I, the Rock King Emperor with 21 billion in power, have joined the chat group.

I was somewhat taken aback, and also somewhat afraid.

"What's wrong??"

While the traveler was still in a daze, Zhongli took the book from Paimon and looked at the traveler with some curiosity: "You seem to have something on your mind."

"No!" The traveler shook his head.

“Hmm.” Zhongli didn’t dwell on it too much. He glanced at Paimon, who had his arms crossed and was clearly on guard, and shook his head inwardly.

-----The traveler and Paimon seem to have learned something that makes them wary of me?

What did they learn from the relics left behind by the deceased?

Well, things have come to this point anyway, so it doesn't matter if they know something.

---No, you could even say that it was precisely because they knew something that this final banquet was able to be even more grand.

With this thought in mind, Zhongli remained expressionless and nodded slightly to the traveler.

"Okay, let's go. We should head out. Everything is ready; we're just waiting for tomorrow's auspicious day according to the Chinese almanac."

After saying this, he walked forward without looking back.

The traveler paused for a moment, then followed behind him.

The two men and a little Paimon walked around the corridor for several minutes and stopped in front of a door that was slightly larger than the others.

A faint golden light emanated from Zhongli's body once again, enveloping the doorway.

A few breaths later, the door opened naturally, and a speck of dust condensed on either side of the door into two lines of gentle and elegant characters.

Do you now understand the meaning of the lock on earth and my feelings?

Please try to understand people's hearts a little, Morax.

Zhongli stood still, his brows slightly furrowed.

He looked at the two lines of text, but he couldn't understand them.

"Morax??" Paimon flew forward and stood beside Zhongli, feigning surprise: "Is this the last message left by the God of Dust to Morax?"

“That should be it.” Zhongli frowned and sighed. “Just like when we first entered the sect, these should all be written for the Rock King Emperor Morax. No, they should be written for the former Rock King Emperor, now the [Heavenly Cloud True Lord] Qingli.”

"Just as I said before, as expected, Chen Mo Shen Gui Zhong has feelings for Qing Li, the True Monarch of Fen Tian Li Yun, that go beyond ordinary friendship."

"Ugh!"

Paimon was taken aback when he heard this.

He exchanged a glance with the traveler, his eyes filled with surprise.

The traveler was somewhat speechless.

She thought about what was recorded in the diary titled "Apricot Blossoms in Full Bloom," looked at the handwriting on the door, and then at Zhongli's resolute expression.

Suddenly realized.

If the Zhongli before him is truly the Rock King Emperor, then he must be a guy who doesn't understand human nature.

Barbatos, the wind god who never does anything productive

Morax, the Geo Archon, who doesn't understand human nature

---The gods of Teyvat are indeed a bunch of unreliable fellows.

The young traveler made this judgment with absolute certainty in her heart.

Chapter 42 Ningguang's Incident

It took less than two hours to return to Liyue Harbor from the Tomb of the Dust Demon.

Compared to the previous version, the speed seems to be a bit faster.

Standing before the entrance bridge to Liyue Harbor, Zhongli and the Traveler prepare to part ways.

"Traveler, if you have time tomorrow, please go to Yujing Terrace. I will be holding the Sending-Off-the-Immortals Ceremony there." Zhongli stood in front of the bridge and said softly to the traveler, "It would be best to get up early. If you are late, I am afraid there won't be enough seats."

"Tomorrow is going to be very noisy."

"Hmm." The traveler nodded slightly.

Paimon didn't say much.

"I'll go this way. I still have some materials to collect. There aren't many, so I plan to collect them tonight." After saying this, Zhongli waved slightly to the traveler and disappeared into the darkening sky.

Seeing him leave, the traveler came to his senses, exchanged a glance with Paimon, and also stepped onto the bridge.

A few minutes later, back at his hotel, the traveler sat down on a stool and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Hey hey hey~~!" Paimon couldn't hold back any longer and frantically flew up and down.

"What do we do? We suddenly find out that Zhongli is actually the Rock King Emperor, and the Rock King Emperor faked his death and we don't know what he's planning. This is going to be troublesome."

The traveler sat on the bench, seemingly lost in thought.

A few minutes later, she looked up at Paimon.

"Mr. Zhongli...is not a bad person."

"Huh?? What do you mean, Ying?" Paimon was a little confused by the traveler girl's sudden question.

“Even if he faked his death… he wouldn’t do anything bad,” the traveler girl nodded her head in confirmation.

“Indeed.” Paimon calmed down a bit: “If Zhongli is really the Geo Archon, then his protection of the order of Liyue for more than three thousand years is definitely not fake. He has made this country called Liyue prosperous to this day, and that is definitely not false.”

