Genshin Impact: I'm The Envoy of Snezhnaya
Chapter 348: The Medals Called the Seven Archons
"Before we talk business, I want to ask you something. Are you speaking with me as a bard… or as Barbatos?"
After taking a sip, Bai Luo set the glass of so-called finest Dandelion Wine on the table and looked at Venti across from him.
"Barbatos? Interesting way to address me," Venti replied. "But before I answer that question, I'd like to ask you one as well. Are you speaking to me as yourself… or as the envoy of Anastasya Feodorovna Snezhnaya?"
Venti did not answer directly.
After draining the wine in his cup in one gulp, he threw the question back at Bai Luo, still unsatisfied.
"Is there no third option?" Bai Luo asked after thinking for a moment.
"You have a third identity?" Venti paused, lifting his glass. He even forgot to drink.
After all, the only reason this young man had the standing to sit here and talk with him should have been the Tsaritsa behind him, shouldn't it?
Bai Luo didn't answer. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes.
Ding—
Golden sparks flickered out of thin air, and two ancient characters from Liyue appeared before him.
As an "old friend" of Morax, Venti immediately recognized what those two characters meant.
Rex Lapis.
This was a sacred sigil that only a god could create. It represented that the Geo Archon of Liyue had personally signed some kind of contract with the young man before him.
And that contract… had continued until now.
"Strange…"
Venti never doubted the authenticity of the divine sigil. Just as he had once told in a story in the plaza—over a thousand years ago, he had practiced imitating the Geo Archon's signature simply to prank him.
So aside from Rex Lapis himself, no one in the world understood the authenticity of that mark better than Venti.
But if this thing had really been on Bai Luo before, why hadn't he sensed it earlier?
Bai Luo slowly opened his eyes.
The aura belonging to the Geo Archon instantly disappeared from him, as if it had never existed.
"Oh right, there's also this."
As if remembering something, Bai Luo closed his eyes again.
Crackle—
Exploding violet lightning flashed, and an Eye of Stormy Judgment formed from lightning appeared above Bai Luo's head.
The power contained within it almost made Venti spit out the wine in his mouth.
Be— Beelzebul?
Back when the Seven Archons gathered in ancient times, Beelzebul had merely been a warrior, sitting at the very end among the gods.
Yet in terms of pure martial strength, the only difference between her and the other gods had been the possession of a Gnosis.
So why… was her aura also appearing on this boy?
This mark had been left on Bai Luo when Raiden Ei once struck him down.
It was also one of the reasons she could slash at Bai Luo from such a great distance.
Unfortunately for her, after Bai Luo left the land of Narukami, the effect of the Eye of Stormy Judgment became practically meaningless.
Aside from scaring people, it served no real purpose.
Under the influence of the Sealer, even Raiden Ei herself would find it difficult to locate Bai Luo using that mark after delivering that strike.
The feeling was like dropping a phone into a rushing river.
Maybe at the very moment it falls, you can still reach down and grab it.
But if you miss that chance, all you can do is watch it sink to the bottom and vanish with the current.
You know it's somewhere in the water.
But you have no idea where the river has carried it.
And that… is incredibly frustrating.
The Tsaritsa's gaze, the contract of Rex Lapis, and the Raiden Shogun's Eye of Stormy Judgment…
Venti stared at Bai Luo with a strange expression.
"I don't think you're here representing any particular role to talk with me."
"You're just here to collect the powers of the gods, aren't you?!"
After sensing the marks on Bai Luo's body, Barbatos suddenly had such a thought.
And as Bai Luo's expression became more and more subtle, Venti felt increasingly certain that his guess was correct.
"So then… what identity do you think I should use when speaking with you?" Bai Luo asked.
After displaying the "medals" he had collected, Bai Luo turned to Venti.
He had not done it merely to show off.
More importantly, it was also meant to send Venti a signal: I've dealt with quite a few gods before. I know how to interact with people like you.
"I still don't know your name, little one," Venti said.
Another cup of Dandelion Wine went down, and there was still a faint drunkenness on his face.
But Bai Luo knew better than anyone that this drunkenness was probably just an act.
After all, even Raiden Ei had once said that Barbatos could drink extremely well.
"You can call me Bai Luo, or Anatoly, or… Emory," Bai Luo said.
After giving his real name, he didn't forget to include the other two names he rarely used.
What he didn't notice, however, was that the slightly tipsy Venti suddenly showed a hint of surprise.
"Nice names. Did the Tsaritsa give them to you?"
Sunset. Sunrise. The moon.
Was it coincidence?
Or perhaps…
"Bai Luo was my Liyue name. Anatoly was my Snezhnaya name. As for Emory… that was a gift given to me by an innocent child."
When Collei gave him the name Emory, he had acted as if he didn't care.
But in truth, he had always remembered it in his heart.
"A very charming name. May I write your name into one of my poems?" Venti asked.
"I think I'll pass. That doesn't seem necessary."
What was Bai Luo's main profession?
Assassination.
Although he had barely done such work since becoming a Harbinger, he was still not used to being put in the spotlight.
Besides, Barbatos was famously unserious, who knew how he might portray him in a poem?
"Hm… then I'll speak with you as Venti the bard, having a friendly conversation with Bai Luo. How about that?" Venti said with a sly wink.
In Bai Luo's mind, he almost unconsciously imagined the strange sound of "Ehe~."
But Venti's words also made Bai Luo understand his meaning.
If he did not speak as Barbatos, then it meant that some of Bai Luo's questions would not receive answers.
Had he accidentally revealed something while talking earlier?
Or perhaps, back in the plaza, the Tsaritsa had conveyed some kind of message to Venti through his Delusion?
"Well then, great bard, may I ask you a small question?" Bai Luo said.
Glancing at Venti's nearly empty bottle, Bai Luo pushed his own unopened bottle toward him.
"Ask away. But remember, most stories told by bards are lies woven to entertain the crowd. How much truth they contain is up to your judgment."
Bai Luo's cooperative attitude pleased Venti.
If the question wasn't too troublesome, he might actually answer it.
But when Bai Luo spoke, the bard who had just taken the wine fell silent.
"What does an inverted Statue of the Seven signify?"
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Latest Chapter: Chapter 391: Never Make a Deal with Bai Luo[1]
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