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ArabicGenshin Impact: A Guide to the Unofficial History of Teyvat — Chapter 33
Chapter 33: The Creative Hiatus
After unleashing The Troubles of the Guardian Yaksha upon an unsuspecting public, Lovia barricaded herself indoors. For three entire days, she was the picture of perfect, unproblematic behavior.
Partly, this was a luxury afforded by her newly lined pockets. With enough Mora to keep her tiny shack stocked with snacks, she could comfortably sink into the plush embrace of a self-proclaimed “creative hiatus.” In her past life, she had been a dyed-in-the-wool shut-in anyway; her recent streak of actually going outside and interacting with society was an anomaly she never would have dreamed of before crossing over.
But mostly, it was pure, unadulterated cowardice.
She called it “lying low.” Although she liked to brag that Melusines were swift on their feet, fabricating gossip about the Conqueror of Demons was an entirely different beast than writing about Rex Lapis window-shopping for antiques. Rex Lapis was a distant, majestic figurehead. The Guardian Yaksha was a very real, very lethal Adeptus who might just materialize in her living room, Primordial Jade Winged-Spear in hand, to demand a retraction.
Besides, Melusines didn’t even run that fast. Her stubby little legs were not outrunning an anemo dash.
“Safety first. Always safety first,” she muttered, aggressively cracking open a steamed crab shell with a tiny, specialized mallet. “Let the heat die down. We observe the blast radius from a safe distance.”
By the afternoon of the fourth day, cabin fever finally overpowered her paranoia. Lovia geared up, pulling her hood low over her head, and slipped through the bustling streets toward Sanyu Bookstore.
She ducked behind a vibrant kite stall, her sapphire-blue eyes darting nervously from shadow to shadow. She pricked up her ears, scanning the perimeter for the unmistakable gleaming armor of the Millelith.
There was no sting operation. No wanted posters bearing a crude sketch of a Melusine.
Instead, the entrance to the bookstore was practically overflowing. The crowd was thicker than ever, their heated debates spilling out into the street. Only this time, the scandalous whispers of Rex Lapis’s late wife had been entirely eclipsed by two new, burning topics: the Conqueror of Demons’ chronic insomnia, and the heavy burden of his Karmic Debt.
Fortunately, the Liyue populace had enough common sense to treat the latter with hushed reverence. Karmic Debt was a grim, tragic affliction, hardly suitable for casual street gossip.
The insomnia, however, was fair game.
“…True Lord of Looking Up, Down, and All Around! Hahaha! This author is an absolute genius!” a young craftsman wheezed, slapping his knee in delight. “Who comes up with this?”
“So the Conqueror of Demons actually goes by the name Xiao? And he hangs around Dihua Marsh?” another man asked, eyes wide. “Is that true? I need to head out there this weekend and try my luck. Maybe I’ll get an immortal encounter!”
“It sounds completely unhinged, but if you actually think about it… it kind of tracks?” His companion rubbed his chin, fighting a grin.
“Right? And those frogs in Dihua Marsh are no joke! Last time I went night fishing out there, the croaking was so deafening I couldn’t catch a single bass! No wonder the poor Conqueror of Demons can’t get a wink of sleep!”
“So he works himself to the bone slaying demons, and he’s completely sleep-deprived? Man, I suddenly feel terrible for him…”
“But what exactly is that Karmic Debt? The book says it’s been tormenting him for a thousand years.”
“Even Mr. Li Xin didn’t dare write too much about it. There has to be some heavy Adeptal secrets involved. Better keep our voices down about that part…”
“Hey, look over there! Even the Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor is out here using the crowd to promote her new buy-one-get-one-free funeral packages!”
“Jokes aside, this author has guts of steel. Daring to write a parody about the Conqueror of Demons… aren’t they afraid of divine retribution?”
“Afraid of what? The disclaimer right on the first page says it’s just ‘hearsay’and’folk research.’ Plus, look at the prose. It’s teasing, sure, but there’s zero malice in it. If anything, it makes the Adeptus feel… I don’t know, a bit more approachable?”
“True. It beats those old terrifying legends that make him sound like a bloodthirsty monster.”
“Well, I loved it. I just wonder what the Guardian Yaksha himself would think if he actually read a copy…”
Behind the kite stall, Lovia’s heart executed a flawless swan dive into her stomach.
‘What would his reaction be?’she thought, a cold sweat breaking out beneath her cloak.’Probably the kind where he skewers the author on a polearm and roasts them over a campfire!’
She instinctively shrank her neck, pulling her hood down until it practically covered her nose.
Yet, as she listened to the lively chatter, the tension slowly bled out of her shoulders. Nobody was whispering about investigating the author. There were no demands to bring Mr. Li Xin to justice.
Liyue Harbor had completely embraced this bizarre, “unofficial history” genre. They loved the lighthearted teasing of their revered Adepti.
A warm, bubbling sense of relief—followed swiftly by an obvious surge of smugness—welled up in her chest. The people of Liyue were far more open-minded and possessed a much better sense of humor than she had ever given them credit for.
Just as she had calculated. Her sheer talent as the illustrious Mr. Li Xin was more than enough to make her absurd “research” wildly popular!
Beneath the heavy fabric of her cloak, her little tail betrayed her excitement, wagging happily against her legs.
After a few more minutes of cautious observation, Lovia confirmed the coast was entirely clear. There were no Millelith guards lying in wait, and certainly no grim-faced Adepti perched on the nearby rooftops.
Her courage fully restored, she shifted her weight. The few remaining Mora in her pocket let out a pathetic little jingle, a sharp reminder of her primary mission today: securing her incredibly generous manuscript royalties.
Sticking to her established routine, she completely bypassed the main entrance of Sanyu Bookstore. Instead, she circled around the block, slipping into a quiet, shaded alleyway. Her sapphire eyes scanned the cobblestones, searching for the local children who usually played in the area.
It didn’t take long to spot a young boy kicking a stone against a wall. He looked clever, quick on his feet, and entirely inconspicuous.
“Hey there, little guy,” Lovia whispered, gesturing for him to come closer.
The boy trotted over, tilting his head curiously. Lovia reached into her pocket, fishing out ten Mora and the official withdrawal voucher bearing the seal of Li Xin. She pressed them carefully into his small palm.
“Do Big Sister a favor,” she murmured softly. “Run over to Sanyu Bookstore and ask for Shopkeeper Sun. Give him this slip, and he’ll give you a heavy cloth bag to bring back to me. The coins are for your trouble. Sound good?”
The boy’s eyes widened at the sight of the shiny Mora. He gripped the coins and the voucher tightly, nodding with absolute conviction. “You got it! Leave it to me!”
He spun on his heel and sprinted toward the bustling street, practically vibrating with excitement over his easy payday.
Lovia let out a long, slow breath and retreated deeper into the cool shadows of the alley to wait.
She had employed this proxy method several times now, and it had never failed her. It completely eliminated the risk of exposing her true identity, perfectly satisfied Shopkeeper Sun’s strict rule of requiring the physical withdrawal token, and even stimulated the local economy by providing pocket money for the neighborhood kids. It was a flawless, multi-layered victory.
Leaning her back against the cool brick wall, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander to the most important question of the day: how to spend her impending fortune.
Should she hit the market for some fresh, fragrant sea plants to brew a rich soup? Or perhaps scour the merchant stalls for a fresh batch of shiny, delectable ores?