Gifts and Farewells

'Look Guizhong. It's so early in the morning and there is already people lining in front of me'.

'It's the first time in my life that I don't like humans that much. How can they fall for a charlatan's words?'

'Because of my regal figure'

'You are a child, a baby in my eyes, what do you mean regal?'

'Guizhong, I don't really think you want to see me as a baby. I did some nasty things back then'

'Like what?'

'Some things are better left unsaid. Anyway, I'm ready to study this specimens and sell my book'.

'How disappointing. Back in the day books where a way to pass valuable knowledge to the future generations, now it has devolved into a way of getting money. How sad'.

'Whatever. I was just surprised that the guys at the publishing house where so moved by my speech that they made copied of my book for free'.

'.....Indeed'.

'Don't be such a sour girl, we are going to be rich'.

"Welcome, you are the first to come, what would you like?" I asked the guy in front of me.

"It's an honour to be able to shake hands with the 'Slapping Young Master'. I wanted to know if these items are cursed" he said while cupping his hands and bowing.

'Slapping Young Master...I like it'.

'Only you like being called that'.

"Let me see. Yup, no curses. Need something else?". This is how I want things to work, you tell me what you need, I solve it, next person.

And like that, a lot of people passed through my little stall. Well, it was just me sitting on a chair with a bag of jade slips next to me. These where the ones the leftovers from our God-sealing trip.

And like this, a lot of people passed by, until a guy stood in front of me. He had the ugliest soul I had ever seen. If you can compare human souls with a sphere, this guy had a spiky and fractures ball, and it's colour was a mix of black and green. It was really disgusting.

"What do you need?" I asked with a smile. It's a foolish question, there is no way I missed the woman's ghost near him, always screaming.

'W-what is that?' asked a nervous Guizhong.

'Something that is better for you to avoid seeing'

"I-I th-think I'm po-possessed" the guy stuttered.

"I see. Do you have any suspicions of who could be doing that?" the ghost looked at me surprised that I could see her.

"N-No". Just then I noticed a tiny ripple across the surface of his soul. It's a phenomenon I have been seeing during all morning. When people lie they have this tiny ripple, but it's only now that I can clearly see it, maybe because it's such a huge lie and concerning something so serious as this.

"Hmm, I see. There is something with you, but I can't see it clearly". It would do me no good if this guy starts attacking me. The Boss is coming in the afternoon.

And look at that, this guy is clearly relieved that I can't see the ghost clearly. Shouldn't it be the other way if he wants to get freed of it?.

"I will leave for some specialized talismans, your ghost is too strong for a mere jade slip. I will be back soon". There is no way I can't seal the ghost in a slip that can seal gods, but he doesn't need to know.

I went for a Milelith and explained everything to him. He looked hesitant, but I was famous for being an acquaintance of Rex Lapis, so they detained the man. I spoke with the ghost and got all the information that could be relevant to the case. From what I told, it was not a simple murder case. I didn't want to listen more of this, it was making me sick, so I left.

'Haah, it really leaves a bad taste in my mouth'

'Indeed, there are always humans like that, but those are exceptions. You just found another side of the exorcist work. Sometimes it's your duty to listen to the dead's grievances'.

'I can see that'.

----------------------

And the two weeks passed quickly.

My business exploded in popularity after solving a pretty disturbing case.

The Boss helped me identifying every thing that could be valuable, so I started selling things and buying others. My books also sold like pancakes, even people from Mondstad came to buy it.

Guizhong wanted to sell things, I think she wanted to surprise the Boss, but I decided against it.

Some things she made where eerily similar to other things already here, like the Guizhong Ballista. I was going to get caught in a snap of fingers.

A lot of people went outside Liyue with their business, allowing me to buy a lot of shops very easily inside Liyue. Stupid people, there is no way the Qixing are going to let this go for long. Better for me I guess.

So I was thriving here. I hired people to take care of the buying and selling so I only had to take care of the cursed things.

This allowed me to meet a lot of people and witness a lot of stories. There was nothing like that murder case, but a few people had stolen goods, even relics form the nearby ruins. The Boss' help was very essential identifying those.

In these 2 weeks, I confirmed that when people lied their souls had a ripple in their soul, I don't know why yet. Maybe they had some other reaction when they were angry of sad, but I couldn't see anything. Maybe I need to train more.

I got along with Guizhong, and she looked pleased to see my business growing. Maybe she wanted to be near the Boss that much, I don't really care. She was happy.

