Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

When Lei Yingdian pushed open the fence gate that concealed the "Flower Garden" courtyard, all she saw was her sister, who hadn't slept all night, and Shen Liang, who was sleeping quietly in her arms like a child.

Raiden was half-submerged in the hot spring, leaning leisurely against a slope of the pool. His upper body was above water, while his lower body was in, ensuring that even while comfortably reclining, water wouldn't get into his nose or mouth.

Meanwhile, the clever, white-haired, red-eyed boy lay sprawled on Raiden's soft, warm belly, breathing evenly and fast asleep, his hands still wrapped around the woman's neck like a little wildcat clinging to her.

Both of them were half-submerged in the water, probably because it was still cool at night, but the water was warm.

Raiden Zhen pulled a bath towel over Shen Liang's upper body to keep warm, while also covering her own flawless, delicate body. She hadn't slept a wink all night. Unlike Shen Liang, who could drift off to sleep peacefully in his mother's arms, Raiden Zhen didn't want to fall asleep. Ying could tell at a glance that she had probably spent the entire night stroking the boy's white hair, admiring her beloved boy's adorable sleeping face as he relied on her.

Even a hot spring...

Lei looked at Shen Liang, who wouldn't let go even when he was sleeping, showing a rare display of childlike affection, and then at his sister who was hugging him and leaning against the pool wall. He felt a pang of sadness and shook his head, saying, "Water always causes hypothermia. No one can stay in the water all night. They'll all swell up like a floating corpse."

Raiden's beautiful eyes sparkled with a smile as she glanced at her sister, whose words weren't very pleasant. "But neither Liang'er nor I are human."

"Using physical strength to fight the environment is so boring," Lei Yingdian scoffed. "Going back to your room to sleep won't kill you."

"Sister, I've already become a god. If I still have to sleep properly in my room when it's cold, then what's the point of being a god?"

Ying chuckled and kicked Shen Liang's butt. The boy groggily opened his red eyes, his mind blank for a moment, probably because he hadn't gotten up from the bed.

"Heh, Liang'er, you're usually so perceptive. You can always sense when someone gets close to you, little demon. I've been here for so long and I've been talking for ages, and you still haven't heard me?" Lei Yingdian laughed. "You look like you haven't woken up yet."

He definitely wasn't fully awake.

Falling asleep in Raiden's arms, he was always completely unaware of his surroundings, his senses almost nonexistent, utterly absorbed in the warmth and bliss of sleeping in each other's arms. For a god whose senses were so sharp that he could easily detect a mosquito entering the yard, this was the best sleep he had ever had.

Everyone needs one or a few places where they can find complete peace and let go of everything. Raiden's soft and reliable body has been his favorite place to sleep since he was very young. Over the years, he hasn't grown any bigger and still weighs only as little as a cat when curled up in Shin's arms.

"Good morning." It took Shen Liang several seconds to realize the situation. Seeing her master's somewhat sad expression, she couldn't help but smile and deliberately moved a few centimeters closer.

Lei Dian lowered his head obediently, and Shen Liang looked up, proudly kissing the little guy's cheek. Lei Dianying witnessed this scene and was speechless. "Don't you mind the smell of your breath after just waking up?"

"What kind of smell could it have?" Shen Liang replied happily to Raiden Zhen, and leaned down to rub her face against Raiden Zhen's, saying without a care, "I have a secret method to ensure that my body is clean at all times."

“I don’t have any,” Raiden Shin chuckled.

"But Liang'er doesn't care anyway, right?" Raiden said gently. "As Liyue says, a dog doesn't despise its poor home, and a child doesn't despise its ugly mother. No matter what I become in the future, Liang'er will remember me, right?"

Shen Liang grinned mischievously, "I'll try my best."

"So Liang'er thinks I'm ugly?" Lei Dianzhen narrowed her beautiful eyes and gently placed her hand on Shen Liang's back.

Shen Liang felt her grab a handful of her hair. Clearly, this was a threat: dare to say the word "yes" and she'd rip her hair out.

Shen Liang could only quickly hug her and make a few more coquettish vows before helping Raiden Zhen, whose body was probably numb from being crushed, to stand up. With golden light flickering in his hands, he was about to inject healing power into Raiden Zhen to relieve the numbness.

But Lei Dianzhen grabbed Shen Liang's hand almost instantly and smiled, "No need, Mother is not so fragile that she needs to use her abilities to heal after just one night's sleep."

"I can now unleash this much power without any side effects, so it's okay," Shen Liang explained instinctively.

“No need.” Raiden shook his head firmly.

