*Summary of Fatui Mora Expenditures on Narukami Island, Inazuma: Personnel Roster, Mora, and Family Welfare Benefits.*
*Fatui Logistics Support for Watatsumi Island: Latest Correspondence from Watatsumi Island Operatives.*
*Potential Courses of Action Sangonomiya Kokomi May Take.*
***
As Jingchen reviewed these documents, he kept dozing off, just like Wang Xiaomei.
Now, he felt drowsy whenever he worked, especially when reading the Fatui's reports on various missions and schemes.
Jingchen felt utterly helpless and longed to return to the Serenitea Pot for a proper rest.
"Why is Lord Jingchen so tired? Being a Harbinger doesn't seem so great after all. Perhaps you should return to my Grand Narukami Shrine?"
Jingchen felt a sudden chill run down his back—an icy cold.
"Yae Miko? What about the Fatui and Tenryou Commission personnel outside?"
"Oh, you know me, little Jingchen. I dislike killing. At most, I've merely knocked them unconscious."
Jingchen stared at Yae Miko's teasing expression, as if she could effortlessly see through and manipulate people's hearts.
Her expression was exactly the same as it had been ten years ago, after he confessed his feelings to her and was rejected.
Jingchen spoke coldly to her.
"Lady Yae, the Guuji, what brings you here?"
"Hmm? Why don't you try to guess, little Jingchen?"
"Aren't you afraid of rumors spreading that the esteemed Guuji of Grand Narukami Shrine, a retainer of the Raiden Shogun, is secretly collaborating with a Harbinger?"
"Oh? In Inazuma, aside from that one in Tenshukaku and that Deep Sea Flatfish on Watatsumi Island, no one else dares to spread rumors about me."
Jingchen kept his eyes tightly shut, like Columbina.
After all, Yae Miko was of the Byakushin lineage, the pinnacle of Kitsune.
With Yae Miko so close, it was best to be cautious. *Out of sight, out of mind.*
But why were Columbina, Ayaka, and Yoimiya still talking?
Jingchen spoke coldly to Yae Miko.
"Walls have ears, Yae Miko. Don't be wise your whole life only to be foolish for a moment."
A terrifying flash of fox lightning suddenly flickered in Yae Miko's eyes. *This Jingchen actually keeps his eyes shut, refusing to even glance at me?*
*Just wait, Vice Priest. I'll make you pay. I'll make you—*
"There's no wall without a crack, is there? If anyone in Inazuma dares to spread rumors about this Guuji...
...by the next day, they'll be nothing more than fertile soil, adding a bit of nourishment to the Sacred Sakura Tree."
"Oh?! The Sacred Sakura Tree has such a function?"
Yae Miko covered her mouth with a laugh, making a delicate orchid finger gesture.
"The Ronin Gang captured by the Tenryou Commission, or any other troublemakers like Hilichurls or Fatui agents, will meet the same fate I just described."
Jingchen kept his eyes tightly shut. *As expected,* he thought, *the demon-slaying priestesses are never quite as pristine and virtuous as they appear.*
"Then, Lady Yae, what's the purpose of telling me all this today? It can't be just a warning, can it?"
"Tonight is moonless and clear. Since we're both free, why don't we go for a stroll? I've arranged a special Hyakumonogatari Assembly just for you."
"Hyakumonogatari Assembly?! What does that mean?!"
Yae Miko stepped closer and gently pressed her orchid-fingered hand against Jingchen's thin lips, signaling him to stop asking questions.
"Little Jingchen, I want you to witness tonight's moonless night—the Hyakki Yakō, the procession of a hundred demons."
Jingchen was slightly taken aback. Yae Miko was indeed a Great Youkai of Inazuma, capable of commanding a host of spirits.
But many of Inazuma's youkai had perished in the Archon War or the cataclysm five hundred years ago, while others had been sealed away.
The few remaining were mostly minor youkai with diluted bloodlines. How could Yae Miko possibly assemble a Hyakki Yakō?
Seeing Jingchen's skeptical expression, Yae Miko smiled faintly.
"My dear Jingchen, you don't think the legendary Hyakki Yakō has vanished completely from history, do you?"
*What exactly is this sly fox up to?* Jingchen wondered inwardly, unable to decipher her true intentions.
*Sigh, Columbina still hasn't replied. Well, I might as well reject her for now.*
"Yae Miko, I'm already exhausted today. Please leave. We can discuss this tomorrow. Farewell."
Jingchen turned to leave, but Yae Miko suddenly seized his hand.
"Hm? Yae Miko, you—?!"
"Heh, even if you're a Fatui Harbinger now, don't forget you're also the Vice Priest of the Grand Narukami Shrine."
"Yae Miko, what exactly do you mean by this?!"
"Ten years ago, you simply left Inazuma and me without a word. As for your position as Vice Priest, I never accepted your resignation."
"Then I resign now."
For once, Yae Miko spoke without her usual sly, teasing tone. Instead, her voice was unusually firm and serious.
"Impossible. Once Vice Priest of the Grand Narukami Shrine, forever Vice Priest of the Grand Narukami Shrine."
"This is absurd."
"I know your secret from ten years ago."
Jingchen froze. *Ten years ago?* But his Ascension to Immortality had only been performed three years ago by Columbina.
"You know my secret? What secret?!"
Yae Miko scoffed. "On a moonlit night ten years ago, I witnessed you unconsciously drawing lunar energy like those Great Youkai. You condensed ice elemental energy into a form that doesn't belong to this world."
Yae Miko held her Narukami Banner (the item she carries in her official art, not a weapon). The moonlight shimmered like silk, the crescent moon hung eternally in the sky, and her voice remained resolute and solemn.
Jingchen frantically wrenched his hand free from Yae Miko's grasp. His senses reeled, his mind clouded, and a splitting headache threatened to tear his skull apart. Her current voice, tone, and emotions increasingly resembled someone deeply familiar from the depths of his memory.
*We Cloud Knights, like clouds obscuring the sky, shield the Xianzhou.*
***
The Demonic Shadow is the inevitable end and fate of every long-lived being. But if you could travel to other worlds and harness their laws...
Perhaps everything would be alright.
***
Jingchen, live well for your sister. Promise me you won't come back—never come back.
No more fighting, no more hatred, no more torment by the Demonic Shadow.
Let me bear it all for you. Just live well.
"Sister?"
For a fleeting moment, Jingchen's eyes blazed with crimson light. His hair flew wildly, his aura ethereal and divine.
He radiated a majestic power that seemed to surpass even the gods of Teyvat.
Yae Miko stood frozen in place. She had only intended to observe the moonlight's effect on Jingchen, never imagining such an absurd outcome.
The power emanating from him far exceeded Raiden Ei's, and even her own. His current strength seemed to belong to another world entirely.
Jingchen tilted his head back, gazing up at the moonless night sky.
His vacant eyes held an expression as calm as still water. Slowly, he raised the sword in his hand.
With a single strike, he slashed at the illusory starry sky, causing the entire false firmament to tremble.
The moonless night suddenly flooded with lunar radiance, the snow glittering like silver.
A snowflake drifted down from the crescent moon, and Jingchen gently extended his hand to catch it in his palm.
In an instant, everything fell silent.
Even in her slumber atop Celestia, the slumbering deity couldn't help but weep in her dreams.
....................
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(End of Chapter)