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ArabicGenshin Impact: A Guide to the Unofficial History of Teyvat — Chapter 35
Chapter 35: Displeasure (Part 1)
Weighed down by a wonderfully heavy pouch of freshly minted Mora and still riding the high of the bookstore owner’s lavish praise, Lovia felt as though she were floating on a cloud over the stone-paved streets of Liyue Harbor.
Somewhere in the deepest, quietest corner of her conscience, a tiny sliver of guilt toward the Conqueror of Demons still lingered. However, that fleeting remorse was rapidly crushed beneath the overwhelming joy of “enthusiastic reader response,” “fanatical praise from loyal fans,” and, most, “cold, hard cash.”
“Mhm, I’m in a fantastic mood today. I should definitely buy some high-end snacks to celebrate!” She patted her bulging coin purse, her sapphire-blue eyes sparkling brightly from beneath the shadows of her thick hood. “I’ll pick up some extra crabs and Starconches, too. I read somewhere that eating crab helps you grow taller… It might be completely useless for me at this point, but they taste amazing anyway!”
Having already gathered the necessary plants and ores for her evening stew, she handled the bustling dock area with practiced ease. The salty breeze of the sea mingled with the calls of merchants as she approached the seafood vendors. Her gaze locked with laser precision onto a batch of large, wildly flailing crabs that looked exceptionally vigorous, fresh, and sweet.
Lovia squatted by the wooden tubs, seriously poking the shell of a particularly plump crab with her index finger. She was just debating whether to steam the feisty crustacean or toss it into an ‘total Great Tonic Soup’ when a bright, energetic voice broke her concentration.
“Big Sister Lovia! What a coincidence, are you out here doing ‘research’ again?”
Yaoyao came skipping over, her iconic large bamboo basket bouncing on her back. The mechanical plush rabbit, Yuegui, waddled obediently right at her heels.
Lovia didn’t jump in fright this time. She only paused for a fraction of a second before smoothly standing up. With a subtle tug, she adjusted her heavy hooded cloak, ensuring her sensitive antennae and tail were completely concealed from the public eye, before turning to face the little girl.
“Oh, hello, Yaoyao.” Her voice was far more composed than during their last encounter, a warm smile gracing her lips. “Mhm, I’m just here to… inspect the muscular structure of Liyue’s local seafood! Yes, exactly that.”
Yaoyao blinked her large, innocent eyes. She looked down at the wooden tub of lively crabs snapping their claws at Lovia’s boots, then looked back up at Lovia’s face. “Big Sister’s research scope is so broad! You study everything from geology to seafood!”
“Ah, well, the sea of learning is boundless, after all.” Lovia coughed dryly, eager to steer the conversation away from her terrible excuses. “Are you off to deliver medicinal herbs to Mr. Baizhu again?”
“I already delivered them!” Yaoyao chirped happily, her twin buns swaying. “I was just about to head home when I saw you. Oh, right! Big Sister Lovia, have you heard the news? That super amazing author, Mr. Li Xin, just released a brand-new book!”
Lovia’s heart executed a flawless backflip inside her chest, but she wrestled her expression into a mask of polite neutrality. To avoid blowing her own cover, she injected just the right amount of casual intrigue into her voice. “Oh? Did he write another historical piece about Lord Rex Lapis?”
“No, no!” Yaoyao shook her head vigorously. “This time it’s about an adeptus! It’s the story of the Conqueror of Demons!”
Here it comes! Lovia perked up instantly, using every ounce of her willpower to suppress the urge to let the tip of her hidden tail curl upward in pride. She feigned polite curiosity and pressed further. “The Conqueror of Demons? You mean the Yaksha adeptus who guards Dihua Marsh? Does a fierce warrior like him actually have any interesting anecdotes?”
“Yes, yes! It’s so interesting!” Yaoyao had clearly just finished reading the latest volume and was practically vibrating with the need to share. “Mr. Li Xin wrote that the Conqueror of Demons’ greatest worry isn’t actually his Karmic Debt at all. It’s insomnia!”
“In—insomnia?” Lovia played along perfectly, widening her eyes in mock shock.
