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

Now he lives in a luxury suite, where he eats and drinks well, his personal safety is guaranteed, and he can even earn some extra money for the shogunate's treasury. He is enjoying himself to the fullest.

He thought that the Emperor would eventually rescue him through legitimate means, or at least help Liyue solve the case. However, a coconut sheep suddenly appeared out of nowhere, rampaging through the area, knocking down the guards and attempting to break him out of prison.

If I were to actually run away, it would be like trying to hide something obvious, and it would only do me harm, not good.

However, this is not something he can decide.

……

The forests surrounding Tianheng Mountain.

The surroundings were a white blur, with an abnormally high fog concentration, reducing visibility to no more than ten meters.

Gan Yu carried Xiao Yi and ran wildly through the woods, followed by bewildered travelers who were unaware of the truth.

Xiao Yi was shocked. He never expected that the petite and plump Ye Yang would be so strong and powerful. Was this the legendary "necessary exercise"?

"Wife... Miss Gan Yu, please let me go back!" Xiao Yi said helplessly, "If I run away, the crime will be confirmed, which will be bad for both you and Li Yue."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Gan Yu apologized while saying these shocking words, "You're dead if you go back, even if you don't want to, I have to do it!"

Xiao Yi was taken aback, not understanding what she was talking about, and asked in confusion, "What do you mean I'm doomed? Seven Stars wouldn't be so bastard as to kill me without even finding out the truth, would they?"

Gan Yu did not explain, but simply said, "Mr. Xiao Yi, please feel the mist in the forest."

Following Gan Yu's suggestion, Xiao Yi closed his eyes to examine the elemental forces nearby and discovered that the fog contained faint traces of lightning, fire, and ice elements, which coexisted harmoniously without any reaction. Furthermore, the fog itself was water element.

"What happened?" Xiao Yi raised an eyebrow and said in shock, "This forest..."

"Not only the forest, but two hours after the collapse of the Jade Pavilion, the fog, of unknown origin, spread for thousands of miles and enveloped the entire Liyue." Gan Yu explained solemnly, "From ancient times to the present, only beings at the level of demon gods could achieve this."

Xiao Yi pondered for a moment and questioned, "Does this mean that the person who destroyed the Jade Pavilion and the person who created the dense fog might be the same person who can control the four elements of fire, thunder, ice, and water? If that's the case, my suspicion should be reduced, so you shouldn't have tried to break me out of prison."

"Whether it's destroying the Jade Pavilion to frame you, or creating a thick fog to cover Liyue, the mastermind's actions are all based on one thing—creating chaos." Gan Yu, exhausted, began to breathe heavily as she spoke. "Mr. Xiao Yi, you are a smart man. Based on this, what do you think is the most likely event to cause chaos right now?"

Following Gan Yu's thoughts, Xiao Yi fell silent.

Narukami died in prison!

“The mastermind will make their move sooner or later. That guy is probably very aware of the movements of the Liyue leadership, and therefore knows that your power device was stolen,” Gan Yu analyzed methodically. “Perhaps one night, that guy will sneak into the prison and take advantage of your weakest moment…”

Her prison break was not only to rescue Xiao Yi, but also to save the soldiers guarding him.

Xiao Yi bit his lip.

Indeed, assuming there is a mastermind behind this, even though their purpose is unclear, from the fall from the Jade Pavilion, deliberately guiding elemental power to frame Narutoko, to the current dense fog, it all seems to be aimed at driving Li Harbor into a chaotic depth.

Then Gan Yu is right. The only next step I can think of is to kill Narutoko.

A formidable adversary lurks in the shadows. It is certain that they are enemies of Liyue Harbor, but it is uncertain whether they are truly hostile or merely using him as a tool.

That guy is incredibly powerful, able to freely manipulate the four elements and cover the vast land of Liyue; that guy is meticulous and acts mad, killing Ningguang of Tianquan and framing the adopted son who came for the marriage alliance; most importantly, there is absolutely no clue about his identity!

