Chapter 029 [Inverted V] 29
"From a common sense perspective, they just moved the venue of their tea party."
The blonde traveler had just arrived at the port of Omos, and had not yet begun to investigate the purpose of her trip, when she heard a familiar voice echoing not far away.
"Ah, it's Zhongli and Wendy!" The sharp-eyed travel guide exclaimed. Her active thinking had already found an excuse for her to talk to the two of them, "Traveler, let's go talk to them? Why are the two of them in Xumi...ah! Aren't they here for that thing too!?"
"Don't think too much, Paimon." Qin smiled helplessly, put aside his task for the time being, and followed Paimon to the two of them. "Long time no see, Zhongli, and Wendy - how did you two have time to come to Omos Port together?"
"Let me see..." Wendy jumped around Xiao and came to a serious conclusion as to why Xiao and Paimon were here. "Traveler, are you in big trouble again this time?"
"Hey! Singing for money!!!" Paimon stamped his feet in the air angrily, "What do you mean we're in big trouble again!!! We came here to see the Little Lucky Grass King!"
"Hahaha..." Wendy laughed and hid behind Zhongli. "Just think of this as a unique premonition of an outstanding bard about something big that is about to happen. After all, the traveler is the protagonist no matter how you look at it. Since he is the protagonist, big things will happen around him no matter what, right?"
"Little Auspicious Grass King..." Zhong Li frowned slightly and looked at the pedestrians around him, "I know there is a good store here, but I don't know if that store can stay here like Xinyuexuan or Liuliting - since we want to talk about business, it's better to find a store and sit down to talk."
——The store that Zhongli mentioned is indeed suitable enough. Of course, it is also fortunate that it has been operating steadily in Omos Port and has not encountered any disasters that caused it to close down.
"So, if you want to see the Little Auspicious Grass King, why did you come from Sumi City to Omos Port?" In the private room, Zhongli put down his cutlery and looked at Yan who was sitting opposite him. "Even if the Sumi people generally do not believe in the Little Auspicious Grass King, but instead believe in the Great Compassionate Tree King who passed away five hundred years ago... I think the Little Auspicious Grass King should not appear outside Sumi City."
"Because there is no way to directly seek an audience with Little Auspicious Grass King."
After taking a sip of juice, Yan answered Zhongli's question calmly. Paimon, who usually liked to finish his words in one breath, was busy tasting the food, which made it convenient for Yan to tell his two friends about his previous experiences.
"...In short, the current situation in Sumi Castle is that the answers we get are all the same: 'The Hollow thinks I don't need to know.'" He frowned as he reviewed the past, but he didn't notice that the expressions of the two people opposite him gradually became solemn. "We came to Omos Port because there are clues here that can help us get in touch with the Ordinance."
"You are planning to start with the Jiaoling Academy to seek an audience with the Little Auspicious Grass King. This is a good choice." Zhongli approved of Yan's choice. "The Jiaoling Academy and the scholars therein were the group that spread wisdom on behalf of the Great Mercy Tree King in the past. Although they are not the followers of the Great Mercy Tree King, they are the closest to the God of Grass besides his followers."
"The wind told me that you came here for something that was lost in the House of the Lord." Wendy plucked the strings of the harp in her arms and cast a curious look at Yan. "Can you tell me the clues you know?"
"The only clue..." Yan told Wendy the clue in a tangled tone, "is 'knowledge' - the Order of the Holy Orders has lost something related to 'knowledge'."
"How strange! Could it be that knowledge is also something with a physical body?" Paimon had already cleared all the delicacies on the table and waved his hands towards Zhongli and Wendy. "The person who guided us to Port Omos said that we could easily get the relevant information by pretending to be a student. It's not likely that scholars from the Order Academy would often appear here to buy knowledge that would allow them to safely pass the final exams, right? "
The wind blew into the room through the window of the private room - but after the wind died down, Wendy showed a rare serious look.
"What's wrong?" Yan noticed the change in Wendy's expression and cast a concerned look at her. "Did the wind bring some bad news?"
"Ahmaar..." Wendy glanced at Zhongli who was sitting next to her, "Why do the Xumi Plated Troops still remember the long-deceased Desert God? They are even planning to resurrect the Red King - oh, by the way, the thing you are looking for is probably what the Plated Troops are looking for."
"They call it... God's Canned Knowledge." Wendy received Zhongli's gaze and told Yan all the news brought by Feng. "There are so many members of the Plated Brigade gathered in Omos Port, and a big reason is for this God's Canned Knowledge - they claim that this knowledge can revive the Red King, or announce the Red King's return."
"The God of Grass is the God of Wisdom. If what you are looking for is related to 'knowledge', then I think what Wendy has heard is enough for you to determine your goal." Zhong Li drank the strange drink that Wendy had ordered for him at some point without changing his expression. "I think you should be anxious to get it before the Gilded Brigade, so I won't keep you any longer."
