Lu Bu, the Thunder General, is my adoptive father in Genshin Impact.

As Xiao Yi stepped into the icy fog, he could see the ruins of the collapsed viewing platform and the survivors.

The shivering nobles huddled in a large circle, piling up the wrecked wood in the center of the circle to make a bonfire, trying to keep warm in the harsh, freezing conditions.

Xiao Yi was dumbfounded and couldn't help but mutter to himself: This doesn't look like the Inazuma nobility at all; this looks like a Russian nobleman exiled to Siberia to dig potatoes...

When they saw Ming Shenzi arrive, they all stood up and bowed. Just as someone was about to flatter him, Xiao Yi interrupted the shameless act of sycophancy.

He apprehended an acquaintance, Takatsukasa Susumu, the head of the Takatsukasa family, and questioned him about the situation.

What's going on here?

Takashi Susumu replied tremblingly, "When your lightning bolt struck the viewing platform, the head of the Kamisato family and his sister used their divine eye to create water and ice, freezing the entire viewing platform. The lightning was transmitted to the earth due to the superconducting effect, so we were not seriously injured."

In addition, Xiao Yi's forced deflection weakened the lightning tornado, and the damage was mainly caused by Miyamoto's wind. However, the elemental fusion technique of the Kamisato siblings forcefully changed the environment in a small area.

"Why aren't you leaving? Why are you standing here freezing like idiots?" Xiao Yi asked, puzzled.

“The competition isn’t over yet, and it’s you, sir, personally taking to the field. How could we dare leave our designated spectator positions? We can only light the bonfire and wait here,” Takatsukasa Susumu replied respectfully. “As for the head of the Kamisato family and Princess Shirogane, they went out to get blankets and warm clothes. Most of the people here are elderly and can’t stand the cold…”

Xiao Yi was astonished by the rigid thinking of the Inazuma aristocracy.

Even though they couldn't see anything and it was so cold that they couldn't help but shiver, Narukamiko was still fighting on the field. The devout members of the group had to stay in the designated area until the Grand Tournament officially ended.

The Kamisato siblings returned after retrieving their clothes.

Ayato greeted him respectfully: "Lord Narukami, thanks to you, the Grand Tournament has come to a perfect end. Also, your battle was very exciting."

Xiao Yi leaned closer to Ayato and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't be so polite, brother-in-law... cough, head of the Kamisato family. The Grand Tournament went smoothly, thanks to the soldiers who maintained order and all the contestants who fought hard. It's not my achievement at all. Besides, it's not officially over yet; we still have to give awards to the champion and Sara this afternoon!"

Upon hearing that Lord Narukami had declared the champion, the Kujo family members whispered happily among themselves.

After exchanging pleasantries with Ayato Kamisato, Xiao Yi walked around Ayato and came up behind him, standing in front of Aya, who was awkwardly carrying a large pile of blankets and clothes.

"Greetings, my godfather." Ayaka, carrying a large pile of things, tried her best to bow.

"No need for formalities." Xiao Yi took the miscellaneous items from Linghua's hands, tossed them aside, and said with a smile, "It's been a long time, Princess Bailu, I've missed you dearly!"

“I am deeply honored by what you say, my adopted son.” Linghua bowed slightly and replied politely, “I am just a woman who is far removed from politics, yet I have the honor of being remembered by my adopted son.”

"Yes, I really want to!" Xiao Yi emphasized repeatedly.

Linghua tilted her head and asked curiously, "Excuse me for being presumptuous, my adopted son, but it's only been a few days since I last saw you, and your hair has turned white."

"You're wrong, it just turned white." Xiao Yi said with a wry smile and a hint of sarcasm.

Ayaka Kamisato was even more puzzled, blinking her beautiful blue eyes.

……

In the afternoon, the grand finale closing ceremony was officially held. The audience was in an uproar and the scene was extremely lively. The nobles went up to the makeshift stands to watch the closing ceremony.

First, awards were given according to rankings. Since the final was defined as an exhibition match, the finalists were Lord Naruto and the high-ranking actors he had invited. Therefore, all the finalists were promoted one rank and given the official positions they deserved.

Kujo Sara, the adopted son of the Kujo family, won the Grand Tournament and was fortunate enough to become the personal bodyguard of the Thunder General, enjoying dozens of exclusive privileges.

Of course, Sara was completely bewildered. She had just returned, weakened, and then inexplicably won the championship.

