At the summit of Mt. Hulao, Mountain Shaper chased Su Bai out of his abode with a dark expression. After so long without seeing each other, this little fox cub had taken one look at him and said, "Master, why are you bald? Next time I'll bring you some hair growth serum from Baizhu."
Mountain Shaper touched the wing that Azhdaha had plucked bald, his eyes full of helplessness. But thinking of Moon Carver's tragic encounter, he couldn't help but laugh unkindly.
"I wonder how Moon Carver is doing. Azhdaha is not a forgiving dragon."
"I wonder if that hair growth serum the white fox mentioned would work on me. Looks like I need to make a trip to Liyue Harbor. Sigh, I'll trade some Cor Lapis for Mora."
"Rex Lapis said the age of humanity is about to begin. This adeptus should go see how ordinary folk live."
Su Bai, now chased out of the cave, realized he had said something wrong. But he couldn't really be blamed—he had noticed a large patch of missing fur on Mountain Shaper and had spoken out of genuine concern.
"Well, at least I mentioned it to him. I wonder what's happened to those three elders. Did they get into a fight over something?"
Su Bai shook his head, dispelling these improbable thoughts. It was possible that hot-tempered Moon Carver and Cloud Retainer might fight, but Mountain Shaper was always the peacemaker. He shouldn't have been the one getting beaten up.
"Never mind, I won't think about it. They're all my elders. Even if they fought, I can't say anything as the junior."
"Time to go see Azhdaha. I wonder if he can shrink himself down. I brought him some dandelion wine from Mondstadt—he's definitely never tried this before."
At the foot of Mt. Hulao, just as Su Bai was about to transform into a flying fox and descend from the sky, he unexpectedly discovered a small finch right where he was about to land.
'Oh no.' Su Bai panicked. If he landed directly, he would turn this little finch into flatbread. As an adeptus, he didn't want this innocent little life to leave Teyvat so soon.
With no other choice, Su Bai manipulated his still-unfamiliar Anemo energy, using it to push him sideways and change his flight path.
Anemo, as the most active element in Teyvat, wasn't necessarily difficult to control, but it wasn't easy either. Having only gained Anemo powers a few days ago, Su Bai spun several times in the air before crashing headfirst into a tree. If he hadn't reacted quickly and hooked his tail onto a branch, he would have taken a nasty fall.
"You little one, why didn't you move out of the way when you saw me coming? If I hadn't reacted quickly, you would be in trouble."
Su Bai cradled the little finch in his palm. Upon examining it, he noticed its wings were blackened, as if burned by Pyro energy.
The finch curled up in Su Bai's palm, comforted by the adeptal energy he unintentionally released.
"You little one, so small, yet you can absorb this much adeptal energy. You must have quite a fate with the adepti."
"I remember Qiqi has always wanted to keep a little finch as a pet."
"Since Qiqi knows some medicine, and you've absorbed so much of my adeptal energy, you should be able to handle her cold. I'll give you to Qiqi."
(A/N: Qiqi, I'm giving you a finch, so please don't come for my 50/50...)
The innocent little finch had no idea that after absorbing some of Su Bai's adeptal energy, its future was already arranged.
Tucking the sleeping finch into his pocket, Su Bai took out several pre-drawn talismans and entered a cave. Deep within the cave, a seal made of various talismans glowed with a faint golden light. The dense talismans warned all who approached that a powerful being was imprisoned here—do not come near.
"Every time I see this seal, I find it unbelievable. I didn't think anyone in Teyvat could construct something like this."
Su Bai skillfully used his talismans to tear an opening in the seal. This technique had been taught to him by an old man he encountered while wandering near Mt. Hulao. At the time, Su Bai thought the old man was an adeptus. But after teaching him, the old man vanished without a trace. No matter how hard Su Bai searched, he never saw him again.
He had even used illusions to recreate the old man's face and asked several adepti about him. None of those well-traveled immortals had any memory of such a person.
As the gap in the seal grew larger, Su Bai unceremoniously shouted into the depths.
"Azhdaha, wake up! Come out and greet your guest!"
After waiting a while, the familiar roar didn't come. Su Bai was confused. Normally, Azhdaha would already be furious by now. Why was it so quiet today?
"Azhdaha, if you don't get up, I'm drinking all this wine myself. Wake up, wake up."
Su Bai called out a few more times, but the seal remained silent. Su Bai rubbed his chin. Could Azhdaha be angry because he hadn't visited for so many days?
Great. He would have to say some nice things again. Hopefully, Azhdaha would be in a good mood today and not make things difficult for him. He did not want to go through Azhdaha's trial again.
Thinking of those falling boulders, Su Bai involuntarily shuddered. Those things could really crush a fox if he weren't careful. He had no idea how Azhdaha could still manipulate Geo while sealed. Maybe it was because he had too much Geo energy inside him.
Stepping through the seal into a small pocket space, the dense Geo energy weighed down Su Bai's body, nearly making him stumble and fall.
"Azhdaha, is this your way of intimidating me? Good grief, you've gotten even more irritable after just a few days apart."
"Wait... where is the giant Azhdaha? Did he escape? Oh no, oh no. Rex Lapis is definitely going to turn me into a fox coat, isn't he? He definitely will."
Seeing the empty seal area with no dragon in sight, Su Bai was dumbfounded. This had nothing to do with him, right? He had only torn a small hole in the seal. There was no way Azhdaha could have escaped through that.
Su Bai stared in horror at the broken stone pillars before him. The Azhdaha who should have been trapped within them was nowhere to be seen. The only thing in this small pocket space was the dense Geo energy, evidence that a powerful being had once been imprisoned here.
"It's over. It's all over."
Su Bai leaned against a half-broken stone pillar, his expression dazed. He couldn't accept this reality. Just a month ago, Azhdaha had declared he wouldn't leave unless Rex Lapis begged him to. Now, just like that, he was gone?
Su Bai rubbed his forehead. Was it really appropriate for a several-thousand-year-old elder to deceive a freshly eighteen-year-old kid? Perhaps he shouldn't be standing here right now. He should be out catching a Dendro Samachurl.
"I wonder if Rex Lapis would forgive me if I confessed my crime and begged for punishment on my knees. Probably not, right?"