191: Breaking out of the cocoon

Fifteen days had passed since Clervie was spat out by the cocoon. During this time, the cocoon had spat out several more people one after another.

After the group rescued them and questioned them, they discovered that these people all shared similar characteristics.

They were all dead people.

For instance, Clervie said he was from an orphanage called the House of the Hearth and had a friend named "Perrie." He was very worried about his friend's situation.

Among them were several others who wore masks like some five-colored sentai squad, and one particularly burly individual with four arms who vanished quickly upon appearing and had since disappeared without a trace.

However, nearly a month had passed, and everyone had gotten to know each other. Those spat out by the cocoon also realized their own limitations; for example, Clervie now only dared to stay within the Realm of a Thousand Stars and didn't dare to leave.

But recently, the cocoon had stopped spitting things out.

On this day, the sky was clear and the breeze was gentle.

Not far from the cocoon, several youthful and beautiful girls were gathered in a circle, holding cards and seemingly playing a board game.

Lumine and Paimon finished their commissions and strolled over from afar, seeing Skirk peering over to watch the others play cards.

Lumine was somewhat speechless. If he loved watching so much, why didn't he just go up and play a few rounds?

On the table, a young girl wearing brown clothes with plum blossoms pinned to her hair drew a card and slammed it onto the table with a "thwack."

"Abyss Invasion! Does anyone have a Kill? Anyone?"

"I have a Kill." Opposite Hu Tao, Keqing, who was holding a large blue-and-white Giant Spider plushie, drew a card and threw it out.

The plushie in his arms was a hot-selling product in Liyue right now, with extraordinary sales, and it was even said to be sold abroad.

Needless to say, this Giant Spider was Huo Xi's Q-version original form.

After that great war, Lumine first learned of Zhongli's identity from Signora along with Childe, and then Zhongli sent dreams to the Qixing and the Adepti, telling them he had faked his death.

Combined with the rumors among the people that Rex Lapis had saved citizens from the God's pressure and corrosion, a plan of Zhongli faking his death to lure out the enemy and then annihilating them in one fell swoop emerged in the minds of the Qixing and the Adepti. After all, Rex Lapis must have had a deep meaning for doing so.

On the other hand, the public version was as mentioned before: the Red-Clothed Immortal invited by Rex Lapis had dealt with the God. Therefore, the spider-form plushies of the Red-Clothed Immortal were now selling as hotly as the Rex Lapis plushies.

It was said that after the Millelith who had seen the Giant Spider drew ORT's appearance, Granny A-Shan, the toy seller, gathered toy merchants from all over Liyue Harbor overnight to produce the original version of this plushie.

The one Keqing was holding had much clearer textures on the back disc than those on the market; it was clearly a limited edition.

Others might not know, but Ganyu knew well that Keqing had bought quite a lot of merchandise recently—Rex Lapis's, Huo Xi's, and even ones with the Lay-flat Dragon and the Giant Spider snuggling together. He bought everything he could.

Beside Keqing, Shenhe and Ganyu were sitting close together. Ganyu played a "Kill" card without hesitation, while Shenhe looked at his hand, then at Hu Tao.

Hu Tao immediately laughed: "Shenhe, you don't have a 'Kill'! Deduct one point from you!"

Hu Tao reached out to move Shenhe's health bar but was stopped by Shenhe.

Shenhe looked at Hu Tao with sincere eyes: "My heart is full of killing intent."

"Even if you're the reincarnation of the Fiend Star, you still have to lose a point."

Shenhe lost one point of health, and he was visibly a bit unhappy.

"Hahaha! Shenhe, you're such an interesting child!" A barefoot young girl with wide sleeves nearby laughed heartily and then played a "Kill" card.

At this time, Paimon also leaned over and took a couple of peeks: "Oh, so it's Seven Nations Kill. You guys are having quite a lot of fun."

This board game was also something Huo Xi had created while he was bored at the WangSheng Funeral Parlor. Hu Tao fell in love with it as soon as she played it and would often drag Shenhe and Sister Dudu to play together.

Seeing Lumine coming over, Shenhe wanted to pull Lumine in to start a new round. With so many people playing Seven Nations Kill, everyone else played like a fish in water, while he was the only one who couldn't get used to it and always lost. His poor card-playing skills were on par with Huo Xi's.

《I'm already the Seven Archons, can't I just kill everyone directly?》

《I'm already a traitorous official, can't I just kill everyone?》

《I'm already an enemy general, can't I just kill everyone?》

Dependant? Then I should be able to kill everyone except my own God.》

《Why can I only kill when I have a 'Kill' card?》

Hu Tao commented that his killing intent was too heavy.

But while Lumine was playing cards, he was still very concerned about the situation with the cocoon.

"Any news today?" Lumine asked everyone.

Hu Tao waved her hand: "No, no. If there was a reaction, would we still be here playing cards? Just wait; maybe in the next second it'll suddenly glow and then—"

The cocoon behind Hu Tao suddenly burst with intense light.

Everyone looked at the cocoon in shock, then at Hu Tao.

Keqing patted her shoulder: "If you had said that earlier, maybe he would have come out long ago."