"Come to think of it, I heard the karaoke guy laughing really loudly before—" Paimon remembered why he noticed these two people before, and asked them, "What were you laughing at that time?"
"The story begins a little earlier..."
Zhong Li put down the cup and slowly told what happened before they met -
This time, Zhongli and Wendy arrived at Omos Port during the day.
The port was bustling with people during the day. Taking advantage of her body shape, Wendy easily passed through the crowd while Zhongli was still looking for a way around the crowd - and then heard a group of scholars arguing in a corner.
"The Eternal Oasis was built by the Red King to commemorate his beloved Flower Goddess—"
"Ahem..." Although the scholars were still arguing, Wendy stopped listening to what was said afterwards. This sentence had undoubtedly taken away all his attention. "Is this what the scholars of the Academy of the Decrees are doing with their research on the desert?!"
"In fact, the Eternal Oasis is now regarded as a myth by them." Zhong Li walked around the crowd and came to Wendy's side. "Besides, sometimes... letting the truth and the past be buried in the sand is the best ending. But...'The Scarlet King commemorates his lover, the Flower Goddess'?"
"From a common sense perspective, the three of them just changed the location of their tea party."
"Have a tea party!?"
Paimon wanted to ask more, but was stopped by Qin's hand.
"Okay, Paimon. We should get down to business." Yan took out his wallet and paid for the meal for the two friends who couldn't even spare a Mora. "After all, the Flower God's Birthday Festival is waiting for us in Sumi Castle. The sooner we get the God's Canned Knowledge, the sooner we can return to Sumi Castle."
"By the way, traveler." Wendy called out to her when Qin was about to turn around and leave with Paimon, "Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Sumi - you have left your footprints in four different countries. And you will soon meet Sumi's little auspicious grass king..."
"Will you allow me to sing a song for you?" Wendy winked at Yan and plucked the strings of her harp. "I am the best bard in Mondstadt. It is a rare opportunity to sing for free! However, this time the poem is not composed by me personally. It is a ballad that drifted into my ears on the wind."
"Now, please listen to me tell you about the future.
The godless country has been reduced to a den of monsters. I will tell you its end.
Saying welcome home to the guilty,
This is a deep, bottomless, god-forsaken city.
Growing like grass and trees, solid like rock,
As pure as nectar, dispersing like a thousand winds.
Our future is bound by the sky,
Today, he is still imprisoned by the law.
However, you only need to be patient for a moment.
After five hundred years, the Traveling Star will appear.
To bring together the gods (them) and humans (us),
The man who crosses the stars lets reality begin.
Even if you don't know at first, you can keep going forward to find your relatives.
Communicate with the gods in the smallest moments.
City of ice, country of snow.
When disaster is repelled, travelers should be welcomed.
The stars of time guide him, and the blood relatives of the abyss watch over him.
The traveler finally arrived at the throne of heaven.
The one who resides in the sky is the truth of this world,
Please wear a bloody crown.
Like thunder, it sounds like the lamentation; like fire, it sounds like the wrath;
The seven bell sounds teach people to know, and the path of truth is opened here.
Before being swallowed by the dark disaster,
Before being sealed by the white dust of disaster.
It doesn't matter if you slack off on work.
We are the only nation without the protection of the gods.
Hope is never enough,
I sincerely look forward to a bright tomorrow.
——Wind "I" will ensure that this song "prophecy" will be passed down forever on the continent of Teyvat; until that star appears, until that starlight crosses half of the journey.
In the more distant past, before the star appeared, at the first banquet of the Seven Rules of the Earth, the God of Wind made such a solemn promise to the God of Grass, who is now long gone.
And now, Wendy played the last note and smiled the same smile as always to Qing, who completely understood what this prophecy was saying.
——Solomon, the prophecy you left behind has been handed over to you by me.
"Traveler, do you understand?!" Paimon wanted to ask Wendy, but when he saw the thoughtful expression on Wendy's face, he immediately changed the subject of his question. "Prophecy... is so hard to understand!!! Even harder than what Lanaro said!!!"
"Well... Actually, I don't understand it either." Yan smiled at Paimon and easily fooled the simple guide. "However, prophecies are like this - even if you don't understand them when you first hear them, when the 'prophecy content happens', you will find that it is strangely consistent with reality."
"So there's no need to rush to figure out what the prophecy is saying."
"Is that so, traveler?"
Xiao and Paimon left together, walking further and further away from Wendy and Zhongli's sight.
"Are you sure it's her?" Zhong Li stood beside Wendy and asked this question out of the blue.
"After all - 'This is a deep and bottomless city abandoned by God.'" Wendy put away the harp and answered Zhong Li's question, "And up to now, five hundred years have passed since then."