The first half seems to be a similar to chapter 44.
…..
"Here we are—Jueyun Karst. Strange… I don't see any Adepti."
Paimon hovered in lazy circles, her curious gaze drifting between sheer peaks and drifting mists.
"If Adepti were that easy to meet, it wouldn't be called seeking the immortals, would it?" Lumine rolled her eyes and sighed.
They pressed deeper. Forest thinned into knife-edged ridges. Cloud banks lapped at their ankles; bird-calls echoed off distant stone. Time stretched—ten, maybe twenty minutes of climbing until even Lumine's legs ached.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted," Paimon whined. "Why do Adepti hide in places like this?"
"You're flying," Lumine reminded her.
"My phantom limbs get tired too, okay? … Where are they?"
Lumine stared at the endless sea of peaks. "Shajin wouldn't mess with us… would he?"
Another quarter-hour crawled by. Paimon stomped the air. "I can't take it anymore! Adepti, where are you?!"
"Impudent!"
A thunderous voice boomed overhead. A great milu-deer descended upon a ribbon of jade wind, hooves treading empty air.
"I am Moon-carver, one of the Three-Eyed Five-Manifested Adepti. This is sacred ground. State your intent."
"We actually found one!" Paimon squealed.
Lumine all but sparkled. She stepped forward and produced the Perfumed Balm Zhongli had crafted, setting the porcelain jar upon the grass.
He listened as Lumine explained the false accusation of assassination. When the Adeptus heard how the Qixing had pinned blame on "over-curious commoners," his aura flared, crushing boulders to powder.
"Intolerable!" he thundered. "The Qixing dare smear innocents to mask their failings? … Traveler, your grievance is noted. Yet I alone must not judge. Seek the others—Mountain-shaper, Cloud-Retainer, and the Conqueror of Demons—and present the truth. Should Liyue's mortal rulers be at fault, we Adepti shall mete out heaven's thunderous wrath."
Moon-carver's decree rang across the cliffs, and with it, Lumine's next trail was lit.
"But where do we even find the other Adepti?" Paimon fretted.
"Mountain-shaper and Cloud-Retainer roam these peaks," Moon-carver said. "Fate must guide you to them. As for the Yaksha, the Guardian Yaksha haunts Wangshu Inn. You may meet him there."
"Wangshu Inn it is!"
They set off at once. Yet as they walked, Paimon's mind drifted. "Hey, Lumine, why were you blushing when you talked to that perfumer back in Scent of Spring?"
Lumine nearly tripped. "N-nothing! It was just… the way she described the oils…"
Paimon cocked her head.
Lumine's cheeks flamed hotter. "C-can we not? Let's focus on meeting Zhongli!"
…..
Later, outside the Geo Statue of The Seven
"Mr. Zhongli! We brought the balms!" Paimon waved, voice echoing through the clearing.
Zhongli stood motionless before the statue, as though communing with its silent stone. Only after a breath did he turn. "Traveler, Paimon—you have my thanks."
"Were you, uh, staring at the statue this whole time?"
"A brief lapse in thought," he answered. "Compared to Rex Lapis's eons of vigil, my moment was but a heartbeat."
"Humans can't compete with statues," Paimon muttered.
Zhongli chuckled. "Indeed. Now—have you prepared the three balms?"
"All here!" Paimon puffed her chest.
Zhongli nodded. "You have labored well. Let us offer them."
Lumine placed each balm upon the altar. When the third jar touched stone, rainbow light burst from the statue.
"Woah—look, it's glowing!"
Zhongli's amber eyes glimmered with surprise.
"Seems the Geo Archon liked the third fragrance best," Paimon declared.
Lumine recalled the perfumer's note: A lingering mist-soft scent, favored by mature ladies… She mumbled it aloud.
Paimon's jaw dropped. "Wait—does that mean Rex Lapis is actually a mature big sister?!"
Zhongli laughed—a rich, warm sound. "Who can say? The Archon's manifestations are countless. Perhaps somewhere, such a guise walks the mortal realm even now."
Paimon's eyes sparkled with the possibility. Lumine only smiled, pocketing the thought like a secret.
_
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