The moment Bosacius took out the cards in his hand, Xiao's expression couldn't help but darken.
This guy... wants to scribble on his face again. How boring!
"If you have time to play cards, you should be checking if your skills have declined over these centuries." Xiao crossed his arms, speaking with disinterest.
A long time ago, when the Five Yakshas had free time, they would sit together and play cards. The loser would face some punishment.
It was a way to pass the time!
But that wasn't the point. The point was that this Bosacius character wanted to draw ugly patterns on his face again.
Xiao still remembered how, whenever he lay down to rest, this Bosacius would play pranks on his face. What was worse, he wouldn't even tell you about it!
He recalled one time when he groggily went to the battlefield with those ugly patterns still on his face, and Rex Lapis saw him on the way back. Just thinking about it was mortifying!
"Hey hey hey, is the Conqueror of Demons scared?" Bosacius wore an expression just begging to be punched, using his goading tactics.
When facing an enemy's provocation, Xiao's mind always remained perfectly calm. But against Bosacius, he had to admit this kind of provocation worked quite well.
"Hmph, how arrogant. I hope the General of the Serpentine Dragon won't go back on his word." Xiao spread his hands, radiating a slight chill as he sat directly across from Bosacius.
"Not bad, not bad!" Bosacius nodded with arms crossed. This familiar feeling was really something.
Thinking this, he looked over at Bonanus, who was standing properly at attention nearby, and directly invited her.
"Little sister, come join us."
"Huh? Me? I don't know how to play Genius Invokation TCG..."
Bonanus declined outright. If he meant something like Three Kingdoms Kill or the mobile card games from her past life, she could manage. But Genius Invokation TCG? She really didn't know it.
After all, she didn't understand the rules.
"Genius Invokation TCG? I don't know that one either. I got some drinking game cards from Hu Tao." Seeing her misunderstanding, Bosacius explained directly.
It was perfectly normal not to know that card game loved by both children and adults—after all, Genius Invokation TCG didn't exist back then!
"Huh? Drinking game cards?" Curious, Bonanus came closer to look at the patterns on the cards.
She looked, and couldn't believe her eyes. Good heavens! These were playing cards! Did Teyvat have these too?
"Big Brother Bosacius, are you trying to play 'Fight the Landlord'...?" Bonanus wasn't entirely sure. She didn't know if Liyue had a concept of 'landlords'.
"Haha! You understand me, little sister! Come on, sit down! Let's play a round!" Bosacius invited her again. From his expression, he could hardly wait.
More precisely, he could hardly wait to use ink and brush to draw on these two's faces.
Bonanus nodded and slowly sat between them. Now that she understood the rules of poker, it would be impolite to refuse again.
As she sat down, her eyes turned to Xiao. Her big eyes blinked wildly, sending a secret signal.
Meaning roughly: Let's team up against Big Brother Bosacius!
Xiao noticed this too. He gave a slight nod, indicating cooperation accepted.
...
Half an hour later...
"Impossible! How could I lose so badly?!" Bosacius stared at the cards in his hand, exclaiming in disbelief.
If you looked closely, you could see seven or eight patterns drawn in ink and brush on Bosacius's handsome face.
There were little turtles, little flowers, and all sorts of strange designs.
This was, of course, the loser's reward! A collaborative work by Artist Xiao and Artist Bonanus.
"Nothing impossible. It's only natural your skills have rustied after being missing for so many years." Xiao wore an indifferent expression, as if this outcome was only to be expected.
Compared to Bosacius, Xiao's face remained clean and pure, untouched by ink.
"Heh! Hitting the jackpot seven or eight times in a row—what rotten luck!"
Bosacius rubbed his hair helplessly. Every time, he was the one who drew the landlord card, and every time he got stuck with a terrible hand. How frustrating!
But this round wasn't so bad. Though his hand was as terrible as ever, he wasn't the landlord this time. The landlord was little sister before him.
"Don't worry, Big Brother Bosacius! The patterns on your face are really cute! I put a lot of effort into drawing that little turtle on your lower left!"
Bonanus said with a smile, completely unaware of Xiao's thoughtful expression. Judging by his look, he seemed to have some mischievous ideas.
"Little sister, you don't need to worry about me. But watch out—you're the landlord this round." Bosacius placed his terrible hand on the stone table, fully resigned to his fate.
Seeing Xiao's completely calm expression, Bosacius could tell—they were probably going to win this round easily.
Seeing Bosacius give up, Bonanus breathed a sigh of relief and nodded slightly. She really didn't want someone drawing on her face.
Since big brother had given up, that meant one less threat. Thinking this, she turned her sparkling eyes to Xiao and spoke.
"Xiao? How about letting your older sister win...?" Bonanus tried to persuade Xiao into losing to her. After all, they'd agreed to team up against Bosacius.
"Rest assured, Sister Bonanus. I won't do anything to you."
Xiao spoke with an unreadable smile. When he said "won't do anything to you," his tone was unusually heavy.
"I hope so..." Looking at Xiao's expression, Bonanus couldn't tell what he was thinking. She could only continue playing her cards.
...
A few minutes passed...
"Sister Bonanus, you lost." Xiao propped his face on one hand, speaking calmly with a gentle smile.
To Bosacius, Xiao's smile looked perfectly normal. But to Bonanus, it carried a hint of mischievous menace.
"This round doesn't count! Let's do it over!"
Bonanus looked at Bosacius's heavily decorated face and shook her head vigorously, trying to weasel out.
"Little sister, don't cheat!" Bosacius complained from the side. Finally getting one of them to lose—she'd better not back out!
Hearing this, Bonanus just coughed awkwardly. She stood up, putting on an apologetic performance.
"I should go find Sister Ping now. I'll leave you two to play. Bye-bye."
With that, Bonanus hurriedly ran towards the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's exit. But just as she reached the door, she was blocked by some kind of barrier.
A barrier formed from Anemo energy. No matter how she tried to rush through, it pushed her back.
The only one here who could use Anemo was Xiao. So it wasn't hard to guess who set this up.
Bonanus stiffly turned around. Looking at Xiao, who was smiling and walking toward her, she couldn't help but shiver.
Her back pressed against the stone wall behind her. She felt like a child being bullied by a villain—weak and helpless.
Meanwhile, Bosacius sat nearby with his thoroughly decorated face, quietly watching the show. From the look of him, he had no intention of stopping Xiao.
"Xiao... you wouldn't do this to your older sister, right...?" Bonanus asked weakly. Xiao drew closer and closer, but she had nowhere left to retreat.
"Rules are rules. Sorry about this, Sister Bonanus." Xiao smirked, directly grabbing both of Bonanus's hands and pinning them against the wall above her head, immobilizing her.
His other hand picked up a brush dipped in ink, slowly approaching her fair face. He moved carefully, as if concentrating on a beautiful work of art.
Pinned down by Xiao's single hand, Bonanus had no chance to resist. All she could do was shout helplessly.
"You... don't come any closer!"