And so, my adventure in Liyue was arriving to it's end, and I was starting to grow nervous.

'It's your fault. Even after I warned you to stop, you still sent those infuriating letters every single day'.

'I had to do it. I finish what I start'

'Then don't complain when you reap what you sow'.

'Woman, did you hear me complain?. I will get what I sought, but that doesn't make it any easier. I did all I wanted to do in Liyue though. I won a lot of money, I trained my ability and I got help for Ayato's mother. There are a lot of things I left to do, but I covered the important points'

'I see. I'm excited to see Inazuma, but it would be a lie if I said I won't miss Liyue' she said in a nostalgic voice.

'It's your home after all. Don't worry, it will not disappear anytime soon with the Boss around. We will come back, but I still don't know when I will be allowed outside my room'.

Guizhong didn't answer, she was a bit melancholic.

'Anyway, tonight is the Lantern Rite, are you excited?'

'I am, but I fear that this year's Lantern Rite will be affected by your rebellion stunt' she said angrily.

"i spoke the truth, yet you want me to feel bad for it?. I won't bow to oppressors!'

'There you go again...'

'Look, just enjoy tonight because tomorrow that pink woman will be here, and she will drag me back to Inazuma'.

'Are you going to comply?. I thought you will would do whatever you can to stop her from taking you back'.

'I know the limits. Don't look at me like that, I really do'

'I don't have eyes'.

'And yet I felt your gaze. I have been here for a month, and I prefer Inazuma to this place. Also, I miss my parents. I have seen too many tragic stories here, either from the ghosts or the Remnants, and I need some rest now'.

We both fell silent, looking at the busy people around, finishing the last touches of the festival.

"Geh!"

I looked towards the person that made such a rude sound and saw Ganyu. Yes, the grass-eater who was as soft as velvet is now able to make those sounds. If you annoy her enough she will even do a disgusted expression.

"My dear grass-eate-". Ah, she ran away.

'Even a half-qilin as her runs away from you at sight. You should now that qilins are extremely peaceful and calm creatures, yet you have one avoiding you. That should tell you how annoying you are'.

'It's not my fault, it's society's fault'.

'I really don't like what you learned from meeting all those shameless guys'.

'There were girls too'.

'Indeed, there were'

"Geh!". Oh, another one. This one is the antler girl, you are not escaping.

"No, let me go!" she screamed while I grabbed her wrist.

"No, I'm bored"

"No please, that's even worse"

"Don't worry, I'm not in the mood. I wanted you to tell that young elder lady that tomorrow we will depart to Inazuma". Yes, the one who can help aunt Kayo is this disappointing lawyer's master.

"YES, please leave, and don't come back" she is pleading me to not come back?. How rude.

"Don't worry. I will study law only to think of loopholes I can use. No, don't put that kind of despairing face, it's only my duty. I have a lot of shops here after all" I nodded sagely.

"Please don't"

"Oh, are you thanking me?"

"No, please don't do that, we are still in a disastrous situation after everyone left the Harbor. Don't repeat this, I implore you"

"Don't worry, I will publish all those loopholes in the second part of my book" I nodded graciously at her, acknowledging her intention to fight for the people of Liyue.

"..." she had a defeated face and walked away slowly with a slouch.

I was happy now. What can I say, I'm a simple guy.

'You are evil'

'Hey Guizhong, don't you get tired of insulting me?. At least look for a few other insults'

'....'

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And night arrived.

The Lantern Rite was spectacular.

Candles all around, huge dragons carved out of wood, floating lights, music, excited and happy people...

It was amazing, Guizhong started crying emotionally mid-way, and for once I didn't tease her like I normally would.

She was seeing her dream come true. This is the place she, and a lot of her friends, died to build.

They fought teeth and nail, laying their lives in the process to build a place where adeptus and humans could co-exist. And now she was witnessing it in it's biggest moment.

But....I think something is off here. There is a weird melancholic mood around and I don't like it. But I don't know why yet. I will try to think of it later, and tell the Boss about it the next time I come to Liyue.

Now my visit in Liyue has officially ended. Well, not really, there is one more thing to do.

I went an are near the Wangshu-Inn, where I knew spear boy was usually at during the nights.

To my surprise, he wasn't alone, there was a guy wearing a green attire playing the flute.

"Aha, what do we have here?. A new admirer of my melody?" he said playfully. Or she?.

