The Lost People of Teyvat

Chapter 239: A Moment of Eternity
Chen Tianfeng and Xiao Gong exchanged stories. The former was half recollection and half fabrication, picking out the interesting stories of Liyue told by Zhongli or what he had seen in Mondstadt, and telling them in a relaxed tone; the latter told stories full of childishness or about fireworks.

After each of them had told three or five stories, Ying finally opened his eyes and looked at the two people who were chatting happily. He frowned, then relaxed, and interrupted the story sharing session where the two were chatting: "I... the Eye Hunting Order issued by the General, what do you think is wrong?"

Chen Tianfeng turned to look at her, his eyes swept up and down, and said incredulously: "You closed your eyes and rested for so long, just to worry about this?"

And haven’t figured out the answer yet.

So, people can practice martial arts, but they can't just practice martial arts. If a good brain is left unused, it's no different from having no brain at all.

Ying naturally ignored Chen Tianfeng's "disrespectful" look and looked at Xiao Gong: "What do you think?"

"Me? Um..."

Xiao Gong thought about it carefully, and suddenly repeated the understanding of the Eye of God by most people in Teyvat: "When a person's desire is strong enough, the gods will cast a glance at him, and the Eye of God will appear. This represents the recognition of the gods, and it is also the proudest thing for the owner of the Eye of God."

Ying frowned slightly, while Chen Tianfeng smiled softly.

The girl with golden orange hair raised her head and looked at Ying: "But now the gods are taking back their approval... Is it because our wishes are too foolish and unbearable?"

"The implementation of the Eye Hunting Order has nothing to do with wishes. The general has no intention of belittling the wishes of any of the Inazu people."

"Then why did the general implement the Eye Hunting Order?"

"For eternity."

"eternal?"

"Those who possess the Eye of God have the ability to guide the elements. If this power falls into the hands of those with bad intentions, it will undoubtedly be a harm to the people of Inazuma."

Ying spoke calmly as he explained the reason why he implemented the Eye Hunting Order: "Knights use force to break the law, and bandits don't care about the law. The purpose of the Eye Hunting Order is not to confiscate everyone's God's Eye, but to take away the God's Eye of those who are harmful to Inazuma."

For ordinary people, in addition to monsters and poisonous beasts, there are many other dangerous things in the wilderness of Inazuma. For example, there are wandering warriors called "Umiranki". Most of them are in groups of three or five, holding swords and sabers. In name, they are comprehending nature and improving swordsmanship, but most of them are worse than the treasure-stealing group.

They rob people on the road, kill people for money, and some even kill people with knives just for fun.

If these humanoid monsters had the Eye of God in their hands, the suffering of ordinary people would undoubtedly become worse.

Xiao Gong was slightly startled: "... Ying, do you think so?"

"Not bad." Ying nodded, noticing Xiao Gong's expression, and frowned slightly: "Why, you don't agree?"

"No, I don't disagree. If the Eye Hunting Order is really like this, then it's really good." The girl shook her head gently and pursed her lips: "But...but, am I also a person who is harmful to Inazuma?"

Ying was slightly startled, then his eyes fell on the Eye of God on Xiao Gong's waist, not understanding why she said that.

Xiao Gong took off the Eye of God, held it in his palm, and looked down: "... Half a month ago, the samurai of Tenryo Bugyo came to Naganohara and said that they were following the order of the Shogun to confiscate the Eye of God from all the Inazuma people except the three Bugyo... I was told not to be ungrateful and hand over the Eye of God as soon as possible, otherwise they would seal off Naganohara."

She raised her head, still smiling, but it made people feel distressed: "Fortunately, Miss Kamisato, the shrine magistrate, lent a hand and said that Naganohara was the shrine magistrate's property and I was the shrine magistrate's man, so I was able to deceive those samurai."

"Ying, tell me, am I also the kind of person who is harmful to Inazuma?"

"..."

Ying remained silent, not knowing how to answer.

Is Xiao Gong a person who is harmful to Inazuma?

There is no need to think too much about this question. She is just an ordinary fireworks girl with many wonderful ideas, which make the summer of Narukami Island more colorful.

