Genshin Impact, I, a mere mortal, cannot accompany you to the very end.

This mountain is so hard to climb...

Why is it so tall?

This was Qingnuoyan's only idea.

The boy squinted slightly and gently wiped the sweat from his cheeks.

Miss Ying, who was walking ahead, stopped. She turned her head, her golden hair swaying in the mountain breeze.

Do you want me to carry you?

她平静静地道.

"You treat me like a child."

Qing Nuoyan was indignant. He always felt that this guy looked down on him. With his natural pride and stubbornness, he felt it necessary to defend his dignity.

"I'm really strong, you'll be the one who's exhausted later... I'd rather carry you on my back!"

"Then carry me on your back. I can't walk anymore."

Ying spoke in the same tone, wearing a hiking-style pleated skirt that revealed her long, fair legs and deerskin boots. The spring sunlight shone on her exposed, snow-white skin, making it almost transparent.

She didn't even break a sweat; she didn't look like she couldn't walk at all.

"Wow...I'm so tired...I can't walk anymore."

She uttered exaggeratedly how tired she was, almost reading aloud, wiping nonexistent sweat from her forehead, and opened her arms to Qing Nuoyan.

"Come on, my capable Comrade Qingnuoyan, please carry me up."

She's clearly not tired.

She's just taking advantage of the situation.

Has this blonde aunt always been this disdainful?

"I think Comrade Ying, it's better to rely on our own efforts."

Qing Nuoyan firmly refused.

"What, you're actually not strong enough?" Ying said with a smile. "How about this, if you can carry me up, I'll pay you."

This guy even tried to provoke me.

Qing Nuoyan refused to fall for the trick and climbed the steps one by one, saying, "You seem very excited today."

"Is there?"

"Have."

Qing Nuoyan watched Ying walking ahead. She had her hands folded behind her back, climbing the stairs rhythmically. Her tied-up black hair swayed from side to side, and her steps were as light as a cat's. Her deerskin boots carried pebbles along the way. The bright spring sunshine reflected on the girl's clean and fair profile—she was indeed different from usual.

She walked along, picking wildflowers by the roadside.

"Then guess why?"

"I don't know," Qing Nuoyan said.

“Because of this.” Ying took an old book out of her backpack. The cover had a few lines of large print that read “The Travel Guide to Teyvat.” She quickly flipped to a certain page. “Look.”

“Mt. Aozang in Jueyun Karst is on the Liyue map,” Ying said softly. “I’ve always wanted to come here.”

Qingnuoyan looked through the books one by one: Mount Aozang, Guili Collection, Layered Rock Abyss...

"You're going to so many places all by yourself?"

Qing Nuoyan was deeply moved. This blonde girl's perseverance was truly amazing; she would rather lie in bed and rot than live like him.

"A person?" Ying asked in confusion. "Ah, aren't you a person?"

"So you mean I'm still a human being... cough."

Qing Nuoyan blurted out instinctively, then quickly realized what she meant and raised an eyebrow: "Should I go with you too?"

"Yes. I don't want to go alone."

"No," Qing Nuoyan shook her head in refusal. "Let Paimon go with you, so you won't be alone."

"Paimon will go too, but she's not really a person; she's emergency rations for the trip..."

This blonde woman is getting more and more despicable!

　"I dont go."

"You eat my food and use my things. Now I'm going to settle the score."

Ying counted on her fingers, tallying up Qing Nuoyan's bills, "Last time I drank with that crony, a plate of offal was 500 moras, and a plate of almond tofu was 1000 moras..."

The expression on her face as she did the accounting was smug, as if she had Qing Nuoyan's weakness firmly in her grasp. Her eyes smiled like crescent moons, and she was as cunning as a fox that had stolen a chick.

This guy.

Qing Nuoyan secretly thought that he couldn't let her continue to be so arrogant.

"...plus two"

"A set of clothes, that'll cost 32,000... Huh?"

Ying noticed that her field of vision was gradually rising, which was very abrupt and sudden.

With her left hand supporting Ying's slender leg and her other hand cradling the back of her head, Qing Nuoyan gently lifted her onto her back before she could react. This series of actions was completed in one smooth motion, as fast as a terrorist attack.

Ying blinked her eyes, looking completely bewildered, and nestled on the boy's shoulder.

Qingnuoyan's hair had a faint sandalwood scent, and Ying could smell that warm fragrance when she got very close.

