"I'm talking about the Witch's Association, of course."
"The Witch's Association is a group of mischievous girls who challenged Barbados."
"But Barbados pointed at me and said, 'Look, that guy is Merlin, the master of all magic, sorcery, miracles, and dreams in the mortal world. I think a god would be more suitable as your opponent.'"
"....This pseudonym was just something I made up."
Ying's mouth twitched.
Indeed, the so-called Mondstadt "Trickster Demon God - Merlin" was actually Liyue's "Demon God of Clouds - Morax," who was the time traveler "Zhou Yun" from six thousand years ago.
Suddenly, Ying saw a familiar name in the diary.
Alice... Ms. Alice, Klee's mother and the famous adventurer?!
Ying's expression made Paimon curious.
"What's wrong, Ying?" Paimon asked curiously.
After hesitating for a moment, Ying read the contents of the diary out loud.
"Each witch has her own charm, and my heart, as a demon god, can hardly resist it..." Ying whispered.
After saying it, she regretted it a little.
"A truly...playful demon god?" Lisa hesitated for a moment before giving her evaluation.
Ying took a deep breath and continued to read.
"Especially Alice, she is as passionate as fire...she makes me remember my youth."
Upon hearing Alice's name, Lisa couldn't restrain her expression anymore.
"Alice?! What a familiar name?" Paimon scratched her head and said.
"Little Paimon, Alice is the famous adventurer," Lisa reminded her. Paimon was stunned for a moment and exclaimed, "Does that mean Klee's father is a demon god?!"
Lisa nodded gently. "I've been wondering all along, what kind of man could hold down Ms. Alice, but I never thought it would be a real ancient demon god."
"Since the Old Mondstadt era, the story of the Trickster God, Merlin, has been circulating in Mondstadt. It is said that he would appear on the square in the early morning, looking like an ordinary magician, but if you were the chosen one of fate, he would grant you a real miracle."
"I never thought that Klee's father was that god of magic." Lisa couldn't help but exclaim.
"A real miracle? Is it the miracle of making lots of Sweet Flower Chicken?" Paimon couldn't help but ask.
"Or perhaps... the miracle of returning to your hometown and reuniting with your family." Ying's lips moved slightly as she murmured softly.
"who knows? The children of Mondstadt have their own sayings." Lisa laughed softly. "The God of Wishes in the Jade Chamber, Alatus, has a profound saying..."
"The true miracle is the realization of a dream."
She gave Yan a meaningful look and whispered, "Please continue reading, little one."
Ying nodded and looked at the next part of the diary.
Ying's eyebrows couldn't help but raise slightly because she found that the two diaries were not connected.
The two diaries were obviously written at different times.
She told Lisa about her discovery.
Lisa shook her head helplessly, "The library once suffered a big fire during the Autumn Equinox, and many books were burned. Many were also lost. I think these diaries also lost some parts."
Ying couldn't help but sigh.
The paper that Zhou Yun used to write his diary would not be eroded by time, but it was inevitable that it would be lost accidentally in history.
History is more ruthless than time.
"The diary below should be written on the day of Barbados' ascension to godhood." Ying roughly scanned it and said.
"The story of the god's ascension to the throne is a really interesting secret," Lisa said with a light laugh.
"When Barbados, the Wind God, ascended to the throne, he asked for my real name. I claimed to be the name of the magician from my past life in Britain, the Trickster God, Merlin, and told him he could call me Zhou Yun."
"Zhou Yun?" Lisa raised her eyebrows. "Could it be that the legend of the Trickster God's activity among humans is true?"
Mephistopheles, the God of Clouds, also calls himself "Zhou Yun." Yan thought silently in her heart.
Ying's face did not change, and she continued to read, "I took away the remains of the Tower King, forged a long sword with it, and inserted it into a stone."
"I engraved on the stone: 'Whosoever pulleth out this sword, he shall be the savior of all Mondstadt.'"
" cast a mischievous spell on it. I really want to see the expression of future generations when they find it."
"I buried the sword in the mud layers of the Windrise area. One day, it will reappear in the world."
Ying's gaze slowly glanced at the bottom of the diary, where there was a bold line of text.
"Perhaps it is when you are reading this diary." Those words were written like that.
Ying suddenly felt a chill in her spine, as if a god of magic was staring at her.
Could it be that the person named Zhou Yun, the time traveler, is still active in the world?!
The protagonist looked around anxiously, but ultimately found no trace of the demon.
She trembled slightly with fear. After all, that was a demon from six thousand years ago. In the passage of time, what was the demon's personality like? Cruel or gentle? Kind or evil? What was their attitude towards other arrivals?
The protagonist had no idea.
