Reading poems from Teyvat

But Shen Zhigui's heartbeat had not yet calmed down, and he could even vaguely sense the heat in his blood vessels and the emotions lingering in his body. The air around him seemed to become slightly warmer, making him realize on this night that was clearly the turn of spring and summer that spring had already arrived on this land.

"Anyway, since she chooses to maintain the status quo, let's proceed as planned."

Shen Zhigui just said this in the night.

……

Not long after, Shen Zhigui met Tianquanxing Ningguang again in the Qun Yu Pavilion.

The difference from the last time was that this time it was Shen Zhigui who took the initiative to meet her.

"Young Master Shen took the initiative to come to see me. Have you figured out how to use that command?"

Shen Zhigui just nodded and said straight to the point: "I want to go to Inazuma, you should have some connections here, right?"

When Ningguang saw Shen Zhigui, she had a confident attitude towards victory, but when she heard Shen Zhigui's words, she suddenly said with a bit of boredom: "Young Master Shen, do you look down on me like this?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because for something like this, you only need to spend a little more time at the dock of Liyue Harbor to accomplish it, or even go directly to Yuhengxing to help you solve it, but you chose to use that order to ask me to help you. Aren't you looking down on me?"

"Wouldn't it be good for Lord Ningguang to be relieved of a worry?" Shen Zhigui just said casually, "Or do you think that I would really be embarrassed by this matter and keep hesitating, so that you can test my thoughts? Of course, I think there is nothing that cannot be said to others, and what I think is actually not that important."

When Ningguang heard him say that, her original intention to pretend to let Shen Zhigui keep the order was shaken. She carefully looked at the boy's current demeanor, thought for a moment, and asked, "What happened between you and Yuhengxing recently?"

"Why do you ask?"

"For you, if you really think that there is nothing you can't say to others, and that it doesn't matter if your thoughts are known to others, then it wouldn't be a big deal even if you retain the power to order me around, right? Anyway, since it doesn't matter to you, why not do it if you can maximize your benefits? But you have chosen to do this now."

Shen Zhigui thought for a moment and said, "Although something did happen between me and Lord Yuhengxing, it has nothing to do with the choice I made now. I just want to go to Inazuma as soon as possible."

"why?"

"what why?"

"Young Master Shen, why do you want to go to Inazuma as soon as possible?"

"Because I want to improve my martial arts skills as quickly as possible."

"Is there any connection between the two?"

Ningguang asked curiously.

Shen Zhigui had said before that he could tell anyone anything, so he was unusually frank now. He said, "You have seen my martial arts before, the martial arts that uses death energy to cause damage. This martial arts has a trick, which is to kill people, which can allow me to enter a higher martial arts realm faster. I am too lazy to distinguish who in Liyue has the way to die. I guess you don't want to see me abuse private punishment to affect the public power of Liyue. I heard that because of the war in Inazuma recently, many sea ghosts have been killing people everywhere, so I plan to help those poor Inazuma people."

Ningguang was silent for a moment after hearing what Shen Zhigui said, but she finally asked, "Does Keqing know about this news?"

Shen Zhigui shook his head.

"Did you hide it from her on purpose, or did you just keep it a secret by accident?"

"Half and half."

Shen Zhigui thought about it and said.

"So you didn't actually want her to know the news, but why did you keep it from me?"

Chapter 52: Affection is always annoyed by the heartless (Part 2)

"We all know that you care about Yuhengxing," Ningguang's red, crystal-clear eyes stared at the young man standing in front of her, and said, "But you don't want her to see the real you behind that face. Maybe you don't want Shen He to see the real you either, so you probably won't let him go to Inazuma with you. But why can you tell me these things without caring?"

"Because you have seen that martial art?"

Shen Zhigui just said it casually.

“That’s a reason,” Ningguang smiled, but quickly added, “But in the end, they will see your martial arts sooner or later, right? Of course, I don’t really care whether you really intend to kill the sea ghosts, or want to participate in the current civil strife in Inazuma, use the war as your nourishment, and grow in the sea of ​​blood and corpses. After all, if you really don’t want them to see the real you, then you probably won’t act rashly in Liyue—”

Although if he really wanted to act rashly, unless the immortals and the emperor took action, the Qianyan Army and the Seven Stars of Liyue would probably have to pay a heavy price to bring Shen Zhigui to justice.

From this perspective, Ningguang is not sure whether sending Shen Zhigui to Inazuma to speed up his growth is a good thing or a bad thing.

"Can't you improve your martial arts through practice step by step?"

Shen Zhigui nodded: "Okay."

"Then why..."

"Instead of torturing myself, I might as well torture others, what do you think?"

"Can't we use monsters like the Hilichurls that are rampant on the land of Liyue to improve ourselves?"

"No."

"why?"

"Because the Hilliards are related to the Abyss."

Shen Zhigui just said it briefly.

Ningguang seemed to be very interested in Shen Zhigui's martial arts theory. She was very dissatisfied with his overly brief response and continued to ask: "Why can't you make progress in martial arts by killing the hillbillies if they are related to the abyss? Isn't your martial arts purely about the transformation between life and death?"