It was a minor matter, and Shen Liang didn't take it to heart. However, Lei Yingdian's gaze, which had been filled with smiles, froze at this moment, and his eyes turned slightly cold—which Shen Liang didn't notice.

After saying goodbye to Raiden Shin, Shen Liang tiptoed and tried to kiss Raiden Movie, who, feeling a bit resentful, also wanted a good morning kiss. Raiden Movie was clearly just teasing him, not even bothering to lower her head. Unable to do anything else, Shen Liang jumped up and gave her a playful slap. Because it was so comical, Mistelin immediately mocked him mercilessly. Shen Liang figured this would probably be one of those jokes he could use to tease himself at any party in the future.

He could only stay in Inazuma for one last day; he had to set off in the afternoon to annihilate the Kingdom of Kanria, a grand ceremony of revenge.

The Thor sisters remained in the hot spring courtyard. Zhen casually took off her already thin yukata and walked naked into the hot spring.

"Haven't you had enough soaking yet?" Lei Yingdian whispered.

"Together?" Raiden invited.

Ying sighed, casually loosened her belt, and her twelve-layered purple dress fell off like petals. She jumped into the pool and supported her frail sister from behind.

"Liang'er is a boy after all, and he'll still be shy about things like bathing. Actually, he didn't get anything done after bathing all night." Raiden's body smelled nice with cherry blossoms. Both sisters had the same scent. Shadow applied some floral essential oil to her sister's long, beautiful purple hair, creating a lot of foam.

"What did you guys do all night without showering?"

"We hugged each other, told stories, reminisced about the past, ate some snacks, and then Liang'er fell asleep like that." Raiden Shin touched his lips and smiled gently. "I was thinking of giving Liang'er a bath, but I thought better of it. Liang'er is a big kid now."

Lei rolled his eyes. "Come on."

But she still didn't speak, remaining silent for a long while before Raiden Shin finally spoke: "Kage, you seem to... have something you're holding back to say?"

The massage technique paused for a moment.

“Sister,” she whispered, “you’ve made up your mind to stop Liang’er, haven’t you?”

Chapter Twenty Liang'er, Your Mother is Dead

Shen Liang wanted to avenge the invasion of the entire Kanriya Kingdom. As the third deity of Daozhi, he had the right and the prestige to do so.

As long as the lightning doesn't stop him, Shen Liang could even rally the thousands of soldiers in Inazuma to become fanatical.

This is for the revenge of the victims. After the fall of the gates of Kanria, it is only natural that an army of vengeance should be formed. The calamity of the desolate sea has been eliminated, and Inazuma no longer has internal troubles, only the external threat of Kanria.

No matter how you look at it, Shen Liang will bring Inazuma enough results to make up for the losses of the thirty-year war.

The Kingdom of Kanria possesses national strength that is no less than that of the seven ruling nations, so it is only natural for them to retaliate in kind.

But Lei knew that his sister would not allow him to do that.

It's not because of any empty platitudes like "Ryo is too young to have blood on her hands," "Revenge is an endless cycle and Ryo shouldn't be involved in Inazuma's grudges," or "War is ultimately cruel, and every little bit we can distance ourselves from war between humans is a good thing."

Rather, Shen Liang shouldn't have been asked to do this task in the first place.

“Liang’er should not be a ruthless ruler who establishes a nation with blood, but rather a ruler who takes up our swords and leads a better era. As a ruler who maintains the status quo, he should not present himself with war and violence from the very beginning.” Lei Dianzhen said calmly, “We are enough to do this kind of thing.”

"Is this what you, sister, think is the most valuable approach?"

“Kanria would never willingly walk towards destruction. Rather than sending Liang’er into such a dangerous battlefield, it’s better for me to do it, after all…”

Lei was massaging her shoulders, and as he massaged, tears suddenly fell onto her back.

"Are you crying?" Zhen asked softly.

"No, it's rain, just warm rain."

The sky was clear, and Lei Dian Zhen closed his eyes. "Shadow, doing it this way is to optimize all the value. You may not be able to face the facts, but you must."

We must face it.

Lei, sensing the waning life force within his sister's body, gritted his teeth.

In fact, over the years, the battlefield Raiden Shin faced was far more terrifying than the battlefield of Inazuma Abandoned Sea. As one of the seven gods who suppressed the Kingdom of Kanria, Raiden Shin was the weakest of them all. She deceived her sister, leaving her behind in Inazuma, while she herself was annihilated in Kanria.

Suppressing Kanria requires confronting the power borrowed from the abyss by the entire Kanria, demonic beasts comparable to gods, and the Beast Realm, which even Sky Island cannot reach. Even the Seven Gods would have to exert their utmost efforts, and lightning is truly one of the few weak points among the Seven Gods; it cannot be killed, but it can be corrupted.

