Genshin Impact: I Am a Slime

The Traveler and Paimon followed Nadia into the grand auction hall.

Several glazed palace lanterns hung from the crystal dome, illuminating the entire venue as bright as day.

A circular exhibition stand is suspended on a floating stone base, and seven rock element prints flow and shine between the jade floor tiles, which corresponds to the number of Liyue's seven stars.

Thirty-six columns made of mother-of-pearl screens are arranged in sequence, each inlaid with old stones mined from the abyss of rock, creating an ancient Liyue painting of "Bright Moon over Sea and Mountains" in the faint blue light.

Behind the auctioneer stood a ten-foot-high hanging fragrant wood treasure pavilion, the drawers of which were covered with brocade dyed with colorful flowers.

At this moment, the red silk was being lifted up by the Qianyan Army's spears, revealing a secret-colored porcelain with a lotus pattern fired in the ancient kiln of Liyue. The luster flowing on the glaze was three times clearer than the fragments scattered after the collapse of the Qun Yu Pavilion.

Behind the pearl curtain in the private room on the second floor, the bidding cards raised by wealthy businessmen from various countries showed that the wing powder of Shamu and Leiying were resonating with faint purple electric light.

As the traveler's leather boots stepped onto the steps, he heard the clear cry of a mechanical bird overhead.

Three wooden kites painted in vermilion and gold were flying around the beams with auction catalogues in their beaks. The ink words scattered between their wings turned into gold foil the moment they touched the ground and were gently swept into the incense burner by the waiter's fly whisk.

The traveler couldn't help looking around and felt that the scenery here was even more shocking than what he saw in the Golden House.

After all, the auction at Yinyuan Hall was only held in a hurry, and it was a secret meeting. The fact that it could be held on such a scale was a result of Ning Lan's far-reaching connections.

This auction was hosted by Feiyun Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest chambers of commerce in Liyue, with the venue coordinated by Qixing and the General Affairs Department, and perhaps with Pantalone's instructions. It was naturally very different from Ning Lan's secret meeting.

Nadia did not laugh at the Traveler and Paimon for being ignorant.

In fact, when she first arrived here, she was also shocked by the scene. If Miss Irina, the secretary of Lord Pantalone, had not disappeared for no reason, and the lobby of the Northland Bank had not been burned down, it would not have been her turn as a night guard to serve as a temporary secretary.

Looking at Paimon and the Traveler who were constantly exclaiming and moving in incredible coordination, Nadia's eyes sparkled with envy, then she sighed and lowered her eyelids, silently leading the two of them up the wooden stairs to the elegant room on the top floor.

She never regretted following the "Young Master" across the ocean to Liyue.

Liyue is a great place. Nadia had this feeling when she first arrived at the port.

There is no endless snow and wind in the winter country here. The golden sun seems to be hanging forever in the transparent sky like glass. The occasional drizzle seems to be soaked in osmanthus honey, gently flowing over the eaves and corners.

Even the laughter and noise drifting from the streets are wrapped in the warm smell of fireworks like cooking smoke.

But Nadia is also lonely. When she takes off her mask, she is just an ordinary winter girl, cold on the outside but warm on the inside. People around her are also happy to include her in the local circle.

But the sunlight of Liyue could never shine through the mask of the Fatui. Whenever the dusk dyed the window frames red, she would always purse her lips, tighten the pale mask, and let the metal buckle leave a slightly cool touch behind her ears.

At first, the neighbors warmly invited her to taste the freshly pickled crispy bamboo shoots. But when they realized that the girl would turn into a Fatui soldier every evening, the sweet cakes in the celadon bowls were never handed to her leather-gloved hands again.

Over time, Nadia did not make a single friend in this gentle country, and the Liyue people of the same age always turned a blind eye to her, which might be the greatest tolerance the locals could show her.

It’s nothing. The winter warriors have already sacrificed their flesh and blood to the Ice Queen. What’s the point of loneliness?

