To Ying's surprise, when she saw herself descending from the sky on a sword, Wendy did not approach her with his usual familiarity. Instead, he stopped a few steps away and asked with polite yet wary eyes, "Before we start talking, can I know who you are now? Are you the Traveler I know, or...?"
By this time, Bai Yu had taken a backseat, while Ying secretly chuckled in her heart. She pretended to be serious, coughed, and said in a pompous tone, "What brings you to this old man, young friend?"
Bai Yu: '...Am I that old?'
Paimon: "Pfft—"
Wendy was bewildered. He was truly unsure who Ying was now. Although he suspected that it was still her, what if...?
What if the person in front of him was actually some ancient monster?
It was Paimon who finally broke the awkward silence. The little fellow stomped her feet in the air and scolded, "Ying! Stop teasing Wendy!"
Wendy visibly relaxed upon hearing that.
Unable to contain his curiosity, he hurriedly asked, "Ying, what's going on with you? Can you explain?"
"Of course!" Ying nodded, opened her mouth, and began to spout nonsense. "This is my old grandpa! He usually lives in the flower on my head. You can call him Old Bai."
Paimon: "?"
Wendy: "???"
Bai Yu: '???'
With a loud slap, Ying suddenly raised her right hand and began to slap herself repeatedly in the face. She cried out in pain as she slapped, "It hurts! It hurts! It hurts so much! Bai Yu, stop! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"
"Stop! You're going to hurt yourself too if you keep hitting yourself!"
"Damn it! I told you to stop, do you understand!?"
The helpless girl tried to use her left hand to stop her "unruly" right hand—
—and then she started slapping herself with both hands at the same time...
Wendy had a string of question marks above his head. He could only look to Paimon for help.
The little fellow, having witnessed Ying's "split personality" in the suite at the Grand Hotel before, was surprisingly composed. However, seeing Ying slapping herself like this was not a good sight. She rushed over and hugged Ying's arm, persuading, "Bai Yu! Bai Yu! Calm down! Calm down! Like Ying said, you'll hurt yourself too!"
Bai Yu finally stopped and grunted, "Serves you right for being so careless. Now you know how it feels...嘶...It actually does hurt!"
Seeing him grimace and twitch his mouth, Paimon quickly released her grip and curled herself up into a ball in mid-air, burying her head in her arms and snorting with laughter.
Having regained full control of her body, Ying cautiously rubbed her cheeks, feeling utterly dejected.
She wanted to curse, but she dared not.
Not only dared she not, she couldn't even think about it in her mind, because that damn guy could 'hear' it!
And yet, he was still in her body, and any attempt to harm him would be reflected upon herself. Ying wasn't going to go down with Bai Yu for something like this.
In the end, she could only sit on the grass in Windrise, like a wronged wife, and said to Wendy beside her with a bad temper, "Hey! Wendy, what do you want from that guy? Just spit it out! Then let him go!"
Wendy, after all the confusion he had witnessed, finally understood the situation.
"So, Ying, that...uh, gentleman? His consciousness is in your body, right?"
"What else could it be?"
Ying rolled her eyes.
"Did I suddenly develop the habit of beating myself up when I go crazy?"
She was furious at the mention of it!
Damn it!
Why did she think about that guy!?
『Who told you I was an old grandpa? I think I'm more of a handsome young man.』
"I don't know what you look like, you jerk—ah, Wendy, I wasn't talking to you."
Ying blurted it out without thinking, only realizing halfway through that she had startled Wendy so much that he jumped back. She quickly added a correction.
These words reminded Bai Yu.
Neither Ying nor Belfast had any idea what he looked like to this day.
"Alright, it seems like I can't really communicate with this gentleman under these circumstances. So, Traveler, is there anything you want to ask me?"
Wendy smiled and suggested to Ying.
"Consider this a reward for helping Tevilat. Ask me anything. I'll answer anything I can."
Before she encountered Bai Yu, Ying would have had many questions to ask Wendy. But now, she had no interest in it.
She had leads about her brother. Knowing that he was a prince of the Abyss Order, now living a luxurious life with a large number of followers to serve him, she didn't need to worry about him.
Through Bai Yu's words, she also understood that the god she met five hundred years ago was not any of the seven Archons of this world. In other words, the gods of the seven nations on the surface were not her enemies.
Ying was a little confused.
"It seems like you don't have anything to ask me. How about I give you a suggestion? Liyue, adjacent to Mondstadt, is the land of Geo. It's about to hold its annual Rite of Parting, you might be interested."
"Oh right! Liyue is the land of the Geo Archon! I heard it's especially lively during the Rite of Parting, and there's tons of delicious food! Ying, let's go to Liyue!"
Paimon also joined in, smiling and rubbing her little head against Ying's.
Ying didn't immediately agree. Unexpectedly, she asked, "Bai Yu, what do you think?"
"Why are you asking me?" Bai Yu was baffled.
Ying continued to be baffled, "Yeah, why would I ask you? I'm not going to ask you! I'm definitely not going to ask you!"
Bai Yu sneered, "Alright, then don't come begging me when you get into trouble."
Ying was indignant. She raised her hand and slapped the grass beside her, gritting her teeth, "Just watch! I won't beg you!"
This "one person playing two roles" scene left Wendy dumbfounded. Paimon shook her head helplessly at him, "Get used to it, Bai Yu and Ying are sharing a body after all. Speaking of which, bard, as the Anemo Archon, do you know any way to get Ying and Bai Yu out of this situation?"
Ying's eyes lit up, "That's right! You're the Anemo Archon, you should have a way, right?"
"You really think highly of me," Wendy chuckled, spreading his hands. Then he suddenly remembered someone.
"But if it's another god, maybe they would have a way?"
"Who!?"
『Who?』
Wendy pointed to the west and said in a low voice, "Westward lies a path ten thousand leagues long, where dwells the compassionate, benevolent, auspicious, and wise master. The Dendro Archon of the land of Grass, it's said that she is a god who is skilled in weaving dreams and adept at manipulating spiritual powers."
『Nahida? If it's her... maybe she could have some suggestions.』
After all, she was also a god who occasionally used a void terminal to transfer her consciousness into the bodies of people in Sumeru and walk around in other people's bodies.
Hearing Bai Yu's voice coming from within her consciousness, Ying blinked, "Nahida? Is that the...that... what's it called, the compassionate...something god?"
"Let's go!"
She clapped her hands and stood up.
"Paimon! Let's go! We're teleporting to Liyue!"
Paimon: "...Huh? Weren't we going to the land of Grass in Sumeru?"
Ying sneered, "Who's going to help that annoying guy Bai Yu? I refuse to help him! I'm going to do the opposite of what he wants! Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!"
Bai Yu: '…………'
Could there be a possibility that, Ying, you're going to end up being the one who suffers because of this?