He changed Tiwat

Han Fulai nodded and then snapped his fingers.

Thus, the circular platform in the center of the underground river was instantly enveloped by a pure white barrier, with only the two paralyzed dragon lizards being "isolated" outside.

As luck would have it, the two dragon lizards woke up at that moment. Seeing the barrier before them, they didn't even try to break through it; instead, they jumped directly into the underground river, as if afraid the blond "hero" would come after them to "slay the dragon"...

Han Fulai then snapped his fingers again, releasing the "life-binding silk" binding the abyss.

Yuan Shang did not attempt to escape.

Not only because of the unknown barrier sealing him off, but also because the Salt Sorrow Spear was always hovering beside his neck, watching him menacingly.

"Are you going to give me the things yourself, or force me to kill you and search your person for anything you've 'lost'?" Han Fulai asked with a smile.

A resolute look appeared on Yuan Shang's swollen face.

He clenched his teeth, which were already missing several pieces, and shook his head.

"You...kill me."

Actually, Ying and Paimon were the most confused people present.

They watched in bewilderment as Han Fulai and Yuan Shang exchanged cryptic messages, as Han Fulai deployed a barrier to isolate the earth's veins, and as Yuan Shang adopted a "die-hard" stance...

The two were completely baffled.

who am I?

where am I?

what happened?

Han Fulai did not kill Yuan Shang.

He beckoned to Ying: "Ying, come a little closer."

Ying obediently moved closer.

Then Han Fulai made a somewhat ambiguous move.

He reached out and brushed Yingmei's bangs aside.

Ying was so startled she almost jumped up: "What, what, what are you doing?"

Little Paimon covered her mouth—she was afraid she might accidentally blurt out, "You should have known this day would come when you were watching the movie and fighting with the Goddess for a man..."

Han Fulai looked at the two of them strangely, holding up a flower in his hand.

A small white flower, tucked into the side of Ying's bangs, served as decoration.

Speaking of which, this flower was personally given to Ying by Han Fulai in Mondstadt a few months ago.

The flower is called "Intiwat".

Chapter 330 The Real "Mastermind" [4k]

Ying and Pai were stunned for a few seconds before they noticed that Han Fulai had a small white flower in his hand.

Oh, so he was going to take that "Intiwat" that was being used as a headdress.

Why don't you just say so?

This surprise attack really startled everyone...

Although Yingmei's actual age is unknown, this kind of ambiguous physical contact with a man is a first for her in her unknown life experience... especially in this situation where she was completely unprepared.

Whether it's "friends" or "accomplices," it's not the kind of relationship where you can just casually touch someone's hair!

Although Ying didn't speak, her flushed cheeks betrayed the shock she was experiencing.

Meanwhile, Paimon, covering his mouth, was inwardly ranting:

You don't need to brush someone's bangs aside to take off your hair accessory!

The flower was pinned above Ying's right ear, completely opposite to the direction he initially reached out...

Was he doing it on purpose?

It must have been intentional, right?

Ying, you need to be careful of this playboy, he's flirting with you!

This time, Paimon wasn't wrong about Han Fulai—he really did it on purpose.

Of course, he didn't intentionally flirt with Yingmei... rather, he deliberately "ambushed" that flower.

Yes, those feints he made while flipping his hair were to "trick" the Intiwat flower. When he was flipping Yingmei's bangs, he was secretly gathering the power of the "Seed of Time" in his hand. The moment his fingers touched the Intiwat, the white light band of time completely enveloped the little white flower.

Thanks to the seed that Raiden gave him, and the fragments of the Time Belt he collected while liberating those "Spirits of the Mortal World" along the way, the power of "time" within him was greatly strengthened; otherwise, he might not have been able to do it so effortlessly.

The Intiwat flower in his hand is now "imprisoned" by the power of time—its entire state is preserved at the moment Han Fulai's fingers first touched it.

As long as Han Fulai doesn't let go, this flower won't be able to "escape".

It's certainly strange to use such unethical tactics against a little white flower, resorting to both deception and sneak attack... But if behind that little white flower is a comrade who is at least 500 years old, that's a different story.

Han Fulai held the "Intiwat" flower and smiled, "Now, can we talk? The real 'mastermind,' the 'Prince of the Abyss,' Kong."