"I don't want to make it too complicated, so you can understand it this way. When the Hillichuls became Hillichuls, they were already in a half-dead state. When I killed them, I just slightly pushed their state forward. It's not like when I killed humans, it's a complete state of life and death. It doesn't allow me to experience the true flow of vitality and death between life and death."

The amount of information in Shen Zhigui's words was really astonishing, especially the tone of his voice that treated the hill people and humans as commodities like chickens, ducks, cows and sheep was really too calm and bland. Although Ningguang, as a superior, had long been accustomed to this kind of thing, after all, at a certain point, she really could only treat the lives of the Qianyan Army as numbers to solve certain disasters and incidents, but at that time she still took the interests of another group of people as the basis for consideration. However, Shen Zhigui's look was really a bit of the kind of detached attitude of "Heaven and earth are not benevolent and treat all things as straw dogs, and saints are not benevolent and treat the people as ants", so Ningguang couldn't help but remain silent for a moment before saying:

"When you said that the Hilichurls became Hilichurls... you mean, they weren't Hilichurls in the first place?"

Shen Zhigui looked at Ningguang in surprise: "You are one of the Seven Stars of Liyue, you don't know this, do you?"

"You mean, I should know?"

Shen Zhigui thought about it, but still shook his head: "If someone is intentionally blocking this news, I can't say whether I should say it."

"Someone?"

Ningguang asked again.

Shen Zhigui just smiled.

Ningguang was silent for a moment.

She found that since Shen Zhigui chose to tell her about the martial arts and his thoughts, his behavior has become more and more arbitrary. Or, was it that this change actually happened on the night before? Was it that night after she left, when Shen Zhigui said to Gan Yu in Wanmin Hall, "Today I know who I am", that he turned himself into what he is now? So he used to think that he should abide by the principles of being a human being and should not use the death of his own kind as a nourishment for his own progress, but now he just wants to meet the needs of "me" as an individual?

Does he really have the strength to be so powerful that he can stand firm and remain unshakable despite the external turmoil?

Is his moral system really that complete?

Ningguang couldn't help but ask herself this question.

But in the end, she still didn't dare to take the gamble. Or rather, Shen Zhigui didn't show any signs of being truly vicious. Although going to Inazuma to kill people wasn't a good thing, he was still on his own path. There were even many rumors in Liyue Harbor because he lived in Keqing's house. And she couldn't find someone who could replace Shen Zhigui in a short time, so Ningguang decided to cut the Gordian knot. She looked at the boy with clear eyes and said:

"Since you have already used that command, I can naturally help you complete it unconditionally."

"So……"

"But I have a condition."

Shen Zhigui burst out laughing: "You said before that it was unconditional?"

Ningguang ignored his complaints and continued, "When you are active in Inazuma, it is best not to use your real appearance or real name. At least, when you are helping the Inazuma people get rid of harm, don't reveal your true identity."

"What real identity can I have?" Shen Zhigui thought that his identity as a bard was just self-congratulatory.

"Then can you tell me what happened between you and Yuhengxing?"

Ningguang immediately asked Shen Zhigui a question directly.

Shen Zhigui was choked for a moment, but finally nodded and said, "What you said does make sense. I will pay attention to it next time."

"It would be better if you change your identity when you go out to sea. Do you need my help?"

Ningguang asked.

"But then, wouldn't that go against the original intention of what I said to you?"

Shen Zhigui thought that if people found out that it was Liyue's Tianquan Star who helped him conceal his identity, what difference would that make it different from him revealing his real name and letting those people link him to Keqing in the future and think that he went to Inazuma because the Seven Stars of Liyue were behind it?

Although Shen Zhigui didn't think that Inazuma's current situation gave him much time to think about it.

It would be better to say that if he could really get along well with Lei Dianying, and the entire Inazuma affair would depend on her, then what he had done would be nothing more than a few words to Lei Dianying. However, the difficulty of this matter was too high. Even if Shen Zhigui really reached the realm of "Gu Xuan", it would probably be difficult to achieve.

Chapter 53: It is difficult to travel in this world (Part 1)

When Chongyun returned to Liyue Harbor, he had already learned of his itinerary—or rather, it was a deliberate prank—and Xingqiu had been waiting for him on the roadside for the past three days. Chongyun was very happy when he saw him for the first time, but he knew that Xingqiu would rather stay at home and read novels than waste time on such trivial matters, so he couldn't help but feel a little strange, or alert: "Why are you here?"

"Did you know you have an aunt?"

Xingqiu spoke to him straight to the point.

Apparently, the second son of Feiyun Chamber of Commerce also went to ask Chongyun's parents about the result of the recognition, and in the end, everyone was obviously happy.

Although someone seems to have grown older because of this result.

But Xingqiu was obviously not as conflicted as Shen Zhigui thought. He had even already started thinking about how to use the generation gap to tease the relatively honest Chongyun, so he waited for him on his way back today and told him directly.

