Durandal's question clearly exceeded the scope. As an immortal, Cloud Retainer knew many things humans didn't, and she could answer most questions.
But the emotion of "like"... I'm sorry, that was beyond Cloud Retainer's understanding. If her face wasn't a crane's, she probably would have looked very awkward.
Among the immortals she knew, there were indeed a few who had partners and even bore their own offspring. Yanfei's father was one such case, but... but she had been single for thousands of years; she really didn't know about such things.
"It seems you can't answer this question either, Cloud Retainer."
Seeing Cloud Retainer's stammering, it was clear she didn't know the answer to this question. It seemed even immortals didn't know everything.
While long-lived beings could acquire an unimaginable amount of knowledge through their long lives, this didn't mean they knew everything, just like Cloud Retainer.
Oh? I'm also a long-lived being? Then never mind.
Cloud Retainer was rendered speechless. Normally, she would have started to refute and even shown signs of temper, but in front of Durandal, it was better to be honest to avoid being caught and made into soup by Durandal.
She still remembered very clearly the scene of Shenhe making grilled chicken drumsticks in front of her when she returned last time... and her feelings about it too.
Adjusting her emotions, Cloud Retainer, while defeated by the question, also developed a strong interest, wanting to understand the reason why Durandal was inquiring about these matters.
"Have you... perhaps developed such emotions?"
This was big news. Durandal was a God, and an extremely powerful one at that. In Cloud Retainer's impression, she should be interested in things like strength or power.
However, through her understanding, she found that Durandal was not interested in any of these, and even pursued a plain, very leisurely and quiet life.
These were fine; after all, immortals like them also experienced similar situations when living in seclusion. But to become interested in the emotion of "like"... did she have someone she liked?
Suddenly, Cloud Retainer developed intense interest, wishing she could immediately bring out food and listen intently to this big news.
"I... I'm not sure what's going on. I don't understand human emotions very well, and I'm currently in the process of experiencing them."
Durandal sat down on the spot, hugging her legs, gazing in the direction of Liyue Harbor. With her excellent eyesight, she could easily see everyone on the streets.
During her training with Shenhe, it was inevitable that some of her magical power would remain in the other party's body. Venti also eliminated the erode on her body, leaving a certain amount of his magical power within her. As long as the distance was close enough, she could sense it.
Soon, she noticed Venti and Shenhe. Shenhe was walking on the streets of Liyue Harbor, led by Venti.
The situation with Venti and Lumine did not occur with them. She didn't know what Venti did, but Shenhe could actually get along with him amicably.
This made Durandal breathe a sigh of relief, while also considering how she should treat them.
Although she could still interact with them as before, as time went on, she found it increasingly difficult to do so.
Especially when alone, Venti and Shenhe both liked to lean in close. It was fine before, they wouldn't do anything, but now it was different. Now when they leaned in, they often craved something.
At such times, she should refuse, sternly refuse them, otherwise, if they succeeded this time, it would be impossible to stop later.
This was something she had read in a book. At the time, she was very curious why the protagonists in the stories, even though they knew they should refuse, ultimately couldn't.
Was it really that difficult to do something that could be accomplished with just a word or a gesture?
Now that it was her turn, she realized that it really wasn't as simple as she imagined, especially when Venti looked at her with watery eyes and called her name in a soft, longing voice; she couldn't help but soften.
Since Shenhe only became like this last night, it was hard to tell what she would do yet, but Durandal had a premonition that it would be similar to Durandal herself.
Why... why couldn't she be firm? Durandal especially didn't understand her own situation, not comprehending why she softened so easily.
Could it be... could it be because of the emotion of "like" at play? Did she... like Venti and Shenhe?
Durandal fell into deep thought. Cloud Retainer watched Durandal remain silent for a long time, scratching her head with a wing. It seemed her guess was correct; this one was also caught in an emotional predicament.
To think that even such a powerful being could be troubled by emotions, it was no wonder Guizhong was like that back then.
ε=('ο｀*))) Alas~ Thinking of Guizhong, Cloud Retainer couldn't help but sigh. They all knew that Guizhong liked the Archon.
Seeing Guizhong subtly express her feelings each time, only for the Archon to completely miss it, the immortals around them were all extremely anxious.
Some of the more impatient immortals even planned to run directly to the Archon and tell him, "Guizhong likes you! When will you finally realize it?! You're the Archon, not a Shitou! Stop thinking only about contracts!" In the end, she was held back by the other immortals, preventing an awkward situation from occurring.