"I didn't expect spear boy to have a friend. A wind elemental at that". Look, he is surprised now.

"How did you know?" he looked interested, not surprised or alarmed. That's a nice change for once.

"I can see your soul. But to be a spirit, you sure have a strong soul. It's not as strong as the Boss, but...". He is nervous now. "Whatever, I don't care about it now, I'm here for the spear boy".

"What do you want". Ops, he is in a bad mood. I guess I disturbed them, but I have no other time to do this.

"Don't get angry, I leave for Inazuma tomorrow".

"Oh, didn't knew that. Then I will thank you on behalf of Liyue, for resolving all curses plaguing the land" he bowed deeply.

Green guy looked at me surprised, but I don't care about it for now. This guy is too strong.

"You can thank me when I cleanse all of them" I said looking at him.

"Is there a curse left?" he looked puzzled.

"Of course. Yours". I had to practice a lot and try a lot of things, but I had practice dummies in the form of cursed objects. I am confident I can make the curse stop tormenting spear boy.

"You can break his curse!?" the green guy is really not some random mob.

"You better stop. There is no way to break my curse" spear boy looked resigned.

"You still don't know how amazing the mighty Kenshin is. I can't break your curse, it's too strong for me right now, but I can make it target a different thing". That was my strategy, make it torture other thing.

"How can you do that?" spear boy still looked resigned, but there was hope in his eyes.

"The curse is coiled around your soul, holding it tight, that's why you feel pain. I will slowly introduce another soul between yours and the curse, making the curse attack the newer one" I explained my plan. His curse attacks everything that gets near, so I will 'cover' spear boy's soul with another one, like a kind of 'skin', and then slowly and carefully remove it, making the curse latch onto the skin and let spear boy's soul free.

"Hey green guy, you are the strongest one here, I am going to use the sealed ghost of an animal to do this, but I don't know how the curse will affect this ghost. Maybe it will die directly, or mutate into something weird. I want you to delete it, no question asked. Spear boy's curse is strong and we can't let it affect the ghost for an extended period of time".

"I will help too" spear boy looked hesitant now. Maybe he didn't want his curse to cause more problems, but I have no time to coddle his sacrificial thoughts.

"No problem!" the green guy said smiling.

"Spear boy, I don't know how tired you will be after this, so better shut up and trust this guy. I don't know who he is, but he way stronger than you. Anyway, I will start".

5 minutes later I finished my part.

"Green guy destroy that place" I pointed at a dark thing in the air. I wasn't sure the green guy could see it, and it was a good thing I pointed because he didn't have clue of what I was talking about.

So he decided to blow everything up.

A huge air vortex suddenly appeared, sucking everything around. Yes, even me. It was only because spear boy caught my arm and stood firm by nailing her spear in the ground that I wasn't turned into the meat those marvellous kebab had.

The black thing didn't stood a chance, it was obliterated under the razor sharp gusts of wind.

"I know who you are now. Goddamit". This kind of power can only belong to an Archon, and knowing that there are only 7 of them around, it is quite obvious.

"Tehe" he knocked his head with his hand while winking with his tongue out.

"...." spear boy looked shocked and a bit...angry?.

"What's wrong spear boy?. You should be happy, why are you angry now?" I really can't understand him.

"The curse that tormented me for more than a millennia was removed in 5 minutes by a child. How can I not feel angry?" he grumbled.

Well, looking at it like that, it sounds stupid. The reason your existence was only pain and the reason you couldn't mingle with other people was gone in a snap of fingers, of course you would feel strange.

I was not stupid, I knew that his curse only got removed because it acted on instinct and targeted his soul. With a bit of time the curse would have found out that it was not affecting spear boy, and it would return to him twice as strong, but the green guy could delete it in an instant. It was a fearsome curse, one I am sure I won't be able to understand in years.

And yet, what does it tell, the fact that the hilichurl curse is a thousand times worse?.

'You did it!. It was awesome, you save that adeptus soul so easily!' Guizhong sounded excited and happy.

'Of course lady. I'm the amazing Kenshin!' I proudly said.

No matter how stupid that curse was, or how green guy here made this even easier, it was also a fact that this possible only because I was here, and I had the will to do it. I can feel proud of this, I think.

"Xiao, you are now free!" the green guy looked happy for spear boy, making him forget about how easy his problematic curse got solved.

"I am...free" he repeated, the reality sinking in his suicidal brain.

