Genshin Impact: I am the Great General of Liyue

After Ying reminded him, Paimon immediately remembered the relevant matter.

"That's it! The immortal's 'token,' it must still contain the immortal's power! No wonder he was able to scare the monster away with it last time..."

"What are you all muttering about? It's just that I didn't sleep well last night... my immortal power couldn't reach all six meridians! If I had another chance..."

"Another 'Evil Hilichurl' has gone that way. Can I leave it to you this time?"

Seeing that the other party was still pretending, Paimon pointed to a place and said.

Paimon's sabotage was clearly intentional.

For a moment, Star Lord almost lost his composure and nearly revealed his true form.

"I—cough cough...I, I suddenly feel unwell...Alas, it must be because I exhausted too much of my immortal power just now, otherwise I would have surely slain all these demons..."

Hearing the other party's sophistry, Ying put her hands on her hips.

(Go ahead and make this up, see if I believe you.)

Paimon looked at the other person, who was trying to appear calm, and revealed a look of knowing everything.

"Sigh...you really are a braggart. I wasn't wrong about you."

With a slight sigh, Paimon ignored the charlatan and looked in the direction the Hilichurl had left.

"Traveler, let's go after them and see what's going on. We can't just leave those Hilichurls alone."

This so-called Star Lord was exposed in public, so naturally Ying no longer needed to care about him.

The seeds of doubt have been sown in the hearts of the believers, who will eventually realize that the Star Lord is actually a fraud. The rest can be left to the General Affairs Department.

Then the rest is simple: trace the origins of these evil Hilichurls and deal with them.

It's so great not having to scheme against people.

Activating my elemental vision, I found... someone not far away?

Paimon looked closely and realized that it was not a human, but an immortal.

"Huh? It's that 'Great Sage Who Subdues Demons'! No wonder... he's already taken care of those Hilichurls! Shall we go ask this true 'sage' what he knows?"

Noticing Ying and Paimon approaching, Xiao looked up.

"It's you... I remember you. I'm cleaning up creatures tainted by 'evil spirits' in this area, and it seems I've been getting in your way."

After saying this, Xiao slowly walked towards Ying and Paimon.

Paimon felt a little strange listening to what the other person was saying.

Why is there no sense of distance between us?

Although we met Xiao at Wangshu Inn before and fought side by side in the Osel incident, there's just too little sense of distance between us.

Where's that arrogant air of an immortal? And his tone is way too polite.

Filled with doubt, Paimon raised a question.

"You're here exorcising demons and monsters, how can you say you're hindering us?"

"Because the mutations of these demons also originated from me—they are caused by my 'karmic hindrance'."

Upon hearing Xiao utter these words, Paimon made a connection and exchanged glances with Ying.

"Anomalies, karmic obstacles... Ah, could it be...?"

Ying blinked, guessing, "Xiao is the 'last Yaksha' among the Five Yakshas?"

"Yes, I seem to remember that Xiao was called the 'Guardian Yaksha'... So that's how it is... Waaah... Xiao is so pitiful..."

Recalling how the other person had been in his heart before, Paimon couldn't help but sob.

Seeing Paimon suddenly become sad, Xiao looked bewildered, confused, and silent.

Wait, Xiao seems to only have one face...

In short, after Paimon started sobbing, Xiao felt a mix of emotions. He felt guilty for making Paimon cry with just one sentence, and he wanted to comfort him, but he didn't know where to begin.

The facial expression processing module crashed, so I simply lowered my head and closed my eyes.

(Although this module doesn't seem to have ever been started)

Seeing Paimon cry, Xiao fell silent, and Ying spoke up.

"We just learned about your past from the book..."

Seeing this, Xiao took over the conversation and diverted attention.

"Oh, are these the meaningless idle words of those scholars from hundreds of years ago? All things are impermanent, all is suffering. The will of the Yaksha is never accompanied by pity and tears. My deceased colleagues would not like such judgments from posterity."

Having been rude to Xiao, Paimon wiped away his tears and apologized.

"Um, um... I'm so sorry..."

"It's alright. I'm on my way to clear out a cave with a strong demonic aura, so I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, Xiao turned to leave.

Seeing this, Paimon hurriedly said, "Take us with you! We can definitely help!"

"No need. I'm used to being alone, and besides, these anomalies originated from me..."

"Consider it an apology for my rudeness earlier!...Is that alright?"

Hearing Paimon's worried and self-reproachful tone, Xiao stopped in his tracks and glanced at him slightly.

It's fine if you don't look at it, but once you do, it's even harder to refuse.

We can't let Paimon stay sad forever, can we?

With a helpless sigh, Xiao said, "...Come on, follow me."

After saying that, Xiao led the way, and then secretly made a vow in his heart.

(Feeling guilty... Next time I must just run away...)

As they walked along the meadow, Paimon brought up the topic.

"So all this time... Xiao... have you been enduring the pain of karma?"

“Pain is the price, the retribution for the sins of killing over lifetimes... I have long been aware of this. However, the general’s arrival means I no longer have to be troubled by this.”

Paimon tilted his head in confusion upon hearing the name of a new person.

"General?"

"...You forgot?"

"Who...who is it?"

"Isn't the general always going on adventures with you?"

After listening to Xiao's words, Paimon thought for a moment and a soft, cute face came to mind.

"Ah...it's Sister Lingling! I think she has a title called Dawn General, but it's so different from the imposing general I remember, I can't recall it right now. I'm starting to get curious, Xiao, how did you and Sister Lingling meet?"

"The general passed by Wangshu Inn on his way to Mondstadt and that's how they met."

"By the way, Xiao... you said that after Sister Lingling came, she no longer had to worry about karmic obstacles. Why is that?"

"The general gave me this."

As he spoke, Xiao took out something that Paimon and Ying both found familiar: a negative status purifier.

Upon seeing this, Paimon exclaimed in surprise, "So this thing has such a wide range of effects? No wonder it's Sister Lingling, she's amazing, she has all sorts of rare and precious treasures."

At this moment, Xiao stopped and looked at the cave that was filled with karmic burdens.

"We've arrived. Get ready and go in. Don't let those demons linger for too long."