I, the Geo Archon Morax with 2.1 Billion Mora, Have Joined a Chat Group [305]

It was a pleasant afternoon.

The normally quiet courtyard of Zhongli’s residence was, for the first time in a while, lively with noise.

Spring had just begun to give way to summer. All sorts of fragrant blossoms filled the courtyard—yet not in a chaotic tangle, but with a quiet harmony of their own.

In the corners, elegant Glaze Lilies bloomed in understated silence. At the center, radiant Silk Flowers flared in noble splendor. A single Windwheel Aster fluttered gently against the garden wall, while a pair of Qingxin stood tall atop the artificial rockery, proud and solitary.

Zhongli stood in the courtyard, hands clasped behind his back, quietly admiring the Glaze Lilies.

Suddenly, a familiar—and unmistakably noisy—voice rang out.

“Hey, Zhongli! We came to see you!”

Paimon burst into the courtyard, door flying open behind her, her usual silly voice just as loud as ever.

Trailing behind was the Traveler, her expression noticeably heavier than usual.

She stepped up beside Zhongli and came to a gentle halt.

“Mr. Zhongli,” she greeted him politely.

“Hello, Traveler,” Zhongli responded with quiet calm as he turned toward her.

Before silence could fall, Paimon zipped up to him.

“Wow, Zhongli, you're not drinking tea? I thought that was all you did nowadays!”

She spoke without filtering her thoughts—saying whatever came to mind.

“Ever since you retired from being the Geo Archon, you’re totally turning into one of those old guys who does nothing but sip tea and admire flowers all day!”

Zhongli turned to glance at her, his golden eyes giving her a calm but pointed look.

Paimon seemed to catch the weight in that gaze. She giggled nervously and dropped the topic.

Drifting back to perch on the Traveler’s shoulder, she grinned. “Zhongli, you know, Lumine’s been through a lot lately.”

“You should’ve seen Mondstadt’s Windblume Festival. It was way more fun than the Lantern Rite!”

“Let me tell you—”

“In Liyue, they make us do everything. But in Mondstadt, everyone says it’s their own festival, so they do all the work themselves!”

“And in Liyue? During the Lantern Rite, we didn’t run into a single friend. Keqing, Ningguang, Ganyu—they were all busy out of their minds. But Windblume? So many friends showed up. Venti was there doing his usual loafing, Mona the broke astrologer was there, and even Jean the Acting Grand Master came out to celebrate!”

“When it comes to festival vibes, Windblume wins hands down.”

Having delivered her verdict, Paimon crossed her arms and nodded solemnly.

Zhongli offered a faint, undisturbed smile.

“Perhaps so,” he said gently.

Then, rather than continue that line of conversation, he asked, “Traveler, did you come here today for something in particular?”

“Can’t we just drop by to visit a retired civil servant?” Paimon chimed in brightly. “We were worried you might be lonely here in Liyue, so we came to keep you company.”

“All right, all right.” Zhongli chuckled and shook his head, gently nudging Paimon back from his face.

“I’m not quite as idle as you think. I'm not always in Teyvat, you know. But if you’re really here with no agenda, then there’s something I’d like to mention.”

His eyes drifted across both Paimon and the Traveler.

“I may be entering a period of slumber soon. If you plan to continue your journey to other nations, or seek me out again, you’ll likely only be able to reach one of my avatars.”

“Huh? Slumber?” Paimon’s eyes went wide. “What happened?”

“Nothing troubling,” Zhongli replied calmly. “It’s simply a necessary part of my further ascension. I won’t get into the details.”

“I see...” Paimon crossed her arms again, looking unusually serious. “So when does it start? Are you saying we won’t be able to see the real you for a while?”

“Not quite.” Zhongli shook his head. “I’ll still reside here, in this courtyard. Nothing will appear outwardly different. You’ll still be able to visit me here.”

“If anything’s changed... it’s that my avatars won’t be as strong as my true self. Should you find yourselves in a life-and-death struggle with Celestia…”

“You mean you might not win?” Paimon jumped in quickly.

“No,” Zhongli said with a small smile. “Just... not as effortlessly as before.”

“Heh~!” Paimon clapped her hands.

“Actually,” Zhongli went on, “what you’re seeing right now is already an avatar.”

“...Huh??”

That finally startled Paimon.

She stared at him wide-eyed, scanning him up and down. “You’re really a clone?”

“Of course.” Zhongli nodded.

Paimon’s expression grew increasingly dramatic. “Wait... So when did you become a clone? Was it back when we first met? Does that mean the real you was that dead golden dragon?”

“No.” Zhongli cut off her speculation before it could spiral. “That was an avatar, too. My true body—you’ve seen it before.”

Paimon and the Traveler froze.

Then, for reasons neither could explain, a particular memory surfaced.

They remembered the eye.

That pale golden eye, vast enough to cleave the sky, radiating a power that threatened to crush the world.

Both of them went momentarily still.

Paimon was the first to snap out of it. She gulped.

“Haha... ha... Zhongli, that’s a real funny joke you’re making there. That eye...”

“It was mine,” Zhongli replied simply.

“Ha... ha...” Paimon laughed dryly again.

“Okay, let’s not talk about that anymore,” she quickly waved the topic away. No need to remind herself of that terrifying gaze—she hadn’t eaten properly for two days after seeing it the first time.

“Let’s talk business.”

“Business?” Zhongli sat at the stone table, feigning confusion. “Didn’t you say earlier there was no business?”

“How could we not have business?” Paimon huffed. “Lumine and I are always swamped with things to do. We don’t have avatars to handle everything for us like you do!”

