The tangerine sunlight slowly spread across the clouds, layering them in hues of pale orange. Below, a faint shadow was cast on the ground, drifting along as the sea of clouds moved, eventually blanketing Mt. Aocang.
As time passed, the sunlight staining the clouds grew more intense, gradually taking on a rosy glow, like rouge spread across the sky.
Jueyun Karst truly lived up to its reputation as an immortal mountain, exuding a certain ethereal air.
They had already climbed for half a day.
"This mountain is so hard to climb… Why is it so tall?"
That was the only thought in Seino Yaku's mind.
Half-squinting his eyes, the young man gently wiped away the sweat on his cheeks.
Walking ahead, Miss Lumine came to a stop. She turned her head, her golden hair swaying in the mountain breeze.
"Shall I carry you?"
Her tone was calm.
"You treating me like a kid?"
Seino Yaku felt quite offended. He sensed she was looking down on him, and his innate pride wouldn't allow it. He had to defend his dignity:
"I'm actually really strong; if anyone's going to collapse soon, it'll be you. If anything, let me carry you!"
"Then carry me. I'm tired of walking."
Lumine's voice remained unchanged. She wore a pleated skirt suitable for hiking, her long, fair legs in deerskin boots. Under the spring sun, her bare skin appeared almost transparent.
She wasn't even sweating. There was no sign at all of her being tired.
"Wow… I'm sooo tired… I can't walk anymore,"
she insisted in an exaggerated tone, wiping nonexistent sweat from her brow. Stretching out her arms toward Seino Yaku, she declared:
"Come on, mighty Seino Yaku, carry me up!"
She was obviously not tired.
She was just going along with the act.
Has this miss blond-haired always been so imp?
"I think, Miss Lumine, it'd be better if you walked on your own."
Seino Yaku declined with a straight face.
"What, can't handle it?" Lumine teased with a grin. "How about this: if you can carry me up, I'll pay you."
She even resorted to provocation.
Seino Yaku refused to fall for it. Step by step he continued up the stairs. "Seems you're in high spirits today."
"Am I?"
"Yes."
Seino Yaku observed Lumine as she walked ahead of him, her hands clasped behind her back while climbing. Her tied-up hair swayed left and right, her steps light and catlike. The deerskin boots nudged stones along the trail, and the bright spring sunshine cast its glow on her clean, fair profile—indeed, she seemed different than usual.
All the while climbing, she was also picking wildflowers along the path.
"Then can you guess why?"
"No idea," Seino Yaku replied.
"It's because of this." Lumine pulled out an old book from her backpack. On its cover were a few large words, Teyvat Travel Guide. She flipped to a certain page. "Look."
"Mt. Aocang, Jueyun Karst. It's in the Liyue section of the guide," Lumine said softly. "I've always wanted to come here."
Seino Yaku scanned the listed places in the guide: Mt. Aocang, Guili Plains, The Chasm…
"You're planning on going to all these places alone?"
He was impressed by this blonde girl's determination. He himself would rather laze around in bed.
"Alone?" Lumine asked, sounding puzzled. "Ah, aren't you a person, too?"
"So at least I still count as a 'person,' huh… ahem."
Seino Yaku quickly caught his slip, then raised his brows. "You want me to go with you?"
"Yes. I don't want to travel by myself."
"No." Seino Yaku shook his head firmly. "Let Paimon go with you; then you won't be alone."
"Paimon's coming too, but she's not exactly a person. She's my Emergency Food on the journey…"
This blonde woman's getting more and more imp by the day!
"I'm not going."
"You're eating my food and using my stuff. Let's tally up the bill, then," Lumine said, counting on her fingers. "Last time, you and that booze friend drank, and we ordered Zhongyuan Chop Suey—500 Mora, Almond Tofu—1,000 Mora…"
She looked utterly pleased with herself as she itemized his expenses, eyes curved like crescent moons in triumph, wily as a fox that had just stolen a chicken.
This girl…
Seino Yaku realized he couldn't let her get too full of herself.
"…plus two outfits, the total comes to 32,000—eh?"
In an instant, Lumine's view rose higher and higher. It was abrupt and sudden.
