Original God Zhongli BG Xiao Qinglong traveled through time

Dusk permeates the carved window lattices of the teahouse on the rocks, and the gold lacquer fragments held between Ye Lan's fingers glow eerily under the candlelight. The lightning patterns on the broken edges match the repair records of the castle tower three days ago - "Three inches of gilt on the eaves are missing, and there are suspected claw marks." The tip of the cinnabar pen hangs above the secret report, and the ink leaves a hideous black spot on the "List of Gifts from the Shrine Magistrate". The ink stains on the paw pads of the ragdoll cat Xizhi just overlap into the outline of a plum blossom, and half a fragment of the painted horse of the Narujin Taisha Shrine is stuck between the claws.

"You stole the fried tofu, but you even dared to scrape off the gilded ornaments of General Thunder." She kicked away the jagged wooden sign "Forbidden to Raise Spiritual Pets" at her feet, her voice trembling unconsciously, "Why don't you copy the triple thunder pattern as well?"

The sound of jade hitting each other came from the top of the antique shelf. Xizhi was using the purple gold armor set brought back by Daoqi to fiddle with Zhongli's newly acquired Hetian jade paperweight. The long silver-gray tail drooped like a galaxy, and every time the golden bell at the tip of the tail swung, there were many hair-thin scratches on the surface of the jade. Yelan squinted and stared at the return array pattern on the edge of the paperweight - it was exactly the same as the list of Boyang's relics reported lost by Wangsheng Hall when Lin Huan disappeared three months ago.

“How long are you going to pretend?” She suddenly tore open the map of Liyue on the wall. There were a few rock elemental symbols added to the abyss. “Chongyun encountered the ‘white cat that exorcises evil’ in Jueyunjian. Xiangling complained that the Jueyun pepper pot in Wanmintang was ‘painted with a fairy array by the cat’s tail’. Xingqiu…” The words got stuck in her throat. She grabbed the manuscript of ‘Swordsman Records’ on the desk and shook it open. “He put two cups of tea on his desk every day, saying that ‘Waiting for Sister Lin to drink together’.”

“Bang—”

The paperweight was swept to the ground by the cat's tail, and the cracks showed the look in Lin Huan's eyes when he saw Boyang's broken sword. Ye Lan suddenly grabbed the cat's paw, and the unhealed dragon scale scar under the pad was stained with Inazuma sea salt: "You disappeared for half a year, and you came back as if nothing happened? You really think you are..."

"It's the greedy cat that ate Honey Sanda." The ragdoll cat spoke with a sticky nasal voice like a baby, deliberately hiding the gravel-like hoarseness in his throat, "Does Mr. Zhongli's gilded box still have almond tofu? The healing talisman that you crushed last time--"

“Stop talking about other things!” Ye Lan smashed the celadon teacup with her palm, and the boiling water burned scorch marks on the map of Liyue Harbor. “Xingqiu changed the ending of ‘The Hidden Swordsman’ to ‘Appreciating the Sky Lanterns with the Scholar’, Chongyun rubbed the rock elemental power into the exorcism talisman, Xiangling…” She grabbed the spicy cold cake from the food box, and the rock-patterned silver bell embedded in the center of the cake tinkled, “She incorporated the knife skills you taught her into ‘Introduction to Teyvat Swordsmanship’, and the cover page features a cat-eared cook!”

The arc of Xizhi's leap from the antique shelf was very similar to the posture of Niwa falling into the sea four hundred years ago. The fluff brushed across the open pages of "The Idiot Immortal Transformation Plan" - the cinnabar star next to "Learn to Depend" had dimmed, and the word "honesty" was torn to pieces by the claw marks. When Ye Lan touched its trembling back, the cat's eyes flashed with bitterness like a surging tide.

"The 'waiting' of a mortal is like a guillotine hanging around the neck of an immortal, torturing his soul day after day." Mao'er buried his face in the tip of his tail, his voice muffled like amber soaked in water, "Do you think I don't want to respond to Xingqiu? But if he knew that 'Sister Lin' lived for five hundred years..."

