At that moment, the clamor of the entire Liyue Harbor seemed to have nothing to do with her.
Moved?
Yes, she was deeply moved.
But right now, there was something far more urgent.
She had to find the man who had made everyone finally understand her—who had made them truly accept her.
Keqing's gaze swept through crowd after crowd.
Yet she still couldn't spot Lin Mo anywhere.
She knew.
The letter the host had read aloud—it had to have been written by Lin Mo.
"You're definitely watching me somewhere…"
"You jerk… you just wanted to see me make a fool of myself, didn't you?"
What crushed Keqing the most was that, even after the Sea Lantern Festival ended, she never caught sight of him.
"I don't believe you'd hide from me forever…"
"You did so much for me…" "Why won't you come out and face me?"
Keqing wandered the streets of Liyue in a daze.
Whenever the citizens saw her approaching, they immediately bowed in respect.
"Lady Keqing!"
"Greetings, Lady Keqing!"
One greeting after another rang out.
Keqing could only force a stiff smile in response.
"Lady Keqing!"
A familiar voice suddenly made her lift her head in excitement.
The storyteller standing before her was none other than the host who had announced Liyue's "Most Beautiful Person" during the festival.
"Sir," Keqing hurried forward, asking anxiously, "The man who gave you that letter—where did he go?"
"Ah, you mean Lord Lin Mo? Didn't he go to Inazuma?"
The storyteller looked puzzled. "Aren't you colleagues? Didn't he tell you when he'd be back?"
"He's in Inazuma… Then how did the letter end up in your hands?" Keqing's mind went blank for a moment.
"Oh, you mean that."
The storyteller nodded in understanding. "Before leaving on his trip, he specially sought me out and asked me to read it aloud for you during the festival's selection."
At this point, the storyteller couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"Lady Keqing, please don't take offense at my forwardness."
"Lord Lin Mo truly cares for you with all his heart."
"You must cherish the people close to you."
"Huh? Lady Keqing?"
The storyteller watched her walk away in dejection and muttered to himself, "Did… did I say something wrong?"
…
Several days passed.
More than a full month had gone by since Lin Mo left on his assignment.
Yet… he still hadn't returned to Liyue.
Another seven days went by.
Still no sign of him.
Keqing's feelings gradually shifted from quiet resentment to genuine worry.
Early the next morning, she waited outside the Qunyu Pavilion.
"Lin Mo? Oh, yes… it does seem like his business trip has dragged on quite a while."
When Keqing brought him up, Ningguang suddenly remembered the matter.
She smiled faintly. "Don't you have a full month's vacation? Why not… go see him yourself?"
"I…"
Keqing was tempted.
She had long dreamed of one day standing beneath Inazuma's red maple wishing tree with Lin Mo, taking a photo together.
She had wanted to visit the Grand Narukami Shrine with him, drawing fortune slips and praying side by side.
Only recently had Inazuma lifted its isolation, giving her the chance.
Just as she was about to agree—
"Hey! Ningguang!!"
A bold shout echoed toward them.
Beidou strode over, looking urgent.
"Beidou?"
Ningguang blinked. "What brings you to my Qunyu Pavilion?"
"Hah! Like I'd come here for fun."
Beidou tossed a package at Ningguang's feet as she spoke.
"Here. This belongs to one of your Liyue officials, right?"
"Liyue official?"
Ningguang and Keqing opened the package curiously.
The moment it was unwrapped, a pile of documents spilled out in every direction.
A Letter of Gratitude from All Inazuma Staff to Liyue
List of 122 Newly Exempted Tax Goods for Liyue
Notice: Liyue Tourists May Enter Inazuma Without Landing Permits
…
Dozens of documents—each one critically important to relations between Inazuma and Liyue.
"It's… it's Lin Mo!"
Keqing immediately recognized them.
These were the very goals of Lin Mo's trip to Inazuma.
She grabbed Beidou's arm tightly, voice trembling. "Where is he!? Where did you find these files!?"
"Uh… well…"
Beidou gathered her thoughts and recounted what her fleet had encountered.
The previous night, her Southern Cross Fleet had entered Inazuma waters to deliver scheduled goods as usual.
Just after passing through the Yunlai Sea, they spotted a small boat drifting aimlessly on the waves.
The crew boarded it and found only simple luggage and the wrapped documents.
No one was aboard.
Realizing the documents were important Liyue state papers, Beidou suspected an official might have met with disaster nearby.
She immediately ordered a thorough search of the surrounding waters.
But they found no trace of the official.
After delivering the goods to the Inazuma merchants, Beidou made extra inquiries.
That was how she learned the diplomat's name: Lin Mo.
He had arrived in Inazuma a month earlier and drawn up a series of reliable development plans.
But two weeks ago—on the very morning of the Sea Lantern Festival—he had hurriedly handed over all his work, taken a small boat, and rushed back toward Liyue.
Without a doubt, the empty drifting boat Beidou found was the one Lin Mo had used to sail home alone.
"How could this…"
Keqing felt as though she'd been struck by lightning.
So…
He had come back.
Only… something terrible had likely happened at sea.
"Oh, right. There was this too."
Beidou suddenly remembered something and unhooked an exquisite gift box from her back.
The box was about one and a half meters long and twenty centimeters wide.
