What bad intentions could the original dragon have?

And now...

I feel safe just holding Ying, and feeling her warmth makes me want to hold her tighter.

Suddenly, Ying and Zhong Ling woke up at the same time. They looked at the little guy who was using the chair as a bed.

"Huh? Why are you looking at Paimon like that?" Paimon, who was suddenly stared at by two pairs of eyes, shrank back in fear.

"It's nothing." Zhong Ling let go of Ying, then grabbed Paimeng and held him in his arms.

"Hmm..." Paimon twisted his body in Zhong Ling's arms. Although the touch was a little different, Paimon didn't have any thoughts. He just felt that this kind of embrace was more comfortable. "Thank you for your hard work on my and my brother's plan."

Zhong Ling held Paimeng in her arms and turned her head slightly to look at Ying.

"Linglong, what are you going to do?" Paimeng asked in confusion.

"...Hehe, actually brother just feels a little tired, so he plans to retire like that little bastard Barbatos." Zhong Ling chose a more cheerful way of saying it.

"Hmm..." After hearing what Zhong Ling said, Paimeng understood what she meant. "I didn't expect that Mr. Zhongli, who looks so serious and steady, would be the same as the street singer."

"Yeah, that's right." Zhong Ling nodded. "I didn't expect... the 3,700-year 'contract' would end just like that."

The "contract" made with the [God of Contract] since the founding of Liyue will also end with the departure of the [God of Contract].

Having said that, she just didn't expect this 'contract' to end so suddenly.

Since the day she was born, she understood one thing: she was an existence as old as the mountains and the seas.

It is true that the age of 'Naga' is 4,700 years old, but the concept of 'Liyue Water' has existed for much longer than 4,700 years.

'The water of Liyue becomes Naga' should be such a concept.

The 'Water of Liyue' awakened its own will and transformed into its own form, and the individual that was formed was the 'Naga'.

However, under the operation of the law of nature, one day, the 'Naga' will gradually lose its will due to its own 'wear and tear', and eventually become the original 'Liyue Water'.

"Wear and tear" is the shackles imposed on all things by the laws of nature.

It’s just that the wear and tear experienced by a long-lived being like Zhong Ling is different from that experienced by a short-lived being.

But in the final analysis, it is the same end result.

The rock that cannot be broken by the raging waves will also be worn away by the erosion of time.

Even the [God of Contract] will be 'worn out', let alone the 'Contract'?

When she signed the 'contract', she knew that this 'contract' would end one day.

And now, that time has arrived.

"When we are free from these shackles, what should we do..." Zhong Ling said softly while hugging Paimeng.

"Marry me." Ying interrupted with a smile.

"..." Zhong Ling didn't say anything, but just smiled at Ying. "After two days of running around, Ying and Paimeng must be tired, right? Go to bed early, don't you have an appointment tomorrow?"

Zhong Ling already knew that they were going to prepare for the "Sending Immortal Ceremony" together with Zhongli.

Although Zhong Ling also felt that it was really funny that her brother was preparing a "Ceremony of Sending Immortals" for her.

But on second thought...in fact, there should be two "Sending Off the Immortals Ceremony" that should be prepared.

Although Morax did not tell her clearly what to do next, Zhong Ling had some guesses.

All in all, 'Naga' is dead.

"Go to sleep!" Ying took Paimeng out of Zhong Ling's arms and put him on the chair.

That was Paimeng’s bed, and then Ying looked at Zhong Ling.

Zhong Ling instinctively felt something was wrong, but...

Ying's hands had already fallen on Zhong Ling's smooth and tender shoulders, and then she pushed hard.

Zhong Ling, who was caught off guard by Ying, naturally fell backwards and was pressed down on the bed by Ying.

"..." After a moment of silence, the dragon horns extending from Zhong Ling's hair slowly shrank and then disappeared.

The golden forehead ornament that was hung by the dragon horn also slipped down and disappeared before it landed on the bed.

The hair that was supported by the forehead ornament and dragon horns also spread out because it lost its fulcrum.

The disorderly scattered hair looks a little messy.

Zhong Ling and Ying looked at each other, pursed their lips slightly, as if they wanted to say something, but hesitated for a moment and finally did not say anything.

She just slightly turned her head away, letting her hair cover her face.

