When Neuvillette raised that question, the chat group froze for a moment.
Then—almost instinctively—everyone thought it through.
…Wait.
That actually made sense.
If Rex Lapis had simply gone along with it back then and acknowledged that forged contract—
Liyue's gains would have been enormous.
Not only would it have acquired an entire nation's population,
but also a vast stretch of fertile, livable land.
With Mondstadt and Liyue combined,
Liyue would've instantly become the strongest nation in all of Teyvat.
No contest.
And the most absurd part?
The offer had been delivered right to their doorstep.
Even if Liyue had used force afterward,
they'd have had perfectly legitimate grounds.
The temptation was undeniable.
For a moment, even some Liyue citizens felt their hearts stir.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for national expansion.
But that thought was quickly extinguished.
First—Liyue was not a nation that sought conquest.
Second—everyone in Liyue, adepti included, knew Rex Lapis would never do such a thing.
Even back during the Archon War,
he had fought not for dominance, but because he could not bear to see the suffering of the people.
"I had no desire to vie for supremacy—only compassion for the lives of mortals."
As for the people of Mondstadt—
they were genuinely shaken.
If the Geo Archon next door had truly harbored such intentions back then,
the consequences would have been disastrous.
The title of God of War was no empty boast.
Otherwise, the old nobles' soldiers wouldn't have defected in droves,
choosing instead to side with Vennessa.
Transcendent Chat Group
Alice:Hehe~ Do we even need to ask? (evil.jpg)
Alice:Finish this job and Mondstadt goes to Liyue, obviously~
Alice:Then Liyue consolidates both nations' power—two gods, two dragons—and launches outward.
Alice:North to Fontaine and Snezhnaya, west to Sumeru and Natlan.
Alice:After crushing four nations, cross the sea and march on Inazuma!
Alice:At that point—seven nations unified! A legacy for the ages! Oh-ho~
Lumine:So… Teyvat's Qin Shi Huang, huh? Six nations fall, all under heaven as one? (doge.jpg)
Paimon:My blood's pumping just listening to this! (excited.jpg)
Jean:…
Furina:…
Tartaglia:…
Nahida:…
Ei:…
Ningguang:…
For someone like Alice—who loved chaos and spectacle—this was par for the course.
Annex Mondstadt.
Conquer the other five nations.
"Six nations fall, all under heaven as one."
Good grief.
So what was next?
Unify the Seven, storm Celestia, overthrow the Heavenly Principles, and ascend the throne yourself?
Ignoring the chaos gremlin entirely, someone finally steered the discussion back on track.
Ningguang:Lady Alice is joking.
Ningguang:Rex Lapis and Lord Barbatos are close friends. Such a thing would never occur.
Ganyu:That's right. The Seven have gathered in Liyue many times in the past. Their relationship is quite cordial.
Keqing:Exactly. And although Rex Lapis is known as the God of War, he has always cherished peace. Even during the Archon War, he fought only because he couldn't bear the suffering of the people.
Xiao:That is precisely the kind of person the Lord is.
Cloud Retainer:The Conqueror of Demons speaks the truth.
Mountain Shaper:When the light-screen evaluates Rex Lapis later, you will understand his greatness.
Moon Carver:The Anemo Archon loves his people—so does our Lord of Geo!
Venti:Ehe~ Many thanks to the Geo—cough—to the Geo Archon~
Neuvillette:I see.
Neuvillette:Setting aside the matter of usurpers, I now look forward to the light-screen's evaluation of your nation's god of gold.
High Above Mondstadt
"Heh… guess we really troubled the old man back then."
Venti watched the chat, sighing softly.
He'd done it to help Vennessa overthrow the old aristocracy as quickly as possible—
and to minimize civilian casualties.
And the reason he dared to do it at all
was precisely because of his relationship with that old friend—and his character.
Their friendship needed no explanation.
They were neighbors, after all.
They'd met countless times.
As for character?
Venti knew him well.
Morax would never take advantage of such a situation.
Most importantly—
the contract had been fake from the start.
A god who revered contracts would never acknowledge it.
