Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

When Xiao Hei set off, it was clutching a specially made terminal in its paws.

Fanes squatted on the helipad outside Winterfell, securing the terminal between the scales on the inside of its claws, and then wrapped it twice with a thin, soft strap, tying a slipknot.

"Once you get to Star-Picking Cliff, find a tree where you can see the whole view and squat down. You don't need to be too close, just enough to take a picture."

Xiao Hei looked down at the terminal in its paw, then looked up at Fanes, letting out a low, soft purr, as if it had already confirmed the mission details.

After Little Black spread its wings and took off, it quickly became a moving black dot on the horizon. It flashed briefly as it passed through the clouds before completely merging into the sky illuminated by the morning light. Even the wind stirred up by its wingtips had been readjusted by the high-altitude airflow.

Three hours later, at Star-Picking Cliff.

Colombia arrived at the meadow before Sandoni. The morning light spread a thin layer of warm color on the grass blades, and occasionally a breeze would blow through the cracks in the stones and between the stems and leaves, causing the edges of the bushes, which were slightly shorter than a person, to tilt slightly.

Columbia stood on the edge of the cliff and gazed into the distance for a while. In her field of vision, the line where the sea met the sky was slowly fading, the boundary blurred yet uniform.

When she heard footsteps approaching behind her, Columbia didn't turn around. Instead, she simply looked out at the open view and said softly, "The wind here is much warmer than in winter."

Sandonne's voice came from behind, a few steps away: "The temperature difference is about ten degrees. The altitude here is lower than Winterhold, and the wind speed is also lower. Did you bring your own water?"

Columbia didn't answer directly, but turned her head slightly towards the direction of the voice, the morning light sliding down her shoulder to her hand: "I brought it. It's in the side pocket of my backpack, the same bottle I got from Zhidong, I packed it before I left."

Sandoni stood beside her, his blue eyes sweeping over the sea below the cliff, then over the surrounding grassy slopes and the wildflowers bending in the distance: "Star-Picking Cliff. It is indeed quite quiet."

Columbia sat down on the edge of a flat stone and patted the empty space next to her: "Your legs will get sore from standing for so long, come and sit down for a while."

Sandonne stood still without moving immediately. She turned her gaze away from the flowerbed she had just been looking at, as if she had just completed a routine check of the surrounding scenery to make sure there was no wet mud or protruding rocks on the ground before sitting down on the edge of the rock.

After a while, Sandone raised her hand to smooth the stray strands of hair that had been blown by the wind. She turned her head as if to say something, but Columbia had already leaned close to her shoulder. Her breathing was light, with a natural quality, and the ends of her hair fell down and touched the edge of Sandone's sleeve. Her voice was neither loud nor soft.

Your hair looks smoother than usual today.

Sandoni stiffened slightly as she leaned closer: "...I've washed."

Columbia pulled back to the edge of the rock, still at the same angle facing her. After a while, she spoke again, as if continuing an unfinished conversation in a softer tone: "There's a flower field over there; you can smell the fragrance when the wind blows this way."

Sandonne sat there, his gaze falling on his interlaced fingers: "Cecilia. The flowers are in bloom right now."

In the distance, among the branches of that old oak tree, Little Black was crouching near the top of the canopy, the camera lens in the crevices of its paws quietly pointing towards the edge of the cliff.

Xiao Hei would occasionally tilt its head, as if checking whether the shooting angle had shifted. Once it confirmed that the lens was pointing steadily, it would shift its gaze back to the two figures sitting side by side on the edge of the rock. The movements were very small, without disturbing a single leaf on the branch.

In the Mondstadt office, Fanes and Rosalind sat side by side at a table, a gleaming crystal panel standing upright in the center.

In the scene, the two figures on the Star-Picking Cliff are sitting on the edge of a rock. On the left, Columbia is slightly turned to face Sandoni on the right. The former's hand is on her knee, and her fingertips are a few inches away from the edge of the latter's sleeve.

Fañez, holding a cup of tea, pointed to the screen: "Look at the distance between them. If she moved an inch more over there, Sandoni's shoulders would tense up even more. But the distance is just right, perfectly synchronized with the wind direction."

Rosalyn leaned back in her chair, holding a cup of tea. "The crease on Sandoni's cuff is facing the wrong way. If it hadn't been touched, the fabric wouldn't be pressed down like that."

Fanes took a sip of tea: "How long do you think it will take before she speaks up?"

Rosalyn picked up her teacup and took a sip: "Last time, when Zhidong and the other woman had dinner together, she was the one who initiated it. Judging by this frequency, she should be the one to speak first this time as well."

In the image displayed on the crystal panel, Colombia was turning her head to say something. The edge of Sandoni's earlobe was faintly visible on the pixels of the screen, clearly recorded by the afternoon light, like a boundary line slowly developing.

In the main hall of the fireplace house, Clementine placed a panel on the table and pulled up a chair to sit down. She was still clutching a freshly wiped cup in her hand, casually placing it back on the windowsill beside her. Then she picked up the cup of tea, took a sip, and her gaze fell on the lit screen.

Arecino emerged from the kitchen, coatless, carrying a steaming glass of water. As she sat down in the chair next to Clementine, the bottom of the glass clinked softly against the table, a sound quickly absorbed by the surrounding air. "How long have they been there?"

Clementine turned the panel towards her: "The background light started appearing in the screen about fifteen minutes ago, roughly the time since they sat down. They're currently talking about the scenery and humidity."

Arecino picked up her glass and took a sip, her gaze falling on the two figures sitting side by side on the edge of the cliff: "When are they going to get down to business?"

Clementine took a sip of tea: "If we follow Mondstadt's climate rhythm, when the evening wind adjusts to a certain angle, and the scent of those flowers in front can travel down the slope to their side, that's probably the point where we should change the subject."

In the scene, Columbia is turning her head to say something to Sandone. Her hand is already on Sandone's knee, her fingertips pressing on the edge of the fabric, the angle so natural that it seems she is checking if the fabric is flat.

Sandoni did not move away or adjust his posture. He only slightly curled his fingers on his knees and then released them, like a lock that had not yet been opened being repeatedly turned, but always remaining in the position that was about to be opened.

Arecino looked at the panel, and after viewing the image, said, "It seems it really won't take long."

Clementine lowered her head and took another sip of tea, the rim of the cup pausing briefly at the corner of her mouth before she put it down: "Then they probably won't be back very early tonight."

Upon arriving at the Winter Palace, the Ice Queen was sitting in her spacious, somewhat empty study, with a latest personnel statistics report spread out in front of her.

The report had a dark gray cover and few pages, but its content was enough to leave her speechless for a long time. She stopped on the third page, her gaze falling on the list of people whose relationships had been recently confirmed. She read through the list line by line, noting the relationship type after each name and listing the partners' identities and their respective departments.

The "Preparing for Pregnancy" section next to it was filled with the same text from top to bottom, with no difference whatsoever. She flipped to another page to make sure she hadn't missed any section. Then she closed the report and placed it on the table, leaning back in her chair quietly for a while.

The Ice Queen looked up at the ceiling, as if she were conversing with some being outside the room, or as if she were rearranging the information she had just read in a different way.

When the Ice Queen spoke, her voice was neither loud nor soft, carrying a tone that, despite repeated checks and rearrangements, still couldn't completely dispel her confusion: "The ever-increasing marriage rate within the Fools, coupled with this near-zero birth rate, is this right? It's either male homosexuality or female homosexuality. Should I ask the God of Wisdom?"