Original God Zhongli BG Xiao Qinglong traveled through time

Chapter 395: Return Song

【Egret Farewell at Dusk】

The dusk was like melting amber, spreading over the islands, and the moored boats were plated with flowing gold foil. Lin Huan stood at the bow of the boat, holding his zither, and when his fingertips stroked the ice-cracked body of the zither, he startled three seabirds perched on the strings. Their wings brushed over the red cherry hairpin hanging in Linghua's hair, and shook off a few pieces of memories with the scent of tea in the evening breeze.

"Mr. Lin, when you go, the teahouse of the Kamisato family will always have snacks with triple sugar." Linghua presented a gilded lacquer box. In the pinewood drawer lay a broken cat toy. The surface of the golden bell still had claw marks burned by the lightning element. "Brother said... You should always leave some memories for the old friends to look back on."

Ying's cloak swept across the blue bricks of the dock, awakening the incomplete score of "White Egret Ballad" sleeping in the cracks between the bricks. Lin Huan's fingertips suddenly brushed across the strings of the zither, and the moment the melody dispersed the sea mist, the divine eye on Linghua's waist suddenly lit up - petals condensed from ice crystals fell on the surface of the zither, just completing the seventh ice string that was broken when Grandma Ping taught her.

"This song, "Return to the Plain", should have been accompanied by a bamboo flute." Linghua put her fingers together to form a sword, and the element of ice outlined the outline of Fushe's Nuo mask in the void. "It's a pity that I can never get the inflection of the third verse right." The bell on her wrist swayed lightly with her sigh, awakening the sleeping thunder-patterned catnip in the lacquer box, and the whole boat was instantly filled with green.

Ying looked at Lin Huan's shadow stretched by the dusk, and vaguely saw the Guiliji Wharf five hundred years ago - Grandma Ping was holding the hand of a young fairy girl to tune the strings, and in the distance Hu Xingzhi was climbing over the rocks carrying spicy jelly, his hair still stained with the morning dew of Qingce Villa.

"Please accept this." Linghua took off the snow gauze shawl on the outer layer of her ruga, and the ice elemental force condensed into a divine cherry root pattern on it. "I dreamed of you playing the zither in the Borrowing Scenery Garden the night before, and the roots entangled the tassels at the end of the zither..." She covered the shawl on the surface of the zither, and the pattern of the red cherry coincided with the mark behind Lin Huan's ear. "I embroidered this when I woke up, maybe it can calm some nightmares."

As the last ray of twilight sank into the sea, the boat dragged the broken golden waves. Linghua stood at the end of the pier and hummed a festival tune. An egret made of ice crystals flew over the side of the boat, holding a dragon scale that was shaken off by Lin Huan's piano music in its beak. When the thunder element carved the oath of "eternal reunion" on the scale, the entire Inazuma Sea suddenly glowed with the phosphorescence of rock crystal lilies.

【Night Flight·Amber Melt】*

When the crescent moon climbed up the mast, Lin Huan carved the seventh star track on the deck. Ying wrapped herself in the snow yarn shawl given by Linghua and watched the rock elemental force condense into walnut's plum blossom claw marks on the strings: "If Grandma Ping knew that you changed "Leisurely Traveling in the World" into this, I'm afraid she would hit you on the forehead with the dust-cleansing bell."

"When she was teaching piano..." Lin Huan suddenly played a wrong note, startling a seabird that was stealing dried shrimps and choking, "she always said that music should have the flavor of everyday life." The silver bell on her wrist suddenly shook off the starlight all over the boat, and in the glow emerged an image of Grandma Ping secretly stuffing almond candies into her mouth - at that time, the corners of the music score were still stained with spicy oil.

When the sound of the tide was at its strongest at midnight, Lin Huan found Xingqiu's handwriting on the inscription on the compass. The boy wrote in small cinnabar characters: "I heard that you stole the piano score by stepping on the moon, so I sent the sea breeze to deliver spicy cakes." The bamboo tube filled with Jueyun pepper cakes was stuck in the gap between the steering wheels. Under the tube was a yellowed wanted poster, and on the back was Chongyun's newly painted "Piano Talisman to Suppress Evil".

