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

The next morning, Phanes was awakened by the sound of flapping wings.

I sat up groggily from the grass, rubbing my eyes and glancing in the direction the sound came from—a rather large crane was perched on the stone platform shrouded in morning mist below the hillside. Its feathers were blue and white, its neck was long, and a tuft of slightly upturned feathers on its head trembled gently in the morning breeze.

Its posture was completely different from the white crane from last night. A faint, ethereal light flowed among its feathers, like moonlight being crushed and sprinkled on satin. Even the grass and trees around the stone platform where it stood were three times greener than elsewhere.

Yakoda poked her head out of the sleeping bag on the other side, her long hair a mess, like a bird's nest. Following Fanes's gaze down the slope, she squinted, her still-sleepy mouth making its own judgment: "Boss...look, there's a chicken over there!"

The bluish-white crane below the slope, which had been tilting its head to examine the group of humans and a dragon of unknown origin, bristled as if it had been electrocuted upon hearing these words.

It suddenly straightened its neck, its long neck taut and rigid, and a furious "Who are you calling a chicken?" gleam rose in its dark eyes, and its clear, sharp voice forced out from its throat: "Insolence! You chicken!"

Yakoda instantly snapped awake. She sprang out of her sleeping bag, took a step back and bumped into Fanes, her eyes wide with surprise, and exclaimed in a low voice, "Holy crap! This chicken's got a mind of its own!"

Fanes quickly covered her mouth with one hand, and waved his other hand towards the cranes below the slope, forcing a bright, apologetic smile: "Don't talk nonsense! In Liyue, we call this becoming an immortal! This immortal clearly has a cave dwelling, how could he be just an ordinary chicken..."

The crane tidied its ruffled feathers, but its dark eyes still held a hint of lingering anger and majesty. It leaped lightly from the stone platform, its body emitting a faint blue light as it landed. When the light faded, a woman in a blue and white robe was already standing in the same spot.

The woman possessed an elegant and refined air, her brows and eyes carrying a serene and aloof quality reminiscent of flowing water and towering mountains. A white jade hairpin adorned her hair, and the hem of her robes was embroidered with several cranes poised for flight. She stood with her hands behind her back, her gaze slowly sweeping over the two people—one large and one small—and the young dragon curled up on the ground before her. The arrogance in her voice had subsided somewhat, but it still carried the detached air characteristic of immortals.

"I am the True Lord of Cloud Retention and Wind Borrowing. I often reside in this mountain to cultivate. Last night, a spirit crane came to report that a living person has settled here and intends to lure the birds in the mountains with roasted food."

She tilted her head slightly as she spoke, her gaze falling on the pile of ashes left from last night's barbecue at Fanes' feet. Her tone held a thoughtful, probing quality. "Tell me," she asked, "who are you? And why have you come to Jueyun?"

After hearing those four words, Yakoda couldn't hear anything else. "True Lord of Cloud-Borrowing Wind." An immortal. A living immortal. The light in her starry eyes visibly doubled, and with lightning speed, she knelt on the grass, hands clasped together, head tilted back.

"Immortal, please take me as your disciple! I can learn anything! I'm not afraid to climb mountains to fight tigers or dive into the sea to catch dragons! I can do everything from running errands to serving tea and water!"

Fanes stood to the side, watching her kneeling on the ground, and his lips twitched. He cleared his throat and reached out to tug at Jakoda's sleeve: "Get up, get up, be brave and don't embarrass yourself."

Yakoda remained kneeling on the ground, head held high, and declared confidently, "Boss! That's an immortal! A living immortal! Back in Nordekare, I didn't even dare touch the city's statues. Now that a living immortal is standing before me, it would be strange if I didn't worship him!"

Fanes sighed, hands on his hips: "A man's knees are worth gold!"

Yakoda didn't even turn her head: "I'm a girl! And even if there were gold, I should have dug some out by now! This is an immortal! Do you know how much the entrance fee to the immortal sect is worth?!"

Fanes was speechless. He stood to the side watching Yakoda's devout posture, as if she wanted to build a temple for Liuyun Fengzhenjun on the spot, and then looked at the immortal opposite her who was looking down at the kneeling little girl with great interest. In the end, he could only shake his head helplessly, step aside and pick up the little black dog at his feet.