"Monster?" Ye Lan suddenly sneered, making the eaves bells hum non-stop. "Who is the one squatting on Xingqiu's window lattice every night to use rock elements to dispel fatigue? Who is the one who secretly stuffed the ice silkworm sachet into Chongyun's mouth when he had a high fever and lied that it was brought by a wild cat? When Xiangling tries new dishes, she always puts a cat's paw print with a "very spicy" level - is this what you call "monster behavior"? "

She pulled the cat's front paws apart, and the evil-repelling charm bracelet woven by Chongyun was shining golden under the fur, and the pure yang energy and rock elements entangled to form the earthly handwriting of "Sister Lin, be well." Xizhi suddenly pulled out his claws, but he overturned the gilded box, and five hundred "coquettish practice tickets" flew like snow, and the back of each ticket was engraved with rock patterns: "Three quarters of the afternoon, Xingqiu coughs and asthma, and should send Chuanbei loquat paste."

"Even 'showing good will' has to be turned into a to-do list." Ye Lan picked up the wrinkled paper ticket. There were traces of tears next to the cat's paw print of "failed to rub the palm three times". "Do you know what Hu Tao said? 'Xizhi's paw pad has the warmth of Sister Lin'. That little girl posted a 'missing cat notice' in the Wangsheng Hall every day. The cat in the picture is wearing your gilded silver butterfly hairpin!"

The noise of the Wanmin Hall broke through the window paper. Xizhi jumped onto the window coffin and saw Xiangling chasing Xingqiu all over the street with "spicy cat rice" in her hand, and Chongyun holding a talisman to exorcise evil spirits and shouting "Be careful not to burn the cat." The moonlight gilded the outlines of the young men, and the manuscript that fell out of Xingqiu's book bag was blown up by the wind. The latest chapter titled "The Secret Story of the Sword Immortal's Cat Ears" burned the cat's eyes.

"What they want is never a template of a perfect immortal." Ye Lan's voice was wrapped in a rare gentleness, but the next second it was hardened into an icy blade. "Do you think you can avoid separation by wearing a cat's skin? Wrong! You repaired Xingqiu's broken brush, cleansed Chongyun's evil spirits, and injected immortal power into Xiangling's diet - these 'silent concerns' are the sharpest separation!"

"Crack——"

The cat's tail hit the broken ice and cracked the plum vase, and three Qingxin flowers suddenly bloomed in the porcelain pieces. Ye Lan cut off the flower stem and stuffed it into the cat's mouth. The moment the spicy taste exploded on the tip of her tongue, Xizhi's pupils shrank into thin lines - this was the taste of the "pain-relieving spicy soup" that Boyang had made for her that year.

"You took Grandpa's last words before he died as 'a farewell without regrets'." Ye Lan's fingertips sank into the bony shoulders beneath the fur. "Hu Xingzhi asked you to look after the Hall of the Dead, but you turned yourself into a ghost guest. You even ran away when Hu Tao called you 'sister'. You always say that 'the mortal body is fragile', but what you are actually afraid of is..."

"Enough!" Xizhi suddenly transformed into a human form, the lightning pattern on his green shirt still intact, but around his neck was a chain for exorcism woven by Chongyun. The tears of the dragon horns flowed under the moon, and the rock elemental force tore cracks in the floor tiles. "I'm afraid that one day, the way they look at me... is like looking at the remains of a floating house, like looking at a thousand-year-old relic!"

Ye Lan's tail needle pressed against her throat, but fell when it touched her skin. She saw the surging emotions in Lin Huan's eyes, overlapping with the eternal thunderstorm when Inazuma locked herself in the country, but she caught a glimpse of Xiangling's recipe notes on his sleeve - "Add osmanthus honey" with a tear-stained "I'm afraid she'll dislike the coldness of her fingers".

