"One is not going to dismantle you."
Hearing these words, Coppelia finally breathed a secret sigh of relief and stepped forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Columbina.
She had just steadied herself when she saw Cloud Retainer elegantly unfurl her left wing. The tip of the wing seemed to brush a streak of cyan flowing light across Coppelia's cheek.
Coppelia felt only a slight itch on her right cheek, where the old scar had been, as if swept by the softest feather. The sensation was fleeting.
She subconsciously raised her hand to touch it. The tactile sensation from her fingertips was smooth and even. The metal engraving mark that had accompanied her for so long had vanished without a trace, restored to its pristine condition!
"Cloud Retainer's adeptal arts are truly miraculous!" Coppelia could not help but praise.
Cloud Retainer folded her wings and spoke plainly, "A mere superficial appearance, hardly worth mentioning. One observes the construction of your chassis; though the materials are crude, there is some ingenuity to it. Such trivial adjustments are but a simple lifting of a hand."
She paused, seemingly developing a bit of interest in Coppelia's "craftsmanship." "Compared to those mechanisms truly capable of stealing the ingenuity of heaven and earth that Guizhong built back then, this body of yours is just barely... hmph, passable."
However, Coppelia sensed carefully again and discovered that while the restored skin looked perfect, its tactile and thermal perception remained a blank.
She frowned slightly. "It seems only the appearance has been restored; there is no sensation at all?"
Hearing this, Cloud Retainer did not seem surprised and spoke frankly, "This visit was hasty, and One did not have time to prepare all the materials. Slight imperfections are to be expected."
Her tone then shifted, carrying a bit of enthusiasm. "If you wish to be completely restored to your original state, or even optimize your functions, you might as well follow One back to Mt. Aocang. It may take three to five months, or perhaps half a year, but One can not only make this chassis of yours look brand new, with sensitivity far surpassing the past, but also add a few practical mechanisms for you. It would certainly be better than this 'tattered' body of yours, cobbled together from bits and pieces."
Speaking of Mt. Aocang, Cloud Retainer clearly found a topic she enjoyed. "By the way, that disciple of One's, Ganyu, is always dealing with mortals. If you go, you could keep her company. If you are interested in her, One can also tell you some amusing stories from her childhood. There was one time..."
Seeing that Cloud Retainer was about to start story time, Coppelia hurriedly seized a gap in the conversation to interrupt:
"Many thanks for Cloud Retainer's kindness! It won't be too late to discuss this matter later. May I ask Cloud Retainer, regarding the 'moonlight strange stone' that we asked the Liyue Adepti to keep an eye out for, have any clues been found?"
"Sigh, every single one of you is like this." Interrupted in her mood for conversation, Cloud Retainer seemed somewhat displeased, but she still answered the business at hand. "Within the borders of Liyue, there have been no abnormal records of falling fire from the heavens in the past hundred years. As for the strange stone you described, the patrolling Adepti in the southern lands have not discovered anything similar either."
It seemed that Columbina's fragments of power had not fallen everywhere. If Liyue did not have them, then Inazuma, further south, likely wouldn't have them either. The next stop, without a doubt, was Fontaine!
"We understand. Thank you, Cloud Retainer, for informing us," Coppelia thanked her. She then remembered the trouble with the pile of thank-you gifts and turned sideways to point at the dozen or so large boxes nearby. "By the way, Cloud Retainer, the people of Chenyu Vale gave too many gifts; it is truly difficult for me to carry them. Could I ask Cloud Retainer to accept them on our behalf, or perhaps redistribute them to the people of Chenyu Vale?"
Cloud Retainer glanced at the boxes and said indifferently, "These are gifts of gratitude from the people; you should just accept them with peace of mind. Pushing them back and forth only appears pretentious. Besides, One is a person of pure cultivation and has no use for so many mundane items."
With that, she lightly waved her right wing again. A speck of golden light separated from between her feathers and fell into Coppelia's hand.
Coppelia caught it and found it was a palm-sized, ancient-looking dark yellow bronze mirror with cloud patterns embossed on the edges. The mirror surface was hazy and could not reflect a person's image clearly.
"This is a storage artifact. You need only guide it with your mind and inject a trace amount of elemental power to store and retrieve items. Leaving it in One's abode would only let it gather dust, so One gives it to you as a token of gratitude, and to save you the trouble of carrying heavy loads," Cloud Retainer explained, her tone casual, as if what she was giving away was just an insignificant trinket.
Coppelia played with the bronze mirror. It felt slightly heavy and warm to the touch. She couldn't help but smile, "Cloud Retainer is indeed generous!"
"Hah, that is only natural." Cloud Retainer raised her head slightly, evidently enjoying the compliment.
At this moment, Columbina, who had been listening quietly from the side, seemed to pluck up enough courage to take a step forward. Coppelia understood and stepped aside slightly to make room.
Facing the majestic aura of the crane, Columbina clasped her hands somewhat nervously in front of her, looked up, and asked, "Cloud Retainer... Can you help Fujin and Changsheng? Make them recover a bit faster?"
