Genshin Impact: I am the Great General of Liyue

Grandma Ping, seeing the stubborn Lord Xiaoyue Zhuyang, advised again, "Alright, alright, Xiaoyue, you old man, stop meddling. If you ask me, this power of 'oversight'... should be left to the people of Liyue."

After saying that, Grandma Ping also left.

Just after all the immortals left, Huiyuan, who had returned to her original form and was wearing the Thousand Rock Army's battle armor, suddenly appeared in front of Paimon in the form of Lingling, startling him.

"Whoa! Sister Lingling, what brings you here all of a sudden! You scared me!"

Looking at the adorable Paimon, who had just breathed a sigh of relief but was suddenly scared out of her wits, Huiyuan pinched the other's cheek.

"Hehe, I didn't expect you really didn't recognize my original appearance. I've been standing over there pretending to be Qianyan Jun the whole time, didn't you notice?"

Paimon punched Huiyuan's big breasts with his little fist and said angrily, "Hmph, if you do that again, I'll give you a nickname!"

Releasing his hand from the face mask, Huiyuan got down to business.

"We still have the ceremonies for sending off immortals to be completed. Let's go find Zhongli first."

Hearing this, Paimon also remembered something.

"Ah! Right! I just remembered something. The reason for this crisis... the reason the young master released the demons to attack Liyue was to force the Geo Archon to show himself! We eliminated the crisis on our own—so the Geo Archon still hasn't appeared! Hmm... if that's the case, then what exactly happened with that god's 'death'? I'm completely confused... but the most likely clue is this 'Farewell Ceremony for Those Without Celestials to Send Off' that we organized, right? Let's listen to Sister Lingling and go find Zhongli first."

......

After leaving the dock, which had been damaged by the crashing waves, Huiyuan led Ying and Paimon to the Hall of Rebirth.

Upon seeing the guests, the ferryman of the Rebirth Hall came out to greet them.

"What can I do for you? The ancestral hall is currently not convenient for receiving unacquainted guests."

Paimon asked, "We've come to see Zhongli. Could you pass on a message for us?"

The ferryman replied, "Mr. Zhongli is not in the hall right now; he seems to have gone to visit the 'Northern Bank.'"

"Northern Bank...isn't that a property of the Fools? Right, the last time we saw Zhongli was before we went to the Golden House...Going to the Fools' territory at a time like this feels dangerous! Well, even though it's quite dangerous for us, we still have to go and check it out."

As soon as I entered the Northern Bank, I heard two voices arguing.

A man's voice came through: "You actually call this 'cooperation between executives'? So-called 'cooperation' should at least involve information sharing..."

Then another arrogant woman's voice came through.

"Hehe... Don't worry about these things, young master. In the end, you ignored the deal and the scheming, and simply made a scene. Weren't you quite happy? That's very much in line with your style... Wait, it seems like someone you know has arrived."

Paimon looked at the three people present and shouted, "It's Zhongli and Young Master! And...you are! You're that Executor of the Fools..."

Ying got furious when she saw the lady and almost drew her bladeless sword to slash at her.

"Miss!"

The woman looked at Ying and Paimon with utter contempt.

"Ah, it's you. We met in the bard's city, didn't we? Not bad, you remembered my name well."

Seeing Ying assume a fighting stance, the woman became sarcastic.

"Ah—after all, the feeling of watching your friend have something important taken away, and being powerless to do anything about it... Heh... It's hard to forget, isn't it?"

Remembering that her bladeless sword was still damaged, Ying forcibly suppressed her anger.

In the awkward atmosphere, D'Artagnan broke the silence and greeted Firefly.

"Oh, Miss Ying, this is the first time we've met since everything was over. How should I put it, the atmosphere is a little... um... awkward?"

Paimon said irritably, "Hmph, I shouldn't have trusted you when I found out you were an executor of the Fatui!"

Seeing that Paimon was so angry with him, D'Artagnan started to argue.

"Don't say that. Although I deceived you a little before, I didn't have any ill intentions towards this traveler... Haha... Apart from the regrettable turn of events at the end, the cooperation was quite pleasant, wasn't it? It's just that we have different positions, and I won't treat this as a personal grudge. Of course, it doesn't matter if you keep your personal grudges against me... On the contrary, it's the lady and Mr. Zhongli who really fooled me."

As he spoke, D'Artagnan touched his forehead in remorse.

Ying asked, puzzled, "Lady and Zhongli?"

"actually..."

Just as D'Addarja was about to continue explaining, the woman interrupted him.

"Don't waste time, young master. If you want to chat, wait until I finish my business. As agreed... I've come to take your Heart of God, Morax."

Ying looked at the woman warily and asked, "An agreement?"

Paimon shouted in shock.

"What are you talking about?!"

Without answering Paimon's question, Zhongli said to the lady with a displeased expression, "The contract is complete. As you requested, I will grant you what is promised."

As he spoke, Zhongli pulled out the Heart of the Rock God from somewhere and handed it to the other party.

Looking at the deity before her, the woman snorted unhappily.

"A condescending tone..."

Seeing this, Ying gradually realized what was happening and asked Zhongli for clarification: "Is the Rock King Emperor Zhongli?"

Paimon stared in shock at Zhongli's familiar yet utterly unfamiliar back and cried out.

"What! So you're Lord Rock?! No, no, no... While this is certainly shocking, but... but... why did you give the Heart of God to the Fools?!"

After Zhongli completed the contract, he turned around and explained to Paimon.

"It wasn't a gift, but a transaction based on a contract—it was between me and that Ice Queen."

Ying glared angrily at Zhong Li.

"I don't understand your thinking... Also, why fake your death?"

Paimon chimed in, "Yeah, faking your death was really too much! Everyone was holding a ceremony to welcome you, and suddenly 'plop,' a dragon fell from the sky, and Liyue Harbor was thrown into chaos, almost bringing about a major catastrophe!"

The woman spoke in a very arrogant voice, and began to mock.

"Heh... Gathering the undercurrents surging beneath the surface, applying pressure to the limit, and then letting it explode—isn't that exactly what he wanted to see?"

"what?"

Seeing Paimon's puzzled expression, Zhongli said helplessly, "Let me explain myself. As you know, I have lived for over six thousand years in this world, and the establishment of Liyue with the immortals was three thousand seven hundred years ago."