"Even 'being loved' requires calculation of gains and losses." Ye Lan tore off the faded exorcism chain, and re-knotted it with the blue light of the Eye of God. "Chongyun's pure yang can't hurt you, just like Xingqiu's sword can't cut through the rocks. What you fear is not 'loss', but 'losing control when craving for the warmth of mortals' - just like you relied on Boyang in the past, indulging in the warmth of the mortal world."

The clear sound of medicine bells suddenly rang out in the morning mist, and Qiqi walked in holding a celadon medicine bottle. There was a walnut-painted cat paw sticker on the bottle: "Mr. Baishu's newly formulated medicine...'Honest Powder'." Lin Huan stared at the four words "I knew the Immortal in the past" and suddenly remembered the Son of God's whisper at the Mingshen Taisha Shrine - "Pain is the clear evidence of being alive."

"Ye Lan, I..." Her throat seemed to contain spicy candy, the sweetness and burning pain twisted into a mess. Outside the window, Xing Qiu finally stopped Xiang Ling, and the three of them sat around to share the cat food. Chong Yun's talisman shone like a star in the twilight, illuminating Xiang Ling's newly drawn "Fairy Cat Food Record".

Ye Lan stuffed the spicy cake into her palm, and the scent of the sweet-scented osmanthus mixed with the soul-soothing powder penetrated her internal organs. She pointed to the lights at the end of the long street, and Walnut's limericks floated in the night wind: "Cat, cat, don't hide, there are dried fish in the hall of rebirth--"

The moment Lin Huan bit down the cake, the spiciness burned her heart along her throat, but a clear heart opened up in her eyes. Ye Lan smoothed the lightning pattern on her collar for her, and her fingertips brushed the unfading lightning cherry in her hair: "Let's go to Wanmin Hall tomorrow. Xiangling has said that 'cats who dare to try new dishes are worthy of being called tasters.'" Her whisper was as light as falling cherry blossoms, "Xingqiu added a plot of 'the appearance of the sword immortal' in the book, and Chongyun compiled a new talisman to keep out the cold... They understand the 'weakness of immortals' better than you think."

Lin Huan lowered her head and looked at the cake crumbs in her palm. The spicy taste was mixed with the fiery taste of Jueyun. The words of the Son of God, "Eternity can tolerate cracks," suddenly echoed in her ears. She suddenly pulled off the butterfly pendant of reincarnation from her neck. With the crisp sound of the jade pendant breaking, the words "Together Travel" were revealed on the inner wall, which was exactly the same as the marks on Boyang's jade bracelet.

"Does it hurt?" Ye Lan gently touched her bleeding fingertips, which were the scratches caused when she broke the rope.

Lin Huan licked the blood, the rusty taste mixed with the spicy taste burning the tip of her tongue. She looked up at the dawn sky, Xingqiu's oil-paper umbrella was passing through the morning mist, and the newly painted "Swordsman Playing with Cats" on the umbrella winked at her slyly.

"It hurts." She finally spoke, her voice trembling with relief, "but... it tastes wonderful."

Ye Lan's laughter wrapped in the early sun fell into the cold tea, and the Longjing tea suddenly gave off a warm fragrance. She opened a new page of "Stupid Immortal Transformation Plan", with cinnabar outlining the stars next to "honesty", and a ragdoll cat licking its paws painted on the side, with the golden paint peeling off the claws revealing unhealed dragon scales - that was the old wound of a certain immortal named "Lin Huan" who finally dared to show it to others.

(As the morning light flooded over the tea table, the wind chimes on the eaves of the Wangsheng Hall swayed gently. Hu Tao stood on tiptoe to post the newly written "Missing Cat Notice" at the highest point. The stuffed cat in the painting held a flute in its paws, and a dragon's tail was wrapped around a half-eaten spicy jelly cake - that was the most vivid image of an "immortal" that even time could not dry up.)