Intiwat did not respond.

It's just a flower; it can't speak.

Ying was the one who reacted: "What did you say? The 'mastermind' is my brother!?"

Paimon exclaimed in surprise, "What do you mean? Are you saying that this flower is her brother in disguise?!"

The goddess chuckled, "What are you thinking? This flower is actually like my 'wild stalk,' something akin to a 'shikigami,' specifically used to monitor you."

"Huh...?" Ying and Paimon both stared wide-eyed, looking incredulous.

This "Intiwat" was originally discovered in the "upside-down city" beneath the giant abyss of rock.

Intiwat is the national flower of Kanreia, symbolizing the wanderer and the tenderness of home.

Sora, the "Prince of the Abyss," once took this flower to that place to pay tribute to the people of Kanria who were cursed by Sky Isle and turned into Hilichurls, never to return home.

Later, the flower was discovered by Han Fulai and Dai Yin, who were exploring the strata rock abyss, and they brought it out and later handed it over to Ying.

Ying took the flower to the Abyss of Layered Rocks, where she read the flower's "memory" in its unique environment—her brother, Kong, seemed to be doing something that could "reweave all destinies," and at the same time, he was going to help Kanria "restore its kingdom."

The Abyss Order reveres Kong as a "prince," which is also related to the so-called "restoration of the kingdom."

After that, Ying never heard from her brother again, and she kept the flower with her as a memento.

To say that he left this "Intiwat" to monitor his younger sister... while theoretically possible, it simply doesn't make sense in practice!

Because Kong simply couldn't guarantee that the flower would end up in Ying's hands—this flower had at least passed through Han Fulai's hands once. If Han Fulai hadn't later met Ying again, this flower might have remained forever in his storage space, slowly forgotten.

Besides, Kong went to the Abyss of Layered Rocks at least half a year ago. How could he have predicted that Ying would come to the Abyss Palace half a year later and then arranged this flower in advance to monitor her?

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

Seeing that Ying and Paimon both looked unconvinced, Han Fulai smiled and said, "Nothing is impossible. I think Kong didn't intend to use this flower for anything in the first place. He has so many 'Abyss Apostles' under his command. If he wanted to contact or monitor you, he could just send a subordinate like Yuan Shang to accompany you. There's no need for him to specially prepare a flower for you to carry with you."

“But when you read the ‘Memory of Inteware’, it should have triggered Sora’s senses, making him realize that you have obtained this flower. This ‘Inteware’ is the one that became a ‘Shikigami’ when you went back to the Abyss of Laminaria to read the flower’s memory last time.”

“According to what I heard from Daines Reeb, your brother has always cared about you, and you two siblings have a very good relationship. It’s just that your brother has some things he has to do, which is why he’s staying in the ‘Abyss Order’ and can’t see you. But he should have his subordinates take care of you as much as possible… right, Abyss?”

Yuan Shang's constant use of "Your Highness" to flatter Ying Mei was, of course, out of respect for the "Prince of the Abyss".

Although Yuan Shang neither confirmed nor denied it, it was tantamount to acknowledging the matter.

Han Fulai continued, "I guess Kong initially kept this 'Intiwart' with you only as a 'locator,' mainly to sense your location. If you encounter a crisis, it can also send people to rescue you in time..."

His contract with Gan Yu was similar; he usually acted as a GPS, only receiving remote assistance when it came to life-or-death situations, making him a kind of "hidden cheat code."

The Liyue Immortals have also given their disciples quite a few protective magical artifacts. For example, Lord Liuyun gave Yao Yao, a disciple of Granny Ping, a doll that is said to be able to locate and alert people, and is also very powerful, capable of easily defeating ordinary monsters.

Speaking of which, it seems that True Monarch Liuyun made some dolls to give to Gan Yu and Shen He, but her two disciples firmly refused—given Gan Yu and Shen He's age, it did seem a bit childish to take those little girl dolls out on the street...

"In short, Kong must have meant well by keeping this flower with you. But this time, he used it to do something 'bad'," Han Fulai said.

"Could it be... that my brother can see our every move through this flower?" Ying asked in a low voice.

