He changed Tiwat

—After all, that blond thief proved that if a powerful individual capable of using elemental energy were to act as a thief, an ordinary knight simply couldn't defend against it…

As for why Captain Nimf paid special attention to Lisa... according to Barbara, it was because the two of them had "sparred" before.

At that time, Lisa had just joined the Knights of Favonius. Because of her reputation as "a genius that the Church has never seen in a century", she was appointed by Grand Master Falgar to take over as the captain of the eighth squad.

This incident drew strong dissatisfaction from the squad's sergeant at the time, Nimf, who did not approve of Lisa, an "academic" researcher in the laboratory, taking on such a high position.

With the approval of the then-chief of general affairs, Kaya, Lisa and Nimf conducted "practical training" in magic.

It's said that the combat practice only lasted two minutes, and only Kaiya knows the outcome of that battle—Barbara remembers seeing dense thunderclouds above the Knights' headquarters that day, and to this day, no one knows why such a bizarre celestial phenomenon as a "localized thunderstorm" occurred. They can only conclude that the battle between these two powerful individuals even caused the weather to change...

As a result of that battle, Lisa declined the position of captain of the Eighth Squad, stating that "Commander Nimf is capable of this role."

After that, Nimf, who was promoted to captain, paid special attention to Miss Lisa. After being transferred to the church, she often inquired about Miss Lisa's news from the nuns. According to Captain Nimf, it was probably to "gather intelligence" in order to have "practice" with Lisa again.

As Yuehaiting's secretary, Han Fulai knew best that such places held all sorts of secrets, and it was best not to inquire about them. Therefore, he didn't waste too much time on the gossip about Captain Nimf and Miss Lisa.

He followed the two nuns without looking to the side, and finally, in the secret room at the very bottom of the basement, he saw the artifact known as the "Treasure of Barbatos," the "Lyre of the Sky."

Chapter 297 The Harp of the Sky

On a specially crafted display stand in the secret room, the "Sky Harp," protected by layers of protective barriers and amulets from the church, floats suspended in mid-air.

Although this harp was created as long as the founding of New Mondstadt, more than two thousand years seemed to have left no trace on this artifact—the crescent-shaped white body was so shiny it could reflect light, the blue strings shone like starlight, and it even radiated visible wind elemental power in all directions, making it look like it had all the special effects in the world…

In short, it looks like a "magical artifact"!

Speaking of which, the "Starry Wings" that Wendy gave him also had this kind of wind-element feel.

Sister Grace and Barbara both clasped their hands together and bowed their heads in prayer before the violin, their devotion evident.

After praying, Sister Grace held the amulet to her chest again and slowly recited the prayer to dispel the barrier.

After a flash of azure wind elemental light, the ancient harp slowly descended from the sky and landed on the exhibition stand.

Witnessed by Barbara and the Knights of Favonius guarding the secret room, Sister Grace respectfully held up the harp stand with both hands and presented it to Han Fulai, who in turn carefully accepted the magnificent artifact with both hands.

Although this was Han Fulai's first time touching this ancient lyre, he could intuitively sense that the instrument had at least the effect of enhancing the power of words and amplifying the power of wind elements—well, in most RPG games, the "bard" class is for giving buffs, right?

This "Sky Harp" truly fits the stereotypical image of a "divine artifact," and it is indeed worthy of being called the treasure of Barbatos, the god of wind.

As he felt the power of the wind element, he tried to pluck the shimmering strings... then he froze, because his fingers seemed to pass through the air without touching anything.

Hmm? These strings look like a holographic projection... Is this also a special feature of this artifact?

Does this mean that one needs wind elemental power to play this zither, otherwise one cannot pluck the strings? And can his immortal power and divine power be used to play the zither?

If you try it casually, it might lead to unexpected problems.

Just to be on the safe side, Han Fulai decided to ask Sister Grace first: "Excuse me, is there any special way to play this 'Sky Harp'?"

Sister Grace smiled and replied, "Just pluck the strings the usual way. That's what the poets did in previous years."

Han Fulai frowned slightly—everyone else can play the piano normally, but he can't? What kind of differential treatment is this!

Of course, it was a bit embarrassing to say this out loud, so Han Fulai decided to probe a little more indirectly.

"To be honest, I know almost nothing about this precious relic, Sister Grace. Could you please tell me about the 'Sky Harp'?"

“Of course, no problem.” Sister Grace nodded happily. For the nun, this was naturally an opportunity to “spread the word.”

This is also one of her duties as a priestess in charge of the sacred objects. After all, her job is not much different from that of a museum curator. She knows the origins of all the sacred objects stored in this basement like the back of her hand.

