Outside the little wooden hut, Xia Ci lowered the [Ultra-Zoom Telescope], a strange look on his face.
Xia Zhen stood beside him, curious. "Why that expression? What did Cousin and Qiqi go out there for?"
"Well, he and she… it's hard to explain…"
"Huh?"
"You know I can read lips, right?"
"How would I know that? But then again, you're the God of Wisdom—nothing surprises anymore."
"Well, I just lip-read Qiqi. She kept calling him… Cousin… Master…"
"…Huh?"
Xia Zhen fell silent.
"Master?"
"Yeah."
"That's just like Xiangling."
"Not really. Xiangling went through a proper ceremony—tea and all. Qiqi didn't do any of that. Cousin just patted her head."
"So… an improper apprenticeship?"
"Not exactly. There's an old saying from our hotown: 'An immortal who strokes my head, grants the path to eternal life.' This is basically that."
"They say that in Suru?"
Xia Ci looked at his best friend like she'd lost her mind.
"Suru? No. I ant our real hotown. From the other world."
"..."
Xia Zhen rolled her eyes.
Just then, Xia Zhi and Qiqi returned.
"What are you two doing standing out here?"
"Waiting for you."
"Yeah. It's getting late, and you wandered off. We were worried."
"Is that so…"
Xia Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly, suspicion creeping in.
"You two weren't using Yaoyao's telescope to spy on and Qiqi, were you?"
"Of course not!"
"Cousin, how could you accuse us like that!"
"Well then, stay right there. I'll go ask Yaoyao where the telescope is."
"Wait!"
"What?"
"It… it's with us."
"You dare say you weren't spying!"
"Okay okay, listen—this may sound hard to believe, but we were actually stargazing."
"Really…"
"Yep yep!"
"So, did you see anything?"
"Sothing terrifying."
"?"
Xia Ci's expression suddenly turned grim.
"Cousin."
"What now?"
"What I'm about to tell you—don't freak out."
"Go on, I'm listening."
Xia Ci leaned in and whispered, "The stars over Teyvat… are fake."
?
Xia Zhi froze.
"Fake?"
"Mhm."
He thought for a mont.
"So everyone's fate… is already predetermined?"
"You're quick on the uptake."
"Celestia's really that powerful?"
"Well… ehehe…"
"Alright, I get it. I won't ask further. Doesn't matter anyway—there's no place for in the stars. Just don't spy on again, or I'll tell Yaoyao not to lend it to you."
"Aw, fine…"
—
Back inside the wooden hut.
The others looked at Qiqi with curiosity.
"Qiqi, what did you and the Boss go do?"
"Why does it feel like Qiqi's… different now?"
"Yeah! I feel it too!"
"Her expressions seem more animated?"
Xia Zhi cleared his throat. "I took Qiqi outside to ask if she'd like to study dicine with ."
"dicine?"
"You all know I dabble in healing arts. I've been teaching Qiqi to identify herbs and noticed she has a real talent for it. She even did well with the hand cream assignnt I gave. So, I've decided to take her as a disciple."
"Disciple?!"
Qiqi blushed—a rare, shy look blooming on her face.
"Huh?"
Xia Zhi turned to a stunned Xiangling. "Xiangling."
"Master?"
"You're the senior disciple. Take care of your junior sister from now on."
"Oh! Okay!"
The other girls exchanged glances at the bashful Qiqi.
Ying'er, for instance.
Like Qiqi, she'd been learning about fragrance from Xia Zhi and had also done well on the hand cream assignnt.
But now Qiqi had beco the Boss's disciple—and she hadn't.
A strange feeling tugged at her heart.
She'd never considered apprenticing under him before… but now...
Ying'er pursed her lips.
A Master, huh…
Even Diona looked a little weirded out.
Only Shenhe remained perfectly calm.
After all, the Boss had once been her disciple. She'd taught him how to draw Adepti Sigils long before this.
Night fell.
Xiangling took out the Serenitea Pot, and everyone headed inside to rest—finding the experience rather novel.
—
The next morning.
Xia Zhi made breakfast at the site again, the fragrance wafting through the air.
Xia Zhen, anwhile, was already up on a high ledge, telescope in hand, gazing toward Inazuma.
This ti, beneath the Sacred Sakura at the Grand Narukami Shrine, she saw a woman in a shrine maiden's outfit—with fox ears.
"That's… that little fox from back then?"
Xia Zhen was stunned.
"She's grown so much… well, it has been five hundred years."
Seeing an old friend filled her heart with joy. Once the fox-eared maiden walked into the shrine and vanished from view, Xia Zhen put away the telescope, returned it to Yaoyao with a word of thanks, and went to find her best friend—only to discover Xia Ci wrestling with a massive rock.
"What are you doing?"
"Preparing for our future."
"Huh?"
"We're going traveling soon, right? I'm making us a vehicle."
"That's a chunk of Sunset Vermillionite, isn't it?"
"Yup. It's excess material from the school construction. I'm going to turn it into a hovercraft."
"Nice idea."
"Sure, there are roads, but the carriages here don't have rubber wheels or suspension. They're bumpy and uncomfortable."
"True."
"And when you pass scenic spots and want to stop and explore, you have to leave soone with the carriage—or risk treasure hoarders stealing it."
"Also true."
"But a hovercraft? Smooth and convenient. Go wherever we want, no boats needed to reach Inazuma."
"!"
"Co help already."
"Oh! What do we do?"
"First, we carry this rock back. I'll draw up a blueprint, and then leave the rest to Morax. He's the stone expert."
"You're not asking Cousin?"
"He works so hard cooking. We should be considerate."
"..."
They hauled the rock back together.
Xia Ci then handed her freshly drawn design to Morax.
Zhongli looked at it with a deadpan expression.
"This?"
"This."
"...Fine. Move aside."
He studied it for a few monts, sighed, and began reshaping the stone to her specs.
"Thanks!"
"It's nothing."
The base was done. Now they needed a power source.
Vayuda Turquoise Gemstone would do the trick.
This rare ore contained Anemo energy and was said to be blessed by the Anemo Archon.
Extrely rare.
Xia Ci pondered for a mont—then went to find Keqing.
---
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