The Homeless Man of Teyvat

"I'm back... Uh, Ying, what are you holding?"

Chen Tianfeng was stunned for a moment. Seeing Ying sitting upright with a few black things in his hand, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

This black thing seemed familiar... Chen Tianfeng put down the bag of berries, and suddenly he looked at the grill next to him - there were indeed a few wild mushroom chicken skewers missing.

Chen Tianfeng's eyes twitched.

Ying's face was stiff, and he met Chen Tianfeng's eyes, and then quickly looked away, saying with a lack of confidence: "It's wild mushroom chicken skewers."

Chen Tianfeng: "..."

What do you say this thing is?

What kind of wild meat skewers?

"...How did you do it?"

Chen Tianfeng held back his smile and took the "wild mushroom chicken skewers" that no one could recognize in their original appearance. He looked at them carefully and even saw a hint of deep blue hidden in the darkness, and was immediately amazed.

Is this soaked in nuclear waste water from the narrow space of Wuxiang Blade before grilling?

Ying didn't want to answer, and changed the subject very abruptly: "How about berries, are they suitable for dessert?"

"Not bad, good quality, and the sweetness is appropriate."

Chen Tianfeng put the strings of "Special Dishes of General Thunder" aside, came to Ying, and stretched out his hand to her: "Give it to me."

"What?"

Ying was puzzled.

"Silk thread, you didn't disperse it."

"..."

Ying was silent for a few seconds, stretched out her hand, and opened her palm. The purple silk thread revealed its figure, one end was tied to her smooth and white wrist, and the other end lay quietly in her palm.

She looked at Chen Tianfeng without any hesitation, took the silk thread and wrapped it around his wrist a few times, tied a secure knot with one hand while dancing his fingers, and opened his lips: "Actually..."

"It's more reassuring this way. You are reassured and I am reassured too."

Chen Tianfeng shook his wrist and smiled: "But this won't last long after all. Give me a gift when you have time. Something practical, not too fancy."

After he finished speaking, without waiting for Ying to answer, he began to work on his campfire wild fruit pie.

He processed the wild fruits one by one, then took flour, fresh water, and butter, and made them bit by bit in an orderly manner.

Ying watched quietly on the side, watching him sometimes summon a gust of wind, sometimes tap his fingertips to treat the ingredients with frost, and sometimes reach out to the flame to shape the fireworks into the shape he wanted.

If others saw it, they would think this method was very cool. The four elements of wind, fire, ice and water followed Chen Tianfeng's guidance, making the dessert gradually take shape and emit a sweet scent.

Ying frowned, looked at Chen Tianfeng, then looked down at the lightning thread tied on her wrist, and finally realized something, and said firmly: "You are testing me."

"Why do you say that suddenly?"

Chen Tianfeng kept moving his hands, smiling, and was not surprised at all.

"This dessert is not suitable for a simple environment as you said before."

Although Ying can't cook, he knows that such a dessert made with four elements is not a simple dish. If it is really limited by the simple conditions, why not make the simplest bird egg roast?

So, he deliberately proposed to make this dessert, deliberately proposed to go to a slightly farther place to pick wild fruits, and deliberately asked her if the thread was long enough... just to see if she was willing to take the initiative to untie the thread.

Ying looked at him, but surprisingly there was no dissatisfaction or resentment in her heart, but it was very calm, and even had a hint of smile: "Am I right?"

There is nothing wrong with testing, isn't she testing him too?

Ying's lips curled up slightly, and with a thought, the mark secretly attached to the corner of Chen Tianfeng's clothes quietly dissipated.

"It's surprisingly correct. It seems that I have to rebuild my impression of you."

Chen Tianfeng added some firewood and put the formed wild fruit pie into the fire. The flames rose and entangled, holding up the wild fruit pie and baking it like an oven. He clapped his hands, seemed to sit down by the campfire without noticing, looked at Ying, and smiled: "Just wait for another twenty minutes."

"Well, I'm looking forward to it."

Ying nodded, and then a little curious: "What image do you think of me in your mind?"

"Paranoia, dull, and very dull. Rather than being a god, it's better to say that he is a general who knows how to wield swords and guns and lead troops to fight." Chen Tianfeng said bluntly: "Especially the closed-country order, the eye hunting order, and the thunderstorm outside the Inazuma, and your view of eternity, it feels like you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater."

"... So direct?" Ying was a little surprised.

"Too euphemistic. I'm worried you won't understand."

"You guy..."

Ying shook his head and laughed. He looked at the wild fruit sect licked by the flames. His eyes were stunned. After a long silence, he whispered: "You are right. My view on eternity and the laws I promote are actually all because of fear."

"Fear of moving forward, fear of change, fear of... losing."

"I think the two ancient gods told you that I am not the original thunder god of Inazuma. The first thunder general, whose name is [True], is my sister."

Ying took a breath and saw Chen Tianfeng nod. He listened carefully before continuing: "Where the lightning flashes, it will cast a shadow... I am the shadow."

"Use [Wuxiang] to clear all obstacles for Inazuma. However... every step forward will lose something. In the end, even my sister is lost."

"These deeds are still being sung under the shade of every thunder cherry tree, but the mark left by the loss on this country is still burning."

"Just pursue it, even if it's just a moment of light, we at least have this moment. My sister once said this, but I witnessed a country running at full speed and losing everything in the face of justice."

"Perhaps only by freezing time can the lightning not disappear."

Ying paused for a moment, looked at Chen Tianfeng seriously, and found her own figure in those black eyes: "So I refuse to move forward, and promise my subjects the dream of floating world with [eternity], so that at least Inazuma will not experience loss again."

"The dream of floating world... do you mean war, heavy taxes and famine?"

Chen Tianfeng stroked his chin and said, "Hiss~": "Excuse me, not many people like this dream."

"...This is because my idea has been distorted."

Ying tried to be tough, and then sighed: "Well, it's because I'm too naive, paranoid, stupid, and dull."

She never thought that one day she would become Inazuma's thunder general, and she never knew how to govern the country. When she took over Inazuma, she lost almost all her relatives and friends except Yaeko.

So she locked herself up, built a thick barrier, and tried to stop Inazuma's progress, thinking that she would not experience loss again.

But now it seems that she is wrong.

"You are right, I am not a qualified god, I still lack a lot, far from my sister. But..."

Ying looked at him, his expression solemn: "I want to try to learn."

Inazuma is her sister's Inazuma, no matter what, she doesn't want to disappoint her sister.