Orion's nervousness wasn't without reason; if ultraman were to arrive, for a teenage cosmic monster like Orion, he would truly be the strictest father.
Although if you don't commit crimes, they probably won't bother you, you can't guarantee that the person who comes isn't a savage or a brute. If they move a rock and a Giant Spider suddenly crawls out from underneath, anyone who sees it would be startled and stomp on it.
Hu Tao shrunk down and slipped out of Orion's embrace, then turned back to Orion and asked, "Why are you so scared? Was that word wrong just now?"
Orion quickly waved his hands, "Cannot say, cannot say! Those guys are terrifying! If they come, I won't have any fun. They are practically my natural enemies!"
Hu Tao nodded, half-understanding. She glanced back at Zhongli and Ferrylady, noticing their expressions were similar to hers. Since Orion seemed so afraid of that 'Land of Light', she decided not to pursue the topic.
Seeing this, Orion also breathed a sigh of relief. To be frank, if ultraman really came, and took out your primordial fire to light Irminsul like a cigarette, what could you do? Teyvat's transcendent combat power is sufficient with just himself; others shouldn't get involved.
Afterwards, Orion casually told Hu Tao and the others some other stories, even mentioning that he had a travel companion... (recalling Skirk) oh, two... (recalling Yunli and Clara) four... Oh no, there aren't many spots left for locals.
In short, there were several aliens, and Hu Tao expressed great interest in meeting them all.
Then, he subtly hinted to Zhongli that both he and Lumine were Descenders.
Zhongli, that old man, didn't seem surprised when he heard Lumine was a Descender, but when he heard Orion was also a Descender, he looked at Orion with some astonishment.
Subsequently, Hu Tao said she had prepared several styles of consultant uniforms for Orion and was now going to take him to try them on. She then walked ahead, carrying the staff of homa by herself, with Ferrylady, Orion, and Zhongli following behind.
Orion looked at the five-star weapon and couldn't help but ask, "Hu Tao, this polearm of yours..."
"Huh? Polearm?" Hu Tao turned her head, her large sunglasses on her nose slid down a bit, revealing half of her eyes.
But she quickly understood, "Oh, you mean the staff of homa. This isn't a polearm; it's a fire poker passed down from our WangSheng Funeral Parlor ancestors."
Hu Tao didn't explain much, but Orion was reminded of something by this.
There's a Liyue story called "Eight Oddities Refine Taodu," which seems to be about five people and three Immortals refining the God Taodu together, turning Taodu into the boundary between life and death.
Among them, a human named 'Wuwang Tongzi' and the Immortal 'Zhu Chi Yinhuo Youdie' who sacrificed herself in the 'Eight Gates of Death' were the founding ancestors of the WangSheng Funeral Parlor, and the half-step founding grandmother who couldn't become a founding grandmother.
This staff of homa must have been left from that era, right? That makes it two or three thousand years old.
Huh? Orion suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Since the staff of homa is truly in Hu Tao's hands, is the calamitys bane in Chenyu Vale still there?
Shenhe is still using an ordinary polearm now. He promised to give Shenhe a gift, so can he get calamitys bane, repair it, and give it to her later?
It seems possible.
Hu Tao, who was ahead, was reminded by Orion and only then realized she had been carrying the staff of homa everywhere. So she said she was going to put away this 'firewood stick' and asked Ritualist Girl to take Orion and Zhongli to the fitting room first.
The rest of the journey was a trio. Zhongli took this opportunity to approach Orion and asked in a way similar to sound transmission into the secret, "I observe that your current appearance is somewhat similar to the Immortals' shapeshifting technique. This isn't your true form, is it?"
Orion looked at Zhongli with some surprise. Setting everything else aside, the old man has lived so long, his knowledge is truly vast.
So Orion nodded, "My true form is a giant alien monster, somewhat resembling a Giant Spider, with a silver carapace and a body composed of blue plasma."
No matter what, Orion wouldn't reveal that his true form was actually the disk behind the spider. However, he felt it was fine to just reveal the appearance of the Giant Spider.
It's not like there would be a situation in Liyue where he'd need to transform into his true form and enter the fray, right?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
So Orion transmitted an image of his Giant Spider appearance into Zhongli's mind.
Zhongli pondered for a moment and gave an evaluation: "Very unique."
There was nothing he could do about it; after all, with the Giant Spider's appearance, it was hard for anyone to give a unified aesthetic evaluation.
So Orion chatted with Zhongli all the way, from north to south. Orion even directly pointed out that he knew Zhongli's identity, and Zhongli was well aware of it; it was simply a matter of the two of them keeping each other's secrets.
Finally, the two even talked about Childe, and Zhongli said he also knew Childe, and the two had even fought.
Calling it a fight was really just Zhongli toying with him. Childe insisted on fighting him, so Zhongli would appropriately put on a show of being evenly matched, and then Childe would get bored after a while and stop.
One can only say, Childe, you really know how to pick your opponents.
