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

Empty: Sis, I can't help it! I'm bankrupt too, and I'm still on the list of dishonest persons subject to enforcement!

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The air inside the ruins was much cooler than outside, carrying a long-accumulated dampness and a kind of indescribable rusty smell.

The walls are covered with dark moss and cracks, and occasionally you can see some blurred relief marks, like words whose edges have been worn away by time.

Ying and Paimon followed behind Daines Reeb, walking along a gradually sloping passage for a while, before the space in front of them suddenly opened up.

It was a large hall with a soaring dome. Light seeped down from several narrow cracks in the dome, casting long, thin beams of light onto the floor and illuminating the enormous statue in the center.

The seven statues of the wind god were suspended upside down beneath the dome, chains threaded through the statues' wrists and ankles and secured to the surrounding stone pillars. The suspenders gleamed dimly in the light, as if they had been used many times.

Ying stood at the entrance of the hall, looking up at the upside-down statue, and remained silent for a moment: "...This doesn't look like anything good."

Paimon flew to her side, looked up at the statue, and then pointed to the depths of the hall: "There's something over there."

In the shadows deep within the hall, a figure stood beside a stone pillar.

It wore the dark armor typical of Abyssal Apostles, the outline of its head barely visible in the shadows, and held a long, gleaming staff in its hand. Its posture was relaxed, as if it had been waiting for some time.

Daines Reeb had already drawn his sword and was about to take a step forward when another figure emerged from the shadows on the side of the hall and blocked the Abyss Apostle's path.

The figure was wearing a dark cloak with the hood pulled low and no mask, but the way he walked and the sway of his cloak gave off a sense of familiarity.

Ying stopped moving when she saw the silhouette clearly. She stood there, watching the figure slowly walking towards her, her mouth slightly open, as if confirming in her own way that the approaching silhouette was indeed the person she knew.

Sora stopped a few steps in front of her, reached up and pulled back his hood, revealing a face with similar features to hers. Ying's voice carried a sense of confirmation: "...Brother?"

Kong stood in front of her: "Ying, it's been a long time."

Ying's gaze fell on Kong's face, moving from the contours of his eyebrows to the folds of the cloak on his shoulder, then returned to her, as if repeatedly verifying whether what she saw truly corresponded to the data in her memory: "You are... the prince of the Abyss Order?"

Ying's voice veered slightly as she uttered the title, as if the syllables carried a heavier weight than the words she was used to, requiring a more careful adjustment of her articulation to pronounce them smoothly.

Kong stood in front of her, her gaze still fixed on him, but before he could speak, a dark purple light slashed from the side, grazing the edge of the spot where he had just been standing.

Dainesreb's sword stopped a few inches from the air, blocked by a pair of gleaming double blades—the blades belonged to the Abyss Apostle.

Daines Reeb withdrew his sword and took a half step back, standing to the side and behind Ying, maintaining a posture ready to strike again at any time, but did not continue to advance.

Kong slightly turned his head to look at the Abyss Apostle, then turned his gaze back to Ying, as if adjusting his tone and wording to prepare for this conversation: "Ying, I can't explain too much right now."

Ying stood still, her gaze shifting back and forth between Kong and the Abyss Apostle, before she spoke: "Brother, please help me pay back the compensation. I really don't want to work for free anymore."

Kong's lips twitched slightly when he heard the word "compensation," as if he had something to say but stopped himself: "...Don't say it, little sister. I don't have any money right now. I'm still on the list of defaulters myself."

Ying's eyes lit up slightly when she heard the phrase "list of defaulters," then dimmed again: "Aren't you a prince of the Abyss Order? How could you be broke?"

Kong looked down at the tips of his shoes: "Originally, I could have gradually sold off some valuable items. But because that damned Executor of the Fools drove down the prices of precious items like jade, gemstones, and diamonds, my assets have depreciated by 90%, and now I don't have a single penny left."

Ying didn't answer immediately when she heard this. She paused for a moment, as if processing the information in her own way.

Daines Reeb stood to the side and behind, still gripping the hilt of his sword, ready to strike at any moment. But when he heard the phrase "assets depreciated by 90%", his fingers loosened slightly, as if he were using that brief pause to confirm whether he had heard the words clearly.

Paimon flew through the air, his gaze shifting back and forth between the sky and the fire: "...So you two siblings, one is in debt and working for free to pay it off, and the other has been placed on the list of defaulters due to asset devaluation, and now you can't afford to help her pay off her debts?"

Sora remained standing there, his voice carrying a silence that said, "This wasn't part of my plan": "...That's pretty much the situation."

Ying stood in the hall, her gaze falling on Kong, then on the Abyss Apostle behind him. She spoke again, her voice neither loud nor soft: "So you showed up here today just to tell me your assets have also depreciated?"

Kong paused for a moment, then said, "Not entirely. But I'm glad you understand that I've tried my best."

Meanwhile, outside the ruins, Fanes was crouching on the slope, holding a telescope, pointing it towards the entrance. The artillery behind him was already in position, the muzzles of the cannons awaiting orders aimed at the entrance.

Fanes put down his binoculars and checked the time: "Why aren't they coming out yet? If they don't come out soon, I'm going to bomb them directly."

The officer next to Fanes was also looking in the direction of the ruins' entrance: "Sir, should we fire a few test shots first to confirm the situation inside before deciding on the subsequent attack plan and intensity?"

Fanes raised his telescope and looked for a while longer, and finally saw movement coming from the direction of the entrance to the ruins—two figures were walking out of the entrance, Ying was in front, and Paimon was beside her, looking back at the direction behind them.

Fanes lowered his binoculars and waved to the officer beside him: "Just blow it up."

The officer saluted him: "Understood. All units, take note—target locked, coordinates confirmed, execute immediately."

The first round of shelling covered the area shortly after the order was given, proceeding sequentially along the direction of the ruins' entrance, including the half-open stone door and the walls on either side of it.

Fanes stood on the slope, looking at the area being shrouded in smoke, and turned to the officer, saying, "Continue. Continue until the target is completely covered."

The second and third rounds of shelling successively covered that area.

Ying and Paimon stood on a distant hillside, watching the area being bombarded by artillery fire.

Paimon looked at the area being shrouded in smoke: "...I think he probably knows you've come out."