She didn't dare to expose herself recklessly in front of the demon.
"Cutie?" Lisa looked at the protagonist's reaction and asked softly.
After a moment of silence, the protagonist shook her head and said, "It's nothing, there's nothing wrong."
She treated the feeling of being watched as an illusion in her heart.
"Cutie, do you still want to explore the experiences of this demon?" Lisa asked with interest.
The demon referred to in these diaries, who called himself "Zhou Yun," was likely from the protagonist's hometown. With just this information, the protagonist was unwilling to give up this lead.
"Where do you plan to start next?" Lisa asked, propping her head up with one hand.
The protagonist touched her chin and replied, "Klee."
From the clues in the diary, Klee was likely a descendant of Zhou Yun.
"I don't recommend you do this," Lisa suddenly spoke seriously.
Her serious tone made the protagonist slightly stunned.
"Cutie, your current state is the same as how I was when I pursued knowledge back then."
"There's a quote in the Liryue ancient texts that I just read..." Lisa took a deep breath and said softly, "Humans are diligent in seeking knowledge, while those who possess knowledge are diligent in tracking humans. They are ruthless, like hounds chasing rabbits."
Paimon looked confused and blinked, "What does that mean? Liryue's ancient language is so complicated..."
Lisa couldn't help but laugh at Paimon's puzzled expression.
She softly translated, "It's not people who diligently pursue knowledge, but knowledge that relentlessly pursues people. The pursuit of knowledge is cruel and ruthless, like a hunting dog chasing a rabbit."
Paimon still scratched her head in confusion.
"People think they're pursuing knowledge, but they're actually being hunted by knowledge. The more diligently they pursue, the more seriously they're wounded by knowledge. It's the same with exploring the secrets of the demon god," Lisa explained, shaking her head.
As she spoke, she looked at Ying, her purple eyes sparkling strangely. "The closer you are to the demon god, the easier it is for the demon god to take notice of you. Little cutie, don't you want to avoid being targeted by the demon god right now?"
Ying shuddered behind her.
She understood Lisa's warning was valid. How could Zhou Yun not pay attention to his own blood relatives? If she rashly started investigating from Klee, Zhou Yun would definitely find out.
"Klee is too close to Zhou Yun. I can't start investigating from Klee...," Ying murmured to herself. In fact, she had another option in mind.
That was the bard Venti, the true form of Mondstadt's wind god, Barbatos. If it was him, he must know something about Zhou Yun.
"Little cutie, let me give you some extra advice," Lisa said, her fingers leisurely gliding over the table as she spoke softly. "You can go to the Cathedral of the Seven in Mondstadt."
"The Cathedral of the Seven?" Paimon asked curiously.
"Yes, the Cathedral of the Seven. There are about a dozen 'Demon God Diaries' there," Lisa said, causing Ying to gasp in surprise. "The old aristocrats of Mond used to regard these 'diaries' as divine prophecies and were extremely eager to collect them, in order to show off their status as recipients of divine grace."
"After the old aristocrats were overthrown, the diaries fell into the hands of the church."
Ying couldn't help but laugh silently. Many of the things Zhou Yun had written in the diaries were strange things like "The taste of a witch is really good" or "My demon god's kidneys can't take it anymore."
And yet the old aristocrats regarded them as divine prophecies.
"Thank you, Lisa! Ying and I will go to the Cathedral of the Seven first!" Paimon waved goodbye to Lisa and walked out of the library with Ying.
Lisa chuckled and picked up the Liyue ancient book she had been reading. It was a copy of a book written by an immortal from Liyue that Amber's grandfather had given to the library. Its name was "The Secret Scripture of Xuanjun's Seven Chapters".
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Lisa.
Her fingers flipped to the book's title page, where there was a series of unclear ink marks. But Lisa still read the words written in ancient Liyue.
The name of the original author of the book was written on it.
"Yunhai Zhixia Xuanjun - Zhou Yun."
Lisa's pupils couldn't help but slightly contract.
She also felt the same feeling as Ying, that an ancient demon god was staring at her.
Lisa shook her head involuntarily, driving away the uneasiness in her heart.
She took out a golden Vajravārāhī lamp from under the bookshelf.
Her slender fingers gently rubbed the lamp twice, feeling the metallic texture of the lamp.
"Is knowledge still pursuing me?" Lisa murmured to herself.
Ying stepped on the stairs, crossed the Mondstadt streets, and walked quickly to the top of the cathedral in the City of Freedom.
As she arrived at the entrance of the Knights of Favonius, the magnificent spire of the cathedral was already clearly visible.
The grand cathedral was built by aristocrats to showcase their status.
But would the wind god, who teaches people freedom, really love such a luxurious temple?