Seino Yaku had slipped one arm under Lumine's slender legs and another behind her head, gently lifting her up before she could react. His movements were fluid—so quick it felt like an ambush.
Lumine blinked, completely bewildered, clinging to the boy's shoulders.
Seino Yaku's hair carried a faint sandalwood fragrance, and now that Lumine was so close, she could smell that gentle scent.
"Miss Lumine, you win. I'll carry you up the mountain," Seino Yaku's voice rumbled softly, exhaling lightly. "We'll call it even, so long as it covers the 'travel fee.'"
"You—you—you… put me down!"
Her smug expression vanished instantly, replaced by a flustered look, like a chick that had been snatched away, and she stumbled over her words.
"Aren't you the one who asked me to carry you? You even offered money."
Carrying Lumine on his back, Seino Yaku climbed steadily. "Why, do you regret it?"
He sounded genuinely baffled—because he couldn't see the expression on Lumine's face, he had no idea why she was protesting now.
Clearly, she just didn't want to pay!
"You…" Lumine was at a loss for words. She bit her lower lip, both anxious and annoyed. But there was nothing she could do about it since she was the one who'd suggested it. So she forced herself to stay defiant:
"Hmph. I'm worried you won't last."
"You are a bit heavy," Seino Yaku remarked matter-of-factly, adjusting his breathing. This body of his was actually in pretty good shape, heart pumping strongly; carrying Lumine up the mountain was no big deal.
"But I'll manage."
Idiot. Idiot, idiot.
A light pink flush appeared on Lumine's ears and cheeks. She buried her face in Seino Yaku's shoulder and let out a sound like a small, sulky animal. "...Do as you please."
"That's perfect." Seino Yaku smiled, clearly relieved—he was never comfortable with debt, and now he could repay it in one go. Of course he was glad.
Normally so loud, Lumine had fallen uncharacteristically silent.
The world quieted down.
Warm spring sunlight gently bathed the two of them. Clouds draped the sky in silky colors, leaves rustled with a soft shhh. They climbed the long mountain trail step by step without speaking, leaving only the serene forest sounds and a golden light filtering through the trees.
Eventually, Lumine spoke up, "You still have to travel to other places with me."
"…Why?"
"No reason," Lumine said with that capricious tone, sticking out her tongue. "Just because I said so."
She lay against his shoulder and put a makeshift flower wreath on Seino Yaku's head. Tiny white blossoms with a delicate fragrance, threaded together by stems of foxtails. It was a simple wreath.
So that's what she'd been silently working on all this time.
"Seino Yaku はなむすめ." She announced proudly, "From now on, I'm going to weave you a flower crown every day. In return, you have to travel everywhere with me!"
"...Since when do you get to force deals on people?" Seino Yaku gave a helpless smile. He never knew how to handle her.
"Since now!" Lumine laughed in the spring sunlight, waving her arms theatrically. "たいじん Lumine is a bandit! Waaah! Seino Yaku はなむすめ, hurry!"
---
"Hey, you two."
Miss Shenhe, who had been walking silently in front, suddenly stopped and turned her head. Her serene, multi-colored eyes held no extra emotion.
"Just a few more steps, and we'll reach your destination. Ahead lies a domain of the adepti. Please keep quiet, so as not to disturb their peace."
They had finally reached the summit.
From here, the view was magnificent.
You could see half of Jueyun Karst at a glance. Looking west, you could glimpse the Huaguang Stone Forest. Nearby was Qingyun Peak. A clear mountain breeze caressed their faces. At the summit's center lay a tranquil, azure lake, whose shallow waves reflected the crimson glow of the setting clouds.
In the middle of the lake stood a stone table with four stone stools. It looked as if no one had been there for a long time, overgrown with weeds and moss.
Who was standing there…?
She was in the center of the lake.
Seino Yaku narrowed his eyes to look.
It was a girl… Did she have horns?
Her pale blue hair was tied back, falling like a ponytail near the surface of the lake; small horns peeked through her hair. She wore a white cheongsam trimmed with patterns of gleaming gold. Her arms were covered by white sleeves, her slim legs clad in black tights.
A gentle mountain breeze created ripples around her feet on the water's surface.
