Klee looked at Qiu Bai in front of her.
"Hehe, after all, Klee spent all her allowance on this,"
she said, scratching her head a little embarrassedly.
"Looks like Klee really loves fish,"
Qiu Bai said with a smile, taking a bite of his own.
"Ah, no!"
"Klee forgot the time! I have to get back!"
Halfway through eating, Klee suddenly remembered something and quickly jumped to her feet.
"Qiu Bai, I have to go back!"
"If Captain Jean finds out, she'll lock me up again!"
She hurriedly shouted at Qiu Bai, who was still sitting on the rock, and then bolted off.
Qiu Bai, still eating, was left a little stunned.
"Klee, slow down!"
He called out after her, laughing.
"I know! Bye-bye, Qiu Bai!"
Klee shouted back as she ran off.
...
As evening fell over Mondstadt, Klee quietly pushed open the door to her room.
She tiptoed inside cautiously.
"Klee!"
A stern female voice rang out from the darkness.
"Ah—Captain Jean!"
"K-Klee couldn't find the way back, that's why I'm so late!"
Klee looked up at Jean's serious expression, trembling as she tried to explain.
"So late, and now you remember to come home?"
"Were you bombing fish again?"
Jean didn't even bother responding to her excuse—she'd heard it too many times already.
"No, I wasn't!"
"But I met that fairy big brother you talked about, Captain Jean!"
Klee waved her hands frantically, remembering something exciting, and beamed at Jean.
"Fairy?"
"Don't tell me it's that deity from Liyue..."
Jean muttered, frowning thoughtfully.
"That big brother is super powerful! He made the whole lake and all the fish float into the air!"
"And he showed up right when Klee was bombing fish!"
Klee spoke excitedly, her face glowing with pride.
"What's going on, Jean?"
"What are you telling the little one?"
Lisa pushed open the door and walked in, seeing Jean scolding Klee.
Jean quickly told Lisa everything Klee had just said.
"The lake water floated in the sky like cloth?"
"Summoning firewood out of thin air? Restoring trees?"
Lisa repeated slowly, resting her hand against her chin.
She knelt down and patted Klee's head.
"Jean, could it be that little Klee fell asleep somewhere and dreamed all of this?"
Lisa looked at Klee with some doubt, then stood up and turned to Jean.
"Klee wasn't dreaming!"
"It's all true!"
Klee pouted angrily.
"Alright, alright, little Klee didn't dream."
"Listen to Lisa and tell her what that person looked like, okay?"
Lisa gently stroked Klee's head and smiled warmly.
Klee then carefully described Qiu Bai's appearance.
"Oh?"
"Jean, have you heard of anyone like that?"
Lisa, her legs graceful and shapely under her stockings, slowly stood up.
"Judging from the decorations, he's probably from Liyue."
"Or maybe just a Liyue native who worships that deity."
Jean nodded.
What Klee said sounded too fantastical, and even she and Lisa were a little unsure what to make of it.
"By the way, Klee, didn't you say you didn't bomb fish?"
"Then what was all that about bombing fish earlier?"
Jean crossed her arms and looked down at Klee sternly.
"Uh..."
Klee lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers, unable to answer.
"To the confinement room."
"Reflect on what you've done."
Jean spoke calmly, seeing Klee's guilty look.
"Klee understands..."
Lowering her head, Klee trudged out of the room and headed next door to the confinement room.
"Sigh, Klee's so easy to fool."
"How could a Liyue deity show up in Mondstadt for no reason?"
Jean sighed, watching Klee's retreating back.
"Maybe the little one..."
"was telling the truth after all."
Lisa covered her mouth and giggled softly.
"That immortal has long fallen into slumber."
"How could he come all the way to Mondstadt just to fish with Klee?"
Jean threw up her hands, frowning at Lisa.
"You're right."
"After all, what god would have so much free time? Haha..."
Lisa chuckled along.
"This kid, Klee, her stories are getting more and more outrageous."
Jean sighed, massaging her temples, then walked out of the room.
"Haha, Jean, I've already prepared your dinner."
"You've been working all this time without eating, haven't you?"
Lisa smiled and followed her out.
...
By the shore of Cider Lake, Qiu Bai finished his grilled fish and looked up at the sun sinking slowly into the horizon.
"Ah, time flies so fast."
"Lumine's probably already reunited with her brother."
Stretching lazily, Qiu Bai vanished with a teleport.
Landing again, he looked ahead.
Before him rose a massive snow-capped mountain, the wind roaring across its peaks.
Atop the mountain, a tiny Statue of The Seven glowed faintly blue.
In Qiu Bai's view, that little blue light looked minuscule against the vastness of the mountain.
"Whoa, now this is spectacular."
"This must be Dragonspine—the nightmare of every newbie."
Qiu Bai's mouth twitched as he looked at the towering mountain.
He still remembered trying to explore Dragonspine at level 18... only to be promptly driven back by the brutal cold.
"Since I'm traveling through the Seven Nations, I have to visit every place."
"Mondstadt's scenery really is charming."
Smiling slightly, Qiu Bai took a step forward, heading toward the snowy mountain.
In another blink, he teleported, reappearing at Dragonspine's summit.
Above the Frostbearing Tree, fierce cold winds whipped at his thin clothes—but Qiu Bai didn't feel cold at all.
A faint light glimmered in his eyes as he looked down at the landscape.
After a long moment, he turned to take in the view around him.
"Heh, the visibility up here's pretty bad."
Qiu Bai chuckled.
The place was filled with swirling snow and raging winds, making it hard to see far.
Flying once around the entire Dragonspine, he gazed down at the massive skeleton below.
"This must be where the Dragon Durin fell."
"It's huge... but still smaller than Azhdaha."
Qiu Bai landed atop the bones, muttering to himself as he looked at the giant remains beneath his feet.
A thousand years ago, when he purified Azhdaha, that beast had been as large as a mountain—several times bigger than Durin's skeleton.