Everyone rushed to the giant cocoon, only to see the threads forming it slowly shrinking, finally condensing into a figure slightly shorter than the usual Huo Xi.

Compared to the usual Huo Xi, his facial features were a bit more youthful, but his overall appearance had improved significantly. To put it another way, Huo Xi's adult form was, after all, something he had molded himself, possessing a kind of artificial handsomeness, whereas this smaller Huo Xi had a natural handsomeness born of growth.

Hu Tao and the others stared blankly at the youth who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old.

Keqing tremblingly pointed at him: "Can... can this curse actually make someone younger?"

"Uh..." Lumine scratched his head: "This is his own trait; he can jump between several age groups."

Hu Tao was shocked: "You guys have it this good?"

"Ah? What?"

"Uh, I mean, the change from the cocooning is so small? It looks like nothing changed except for the age?" Hu Tao took the opportunity to lean in and take a look; she seemed to really like Huo Xi's current appearance.

And Huo Xi, sensing someone approaching, finally opened his eyes slowly.

The first thing he saw was Hu Tao's stunning face up close.

Seeing Huo Xi suddenly open his eyes, Hu Tao was about to say something when she suddenly felt a pair of hands pass under her armpits.

Skirk directly picked Hu Tao up and set her aside, then stood in front of Huo Xi and grabbed his hand. Huo Xi could feel that he was sensing his body.

After a moment, Skirk let go of his hand, left a sentence: "It's good that you're fine," and then vanished.

Huo Xi knew he had returned to the Realm of a Thousand Stars.

Similarly, he discovered that this cold youth, who had previously refused to show his face in Liyue, had actually been waiting for him here for who knows how long, and just now... he even showed a smile.

He definitely hadn't seen it wrong.

Suddenly, before he could regain his senses, a figure rushed into his arms.

"Comrade!" Keqing buried his head in his chest, his hands tightly clutching the clothes on his back, seemingly sobbing quietly.

No matter how he had used games to numb himself before, the moment he saw Huo Xi, that long-suppressed worry still rose to the very top of his heart's priorities.

Facing the suddenly pouncing Keqing, Huo Xi's hands didn't know whether to lift or put down.

Behind Keqing, Lumine, who had already opened his arms ready to hug him, froze in place.

Isn't this my master? Isn't this my man?

But he quickly aimed for Huo Xi's slightly raised and bewildered right hand. Lumine locked onto the target and was about to rush over. Suddenly! A white figure flashed past Lumine like the wind, the movement almost like teleportation.

Shenhe grabbed Huo Xi's arm: "It's good that you're fine."

Huo Xi: ??

Lumine: ?!

Huo Xi felt his arm sink into an abyss and didn't dare to move at all.

Lumine's gaze quickly swept to Huo Xi's other hand. He struck out rapidly; this time he definitely couldn't... Ganyu gently held Huo Xi's left hand. He had thought through a lot these past few days. Why was Huo Xi able to advise him so perfectly? It was because he wasn't human either! Because his situation was so similar to his own! What he said was entirely based on experience!

Now that he had exposed his non-human identity in front of everyone in Liyue Harbor, I can't let him bear it alone anymore!

Ganyu lifted Huo Xi's hand, placed it against his chest, and said firmly: "Don't worry, you are no longer alone."

Huo Xi: ??

Lumine: ?!

Hey, wait, I'm the one who's his family!!!

Seeing that there was no more room in front, Lumine simply circled around, planning a surprise attack from behind. Just then, Hu Tao gave a big leap and landed on Huo Xi's back: "Hehe! My precious consultant, this place still suits this Director best! Although the view seems a bit lower, it's just right. This Director likes it!"

Huo Xi: ??

Lumine: ?!

Lumine no longer knew what to say.

Suddenly! Paimon, who was floating next to Lumine's head, finally couldn't hold back his worried expression. He burst into tears with a "waa": "Cornucopia! My Cornucopia! I missed you so much!"

Then he flew over and hugged Huo Xi's head.

Huo Xi: ... Lumine: ??!

Lumine spread his hands, a look of despair on his face: "I haven't even gotten on board yet!"

Finally, Lumine did a sliding tackle and hugged Huo Xi's thigh.

Nearby, a passing red-clothed Fontaine photographer raised his camera and captured this touching scene.

Charlotte pressed the shutter, lightly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, tilted his head forty-five degrees, and shaded the sunlight with his hand: "This is youth!"

Only the barefoot girl with somewhat wide sleeves was secretly covering her mouth and laughing nearby: "Oh my, oh my, this youth is truly this popular!"

Hearing this voice, everyone finally came to their senses and released Huo Xi's body with some reluctance.

Only then did Huo Xi clearly see the girl's appearance. His expression turned strange, and only after using his Geo clearance to confirm did he conclude that the girl had not successfully materialized.

But how was this possible?

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Huo Xi slowly walked up to her, his voice full of disbelief: "Zhong... he didn't give you an Incarnation?"

"Both he and I have our own persistence."

Without many words, the God of Dust — Guizhong, spoke thus.