After finishing the conversation with Zhongli, Wang Daoyi returned to the dock tea house. This time, he really didn't plan to go out and was prepared to stay until things settled down.
To avoid being disturbed again, Wang Daoyi even closed the tea house for the first time, telling Sisi that it was undergoing renovations and asking her to come back to work in a week. Then he posted a sign outside the door stating that they were not receiving customers due to renovations.
The closure of the dock tea house didn't attract much attention, except for some foremen complaining about having to spend more money on tea recently.
Meanwhile, on the other side, just as Zhongli had anticipated, after her meeting with Ningguang, Lumine received a gift from Ningguang—a note containing information about the Fatui. From the note, Lumine learned about the Fatui's plan to replicate the Guhua Clan's Ballads of Breeze.
Recalling that Tartaglia had given her something similar before, Lumine had a bad feeling about it. Following the address provided in the note, Lumine indeed found traces of the Fatui, but still couldn't figure out what they intended to do with the Ballads of Breeze.
With no leads, Lumine returned to Liyue Harbor and continued preparing the ceremony with Zhongli. Together, they went to Dihua Marsh, where they failed to find any flowers with Lumine's beautiful singing. Lumine then encountered Ganyu again, who provided them with the final materials. Upon returning to Liyue Harbor with Zhongli, they discovered that something major seemed to be happening.
Just as they were about to inquire about it, a Fatui official stopped Lumine and Zhongli as they were heading back into the city.
"Ah, it's Mr. Zhongli from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor!" the Fatui official seemed to be reminding them of something. "The Qixing is closely monitoring us now. It's a critical time, so please don't act rashly."
"A critical time?" Lumine asked.
The Fatui official nodded. "The immortals from Mount Aozang have finally made a move. They're likely not coming with good intentions."
Zhongli nodded, as this was just as he had expected. The immortals had finally lost patience. "Are they here to demand answers?"
Listening to Zhongli and the Fatui's conversation, Lumine began to feel uneasy. She didn't know that the immortals and the Qixing had been meeting repeatedly, or that the Qixing had been delaying them all this time.
All she knew was that she had told the immortals about the death of the Archon. If the immortals went to war with the Qixing because of this, she would be the one who sparked the conflict.
"The immortals don't recognize the Qixing; they only recognize the contract with the Geo Archon. If the immortals decide to attack forcefully, Liyue Harbor may not be able to withstand it," the Fatui official said, with a hint of schadenfreude in his tone.
Zhongli nodded. "But the Qixing are not ones to sit idly by!"
The Fatui official nodded. "Indeed, they are firm in their stance. It's precisely because of this that the conflict between immortals and humans has reached a critical point!"
"However, you just mentioned that the Qixing is monitoring the Fatui closely. What's going on?" Lumine asked.
"Ah, it's because of that Ningguang. She said something about 'during this impending storm, the Qixing must completely control the movements of the Fatui,'" the Fatui official said angrily, then sneered, "Now they're only thinking about restricting our actions. That's all the Qixing can do."
Then he turned to Zhongli. "Anyway, Mr. Zhongli, as a collaborator of the Master, your attitude also reflects that of the Fatui. Please don't give anyone a reason to accuse you!"
After hearing the Fatui official's words, Lumine and Paimon looked worried.
"It seems that the conflicts within Liyue Harbor have reached their limit!" Paimon said.
Lumine looked at Zhongli. "What can we do?"
Zhongli shook his head. "At this point, mediation is impossible. If we want the immortals and the Qixing to calm down again, we need to introduce a more powerful enemy."
"Are you suggesting that you intervene as a neutral party to mediate? Or are you considering using your personal strength to change the balance?" Zhongli shook his head, "Both methods are not easy."
Before Lumine could say anything, the Fatui official remembered something and hastily said to Zhongli, "Oh, right, Mr. Zhongli, I heard that your Wangsheng Funeral Parlor seems to have been involved in the conflict as well. You're currently at a standoff with the approaching military!"
"This is not good," Zhongli frowned slightly and turned to Lumine to bid her farewell. "I have to go first, to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to see what's happening. I hope Mr. Hu can handle it for now and not cause any major trouble."
"Traveler, if you want to stop this conflict, you should think about where the 'trigger' is!" With that, Zhongli hurried away.
Paimon waved to Lumine, showing a mischievous expression. "Hmm... being a 'friend on the path' of the Fatui seems to have both benefits and troubles!"
"But, what did Zhongli mean by the 'trigger'?" Lumine pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered Wang Daoyi's warning earlier. With a flash of insight, she connected recent events in her mind.
It was the Tartaglia who rescued her from the Fatui, who gave her the Ballads of Breeze, who asked her to contact the immortals, and who provided money for her to assist Zhongli in preparing for the ceremony.
This conflict was triggered by the Tartaglia's actions.
Realizing everything, Lumine's voice turned cold. Being used by the Tartaglia, whom she had trusted despite Wang Daoyi's warning, filled her with anger. Despite Wang Daoyi's warning, she had still trusted that Fatui official.
Upon hearing Lumine's words, Paimon suddenly understood. "I see! The one who probably wants Liyue Harbor to descend into chaos the most is that bad guy from the Fatui!"
"He must have taken advantage of everyone being too busy to pay attention to him and gone off to do something bad!" Paimon said angrily. "But where do we find him now?"
Lumine's eyes grew colder as she realized that the bad guy must be heading to the hiding place of Geo Archon's body, the Golden House.
"Follow me! We're going to find him!" Lumine called out to Paimon, rushing towards the direction of the Golden House.
"Hey, Lumine, wait for me!" Paimon immediately flew up, struggling to keep up with Lumine.
(End of Chapter)