"According to the church scriptures, the 'Sky Lyre' is the oldest plucked string instrument in Mondstadt, made by the 'God of Poetry' himself, and is also the ancestor of all lyres in the world."

The lyre, also known as the 'seven-stringed lyre' or 'poetry lyre,' derives its name from 'lyric,' which is a symbol of Barbatos, the 'god of poetry.'

"Legend has it that the music of Lord Barbatos can make the sorrowful forget their worries, make the happy even happier, give the laboring endless strength, stop the rushing rivers from flowing, make the still mountains move, tame the fierce beasts, and make the silent trees and stones speak... As soon as he begins to play his seven-stringed lyre, all things will listen quietly and be moved by his beautiful music."

"It is said that Lord Barbatos used this 'Sky Harp' to subdue his first servant, 'Dragon of the East Wind' Dvalin..."

"In the ancient times, when the gods still walked on the earth, it was at that time that dragons carrying the element of wind were born in the high heavens. The life born from the elements, when it settles, becomes slime, and when it rises, it becomes crystal butterfly; a few become dangerous elemental monsters. Dragon-shaped elemental creatures are very rare and powerful, comparable to the demon gods of the past."

"The wind elemental dragon has possessed immense power since its birth, but along with this power come storms that are a disaster for humanity."

"Wherever the wind elemental dragon flies, fierce winds rage. People both fear and loathe it, but the wind dragon does not understand human language, nor does it understand why it is rejected by humans."

"Until one day, the dragon heard the sound of the 'Sky Harp'. Even though the dragon did not understand human language, it was attracted by the music and landed beside the best singer under the sky."

"People began to panic, for the powerful elemental dragons and the great gods who rule the mortal world have never been able to get along."

But the Wind Singer said: 'Look how beautiful and gentle it is.'

"People said, 'But we don't know what it's thinking.'"

The Wind Singer replied, "The dragon is but a curious child, flying carefree, listening to poetry, and wanting to learn to sing."

"...And so, the dragon decided to stay by the Singer's side. It learned human language, learned the Singer of the Wind's techniques, and became the 'East Wind Dragon' that protects Mondstadt."

After listening to Sister Grace's "Bible story," Han Fulai nodded slightly in respect.

In fact, this story should contain a lot of fictional elements—as far as he knew, Wendy's current appearance came from an unknown young poet in Old Mondstadt, and poets had already started playing the lyre in the era of the "Lone King in the Tower".

To say that Wendy invented the lyre is clearly an embellishment to his title of "Goddess of Poetry," and of course, there's no need to expose such a thing in front of the nuns...

However, after hearing the story, he had a new question: "I have another question that I would like to ask Sister Grace to answer."

Sister Grace readily agreed: "Please ask, I will answer to the best of my knowledge."

Han Fulai slightly raised the "Sky Harp"—

"You just mentioned that the lyre is also called the 'seven-stringed harp,' so logically all lyres should have seven strings, right? But why does this 'heavenly harp' only have six strings?"

Chapter 298 "The Flosson Effect"

Sister Grace was also taken aback by Han Fulai's question.

She had been a priestess for several years and had personally handed the lyre to several poets who had won honors at the "Badminton Festival," but this was the first time someone had told her that the "Sky Lyre" only had six strings...

—The lyre is also called the seven-stringed lyre, so of course it should have seven strings!

Sister Grace quickly took the "Sky Harp" back, even running her hands over each string one by one... No matter how she counted, there were six strings...

What... what's going on?

How could a "seven-stringed lute" only have six strings? It couldn't have been left in a sealed room for a few months and suddenly the seven strings became six, could it?

Barbara also touched it with the same surprise and doubt, and it really did have six strings!

“Barbara…do you remember how many strings were on the ‘Sky Harp’ when we brought it back a few months ago?” Sister Grace’s voice suddenly turned serious.

"Seven, seven strings... a seven-stringed lyre should have seven strings... that's how it should be..." Barbara's voice trailed off.

Actually, Barbara felt quite guilty about this.

When she first took back the "Sky Harp," not only were the strings gone, but even the stand was reduced to half...

During the "Dragon Disaster" a few months ago, the "Sky Harp" was stolen. The Knights were on a manhunt for the unknown thief. The most anxious person was Barbara, who had even inspected the relic storage room on the day of the theft.

Such a serious security lapse meant that the Knights of Favonius on duty that night, as well as the priests, were all to blame. But for Barbara, the worst thing was not the punishment from the Knights and the Church, but the thought of letting down Lord Barbatos.

Lord Barbatos entrusted such an important artifact to the Church of the West Wind for safekeeping, yet they failed to reciprocate his trust. How disrespectful! How blasphemous!

