Shenhe, if you ban me again over this, I really won't write anymore

[Minna-san, I'm back again again again again again again!]

[If you think my writing is bad, there's nothing I can do. This is just how good I am, and I even watch those Fanqie classes every day, boo-hoo-hoo. Just take it as me writing nonsense.]

[Please follow, send gifts, add this to your bookshelf, and comment awa]

[Follows, readers keeping up with updates, and gifts are what motivate me to update ovo]

[Shenhe has already driven me to a breakdown]

Baichen sprinted through Liyue Harbor's tangled alleys like a startled rabbit.

His feet were bare, slapping directly against the flagstones with crisp, rapid patters.

His body was small, and he slipped through the crowds as nimbly as a fish through water.

He was incredibly fast, as light as the wind, making it hard to catch sight of him.

Yet even though he was running so fast, the hem of his pale purple clothes was soaked with sweat.

The fabric clung tightly to his slender back, fluttering slightly as he ran, as though telling of his exhaustion and anxiety.

The gold and jade ring on his ring finger flashed brilliantly in the sunlight, like an invisible shackle.

"Sister Ganyu... where is Sister Ganyu...?"

The boy murmured between breaths, his blue-violet eyes full of panic.

Since fleeing the alley where Beidou and Yelan had faced off, he had spent nearly two hours wandering this vast port city.

Liyue's streets were as intricate as a maze, and every corner seemed to look exactly the same.

[Stamina is running low]

[Warning! Tracking technique fluctuations detected]

[That gold ring is sending your location to Ningguang! Think of something, quick!]

I-I know... but...

Baichen's legs had already begun to tremble, and he could taste blood in his throat.

As he rounded a corner, he accidentally crashed into a stack of crates, his knee striking the stone pavement hard.

His delicate skin scraped open at once, beads of blood seeping out.

"Ugh..."

The boy curled up behind the crates, fighting back his sobs.

His fingers rubbed the damned ring absentmindedly, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't get it off.

The orderly footsteps of the Millelith sounded in the distance. They seemed to be searching door to door.

"Miss Ganyu... where are you...?"

His voice had taken on a tearful quaver.

Just then, a familiar jingling of bells came from overhead.

Baichen looked up to see Ganyu standing on a rooftop, her long blue hair blowing in the wind and the bells on her qilin horns jingling.

"Mr. Baichen!" She leaped lightly down. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Ganyu was wearing practical, short-cut clothes for ease of movement today, with a white sash embroidered with a qilin pattern around her waist.

When she saw the wound on the boy's knee, her coral-colored eyes immediately filled with concern. "How did you get hurt...?"

Baichen grabbed her sleeve. "Take me away... please..."

Ganyu seemed to notice something, her gaze falling on the gold and jade ring.

Her expression grew grave, and she gently picked the boy up. "Hold on tight."

With a gust of breeze, Ganyu leaped onto the rooftops and sped through Liyue's maze of buildings.

Baichen clung tightly to her neck, his little face buried in her fragrant blue hair.

The wind whistled in his ears, and he could faintly hear Ningguang's angry command in the distance:

"Search the entire city!"

After they had traveled for who knew how long, the buildings gradually thinned out, giving way to lush mountains and forests.

Ganyu slowed down, finally stopping before a mountain gateway wreathed in mist-the entrance to Jueyun Karst.

"It's safe here," she said softly, carefully setting Baichen down on a flat rock. "Lady Ningguang won't expect me to have brought you here."

Ganyu crouched down, took a small porcelain bottle from her waist, and poured out some medicinal powder, gently applying it to the wound on the boy's knee.

The instant the powder touched the wound, it stung, and Baichen couldn't help hissing.

"Bear with it..." Ganyu's voice was even gentler than usual. "This is a special medicine made by Cloud Retainer. It works very well."

As she bent her head to tend the wound, her profile looked especially soft in the setting sun, her long eyelashes casting fine shadows on her cheeks.

Baichen suddenly noticed that the tips of Ganyu's ears had turned bright red at some point.

[Ganyu's affection +5%, current affection: 34%]

[Status obtained: Minor abrasion (healing)]

Once she had finished treating the wound, Ganyu led Baichen up the mountain along the stone steps.

The scenery in Jueyun Karst was completely different from Liyue Harbor's-strange peaks rose amid swirling clouds and mist, and occasionally a few cranes flew overhead.

"This is where I usually live." Ganyu pointed into the distance. "It's simple, but very quiet."

