"Alright, forget what I said. Tell me what happened to you." Lumine sighed, deciding to play along since the man was convinced she was an Adeptus envoy.
"Envoy of the Adeptus, my name is Li Ding. I beg you to save my brother, Li Dang. My brother and I were desperate to provide for our family, so we foolishly decided to come to Mt. Hulao to find some treasures to sell. That's why... We're from a good family, please have mercy!"
"From a good family?" Lumine glanced suspiciously at his outfit, which was clearly that of a Treasure Hoarder.
"Uh..." Li Ding noticed Lumine's gaze and quickly explained, "Envoy, this Treasure Hoarder outfit is something we made by modifying our own clothes. Liyue has been unstable lately, so we did this to avoid trouble. Please understand!"
"Is that so? Where is your brother? How can we save him?" Lumine nodded, accepting his explanation for now.
"Well, on our way up the mountain, my brother Li Dang was suddenly swallowed by a nearby Cor Lapis. If you follow the mountain path, you'll definitely find him." Li Ding looked at Lumine pleadingly, while she rubbed her temples in frustration.
If they had to follow the mountain path, they might have to go all the way back down. They had just climbed up and were exhausted. There was no way they were going back down now.
"Here's what we'll do. I'm going to meet the Adeptus now. You go back down the mountain and wait for me at the foot. I'll ask the Adeptus to release your brother," Lumine suggested after some thought.
"Thank you, Envoy! Thank you!" Li Ding kowtowed repeatedly before leaving, still expressing his gratitude.
"Uh, Traveler, how are we supposed to meet the Adeptus?" Paimon scratched her head. Childe had given them the Sigil of Permission, saying it would protect them from the Adeptus, but he hadn't told them how to summon the Adeptus.
"I don't know either," Lumine said, her eyes scanning the surroundings—buildings, rocks, and vegetation.
Paimon watched quietly, saying nothing. Finally, Lumine's gaze settled on the door to the Adeptus' abode.
"Maybe..." Lumine turned to Paimon, who immediately understood and said hesitantly, "Traveler, isn't this a bad idea? What if we offend the Adeptus?"
Paimon understood Lumine's plan: she wanted to "knock" on the door—literally.
"It should be fine. We have the Sigil of Permission," Lumine said eagerly. The thought of smashing the door actually excited her a little.
"Then... be careful."
Paimon quietly stepped back, giving Lumine the stage.
"Gust Surge!" Without hesitation, Lumine unleashed a blast of Anemo energy at the Adeptus' door. The wind stirred up dust, scattering the fallen leaves in front of the door.
"Whoosh..." Inside the abode, Mountain Shaper, who had been taking a nap, twitched his ears at the noise, yawned, then rolled over and went back to sleep.
Paimon and Lumine waited outside for a while. When there was no response from inside, Paimon said, "Maybe the Adeptus isn't home? If that's the case, we came all this way for nothing."
"Paimon, step back," Lumine said after some thought, gesturing for Paimon to move away.
"Fall!" Lumine's eyes sharpened as she summoned several Starfell Swords, which crashed down heavily on the Adeptus' door.
Boom, boom, boom...
The loud explosions echoed across the peak of Mt. Hulao. Mountain Shaper, who had been sleeping soundly, was jolted awake, sitting up in confusion.
What was that? An earthquake? A revived god? Or had the Divine Lord come knocking again?
In a matter of seconds, Mountain Shaper considered several possibilities before deciding to go outside and investigate. Guessing wouldn't help.
When he reached the door, Mountain Shaper waved his sleeve, sending a burst of Adepti energy toward it.
"Hmm?" When the door didn't open as expected, Mountain Shaper frowned and sent another burst of energy. When the door still didn't budge, he walked up and tried to push it open. "Why won't it move?"
Outside the abode...
Paimon looked at the door, now completely blocked by Starfell Swords, and a cold sweat dripped down her forehead.
"Traveler, you've blocked the door. Even if there's an Adeptus inside, how are they supposed to come out?"
"Uh..." Lumine froze. She had only been thinking about making enough noise to get the Adeptus attention and hadn't considered this.
"Should we clear away the Starfell Swords?" Lumine asked uncertainly.
"Mm-hmm."
The two quickly agreed to clear the blockage, though of course, Lumine would be doing all the work while Paimon cheered her on.
Crash!
Just as Lumine approached, the door to the abode was violently blown open from the inside, scattering debris everywhere. A deep, angry voice followed.
"Who dares block the door to my abode?!" Heavy footsteps echoed from inside as a stern-looking middle-aged man emerged from the dust.
Mountain Shaper glared at Lumine and Paimon, a vein popping on his forehead. How dare they block his door and then wait around for him to show up? They had some nerve!
Of course, Mountain Shaper wasn't one to act impulsively. To avoid harming the innocent, he suppressed his anger and asked, "I am Mountain Shaper. Did you two do this?"
He pointed to the fragments of Starfell Swords on the ground, their golden cores still spinning.
"No, no, those Starfell Swords weren't ours!" Paimon waved her hands frantically, trying to distance themselves from the mess.
Oh no! Lumine facepalmed. Paimon, why did you have to say that? Now we're in trouble.
Sure enough, Mountain Shaper's face darkened. "Heh, so it was you after all. Trying to deceive me? That's an additional offense. I sentence you to a month of reflection inside amber!" As he spoke, Adepti energy surged around him, and several golden amber constructs flew toward the two.
"Tremble!" Caught off guard by Mountain Shaper's sudden attack, Lumine unleashed her Elemental Burst, Rockbreaker. The rising stone spikes shattered all the amber constructs.
'Hmm? This blonde girl can use elemental energy without a Vision. Interesting,' Mountain Shaper narrowed his eyes.
"Wait, we have this!" Seeing that the two were about to fight, Paimon quickly pulled out the Sigil of Permission from her little bag and showed it to Mountain Shaper.
"The Sigil of Permission?"