Genshin Impact's Incense Burner Of Liyue [511]

"Let's move out."

Gu Sanqiu was the first to step onto the ice. With each step, his feet left deep imprints on the thick, smooth surface as he steadily advanced toward Kaeya.

The others naturally followed suit. Arataki Itto trailed behind Gu Sanqiu, while Diluc and Albedo took up the rear. The group moved in a straight line, carefully stepping into the same footprints to ensure stability.

From all directions, waves of Hydro energy surged toward them. At the same time, the ice beneath their feet began to reshape itself, attempting to trap them in place!

"Keep moving."

Gu Sanqiu pressed forward with force, shattering the reforming ice beneath his feet. Behind him, Diluc and Klee conjured a curtain of fire in midair, instantly evaporating the incoming Hydro attacks.

Arrows came whistling through the air. Gu Sanqiu focused, pinpointing their trajectory before quickly relaying the information to Arataki Itto. The big guy swung his massive Redhorn Stonethresher in a frenzied dance, smashing the arrows into fragments.

"Heh, looks like this test isn't all that tough after all."

Gu Sanqiu warned, "Stay sharp. The attacks will only get faster and more numerous the further we go. Don't let your guard down and end up in trouble."

"Relax, boss! I’ve taken on short-term commissions from the Adventurers’ Guild before. I know better than to get careless before we even step off the ice!"

As expected, the attacks from behind intensified in both speed and frequency. But thanks to their teamwork, they managed to push through unscathed. Barbara even had the chance to practice her Hydro manipulation.

Of course, part of the reason they had it so easy was thanks to Kaeya’s fearless approach—stepping on every potential trap before they could. If they had to constantly be on high alert for hidden dangers, things wouldn't have gone nearly as smoothly.

Once Albedo, the last in line, finally made it ashore, the ice abruptly vanished. In its place came a deafening rumble as the ground beneath the former ice sheet collapsed. A powerful gust of wind erupted from below, catching the group off guard and hurling them into the sky!

"Sanqiu."

"I know."

Gu Sanqiu clenched his right hand in midair. "With no other big shots around, throwing a wind-based challenge at me is basically serving me a free meal."

"Stabilize!"

The raging winds immediately stilled. But just then, two beams of light—each a different color—shot out from deep underground, streaking in opposite directions.

"Prism shards! Catch them—these could be the key to finding the big boss!"

Gu Sanqiu flicked his left hand, using Anemo energy to gently send the others in one direction while he and Albedo took off after the second shard.

"We’ll split up. Whether or not you retrieve the shard, regroup outside the valley in two hours."

"Itto, I’m leaving them to you."

"You got it, boss!"

With a fierce roar, Arataki Itto’s weapon revealed its true form, emanating a menacing, terrifying aura.

"Let’s see who dares to come at us!"

Meanwhile, Gu Sanqiu and Albedo chased after their prism shard, quickly closing the distance thanks to their enhanced mobility. Before long, Gu Sanqiu successfully seized the shard in his grasp.

"Heh, this is some masterful craftsmanship. I wonder if I can take it back to the research vault for analysis once we’re done with it."

Regardless of whether this was a relic from a past era or a product of Alice’s otherworldly forging techniques, it would no doubt serve as valuable research material for the vault’s resident science maniacs.

"Since we have it, let’s go find the others. They’re not exactly built for speed, and I’m worried they might run into trouble while chasing the other shard."

"Don’t worry. They won’t be in any danger."

Gu Sanqiu tossed the prism shard in his hand before stowing it away. Then, he flew over to Albedo, resting his longsword lightly against the alchemist’s shoulder—its edge pressed just against his neck.

"You don’t seriously think I made the decision to send ‘two aerial units after the same shard’ without thinking it through, do you?"

"Care to explain yourself, old friend? I’m quite curious about what was written on the back of your letter."

Albedo remained unfazed. "Could you at least try asking in a less aggressive way?"

"Obviously not."

Gu Sanqiu rolled his eyes. "Three perfectly matching handprints, all infused with Geo energy. The ice beneath Kaeya was treacherous, but when we passed through, most of the attacks were Hydro-based. We barely even saw any physical arrows."

"At first, I thought maybe Lady Alice had set up additional mechanisms on this island—robots maintaining the trial grounds or something along those lines."

"But then I realized, I happen to know someone who could pull off something like that."

Gu Sanqiu continued his analysis. "My letter had the usual over-the-top ‘Dodo-King Challenge’ on the front. But on the back? Lady Alice confirmed her identity."

"I’m guessing your letter told you to play along on the front, and on the back, it instructed you to guide us through each trial site, right?"

"And here I thought you were dragging me along to help set traps in advance. Turns out, you were holding out on me this whole time!"

The moment he pieced it together, Gu Sanqiu nearly lost it. So the traitor was right beside me all along?!

Albedo remained calm. "That’s merely your hypothesis."

Gu Sanqiu gave him a deadpan stare. "Then just tell me—am I right, or not?"

"Fine. You’re right."

Albedo admitted it. He was the hidden third party, the one secretly assisting Alice in orchestrating this entire event.

"Called it."

Gu Sanqiu withdrew his sword. "Can’t we have a little more trust between us? If you’d told me earlier, I could’ve helped you design even more elaborate and entertaining trials!"

Albedo shook his head. "It’s not about complexity. These trials were always meant to be lighthearted. The difficulty was set accordingly—there was no need to increase it further."

"But did you consider that the others might start getting suspicious? Honestly, they’re probably already questioning whether the ‘Dodo-King’ even exists."

"It doesn’t matter. This so-called trial is nearly over anyway."

As they flew toward Klee and the others, Albedo explained, "Once we retrieve the last shard, we can use the device to unlock Lady Alice’s seal."

"So everything was planned out from the start?"

"Yes."

Albedo glanced at Gu Sanqiu. "From the very first trial, the plan was to gradually reduce our numbers. Once Klee defeated the ‘real’ Dodo-King, the seal would automatically break."

"But Lady Alice seems to have underestimated everyone’s capabilities. Even when the final wind vortex erupted, not a single one of us was eliminated."

Gu Sanqiu paused. "Just to clarify—when you say ‘eliminated,’ you don’t mean in the literal sense, right?"

"Of course not. ‘Eliminated’ just meant falling behind, at which point I would discreetly reveal the truth to them. After the seal was broken, we’d all reunite. Lady Alice probably saw this as an opportunity for Klee to grow."

"Yeah, no."

Gu Sanqiu waved dismissively. "Opportunities for growth are everywhere. But a carefree summer with no responsibilities? Now that’s a rare treasure."

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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!