Before long, the three arrived at the changing room. Ferrylady searched around and then let out a soft 'hmm', "The clothes don't seem to be here. Please wait a moment, both of you; I'll go look elsewhere."
After saying that, Ferrylady also left.
Orion suddenly had an idea and looked at Zhongli, "How about we spar a bit too?"
Zhongli subconsciously wanted to refuse, but then he thought that understanding the general strength of a Descender wouldn't be a bad thing, so he finally agreed.
Thus, Zhongli opened the window and transformed into a streak of light, disappearing.
Orion, unwilling to show weakness, also chased after him.
In less than five minutes, the two returned.
As for the result, Orion won, or rather, when Orion tore open the Jade Shield with his hand, Zhongli unhesitatingly conceded. Nothing was really compared; there wasn't even time to use Gate of Babylon. For Orion, those five minutes were entirely spent on the journey.
The time they spent fighting was shorter than the time they spent trash-talking.
"You just put up a shield and it's over? How is that a spar?" Orion was somewhat emotional; this trip was a complete waste.
To be fair, Orion was genuinely curious about Zhongli's strength, but the problem was that the old man was too sly, not giving an inch of opportunity, immediately conceding once his shield was broken.
However, Zhongli seemed to be in a very good mood because he probably had a rough idea of Orion's level.
Very strong. Although he only had a vague concept, he never intended to explore Orion's upper limit; he only wanted to know Orion's lower limit.
Zhongli felt that, considering the lower limit, the number of people in Teyvat who could defeat Orion was probably very few. If the upper limit were considered... forget it, why consider the upper limit? Just invite Orion more often for tea and bird-walking in the future. If your relationship is strong, it might even help if Liyue finds itself in an extremely dangerous situation. Isn't that the best-case scenario?
"Haha, Orion, you shouldn't care too much about winning or losing. I think you're not really the type to care about such things. Rather than fighting and killing, Liyue has many interesting places to see and novel entertainments to enjoy. How about I take you around Liyue every day from now on and forget all this hostility?"
Orion, watching Zhongli's smiling, seemingly 'plan-succeeding' face, grew increasingly annoyed. He wanted to prank Zhongli.
Aha! He actually had a way.
Orion pulled out a bottle of orange potion from his pocket, the remaining one of the two potions Sucrose had brought that day: "Drink this, and I won't dwell on the spar. How about I accompany you for tea and bird-walking in the future?"
"Oh?" Zhongli took the potion with some curiosity. After examining it, he didn't recognize it, but he still looked at Orion: "It's a deal?"
"It's a deal!"
Zhongli nodded, "This is some kind of prank potion, right? I can drink it, and I can make a fool of myself, but how about you add one more condition if I drink it?"
Orion was a bit curious: "What do you want to add? For me to protect Liyue?"
"Something like that, but it definitely won't tie you to Liyue. At most, you'll help out if the Qixing encounter problems they can't solve. The specifics can be discussed later."
"Okay, I agree." Orion himself had planned to contact the Liyue Qixing when he had time, after all, Ganyu, Keqing, and Ningguang were all there. After contacting the Qixing, the chances of contacting Beidou and Yelan would also be greater. And just helping out a few times, to be frank, if Keqing and he got together in the future, how could he not help if she encountered trouble? So this condition made no difference.
However, Zhongli felt much more at ease. If before he only roughly knew that Orion wasn't averse to Liyue, now that the other party was inquiring so quickly, Zhongli believed that the other party might even be inclined to 'like' Liyue.
That's great! Then, let alone one or two prank potions, he wouldn't mind even giving away his Gnosis.
So Zhongli drank the potion without another word.
After drinking it, he found no changes in himself, so he looked at Orion with some surprise: "It seems there's no reaction?"
"This isn't the kind that takes effect immediately." Orion took out a small alarm clock: "This potion is called 'Must Tell the Truth,' and this small alarm clock is called 'You Lied.' As long as you say something and this machine rings, it means you've told a lie."
"And what happens if I lie?"
"Your most important thing will shrink. I just want to see what that is, and then mock you."
"I see. Truly a subtle potion." Zhongli looked at the empty bottle, even showing some appreciation. To be able to research such a potion, this person's talent is truly powerful.
So Zhongli thought for a moment and said to the alarm clock, "I am not Morax. I often lost battles in the Archon War, and frequently deserted during combat."
"Ding-a-ling-a-ling!!!" The alarm clock immediately rang wildly, and Orion happily watched Zhongli. He was already ready to see Zhongli's 'important thing' shrink, and then take a picture of it as a dark history.
As a result, Zhongli's expression suddenly changed. He shot up, his gaze grave as he looked into the distance.
Orion was startled by him, and before he could ask, he heard Zhongli say with immense alarm, "The coverage area of the statue of the seven has changed.
Has Liyue's territory shrunk?!"
Orion:...You're making me look so petty. I'll count it as you winning, okay?
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