They had thought that if things continued this way, even a stone would eventually open its mind. Who would have thought that Guizhong would depart? This was a regret for all of them.
Hopefully, Durandal won't end up like Guizhong back then, leaving the world with regret... Of course, she didn't think anyone could defeat Durandal.
"Hmm~ Let's not talk about that. How about I tell you about other things? Want to hear about Ganyu's childhood? Let me tell you, Ganyu was very cute as a Children."
Cloud Retainer tried to distract Durandal with stories of Ganyu's childhood, but Durandal was not interested in Ganyu at all and ignored her.
Seeing that Durandal had no reaction, Cloud Retainer thought for a moment and said, "Since you're not interested in Ganyu's childhood, what about Shenhe? As her master, I know many things about her."
"Shenhe?"
This time, unlike with Ganyu, Durandal became interested and turned to look at Cloud Retainer.
"With her personality, what kind of things could have happened?"
"Although This Immortal brought her back to the cave dwelling, she didn't show much at first. But later, when she devoted herself to learning adeptal arts, many interesting things happened. If you want to know, I can tell you."
Cloud Retainer, who was very good at conversation, saw that Durandal was attracted by the question she posed and immediately chattered, "How about it? Interested? Want to know?"
Durandal nodded, "Yes, I want to know."
"Alright then... Since there's nothing to do today, This Immortal will have a good chat with you. It's a pity there's no delicious food here, otherwise, This Immortal would have a proper chat with you."
"Delicious food? Something you want to eat? In that case, why don't we go to the stone table outside your cave dwelling? I happen to have some dishes I made on me. If you want, we can talk while we eat."
"That would be excellent."
Cloud Retainer nodded, spread her wings, and flew towards Mt. Aocang.
Durandal also transformed into a black mist and flew towards Cloud Retainer's cave dwelling.
"Ha!"
Shenhe, who was shopping with Venti, suddenly felt a chill down her spine and looked around cautiously, as if searching for something.
"What's wrong? Why so tense? Are there enemies nearby?"
Shenhe shook her head, "Just now... I had a very bad feeling. This feeling always happens when master talks about other people's affairs with me."
Cloud Retainer is very good at conversation; this is one of Shenhe's evaluations of Cloud Retainer.
She admitted that Cloud Retainer was a good master because, thanks to her care over the years, she was able to grow to her current level.
But... how should she put it? If she didn't have that mouth, she would be the best master in the world, without a doubt.
"Oh~ So, the reason you have that reaction is because your master is talking about you with someone else?"
Such things are usually treated as jokes, but Venti didn't think it was a joke. Many things sound mysterious, but they are actually true.
"Yes, that's possible. But if it's just that, it shouldn't be so bad. I'm very worried that the person Durandal is going to meet today is master."
Durandal hadn't told them who she was meeting when she went out this time. Although the probability was small, it wasn't impossible for her to meet Cloud Retainer.
As soon as she thought that Durandal might have gone to meet Cloud Retainer, Shenhe became nervous.
First, she was a little worried that Durandal would tell Cloud Retainer about what happened to her last night. Second, she was worried that Cloud Retainer would tell Durandal about her embarrassing childhood stories, affecting her image in Durandal's eyes.
But it would take at least a few hours to get from here to Mt. Aocang. By that time, Cloud Retainer would have already told Durandal everything about her.
Thinking of this, Shenhe slumped against a nearby pillar as if she had lost something important, with an expression of "my life is over," which made Venti not know whether to laugh or cry.
"Alright, there's nothing to worry about. That's just your guess. Actually, Durandal might not be looking for your master this time; maybe you're just overthinking. Cheer up, we still have some places to go."
"...I hope so."
Now, she could only hold onto this faint hope, praying that Durandal wasn't looking for Cloud Retainer, or that Cloud Retainer wouldn't go too far and would save her some face.
On the other side, in front of the stone gate of Mt. Aocang, Cloud Retainer transformed into human form, drinking the delicious food and fine wine Durandal brought, while telling stories about Shenhe's childhood, occasionally letting out cheerful laughter, probably because she was drunk.
"How about it? Isn't she cute? Both she and Ganyu were very likable as children. I don't know what happened, but they changed like that when they grew up."
"Is that so."
Durandal nodded. Although they were all embarrassing stories, she had a better understanding of Shenhe's past.
It was quite interesting... no mockery intended, really.
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