The place was more modest than he had imagined.

Ganyu explained a little sheepishly, "Because I have work to handle in Liyue, I rarely come back to stay here..."

She pushed open the door to the main room. Its furnishings were simple but neat.

There was a desk, a few bookshelves, and a bed with blue bedding in the corner.

"Please rest for a while." Ganyu took out a set of clean clothes. "These are my old clothes. They might be a little big..."

The clothes were a simple white underrobe and a blue outer robe, and they were indeed far too large for the 159-centimeter-tall boy.

After Baichen put them on, the sleeves covered half his hands and the hem hung almost to his knees. He looked like a child who had sneaked into an adult's clothes.

"Pfft..." Ganyu couldn't help laughing. "So cute..."

Her face suddenly turned red, and she hurriedly turned away to prepare tea.

Baichen sat on the edge of the bed, swinging his feet, which couldn't reach the floor, when a wave of exhaustion suddenly washed over him.

His eyelids grew unbearably heavy, and before he knew it, he had toppled sideways onto the soft bed and fallen asleep.

[Stamina depleted! Forced sleep initiated...]

[Sleep, sleep. Coming home is the best gift (?)]

When Baichen woke again, a lamp had been lit in the room.

Outside the window, moonlight flowed like water, coating the bamboo house in silver.

He found himself covered with the blue quilt, while Ganyu sat at the desk working through documents, her profile looking especially gentle in the lamplight.

"Awake?" Ganyu noticed the movement and set down her brush. "Are you hungry? I made congee."

She brought over a steaming bowl of wild vegetable congee, and its aroma immediately filled the room.

Baichen ate it in small mouthfuls while Ganyu sat beside the bed, gently smoothing the hair that had stuck up in his sleep.

Suddenly, the sound of beating wings came from outside.

Ganyu stood up alertly and moved in front of Baichen.

The window was pushed open, and a blue crane landed gracefully on the sill.

"Cloud Retainer!" Ganyu breathed a sigh of relief.

The crane tilted her head and examined Baichen on the bed, then suddenly spoke in a human voice. "So this is the little fellow who has the Liyue Qixing fighting over him?" Her voice held a teasing note. "He doesn't look like he'd be enough to fill the gaps between my teeth."

"Cloud Retainer!" Ganyu's face flushed bright red at once.

The crane flapped her wings. "Just a joke." She shook a small bottle loose from beneath her wing. "This is an ointment for abrasions. Remember to apply it." With that, she gave the two of them a meaningful look. "Young people should exercise restraint."

With a gust of breeze, the crane vanished into the night sky, leaving only an awkward silence.

Ganyu stood there at a loss, the bells on her qilin horns chiming with her movements.

"I-I'll fetch some water for you to wash up!"

She practically fled the room. Baichen looked down at the ring on his ring finger and noticed that it was giving off a faint glow.

[Warning! Ningguang is approaching!]

[Distance: 20 li... 19 li...]

What do I do...?

[Damn! Is this bastard part dog?]

[Quick, find a way to block the signal!]

Baichen looked around in a panic, his eyes falling on the ointment Ganyu had left behind.

He scooped out a large dollop and smeared it on the ring. Sure enough, the glow weakened somewhat.

When Ganyu returned with a basin of water, she found the boy desperately smearing ointment on the ring.

She immediately understood the situation. Setting down the basin, she took a jade box from the cabinet.

"Use this." Inside the box was a yellowed talisman. "It can temporarily block the tracking technique."

The instant the talisman was placed on the ring, the glow vanished completely.

Ganyu breathed a sigh of relief, wrung out a towel, and wiped Baichen's face.

Her touch was as gentle as if she were handling a fragile treasure. Her fingertips occasionally brushed his cheek, sending a subtle electric sensation through him.

"You sleep on the bed tonight." Ganyu laid out the bedding. "I can sleep on the floor."

Baichen shook his head. "Let's sleep together... the bed is big enough..."

He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Ganyu's qilin horns trembled violently, and her whole face turned bright red. "Th-that wouldn't be proper..."

"I just... feel a little scared..." Baichen added quietly, his blue-violet eyes glistening in the lamplight.

That expression clearly struck a soft spot in Ganyu's heart.

She hesitated again and again, then finally nodded. "Then... all right..."

Deep in the quiet night, only the sound of steady breathing remained in the bamboo house.

