Hydrophobic ¦ Xingqiu x Reader [Genshin Impact]

The Rite Of Descension [2]

The three of you spent two days trying to find the nearest Geo Archon's statue just so Lumine could mark it on her map.

"So... we've been walking and swimming through Sal Terrae when we could've just used the route of Stone Gate?" Lumine slapped her forehead after finally seeing the images and routes on the map.

"It looked like it was the nearest short cut." Paimon shrugged. 

"I mean, we did get here pretty fast and what's done is done already." You replied. "Next time, let's just look for a pathway and ask people for directions. Now that I think about it, we never really talked to other travelers before we headed off to Liyue." 

"Paimon agrees!" Paimon raised her hand as she nodded, contributing absolutely nothing to the conversation.

The three of you didn't waste time and headed off to the next statue. You guys did make a few stops for training whenever a hilichurl camp was nearby. 

Training with Lumine didn't feel like training at all. The training you endured back at home only had dummies and maybe a few knights to spar with. It was completely boring. 

But now, every enemy you've come in contact with felt like a real fight and because of that, you would always catch yourself enjoying the battle.

Somehow, you guys found yourselves at the entrance of Liyue Harbor.

"Lumine, Paimon wants to buy snacks..." The floating child started to whine, making the blonde female nod at everything she said as if she was already used to this kind of behavior.

"Let's stop by Xiangling's restaurant, then. It was called Wanmin restaurant, yes?" Lumine replied, earning a positive answer from Paimon.

As the three of you walked and asked directions from this certain restaurant, your friends filled you in about this crazy adventure with Xiangling and the Springvale cook off.

You thought it was funny how Brook thought that she would win when she competed with a renowned chef such as Xiangling—even though you have never met them both in your life.

"Welcome to Wanmin restaurant! What can I get for you?" A grown man on the other side of the counter greeted as the three of you walked towards the said building.

"Oh, hello! Paimon assumes that you're Xiangling's father, right?" Paimon waved, smiling.

The man nodded with the same expression as Paimon. "That's correct. She's on leave for now, collecting ingredients for new dishes. She's always been like that."

You thought Xiangling was a great person just by hearing them talk about her. You wished to meet her soon.

The three of you dined in at the restaurant, talking about what Jean filled them in on where to find the guild and how to approach them. You guys also talked about the Rite of Descension and the Teyvat travel guide.

After the small break, Lumine decided to go to Yujing Terrace with you and Paimon as suggested by the people of Liyue.

Before approaching the crowd though, the three of you made wishes to the east and southwest censers, earning information along the way about the Geo God and Adeptis from other people who were also making wishes there.

I wish our travels to have bountiful results, was what you wished quietly.

You, Lumine and Paimon then wait for the Rite of Descension to begin.

A pretty lady, who was said to be named Ningguang, walked towards the altar, "The hour is upon us." She announced, summoning the Geo Archon from above, only to be greeted by a lifeless corpse in the form of a dragon.

It was then declared that Rex Lapis has been assassinated, resulting panic from the people who encountered the event, including the three of you.

Lumine suggested running away from the millelith, not wanting to fall into their hands and that was what you guys exactly did.

Since you snuck out with your friends, it was no surprise that the millelith were alerted with this and chased the three of you into a corner.

"There's nowhere to run!" One of the guards asserted.

There was no other choice but to fight them so you and Lumine draw out your weapons and just when the two of you were about to exchange blows with the millelith, a confident voice emerged behind you. 

"Hey girlies, hold still." 

A stranger with a hydro vision then appeared and defeated each guard who were cornering the three of you but as a consequence, reinforcements were now running towards you.

"Come with me." The stranger said, using his head to point which direction to go.

When the four of you arrived at a safe place to talk about what just happened, the stranger introduced himself as Childe. 

Unfortunately, he was one of the Fatui—a harbinger exactly. You've heard of them from Jean once and they were not the good guys at all.

Lumine was quite irritated with that fact. You can see it all over her face and body language. "Go. Leave." She insisted.

You calmly listened to Childe's explanation, your skepticism about him not leaving. He said something about meeting him at this bank and at that place, he gave you and Lumine a bunch of instructions to clear yourselves of any suspicion.

Yeah, you weren't gonna listen to him and do all of those unless Lumine agrees to. 

After the seemingly long conversation the three of you had with the harbinger, it was time for another conversation with your friends.

"You're not serious about following his suggestions, right?" You asked the blonde traveler who sighed. 

"I don't think we have a choice." She answered regrettably.

Well, Lumine's right. You just didn't want to trust a harbinger ever since you heard about the incident outside the cathedral.

Lumine continued, "How about this, Lady [Name]—"

"Just [Name] is fine." You interrupted.

"So, what I was thinking was that... we'll meet up with the person you're meant to meet and then I'll leave you with that person for the meantime while I go finish my business with the harbinger." 

"What?!" Paimon yelled in surprise. "You're gonna leave her with a person she's never met before?!"

Lumine had to calm Paimon down before continuing, "I'm just saying that [Name] would be in much safer hands when she's with him."

You frowned. "But I wanna go with you."

Staying with a guy you've never met before sounds worse than meeting a harbinger.

"We're not even sure if the guy that [Name]'s gonna be meeting is a good guy! He can be a weirdo for all we know!" The little fairy argued, her small brows now stitched with each other. 

Lumine placed a hand over your shoulder. "He might be setting a trap, you know. I don't want you to get in trouble with me. If what he said was true, then I'll let you travel with me next time. For now, we can meet this second son of some guild as requested by your father."

Ah, yes. You almost forgot about that after all the chaos that has happened in the past few hours.

The three of you were already given directions from Jean a few days ago so it wouldn't be that hard to look for their goal. 

Next stop: The Feiyun Commerce Guild's building.