The young dragon shrank its neck in his arms, its amber eyes glancing at True Lord Liuyun Jiefeng, then at Yakoda kneeling on the ground, and yawned.

Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun looked down at Yakoda for a long while, the almost imperceptible smile on her lips vanishing in an instant. She didn't respond to Yakoda's request to become her disciple, but simply turned slightly and gestured towards the winding stone path leading up the mountain.

"The mountain winds and dews are heavy here, so it's not convenient to talk for long. You should come back to my cave with me first, and we can discuss things after we sit down."

Yakoda sprang to her feet faster than Fanes had seen her snatch meat, her smile as radiant as the midday sun amidst the towering clouds: "Alright! Immortal, lead the way!"

After taking a couple of steps, Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun transformed back into his crane form. His pale blue wings shimmered softly in the sunlight as he folded them and crouched down slightly. Without a word, Yakoda climbed on, straddling the crane's back and hugging its neck tightly, her starry eyes filled with a blissful light of "no regrets in this life."

Little Black flapped its short wings and flew up beside him, while Fanes stood still, looking up at the crane that had bent down and opened its two claws. Before he could react, he was gently lifted up by the back of his collar.

Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun's claws were perfectly controlled, gripping the back of his coat collar neither too tightly nor too loosely, lifting him into the air like an eagle carrying a fledgling that couldn't fly very well yet.

Fanes swayed twice in mid-air, the hem of his coat fluttering in the wind. He looked down at the ground receding into the distance and silently accepted his fate of being "carried away like luggage."

The wind brushed past my ears, and the mountain peaks amidst the clouds revealed their outlines one after another in the morning mist. Waterfalls and pine forests appeared and disappeared in the mountain streams, and occasionally a few wild cranes flew through the canopy below, raising their necks and letting out a clear cry or two.

Fanes swung his legs in mid-air, looking down at the sea of ​​clouds that stretched out like a soft white carpet. In the distance, the top of the highest mountain peak was faintly visible, with an exquisite pavilion and several scattered houses.

The mountain wind tousled his hair. He squinted and tilted his head, seeing Yakoda riding on the crane's neck, excitedly pointing down. Little Black flapped its short wings, following closely beside the bluish-white wings, its tongue lolling out from exhaustion, but it was still desperately flapping its wings to keep up with the group.

The cave dwelling of the True Lord of Liuyun Borrowing Wind is located on the mountainside at the highest point of Jueyun. Several houses with blue bricks and white walls are built against the mountain. In front of the door is a flat stone platform. Several old pine trees are planted on the edge of the stone platform, and several strings of copper bells hang on the pine branches, which jingle when the mountain wind blows.

She circled once above the stone platform and landed slowly, releasing her paws to place Fanes on a dry stone slab, then leaned down slightly to let Yakoda slide off her back.

Little Black thrashed about for the last few meters before collapsing at Fanes' feet, its four paws outstretched, belly exposed, panting heavily, as if the flight had exhausted all the energy it had saved up over the past month.

The first thing Yakoda did after regaining her footing was to turn around and bow deeply to the Immortal Lord Liuyun Jiefeng, her head almost touching her knees: "Thank you, Immortal, for leading us up the mountain! Your cave is truly beautiful! More beautiful than all the houses I've seen in Nordkalai combined!"

Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun transformed back into human form, her pale blue robes fluttering slightly in the morning breeze. She looked at the two children before her, her gaze lingering for a moment on Fanes's wind-wrinkled coat.

"Come in first. No matter why you're here, let's eat breakfast first."

Fanes got up from the ground, dusted himself off, picked up the still panting Little Black, and followed the Cloud-Borrowing Wind True Lord across the threshold. The cave was much warmer than he had imagined. Several lamps with flowing spiritual light were embedded in the walls, illuminating the entire room brightly and softly. In the corner stood an ancient zither, with a few pine needles brought in by the wind from outside the window on its surface.

Yakoda walked beside him, her expression still dazed, as if she were in a dream, muttering to herself, "Boss, we're at the fairy's house now..."

Fanes, on the other hand, looked on as if he were watching a spectacle, seemingly unsurprised.

"It's not like it's our first time here! We even had dinner at the same table with Geo before!"