If the "Lyre of the Sky" is truly lost forever, how can she still have the face to call herself a nun serving Lord Barbatos? Even spending the rest of her life in repentance would probably not be enough to atone for her sins...

Fortunately, after some time, the great hero who saved Mondstadt, the honored knight Lumin, along with her sister Jean, the leader of the Legion, and the green bard Venti, together returned the "Sky Harp".

Barbara, who was staying at the church at the time, was the first to hear that the "Sky Harp" had been recovered, and she burst into tears of joy on the spot.

However, when she saw the "Sky Harp," her tears of joy turned into sorrow—the "Sky Harp" was completely broken.

Barbara collapsed to the ground.

Fortunately, the traveler Ying was a great hero blessed by the wind god. No one knows what method she used, but a force of wind element gathered in her hand, and then the "Sky Harp" was restored to its original state.

Barbara was overjoyed as she held the restored "Sky Harp" in her arms, her heart filled with gratitude for Lord Barbatos. She didn't even bother to count how many strings were on the harp.

Looking at the two of them, Han Fulai already had a good idea of ​​what was going on.

Sister Grace is an ordinary person, and Barbara is the holder of the Water-type Eye of God. Neither of them is related to wind elemental power... so even if they touched the body of the instrument, they couldn't see through the trickery on it.

Don't be fooled by how shiny and glamorous this instrument looks now—it really is all special effects.

Those "special effects" are illusions created by wind elements wrapped around the zither.

The strings that Barbara and Grace are encountering now are actually something like "condensed wind elements".

Han Fulai was, after all, half a demon god, and these illusions formed by the wind elements were hard to deceive his senses. So he found that his hands did not touch the actual strings, but rather felt as if he was touching air... after all, wind is just flowing air.

He even suspected that if this instrument were left for a few more months, it would turn into a "five-stringed instrument," a "four-stringed instrument," a "three-stringed instrument," and so on... until the wind elemental power on the instrument was exhausted and it returned to its original form...

Of course, he couldn't say anything about it.

Keeping Wendy's secret was secondary; the main thing was that Barbara and Grace, those two innocent nuns, couldn't be made to take the blame for that drunkard.

Han Fulai clapped his hands lightly, making an expression as if he had figured something out: "Ah, speaking of which, I was just thinking, could the 'Sky Harp' also be the origin of the guitar?... I have a friend in Liyue named Xin Yan who really likes Fontaine's rock music and Fontaine's guitars—a guitar is an instrument with six strings."

"Sister Grace just said that the 'Sky Harp' is the oldest plucked string instrument in the world. So, what about the guitar of Fontainebleau, the shamisen of Inazuma, the balalaika of Shifuyu? Were all these plucked string instruments invented by Lord Barbatos?"

Han Fulai's generous gift of the invention rights to a bunch of musical instruments to Wendy was obviously just a casual fabrication.

As for Xin Yan... the "Red String" she modified can't even be considered a guitar anymore, because besides having an axe blade, being able to breathe fire, and exploding, her instrument only has four strings—if you really want to talk about its type, it's actually closer to a bass or a "Hawaiian guitar," which is a four-stringed instrument commonly known as a "ukulele."

However, Han Fulai's words gave the two bewildered nuns a way out—as priests serving Lord Barbatos, it was truly shameful that they didn't even know how many strings Barbatos's treasure had.

But if we understand it according to Han Fulai's explanation, it's normal for the "Sky Harp," as the prototype of all plucked string instruments, to have six strings! Later instruments like the lyre and guitar all had their strings added or subtracted from the "Sky Harp." Hmm, and thinking about it this way, Lord Barbatos is even more amazing!

Barbara immediately clasped her hands together and praised the wind god: "Truly worthy of being Lord Barbatos!"

Sister Grace's expression softened, but her voice still held a hint of confusion: "...But why do I keep remembering that this violin should have seven strings?"

Han Fulai coughed lightly and said, "I once heard a theory from Lord Yuheng of Liyue, which comes from the Sumeru Cult, called the 'Falusian Effect,' which describes a kind of 'collective memory error phenomenon.'"

"It is said that there is a scholar of the Epistemology named Farusan in Sumeru. Everyone thinks that she died a hundred years ago, and many people swear that they attended her funeral or something... But in fact, she is still alive and well, and is now recruiting students in the Sumeru Academy."

"Scholars attribute this phenomenon to the fact that human memory is easily influenced by external factors. For example, the scholar named Faroshan was not dead, but when people heard that she was from a hundred years ago, they subconsciously thought that ordinary humans could not live for that long, and that she must have died... So some people started to say that Faroshan must have died, and then more people heard it and believed it, and gradually a collective memory was formed."

"Similarly, when we hear the term 'seven-stringed lyre,' we always feel that the original seven-stringed lyre could not have had six strings... but that may not be the case."

