The Embers of King's Teyvat Journey

"Then let's see how fast you can fly!"

……

Near the teleportation point outside Mondstadt, Ember was squatting on the ground, looking bored, waiting for Luminous to arrive.

He looked up at the teleportation anchor floating in the air, emitting a pale blue light, and couldn't help but wonder if it was broken.

Otherwise, why hasn't Ying come over after he's been waiting here for so long?

Just as Ember was feeling bored, a girl's laughter suddenly came from afar—Fire and Paimon had arrived.

Seeing that Firefly and Paimon were chatting and laughing, Ember immediately appeared in front of them.

"Whoa! That's terrifying! Ember, how did you appear and disappear like that?!" Paimon realized he was shrouded in shadow, turned around, and saw Ember's figure. He was immediately startled.

"Is there something wrong with you two?" Yu Jin asked, looking at the specks of sand on the fluorescent white boots.

"Um..., what could possibly be wrong with us?" Ying was also extremely puzzled by Ember's words. What could possibly be wrong with her and Paimon?

"You two know how to use teleportation anchors, right? Why didn't you use it? I had to wait next to it for ages." Yu Jin pointed to the teleportation anchor in the distance and said somewhat resentfully.

It's no secret that Ying uses teleportation anchors; even Catherine knows it.

"Actually, I don't like using teleportation anchors," Ying said with some disdain.

"Why? Aren't teleportation anchors very convenient?" Yu Jin was completely puzzled. How could Ying not like using something that allowed for easy instantaneous movement?

"Senior, you don't know this, but teleporting through a teleportation anchor point is very uncomfortable. It's like..."

“It’s like having countless people yelling in your ear!” Paimon added immediately, seeing Ying deep in thought.

"Yes, just like Paimon said! If I hadn't covered my ears before every teleportation, I probably would have been driven crazy by the noise!" Ying patted her chest and said with some lingering fear.

She had a strange sense of familiarity with the teleportation anchor, so Ying couldn't wait to try it out after activating it.

Then she regretted it, because she hadn't taken any precautions and almost threw up during the teleportation.

"Hiss—, why does it sound so much like the abyss passages on Yuan Shang?" Yu Jin touched his chin after hearing this. Why does this teleportation anchor point sound so much like the abyss passages?

“I think so too.” Ying nodded. She even felt that teleportation anchors and abyssal passages were essentially the same thing.

"But why is Ying alright? Didn't Yuan Shang say that humans would go insane if they went through the Abyss Passage?" Paimon recalled Yuan Shang's words and realized a blind spot.

“You forgot, Ying is from outside this world,” Yu Jin pointed out.

"This teleportation anchor point is probably like the Abyss Passage, traversing through ley lines. The memories of ley lines are highly poisonous to the natives of Teyvat, but perhaps not to Luminous." Ember felt that his guess was pretty much right.

He then looked at Paimon, who seemed to have just realized what was happening, and said with a hint of amusement, "But why is Paimon alright? Could it be that Paimon is also from outside this world?"

"Huh? This... I don't know why either." Paimon felt the gazes of Ember and Glow and was so anxious that he was about to cry.

"Hahaha! Paimon, have you forgotten that you can run into the pocket dimension?" Ember saw Paimon's teary-eyed look and stopped teasing her.

"Oh right! You almost led me astray. I always lie in a small space when I teleport." Paimon smacked Ember's shoulder armor a few times, she was terrified just now.

She almost actually believed she came from outside the world. If that were the case, she would have to go find her own world; Paimon just wanted to be taken care of by Firefly and didn't want to do anything else.

Although she herself was also vague about her past, that was good enough for Paimon.

Because having a past means having something to follow, and being vague allows Paimon to no longer be bound by past experiences.

Therefore, Paimon was perfectly content with being kept by Ying. She didn't want some inexplicable identity or experience to suddenly appear and tell her what to do; she would cry her eyes out if that happened.

"But senior, is there something you need from me?" The conversation finally got back on track.

“It’s not you, it’s both of you!” Yu Jin corrected.

"Alright, alright! It's just the two of us. What's the matter, Senior Ember, who's so powerful?" Paimon shrugged and replied.

"It's nothing really," Yu Jin said with a smile, arms crossed.

"I just want to tell you all that when you travel, don't put any pressure on yourself. Just do whatever makes you happy! Don't listen to that person's nonsense!"

"Just call me if anything goes wrong!" Ember patted his breastplate, then waved his hand and pointed in an unknown direction, shouting, "So, travel to your heart's content, young lady!"

Chapter 195 The Heart of Sending Off the Gods

2023-09-26

“But traveling costs Mora, and we’re still saving up.” Paimon wanted to run straight out in the direction Ember was pointing, but when she touched her empty pockets, her enthusiasm was immediately dampened.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it, I don't have any money either." Yu Jin shrugged. If they encountered a powerful enemy, he could lend a hand, but if they were short of money, there was nothing he could do.

Unfortunately, Ember had never considered things like money. Only when he occasionally needed it would he remember that "money" even existed in this world.

"Isn't Ying pretty strong? How come she's broke?" Ember asked curiously, looking at Ying and Paimon, who both looked dejected.

"Aren't you pretty strong too? Aren't you just as broke?" Paimon thought to himself.

"It's all because Paimon eats so much!" Ying complained to Ember.

"No...you can't say that. I didn't spend any money except for food!" Paimon still cared about his reputation in front of others.