Of course…
Venti had paid a small price for it afterward~
"For someone like Morax, knocking you flying back then was already going easy."
Dvalin spoke flatly.
"Hehe, doesn't that just prove how much the old man likes me~"
"When we're done here, let's go to Liyue."
"Been a while since I've seen him. Kinda miss him."
Venti grinned.
Dvalin rolled his eyes.
Miss him?
Sure. That was part of it.
But more than that—
you just want him to buy you drinks, don't you?
Especially now that your identity's exposed
and you can't casually return to Mondstadt for a while.
This trip back was only to return that great adventurer's soul, after all.
Villa
Reading the live comments, Luo Chen raised an eyebrow.
Honestly—
if it had been a god with even a hint of ambition,
they really might have done what Alice described.
But the outcome?
Hard to say.
The other five gods wouldn't just sit back and watch.
And Celestia?
No ruler would ever allow all subordinate powers to unify completely.
If Liyue had truly shown signs of that path,
a nail from above would've come down as a warning.
Shaking his head, Luo Chen dropped the thought and continued.
"Now that we've filled that earlier gap, let's keep going with examples of the Wind God's 'fooling.'"
"No more explanation."
"Same rules as always—let's roll the video."
Video Playback
Three clips appeared.
The first—
Venti repairing the Holy Lyre der Himmel,
and completely fooling Barbara.
This scene had been deliberately cut earlier along with the "heart-grabbing" moment—
saved specifically for this non-serious evaluation.
The light-screen flickered to life.
Scene: Cathedral of Favonius
After saving Dvalin, Jean returned the Holy Lyre with Venti, Lumine, and Paimon.
After a brief explanation, Barbara smiled.
"Alright, did you bring back the Holy Lyre?"
"The Acting Grand Master's guarantee isn't unlimited."
"The Cardinal has been urging us for quite some time."
"We did bring it back, b-but… there's a bit of a…"
The four exchanged awkward looks.
Barbara assumed Paimon was talking about money and smiled.
"Don't worry, we won't charge you."
"The Church has its own funding."
The group froze.
Finally, Lumine took out the damaged lyre.
The instant Barbara saw it, her eyes went wide.
Paimon fidgeted nervously.
Venti scratched the back of his head.
Then—
"AAAAAAAH—!!"
"THE HOLY LYRE!!!"
Barbara's legs gave out.
She collapsed to her knees on the spot, eyes hollow, hands clasped in prayer.
"Lord Barbatos… even if Barbara spent the rest of her life atoning, it wouldn't be enough…"
Seeing this, Venti sighed and put his hands on his hips.
"Alright, just hand it over."
He took the lyre from Lumine.
A flash of green Anemo energy—
And the Holy Lyre was restored.
Barbara froze.
She rushed forward, hugging it tightly, even shooing Paimon away.
"I don't know how it was fixed—but I'm never letting you touch it again!"
Cradling the lyre like treasure, she hurried off.
Venti watched her leave, then turned back with a grin.
"Alright, let's make a run for it~"
"After all, the illusion—ahem, spell—I used to fix it isn't one hundred percent reliable~"
He winked at the three of them.
Lumine, Paimon, and Jean stared blankly.
Venti chuckled—and bolted.
Video ends.
Transcendent Chat Group
Lumine:So this happened after we saved Dvalin in that original future.
Paimon:It's all that Abyss Mage's fault! Otherwise the lyre wouldn't have been damaged!
Ayaka:So the "fooling" refers to the Wind God repairing the lyre—but claiming it wasn't fully reliable. Meaning it could've been exposed later.
Hu Tao:If that's the case, with how much Barbara treasures the lyre… wouldn't the Traveler and Paimon get wanted again? (evil.jpg)
Lumine:…
Paimon:…
Furina:The Executor is fine—she's used to it. Poor Barbara, though. Fooled by the god she worships.
Lumine:???
Lumine stared in disbelief.
Explain that again—
what do you mean I'm fine?
What do you mean I'm used to it?!
Navia:First she was kept in the dark about her god's identity. Then she gets fooled by him personally. Barbara really has it rough~
Kokomi:And she even performed a live prayer… right in front of the Anemo Archon.
