The trip up to the Jade Chamber was thankfully a smooth one with Yelan leading me. Rather than flying up there on one of my summons, we took the flying platform that ferried the people who would ride to and from the Jade Chamber on a daily basis for work and such.
"Does the sight of Liyue's vistas fill you with wonder at seeing them from above?" Yelan asked softly as she stood beside me as I rested an arm on the platform of the railing that was taking us from the ground up to the Jade Chamber.
At Yelan's question, I couldn't help but look at her with a bit of confusion and even sarcasm. "Uh, Yelan you realize I fly everywhere, right? I can fly the city of Liyue to Mondstadt in less than six hours where you would take days to get there." After my sarcastic reply, I did look out to the brightly lit Liyue nightlife before I spoke again. "But yes. Liyue is a beautiful city and has amazing views surrounding it as well," I spoke softly as I stared at the city life below with a pang in my heart.
Because from a distance it looked nothing unlike the modern city life from back in my previous life, and although I love the powers I now have. And all the other bonuses like Lumine and even Eula, I still missed Earth's creature comforts and internet which I could relax with after a hard day's work.
Rather than Yelan some kind of weakness I shoved back my thoughts as I put away my emotions and I looked back over to the femme fatale of Liyue who quirked an eyebrow at me looking at her. "So did the Fatui rat squeal?" I asked to break the silence and Yelan shrugged.
"Not yet. He is a brave one, but we haven't put the screws to him... Better to let him stew for a bit before we get heavy handed and who knows, someone else may try to break him out and we can capture them as well if they think the agent is uncompromised and retrievable." Yelan spoke carelessly making me raise an eyebrow in surprise at her being so candid.
"What? Curious why I told you so plainly humph!?" Yelan snorted as she folded her arms under her large chest and glared out across Liyue. "I have been targeted by the Fatui for years... Literally been hunted by Harbingers several times so I despise them as no matter what their mysterious goals are. They just won't keep their nose in their own little frozen hell hole and are all but invading all the other nations of the world... But Liyue has bloodied their nose and now they have become even sneakier and with Azhdaha freed I cannot help but wonder if they were the ones who did it to make us focus on Azhdaha so they could do whatever they desire without our oversight." Yelan spoke spitefully as her teal-slit eyes all but glared past me.
"So yes, I am hoping you act as bait for the Fatui or whoever is up to nonsense in my homeland, as I am tired of just being reactive." Yelan finished.
I just shrugged in response. I was getting used to the idea that no matter what happened or where I went, I was going to get dragged into the nonsense and drama that was Genshin Impact. Hell, I was surprised we hadn't run into Dainsleif yet and got the attention of Lumine's abyss brother Aether yet.
"Well, here we are. Just follow me and don't touch anything... Ningguang is extremely, and I do mean extremely petty about anyone who so much as leaves a footprint on the polished floor of this damned waste of money." Yelan muttered at the end as we walked into the Jade Chamber with the guards silently moving aside at Yelan's purpose-filled strides that all but screamed to get the hell out of her way.
-
Yelan quickly led me through the Jade Chamber and soon enough she threw open a sliding door to show a meeting of Liyue's upper echelons in Ganyu, Keqing, and Ningguang obviously in talks who blinked in surprise at Yelan throwing up the door so violently but Keqing's eye's snapped to me and she scowled.
"You! You were the one who threw the guards around with Anemo-powered winds! What if one of them fell off the Jade Chamber when you threw them aside huh!?" She demanded which made sense as she was the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing and was partly in charge of them.
"I would catch them," I said dryly before looking to Ningguang. "Besides that, you should at least tell your guards to allow someone with information about the possible destruction of Liyue to at minimum be allowed to tell the guards what is happening... Rather than locking me up and leaving me to stew for however long." I added at the end making Yelan snort as she took a seat.
Ningguang rather than getting irritated at my sarcastic response to Keqing and how her guards reacted, she merely took a puff from her long pipe before elegantly blowing a whisp of smoke as she balanced the pipe in her hand, and only then did, she focus on me. "And? What is this catastrophic news that will upturn Liyue as we prepare for the Rite of Descension?" Ningguang spoke softly.
Ningguang was honestly something out of a cultivation novel in how she held herself and how supernaturally beautiful she was. Just taking in her form was a challenge in itself as she held herself with such confidence. She was a woman with fair skin, red eyes, and an overall elegant appearance. She has long straight hair, where half of it is tied up into a wide bun resembling a bow, and the rest falls into two divided parts. Her hair was a whitish tan white that reached her knees and faded into an ashy color. Her bun was also accessorized with a black hairpin, and she was also wearing a red tassel decoration atop her head which lays between her eyes.
And then there was how well-dressed she was. Ningguang was wearing her trademarked white, high-necked sleeveless qipao dress with side slits that reach up to the thigh, unveiling black shorts with diamond-cut patterns, below her left midriff where her Geo Vision resides. Ginkgo and phoenix motifs were embellished throughout her dress, accessories, and detached ruffled sleeves. Even her gloves are decorated with copper patterns and claw attachments on the thumb, ring, and pinky fingers that act as fingernail guards.
I wouldn't be surprised if that single dress cost more money than I made in all my time in Teyvat so far honestly.
"Azhdaha has escaped or been freed from his cage," I answered and Ganyu who was going for a sip of her tea choked and looked at me in fear as she knew damned well the strength of the ground dragon who controlled the Earth as the Rex Lapis was the dragon in the Heavens. They were almost equaling back in the day and who knew how much power he had lost or possibly even gained while he sat bound in the leylines for millennia?