But if we talk about the danger to Inazuma...Yoshinomiya is not even as dangerous as the hillbillies sleeping soundly under the trees in the wild.

She is kind, simple, lively and full of energy. She is a young girl that everyone who sees her will love.

But this girl almost lost the Eye of God under the Eye Hunting Order.

Tianling follows those bastards!

There was a flash of anger in Ying's beautiful purple eyes, and then she thought of something and turned to glare at Chen Tianfeng. "Why are you glaring at me?"

Chen Tianfeng was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted: "This matter has nothing to do with me. I just smuggled Inazuma these two days. It was you... the General's men who betrayed Him."

We can't put all the blame on him, right? If Inazuma was blamed for so many things, he would be truly worthy of the title "unspeakable".

"It's not you?"

There was still some doubt in Ying's eyes.

Chen Tianfeng grinned: "I don't even bother to do this kind of thing."

Not to mention that such a thing was against his morals and he would never want to create it. If he really wanted to kill Inazuma or stir up chaos just to see the tragedy of wives and children being torn apart and families being destroyed, why would he need to go through so much trouble?

One also has to take the trouble to deceive and manipulate the fools who are in charge of Tianling, and just scoop up a handful of water from the dead world of holy spirits and scatter it on the farmland, and Inazuma will easily become a hell on earth with chaos and starvation everywhere.

Xiao Gong listened to the conversation between the two, his eyes gradually widened, and he suddenly understood something in his heart, but he also felt a little uneasy because of this.

The girl glanced at the shadow secretly, then quickly looked away.

This, this, this... this beautiful big sister named Ying is the Lord of the Ogosho? !
Oh my God! Isn't she accusing the general of having the wrong will in front of him?
It’s over, it’s over. What should I do?
But she didn't expect the general to be so gentle, and he patiently explained to her why he issued the Eye Hunting Order... Hmm, the general seemed to be different from the familiar image...

Could this be what the people of Liyue often call “an incognito visit”?
Xiao Gong muttered quietly in his heart, his expression changing from worried to happy.

Ying looked away and saw Xiao Gong's expression. She immediately understood the reason. She thought about it and simply removed her disguise: "Xiao Gong."

"Ah, I'm here!"

Xiao Gong suddenly came back to his senses. When he looked up, the figure of the general came into his sight: "Ying... General... um..."

She stammered, not knowing for a moment what to address.

"Just call me Shadow."

Ying didn't care about the name. She tapped her fingers on the table, and the bowl of ginger soup that hadn't been touched began to show fine lines: "Xiao Gong, in your opinion, what is eternity?"

"Eternity..." Xiao Gong pondered for a long time, finally shook his head and said honestly: "I don't know what eternity you are pursuing. The fireworks that I love may be the farthest thing from eternity in your eyes, because they are fleeting brilliance and have no practical meaning to Inazuma."

"But for me, the fireworks rise into the sky, blooming brilliantly, and reflected in the eyes of everyone who looks up in hope. That momentary brilliance is the eternity in my heart."

Ying was stunned for no apparent reason, and suddenly her ears rang with the words her elder sister, Inazuma's first General of Thunder, had said to her:
Just pursue it, even if it is only a moment of light, at least we have this moment.

A moment of...eternity?
Pursuit? Now?
Ying felt a little confused and also had an imperceptible sadness. She stood up suddenly, turned her wrist, and tightened the thread that connected her and Chen Tianfeng: "We should set off."

"So anxious?"

Chen Tianfeng was surprised. He had been thinking about staying for dinner to see if he could try Xiaogong’s cooking.

"Eh? Are you leaving now?"

Xiao Gong was stunned for a moment, wanting to keep him, but not knowing how.

How can mortals make gods stop?
She pursed her lips, suddenly thought of something, and was about to run somewhere: "Wait a minute! I'll get an umbrella!"

"No need."

Ying took a step forward and glanced up at the sky.

In an instant, the clouds disappeared, the rain stopped, and the sky was clear and bright.

She turned around, looked at Xiao Gong, and whispered, "Inazuma's sky has cleared up."

(End of this chapter)