Genshin Impact: I am the Great General of Liyue

After pinning Clement down and immobilizing him, Zhongli removed all of his weapons, Evil Eye, and armor, and then took all the artifacts from his backpack.

"Your gains are confiscated. You are no longer qualified to move forward. Just leave."

After Zhongli finished speaking, he removed the rock element pillar at the entrance of the room.

Seeing this, Ying released her grip and threw him away.

He fell to the ground with a thud, cursing, "Damn it...you just wait!"

After uttering those harsh words, he covered his backside and ran away cursing.

Watching the other party flee in disarray, Paimon grumbled, "They said they were doing archaeological exploration, but they couldn't keep up the act anymore."

Seeing Paimon's mature expression, Ying sheathed her bladeless sword and teased, "Don't let Paimon turn out like him in the future."

"I like Mora, but I don't do bad things!"

At this moment, Zhongli handed the confiscated salt cup to Huiyuan and then brought up the topic of Ying and Paimeng.

"Clement's mistake lay in greed. But beyond greed, there are many other temptations that lead one to break the contract. Faced with 'desired things,' how many people can truly restrain their desires and abide by the contract...? Let's take this opportunity to clarify this."

"Hmm? What do you want to say?"

Hearing Zhongli's cryptic words, Paimon tilted his head and asked in confusion.

Seeing Paimon's confusion, Gui Zhong explained, "Zhongli is trying to say that none of us are actually here for 'archaeology,' right?"

After Gui Zhong finished speaking, Wan Yan, who claimed to be an archaeologist, became visibly flustered.

"Why, why do you say that?"

Seeing Wan Yan's sudden panic, Zhong Li said calmly, "Madam, you lack even the most basic archaeological knowledge, and you don't recognize many artifacts, but you are exceptionally knowledgeable about the 'Salt Demon God.' Perhaps the 'Salt Demon God' itself is more interesting to you than archaeology and artifacts."

Upon hearing Zhongli's words, Wanyan's eyes darted away.

These two sentences are tantamount to labeling Wan Yan as a follower of the Salt Demon God.

In the land of Liyue, there are Liyue people who worship other Daedric gods, which is undoubtedly an act of espionage.

Seeing that Wanyan hesitated to face him, Zhongli continued, "Those legends about the Salt Demon God that you mentioned at the Pearl Pavilion, as far as I know, are most prevalent in the Silver Plains Hall..."

"Stop, stop talking!"

Upon hearing the words "Yinyuan Hall," Wanyan's pupils contracted, and she became visibly frightened.

After Wan Yan shouted to stop Zhong Li Bie from speaking, about ten seconds passed.

A dozen seconds later, Wanyan looked at Zhongli again, her eyes returning to normal.

"...Sir, you are indeed very learned. It seems I made the right choice to muster the courage to ask you a question. —That's right, I'm not an archaeologist. I come from one of the 'Seven Stars, Eight Gates' of Liyue, the 'Silver Plains Hall,' which oversees the salt industry. Our ancestors were people who were protected by the 'Salt Demon God' during the turbulent period when the Demon God War swept across the continent."

After Wan Yan revealed her identity, Gui Zhong and Hui Yuan were not surprised at all.

Ying, who had been kept in the dark all along, finally realized what exactly was causing her discomfort.

"Come to think of it, I've never heard you call him 'Lord Yan' before..."

After Ying mentioned this, Paimon suddenly realized, "Oh right, now that you mention it, it's true that very few Liyue people talk about 'Morax'..."

The way the Emperor is addressed is something that Liyue natives are particularly sensitive to, while those who are not from Liyue, such as Ying and Paimon, would naturally find it difficult to notice anything amiss in the way he is addressed.

It wasn't until Wanyan revealed her true identity that Ying realized where the problem lay.

At this moment, perhaps because Zhongli's gaze was too much to bear, or perhaps because she wanted Ying, this outsider, to understand what she thought was the truth, Wanyan looked at Ying and Paimon and made accusations against "Morax".

"During the war, Morax assassinated our god! He was jealous of the power of the 'Salt Demon God,' causing us to be displaced! We...we hate him! But Liyue belongs to Morax, and history will surely be distorted by him...So, I want to prove it! Morax also committed sins! His hands are stained with blood; he has a cruel and ruthless side!"

Wan Yan became more and more excited as she spoke.

Zhongli watched this scene and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

When the Salt Goddess died, her people were displaced.

Morax witnessed Heureia's death and learned a truth from this benevolent demon: "To cowardly hide will not bring you any chance of survival, but will only hasten your death."

For Morax, the truth that Heureia had revealed to him after her death was almost like a gift used as a bargaining chip.

(This could be considered some kind of contract...)

With this in mind, Morax accepted the truth and, in exchange, took in the other party's people and sealed away the power leaked after Heureia's death, thus completing the contract.

Even gods wear down with the passage of time, and so do humans.

Perhaps because the story of Heureia's death was too tragic, it was not passed down among her people.

As time has passed, their understanding of the past has become increasingly limited, and conspiracy theories have thus emerged.

What should we do? Should we wipe out these salt people along with the "Ginhara Hall"?

The answer is, of course, no.

Because not all Salt People have been educated in conspiracy theories by their parents and have become conspiracy theorists.

Therefore, the correct approach is to let Wanyan, a conspiracy theorist, witness history firsthand.

As for the others, Zhongli naturally didn't want to bother with them, since they couldn't cause any trouble anyway.

Since there's a patient right here, let's treat him while we're at it.

“We signed a ‘contract’ to face the truth, right, Mr. Zhongli? You must make a fair judgment on this matter!”

Upon hearing Wanyan utter the word "contract," Zhongli snapped out of his reverie and responded to her plea.

"That's for sure. Besides, Liyue is no longer the Liyue of Morax. Come with me, all the answers lie ahead."

After saying this, Zhongli put the salt ruler from the altar into his bag and led the way.

Seeing Zhongli's coldness, Ying and Paimeng, curious about the truth of the matter, followed him.

At this moment, Huiyuan was beaming with joy, both inside and out.

Because, right there in the Eye of God's space, the cup containing salt is producing salt at an extremely fast rate.

Meanwhile, the total amount of Mora is also rising rapidly.