Nadia wanted to pretend that she didn't care about this, but the loneliness was indeed unbearable.

It is not as sharp as pain or sadness, but it slowly carves out an empty hole between the heart chambers.

So every day in Liyue became a torment for Nadia. She had never missed her hometown so far away in winter. Even her past quarrels with her parents became lively again.

Nadia thought that this bone-chilling loneliness would follow her until she returned to the frozen soil of her hometown several or even decades later. But life always brews a turnaround in the dullness. That morning, the first ray of sunlight on the sea passed through the street and poured into the corridor, and Nadia was writing the last stroke of the letter home.

She stood at the door of the Northland Bank, looked down at the increasingly bustling street, put away the letter and pen, turned around to greet Catherine, and ended her night work.

The job was not onerous, just guarding the Northland Bank through the long nights.

The curfew in Liyue Harbor has always been strict, and few reckless people dare to act rashly here, so most of the time Nadia spends the whole night in loneliness and boredom.

Perhaps the comfort in a foreign country made her almost forget the coldness and decisiveness of her hometown. In any case, when she returned to the staff lounge, she found that the letter she wrote to her brother was left behind.

But Natia had no idea where she had lost it, so she returned to her room feeling a little disappointed and prepared to write another one.

"Where did it go?"

Nadia muttered as she spread out new paper.

As the day passed, the moonlight filtered through the jade-like mist and formed an amber halo with the lights along the street.

Nadia walked through the corridor and returned to her work station as usual, but she found something strange under the carved columns on the second floor.

A wooden lunch box was pressed under a brown paper envelope, which looked exactly like the letters I sent to the Snow Country every month.

Nadia's eyelashes trembled slightly under her mask. She bent over and picked up the letter as if she was picking up a fallen leaf soaked in dew.

“To my colleagues who wrote to me:

"Please allow me to thank you for your letter. Although I have met many people in Liyue, I can always feel that there is a clear gap between me and the locals. I am not in their circle."

"I feel exhausted from interacting with them, and I have completely lost interest in them... Maybe this is the "cultural difference". Fortunately, your letter made me realize that I am not the only one facing these problems. I am writing this reply letter in the morning light now."

"Liyue has beautiful scenery, a port that never freezes, and bustling merchants, but this does not stop me from missing the snow and charcoal fires of my hometown day after day. Even the howling north wind makes me miss it all day. I think you must miss your hometown as much as I do."

"Is there any difference between guarding at night and guarding during the day? It's always noisy during the day. The hawking of the stalls and the storytelling of the tea master next to me always give me a headache. I often wonder if it will be quieter at night..."

Nadia's lips curled up unconsciously, and her fingertips stroked the signature at the end of the letter.

"Vlad."

She rolled the name lightly twice between her lips and teeth, and suddenly smiled so hard that the corners of her eyes curved.

Although the pronunciation of this name is different from that of Nadia's brother, the way it is written in the Winter text is extremely similar. It is no wonder that he regarded Nadia's letter home as a letter written to him.

Nadia laughed even more happily. She just called him brother a few more times in the letter. Did the other party really treat her as a sister?

The girl decided not to expose the misunderstanding, and asked Ekaterina for a piece of cedar wood letter paper. She opened the food box, ate the Liyue pastries that she had received, and gently wrote her reply.

“To Brother Vlad:

"Didn't I leave you my name? Why do you still call me a colleague? The moonlight is bright tonight, but the Immortal Ceremony is coming soon. The curfew of the Seven Stars of Liyue has been lifted recently, and the streets are not as quiet as you think..."

Nadia wrote her reply with a mischievous smile, folded the letter into the same sharp angle as the other party, then left her post when no one was paying attention, ran to the vendor downstairs to buy some snacks that were set out in the evening, and put them back into the lunch box to press them down.

The moon outside the window was still hanging above the treetops, but Nadia was already looking forward to tomorrow's reply. (End of this chapter)