He essentially borrowed the so-called "Mandela Effect" from Earth, and using this theory to explain the transformation of a "seven-stringed lyre" into a "six-stringed lyre" is perfectly appropriate.

The "Mandela Effect" refers to the fact that while South African President Nelson Mandela died in 2013, a bunch of people online claimed that he had died in the last century, and even swore they had seen Mandela's funeral—which is quite similar to the story of "Centenarian Shan" that Keqing heard in the Adventurers' Guild.

He also recalled that every few days, trending topics related to the so-called "Mandela Effect" would appear on the Chinese internet, such as "Is the person destined for greatness by heaven?", "Are the lyrics about fifty-six ethnic groups or fifty-six constellations?", and "Does the character '具' have three horizontal strokes or two horizontal strokes in the characters '真'?", which would often lead to arguments between the two groups until the end of time.

The two nuns suddenly realized what was going on, and their eyes showed even more admiration for Han Fulai.

Han Fulai silently added to himself, "There is no such thing as the 'Mandela Effect' in this world. There is only the belief in rumors and stubbornness... After all, people will only believe what they want to believe."

Chapter 299 Didi Dalong

After discussing the matter further with the two nuns and signing two documents similar to "cultural relic loan registration," Han Fulai finally managed to lend the "Sky Harp" out of the church.

According to the church's management regulations, such a precious relic as the "Sky Harp" can only be handed over by the nun in charge to the "Badminton Festival's Best Bard" for performance on the closing day of the festival. Theoretically, it cannot leave the nuns' sight.

Even if the "Sky Harp" were brought out for him to "rehearse," it would have to be done within the church, under the supervision of Sister Grace and the others.

However, Han Fulai was no ordinary person. As the Deputy Director of Yuehaiting and an Honorary Knight certified by the Knights of the West, he was essentially backed by the high-ranking officials of both countries, so the church naturally did not need to worry about him not repaying the loan.

More importantly, in order to perform "Heal the World" for all the children of Mondstadt, Sir Humphrey sincerely expressed his desire to learn how to play the lyre in the next few days in order to perform the song written for the children even more perfectly. Faced with such a sincere and loving request, how could the two nuns bear to refuse?

The seven-stringed lyre and the six-stringed lyre are tuned differently, and their playing methods are naturally different as well. Even Sister Barbara and Sister Grace, who were experts in music, didn't quite understand how to play the six-stringed lyre. Since they didn't know, they naturally had to consult an expert.

For example, there's "Six-Fingered Joseph," who once won the title of Best Poet; and there's also the green-clad bard who was invited to host the competition this year and has a deep understanding of ancient bard poetry...

Credit, qualifications, motives... Han Fulai's reasons for borrowing the "Sky Harp" were all impeccable.

However, due to the messes Ying and Wendy made in the past, the Church's latest revised "Rules for the Lending of Artifacts" stipulates that, as a minimum guarantee, a reliable Knight of Favonius must be appointed as the guardian of the relics.

“Then let’s invite Ms. Yura, the ‘Wave Knight’ who was recently publicly commended by the Regalia Leader at the opening ceremony, to serve as the guard of the ‘Sky Harp’? Ms. Yura and I have worked together on some matters before, and her work ability is well-known. She should be a suitable candidate.”

Han Fulai recommended Yura, and Sister Grace readily agreed, immediately filling in Yura's name on the registration documents.

This is the reason why Yura and Han Fulai once again stood under the "divine tree" at the place where the wind began.

A month ago, Yura would never have accepted such a ridiculous mission to make a dignified guerrilla knight her bodyguard—but now… this isn't the first time she's been Deputy Minister Han's personal bodyguard.

To be honest, she was quite nervous, because she knew that this time Han Fulai was going to take her to see not some "bard," but the wind god Barbatos.

On the way to the land where the wind rises, she secretly took countless deep breaths: to bring the sinful descendant of the Lawrence family to meet the wind god Barbatos, and even to demand that the sinful descendant of the Lawrence family become a "favored one of the wind god"... Most people wouldn't even dare to think of such a thing, only this man not only dared to think it, but also dared to do it...

Unfortunately, all her mental preparation along the way was in vain, because waiting for her at the place where the wind rose was not the legendary wind god Barbatos, but a small bard singing to tourists.

"So, you came to see me today to learn ancient zither playing techniques?" Seeing that Han Fulai had brought another person with him, Wendy, who had been waiting at Fengqidi, darted around with her eyes. "Did you bring the tuition fee?"

The tuition fee that a drunkard demands is, of course, good wine.

Han Fulai, who was prepared, decisively took out the bottle of "fire water" that made Yura shake her head in fear from his storage space.