"Aunt? You mean..."

Chongyun obviously thought of some family secrets, but he was reluctant to talk about the not-so-glorious past. Xingqiu, on the other hand, didn't understand what was going on at the moment, so he just nodded and said, "It's the lady named Shen He."

Of course Chongyun could only nod, and then asked: "You mentioned her at this time, could it be that she appeared?"

"She has already recognized her relatives with my uncle and aunt," Xingqiu said, pretending to be nonchalant. "I just happen to know where she will appear recently. Do you want to go with me to meet her?"

If it were someone with a sharper mind, he would have suspected Xingqiu of having ulterior motives a long time ago, but Chongyun was obviously an honest man without any scheming or schemes. He believed almost everything Xingqiu said. At the moment, he simply thought that Xingqiu was just eager to let him experience the joy of finding his relatives, so he didn't think much about it and nodded to agree to go with Xingqiu to meet his aunt.

But in the end, it was obviously the Church of All Peoples.

Chongyun and Xingqiu even ordered the dishes before they saw Shen He appear, so Xingqiu waved to the two people. Not long after, Chongyun saw the two people approaching. Chongyun carefully looked at the young woman for a moment, and finally asked tentatively, "Aunt?"

The woman looked at her adopted nephew for a long time, and finally looked at the young man standing next to her. The young man then said, "Are you the young Taoist priest Chongyun who has become famous recently?"

"I am Chongyun, who are you?"

"I am her junior fellow apprentice, Shen Zhigui."

Chongyun suddenly didn't know what to address him, so he turned to look at Xingqiu, but Xingqiu was obviously there to laugh at him. It would be more accurate to say that what he wanted to see was his dull reaction. How could he possibly offer to help at this time?

So he just picked up the book in his hand to cover his face.

"So... then, Young Master Shen?"

In the end, the honest man Chongyun obviously just chose a name that was neither too good nor too close to call Shen Zhigui.

Shen Zhigui obviously didn't care about these trivial matters of address. He just raised his eyebrows casually, dealt with Chongyun, and sat down with Shenhe.

Shen He originally didn't quite know how to deal with this cheap nephew, but it was probably because Chongyun's honest temperament was too obvious, and he was much younger than Shen He, and his attitude towards her as an aunt was almost open and honest, so Shen He was able to adapt to getting along with him under such circumstances. Then he quickly discovered the abnormality in Chongyun's diet structure and asked about it. Chongyun also told her about his pure yang body and the trouble that he had been unable to see demons and ghosts like a normal alchemist because of his pure yang body.

Shen He turned to look at Shen Zhigui.

Shen Zhigui was puzzled by her look, and after thinking for a while, he asked, "Do you want me to help solve Chongyun's physical problem?"

Shen He nodded.

Chongyun, who was sitting on the side, suddenly felt that something was not right: with this kind of tacit understanding that allows one to understand another's intentions without speaking, are they really just a simple relationship of senior and junior sisters?

But their age...

Chongyun exchanged glances with Xingqiu, but Xingqiu nodded heavily. Chongyun's eyes widened:

real or fake?

At this time, Shen Zhigui asked Chongyun to stretch out his hand. Chongyun obviously would not disobey the boy who might become his uncle in the future. He stretched out his hand as he said, and then saw Shen Zhigui put his hand on his wrist. Soon Chongyun felt a strange airflow flowing into his body from the intersection of the two hands. However, not long after, the elemental force in his body unconsciously wanted to expel the airflow, so Shen Zhigui quickly withdrew his hand and said, "At present, there is no good way."

Chongyun didn't have much hope in the first place, so he wasn't surprised to hear such words. He was just curious whether this boy of the same age as himself had that kind of relationship with his aunt. But it seemed that he didn't have the opportunity to ask that kind of question at the moment, so he could only suppress his inner thoughts temporarily. However, this emotional turmoil seemed to begin to affect his pure yang body, making his blood start to stir, so he took out another popsicle to calm himself.

Although Shen Zhigui always felt that there was something wrong with relying on eating popsicles to calm down.

Especially since the person who behaved like this was a thin and frail-looking teenager.

However, Shen Zhigui did not say much about this matter.

"As for the problem that he can't see evil spirits because of his pure Yang body, Shen He, you can take him to see the remains of the demon gods that you plan to clear out when you have time," Shen Zhigui simply said, "But I'm not sure if he can bear it, so you should pay attention to his safety and don't let him get too close."

"The remains of the demon god?"

The stories Chongyun had heard about the so-called powerful demons that could ignore his pure Yang body were mostly fabricated by Xingqiu to tease him. But when Shen Zhigui told him this story, Chongyun had a new respect for his future uncle-in-law. He looked at his aunt impatiently and even wanted to go there immediately. But at this moment, Shen He said, "What about you?"

"Didn't I say I was going on a long trip soon?"

In the end, Shen Zhigui restrained himself a little and did not directly mention the location of Inazuma.

"Then I'll take him with me when you come back."

Shen He said.