The glowing smile lit up the sky lanterns. In the warm yellow light, the marks of thunder and rock behind Lin Huan's ears began to ripple. She suddenly used her fingers as blades to cut off three strings. The new strings formed by rock elements actually shone with the red light of the sacred cherry tree: "I should... bring back some of Inazuma's moonlight."

【Morning Return·Fireworks Ballad】

When the morning glow soaked Liyue Harbor like a spilled rouge box, the sail of the Death Star pierced the horizon. Hu Tao sat on tiptoe on the stone lion on the pier, holding the cat in her arms, and the necklace made of the tokens of the Hall of Rebirth jingled in front of her chest: "Guest, look! Is that the fifth harp that my sister stole?"

Ripples appeared on the teacup in Zhongli's palm, and the stem of the colorful flower tea was pointing to the figure holding the zither at the bow: "Master, why don't you guess, is the zither case filled with the ice Epiphyllum that I promised to carve for you?" The rock seal on his wrist flickered, startling the rock crystal butterfly perched on the eaves of the Qun Yu Pavilion - its translucent wings swept across the tips of Walnut's hair, and the scattered star sand condensed into an ancient seal that read "Welcome Home".

Lin Huan's piano music arrived at the port before the anchor. The tune adapted from "Leisurely Wandering in the World" was wrapped in the breath of Inazuma's thunderclouds, but turned into the tinkling of a mountain stream in the chorus. When the thunder pattern of "Dream of One Heart" and the rock light of "Butterfly Pendant of Rebirth" collided in the sea fog, the sky lights of the entire Feiyun Slope turned towards the coast.

"Catch it!" The spicy jelly thrown by Hu Tao drew a rock element trajectory in the air. Lin Huan plucked the strings with his backhand, and the sound waves shook the snacks into fireworks in the shape of golden shrimp balls all over the sky. The spicy pepper powder mixed with the fragrance of colorful flowers startled Master Mao to open the steamer of Wanmin Hall - the tray of spicy glutinous rice balls that had just been wrapped was dancing in circles to the rhythm of the piano.

Zhongli's tea cup appeared on the top of the zither without knowing when. The amber tea soup reflected a morning five hundred years ago - a young fairy girl was secretly drinking his Biluochun tea, and her hair was still stained with the smoke of the battle of Layer Rock. At this moment, in the reflection of the cup, the mark behind Lin Huan's ear was resonating with the rising sun of Liyue.

“Ah Huan—” Hu Tao stepped on the steps paved with rock crystal butterflies and leaped to the bow. The necklace made of the tokens of the Hall of Rebirth entangled the strings of the zither, “You owe me sixty-three jars of osmanthus wine!”

The waves condensed into amber at that moment. Lin Huan's outstretched arms startled the seabirds perched on the butterfly pendant of the dead, and the other colorful flowers in Hu Tao's hair and the rock patterns on Zhong Li's sleeves glowed softly at the same time. When the crispy crumbs of the spicy cold cake fell into the tea soup, the entire Death Star suddenly played the melody of "Sea Lantern Festival" - that was the welcoming horn that Beidou specially asked Xin Yan to modify.

"Welcome back." Zhongli placed the warm teacup into Lin Huan's palm, and used the elemental power of rock to smooth out all the old scratches on the zither. "Xingqiu has set up a bet at Wanwen Collection House, betting that you will choke on your first sip of tea." The smile in his eyes spread across Shi Amber, and the "This Month's Bill for Wangsheng Hall" slipped from his sleeves, just covering Lin Huan's clothes soaked with tears.

(The front page of the next day's Liyue Daily: Shocking! The chief ceremonial attendant of the Wangsheng Hall actually hugged the hall master in public! At the tea table in the corner of the picture, Zhongli was handing a handkerchief to Lin Huan, whose face was covered with tears. The corner of the handkerchief was embroidered with Hu Tao's calligraphy: "The IOU can be torn up, but the spicy taste will remain forever.")