"Heh~" Ying yawned, then rolled off Zhong Ling's body and grabbed the quilt on one side. "I'm so sleepy, let's go to sleep."

Ying pulled the quilt and covered her and Zhong Ling directly.

Although it seemed to take a long time to push Zhong Ling down and cover her with the quilt, it was actually only a dozen seconds.

At the same time, he controlled the wind element to turn off the lights.

"Good night, little Paimeng." Ying greeted Paimeng.

"Oh~" Paimon responded, and his small body completely curled up in the specially made quilt.

The curtains had been drawn long ago, and without the moonlight and lamplight, the room was pitch black.

At some point, Ying's hand had quietly climbed up to Zhong Ling's cheek. She supported her head with one hand, and the fingertips of her left hand gently brushed Zhong Ling's cheek, landing on her slightly cool cherry lips and caressing them gently.

Zhong Ling looked at Ying beside her. With her strong night vision, Zhong Ling could still see Ying.

At this moment, Ying's bright amber eyes were also staring at her.

Star blue and amber eyes stare at each other...

She closed her eyes, raised her head slightly, gave the angle to Ying, and closed her eyes to feel Ying's increasingly approaching breath.

‘Zi’

The slight sound of "tsk tsk" was covered by the quilt and no one could hear it.

B.27 Undercurrent

"The Emperor was assassinated. Such a big event, but the Liyue Seven Stars didn't make a single move!" The huge white-blue crane's tone was filled with anger. "In my opinion, it would be better to suppress Liyue Harbor first and then investigate the truth behind the Emperor's assassination."

"No need to do that." Naga sat on the top of Tianheng Mountain. "There's no need to rush this matter."

"Naga, this doesn't sound like something you would say." [True Lord Liuyunjiefeng] walked to Naga's side.

Looking towards Liyue Harbor from the top of Tianheng Mountain, you can have a panoramic view of the entire Liyue Harbor.

"Does Liuyun think I am the kind of person who would indiscriminately raise a huge wave and sweep away all of his people?" Naga turned her head and looked at [Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun]. "Although I believe in the power of ordinary people and have witnessed their development, I also understand the limits of human power."

Once upon a time, when Liyue Harbor was just emerging and common people began to build trade routes on the sea, she would often help seafarers drive away sea beasts and protect their safety.

But gradually, all the giant beasts that were beyond human control were killed by her.

But after all the giant beasts were killed, there were still many ferocious beasts in the sea. When she was about to kill these beasts, she suddenly discovered.

These seafarers who had been protected by her for hundreds of years were no longer powerless to fight back when facing the ferocious beasts in the sea.

After witnessing the power of ordinary people, the Naga gradually restrained their protection and let the ordinary people face the attacks of some weaker beasts.

Slowly, she gradually let go.

The moment she truly let go, ordinary people already had the ability to go out to sea on their own, and the ferocious beasts in the sea were no longer monsters beyond human control.

But even so, there are times when things are beyond one’s ability.

Just like this moment.

If the Naga really wanted to suppress Liyue Harbor, ordinary people would not be able to compete with them even if they tried their best.

"My brother's assassination has nothing to do with our people." Naga's tone was very certain.

Not to mention that her brother was not dead, he also took her lover to prepare for the "Sending Immortal Ceremony" for [Emperor Rock King].

Even if Morax was really assassinated, it has nothing to do with the common people of Liyue Harbor.

Because the common people nowadays definitely don't have the power to assassinate Morax.

“But [Yuan Jun] and [Liyue Seven Stars] actually dared to hide [Emperor]’s ‘Immortal Ancestor’s Metamorphosis’. This act is difficult for me to agree with.” Another black-brown and amber divine crane stepped forward and said.

This morning, True Lord Liuyunjiefeng, True Lord Lishuidieshan, and True Lord Xueyuezhuyang quietly transformed into human form and sneaked into Liyue Harbor. Afterwards, they learned that the Immortal Ancestor's Metamorphosis was hidden by the Liyue Seven Stars, or in other words, the Liyue Seven Stars did not allow anyone to see it.

If it weren't for [Ge Chen Lang Shi Zhenjun] who lived in Liyue Harbor all year round who persuaded the three of them to stop in time, perhaps the immortals and mortals would have already started fighting at this moment.