Its surface was decorated in rich Inazuman ukiyo-e style—scenes of Narukami Island's red maple wishing tree and the sacred sakura atop Mount Yougou.
Most importantly, a small tag was attached.
To the most beautiful person in my heart—Ah Qing
"I found this on the boat too. Never opened it."
"I only realized when I saw you just now." "The most beautiful person—Ah Qing."
"That has to mean you, the one who won the festival title."
"Keqing, want me to open it for you?" Beidou asked curiously.
Keqing stared at the gift, tears already welling in her eyes.
She stood there in a daze, silent, just gazing at the box.
"Go ahead and open it," Ningguang said gently from the side. "There might be some clue about Lin Mo inside."
"Alright, here goes."
Beidou didn't hesitate.
She tore away the wrapping.
Inside the opened box lay a long sword, its blade gleaming with a faint purple light under the morning sun.
"Huh!? The Mistsplitter Reforged!?"
Beidou's calm facade shattered. "That official named Lin Mo had connections like that? He actually got his hands on one of Inazuma's legendary blades!"
Keqing could no longer hold back her tears.
Looking at the Mistsplitter in the box, she broke down sobbing.
Words Lin Mo had once spoken echoed in her mind.
"Ah Qing, why are you crying again…"
"Hey, don't listen to them. We're not weak."
"You might think you're not strong enough, but the problem isn't you—it's that sword you're using."
"Listen, there's a blade in Inazuma that perfectly channels elemental power. It's called the Mistsplitter Reforged."
"One day, I'll get it for you as a gift."
Lin Mo had vanished from the world like mist in the morning sun.
All that remained was this Mistsplitter Reforged.
In the days that followed, Keqing often sat alone by the waterfall southwest of Mount Tianheng.
She would cradle the Mistsplitter in her arms, lost in memories of the man who would never return to her side.
One day, Keqing awoke from a dream.
In the dream, she could still hold the Mistsplitter and let her thoughts drift to him.
When she opened her eyes, every trace of Lin Mo seemed to have dissolved into nothing.
Yet her longing for him had not faded in the slightest.
Now, the roar of the waterfall snapped her out of those memories.
She looked at the dusty, travel-worn figure before her.
Once again, the two of them stood beneath the great tree by the waterfall that had witnessed so many years of companionship.
Only then did Lin Mo turn around.
"Lin Mo…"
Keqing spoke first, finally voicing the question that had haunted her all those years.
"That time in the Yunlai Sea… did something happen to you?"
"Yes."
Lin Mo nodded.
He had known she would ask.
In the dream world, the reason for his disappearance had been simple.
He never imagined that the letter he wrote to rally support for Keqing would resonate so deeply with all of Liyue.
It had fulfilled the system's final task: Help Liyue complete its transformation and fully implement a people-first philosophy.
So, while hurrying back across the sea to join the Sea Lantern Festival, his mission in that life came to an end.
He could only leave that parallel world without saying goodbye.
Fortunately, while racing here with Keqing earlier, he had already prepared an explanation.
Lin Mo looked at her, a wry smile on his face.
"Back then, out on the Yunlai Sea, I encountered the awakening ancient god—Osial."
"I knew I couldn't win."
"Rather than letting the boat sink with me and lose everything, I drew Osial away."
"I left the boat to drift, hoping that one day it would reach Liyue with the fruits of my work."
"So…"
"That's more or less what happened."
Lin Mo figured his story should hold up.
"How could it be… you actually faced an ancient god…"
Keqing's mind filled with images: Lin Mo abandoning the boat to protect the documents and her gift, fleeing alone across the vast ocean, helpless…
Until he finally sank beneath the waves forever.
"It's all my fault… all my fault…"
Keqing threw her arms around him.
"Waaah…"
Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed, "If I hadn't asked you to come back for the festival… you never would have met that disaster…"
Lin Mo knew she had no reason to doubt him.
Phew. He'd managed to get through it.
"It's okay. The dream is over. It's all in the past." Lin Mo smiled gently.
Just like before, he stroked her violet hair and continued,
"In the real world, I'm a diplomatic envoy from Mondstadt—Mo De Ganqing."
"This time I came to Liyue just to see you."
"To find out if you still remembered what happened in the dream."
"Unfortunately, I picked a bad time to arrive."
"Ah Qing, could you help me explain things to Lady Ningguang?"
"The death of the Geo Archon really has nothing to do with me or my companions."
Lin Mo wanted Keqing's help because he couldn't be sure whether everyone he'd met in the invitation retained memories from the dream.
The Bennett he'd encountered on the snowy mountain, for instance, remembered nothing.
If Ningguang also had no recollection…
Then his sudden appearance at the Rite of Descension would be impossible to explain.
"Wait!"
Keqing suddenly stopped crying.
She looked up at Lin Mo, eyes wide with disbelief.
"What is it, Ah Qing?" Lin Mo asked, puzzled.
"You just said… what's your name again?"
Keqing asked once more.
"Mo De Ganqing. Mo De is the family name, Ganqing is the given name."
Lin Mo repeated it, then added, "Why?"
"Ganqing… Ganqing…"
Keqing murmured the name, tears glistening in her eyes again.
"Does Ganqing mean…"
"Willing—heart and soul—to give everything for Keqing?"
Lin Mo: ???
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T/N:
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