Under the personal supervision of Narukamiko, the lively grand examination finally came to a close, adding a colorful touch to the long and tedious history of Inazuma.

……

As night fell in Inazuma Castle, the music ended and the crowd dispersed, with those who had come to watch the game returning home.

Xiao Yi arrived at the alley his elder brother had mentioned and met Miyamoto Jiro, who had arrived as promised.

“Xiao Jun, actually I…” “Big brother, actually…” the two said in unison.

"What I'm about to say will be brief, so I'll go first." Miyamoto Jiro shrugged. "Miyamoto Tsubasa or Tenrai, which do you want to hear first?"

"Miyamoto Tsubasa, I guess," Xiao Yi said decisively.

Miyajiro showed a hint of helplessness, frowning as he said, "Do you remember, that baby?"

Xiao Yi nodded.

That day, after listening to Miyamoto Jiro's past, he recalled the days he spent with his elder brother, but he never heard his elder brother mention the baby, so he naturally assumed that the child would die soon after.

After all, with both smoke and cold water, even adults with poor health can't withstand it, so how could a fragile young child possibly withstand the typhoid fever that follows?

Miyajiro's hoarse voice went on and on, like an elderly storyteller recounting a tale.

“The long feathers of the eagle’s wings landed on the baby’s forehead. I named the little guy Miyamoto Tsubasa, symbolizing the beautiful wish of soaring to the sky. Unfortunately, the reality was quite the opposite.”

“When Yi was a child, he was relatively normal. He was physically weak, but his swordsmanship talent was superior to mine. Yi loved watching fireworks. The bigger and more beautiful the fireworks exploded, the happier the little guy was.”

"For this reason, when I was a teenager, I specially sneaked into Inazuma Castle and became an apprentice of the manager of the Naganohara Fireworks Shop to learn how to make fireworks. Later, ordinary fireworks could not satisfy Tsubasa, so I began to teach myself how to make bombs to create the most gorgeous and loudest 'fireworks'."

"Unexpectedly, researching and manufacturing bombs later became one of my few hobbies."

Seeing that Miyamoto Jiro was deep in thought, Xiao Yi didn't want to disturb him and followed his gaze to look up at the sky.

After a long silence, Xiao Yi couldn't help but ask, "It seems you two had a good relationship. That child was your childhood sweetheart's younger brother, and you were like father and son as well as brothers. So why did you separate later?"

Miyajiro finally snapped out of his reverie: "Excuse me, what did you just say?"

Xiao Yi rubbed his forehead: "So, what happened next?"

Miyamoto Jiro continued his sermon:

“As my child grew up, I discovered that he had a bad habit of using knives and swords to dismember animals. At first, his victims were insects, which I didn’t pay attention to. But soon the victims became the corpses of birds, to the point that he would climb trees to catch live birds… I started to pay attention and intervene.”

“In my opinion, killing animals for pleasure without the purpose of defense or consumption is not the right way. I gave Yi a stern verbal reprimand, and the little guy apologized with tears in his eyes, saying that he would never do it again. In the following years, Yi did behave much better.”

"It wasn't until I witnessed with my own eyes that Yi's victims turned into kittens and puppies that I realized the apology was hypocritical. The little guy had been hiding it from me all along, satisfying that despicable desire. And as he grew older, the size of the target of his desire kept increasing."

"But what can I do? Reasoning with me won't work, and beating me won't help either. I can only let nature take its course."

Deep in the alley, the two fell silent for a moment.

“I understand your helplessness, brother,” Xiao Yi commented. “You are not related by blood, but there is an invisible bond between you. You can’t just abandon him and let him fend for himself.”

Miyamoto Jiro also had a furrowed brow.

"That's right, besides, she's my childhood sweetheart and younger sister, how could I..."

"What?!" Xiao Yi was dumbfounded.

"Hmm?" Miyamoto Jiro understood the problem. He spread his hands and asked, "Xiao-kun, have you misunderstood a key point?"

Chapter 50 Goodbye, Brother Miyamoto Jiro

"Miyamoto Tsubasa... is a girl?!"

Xiao Yi was speechless, staring wide-eyed.

"Did I say it was a boy?" Miyamoto Jiro shrugged again. "Xiao Jun, you must remember this: never assume anything when you encounter something whose truth is unknown."

Xiao Yi thought to himself: Dear elder brother, you should say this to yourself. You're the one most likely to misunderstand!