“Miss Ying, you win. I’ll carry you up the mountain.”

Qing Nuoyan's voice was deep and he was breathing heavily. "The bill will be paid off with travel expenses."

"What are you doing! Put me down!"

Her smug expression vanished, and Ying instantly looked flustered. She now resembled a stolen chick, even slurring her words.

"Didn't you ask me to carry you? You even said you'd pay me."

Qing Nuoyan carried Ying on his back and steadily climbed up the mountain path. As he walked, he asked curiously, "What, have you changed your mind?"

He found it strange—Qing Nuoyan had his back to Ying, so he could see the expression on her face at that moment—the reason he found it strange was why Ying would go back on her word, even though she was the one who said it.

Sure enough, she just didn't want to pay!

"You..." Ying choked, biting her thin lips slightly, both anxious and annoyed, but there was nothing she could do about it, since it was what she had said herself. She could only continue to stubbornly insist:

"Ha, what I'm afraid of is that you won't be able to hold on."

"You are indeed a bit heavy."

Qing Nuoyan earnestly agreed. He adjusted his breathing. The body's innate condition was actually quite good. The heart supplied blood powerfully, and carrying a firefly up the mountain was more than enough.

"But I'm fine."

asshole.

Bastard, bastard.

Her earlobes turned slightly red, and her fair cheeks were also tinged with a faint blush. Ying buried her face in Qing Nuoyan's shoulder and let out a whimper like a small animal, "...Whatever you want."

"That's good." Qing Nuoyan was very happy. He didn't have the habit of owing debts, so he was naturally happy to be able to pay off his debts all at once.

Ying, who is usually very noisy, was unusually silent.

And so the world fell silent.

The warm spring sunshine gently caressed the young boy and girl, the shimmering clouds revealed the colors of silk, the forest was dyed in color, the maple leaves rustled against each other, and they climbed up the long mountain path in silence for a long time. The forest was quiet and peaceful, and the sunlight dyed the time a warm yellow.

“But you still want to travel with me to other places,” Ying suddenly said.

"...Why?"

"For no reason," Ying said stubbornly, sticking out her tongue. "I just want it. Just for this."

She leaned on Qingye's shoulder and placed a wreath of flowers on Qingnuoyan's head. The pale white flowers emitted a faint fragrance. The wreath was very simple, just a string of flowers strung together with the branches of foxtail grass.

It turns out she had been silent for a while because she was making a flower wreath.

"Qingnuo Rock Flower Girl," she proudly announced, "From now on, I will weave flower wreaths for you every day. In return, you must accompany me on my travels!"

"...How can you force someone to buy something like this?" Qing Nuoyan smiled helplessly; he just couldn't do anything about this girl.

"Yes, there is." Ying laughed in the spring sunshine, brandishing her claws, "This Ying-tai-jun is a bandit! Waaah, Qingnuo Yanhua girl, hurry up and go eat some more!"

-

"You two."

Ms. Shen He, who had been walking silently ahead, suddenly stopped.

She turned her head slightly, her clear, cool eyes devoid of any extra emotion, and calmly said:

"Walk a few more steps and you will reach the place you wish to go... This is the sacred ground of the immortals. Please be quiet and refrain from making noise, so as not to disturb the peace of the immortals."

It's finally come to an end.

The view from the top of the mountain is excellent.

Half of Jueyun Mountain can be seen, and looking west, Guanghua Forest can be seen. Aozang Mountain is adjacent to Qingyun Peak. The clear mountain breeze from the ridge gently caresses the face. In the center of the mountain peak, there is a blue lake, and the shallow waves reflect the red clouds.

In the center of the lake, you can see a seating area with a stone table and four stools, but it looks like no one has visited it for a long time. It is overgrown with weeds and covered with layers of moss.

Who's standing there...?

She stood in the middle of the lake.

Qingnuoyan gazed into the distance.

She was a young girl.

Is this... a horn?

Her long, soft, light blue hair was tied into a ponytail and cascaded down the lake surface. Her small horns were hidden in her hair. She wore a white cheongsam with bright gold trim, white arm warmers, and long, slender legs encased in black stockings.

A gentle mountain breeze rippled across the crystal-clear lake, the ripples eventually settling at the girl's toes.

The girl stared intently at the stone benches, seemingly lost in thought.

Her eyes were pale gold, and a certain emotion flickered within them. Spring light covered her eyes, like a lake bathed in the glow of sunset. What was that gently shimmering...?