When she returned to Inazuma, her life was already on a countdown.

This is also why she refused to let Shen Liang use his healing power to examine her body. Once Shen Liang sensed her weakness, he would be angry not only for the sake of Huzhai Palace and the others.

Lei couldn't understand why she would do this. She wasn't good at fighting, she could have gone to Kanria to take over, and for someone as resourceful as her, going to Kanria to face Rhinedot, a mass-produced monster of the level of a demon god, would mean a slim chance of survival... But she still went.

So why go?

She didn't expect Lei Dianzhen to suddenly laugh.

"You should not have crossed the river, yet you did. You died while crossing the river, what can be done about it? Shadow, an absurd little poem from Liyue, why has it spanned five thousand years of Liyue?" Raiden stood up leisurely from the water, slowly scooping water, letting it flow down her smooth shoulders, looking at her bewildered sister with a charming smile.

“You want to persuade me, but you can’t. Shadow, you are very sad, but I tell you not to be sad.” Raiden recited a short poem of only sixteen characters. “This poem has sixteen characters. If you remove the repeated characters, there are only eleven characters left. It’s very simple, but you see, everyone likes it.”

Ying frowned deeply. She had always known that her vision wasn't as far as her sister's, and she could never understand what her sister saw. Like lightning, thunder and lightning truly marvel at their fleeting beauty; a single flash of lightning, brief yet breathtaking for millennia. But she didn't understand what breathtaking meant; she only cared about eternity, eternity in the shimmering rice paddies of the Inazuma sky.

But she knew what her sister was talking about. This little poem was loved by Fox Palace, loved by Miyukichiyo, loved by Reizenbo... and loved by everyone in Liyue.

Millions of people died singing this poem.

“He wanted to cross the river, but they tried to persuade him. He tried, but failed. He crossed, and died,” Raiden laughed. “Look, what was that man thinking? He seemed to be fighting against everything—against those around him, against the treacherous river, against his fate of death—but he ultimately failed. But faced with this desperate situation where even heaven and earth seemed to block him, what could make him persist so resolutely? To be willing to die to cross?”

She looked at her sister and thought, "There must be some kind of power at play."

"What power?"

Lei Dian didn't answer, but laughed: "The theme of this poem is death, the madness of death! In the Liyue culture that values ​​moderation and peace, such a clear pursuit of death and madness is particularly chilling. In the battle of the Laminar Abyss, Liyue's Grand Marshal Fushe and General Yingda of the Fire Rat went down into the abyss one after another, resolutely bringing back intelligence to assist Liang'er, and in the end, they both died without a complete corpse in the process."

"As a high-ranking general, going to the lower ranks to retrieve intelligence is naturally dangerous, but he still went, and as expected, he died. Thousands upon thousands of Tiger Might Army soldiers also died, just to buy time to find the Beast Realm. In the end, even the decapitation mission failed. The victory in the war relied on the intelligence that led to Liang'er's awakening… You see, this army is utterly useless. To put it nicely, they died for their country; to put it bluntly—"

"Foolish people doing foolish things."

Lei Yingdian couldn't answer. She didn't agree with her sister's point of view, but she also knew that her sister was not such a harsh person. She must have her reasons for giving such an evaluation.

"But are there really no smart people in Liyue?" Raiden Shin asked, looking at his sister.

"Yes, but in times of crisis, intelligent people also have the fearlessness to sacrifice for a great cause," Lei Yingdian said.

"Then what is this poem about?" Lei Dianzhen asked in return.

Ying suddenly realized something. She looked at her sister and was slightly taken aback.

—I see.

—A universally acknowledged intelligent person, yet you discover he's doing something foolish and courting death. Either you're not as smart as him, or this matter has nothing to do with intelligence.

Yingda crossed the river for survival, Qiandai crossed the river for righteousness, and Liang'er crossed the river for revenge.

What about the older sister?

You are so clever, even if it means going to your death, how exactly did you plan it?

"My remaining strength is enough to take Ryo'er's place and collect the interest in Kanria. At that time, I will die, and nothing will be able to stop Ryo'er. He will simultaneously possess a country in ruins, a wealth of resources for national revival, a group of people who love him, a master with unparalleled power, a group of young priestesses or yokai who serve in the shogunate and are deeply in love with him and obedient to him, and a shogunate with all interests severed, which can then carry out sweeping reforms."

Raiden smiled knowingly, "All I need to do is die, and Inazuma will turn a new page."