Listening to Cloud Retainer's inquiries, Su Ming felt a wave of warmth in his heart. As the saying goes, while others care about how high you fly, only your parents care about how tired you are. He knew that Cloud Retainer was genuinely worried about him.
She feared that because his long years of hard work had yielded no results, he had finally strayed onto a dark path. She was afraid he had used some self-destructive method to trade his vitality for strength.
"I am perfectly well, Master. Please, do not worry," Su Ming explained further. "You already know that I am not a native of this world. You can just consider this... me slowly reclaiming my original power."
Cloud Retainer was clearly skeptical of his explanation. "If that were truly the case, were those years of arduous cultivation and your long seasons of lonely frustration all a lie? Or did you truly think you hid your feelings so well that this Adeptus could not see through them? This Adeptus still remembers the look on your face when you discovered you could not use elemental power that you couldn't even sense it!"
Hearing her complaints, Su Ming simply clarified, "Master, your wisdom is beyond doubt, but that was merely the frustration of having lost my power. Fortunately, my hard work was not in vain. I finally made a breakthrough a few days ago and recovered a portion of my strength. I apologize for not informing you sooner."
Su Ming still didn't reveal his full hand. The identity of a "transmigrator" was relatively minor in an environment like Teyvat, which seemed to produce transmigrators in bulk.
In the records of Teyvat itself, there were already four known Descenders. The first and second were suspected to be the First and Second Thrones, essentially the creators of Teyvat's current laws and situation.
The Third Descender had perished, and their remains were fashioned into the Gnoses. The Fourth Descender was currently standing right next to him, watching the drama unfold.
With so many vile outsiders already here, one more wouldn't hurt. Moreover, Cloud Retainer had already known about his origins; Zhongli had told her himself. Su Ming was only speaking up now to avoid future trouble and pointless questions.
However, he chose to keep the existence of the System a secret. Instead, he used the "power recovery" excuse once more a catch-all explanation to gloss over the details. Since the power he used was not elemental and didn't belong to any power system recorded in Teyvat, he had plenty of room to improvise.
Beside them, Paimon was shocked by Su Ming's words. "Lumine! Did you hear that? Su Ming said he isn't from this world either!"
Lumine nodded. "I heard. They weren't exactly trying to hide their conversation from us."
Lumine was also quite surprised. She had suspected something for a while, as the power Su Ming used was simply too unique. But as an outsider herself, her understanding of the continent was shallow. She had initially thought it was just another power system of Teyvat, perhaps even a secret technique taught by the Adepti.
But now it seemed... the methods Su Ming employed had been power from beyond this world from the very beginning.
Shenhe, on the other hand, remained quite calm. Although this was new information to her as well, it didn't seem to matter. Her junior brother was still her junior brother; that had never changed.
She simply watched Su Ming and her Master in silence. These two were the most important people in her life. If possible, she didn't want to see them in conflict. Although Su Ming often provoked their Master's temper in the past, the atmosphere this time was clearly different.
Fortunately, the scene Shenhe feared did not materialize.
After a long sigh, Cloud Retainer spoke softly. "In any case, if you encounter difficulties, come to me. If this Adeptus cannot solve it, I will go to Rex Lapis..."
Halfway through her sentence, Cloud Retainer's mood darkened. She stopped abruptly, seemingly struck by a sudden realization, and sighed deeply again. "Forget it... forget it... This Adeptus is weary and shall stay here tonight. Unless there is an urgent matter, do not disturb me."
With that, Cloud Retainer walked toward the room Shenhe had just prepared for her. Once her back had disappeared from sight, Paimon whispered with a sigh, "It seems the passing of Rex Lapis was a huge blow to these Adepti."
Lumine nodded in agreement.
Shenhe added, "It is unavoidable. Master has followed Rex Lapis since the era of the Archon War. Three thousand years have passed, and while she has seen countless friends depart, she likely never expected the Lord to precede her in death. Let her have some peace."
Su Ming watched Cloud Retainer's retreating figure and sighed. He really wanted to tell her that Rex Lapis was actually just two streets away at the Heyu Tea House, currently listening to Yun Jin perform an opera.
After the show, he'd likely head to Wanmin Restaurant for a late-night snack. After eating, he'd probably realize he had no money to pay the bill and would have it sent to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. In the end, he might even get a scolding from Director Hu.
But he couldn't help it. His Master was Cloud Retainer. If he were the disciple of Moon Carver or Mountain Shaper, he might have spilled the beans, simply asking them to keep it a secret and act the part.
But Cloud Retainer's mouth was far too loose and talkative. Su Ming was fine; he hadn't been under her tutelage for long and his luck was good, so he hadn't left behind any embarrassing stories. But for those like Ganyu and Shenhe, who had been raised by her since childhood, their "dark histories" had been practically shouted from the rooftops by her.
Take, for example, the classic "The Adeptus who went Gulu Gulu and rolled down the mountain."
Shenhe's embarrassing stories were manageable because she usually shut Cloud Retainer down before she could start. But Cloud Retainer still couldn't resist picking moments when Shenhe wasn't around to quietly gossip with Su Ming about Shenhe's childhood.
Su Ming was truly afraid that if he told his Master, all of Liyue Harbor would know by the next morning that Rex Lapis had faked his death to retire. The news would travel too fast. He was genuinely worried that the old man would come over and kick him all the way to Mondstadt to stand side-by-side with Barbatos.
Ultimately, it came down to his lack of strength. If he were strong enough to handle Zhongli, he would have already gone to the Jade Chamber to broadcast the news of the Geo Archon's retirement. Why would he be agonizing over whether to keep the secret?
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