Lumine and Paimon asked around everywhere, but all they got were legends about the Qingce Sword Immortal that circulated outside.
"Hmm… I thought Qingce Village was the Qingce Sword Immortal's hometown and we'd find different clues." Paimon scratched her head. "But in the end, everyone's knowledge is basically the same."
It was just rephrased in different words—the essence was still the same story circulating outside.
At twelve he severed a waterfall, at eighteen he split mountains and broke peaks, then gravely wounded a god and perished together with it.
This kind of story that could be heard anywhere outside was not what Lumine and Paimon wanted—they wanted a more detailed version.
"After all, it happened during the Archon War era." Lumine said. "Naturally it's hard to uncover the truth."
"That's true." Paimon agreed. "It's almost time to meet up. Let's ask that old gentleman one last time."
"Mm."
The two walked toward the elderly man who was looking around.
"Excuse me, sir—do you know the story of the Qingce Sword Immortal?" Paimon asked politely.
The old man remained silent.
"Excuse me…" Paimon repeated politely.
The old man still stayed silent.
[Alright—found the key quest NPC.]
[Based on my experience, this old gentleman definitely knows something others don't.]
Lumine sensed the old man's refusal and didn't let Paimon keep asking:
"Paimon, it's time to meet up." She reminded her, then led Paimon back the way they came.
Only after walking far away did Paimon look at Lumine in confusion.
"If someone doesn't want to say it, don't force them." Lumine said. "Besides, meeting up really is the plan."
So the two returned the same way and reunited with the group.
"We didn't find any useful clues." Xingqiu said on behalf of himself and Chongyun.
"Us neither." Paimon said on behalf of herself and Lumine.
"Zhongli's mouth is still too tight—I couldn't get any useful information out of him."
Hu Tao's statement drew stares from everyone except Zhongli. As expected of Director Hu—her thought process is always clear.
[So that's how it's resolved?]
[As expected of Hu Tao, who dares to recommend funeral services to living people—her thinking really is something else.]
"Director, this is a contract after all. Please don't make things difficult for me." Zhongli said helplessly.
"Even if you can't say it directly, can't you at least give a hint?" Hu Tao said with hands on hips.
"Sigh." Zhongli sighed. "Follow me."
Zhongli led the group to an abandoned mansion: "This is the ancestral residence where that Qingce Sword Immortal once lived."
"So-so big! I thought this was some landmark building specially built by Qingce Village—turns out it's actually someone's ancestral home?" Paimon looked up in shock at the mansion in front of her, large enough to house a hundred people.
Though abandoned, one could still see traces of its former grandeur.
If it weren't abandoned, the mansion's scale might not match the Jade Chamber, but it could at least rival the Ziwei Star's residence in Guili Assembly.
"This place hasn't been lived in for at least a hundred years." Xingqiu estimated.
In truth, a hundred years was his conservative guess—his real thought was that this mansion hadn't seen anyone for a thousand years.
"The Jun family—Liyue's premier sword-forging clan. Its history can even be traced back before the Archon War." An aged voice came from the side. "Legend has it that famous swords forged by the Jun family could even wound gods."
"Eh? It's the old gentleman from earlier." Paimon followed the voice and saw it was indeed the elderly man who hadn't responded to her before.
"You are…" Xingqiu recognized the old man. "Aren't you the famous historian of Guili Assembly—Mr. Bai Jiuge, Old Mr. Bai?"
"Oh? So Old Sir has such an identity? I thought you were just a distant relative of Baizhu." Hu Tao apparently knew this old man too.
Old Mr. Bai nodded to everyone and asked: "It seems you young folks are also here—like this old man—to seek the truth about the Qingce Sword Immortal."
"Yes, sir. I asked you earlier, but you didn't respond." Paimon said a little unhappily.
"Because this old man is also here to seek historical truth. Regarding the Qingce Sword Immortal, I know very little as well." Old Mr. Bai explained. "This old man doesn't pretend to know what he doesn't."
[This really is an important plot NPC.]
[He's actually a distant relative of Baizhu—I thought playable characters' social circles were limited to other playable characters.]
"Old Mr. Bai is too modest. In terms of Liyue historical research, you are an expert—you can hardly be called someone who knows little." Xingqiu said politely. "May I ask if what you said earlier is true?"
"On this point, this old man can confirm it." Old Mr. Bai said affirmatively. "However, this is the first time this old man has learned of the relationship between the Qingce Sword Immortal and the Jun family."
"May I ask Consultant Zhongli—is this matter true?"
Hu Tao: "Old Mr. Bai, rest assured—the Consultant never lies."
Zhongli: "…"
[Director, that's only because the things you've asked haven't reached the point where he needs to lie.]
[In the end, Zhongli himself is the biggest lie—'never lies' only applies to those who don't know his true identity.]
"So combining what Consultant Zhongli and the old gentleman said: the Qingce Sword Immortal was born in this Jun family, and the Jun family is an extremely powerful sword-forging clan." Paimon summarized.
"Could the truth of the Qingce Sword Immortal be that an ordinary person took up a famous sword forged by the Jun family and gravely wounded a god?"
Hu Tao made a reasonable guess, only to be questioned by Lumine, Xingqiu, and Chongyun—the three sword users.
All three sword wielders understood one thing clearly: even if the weapon itself was of extremely high caliber, if the user lacked skill, it couldn't display the weapon's true potential.
In other words—even if the sword in the Qingce Sword Immortal's hand truly had the power to wound a god, the Sword Immortal's own swordsmanship level was still beyond doubt.
[A bit confused.]
[It's like knowing the Dongfeng missile is invincible, but using it still requires knowing how to plot trajectories.]
Since they now knew this was the Qingce Sword Immortal's home, the group decided to go inside and search for any clues related to him.
However, before they could enter, a mist suddenly rose within the Jun ancestral residence.
"It's the Ley Lines—everyone be careful." Hu Tao warned.
But Zhongli's expression at this moment became subtly unusual.
"Mother, I'm going to find Big Brother."
"Mm, be careful on the road—stay safe."
The voices of a woman and a young child came from within the mansion, then a small figure ran out from the wide-open gate.
Everyone focused their gaze: a white-haired, red-eyed child with sheep-horn braids, dressed in a ruqun skirt, ran out of Qingce Village.
"So cute a baby!" Hu Tao instantly got heart eyes.
Xingqiu and Chongyun nodded in agreement.
But Lumine and Paimon's expressions became subtle.