The girl was gazing quietly at the stone seats, apparently lost in thought.
Her eyes were a light golden color, with a fleeting emotion flickering in them. The spring sun reflected off her gaze, like a lake touched by the glow of dusk. That subtle shimmer… what was it?
Seino Yaku couldn't tell.
He only felt a wave of sorrow.
Like the look in a doe's eyes.
Sensing their presence, the girl turned her head. At that moment, her eyes met Seino Yaku's.
Now he could see her eyes more clearly—beautiful like amber, yet frozen like amber.
He watched the girl in the middle of the lake, and the girl watched him in return.
Ganyu frowned slightly.
The unexpected visitor looked very young, sweat on his clean face, chest rising and falling as if catching his breath. The boy seemed to be carrying someone…
A golden-haired girl lay on his back, her slender arm looped casually around his neck, wrist hanging at his chest. Her chin rested against his shoulder.
They looked rather close.
Ganyu was a qilin who cared about etiquette. She frowned because, in her master's immortal dwelling, such behavior… seemed somewhat improper.
Improper… or perhaps disrespectful to her master.
That was her impression.
Lumine also noticed Ganyu on the water, glanced at her, then at Seino Yaku, her expression turning guarded and displeased: What's with that exchange of looks between you guys?
She leaned her cheek against the boy's soft hair in a show of possessiveness—like a cat marking its territory—and stuck out her tongue at Ganyu in a provocative gesture.
…It had escalated.
Ganyu sighed silently. Oh well. It has nothing to do with her. Why bother?
Indeed, it had nothing to do with Ganyu.
Why should she care? She didn't know.
Earlier that day, having paid her respects to her master in Mt. Aocang, Ganyu somehow felt drawn to return to this lake. She'd found herself staring at those stone seats in a daze for quite some time.
But in the end, it was just a set of stone stools.
Neglected for a long while, unvisited.
There were four stools in total: for Rex Lapis, her master, the God of Dust, and that person—someone whose name she'd never mention again, or, rather, someone she harbored hatred for.
He used to leave food on one of the stools—Tofu Soup, also known among common folk as "Jewelry Soup."
He'd say, although Master scorned it with her words, she was just being "tsundere," a random term he used. He said that if they left it there, by tomorrow it'd be gone, because Master would always come to eat it.
True enough, it was gone by the following day. Though occasionally Ganyu herself had stolen it for a taste.
She still remembered the flavor—warm, soft tofu, fresh greens boiled into the broth, without any extra seasoning, just the pure fragrance of the ingredients themselves.
Yet that memory had grown hazy. Ganyu hadn't tasted "Jewelry Soup" since.
No one else had come to "offer it" for her to steal, either.
So she'd been lost in these strange memories until these unexpected guests snapped her out of it.
"Is that Senior Sister Ganyu?"
It seemed Shenhe recognized Ganyu. "So you've arrived already…"
Ganyu smiled gently and nodded to Shenhe. "Hello, I'm Ganyu."
Shenhe looked slightly abashed—even if her face remained expressionless. Calmly she explained, "Our master told me to greet you… but I got held up when I encountered these two."
"It's no trouble. I've already seen our master."
Ganyu's temperament was mild. She consoled Shenhe in turn:
"It's getting late, and I still have official duties in Liyue. I'll be taking my leave now. Another day, if you come down to Liyue, we can meet again."
Indeed, the sky was growing dark, the sunset glow stretched over the mountain ridges.
Saying so, Ganyu lightly stepped across the rippling water to the shore. Passing by Seino Yaku, she left.
"Idiot, do what you came to do," Lumine tugged on Seino Yaku's cheeks. "Weren't you going to offer those tributes?"
Offer…?
Ganyu paused mid-departure, turning her head slightly.
"Yes, yes, I know."
Seino Yaku let Lumine down. Seeing how the stone stools were overgrown with weeds and daylilies, he cleared them away, making a spot to place the food box. From it, he brought out the prepared dishes.
Along the way, he had kept the box insulated with a Pyro-infused stone, so when he opened it, steam still rose, a thin veil of heat.
The first layer contained "Jewelry Soup." He removed it and set it down.
A light, savory aroma filled the air.