City and had been waiting here at Stormterror's Lair for quite some time.
Jiang Xiaofeng shook his head as he observed the discipline of the Fatui Skirmishers.
Had he not known that Snezhnaya was modeled on the Soviet Union, Jiang Xiaofeng would never have thought these well-trained soldiers were Snezhnaya's Fatui.
After all, in Jiang Xiaofeng's memory, only Huaxia from his past life could organize people so neatly.
Jiang Xiaofeng stopped dwelling on it and decided to say goodbye to La Signora and the others.
La Signora was clearly a little surprised to hear that Jiang Xiaofeng was leaving.
"Didn't you want to join the Fatui?"
"You can simply head to Snezhnaya with them."
Jiang Xiaofeng shook his head.
"Boring. If I can't be a Harbinger, what's the point of joining?"
That really was what Jiang Xiaofeng thought.
If he was going to join the Fatui, he might as well become a Harbinger right away and give it a try.
If anyone objected, he could beat them into submission.
La Signora shook her head and signaled that the Fatui Skirmishers could leave.
Jiang Xiaofeng froze for a moment.
Once everyone had left and only Jiang Xiaofeng and La Signora remained, Jiang Xiaofeng couldn't help asking, "Aren't you going back to Snezhnaya to hand over the Gnosis?"
The corners of La Signora's mouth curved upward.
"I need to go to Liyue next. There's still enough time."
Jiang Xiaofeng understood at once.
There was only a two-month gap in total. Even though Jiang Xiaofeng's involvement had brought the events in Mondstadt to a somewhat anticlimactic end, the timing couldn't be off by much-probably just a few months.
With nothing else to be done, Jiang Xiaofeng decided to say goodbye to La Signora.
He still wanted to visit Wangshu Inn first and see whether that person's karmic debt could be fed to the Cursed Sword.
At that thought, Jiang Xiaofeng said, "Then... this is where we part."
With that, Jiang Xiaofeng spread his dragon wings and flew into the sky.
Watching Jiang Xiaofeng, La Signora raised her voice slightly and asked, "Do you know the way to Liyue?"
Then La Signora tilted her head up and watched Jiang Xiaofeng slowly descend to the ground.
Jiang Xiaofeng looked a little embarrassed.
He knew where Liyue Harbor and The Chasm were because both places were big enough that he only needed to remember their general direction.
But after flying into the sky, he had scanned his surroundings once and given up.
There was no helping it. The surrounding terrain all looked the same. Once he lost his bearings, he would get lost for sure.
Seeing Jiang Xiaofeng stumped put La Signora in a better mood. "Well? Beg me, and I'll give you a ride."
Jiang Xiaofeng thought for a moment and made a decision...
In the carriage, Jiang Xiaofeng called out to the Fatui member driving up front to head to Wangshu Inn, then lay down on the seat.
Opposite Jiang Xiaofeng, La Signora elegantly sipped a cup of red liquid.
Yes, Jiang Xiaofeng had torn his dignity to shreds and swallowed it.
The Beheaded needed neither so-called dignity nor so-called shackles.
Carefree and fearless-that was The Beheaded.
So Jiang Xiaofeng's earlier behavior had still been too restrained.
La Signora looked at Jiang Xiaofeng opposite her, thought for a moment, then asked, "Come to think of it, what exactly should I call you?"
"Don't read too much into it. I feel we'll be colleagues before long, after all. We should get to know each other."
Without moving, Jiang Xiaofeng teased, "The way you put it, you'd think we were going to settle down together."
"What, have you finally decided to forget your ex-boyfriend and start a new romance?"
"Your taste must be pretty bad, then, falling for a creature like me that doesn't even have a human form."
The moment Jiang Xiaofeng finished speaking, he felt his entire body freeze over.
Jiang Xiaofeng paid it no mind. He simply devoured the Cryo and said, "As for what to call me, The Beheaded works."
"That's the name of the creature I am."
"Of course, you can also call me by my alias, Jiang Xiaofeng."
Still angry, La Signora said coldly, "If you don't want your tongue anymore, keep talking."
Jiang Xiaofeng was amused. "If you can actually pull a tongue out of me, I'll really have to thank you properly."
La Signora shook her head and decided to stop listening to Jiang Xiaofeng's trash talk.
Jiang Xiaofeng fell quiet for a while, then suddenly said, "Rosalyne, tell me, when someone runs into something troubling, what's their first thought?"
La Signora: "?"
What was wrong with him now?
La Signora hadn't expected a carefree fellow like Jiang Xiaofeng to have worries too.
La Signora sat up straight, ready to listen.
Jiang Xiaofeng continued talking to himself.
"Ever since I came to this world, I've planned out what I needed to do at every step. But no matter how well I plan, my plans can never keep up with change."
"Those changes really have had a considerable impact on me."
"I was born in The Chasm, followed the Treasure Hoarders' smuggling entrance up to the surface, and caused a commotion in Liyue before heading to Mondstadt."
"But I have a very strange ability. Whenever something troubles me, I can completely lock away the emotions attached to that part of my memories. That way, I can interpret my situation at the time as though I'm reading a story."
"That way, no matter how deeply the world hurts me, I can keep an even mind instead of being swayed by it."
Jiang Xiaofeng smiled.
"Tell me, is that normal or not?"