“…Let me explain,” said the Traveler quietly.

She stepped forward for the first time, gently interrupting Paimon.

Zhongli turned his gaze to her—and noticed her somber expression. She was clearly deeply troubled.

Still, when she saw him looking, she forced a small smile.

“If it hurts to smile, don’t force it.” Zhongli sipped his tea, which had appeared on the table as if by magic. “By the measure of reason, mortals are rarely in control of their fates. But if you even have to force your expressions... that’s too tragic, don’t you think?”

“…Yeah.” The Traveler nodded faintly, like a kitten trying not to cry.

“I met my brother again, recently.”

“Where?” Zhongli didn’t ask in surprise. “Actually, it doesn’t matter. What did he say? What did he do?”

“He turned down my invitation... again.” She sighed. “And this time, he told me who his enemies are.”

“Enemies?” Zhongli’s voice rose ever so slightly.

“Yes. The ones who destroyed Khaenriah back then weren’t just Celestia... but you, the Seven Archons, too.”

The Traveler stared straight into his eyes.

Zhongli was silent for a long moment.

Then, just as she expected, he nodded.

“Yes. Venti and I are both Archons.”

The Traveler’s expression didn’t change. Khaenriah had always been a distant story to her. Zhongli and Venti, meanwhile, were companions she had traveled with.

She paused, then asked softly:

“Mr. Zhongli… why did you do it?”

“This world is fragile,” Zhongli answered directly. “What Khaenriah retrieved from the sky posed a severe danger to the planet. It threatened the annihilation of all things.”

“Of course, such a crisis means little to me now. But back then, I couldn’t be sure I’d be able to stop it if it came to pass.”

He didn’t hide anything.

“And so yes… I was a destroyer, too.”

“As for your brother…” Zhongli shook his head. “I don’t know him personally. But Venti might. I believe they traveled together in Mondstadt.”

“I see.” The Traveler nodded slowly.

Then she dropped her gaze, patted the hem of her tunic, and knelt properly on the ground.

She placed her hands together, bowed her head low.

“Please, Lord Zhongli. Help me. I’ll even let my brother become Ganyu’s secretary if that’s what it takes. Just teach me how to make him change his mind.”

“……”

Zhongli stared in silence at the kneeling girl, then glanced at Paimon—who had mimicked the posture midair.

Finally, his expression cracked.

A flicker of exasperation surfaced in his usually calm gaze.

“I already noticed the first time you met another girl, you couldn’t stop staring at her thighs,” he muttered. “But I never thought you were quite this… well, in Liyue, we’d say ‘hopeless.’”

“It’s just appreciation for beauty!” the Traveler protested. “That wasn’t ‘staring at thighs’—that was reverent praise for a world that creates such beautiful girls, such perfect thigh-highs, and such skin like tofu or pearls—smooth, soft—”

That... didn’t sound like something she’d normally say.

Zhongli gave her a long, scrutinizing look and rubbed the corner of his eye.

“…Let’s not dwell on that.”

“But since you asked sincerely,” he continued, “as your friend, I’ll give you a hint.”

He tapped the table gently, and the Traveler felt an invisible force lift her to sit across from him.

“You and your brother are the twin stars etched into the monument of fate. You are the saviors adrift in this world. The hope of salvation for Teyvat.”

Zhongli, for once, spoke cryptically.

“I cannot tell you everything yet. But I can promise this: you and your brother will reunite. And you will save this world.”

“If, at the end of all things, you don’t get a happy ending, then I will not accept it.”

“That… is the promise of Zhongli, the Geo Archon.”

“Mm.” The Traveler’s expression grew serious.

She nodded and asked, “Then, Mr. Zhongli… what should my brother and I be doing right now?”

“You needn’t concern yourself with your brother,” Zhongli replied, tapping the table again.

“Just continue your journey, as planned. Whatever you encounter, whatever you endure, will all become part of your story.”

“Traveler…”

“You will reach the end—and witness either this world’s rebirth… or its ruin.”

Then he smiled.

“But no matter what happens, I won’t allow it to be ruin.”

“I believe you, Mr. Zhongli,” she said, smiling faintly.

Not long after, the Traveler and Paimon took their leave.

How much she truly understood was uncertain—but at least the sadness had faded from her face.

Zhongli remained at the stone table, slowly finishing the tea in his cup.

A moment later, he turned to the blooming Glaze Lilies and took a single step forward.

In the next instant, he stood outside the world.

Between the towering Imaginary Tree and the boundless Quantum Sea, countless delicate bubbles shimmered in and out of existence.

A massive, terrifying dragon—nearly the same size as those two forces—floated there, crowned with seven heads and fourteen golden eyes. One of its claws held a small bubble in its palm.

The dragon locked eyes with Zhongli in human form.

Then sighed.

“I’m going to sleep.”

Its voice echoed in the silence of the void, where sound shouldn’t exist.

“Yes. I am going to sleep.”

Zhongli echoed the words.

“Then… sleep,” the seven-headed dragon said.

And slowly, its fourteen golden eyes closed.

Zhongli smiled faintly.

Then the smile faded.

He looked at the slumbering, corpse-like dragon, and let out a soft sigh.

“Mortals are born unfree.”

“They yearn and cannot obtain. They part with what they love. They resent death, and curse life.”

“But…”

“…Ah—”

The sigh drifted away.

And all was still.

---

T/N: NO SAD ENDINGS ALLOWED

This is a fan translation of 我，21亿岩王帝君加入聊天群 by 大一统. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!