“He couldn’t have done this if he didn’t love the people of this country.”

"Yes." The traveling girl nodded firmly. "So..."

“So…” Paimon, standing beside the Traveler, crossed one arm and rested the other on his chin, pondered for a moment: “So, he must have his own purpose. Whether it was planning this faked death or doing all these things, he must have his own motive.”

At this moment, Paimon's wisdom was almost unbelievable.

"We still have too little information to draw any conclusions."

The traveler stared at Paimon, somewhat bewildered, seemingly lost in thought.

A few seconds later, she suddenly stood up.

They grabbed Paimon and rushed to the inn.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Paimon asked, somewhat surprised.

"Go find Gan Yu..." The traveler's eyes burned with determination: "Go to Qunyu Pavilion... to find Gan Yu."

"Why...why are you looking for Gan..." Paimon was suddenly stunned, and then suddenly remembered that among all the immortals and demigods, only Gan Yu had truly met Zhongli.

When they first met, Gan Yu addressed Zhong Li as "Lord Zhong Li," not "Mr. Zhong Li."

“We… can ask them.” The traveler’s eyes were full of certainty.

“Yes.” Paimon perked up: “Gan Yu definitely knows most of the things. We can ask Gan Yu directly. That’s perfect.”

The traveler was also very proactive, and in no time at all, he brought Paimon to the guide at Qunyu Pavilion.

Before she could even speak to the guide, she saw a figure descending from the distant Danxia Fairy Palace in the sky.

The figure was wearing black stockings that covered her entire body, and had two small, curved horns on her head. It was none other than Gan Yu.

As the old saying in Liyue goes, "You may search high and low without finding it, but then it comes to you effortlessly."

The same thought popped into the traveler's mind.

As the sweet rain settled on the ground, the traveler was about to take a few steps forward and strike up a conversation with her.

But her expression was somewhat anxious, even a little flustered.

“Miss Gan Yu, Miss Gan Yu.” Paimon seemed oblivious to this and quickly flew up to her. “We want to talk to you about something.”

Gan Yu then noticed the traveler and her spare food, Little Paimon, and nodded slightly as a greeting.

"Sorry, I don't have time right now."

"I have something important to attend to."

"What's wrong?" Paimon tilted his head.

Gan Yu glanced at her, then at the traveler, pondered for a few seconds, then took two steps forward, leaned close to the traveler's ear, and whispered, "Lord Ningguang went out of the city today to forge new contracts with the immortals, but was ambushed by someone on the way."

"More than a dozen Thousand Rock Lords were killed or wounded, and Lord Ningguang was also seriously injured and lay unconscious on the ground."

"Huh??" The traveler's eyes widened suddenly.

Then I remembered Zhongli slowly walking into the darkness outside Liyue Harbor, gradually disappearing from sight.

Is this... a coincidence?

......

In the darkness, Zhongli was taking a slow walk.

The stars in the sky twinkled incessantly, representing the rising and falling of the morning star, a symbol of all beings in the world of Teyvat.

Strolling under the faint starlight, the [Worldly Lock] at her waist also emitted a pale golden glow.

The Hilichurl camp fell silent at night.

Zhongli passed through these unfortunate beings, passed the abyss mage who controlled the power of the earth's veins, and soon arrived at his destination.

【Guyun Pavilion】

Here, the chat group members were already waiting.

"Hey, you idiot, what took you so long? I was getting sleepy waiting for you." The white-haired boy, Accelerator, who called himself a villain, stretched his limbs on the sea surface.

"Oh, Lord Zhongli, after this matter is resolved, are you really not considering becoming a deity at my shrine? I'm a shrine maiden who's extremely devoted to the gods." The red and white Paradise Shrine Maiden, Reimu Hakurei, quickly flew to his side, incessantly promoting her shrine.

"Hey, Mr. Zhongli, I'm all ready for the trials you've set up for those amazing girls this time." The muscular man standing atop the Rock Spear of Lonely Cloud Pavilion, bathed in moonlight, stretched out his magnificent body.

"Go! Go! Go!" The white-haired Bell and the black-haired Subaru Natsuki encouraged each other as they exercised on the beach.

"You've arrived." A calm and clear female voice came from Fu Hua, who was wearing a fiery red cheongsam. She nodded slightly as a greeting.

There's also Yukino Makoto sitting on the beach, reading a book under the moonlight, and next to her, the bored siscon Kyosuke Kousaka.

"Thank you all for your help." Zhongli bowed slightly to all of them.