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

After Fanes shouted "Ah!", there was a silence of about three seconds.

The skirmisher remained in the same position against the wall, but Fanes clearly saw his eyebrow twitch slightly—not a big one, but it did twitch.

After Yae no Miko withdrew her gaze from him, she looked down at the sleeve of Fanes that she was still clutching in her hand, then looked up at the skirmishers. A smile returned to the corner of her mouth, carrying a playful tone that seemed to say, "Oh, there's a story between you two."

"Ah Mao?"

Yae no Miko savored the two words, her gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them. "Is this the nickname you gave him? It's quite interesting."

The soldier didn't answer her question. Instead, he straightened up from the wall, took two steps forward, and looked at Yae no Miko through the shadow of his straw hat with his purple eyes.

He spoke, his voice neither warm nor cold, carrying the usual detachment of a soldier: "I never imagined you, this old woman... no, this old witch, would go so far as to lay a hand on a child. Is the priest of Narukami Shrine so idle? So idle that he has to personally interrogate tourists who are just passing by and soaking in the hot springs?"

Yae no Miko's ears perked up slightly for a moment, then fell back to their original position. She didn't loosen her grip on Fanes' sleeve, but her gaze shifted to the skirmishers, her tone carrying a calm "that's not very polite of you."

"Hey, is this how you talk to your elders? I'm one of those people who watched you grow up, and you still have such a sharp tongue."

The soldier stood there with his arms crossed, his tone still indifferent: "Oh, is that so? I almost forgot you're an old lady. Sorry, sorry, I'm getting old and my memory isn't what it used to be; I got your generation wrong."

Fanes, suspended between the two by Yae no Miko's sleeve, briefly paused when he heard the word "cannon," before realizing—the country had collapsed. The former name of the scattered soldiers.

Yae no Miko clearly knew about this old story, and when she brought it up, her tone carried an air of knowing that "I know everything, I'm just too lazy to say it usually."

Fanes was left standing between the two men. To his left was the indifferent face of the skirmisher, who seemed to say, "I'm helping you, but I won't admit it." To his right was Yae no Miko's hand, which was gripping his sleeve without moving. Neither of them looked at him, but their conversation left him sandwiched between them.

"no--"

Fanes finally couldn't hold back any longer, "Have you forgotten about me?! I'm still right here!"

Yae no Miko glanced down at him, as if she had just remembered that she was still carrying someone: "Oh, I almost forgot about you."

After saying this, Yae no Miko turned her gaze back to the scattered soldiers. "This runaway princess, it seems you care a lot about this child? What, are you getting along well with your new colleagues at Shifuyu's place?"

The skirmisher's expression didn't change noticeably, but Fanes noticed that his fingers, which were clasped together, twitched slightly. When he spoke, his tone remained calm, but the last syllable was a fraction shorter than before.

"It doesn't matter. It's Zhi Dong's business how he transfers people. I just happened to be passing by and saw you messing around with a kid, and I thought it was a bit of an eyesore. Old fox, I don't care if you mess with other people, but you really shouldn't touch this one. He is, after all, a properly registered member of the twelfth seat. If something happens here, it won't be easy for you to explain to Zhi Dong."

Yae no Miko's smile remained unchanged, but the tip of her tail twitched slightly behind her: "I advise you to step aside. Otherwise, the Shogun will be here soon, and you know she doesn't like things to be done in public, and of course, she doesn't like you either!"

Yae no Miko's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, and her tone carried just the right amount of composure and confidence befitting the chief priest of Narukami Taisha Shrine.

The soldier paused for a second. Then he looked away, turned, and walked towards the other end of the street, his clothes brushing against the cobblestones with a soft rustling sound. "Old hag, you're ruthless."

The stragglers' figures quickly blended into the night, their purple ribbons flashing briefly in the darkness before disappearing completely around the corner of the alley.

Fanes watched the direction the scattered soldiers had left in, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside him. He had come, exchanged a few words, but that was all; he was gone after that. Yae no Miko was still clutching his sleeve.

After Yae no Miko stood there watching the stragglers disappear, she looked down at the child she was holding, and the smile on her lips slowly changed.

That relaxed, somewhat languid smile was still there, but Fanes always felt that something was brewing beneath that smile, like a fox licking its paws before carefully examining its prey.

Fanes felt a chill run down his spine. His voice was much steadyer than before, but his tone carried a clear warning: "Do you know who I am?"

Yae no Miko did not answer. She stretched out her other hand, her fingertips glowing with a faint pink lightning, and gently touched the back of Fanes's neck.

Fanes only had time to feel a tingling, electric-like sensation spreading from his neck to his limbs before his eyelids lost their grip. His vision went from light to dimness to complete darkness in less than a breath.

When Phanes regained consciousness, there was a wooden beam hanging above his head, his feet were dangling in the air, and his wrists were tied to the top of his head with a rope.

I glanced down at my height above the ground—probably not going to die, but definitely not comfortable. The air around me carried a scent of wood and incense. Judging from the shimenawa (sacred rope) hanging on the walls and the layout of the shrine, this was a side hall of Narukami Taisha Shrine.

Yae no Miko stood a few steps in front of him, holding a slender wooden stick in her hand—not thick, but it looked very sturdy. She was still wearing the dry shrine maiden's outfit she had changed out of after being soaked in the hot spring, her long pink hair had been neatly combed again, and there was a smile on her lips, but that smile was not quite the same as the one she had shown outside.

"You're awake?"

Yae no Miko's voice carried a lighthearted tone, as if saying, "Finally, we can start playing." "I thought you were going to sleep a little longer."

Fanes was dangling in mid-air and struggled a couple of times before realizing that the ropes were tied very professionally, neither digging into his flesh nor giving him any chance to break free.

Taking a deep breath, Fanes stared at the fox wielding the stick in front of him, raising his voice by half an octave: "Do you know who I am? I am Fanes! You dare touch me!"

Yae no Miko held the wooden stick and twirled it gently in her hand, as if assessing its feel. She tilted her head and looked at Fanes for two seconds, then laughed. The laughter wasn't loud, but it carried a frankness that said, "You might fool others, but you're not qualified to fool me."

"If you were Fanes, I'd kneel down and be your dog. You've got quite the mouth; you even dare to use Tenri's name to fool people. Alright, stop pretending. You're just an ordinary little brat from the Winter Solstice Clan, running around Inazuma under the guise of the Fools' Clan, and you're still being stubborn even when you bump into me."

Fanes saw Yae no Miko slightly raise her staff. The movement was not fast, but very composed, as if she had already calculated the angle and force.

I felt the hairs on the back of my head stand on end. Before the stick hit me, my breath hitched, and my voice involuntarily rose to its limit: "Life and death time and space—help me—!"

Fanes's voice echoed several times within the wooden structure of the side hall before slowly dissipating into the air. The side hall was quiet for a few moments, with only the soft tinkling of the wind chimes under the eaves as they were stirred by the night breeze.

Yae no Miko paused in her stance, her ears twitching slightly as if sensing something. She glanced at the corners of the walls, the cracks in the doors, and the ceiling around the side hall—nothing had happened. She then turned her gaze back to Fanes' face, her expression saying, "Are you done shouting?"

Faenes was suspended in mid-air, feeling as if nothing had happened. He looked down at his hands, then at the quiet side hall around him, and then at the fox in front of him holding a stick, waiting for his next move. After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth.

"...Is it possible that this spell needs to be chanted three times to activate?"

Yae no Miko lowered her staff slightly, a hint of "I'd like to see what else you can come up with" playing on her lips: "Try saying it again?"