“Yeah! The book says it’s because it’s always so windy up where the Conqueror of Demons lives. The frogs and birds down in Dihua Marsh are way too noisy, and Uncle Smiley Yanxiao’s cooking smells so incredibly good that the adeptus sometimes gets hungry in the middle of the night, and, and…” Yaoyao scrunched up her face, trying hard to recall the exact phrasing of the manuscript. “And because people are always knocking on his balcony window at all hours, he can never sleep well, and so…”
At this point, Yaoyao lowered her voice to a dramatic whisper. She leaned closer to Lovia, her little face carrying a heavy air of mystery, as if she were sharing a state secret. “The book also says that because he doesn’t get enough sleep, his height has always been… well, he just never grew very tall…”
Lovia: “…”
She felt her conscience suffer another tiny prick of guilt, but it was immediately swallowed by a massive wave of secret, smug joy. It felt exactly like pulling off the perfect prank.
See? Even Yaoyao thinks it’s an interesting angle!
Hee hee!
“Really? That’s certainly a new perspective I’ve never heard before.” Lovia forced her tone to sound mildly amused rather than deeply guilty.
“Yeah, yeah! It’s written in such great detail. It even claims that the Conqueror of Demons once secretly visited Mr. Baizhu to ask for special prescriptions to calm his nerves and help him hit a growth spurt!” Yaoyao nodded enthusiastically. But then, as if suddenly remembering something important, the bright excitement on her face faded. It was quickly replaced by a trace of genuine worry and confusion.
“But…” Yaoyao hesitated, her voice dropping even softer. “When I went to visit Master yesterday, I think I heard her mention something about it…”
Lovia’s heart instantly leaped into her throat, hammering against her ribs. “What… what did she say?”
Yaoyao tilted her head, trying to perfectly mimic Granny Ping’s somewhat amused yet exasperated tone. “Master sighed and said… ‘That little fellow writing these books is getting bolder and bolder, daring to make things up about absolutely anyone. Now look what happened—the one being written about, though he might not truly take it to heart, is probably feeling quite displeased about the whole affair.'”
“Dis… displeased?”
The smug smile on Lovia’s face shattered into a million pieces.
What did… Granny Ping mean by that?
That person… he actually knows?!
And he’s unhappy?!
Even though Granny Ping had explicitly stated that the adeptus “might not truly take it to heart,” the mere word “displeased” was more than enough to make Lovia’s scalp go entirely numb.
Suddenly, she felt as if an icy, bone-chilling gaze, originating all the way from the distant wetlands of Dihua Marsh, had pierced straight through the mountains, cut through the layers of Liyue Harbor’s buildings, and locked firmly onto the back of her neck.
The witty, mocking prose she had so proudly penned replayed in her mind on a terrifying loop. Every single joke about height and sleep deprivation morphed into a deadly piece of evidence—evidence that was practically guaranteed to provoke a certain Three-Foot-Five-Inch Adeptus into hunting her down.
“Is… is that so…” Lovia’s voice came out as a dry, raspy squeak. She subconsciously grabbed the edges of her hood and yanked it down further over her face, desperately hoping the thick fabric could provide some meager sense of physical security. “The deep thoughts of an adeptus are… well, they’re something we mere mortals could never possibly guess… haha…”
After forcing out two incredibly hollow laughs, she abruptly spun around and leaned over the wooden tubs. She jabbed her finger frantically at the water, pointing at the most aggressive crabs.
“Boss! These ones, quick! Wrap them up for me!”
She slammed a handful of Mora onto the wooden stall, completely forgetting her usual routine of ruthless haggling.
“Yaoyao, I just remembered I have a massive, super urgent emergency! Let’s research that ‘seafood structure’ some other time! I’m leaving now, bye!”
Lovia practically snatched the twine-wrapped bundle of crabs from the stunned vendor’s hands. She fired the words at Yaoyao at lightning speed, and before the little girl could even open her mouth to respond, Lovia was already sprinting down the docks. She clutched her “high-end afternoon tea” to her chest like a lifeline, her wide cloak billowing wildly behind her as she fled the scene.
“Eh? Big Sister Lovia?” Yaoyao blinked her large eyes in utter bewilderment. She stood on her tiptoes, watching the author’s retreating back, which could only be accurately described as a panicked, desperate retreat. “Why the sudden rush?”
Yuegui tilted its mechanical head, letting out a soft, confused, “Gu?”
Yaoyao pondered the strange interaction for a moment. She eventually concluded that Big Sister Lovia must have simply remembered a highly critical piece of academic research that required her immediate attention, and decided not to dwell on it any further.
Humming a cheerful tune, she resumed skipping toward home with Yuegui waddling beside her. Still, in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder about her master’s words, and just how “displeased” the Conqueror of Demons truly was.