There was still fear lingering in Jiang Ning's eyes. If that last hit had landed fully, he would have likely lost all ability to fight.
"Little brother!"
Shenhe rushed to Jiang Ning's side, holding him in her arms, her eyes full of worry.
In that instant, she remembered the words her father had once spoken.
"Your fate is marked by loneliness and destruction. Those around you will not meet good ends..."
If anything had happened to her little junior brother today, Shenhe would likely never recover from it.
"Senior sister, I'm fine... but what's happening now?"
Jiang Ning patted his senior sister's shoulder, curiously examining the shield that was protecting both him and Shenhe.
Geo element, golden in color, covered in mysterious text and patterns he couldn't understand.
More importantly, no matter how the demon god's resentful energy and walking corpses attacked from outside, they couldn't breach the shield even a single step.
Not even a ripple appeared on its surface.
"You two are truly reckless, daring to face a demon god's resentful energy alone. You should know that a demon god's resentment is far more troublesome and powerful than mere remnants," said a magnetic voice, and Jiang Ning let out a sigh of relief.
"Master..."
Jiang Ning collapsed onto the ground.
His master was an adeptus after all - with him here, they could probably relax a bit.
Shenhe also curiously looked at Zhongli. She had met him before - Cloud Retainer had once said that if he came to drink tea, they shouldn't be discourteous, but should leave him be.
Moreover, her little junior brother had taken him as a master, which made her even more curious.
"This time, you were both rash," Zhongli said, looking at Jiang Ning with slight reproach.
"If I hadn't happened to be nearby, you would have been in serious trouble."
Shenhe spoke up: "Sir, please don't blame junior brother. It was my responsibility - I didn't investigate thoroughly before..."
"Senior sister, don't say that. I also just followed you here without thinking, so I'm responsible too."
Looking at the siblings trying to take blame for each other, Zhongli shook his head helplessly. Why did he feel like he was getting in the way of young love...
"Strictly speaking, this incident isn't entirely your fault. The Qixing stated this was caused by demon god remnants, which you should have been able to handle with your abilities. However, a demon god's resentful energy is no simple matter."
Zhongli explained.
"A demon god's resentful energy retains parts of the demon god's soul, memories, and even their powers. You were quite unlucky this time - this particular resentful energy belongs to one who possessed complete power."
Jiang Ning said, "I see... we'll have to demand compensation from the Qixing when we return."
"When there are mistakes, there should be corrections and compensation - that's natural," Zhongli said. "This commission was a contract, and its contents and obligations exceeded what was agreed upon. This is a breach of contract, so punishment is due - let's settle it with compensation."
"But speaking of which, Master Zhongli, why does this demon god's resentful energy keep calling out Morax's name? It was shouting at me earlier, and now it's shouting at you too... Which demon god was this? Can't rest peacefully even in death."
Jiang Ning asked curiously.
Zhongli replied, "Perhaps because they were once slain by Morax, and thus harbor deep resentment towards him. They might associate anything related to Morax with him? It's quite a coincidence that both you and I use Geo element, and our adeptal arts are more or less connected to Morax."
"As for this demon god's identity..."
A hint of reminiscence appeared in Zhongli's eyes: "The Demon God of Death, Samikina. During the Archon War, they were considered quite an peculiar demon god."
"Demon God of Death... then what about these walking corpses?"
Seeing that the zombie horde and demon god's resentment couldn't even create a ripple outside, Jiang Ning gradually relaxed and asked.
Zhongli said, "These were all that demon god's followers, or rather, their people."
Jiang Ning was stunned: "How cruel is that?"
Turning your own people into walking corpses - what kind of twisted idea was that?
Zhongli continued, "Though it's said that demon gods love humans, some demon gods' love for humanity was far too heavy."
"They loved according to their own understanding, but they didn't realize that their way of loving might be a disaster for humans."
Jiang Ning said, "I know about that. In neighboring Mondstadt, that demon god was overthrown by Barbatos and the people of Mondstadt because their way of protecting humans wasn't very acceptable, right?"
Zhongli nodded slightly: "Yes, but the Death Demon God before us believed that their people could only share the same fate as them by becoming their servants - walking corpses. So they used their power to turn all their people into undead."
"Although their people would be immortal as long as the Death Demon God lived, these people lost their own thoughts and became mere walking corpses."
"In that case, they might as well have died..."
Jiang Ning muttered, then looked at the walking corpses outside, shuddering as he imagined himself becoming like that.
Zhongli glanced at the walking corpses and said slowly, "Well, this isn't the place for conversation. Let's go somewhere else."
"But what about this demon god's resentment..."
Jiang Ning said.
Zhongli replied, "It's a pity. If that Demon-Subduing Great Sage were here, perhaps they could deal with this demon god's resentment..."
Zhongli felt he needed to keep his identity hidden. Each adeptus had their specialty - none of the other adepti could eliminate demon god remnants or resentful energy.
Only the Guardian Yaksha could do it, and of course, Rex Lapis himself could too.
But if Zhongli did that, it would be like writing "I am Morax" on his face.
However, if he had known he wanted to retire, he should have chosen a different appearance when going to Cloud Retainer's place for tea. Cloud Retainer's mouth...
Zhongli had a headache.
He felt that the revelation of his identity was inevitable sooner or later.
[Found it! Found it! Host! I found the manual and solution!]
The system's voice was extremely excited, but Jiang Ning felt neither joy nor sorrow, and even wanted to curse.
"But Master has already resolved the situation..."
[Well, I have a way to remedy this... Remember last time when we robbed that small Fatui squad and you received a reward?]
"I know, I can eat without getting sick and won't get fat no matter how much I eat, right? What use is that?"
Jiang Ning thought to himself.
[It's useful! Host, you have the absorption skill, right? This means you can absorb anything without worrying about getting sick. It's like being a side-effect-free version of the Demon-Subduing Great Sage!]
The system declared confidently, seeming to seek praise.
Jiang Ning was stunned.
Huh?