Ganyu lay rigidly on the outer side of the bed, doing her best not to make any physical contact with the boy beside her.

Moonlight streamed through the window lattice and fell on them, lending the tranquil moment a dreamlike quality.

In his sleep, Baichen unconsciously rolled over and rested a little hand on Ganyu's waist.

The half-qilin girl shuddered all over, but didn't dare move.

The boy's hair gave off a faint scent of Thunder Sakura, and his warm breath brushed her neck, making her shiver slightly.

"Strange..." Ganyu murmured. "This feeling..."

Her heart was beating unbelievably fast, and an unfamiliar warmth gathered in her lower abdomen.

Her qilin blood allowed her to clearly smell the scent coming from the boy-a tempting sweetness that made her want to draw closer, and closer still...

Ganyu's fingers rose to the boy's cheek beyond her control, their pads gently caressing his soft skin.

Some primal impulse awoke within her, and she suddenly wanted very much to taste his slightly parted lips.

[Warning! Abnormal energy fluctuations detected!]

[Host's passive skill triggered: Charm Aura (beginner)]

Hmm...?

Baichen blearily opened his eyes and saw Ganyu's flushed face right in front of him.

Their noses were almost touching, and he could clearly see the desire surging in her coral-colored eyes.

"Ganyu...?"

That call seemed to flip a switch.

Ganyu suddenly pulled the boy into her arms, holding him so tightly he could barely breathe.

Her lips eagerly sought the boy's (don't get the wrong idea, okay? If you did, go stand in the corner as punishment), but she abruptly stopped just before they touched.

"No... I can't..." she gasped in distress, her qilin horns emitting a faint blue glow. "This... isn't right..."

Ganyu sprang out of bed and rushed out of the bamboo house. Her muffled sobs carried on the night wind.

Baichen sat blankly on the bed, completely unable to understand what had happened.

System... what's wrong with Ganyu?

[Ding!]

[Maybe you should take a look at my full name]

[System's full name: Succubus romance strategy system]

[Passive skill: Charm Aura (grows stronger as affection increases)]

[Effect: Causes conquest targets to develop intense possessiveness and lust]

Wh-what?!

[That's what you get for not reading it all]

Uh...

[Why did you think those women got horny for you the moment they met you?]

*...*

Baichen sat motionless on the bed, as if struck by lightning.

So Ningguang's domineering behavior, Yelan's teasing, and Ganyu's strange behavior just now... were all because of this damned system?

The sound of water came from outside. Ganyu seemed to be washing her face with cold water.

When she returned to the room, she had regained her usual composure, though her eyes were still a little red.

"I'm sorry..." She lowered her head, not daring to look at Baichen. "I... I don't know what happened to me just now..."

Baichen didn't know how to respond, so he could only shake his head gently.

Ganyu said nothing more about sleeping together and silently made herself a bed on the floor in the corner.

Each preoccupied with their own thoughts, neither of them slept that night.

By the time the first ray of morning sunlight entered the bamboo house, Ganyu had already prepared breakfast.

It was a simple meal of plain congee and side dishes, but it gave off an enticing aroma. They ate in silence, the atmosphere somewhat awkward.

"Um..." Ganyu finally broke the silence. "The ring on your hand..."

Only then did Baichen notice that, after a night had passed, the talisman had lost its effect, and the ring had begun to glow faintly again.

"Lady Ningguang should have reached the foot of the mountain by now." Ganyu's voice carried a hint of reluctance. "I... I'll see you down the mountain."

The way down was even harder than the climb up.

Ganyu carefully supported Baichen, afraid he might get hurt again.

Halfway down the mountain was a viewing platform overlooking all of Liyue Harbor.

They both stopped without a word and gazed at the distant buildings, tiny as toys.

"Mr. Baichen..." Ganyu suddenly spoke. "If... if one day you want to leave Liyue..." Her fingers clenched tightly around the hem of her clothes. "I can take you somewhere farther away..."

The feelings in those words made Baichen's heart tremble.

He was about to respond when he suddenly heard Ningguang's icy voice from below:

"So this is where you are."

At some point, the Tianquan had appeared farther down the mountain path. Her snow-white hair fluttered in the morning breeze, and dangerous flames flickered in her amber eyes.

A squad of Millelith followed behind her, completely blocking the path down the mountain.

"Ganyu." Ningguang's voice was colder than ice. "You've disappointed me."

(The Raiden Shogun will be here any moment. Just wait till she chops you all to death (?))