Genshin Impact: The Road to Reversal

"The Guizhongji was crafted for us by a remarkable woman during the Sangyang Rebellion 200 years ago to defend us against powerful enemies. It is still one of our most commonly used weapons today."

"Is that so?" Kailin lowered her head, lost in thought. At this moment, Zhongli's silence piqued her curiosity again. "Hmm? Mr. Zhongli, your expression... could it be..."

Zhongli gradually sighed and replied, "To be honest, I had a friend who built a similar machine in the past, and Guizhong was her name."

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene suddenly became lively.

"It can't be such a coincidence?" Karen asked in surprise.

Zhao Heng turned to look at Chi Ye and asked, "What's the name of that extraordinary woman you mentioned?"

"Her name is Guizhong," Chiye said. "You know what? When we met her before, she seemed to have said she was from Liyue."

Kailin was stunned and asked in surprise again: "No way, is she really Mr. Zhongli's friend?"

"Maybe." Tianlang folded his arms and looked at Akano, "Don't forget, she was the one who told us about the seven gods in the parallel world. Maybe she is really your friend."

Tianlang looked at Zhongli, and Zhongli also showed a bit of joy at this time.

"I see, so how is she now?"

"Oh, Brother Zhongli, do you want to find her?" Chi Ye asked back.

"Otherwise, I simply didn't expect to hear about an old friend here. During the Demon God War, Guizhong perished in that brutal battle. Although she was the Demon God of Dust, possessing many ingenious ideas and skilled in mechanical arts, and able to create sophisticated weapons like the Guizhong Machine, she was ultimately unable to withstand the surging tide of war."

"I met her in Guiliyuan. Back then, she was always tinkering with ingenious devices, trying to use them to make people's lives more convenient and safer. The prototype of the Guizhong Machine was obtained through her continuous experimentation and improvement. Initially, it was just for facilitating ore mining, but later, after improvements, it became a powerful weapon to defend against foreign enemies."

“But after the Demon War broke out, she…” After he finished speaking, Zhongli’s expression became heavy.

Akano sighed angrily and replied, "Is that so? Sorry, ever since the Sangyang Rebellion 200 years ago, when she successfully helped us resist the Sangyang people's attack with her Guizhongji, she has been living in seclusion in the mountains. To this day, no one has seen her again. We only hear of the occasional pleasant sound of a zither emanating from the mountains surrounding Linglang."

"Ling Lang?" Kailin looked at Tianlang and asked, "I heard you say before that it seemed to be under the jurisdiction of Lei Zun, right?"

"Yes, that's right." Tianlang nodded.

Hearing this, Zhongli's eyes widened slightly. He lowered his head and nodded: "Ling Lang, huh? I see. I understand."

"Huh? No, you're not going to look for her now, are you?" Karen said in surprise.

"Oh, of course not, but now that we know the approximate location, it will be much easier to find it later." Zhongli said with a smile.

"You are quite calm. Most people would have lost their minds by this time." Akano said with a smile, folding his hands.

Amidst the laughter, suddenly, there were impatient shouts outside the store, and then a middle-aged man came into the store impatiently.

"Oh no! It collapsed!"

The shop assistant came to the door and asked, "Look how anxious you are. Can't you just take your time and tell me what's going on?"

"Oh, something happened, something big happened!" the man said anxiously after taking a breath.

"Then tell me what happened. Is the sky falling?" the guy said with his arms folded.

"It's not the sky, it's the mountain. The mountain collapsed!"

"Ah? The mountain collapsed?"

"Yes, it rained last night, and then the mountain to the east collapsed."

"You mean the landslide? What about that guy? No one was hurt?"

The man nodded. "Yes, there's a village at the foot of the mountain. It's said that when the landslide happened last night, the village was almost half buried. Now, Director Xuan and Officer Bai, you have already brought people to support them. And I heard that there is a high possibility of a second collapse!"

"No way?"

Hearing what the two were talking about, Akano's expression instantly became serious.

He turned around and quickly apologized to Zhongli: "Sorry, Brother Zhongli, I might have to cancel our plans today."

Zhongli shook his head and said nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter. Right now, the safety of the people is the most important thing."

"Then I'll go with you." Tianlang stood up and said.

"Don't forget, we are here." At this moment, Mo Yan, Kailin and the other four stood up one after another.

Zhongli nodded and slowly stood up. "Thank you all for your care. I am willing to do my best to help."

"Well, thank you all very much, but please be careful." Akano said with a smile.

They found an open space on the street and then took Kailin's SUV to the village where the collapse occurred.

A cordon had been set up outside the village. Everyone circled the area and, just as the passerby had said, the entire village was nearly half submerged by the mud sliding down from the mountain.

Xuan Zimo and his police officers were carrying out rescue work in the village. Among them, a middle-aged man in his 40s wearing armor was discussing rescue matters with him. According to Chi Ye, he was his other contractor - Bai Lie.

At this moment, Tianlang looked at the scene in front of him, sat in the car and thought for a moment before saying, "I think I can leave this place to Zimo and the others without any worries."

Akano nodded: "Yeah, it's just a little weird."

"What's strange?" Kailin asked.

Chiye turned around and replied, "It didn't rain much last night, so how could it suddenly collapse?"

"Isn't it caused by soil erosion?" Zi Xuan asked.

Chiye shook his head. "Last year, there were typhoons and heavy rain here for three days and three nights, and there were several typhoons in a row, and nothing happened. But look outside, the ground is only slightly wet, but half of the mountain has collapsed. This is a bit unbelievable."

"Are you saying that there might be another hidden story behind this disaster?" Tianlang asked.

Akano lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, "We can't draw any conclusions yet. Let's go to the mountain and have a look. Maybe there will be some clues."

"Okay." Karen nodded, then drove the car up the mountain.

Arriving at the collapsed area, Kailin parked the car to the side, but as she got out, a light drizzle began to fall. However, Chiye didn't care much. He seemed to have discovered something and walked up the mountain along the traces of the collapsed area.

He stopped at the top of the mountain. He saw fallen trees and the ground was covered with the marks of swords and axes.

"Why are there so many knife marks here?" Karen asked, looking around.

Zhongli walked forward, then bent down and touched the knife marks on the ground: "It looks like someone chopped it with an axe."

"This is it." Akano turned around and said, "There's still residual elemental energy here. It seems this flood was caused intentionally."