Miyamoto Jiro recalled expressionlessly:

"But to be honest, she looks quite similar to you, with black hair and black eyes, only her features are softer and her skin is fairer and smoother..."

"Looks like me?" Xiao Yi couldn't help but retort, "How can that be good-looking?"

Miyamoto patted Xiao Yi on the shoulder: "Xiao-kun, what do you think of your face?"

"Nothing special," Xiao Yi replied without hesitation.

"Mr. Xiao, don't be modest. If the maximum score is ten, your appearance would be an eight. Find a chance to tidy yourself up and barely make it to a nine. In any case, you're much better than this slovenly old man like me."

Xiao Yi was already used to these polite words before he transmigrated. Whenever he visited relatives during the New Year, he would always be surrounded by a bunch of unfamiliar aunts and uncles who would start commenting on various aspects of his life.

One of the most frequent topics is appearance.

"Wow, this young man is really handsome!"

"You look very fortunate!"

"Do you have a girl you like? Your aunt can introduce you to Old Wang's daughter from the next village..."

In short, just listen to the polite words and that's it.

Xiao Yi has never easily believed other people's praise, but today his elder brother said the same thing, which made Xiao Yi, who thought he was just an ordinary person, begin to change his opinion.

Miyamoto Jiro continued, "Xiao-kun, don't you feel that the girls you meet get along with you particularly well? Although not everyone cares about looks, a good appearance can play a big role in social interactions."

Xiao Yi carefully reviewed the past.

Coral Palace Heart Sea: She didn't make things difficult for herself, and even gave herself a new job.

Kujo Sara: They started as enemies, then became allies, and finally subordinates.

General: A rigid puppet who relies on system rewards and strategies; no further comment.

Shadow: Upon discovering that the general had been hacked and had not taken any action against him, his trust level skyrocketed.

Yae no Miko: She let me touch her fox ears, she must like me...

It seems that what my older brother said makes some sense.

Taking advantage of the situation, Miyamoto Jiro said, "The standards for judging male appearance are higher than those for female appearance. Therefore, if you, who are an 8 out of 10 in appearance, were placed on the Wing Face, your features and facial angles would become more feminine. You would easily be a 9 out of 10, a perfectly handsome tomboy."

"Whether she's a man or a woman doesn't matter!" Xiao Yi steered the conversation back on track. "What happened to her later?"

Miyamoto Jiro frowned: "In order to change Tsubasa's bad habits, I consulted various ancient books and finally determined that her eccentricities were caused by a malevolent spirit. The malevolent spirit corrupted and affected the minds of teenagers, prompting them to do evil things against their will..."

“If the person being possessed does not act according to the whispers of the evil spirit, or tries to rebel against the evil spirit, that person’s body and mind will suffer endless torment.”

"Since then, I knew that Yi had no choice, so I stopped scolding her and let the little one do her bad deeds. At the same time, I took her on a trip to find an opportunity to break the evil spirit's pollution. But I searched through countless ancient books and tried every method, but it was still to no avail."

"Then war broke out, and our lives became even more difficult. Yi's bloodlust gradually increased, and he even took out his anger on roadside bandits, cutting them into pieces and throwing the pieces into the sea while standing on the edge of a cliff."

“She often showed symptoms of pain. I understood that the little one was helpless and that it was all the sins caused by the evil spirits. There was no reason to blame her. Until one day, Yi went out and did not return. I went to look for her and passed through four villages that had been massacred.”

"The villagers were all dead, their bodies torn apart, and the village was engulfed in flames, just like my hometown twenty years ago. I found Yi in the fourth village. She was writhing on the ground in agony, crying and saying that she didn't want to do these things."

“I didn’t believe in the shrine maidens at first, thinking they were charlatans who swindled money from fools to make a living. But since Tsubasa is already in this state, the shrine maiden is my last hope. I forged a false identity and risked everything to bring Tsubasa to Narukami Island.”

"At Narukami Shrine, I was received by a flirtatious fox-eared shrine maiden. She tried to use magic to dispel the pollution in Tsubasa's body. When the ritual ended, the fox shrine maiden's expression suddenly became serious. She asked Tsubasa to wait outside the shrine, wanting to talk to me alone."

Miyajiro paused again, his brow furrowing into a knot as he anxiously stroked his stubble.

"Because the situation is very serious?" Xiao Yi asked in surprise, "It actually made Yae serious!"