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

Unfortunately, Naberius, the ruler of the living, did not come. After Phanes shouted that while hanging from the beam, the side hall was quiet for a long time, so quiet that he could clearly hear the tinkling of the wind chimes under the eaves being plucked by the night wind, and the pounding of his own heart like a drum.

Then the air in the side hall suddenly changed.

The change was hard to describe in words. The lingering scent of incense in the room seemed to be stirred by something invisible, and the night breeze that was blowing in through the cracks in the door and the gaps in the window also stopped for a moment, as if even the wind itself was hesitating whether to continue blowing forward.

Fanes felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up one by one. The feeling was neither cold nor hot, but more like someone gently plucking an invisible string around you, making your whole body go numb from the bone.

Yae no Miko's ears twitched first. Her light pink fox ears suddenly turned toward the shadows in the northeast corner of the side hall, their rounded tips taut and straight.

Yae no Miko's fingers tightened slightly as she gripped the wooden stick, the tip of her tail drooping and then lifting again. Her posture remained composed, but Fanes noticed that the smile on her lips froze for a moment, like a fine crack suddenly appearing on the surface of ice. Then she slowly turned around.

A person stood in the shadows of the northeast corner of the side hall. Or rather, a being that looked like a person stood there. She appeared silently, as if squeezed out from a crack in time. The air around her seemed to distort slightly as she stood there, like a drop of ink slowly spreading in clear water.

She had long, waist-length white hair, the ends of which seemed to be dissolved by some force, gradually fading into the shadows behind her.

Several extremely fine braids were woven into her hair, with one strand hanging down to the side of her face. Her skin was so pale it was almost transparent, and her eyes were a molten gold, with pupils shaped like the face of a clock without hands.

She wore a loose, light-colored robe, the hem of which hung to the ground, the edges slightly worn as if by time. She stood there with an air of composure that said, "I've always been here, you just haven't seen me yet."

The reigning ruler, Istaru.

Beside Ishtar stood another figure. That figure was about half a head shorter than Ishtar, but her aura was completely different—it was as if the light in the entire side hall had been lowered by several degrees the moment she appeared.

Her skin was equally pale, and her white hair was equally long and thick, but it was even thicker than Ishtar's, almost like moonlight that had been poured down and solidified on her shoulders and back.

Her eyes were also golden, but the shape of her pupils was a pattern of seven overlapping petals, like a symbol that would only appear on some ancient ritual totem.

The parts of her arms that peeked out from her sleeves were a dark, almost black color, and her skin was covered with red, eye-shaped patterns that shimmered faintly in the dim light of the side hall.

She wore a dress in a black, gray, and red hue, the hem of which looked as if it were made of stacked black feathers, revealing a dark red lining underneath. Standing there, she resembled an ancient statue forgotten by time in a corner, even her breath carrying a silent, irresistible weight.

The ruler of death, Ronawa.

Yae no Miko's tail stopped moving completely. She slowly lowered her hand that was holding the wooden stick, her knuckles still clenched tightly, but the lines of her arm were noticeably stiffer than before.

Looking at the two uninvited guests in front of him, the smile on his lips was still there, but it was no longer the relaxed and playful smile it had been before. It was more like a mask that had been forcibly nailed to his face, beneath which was a rapidly churning shock and calculation.

Ishtar spoke first. Her voice was languid, as if she had just woken from a long afternoon nap, with the last syllable drawn out, each word as if stretched into a thread by time: "Little fox... you're doomed."

Istaru's tone was so relaxed that it didn't sound like a warning, but rather like she was saying something she already knew would happen. That certainty, with a hint of "I knew this would happen," sent a chill down Fanes' spine.

Jonawa's way of speaking was completely different. Her voice was deep and flat, without any inflection, as if she were reading a long-written verdict.

Golden pupils gleamed coldly in the dim light of the side hall, their gaze fixed on Yae no Miko, as if examining evidence whose fate had already been decided: "High Priestess of Narukami Shrine, what do you mean by this? If you insist on this, I..."

Jona didn't finish her sentence, but the unspoken part was enough to send chills down one's spine. Fanes couldn't understand what she was trying to say—was it that she didn't need to say anything more, or that she didn't need to speak anymore, or that she didn't need to live anymore—but whatever it was, it made Yae no Miko's knees lose their support for a moment.

Yae no Miko moved quietly, without struggling or arguing. She even gently placed the wooden stick she was still clutching on the floor beside her.

Kneeling there, her long pink hair cascaded down her shoulders onto the dark wooden floor, her fox ears angled submissively. She kept her head down, neither looking at the two rulers before her nor at Fanes.