Xiao Yi couldn't understand why he always seemed to run into genius madmen.

In short, given the current situation, staying in prison is indeed tantamount to waiting to die.

If last night Xiao Yi was only in the center of a vortex called "chaos," now he has sunk to the bottom and has no way to escape.

The big one is coming!

“I understand, Miss Gan Yu, I choose to go with you.” This was the only path left for Xiao Yi. “So please put me down, it must be tiring for you to carry me.”

Gan Yu stopped and placed Xiao Yi on the ground.

"What should we do now?" Xiao Yi asked.

“Keep moving forward,” Gan Yu replied.

Since Ying had come here, she followed suit.

As you walk a few steps forward, the thick fog gradually thins and eventually dissipates. The nearby trees are different from those outside; their leaves are all snowflake-white, making them exceptionally beautiful at first glance.

Before them lay a breathtaking view they had never seen before. Ying revealed her adventurous nature, the blonde girl and Paimon looking at this and touching that, while searching for treasure chests around them.

“This is where the Yakshas used to gather. It’s protected by magic and can shield us from the outside world,” Gan Yu explained. “We can use this place as a shelter.”

Xiao Yi nodded seriously in agreement, then suddenly remembered what was happening with Inazuma.

(Xiao Yi: Miss Ying, something's not right in Liyue right now. Please don't send investigators over. The nature of this incident is extraordinary...)

(Shadow: Is that so? It's too late.)

(Xiao Yi: Tsk, why have you become so impatient? The envoy from Liyue hasn't even arrived yet, and you've already sent the investigators?)

I wonder who they sent? Kujo Sara? A ninja from the final episode? Goro, the outside helper from Sangokiya? The most likely candidate is the great detective Kanoin Heizo.

However, the current situation is far beyond the capabilities of a detective to resolve.

(Image: Myself.)

(Xiao Yi: ...)

(Xiao Yi: Say it again.)

(Shadow: Me, Lei Movie, Mikage Naruto, the Noble Eternity...)

(Xiao Yi: Your name is too long to remember! And what will happen to Inazuma and the shogunate after you leave? Things will get chaotic!)

(Video: Inazuma Castle is already chaotic enough. Arataki Ichito got a rumor from somewhere that you were killed by Liyue. The crowd is very excited and who knows what they might do—by the way, the person who spread the rumor has been imprisoned by Sara.)

(Xiao Yi: Oh, this!)

(Shadow: So I must go to Liyue in person to demand an explanation and appease the angry people.)

(Xiao Yi: I guess that's not the main reason.)

(Shadow: emmmmm...)

(Xiao Yi: emmmm my foot!)

(Shadow: It's all your fault.)

(Xiao Yi: ???)

(Video: Last night, two guys rode Dongfeng Dragons to Inazuma City for sightseeing.)

Xiao Yi patted his forehead helplessly. It turned out that an old friend had come to visit. The socially awkward girl got nervous and seized the opportunity to escape Inazuma and run to Liyue overnight.

Liyue is already chaotic enough; if this powerful deity were to arrive, it would truly become a complete mess.

"Mr. Xiao Yi, what's wrong?" Gan Yu asked with concern.

"Hey, hey, hey, are you alright?" Paimon waved in front of him.

The traveler also tilted his head to observe Xiao Yi.

Xiao Yi snapped out of his daze, summarized the clues he had just obtained into a single sentence, and told it to his companions.

"Don't sleep tonight, the big one is coming."

Chapter 108 Ying: So I Was the Tool All Along

Gan Yu led Xiao Yi and Ying into the depths of a forest filled with white leaves, and they arrived at a temple.

The temple has a very simple structure, with a main entrance in the middle, symmetrical windows on the left and right sides, and a flagpole standing behind it. Xiao Yi thought it looked familiar at first glance.

