"Lord Childe, the intelligence regarding the Exuvia has been returned."
A member of the Fatui handed a report to Tartaglia, who was currently recuperating from his injuries.
"Hmm? The Exuvia? What Exuvia?"
Tartaglia looked surprised. It took him a moment to remember why he was looking for the thing in the first place.
"Dammit, I almost forgot the main mission!"
Cold sweat nearly broke out on Tartaglia's forehead. He hurriedly took the report and began reading, only letting out a sigh of relief once he finished.
"Phew, that was close!"
"Let me see... The Liyue Qixing has decided to hold the Rite of Parting seven days from now at the same location where the Rite of Descension took place."
"Until then, the Exuvia will be kept within the Golden House."
Tartaglia sighed with relief after reading the report. Finally, he had a lead on the Exuvia...
However, he immediately followed up with a question. "Is this news reliable? How did you get it?"
His subordinate replied instantly, "It was overheard by an informant stationed near the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. At the time, Mr. Zhongli happened to be discussing the matter with that Traveler."
"The news should be reliable. After all, our agents have recently noticed that the Liyue Qixing has significantly increased security at the Golden House. A large number of Millelith, originally used for city patrols, have been redeployed there."
Hearing this, Tartaglia finally felt at ease.
"In that case, the news is almost certainly true."
"Regardless, seven days is enough time for me to recover."
Tartaglia calculated the time needed for his injuries to heal and nodded with satisfaction.
If these injuries had been sustained by an ordinary person, they would have probably been reincarnated by now. But who could blame him for being so durable?
With the care of medical staff and the use of various precious medicinal herbs, Tartaglia's injuries were already nearly half-healed.
In a few more days, even if he didn't fully return to his peak, sneaking into the Golden House to extract the Gnosis from the Exuvia shouldn't be much of a problem.
Just then, Lumine and Paimon arrived to invite him to attend the Rite of Parting in seven days.
Lumine and Paimon didn't realize they were late; Tartaglia had known the intel for a while. Nevertheless, Tartaglia received the two of them quite warmly.
Because of Su Ming's involvement, Tartaglia hadn't appeared before the trio to repeatedly fish for information while Lumine and Paimon were helping Zhongli prepare for the Rite of Parting, unlike how the original plot would have gone.
Furthermore, since the Liyue Qixing covered all the expenses for this Rite of Parting, Zhongli was able to shop without restraint. He looked only at quality and ignored the prices, effectively going all-in.
This left Tartaglia without a reason to intervene. Consequently, for this Rite of Parting, he hadn't contributed much beyond helping Zhongli pay Lumine's employment fee.
In Lumine's eyes, this Fatui Harbinger seemed like nothing more than a guy who was bad at what he did but addicted to trying, as well as being generous to a fault.
Compared to La Signora back in Mondstadt, this Childe was far more agreeable to look at.
Thus, as long as both sides remained on good terms, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
After Lumine and Paimon walked out of the Northland Bank, Paimon giggled. "Heehee, this Harbinger feels pretty decent, doesn't he?"
"When we first arrived in Liyue and were framed as the murderers who assassinated the Geo Archon, we would have been in big trouble if he hadn't helped us."
"Without that Sigil of Permission he gave us, we wouldn't have been able to see the Adepti, and we wouldn't have met Su Ming later on."
"Without Su Ming, we'd probably still be staying in a hotel right now."
"And that large sum of money he paid you is dozens of times higher than the commissions at the Adventurers' Guild!"
Lumine said seriously, "Paimon, you can't just look at the surface."
"Don't forget the Fatui's ultimate goal."
"Childe might not harbor any personal hostility toward us, but I believe... he won't give up on the Geo Archon's Gnosis, especially after the Geo Archon's fall."
"Did you forget? Zhongli mentioned to us that the Exuvia is hidden in the Golden House."
"If even he knows, Childe must have his own channels... We should go talk to Su Ming and have him inform the Liyue Qixing."
"Although it's not good to judge others with malice, he is Fatui after all. It's better to be on our guard."
Paimon nodded. "Oh, right... Su Ming probably doesn't know what La Signora did to Venti yet, does he?"
"Then let's hurry back! There's no time to lose!"
The two returned to their residence and immediately found Su Ming, who was lying in a lounge chair in the courtyard, basking in the sun while reading a book.
"Su Ming! We have something to tell you!"
Paimon flew anxiously in front of Su Ming.
"Oh? What happened? What's got you so worked up?"
Su Ming smiled and pinched little Paimon's face.
"Hey! Don't just pinch people's faces like that!"
Paimon broke free from Su Ming's clutches and looked at Lumine huffily. "I'm so mad! I don't want to talk to him right now. Lumine, you tell him!"
Lumine smiled slightly and then said, "Su Ming, I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you know what the goal of those Fatui Harbingers is?"
"Their goal? You mean the Gnosis?"
"Their goal is the Gno... Eh?"
Lumine, who was just about to say the word, was instantly stunned by Su Ming's answer.
She subconsciously asked, "How did you know?!"
Su Ming, of course, couldn't tell her the truth, so he just made up a reason.
"I guessed."
"You're fooling with me again!"
Su Ming replied, "How can you say 'again'? This time, I really did guess."
"To tell you the truth, I got along quite well with Rex Lapis before he passed away, and I heard him mention the Gnosis once."
"The Fatui have spread throughout the seven nations, so they must be plotting something. Only the power unique to the gods would be worthy of such an elaborate setup."
"Originally, I wasn't entirely sure, but I confirmed it after seeing the look on your face."
"You resolved the storm in Mondstadt, and that Stormterror is a familiar of the Anemo Archon. I find it hard to believe you don't know the Anemo Archon, Barbatos."
"Based on your reaction, should I take it that the Anemo Archon's Gnosis has already fallen into the hands of the Fatui?"
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