"That's my cue to leave, I don't want to see more tears this night" I slipped up, but they can't know I was referring to Guizhong's tears. And it's not like I could see them anyway.

I started leaving, but I heard the green guy shout behind me.

"Thank you far what you did for him. Come to Mondstadt when you can!".

I will for sure. From what I've heard, it sounds like a fun place.

After I returned to the Wangshu-Inn, I found the Boss waiting for me at the entrance with his usual calm expression.

"Thank you for solving Xiao's curse. My debt with you doesn't seem to stop growing" he simply said.

"Don't worry, he my friend. I don't need anythi-" wait a minute. "I want that debt repaid now, in the form of a promise".

"That child's curse came from him following my orders, so it's me responsibility to repay you from solving it. Tell me what you want and it it's reasonable enough, I will abide to my promise". What a long way to say 'I accept'.

"I want to forgive me once". What happens when Guizhong appears in front of him?. I may meet the ants underground before I can explain myself.

"You want me to forgive your mistake once?" he seeked confirmation.

"No, it's not a mistake" I refuse to think that saving Guizhong is a mistake.

'Kenshin...' Guizhong looked touched, but this is not the time for it.

"If you didn't make a mistake, why would you need my forgiveness?" the Boss looked intrigued.

"I may make a decision you wouldn't approve. Before you ask, it will not harm Liyue in any way. I think it will make it stronger, and definitely a happier place". Adding a new adeptus to the roster, and one that likes humans as much as Guizhong does is fated to help Liyue.

The Boss looked pensive, but finally agreed.

"Ah, I forgot. Boss, wait here, I need to give you something" I almost forgot it. A part of me wanted to take it with me, as I valued it dearly, but I knew the Boss would value it even more.

I went to my room and picked 2 books.

"Here Boss, a signed book" I gave him my book, the one that set Liyue in flames.

"Thank you" he said with a straight face, but I could see some traces of bitterness.

"No problem. And take this one too" I said quietly, handing him another book.

This one was a lot less showy, it's cover being brown and some black letters I had to write.

"'Chronicles of Liyue'" Zhongli carefully received the book, realizing that I treated this one with a lot of care compared to the other.

"I wrote every single story I learn from the Remnants. Some stories are tragic like Shen Zi's, other are about violent people like Chang Li, and other are emotional like Guizhong's. I wrote in this book every single one, the good and the bad ones" I said while feeling my vision blurry from tears.

It took a lot of me to write this book. I had to relive a lot of stories, and it was incredibly taxing, but I felt that every story mustn't be forgotten. A person doesn't die when he loses his life, he dies when he is forgotten.

The choices people make during their lives can affect the world, and how future people will be able to see it.

Would Liyue exist had Rex Lapis not fought for it?. Would Liyue be a safe place had Xiao decided to stop fighting the Remnants?. Of course not. So Liyue must know who they are living because of.

Every story should be told.

"...." Zonghli looked at the book in his hands, and his gaze changed into one of gentleness, seeing how valuable it was. It would probably be more expensive than any business in Liyue, but neither he nor Kenshin thought about selling it. It had a historical value, and an emotional one.

"This must have taken you a lot of effort. Are you sure you want to give it to me?" he asked me seriously.

"Of course. I value that book a lot, but me are stories of the past. These stories belonged to your friends, comrades and even enemies. This book is more important for you than it is for me. But don't misunderstand this. I didn't gave you this so you could drown in nostalgia, I gave you this to make you feel that is not only you the one that remembers them, there is now material proof they existed. So enjoy the life they shaped, be it friends or enemies".

"Then I thank you for this" he bowed deeply to me. But I was not in the mood to enjoy how the God of Geo was bowing, I felt actually drained.

"No problem we are friends after all, and I hope you make a lot more living as a human. Now I will rest, this is the last night I will be able to sleep soundly".

With that I left him, not looking back.

"Damn, that was exhausting". It really was.

'Thank you Kenshin, it was a beautiful gesture' Guizhong said with a calm voice, but I could feel how emotional she was. The people I wrote about in the book where also her friends.

She 'saw' me writing that book every single night, trying to write everything I experienced as soon as possible before forgetting something.

There were thousands of stories to cover. Some were pages long, some were short, and some others only had the name of the god, but I did all I could.

This is another thing I will be able to remember with pride.

With this, now I was ready to go back to Inazuma.

It was a blast.