Genshin Impact's Incense Burner Of Liyue [588]

"While I do appreciate you letting me off the hook, why do I feel like you're talking weirder and weirder these days?"

Childe looked confused. "You used to be pretty straightforward—aside from when you were messing with people, that is. What’s going on with you now?"

"Nothing much."

Gu Sanqiu patted Childe on the shoulder. "Just thought it was fun to talk like this. It gives off the vibe that I know more than you do. That’s all."

Childe was so pissed he nearly choked.

"By the way, will you still be in Liyue for a while?"

Gu Sanqiu paused, then gave Childe a once-over. "You’ve been in Liyue so long—have you finally forgotten you’re from Snezhnaya?"

"Let’s be real, shouldn’t I be the one asking you that, esteemed Harbinger with a continent-wide mission to seize the Gnosis?"

Childe shook his head with a bitter smile. "Heh, once this whole thing wraps up—well, more accurately, once I head back—there’s no way I’m getting out of a debrief. If they don’t make me go back to Snezhnaya to write a report, that’ll be mercy enough."

"Didn’t secure the Gnosis, none of the mission objectives were achieved—any way you look at it, I’ll have to go back and report to Her Majesty."

"Well, that’s not so bad. Going home to see family’s nice, too. You're not some middle-aged guy in his forties drifting around aimlessly. You're still young—your family’s bound to be worried about you."

"Family... yeah, my family."

A new spark of energy lit up in Childe. "If this whole mess means I get to 'rest' back home for a while, maybe that’s not such a bad deal."

Gu Sanqiu gave him a look—subtle, but filled with quiet pity.

You didn’t complete your mission, but your team’s mission? That’s already done.

Has this poor kid forgotten he has a fellow Harbinger named Rosalyne?

Well, maybe Rosalyne didn’t tell him what she was up to on her side.

If Gu Sanqiu didn’t know what kind of person Rosalyne was, he’d honestly suspect some sort of internal power struggle between the Harbingers.

Performance metrics really are useful tools—at least for bosses and ruling classes. Makes it easier to quantify work and judge employee capability.

To put it bluntly: it’s just a convenient excuse to dock pay.

Still, with Pantalone around, the Fatui probably won’t be hurting for money. Otherwise, Childe, as Wallet No. 2, wouldn’t be able to handle the monumental task of feeding the old man.

That’s right—feeding.

As everyone knows, gods don’t just die because they drowned, starved, or drank themselves to death. That's way too lame.

Even though Gu Sanqiu is now an adeptus, his energy intake keeps going up, not down—no different from ordinary people in that regard.

Venti and the old man won’t die of hunger, but they will get bored out of their minds without alcohol or worldly pleasures to indulge in.

For these half-retired legends, those earthly delights are their true sustenance.

They’ve basically just switched their stomachs to a different nutritional category.

Low EQ: "Aimless wandering, slacking off... If I can't live it up and drink, I’m gonna die!"

High EQ: "This is an essential path to stave off erosion. The wisest course of action."

"Let’s go. Back to Liyue Harbor. But once we get there, be prepared to be monitored closely by both the Ten Gold Guild and the Liyue authorities."

Even though the Fatui didn’t cause any direct trouble this time, unleashing a god is definitely something they can't be let off the hook for. The fact that they’re not being deported en masse is already more face-saving than Snezhnaya deserves.

Or maybe—his sister considered that the Geo Archon intervened himself, and might’ve discreetly tipped off her colleagues about the big names pulling strings behind the scenes.

Given that all of Liyue is basically made up of Zhongli fanboys, the Fatui are bound to face a lot of passive-aggressive heat, even if actual retaliation stays minimal. Everyone involved already knows the "truth."

It won’t leak outside, of course, but that won’t stop the Qixing from replaying their mental soap opera ten thousand times a day:

The Lord of Geo must have had his reasons!

Everyone's basically turned into a bunch of mini-Xiaos. Congratulations all around.

After dropping Childe off at the Northland Bank, Gu Sanqiu returned home and officially entered salted-fish mode.

His buddies knew all too well how draining it was to brawl with gods, so they left him alone. Even the social-climbers who usually came around hoping to network were nowhere to be seen.

It was blissful. Blissful enough that he could probably sleep straight through to the end of the Golden Boy’s seven-nation journey and wake up to a box of souvenirs from the Underground Nation sitting on his doorstep.

"All journeys must come to an end"... Is that girl trying to hint at something?

Lying on his bed, tossing a dagger in the air, Gu Sanqiu couldn’t make sense of it.

It had nothing to do with anything. So why say it? What was the point?

"The journey’s end"—isn’t that just the two siblings, each bearing different powers and hopes, going head-to-head? What’s that got to do with me?

Gu Sanqiu frowned. Don’t tell me she expects me to stand off to the side as some kind of war correspondent, giving live updates for the old man and the rest of the slacker crowd?

Something like—

"Alright! Now shifting our focus to the frontlines—our fighter Aether has raised the Dawnblade and is charging headfirst into battle with his sister!"

"Oh! A beautiful dodge! Lumine counters with a perfect riposte, turning the tide! Both siblings are now channeling all seven elements in a massive clash, tearing apart space itself—the battlefield’s a blur! Can’t tell left from right, can’t predict who’ll win this elemental standoff!"

"My god! What am I seeing?! Lumine, one of the key players in this battle, has dropped her weapon and gone in for a hug! Aether's caught off guard—Lumine seizes the moment and sends him flying!"

"The tides have turned once again!"

All of the above, of course, only existed inside Gu Sanqiu’s head.

If he actually did that, he’d probably be the first person booted off the battlefield.

A knock at the door pulled Gu Sanqiu out of his thoughts. When he opened it, he saw the very Harbinger he’d let off earlier.

How to put it... the guy looked like he had something to say, but couldn’t quite get it out. Also looked a little disgruntled.

Possessed by a ghost or something?

"Sanqiu, come with me."

Childe cleared his throat. "There’s something... I think you have the right to know."

The right to know?

Wait, no way—

...

"Then, as per the contract, I hand over the Gnosis to you, envoy of Snezhnaya."

Inside the Northland Bank, Zhongli solemnly extended the Gnosis to Rosalyne, completely ignoring the stunned expressions of the blond-and-Paimon duo standing nearby—along with Gu Sanqiu.

The first two were obviously planted there by the old man, and their shock was genuine. They truly hadn’t expected Zhongli to be the Geo Archon himself.

As for the last one, brought over by Childe—he was just there to fill the headcount. Even the "shocked" look on his face was totally fake.

Childe slung an arm around Gu Sanqiu’s shoulder. "So? Feeling a little disillusioned? Mr. Zhongli turns out to be Morax himself. Gotta say, you Liyue folks sure are something."

"Heh, yeah. Real something."

Gu Sanqiu tried his best to look shooketh, even throwing in a twitch at the corner of his mouth, showcasing the bare minimum skill of an amateur actor.

Zhongli looked at him with a smile. "Didn’t see that coming, did you?"

"Yeah. Total surprise."

Gu Sanqiu gave a dramatic sigh, then cupped his hands respectfully. "My respects, Lord Archon."

"That’s not the right title."

Gu Sanqiu blinked. "Then... Brother Zhongli? Are you still keeping your identity hidden?"

Zhongli smiled and patted Gu Sanqiu’s head, perfectly concealing the mischief—or perhaps malice—glinting in his eyes.

"Call me Dad."

---

T/N: HUIH

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!