However, her rebuttal seemed somewhat weak.

"Alright, I got it. Paimon, you spend very little money!" Ember looked at Paimon jumping around and nodded perfunctorily.

"If you don't have any money, what are your plans?" Ember asked, looking at the equally helpless Ying.

"What else can I do? I'll do some commissions to save up some Mora. I've heard that Liyue is a very commercially developed place, so having Mora will definitely make things much easier there."

"And let Paimon lose some weight while we're at it," Ying added with a smile at the end.

"Hey! I'm not fat, okay!" Paimon pouted, but didn't say anything more. She had indeed been eating very well these past few days, and it was time for something lighter.

Yes, that's it! It's definitely not because she gained even a tiny bit of weight!

"Going to Liyue?" Ember was a little surprised to hear this, not expecting that Ying's next journey would be to Liyue.

"Yes, the Liyue Summoning Ceremony will be held soon. I can see the Geo Archon then, and I can't miss it." Ying nodded. Even if it's not for seeing the Geo Archon, such a grand spectacle is worth seeing.

"A ritual to summon the Celestials? A meeting with the Geo Archon?" Ember wondered if he had gone to a fake Liyue, since he had never heard of these things before.

Seeing Ember's expression, Ying understood. So she repeated what Wendy had told her before.

"Wow, it's so lively! Looks like I'll have to go there in a while." Yu Jin's interest was immediately piqued.

Such a grand event, it would be an absolute crime not to join in the fun!

But since Morax descends once a year, why does he spend all his time wandering around as Zhongli?

Could it be that he, like Wendy, yearns for freedom? Or is he distrustful of Seven Stars and wants to secretly monitor him?

"Huh? Why do you need to wait a while? Aren't you always free?" Paimon thought of Ember wandering around Mondstadt every day and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"Who said I'm free? I'm busy to death every day!" Ember retorted immediately.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he slapped his forehead and said, "I'm not going to chat with you guys anymore. I need to go prepare the things for planting the trees."

After saying that, he turned and ran into Mondstadt.

Ying and Paimon stared at the dust billowing from the embers in the distance, utterly bewildered. Planting trees? Mondstadt has no shortage of greenery, both inside and outside the city. What kind of trees are they going to plant?

"Incomprehensible."

"That's how you've always been, senior."

Paimon and Ying exchanged a glance, then both shook their heads with smiles. Ember had always been this energetic and impulsive; they were used to it.

……

Night fell, and Mondstadt was plunged into darkness.

However, the Goethe Hotel was still brightly lit.

The woman was hunched over her desk, processing official documents, but her mind was preoccupied with how to obtain Barbatos's Heart of God.

Since releasing the flames within her last time, she has regained all her memories.

However, her condition after regaining her memories wasn't as good as she had imagined. This was because the experiences of "Rosalyn" and "the Lady" were five hundred years apart.

Rosalind is a kind-hearted girl who loves to sing. Even after going to Mount Meru, she never stops thinking about Mondstadt.

The woman was the executor of the Fools, high above them all. In her eyes, most people in the world were no different from ants. She neither wanted to nor needed to understand the thoughts of ants.

Two fragmented memories, or rather, two distinct personalities, were constantly tearing at her will. But the woman had indeed lived for five hundred years.

Her experiences and her will are incomparable to those of the young girl "Rosalyn".

So the woman was still the executive, and her demeanor still exuded arrogance. However, this arrogance was now somewhat gentler than before, and less sharp.

Sometimes she wonders, "I used to be so kind, why did I turn out like this?"

But she quickly realized. A fiery witch with no past, plunged into the great melting pot of the Fools for five hundred years, could only emerge as a lady.

Without realizing it, Rosalyn had begun to become one with the lady. The lady of the past would never have even considered this.

However, despite this, Rosalind's influence on the lady was extremely limited. Although the lady did reflect on why she had become the way she was, she felt virtually no guilt whatsoever.

She remained arrogant and condescending; dead ants were still ants, and at most, she would feel a little more unpleasant when she crushed them later.

"Hmph!" A tremendous heat emanated from the woman's eyes and the finger marks hidden beneath her fur coat.

Strands of orange-yellow flame crawled out of the woman's eyes like tentacles, looking extremely ferocious and terrifying.

Everything before the woman's eyes began to blur, turning into an endless orange-yellow. She could still endure the physical burning, but the madness not only scorched her body but also eroded her will.

The woman could feel something within her soul being ignited. Perhaps it was anger, perhaps courage…

A silent fear began to reverberate in the woman's heart, and then she found that even the feeling of fear gradually dissipated under the flames.

The despair she had experienced five hundred years ago began to become clear, encroaching on other emotions and trying to fill the lady's entire soul.

"Stop...stop! I...I was wrong! They...they aren't ants!" The woman slammed her hand on the table, her face contorted in pain, and cried out with difficulty.

If she didn't back down, she estimated that only despair would remain in her soul. That would be worse than death.

As soon as the woman finished speaking, the fiery tentacles that had extended from her eyes immediately retracted. At the same time, the omnipresent heat emanating from her body dissipated.

The sight of flames shooting from her eyes was indeed terrifying, but to onlookers, the woman was simply having a nightmare.

"Does a lady who is an executive officer also slack off?" Wendy asked, sitting by the window and looking at the pale-faced woman who had opened her eyes.

His nose twitched; there was a burnt smell in the wind, but he didn't see any flames.

"Barbatos! Come..."