"The Geovishap Overlord has escaped!" Ganyu all but cried as she shook her head. "No that's impossible! Lord Rex Lapis and all the Adepti had to come together to seal him away when Erosion broke his mind. None but another god could free him!" Ganyu said strongly but I just shook my head.
"There is a massive hole behind the Elemental Tree of Nantianmen into where he was sealed. I am actually surprised with how close it is to Jueyan Karst that none of the Adepti felt the tremors as Azhdaha was freed and then dug a massive hole into the ground where he has retreated underground." I said making the girls in the room squint as the location of his seal was to the least a secret of Liyue and my pinpoint location of it gave credence to my information.
"Ganyu how much a threat to Liyue would this Azhdaha be? I admit I am not too clear on his history as he has been sealed or thought dead for many centuries." Ningguang asked softly as she twirled her pipe on her finger.
Ganyu took a deep breath looking between everyone and especially me before she sighed. "I guess it doesn't really matter if I speak freely. But Azhdaha was bar none Lord Rex Lapis's greatest supporter and champion in the Archon War. With Azhdaha having killed a number of other gods on his own in service to the Lord of Geo... So, should he march on Liyue in order to get back at Rex Lapis for sealing him there's nothing Liyue can do as he can tunnel through the reinforced soil that holds up Liyue like its nothing and just appear in the middle of the city to wreak havoc before we can respond." Ganyu spoke before she stood up.
"Jake, can you please take me to the seal so I can verify this news? Lady Ningguang, with every fiber of my illuminated Adepti blood I can feel from his emotions that he isn't lying or even hiding anything so you and Keqing need to step up the number of Millelith while Jake and I go check and seal and even go further north to Jueyan Karst to tell the Adepti of what has happened!" Ganyu rushed with Ningguang nodding with a frown.
"Very well. Keqing you begin the recruitment process to add more bodies to the Millelith, they need to be trained mostly in search and rescue. Expecting mortals to meet a god in battle... Is just a waste of their lives." Ningguang said with distaste before she looked to Yelan. "Yelan you need to sweep the city again, look for signs of the lesser Geovishap activity, overturning soil, breaking down rocks, and such."
Then Ningguang looked to me, but I cut her off. "Yeah, I did my good deed, I got paid and now I am going home to rest for a bit as I have flown from Mondstadt to Liyue only to fly back to northern Liyue to kill a greater Geovishap and come back in a rush. I am exhausted and refuse to fly across Liyue again tonight as I literally cannot." I said perfectly honest.
My soul, my aura was running on fumes, and I had neither the patience nor the time to fly there. I wanted to just go home and eat.
"Ganyu calls upon General Alatus or better known as the Conquer of Demons, he can literally teleport across Liyue without too many issues he can deal with finding the truth and warning the Adepti and even the Lord of Geo... Now Yelan don't bother breaking into my house again in the middle of the night to be a voyeur I am just going home to eat and then go to bed," I said feeling the weight of my soul deep exhaustion making me more irritable than usual.
But like before Ningguang just tittered as she looked between me and Yelan while raising an eyebrow. "Hoh, I didn't know you could sense Yelan when she went invisible Jake. Thats an interesting skill as she can even escape the senses of Harbingers when does so."
I was literally about to say something about how I could smell her or about I could hear her doing her side of things as I was in bed with Eula and Lumine as we christened the house but even in my tired state, I realized that was too crass, so I just grunted and turned around. "I gave my warning. If you have any jobs for me and my girls. Just send someone to tell us, but I am heading home for now." I said waving my hand backwards as I heard Keqing snort at my evasion over Yelan's little invisibility skill.
-
I quickly made my home, and I did wake up a bit when I threw myself off the Jade Chamber so I could glide back home on my wingsuit so when I got home, I was able to truly smile in comfort to the smell of a home-cooked meal filling the air and the voices of my girls all conversing. in the kitchen.
"Hey girls I am back!" I called out as I kicked off my shoes and as I came into the living room, I saw that Lumine was working in the kitchen on some kind of dish and her previously burnt feet had already lost their redness and looked to be perfectly fine.
"Welcome back!" Paimon yelled as she whirled away from where she was watching Lumine working on her food and likewise, the blond beauty also tilted her head to the side as she looked back at me with a soft smile to welcome me back home.
"I am making some creamy pasta with vegetables," Lumine spoke as she came up behind her in the kitchen and wrapped my arms around her stomach so I could tuck my chin over her head so I could hug and watch her work as Paimon gave me a quick side hug and then begin chattering herself.
"Oh yeah Jake, Paimon went with Eula and Yanfei to go talk to that Madam Ping and oh my gosh she was so sweet to Paimon and the others. Honestly, she was like Liyue's beloved Grandma really." Paimon excitedly exclaimed as she went onto talk about how they told Madam Ping who was also an adeptus, about the excape of Azhdaha...
"But guh! She doesn't even seem to care! Saying this hocus pocus about how the Lord of Geo will deal with it and how the big dragon was obviously going to be greatly faded in comparison to what he once was! Someone should have said that to Dvallin when he was throwing tornados in the middle of Mondstadt and snatching people up into the sky!" Paimon complained bringing up the time the storm dragon did just to me and Lumine.
Even as Paimon talked I held Lumine in an affectionate filled embrace as she bobbed side to side in comfort as she stirred the pasta that was cooking at a high heat and after a minute, I felt Eula herself tuck herself against my side as she sought to give us both a silent hug as well.