Genshin Impact's Incense Burner Of Liyue [549]

"Judging by how smug Childe looked, the Fatui must be close to completing their imitation of the Sigils of Permission."

Gu Sanqiu pondered carefully. If "fate" had arranged for him to run into Childe at this point, then perhaps that meant he was no longer in a position to prevent what was coming.

Everything tied to the Rite of Parting was inevitable.

"I’d better start moving people into position."

There hadn’t been any unusual activity reported from Yunlai Sea recently, but the Qixing’s preparations for the Rite were also nearing completion. Otherwise, his sister and the others wouldn’t have had the free time to relax.

One thing had to be clear—once Yunlai Sea was unsealed, it wouldn’t just be Osial rampaging across the land and sea.

There were also those bizarre-looking sea monsters, corrupted by the remnants of a fallen god, that would charge in alongside Osial to wreak havoc.

Of course, it wasn’t as if these creatures wanted to. They had been mutated by a god’s residual power, and somewhere deep in their bloodline remained a primal fear of the old man.

On a normal day, they would have stayed quiet.

But if a being just as powerful—perhaps even stronger—suddenly appeared and forced them to rebel, could they refuse?

Refusal meant death. Following a stronger entity, on the other hand, offered a chance to survive. A terrible choice, but one they had no way of escaping.

Osial probably didn’t care for their combat strength, but he needed cannon fodder—troops to scout the battlefield, test enemy defenses, and wear them down.

Gods weren’t fools. As different as they were in temperament, none of them were truly stupid. Osial would undoubtedly choose the most efficient way to attack.

And would this whole process take long?

Not at all.

For a being of Osial’s rank, controlling those sea monsters was likely easier than Gu Sanqiu taming a Slime—a pure display of power and absolute dominance.

"Then there’s the Abyss to deal with."

Gu Sanqiu furrowed his brows.

Before the calamity, he still held a sliver of hope when it came to the Abyss, simply because of Lumine’s presence.

But not anymore.

This wasn’t some absurd, logic-defying story where an emotional plea could instantly break a villain’s control over a loved one. There were no miraculous tears capable of reviving petrified friends.

This wasn’t a fantasy made to indulge hopeful delusions.

This was reality—brutal and treacherous, where a single misstep could mean death.

"If I remember correctly, there’s a key moment where the twins meet."

He recalled something—after Dainsleif and Aether reunited, they encountered Lumine at the defiled, inverted Statue of the Seven in Mondstadt.

But all Aether could do was watch his distant, indifferent sister vanish into a teleportation network.

He reached for her, but his hand passed through the void—powerless to stop anything.

And this time?

Not a chance!

Even if Lumine managed to slip away, she would at least be delayed.

Did you think all the time I spent studying Liyue’s barrier techniques was for nothing?

A slow, knowing smile spread across Gu Sanqiu’s face.

Not to mention, Mondstadt had a certain alchemical genius hanging around. Between the two of them, they might not be able to destroy the teleportation network, but disrupting it for a while? That was definitely possible.

A long-awaited reunion between siblings, and all you’re going to do is drop some cryptic hints, confirm Dainsleif’s identity, and leave?

No way. You’d better stay and chat for a little longer!

Oh, you Abyss lot want to stage a play? Fine! Let’s see how much you enjoy it when I start throwing wrenches into your carefully laid plans!

Once or twice might not be enough to vent my frustration, but as long as I keep introducing new variables onto the board, Aether will get another chance to take his sister’s hand!

And if things take a miraculous turn from there? Well, that’s beyond my control.

If nothing else, it would only strengthen Aether’s resolve to keep searching for her.

And if fate did allow something to change—so much the better.

No matter what the Abyss Order had in mind, he’d just flip the entire table!

Retaliation?

Please. He was basically earning divine brownie points with Celestia for this.

Surely the heavenly forces would step in and cover for him, right?

Someone up there, send help!

What, as if the Abyss Order scares me?! (flips them off)

"That brings us to the real question—what excuse will Aether have to come to Liyue?"

When Gu Sanqiu left, Aether still hadn’t fully explored Mondstadt, let alone found the records related to Lumine. In the short term, he probably wouldn’t be making any long journeys.

If Aether didn’t come, would he end up being the one sent to seek out the Adepti?

That seemed very possible.

If something happened to Morax, and Aether wasn’t around, then he would probably be the one sent to ask the Adepti for aid.

After all, at that point, the push for "human governance" hadn’t fully come into play yet. The logical approach would still be to turn to the Adepti for support.

As for Keqing and the other younger reformists, they weren’t openly advocating for their ideology just yet. Instead, they were slowly integrating their ideals into their actions, gradually influencing Liyue’s people.

That was precisely why Liyue wasn’t embroiled in any political drama.

Gu Sanqiu had no opinion on the whole human governance debate. Right now, he was stuck on a far more trivial—but surprisingly complicated—problem.

If the old man "died"… how was he supposed to act?

This was a serious issue.

He couldn’t just not react simply because he knew Zhongli wasn’t actually dead. That would make the whole performance fall apart.

Everyone else wasn’t stupid. If someone as closely tied to Morax as Gu Sanqiu reacted coldly to his passing, some might call him heartless, but most would realize something was off.

The Incense Burner didn’t shed a single tear…

Is there something suspicious about the Geo Archon’s death?

Something doesn’t add up. We need to investigate!

So, in summary—Gu Sanqiu needed to figure out how to act properly.

Should he rush forward, wailing, and throw himself onto the dragon’s body?

"Lord Morax, how could this happen?! The world is so cruel—why do the good ones never get to live?!"

"Take me with you, Lord Morax! I can’t live without youuuuu—" (voice trails off dramatically)

No.

Gu Sanqiu calmly slapped himself.

That was way too fake.

So fake that he might just puke from the cringe.

And even if he could pull it off, it wouldn’t match his personality. Too obvious. Too easy for his friends to see through.

Not reliable. Not at all.

He stroked his chin. He still wanted to stick around for the photo op. It’s not like he could just leave Liyue Harbor to "mourn in solitude."

So maybe the best approach would be to walk up slowly, his expression heavy, kneeling down beside the dragon’s body—silent tears falling?

Or, if he really wanted to go all in, he could spend days locked inside the Golden House, neither eating nor drinking, standing vigil over the "corpse."

That would make for a perfect performance.

And in the dead of night, when no one was watching, he could take a ton of photos—maybe even pose the dragon in different positions.

Or better yet, why not send a clone to notify Azhdaha, so the old lizard could come and "vent some grievances"?

After all, it wasn’t the real Zhongli. Just a disposable shell.

As long as he reset everything before Childe snuck into the Golden House, no one would be the wiser.

This… this might actually work!

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This is a fan translation of 原神之璃月奉香人 by 淡白蛋清. 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!