Original God Zhongli BG Xiao Qinglong traveled through time

Chapter 360: Moonlight is like sand, rock is full of love

Moonlight flowed through the window like silver silk, weaving frosty ripples on Zhongli's knees. Xizhi curled up into a snow-white fur ball, and the tip of his tail was like a metronome woven with silver threads, gently swaying with the sound of turning pages of ancient books. Suddenly, the fluffy silver tail swept across the sandalwood table, bringing with it a faint fragrance of a thousand-year-old dormant glass lily - exactly the one that Guizhong had planted under the corridor of Yiyan Palace that year.

"Sir." The soft and tender meow of a cat suddenly had a fairy-like charm. Zhongli lowered his eyes, and the little beast in his arms was already sitting upright like a lotus, its blue eyes glittering with gold, and its claws were clasping the vital point on his wrist. Its fluffy tail coiled into a star track formation, and each silver hair was beating with the faint light of the earth veins, as if crushing the Milky Way in the sky into a small space.

The sound of a book closing broke the silence. Zhongli's fingertips stroked the quivering hair on her ear, stirring up tiny particles of stardust: "You stayed awake longer tonight."

"You always laugh at me for being lazy," Mao Tuan tilted his head and rubbed his palm, and the tip of his tail curled up the cool celadon cup, "but don't you always stay by your side with cold tea and read until dawn?"

The tea soup rippled, reflecting the shadow of Guizhong holding the cup, and the cloud pattern on his sleeves was spreading with his smile: "Morax, when will you learn to taste this bitter tea in the world?"

The tip of the tail dipped in the moonlight, drawing a crooked lightning cherry on the table. Zhongli's knuckles suddenly tightened, and the sandalwood table surface silently cracked into spider web-like fine lines. The immature strokes overlapped with the memory - the day when Ruo Tuo slammed the door and left, the last crack carved by the dragon claws on the black crystal floor tile is still hidden under the ninth barrier of Yiyan Palace.

"The thunder cherry blossoms in Inazuma Castle... should be in full bloom." Xizhi's voice was as light as the red cherry blossoms about to fall from the branches, "Tenryo Bugyo is colluding with the Fatui, and the Fatui are also fighting among themselves. Xiaoyu has never replied to my letter. He was cut off one arm by General Lei Dian while protecting Manye's friends. Now he is in danger and I don't know if he is safe. Aying's trip to Inazuma is dangerous... Sir, can you allow me..."

The rock pattern grew wildly from the palm like thorns, and instantly wrapped around her pink flesh pad. Xi Zhi was shocked to find that the hand that was warm for eternity was now as cold as a deep abyss of jade. "A thousand years ago, Ruo Tuo asked me -" Zhongli's voice sank into the deep pool of moonlight, "'The deepest fear of the guardian is to be attacked by swords or to have mountains and rivers overturned?'" His fingertips stroked the lightning cherry on the tip of her tail, and his gilded pupils reflected the bloody dusk of Nantianmen: "It's just watching the important people burn out their lives, while I have to sit alone on the altar and count the spring and autumn."

"This time, I will never allow it." The rock pattern suddenly tightened, but did not hurt her at all. "The traveler's star of destiny shines as bright as before, and the fate of the puppet is determined by heaven. And you..." The blood-jade-like plum blossom mark on the palm of her hand flickered, "You should learn to be a real cat."

The lightning cherry at the tip of Xizhi's tail shattered into pieces. She saw Rong Zhao's silver spear piercing through the rain curtain, and blood beads condensed on Ye Jin's trembling eyelashes; she saw when Fushe fell into the abyss, Xiao's wail shattered the sharp blade of Hepu Yuan; she also saw when Zhongli stroked the top of the boy's head, the golden light passed through his fingers like stardust - those hands moved mountains and dug seas, and also sealed Ruotu, but now they were trembling slightly in her fur.

"Ah Huan." The rock pattern suddenly turned into a gilded sand waterfall, wrapping her claws that wanted to escape. This name that had been forgotten for a long time was now like the heaviest copper bell on the eaves of the Wangsheng Hall, shaking the ground veins. "You are always like this. It was before, and it is still like this now. At that time, I had to put Liyue first, and there were many things that I could not be partial to, and many feelings... I could not take them all into consideration. You shared my burden, and the immortals entrusted their lives to you. I never thanked you, but I have always kept it in my heart and dare not forget it at all. And you are the youngest, but you are willing to go through fire and water for Liyue, for your loved ones and friends! But now, you are no longer the same person you were back then, and you still have many scars that have not healed. Why put yourself in danger again?"

"Now... since you have returned to your true form, you should enjoy this rare peace and make plans after you recover. As for me... if you are put in danger, I... cannot bear to lose you again."

The furry head in his arms rested against his heart, listening to his increasingly rapid breathing and heartbeats, motionless. After a long silence, Xizhi suddenly jumped onto his shoulder and pressed her warm nose against his slightly cool earlobe. Her fluffy tail wrapped around his neck like a cloud, "I understand that you are still scared, but there are some things... you are wrong."

Her voice fell clear in the moonlight, "It's not 'left behind', but 'entrusted'."

Zhongli's pupils shrank slightly. Xizhi had already jumped back to his knees, hooked his finger with the tip of her tail and pressed it against her chest: "Listen..." Through the fur, the steady heartbeat resonated with the ground veins. The heroic souls who died in battle five hundred years ago, the old friends who disappeared a thousand years ago, their smiles bloomed one after another in the fragrance of the glass lily.

"I heard the echo in the earth veins. Sister Guizhong from Guiliji said that she wanted to let Morax taste sweet almond tofu; Brother Fushe kept talking about teaching Xiao to dance the sacrificial dance; Uncle Ruota asked me to accompany Master well and not let the arrow of the Dream of the Fallen Dragon be aimed at close friends again..." Xizhi's blue eyes were as bright as stars, "I promised to accompany Master for them, watching Liyue, watching Master change from a 'god' to a mortal who would frown at herbal tea. Back then... I watched Ye Jin take over Rong Zhao's gun, and now I watch A Ying complete her journey——"

The gilded lines crumbled bit by bit, and Zhongli stared at the remaining silver fur on his palm. Xizhi had curled back into his lap, her snoring shaking the moonlight into fireflies: "So don't be afraid, sir, Xizhi won't disappear suddenly... After all, all of Teyvat..." She hooked her claws on his collar, and her sleepy mumbling was stained with icing sugar, "There is no place warmer than your lap..."

The flowing fire rising into the sky outside the window turned into a gilded dragon shadow circling the night sky. Zhongli condensed amber on his fingertips, sealing the unfinished words "It's up to you" into the hair on her ear. On the tea table, the twisted thunder cherry blossoms and the bloody plum blossoms quietly blended, and next to the title of "The Bustling World, All for Home", they blossomed into a new earth vein totem.