Genshin Impact's Incense Burner Of Liyue [603]

With previous incidents fresh in mind, Gu Sanqiu simply found a spot to sit down with Aether, wrapping the nearby girls in a layer of adeptal power to ensure that Shenhe wouldn’t suddenly lose control.

As for matters between the sexes—he was done worrying. Whoever wanted to get involved could go ahead; he had no mood for it anymore.

What he needed to think about now was Shenhe’s so-called "lone star fate".

The first time he met her, Gu Sanqiu had seen it at a glance. The "red rope binding the soul" was really just a broad way of putting it—the real situation was that it locked away her malevolent energy and largely cut her soul off from external connection.

If one wanted to put it in more xianxia-flavored terms, the red rope directly affected the soul itself, sealing away certain powers hidden deep within her spirit. It had, in turn, dulled Shenhe’s emotional capacity, giving rise to that rare mix of natural airheadedness and aloof maturity.

A lone star fate... Only someone like me can suppress it, huh?

Thinking about it, it made sense. From a thriving main branch to a dwindling single line of descent—compared to the calamities Gu Sanqiu had seen, Shenhe’s lone star fate was practically a minor case.

But there was an important difference: Shenhe herself wasn’t sure whether the energy inside her was innate, or whether it had formed later, in that despair-filled cave.

When she was a child, her own father had thrown her into a cave infested with evil spirits, trying to sacrifice her in a desperate bid to resurrect his dead wife.

But instead of dying like an ordinary child would, Shenhe had stubbornly fought against the corruption, holding out until Cloud Retainer arrived to rescue her.

Was the energy something born into her destiny, or was it a power she seized in order to survive?

Gu Sanqiu leaned toward the latter. Survival instincts were unpredictable; if even adults could turn into demons or monsters in their desperation, how could a defenseless child be expected to fare any better?

Thus, even when the Three Adepti of Minlin worked together, they had still failed to fully seal the energy within her.

In some ways, it had fused into her flesh and soul—perhaps even become a source of her strength.

To truly suppress it, only something like the Geo crystals found at Mt. Hulao, capable of layering water and stacking mountains, could work—and even then, it would require constant maintenance.

And "constant maintenance" wasn’t just casual phrasing—the stronger Shenhe grew, the shorter the intervals between seal reinforcements would become.

Otherwise, it could end like what had happened with Qiqi’s ancestor: breaking free in a surge of raw power.

Gu Sanqiu had never believed in ideas like "born good" or "born evil." Those weren’t concepts that interested him.

Unless the Ten Kings of the Underworld themselves specially ordered some black-light-scorched soul dragged up from the Eighteenth Hell and jammed back into reincarnation, he wasn’t buying it.

Human nature was chaotic. Your job titles—worker, laborer—were just the roles society handed you, your place in this miserable, hope-starved grand role-playing game called life.

Strip those away, and you were a person ruled by your soul—capable of both good and evil, far too complex and contradictory to be summed up in a single sentence.
Maybe only saints could afford to think otherwise.

"If the energy really is innate, then... isn’t Shenhe’s condition basically a mirror of Chongyun’s pure-yang constitution? Just negative energy instead of positive?"

Gu Sanqiu unconsciously tapped his fingers on the table. "Controlling that kind of power... isn't going to be easy."

"And besides—"

In a normal scenario, Shenhe would start feeling a strange sense of calm around Aether.
Maybe even get the idea: You are my red rope.

If Aether were anyone other than a man with a head full of find my sister thoughts, hearing that from a stunning beauty would have already made him regress straight back into steam-engine mode.

To put it even more bluntly: he’d probably already be picking out the inscription for the tombstone they'd share after dying together.

Some people might see that as a sign Shenhe was opening her heart. But in truth, it exposed an even deeper problem.

From a clinical point of view, Shenhe’s issues weren’t just about power.
There were severe psychological scars too—weaknesses like self-abasement, fear of abandonment, and emotional fragility.

When she encountered someone like Aether—warm, pure, radiating comfort like the sun itself—of course she would see him as her anchor, her lifeline.

Classic suspension bridge effect.
Only... with a time delay.

Still, given her childhood trauma and brutal upbringing, Gu Sanqiu couldn’t blame her.

"That kind of power... she should be able to master it, right?"

As a proud brute, mastering one’s own strength was basic coursework. Gu Sanqiu didn’t believe in any such thing as "uncontrollable power."

With himself acting as a chaotic butterfly flapping unintended storms into existence, even Chongyun had been rehabbed into someone who could now soak in hot springs without blowing up.

He wasn’t about to believe they couldn’t handle Shenhe.

"Psychological stuff... that’s harder. But as for the power itself, I can definitely help stabilize it."

Gu Sanqiu summoned a messenger bird—one bred in cooperation between the Ten Gold Association and the Giant Shadow Eagle clan—placing a sealed message tube onto its leg and sending it off toward Xingqiu and the others.

Just to be safe, he needed to bring in someone with a pure-yang body to help temporarily suppress Shenhe’s energy.

"Oh, right. I’ve been meaning to ask—what’s your next move?" Gu Sanqiu turned to Aether.

"Heading back to Mondstadt for more clues, or staying in Liyue for a while? If you stay, I could line up a few commissions for you."

He smiled. "Ten Gold Association commissions too. Good pay—just depends if you're interested."

The Association’s commissions weren’t like the trivial ones at the Adventurers' Guild.
They were real challenges—high-risk, high-reward.

But with the Son of Heaven himself on the job, Gu Sanqiu figured if the enemies didn’t immediately throw down their weapons and beg for mercy, that would already be a good showing.

It would also help clean out a few stubborn idiots blocking their expansion, speeding up the Ten Gold Association’s rise.

As for their ultimate sphere of influence, Gu Sanqiu didn’t have a firm plan yet. For now, the goal was simple: secure Liyue completely.

Mondstadt could wait. If expansion ever did become an option, he might invite Albedo and the "fire-and-ice brothers" to join—or at least invest.

Sure, Albedo and Kaeya’s backgrounds were shady as hell.
But talent was talent.

So what if the dark-skinned little brother was a chronic slacker?

Gu Sanqiu would just slap down a bottle of "Death After Noon" wine every day at work: drink while you work, or finish the job and take it as a reward. Up to you.

Beyond a basic salary, getting Kaeya’s absurdly high work output at the cost of a cheap bottle of booze? An absolute bargain.

Once upon a time, he’d been merely an admin officer. Now he was acting Grand Master’s right hand.

If Kaeya’s abilities weren’t the real deal, he wouldn’t have earned that much trust.

And as for that little "comparison chart" some new Knights recruit had made—graphing out the number of crimes linked to sales of "Death After Noon"?

Yeah, Kaeya had already burned that report.

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T/N: huh so someone with a pure yang constitution needs to handle... her? omg... its like in those fanarts

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!