Damn it!
Lin Mo clenched his fist in frustration.
That single sentence from Lisa was enough for him to realize something—she definitely remembered what happened in the dream.
And judging from the look she had given him and Diluc back then, she had clearly noticed something was off.
With her level of intelligence, it was very likely she had already figured out that he and Diluc had shared a story within a dream.
If things were taken to the worst possible conclusion…
Lisa might even have deduced, from Eula's and Jean's unusual concern for him as a new knight, that they too had encountered him within dreams.
"Hm?"
Just then, Lisa smiled again, her tone playful as ever.
"If you don't call me 'sister,' then sister won't be so generous about sharing her knowledge~"
Lin Mo met her gaze—eyes that seemed to see straight through him.
Left with no choice, and under the puzzled stares of everyone else, he followed her lead.
"Si… sister… could I ask you a few questions in private?"
Ah!!
This was way too embarrassing!
Calling a woman he should, by all logic, be a complete stranger "sister"—
And doing it right in front of his daughter!
In front of his wife!
Only Barbatos himself could pull off something like this, right?!
In the original story, Barbatos had called a random nun "big sister" in the Favonius Cathedral just to gather information about the Holy Lyre!
He could sell his dignity to be cute.
And now, apparently, so could I!
"Mmm~ what a good little brother~ How could sister possibly refuse you?"
Lisa looked extremely satisfied.
With that, she casually walked toward a cliff below, not forgetting to glance back with a smile.
"Well? Aren't you coming, little brother?"
After telling Noelle to report the situation properly, Lin Mo hurried after her.
…
…
After a two-minute walk, the two arrived at the base of a cliff.
They were now several hundred meters away from Acting Grand Master Jean and the others—far enough that no one could overhear them.
At that moment, Lisa turned around. Her beautiful eyes fixed on Lin Mo as she spoke in a languid, teasing tone:
"So, little brother… just how many people's dreams have you entered?"
"As expected… I can't hide anything from your eyes."
Lin Mo had known it.
This woman was frighteningly sharp.
"Little brother, you still haven't answered sister's question~"
Lisa gently reminded him.
"Cough… then I'll need to count carefully…"
With that, Lin Mo fell into deep thought.
Although he had experienced the Hundred Lifetimes of Invitations, not every invitation took place in a dreamlike parallel world.
In quite a few lifetimes, his identity had truly existed within Teyvat.
For example—thousands of years ago.
During the era of the Tower of Decarabian, he had been a bard named Venti, who gave his life for Mondstadt's freedom.
Yet in that very same era, he was also one of Liyue's adepti.
He fought alongside Morax in the Archon War.
He had even resurrected Qiqi, who had died at the hands of a god.
He was the first love of Streetward Rambler—Madame Ping.
They had spent countless nights talking, researching the Dao of space together, and ultimately succeeded in creating the Serenitea Pot, a miraculous spatial artifact.
He had also raised Ganyu from childhood.
To her, he was the closest elder—
An elder she had admired since she was young.
Before completing that lifetime's mission, Lin Mo had left behind a final wish to prevent the girl from sinking into grief after his death:
"Everything for the Geo Archon. Everything for Liyue."
In the generations that followed, Ganyu truly fulfilled that wish.
She redirected her admiration toward Morax, willingly worked endless overtime, and served every Tianquan with unwavering dedication, giving everything she had to Liyue.
Though it seemed like she was honoring his last request, it was more like she was using constant work to keep herself busy—so she wouldn't miss him too much.
…
And of course, he hadn't existed in that era only as a Liyue adeptus.
At the same time, in the same era, he had also been one of Inazuma's core combat forces—
The founding ancestor of the Tengu of Mt. Yougou,
Raiden Shogun's great general—Sasayuri.
…
So, in truth, the number of invitation missions he had experienced in parallel worlds was neither particularly small nor outrageously large.
After carefully counting in his mind, Lin Mo arrived at a rough estimate.
About… over eighty of them had taken place in parallel worlds.
But saying that number out loud…
Would Lisa be unhappy?
"Judging by that guilty look in your eyes, little brother… does that mean you've entered the dreams of a lot of girls?"
Lisa saw through his thoughts at a glance.
"Not at all! There were plenty of men too, okay?! Like Diluc!"
Lin Mo immediately corrected her.
This woman really should be more precise with her wording!
"So then, how many people's dreams in total?"
"Thirty? Fifty?"
Lisa asked with a smile.
To her, even that number already seemed excessive.
Lin Mo looked at her cautiously and slowly raised a finger and a thumb.
"E… eighty…"
Even Lisa—usually so calm and composed—couldn't help but let a trace of surprise flicker through her beautiful eyes.
"Cough…"
For some reason, Lin Mo suddenly felt inexplicably guilty.
But Lisa quickly regained her composure.
She looked straight into his eyes and asked seriously:
"Little brother… in those eighty dreams, how did you and sister meet?"
Lin Mo: ???
Why do you assume we met in every single one?
He knew exactly what kind of answer Lisa wanted—that in every dream, he had been the one to seek her out and befriend her.
But he also knew he couldn't lie to a woman this perceptive.
All he could do was give a wry smile and answer honestly:
"Lisa… sister, we didn't meet in every lifetime."
"Sometimes, I entered the dreams of people from Liyue."
"Sometimes, it was Inazuma."
"And Mondstadt is far away. In many cases, once the dream ended, I never even came here."
…
"Hmph. Not even willing to cross mountains and seas to find sister."
"And you still had the nerve to trick sister into burning her life and using the Witch of Roses' power?"
Lisa pretended to be angry—but somehow, it only made her more enchanting.
"Cough… so you knew that crisis was something I staged myself?"
Lin Mo felt a bit embarrassed.
"Of course. Sister not only knew that you were a naughty little brother…"
"I knew from the very beginning that our meeting was a dream."
"And I also knew that you—this overly attentive little rascal—had ulterior motives from the moment you approached sister~"
…
"Hiss…"
Lin Mo couldn't help but inhale sharply.
This woman was terrifying.
"Then why did you still go along with it?"
He couldn't help asking.
"Even if it was just a dream, burning your life to exchange for power must have been painful, right?"
"You know that too?"
Lisa smiled softly.
As she spoke, her right hand gently brushed Lin Mo's cheek.
"But you were so adorable, little brother. How could sister possibly bear to watch you suffer?"
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T/N:
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