Alice:Barbatos must've been thinking—my devout follower, you're kneeling at the wrong place~ (doge.jpg)
Venti:Slander! Absolute slander!
Dvalin:I testify—he really was thinking that.
Venti:…
Barbara:…
Cathedral of Favonius
Barbara glanced at the video…
then at the chat.
She covered her face with both hands.
If she hadn't known—fine.
But now that she knew Barbatos' identity…
Thinking about her future self praying like that in front of him,
about being fooled right in front of her sister and the Honorary Knight—
about happily hugging the lyre and running off—
Barbara completely wilted.
"AAAAAAAH—!!"
After letting out a sharp cry, her legs went weak.
She collapsed into a sitting position—
exactly like in the video.
Transcendent Chat Group
Lumine:Sigh… poor Barbara~ (sympathy.jpg)
Paimon:Yeah… why is it always my poor Barbara getting hurt? (sympathy.jpg)
Zhongli:Have you considered the possibility… that it wasn't actually a deception?
Hu Tao:Huh? You mean the Wind God really fixed the lyre?
Ei:That is possible. The lyre was his divine instrument—he wouldn't leave it damaged.
Nahida:Agreed. Given Barbatos' love for his people, he wouldn't let his follower suffer.
Furina:So the ones who got fooled were actually Jean, the Traveler, and Paimon?
Yae Miko:Not quite. Technically speaking, Barbara was still fooled.
Alice:Tsk tsk~ Not a single truthful sentence from him!
Neuvillette:No wonder it's called "May the Wind God Fool You." The light-screen never lies.
Lumine:???
Paimon:???
Jean:…
The three of them froze.
They'd thought they were just spectators—
even felt bad for Barbara.
Who would've guessed they were the real clowns?
Barbara's eyes lit up.
Wait—
so I wasn't the only one fooled?
Lumine:Venti, get out here. Talk. Did you fool me or not?! (hands-on-hips.jpg)
Paimon:Bard! Explain this properly! (arms-crossed.jpg)
Jean:Ahem… Lord Barbatos. Was the lyre fully repaired in that future?
Barbara:Lord Barbatos… it was fixed, right?
Venti stared at the barrage of questions.
He was… very tired.
In the original future, he could get away with it since no one knew who he was.
But now?
No matter whether he said yes or no—it'd be a disaster.
"…Old man, why'd you have to expose me like that~"
Venti muttered gloomily.
Was this payback for the Backwind Contract?
But he'd already been beaten for that, hadn't he?
So this was just to enjoy his embarrassment?
Fine then.
If that was the case—
he wouldn't hold back later either!
As for the chat—
Venti activated his ultimate evasive technique.
Venti:Ehe~
Lumine:…
Paimon:…
Jean:…
Barbara:…
Everyone else:…
They were done asking.
If you dodge the question with "Ehe,"
the answer's obvious.
Illusions.
Unreliable spells.
All nonsense.
The truth?
The Holy Lyre was fully repaired.
Everyone—Barbara, Jean, Lumine, and Paimon—had been completely fooled.
Truly worthy of the name—
Barba-Thighs.
Villa
Watching the chat explode, Luo Chen laughed.
"Serves you right."
"Fool people all day, and now you're stuck as an Ehe Monster."
What was karma?
This.
And his job was simple—
to keep exposing this legendary con artist's glorious history.
With that thought, Luo Chen queued up the second video.
This one?
Even better.
The most explosive moment in Mondstadt's storyline—
Signora ripping out Venti's Gnosis.
Strictly speaking, Venti had been acting here.
But in a sense…
he'd fooled Signora too.
So Luo Chen lumped it neatly under—
"May the Wind God Fool You."
The light-screen lit up once more.
The chat fell silent.
In the video—
outside the Cathedral of Favonius—
after fooling the Traveler's group and escaping with an "Ehe,"
Venti walked out—
straight into an ambush.
Two Fatui agents burst from the ground behind him.
And in that instant—
Everyone's eyes widened.
"…What the—"
"The Wind God… got assassinated?"
"…Wait."
"Why did I say also?"
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