Although the building style looks simple and rustic, and the size is just so-so, it is still spacious enough for three people to live in.

"We'll have to stay here temporarily until this is over," Gan Yu explained to her companions.

Ying suddenly realized something was wrong.

Narutoshi is now suspected of sabotaging the Kunyu Pavilion and is also in danger of being hunted down by the mastermind behind it all, while Gan Yu is also accused of breaking him out of prison...

As for himself, he had only mistakenly entered the prison on the way to Xiao Yi's imprisonment, and then, in a moment of madness, he ran away with the arrested people and the prison breakers, which was equivalent to becoming their accomplice.

Although the Traveler Girl is helpful and takes on many chores in various places, she doesn't necessarily have to be wanted even if she wants to help Liyue through this crisis.

Should we temporarily sever ties with them and handle the crisis in our own way?

Gan Yu seemed to sense Ying's thoughts, looked directly at the traveler girl with her big eyes, and said sincerely, "This is a problem between Mr. Xiao Yi and me, it has nothing to do with you, traveler. If you are worried about being implicated, then leave. I'm fine."

It didn't sound like there was anything wrong with it, but combined with Gan Yu's pitiful and innocent expression, like a coconut sheep abandoned by its owner, Ying really couldn't bring herself to abandon it.

There's no other way but to join them...

The traveler girl ran her hands into her blonde hair and scratched it slightly, resignedly accepting the fact that she had become a tool.

The blonde girl was overwhelmed with mixed feelings, feeling that her current situation was very strange.

The Traveler and Shadow are friends, and Xiao Yi is the adopted son of a friend; the Traveler and Gan Yu are friends, and Xiao Yi is Gan Yu's fiancé—in short, "the story of how the three of us—Friend A, Friend B's adopted son, and I—saved Liyue together."

If you can properly arrange the relationships between the characters, you could write a whole light novel.

But who am I? Just a plot device?

In short, setting aside these complex logics, the triangle is stable. However, if two of the three people have an ambiguous relationship, then the mathematical principle fails.

Fortunately, Gan Yu and Xiao Yi were not very familiar with each other, so the traveler in the middle was not too embarrassed and could interact with them normally without any worries.

Unexpectedly, she suddenly noticed that Gan Yu had been secretly glancing at Xiao Yi, occasionally leaning closer to sniff him, and then her expression relaxed.

Ying blinked, her expression conflicted.

In reality, what drew Gan Yu closer to Xiao Yi was nothing more than her pure appetite. Such a large amount of activity in a short period of time had caused the Qilin girl to feel hungry, and coincidentally, Xiao Yi had taken a bath with Qingxin flowers the night before...

This is probably what they mean by "smelling flowers to stop hunger."

But for this reason, Gan Yu had a good first impression of Xiao Yi, after all, he smelled nice.

After confirming that everything was normal around the temple, Gan Yu pushed open the temple door and went inside, with Xiao Yi and the traveler following closely behind.

There are no incense sticks or idols inside the temple. It was originally just a place for the Yakshas to rest, and it was never intended to be used for sacrifices.

Besides, the temple, which looked like it had been abandoned for a long time, was surprisingly clean inside, spotless, as if it were protected by divine power.

Gan Yu pulled four clean futons from the corner of the room and invited Xiao Yi, Ying, and Paimon to sit down, preparing to systematically explain the strange things that happened to them after they were imprisoned.

She also prepared a prayer mat for herself and knelt upright in front of the two men, who were dressed in veils.

"First, there's the fog. It's unclear whether it has any information-gathering capabilities, but what is certain is that the fog is some kind of medium," Gan Yu said solemnly. "According to the General Affairs Department's investigation, many people started seeing numbers above their heads this morning, composed of various elements."

Numbers appeared above my head?!

Xiao Yi immediately thought of the system's functions, such as the trust value, which could be viewed on the main panel and also directly showed the number displayed above the lord's head.