"This doesn't mean anything." Naga pressed her hand, signaling [Lishui Dieshan Zhenjun] to calm down. "The immortals and mortals are very different. The thoughts and ideas of mortals are also very different from those of us immortals."

Most of the immortals follow the rules and act according to the "contract". In addition, the immortals are far away from the hustle and bustle of the world, and their thoughts mostly remain in ancient times. They know almost nothing about Liyue today.

"At present, someone has started to organize the 'Send Immortal Ceremony'. The 'Send Immortal Ceremony' will still be held as scheduled four days later. We can just wait for the response from the [Liyue Seven Stars]."

"When the time comes, whether it's the matter of hiding the 'Immortal Ancestor's Transmutation', framing the mortals who watched the ceremony, or all the other matters, there will be an explanation."

"But..." [True Lord Liuyun Jiefeng] was about to say something, but was stopped by [True Lord Xueyue Zhuyang].

"Yuan Jun has his own considerations, we can just wait."

“Hmph…I will take my leave for now.” True Lord Liuyunjiefeng snorted heavily, spread his wings and left.

"Goodbye." A dark green light flashed by, and the Demon-Subduing Great Sage, who had been silent since the beginning and could be said to have no sense of existence, disappeared in an instant.

Afterwards, [True Lord Xue Yue Zhu Yang] and [True Lord Li Shui Die Shan] also withdrew one after another.

However, when all the immortals gathered to discuss matters, there was no peace in the territory of Liyue.

Some people are quietly making some yellow talisman paper, and some people are quietly wandering around the "Guyun Pavilion".

The death of [Emperor Rock King] was just a fuse.

And then, this fuse will soon be lit, and then it will set off a wave that is enough to subvert Liyue.

----

"Mr. Zhongli, what does the 'Ceremony of Sending the Immortals' require?" Ying asked as she followed the man who was as steady as a rock.

"What we have to do is to prepare the items needed for the ceremony. The first step is to obtain the finest 'Night Mooring Stone' that is worthy of the status of a god." Zhongli's steps were steady, neither fast nor slow, and the distance between each step was exactly the same.

Just watching him walk is a pleasure.

"The finest 'Night Stone'... sounds very expensive..." Ying frowned.

In Ying's impression, jade and diamonds are completely different.

Diamonds are essentially worthless, but jade is different. Jade is difficult to depreciate, and "Night Stone" itself is a relatively rare mineral.

The price of the top-grade 'Night Stone', worthy of a god, was hard for Ying to imagine.

"Traveler, Mr. Zhongli is the one." Paimon gave Ying a thumbs up.

"Yeah, that's right." Ying nodded.

The currency 'Mora' circulating on the continent of Teyvat originated from the person in front of us.

With him by my side, I don't have to worry about having no money.

"Now that the Rock King has passed away, it will be difficult to produce Mora before the new Rock God is born." Zhongli laughed softly after noticing Ying's thoughts. "Therefore, we won't have Mora 'born out of thin air' in our hands."

"Ah, this..." Ying's eyes widened. "How much...how much does it cost..."

She was very poor. When she was in Mondstadt, she often took on commissions from the Adventurer's Guild. In addition, her daily expenses were paid by Zhong Ling, so she had accumulated a lot of Mora.

But the best quality 'Night Stone' is a super luxury item no matter how you think about it. Can you really afford it?

"Oh? Do you want to pay for them?" Zhongli asked, turning sideways. "That's fine. Although the 'Send Immortal Ceremony' is funded by the Fatui, there are bound to be unexpected situations."

"If you pay for it, you can avoid the problem of insufficient funds. Once the matter is ready, you can also ask [Young Master] to reimburse you."

"So that's how it is." Ying nodded. 'As expected of the source of all Mora, she has a plan for the use of funds, unlike Linglong, that spendthrift woman.'

"Let's go. We have a lot of things to prepare for the 'Send the Immortal Ceremony', so it's better not to waste time."

"Uh-huh."

B.28 I want them all

"Welcome to Jie Cui Hang." Seeing Zhong Li like this, the owner of Jie Cui Hang, who was named Shi Tou, came forward to greet him. "Sir, would you like to try your luck with a piece of 'unpolished stone'?"

"It's cheap and fun, and maybe you'll get rich before you know it."