Fanes was still hanging from the crossbeam. When he saw Yae no Miko kneel down, his first thought was—wasn't I just shouting for help? Then he looked down at the distance between his feet and the ground, and then at the two rulers who were standing in the center of the side hall, one on the left and one on the right like two guardian deities, and felt that his situation was not much better than Yae no Miko's.

Istaru glanced at him sideways, her molten gold eyes showing no obvious emotion, but Fanes felt that the curve of her lips was slightly more pronounced than before.

He raised his hand and gently moved his fingers. The rope binding Fanes' wrists loosened silently, as if cut by an invisible pair of scissors.

When Fanes fell off the beam, he landed on his buttocks first, and his tailbone throbbed with a dull pain. But he didn't have time to rub it. He quickly got up, straightened his sleeves which were wrinkled by the rope, and looked down at the kneeling Yae no Miko.

He walked over and squatted down in front of her, reaching out to pat her face. It wasn't a hard pat, just the kind that says, "Weren't you so arrogant just now?" Yae no Miko's ears twitched slightly from the two pats, but she kept her head down and didn't look up at him.

Fanes withdrew his hand, his tone carrying a sense of satisfaction that "it's finally my turn to speak": "So, you were quite brave before, weren't you? Grabbing me by the back of the collar, hanging me from the rafters, and even threatening to beat me with a stick. Now why are you kneeling here silently?"

Yae no Miko's voice came from between her lowered hair, carrying an extremely strained attempt to maintain the last shred of composure: "It's all a misunderstanding... a misunderstanding."

Fanes stood up and dusted off his knees: "Misunderstanding? What I hate most is apologies afterward."

Yae no Miko did not answer, but Fanes noticed that her fingers, hanging at her sides, curled slightly.

Some time later, the door to the side hall was pushed open at that moment.

The sound of the door hinges turning was particularly clear in the quiet night. Fanes turned his head to look—standing in the doorway was a tall figure wearing a dark purple robe, with long purple hair tied into a thick ponytail hanging down her back, one side of her bangs held back by a hairpin, revealing half of her fair face and a pair of narrow purple eyes.

Her gaze paused noticeably for a moment as it swept across the interior of the side hall. First, she saw the kneeling Yae no Miko, then she saw Fanes standing in front of her with his hands on his hips, and only then did she notice the two rulers who were quietly watching the show in the corner of the side hall.

Lei Yingdian stood at the door, looking at the scene in the side hall—the priestess of Narukami Shrine was kneeling on the floor dressed as a maid, a child of about ten years old was standing in front of her with his hands on his hips, and there were two other people she recognized but did not expect to see here.

Lei Yingdian frowned slightly, then spoke, her voice carrying a hint of confusion, as if she wondered, "Have I come to the wrong place?": "Are you... playing some kind of master-servant game?"

The side hall fell silent for a moment.

Fanes glanced back at Ray, who was standing at the door, then looked down at Yae no Miko kneeling on the ground in a maid's outfit, before looking up at the two rulers still standing quietly in the corner. Ishtar's lips curved slightly, and even Jonawa's golden petal-shaped pupils seemed to flicker with a barely perceptible ripple.

Fanes took a deep breath, then turned to look at Ray, his voice calm and clear: "General, you've come at the right time. Your fox was just about to whip me with a stick and is now receiving some kind of moral education. Would you like to sit down and listen in?"

Lei Ying stood at the doorway, her gaze shifting from Fanes to the Eighth Divine Child, then from the Eighth Divine Child to the two rulers in the corner of the side hall, and finally back to Fanes. She was silent for a few seconds, then slightly tilted her head, her tone still carrying that bewildered feeling of "Did I miss some important plot point?": "...You made her wear it?"

Fanes glanced down at the maid outfit that Yae no Miko was wearing—clearly not one she would have chosen herself—then looked up at Lei Dianying: "That's a long story. Anyway, don't worry about the clothes for now. You should deal with your fox bullying the kids."

The wind chimes in the side hall rang again, and the night breeze rushed in through the open door, stirring the lamps before the shrine and casting shimmering shadows on the walls. Ishtar leaned against the wall, her molten gold eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight, a lazy smile still playing on her lips.

Jonawa stood beside her, her golden petal-like pupils quietly gazing at the kneeling Yae no Miko, as if awaiting an answer that had yet to come.

Lei Yingdian was still standing at the door, his purple eyes shifting back and forth between Fanes and Yae no Miko. His expression gradually changed from confusion to a thoughtful look that said, "I must ask about this later."