Would Zhou Yun, who calls himself the "Magic God of Tricks - Merlin" in Mond, laugh when he sees this scene?
This thought suddenly flashed through Ying's mind, causing her to be distracted for a moment.
"Ying! Watch out!" Paimon quickly reminded her.
Ying collided head-on with someone.
Bang!
Ying's forehead hurt, and she fell to the ground.
"Ah!" A brown-haired girl fell opposite Ying, rubbing her red head.
"Ah? It's the Honorary Knight?" The brown-haired girl exclaimed and quickly stood up.
"I'm sorry! I was lost in thought and didn't look where I was going." The girl quickly apologized with a bow.
Ying rubbed her head and stood up.
"Oh? It's Eileen!" Paimon recognized the brown-haired girl's face and exclaimed in surprise.
Eileen, a novice knight of the Mondstadt Knights of Favonius, who aims to become the leader of the bard group.
"Long time no see, Paimon." Eileen stood up and greeted the white-haired fairy beside Ying.
"What are you going to do, Eileen? Why are you also absent-minded like Ying?" Paimon curiously asked.
Eileen smiled slightly embarrassedly, with a slight blush on her face. "The leader of the bard group gave me the task to escort a caravan. This is my first mission, and I'm a bit nervous."
"Then you have to work hard! Strive to become a real knight!" Paimon clenched her hands and cheered for Eileen.
Eileen blushed and waved goodbye to the two: "I'll go now. See you later, Paimon, Honorary Knight."
After speaking, she quickly walked towards the Mondstadt city gate.
With shining eyes, Yīng watched as Eilin gradually disappeared into the distance.
However, a strange feeling rose in her heart.
It was an accidental premonition, as if she had sensed the most drastic change in her fate.
Yīng shook her head to dispel her thoughts.
"It's strange, my mind is full of these things after reading those diaries," she murmured under her breath, turning to walk towards the West Wind Cathedral.
The chilling northern wind blew over the ancient frozen soil.
In the Winter Palace under the gaze of the Ice Queen, the delicate white-haired mechanic sat on the palm of her puppet's hands, presenting her report. The Ice Queen glanced over the written report on the blank paper.
After a moment, the report submitted by the executor "Puppet" was frozen by frost.
The god who no longer loved anyone gently waved her hand, and the report turned into frost and scattered away.
The figure of the Ice Queen also disappeared into the warm darkness deep in the Winter Palace.
About ten minutes later, the foolish mob of executives walked into the palace.
From the "Captain" who ranked first to the "Scout" and "Lady" who were active in the distant Inari, to the last "Young Master," all eleven executives had arrived.
"What? Do you expect me to come running back from Inari?" the executor codenamed "Scout" said with a hint of anger.
The Young Master shrugged and smiled, "Since it's the command of the Queen, I naturally have to obey."
The Scout snorted disdainfully.
Closed-eyed, the pure and innocent but ignorant girl, Kolumbiya, gently opened her slender lips. "Some ancient memories have been awakened," she said softly.
Her voice was ethereal and echoed for a long time inside the cathedral.
"Didn't you hear it? That's an ancient melody that has been humming around the world for six thousand years."
The girl looked at the other ten executives in ignorance.
The Young Master, Dalia, trembled slightly, feeling a hint of horror from the girl's words.
"Six thousand years? It can't be that guy, right..."
The Scout's tone was still hostile, but the Young Master could see the fear in the Scout's eyes.
"Hey, hey, you immortals, stop being so mysterious!" the Young Master complained.
Just then, Piero, the Commander-in-Chief known as "Pierrot," emerged from the darkness deep in the Winter Palace.
"The Queen has issued an order," Pierrot's voice echoed inside the Winter Palace.
"What happened?" Dalia whispered, sensing the seriousness of the atmosphere.
"A record submitted by 'Katherine' from Mondstadt. The Traveler, Yīng, read a diary," Puppet answered softly.
"A diary?" The Young Master looked confused.
"A diary belonging to the oldest demon god, written six thousand years ago," Pierrot declared.
"Six thousand years... a demon god's diary, that's the same generation as Morax," the Young Master exclaimed.
Pierrot nodded slightly. "The oldest demon god has the power to control fate. It's no coincidence that his diary was deciphered."
"Besides your current mission, you are also responsible for collecting these kinds of papers," Pierrot said, placing several sheets of paper on the table.
"What is this? It looks like a poem," the Young Master asked, leaning forward.
The paper displayed an ancient text in poetic form.
"It's a love poem..." Pierrot's cheeks twitched.
"Whose love poem is it?" The Young Master was even more curious.
"... That oldest demon god, six thousand years ago, wrote a love poem to Her Majesty, the Queen."