Han Fulai nodded: "If he wants to, it should be possible... but your brother needs to confirm this in person."

The reason he went to such great lengths to use the power of time to imprison that "Intiwat" was to "preserve evidence" and prevent the other side from "hanging up the phone."

He was quite certain that Sora was watching the situation here, or at least listening in on it the whole time.

When he was reading "The Past of the Sun and Moon", he had a "team voice chat" with Shinji, saying that there were some things that Ying couldn't hear right now, mainly to prevent Sora from overhearing.

However, if Sora is determined not to respond, there's nothing he can do to get Sora to speak.

Even if the phone is still connected, what can you do if the person on the other end pretends to be mute?

To be fair, Kong's "monitoring" of his younger sister is just as well-intentioned as parents enabling GPS tracking on their children's phones.

...But Ying was clearly unwilling to accept this kindness.

Her face suddenly flushed red.

"Brother! I didn't pick the flowers when I went to the hot spring with Ayaka the other day... You weren't looking at them, were you?!"

Normally, Ying would take off her headdress when taking a bath—but she would be an exception when soaking in a hot spring.

On the second night of the "Radiant Splendor Festival," Ayaka invited Ying to watch a "custom-made fireworks display," danced a beautiful dance for her, and then took her to the "Autumn Sand Bath" to soak in the most luxurious petal-filled hot spring. In the end, the two of them even gave each other massages...

Ying wore that "Intiwat" flower the whole time.

"..."

After a moment of silence, the speechless Intiwat spoke.

"I don't!"

"Ying, believe me, I absolutely didn't do that! Let me explain..."

—Han Fulai felt something break... Well, it was the air of being the "mastermind" that Kong Ge had shattered into pieces.

In "The Memories of Intiwat", Han Fulai once heard the sound of emptiness.

He remembered that Kong's voice sounded slightly youthful, but was actually very deep and mature.

Kong is not the innocent "Little Prince," but a "crown prince" who has long held a high position and is used to giving orders.

After all, the "Abyss Order" has been established for five hundred years, and Sora has been the "Abyss Prince" for five hundred years.

In the eyes of the Abyss Apostles like Yuan Shang, Kong's status was actually similar to that of the leader of the Order.

But now, this "Prince of the Abyss" is so eager to explain to his sister that he's not a pervert, it reminds Han Fu of the scene where he was kneeling on a washboard begging Ningguang for forgiveness...

It's clear that when he traveled with Ying before, Kong Ge was probably just a "younger brother".

Alas, man.

On the other side, Yuan Shang silently raised his hand and covered his ears.

When your boss makes a fool of himself, it's best for you, as a subordinate, to pretend you didn't hear anything.

Out of a sense of empathy, Han Fulai kindly helped Kong change the subject: "Brother Kong, is this our first call? I happen to have a lot of things I want to talk to you about..."

He was interrupted by Kong before he could finish speaking: "Why do you call me brother too?"

Kong's attitude towards him was clearly not very friendly.

Han Fulai smiled and said, "Ying and I are good friends, and her brother is also my brother. You are older than me, so you naturally deserve to be called an elder brother."

Actually, as a time traveler, he was already used to calling people "Air Brother" and "Sister Ying" so naturally that he didn't even realize it when he spoke...

Kong grunted, no longer dwelling on the issue of address, and replied, "What do you want to talk about?"

Han Fulai also adopted a serious expression and said solemnly, "Let's talk about cooperation."

"What 'cooperation'?" Kong asked in return.

"Of course, it is the power of 'governing by time'."

Han Fulai said those words without hesitation.

“I know that even if I kill Yuan Shang, I won’t be able to get that fragment. You should have a way to take away the ‘fragment’ on Yuan Shang’s body, because it was originally something you gave him.”

"I would like to ask you to have Yuan Shang hand over that fragment to me, so that I can collect the remaining 'time' power in Yuanxia Palace."

"Heh." Kong laughed mockingly. "You should know that you are an enemy of the 'Abyss Order.' We have no reason to cooperate with the enemy... Yuan Shang is also prepared to sacrifice himself."

Six months ago, Han Fulai had already ruined the "Abyss Cult" in the Layered Rock Abyss.

It broke more than once.