"One is already aware," she spoke slowly. "However, for Adepti to slumber and recover, there is a natural way; it cannot be forced. Our adeptal power has its own nature and characteristics. Rashly infusing it with force would be like adding oil to a fire; not only would it fail to accelerate the healing, but it would also easily cause their adeptal power to become disordered and damage their primordial spirit."
"If it becomes disordered... what will happen?" Columbina pressed, her eyes full of concern.
"In light cases, the mind becomes confused, memories invert, and one becomes muddled; in severe cases, the adeptal essence conflicts, the meridians are destroyed, and both body and spirit are extinguished." Cloud Retainer's voice was calm. "Therefore, this matter cannot be rushed."
Hearing this, Columbina silently retreated, lowering her head and saying nothing.
Seeing this, Coppelia stepped forward again and cupped her hands. "The matters in Chenyu Vale have come to a close, and it is inconvenient for us to stay long. We shall take our leave now."
Cloud Retainer nodded slightly. "Since that is the case, One will not keep you. The road ahead is long; look after yourselves."
Having spoken, she said no more. With a flap of her wings, her massive crane body rose lightly into the air, stirring up a clear breeze as she flew gracefully toward the Millelith encampment. Clearly, she was going to handle the specific details of taking over Chenyu Vale.
Watching the crane depart into the distance, Coppelia finally examined the bronze mirror in her hand carefully. Its appearance was ancient and plain, with nothing extraordinary about it.
She activated her Elemental Sight, and an extremely complex and precise circuit of elemental power instantly appeared inside the mirror body.
She tried injecting a wisp of elemental power into the mirror. With a slight movement of her mind, she indeed perceived a stable space of unknown size. It seemed to contain some scattered, old sundries that Cloud Retainer had not removed; it looked like she would have to organize it slowly when she had time.
She raised the bronze mirror toward the dozen large wooden crates nearby, injecting elemental power and focusing her mind. A ripple swept across the mirror's surface, and the boxes turned into flowing light one after another, being sucked into the mirror and vanishing. She weighed the bronze mirror in her hand; its weight had not increased in the slightest.
"Cloud Retainer seemed to have forgotten to mention this thing's name just now..." Coppelia muttered to herself, then patted the mirror surface lightly. "Forget it, from now on, I'll just call you 'Backpack.' Finally having a backpack system—it really wasn't easy."
In a good mood, she tested it again. With a thought, a wooden box containing pastries was retrieved.
She opened the box, took out a bag of osmanthus rice cakes wrapped in oil paper that smelled inviting, and untied the hemp rope binding it.
She handed the rice cakes to Columbina, who was still in a daze, then took the untied hemp rope and threaded it through the small hole reserved on the edge of the bronze mirror. She skillfully tied a knot, hanging the bronze mirror around her neck like a pendant.
Columbina took the bag of still-warm pastries. The familiar sweet fragrance wafted through the oil paper.
If it were any other day, her appetite would have been whetted. But at this moment, she just held it silently, without the slightest desire to eat.
Seeing that Coppelia had finished packing up, she walked over, looked up, and asked, seeking confirmation, "In the 'future' you have seen, Fujin and Changsheng... they are both safe and sound in the end, right?"
She had actually asked this question before and had received a positive answer.
But after hearing Cloud Retainer's warning about "disordered adeptal power" and "extinguishing of body and spirit," that hidden worry was hooked out once again.
Coppelia adjusted the "Backpack" hanging around her neck and casually stored away Amos's Bow, which she had been carrying on her back. Hearing the question, she turned her head, looking at Columbina with a gentle and certain gaze, and nodded vigorously. "Of course. Although I didn't see them recover their full power to move mountains and overturn seas, I can be certain that they are both safe. One went to a new land and met new people, and the other continued to watch over this valley."
This answer was no different from before, yet in this moment, it gave Columbina immense comfort.
She gave a soft "Mmh," held the bag of pastries, and turned to walk toward the higher part of the hillside.
Coppelia followed, and the two stood side by side at the top of the slope, overlooking the Bishui River winding below, which had already regained some of its clarity.
Suddenly, Columbina sniffed lightly. A cold, distant, and familiar floral scent drifted to the tip of her nose.
She looked down at the grass by her feet. Unnoticed until now, many Qingxin flowers had bloomed in scattered clusters. The pure white petals unfurled, appearing full of vitality.
"I don't recall seeing so many here before." Columbina was somewhat surprised. She crouched down, her fingertips gently touching the cold petals. "This kind of flower... seems to be able to absorb adeptal power to grow?"
Coppelia also looked at these sudden Qingxin flowers, understanding in her heart, and smiled. "Perhaps."
Hearing this, Columbina gently picked the fullest Qingxin flower. Using the hand holding the pastry bag, she broke off a pure white petal, put it into her mouth, and chewed slowly.
The same extreme bitterness that pierced the throat and chilled the bones instantly swept over her taste buds.
But this time, she did not frown. She allowed the bitterness to dissolve and spread in her mouth. And then, it seemed that a trace of elusive sweetness quietly surfaced at the end of that sea of bitterness.
____
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