Chapter 597 A tense confrontation with Zhongli

Chapter 597 A tense confrontation with Zhongli

After leaving the Qun Yu Pavilion and returning to Yujing Terrace, Shao Yun once again passed by the place where Grandma Ping usually admired flowers.

This time, the person in this position is Grandma Ping.

When Grandma Ping saw Shao Yun approaching slowly, she smiled warmly and asked softly, "Mr. Shao Yun, it's been a long time since we last met. I wonder if you are doing well lately?"

Shao Yun looked up and saw Grandma Ping greeting him with a smile, so he hurried forward, took off his hat, performed the standard hat-docking salute, and then responded enthusiastically.

"Hello, Grandma Ping! It's been a long time since we last met. How are you doing lately?"

Hearing Shao Yun's greeting, Grandma Ping couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Hey~ I'm an old man, what can I do? It's just like that, not good, but not too bad either."

Shao Yun couldn't help but make fun of it after hearing this.

"Grandma Ping, please don't say that! You are not an ordinary old woman, you are an immortal!"

As soon as these words came out, Grandma Ping shook her head helplessly and said with a wry smile: "Hahaha... let's not talk about this anymore?"

After a short pause, she suddenly changed the subject and asked, "By the way, did you persuade the angry Liu Yun to go back?"

Hearing this, Shao Yun smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, Grandma Ping. After my persuasion, Miss Liu Yun changed her mind and went back to take care of Shen He."

After listening to this, Grandma Ping shook her head helplessly, sighed deeply, and thanked her: "Thank you so much! In fact, I have already persuaded Liuyun not to be so serious all the time."

"After all, human rule is the general direction of Liyue's future development. We immortals just need to do our part, but she has a stubborn temper..."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to waste your precious time."

Shao Yun showed a half-smile, and responded in a half-joking, half-serious tone: "It doesn't matter, I'm used to threatening others. The job of a lobbyist is something I can do very well..."

After saying that, he shrugged slightly to show that he didn't care.

Just when Shao Yun and Grandma Ping were chatting excitedly, Zhongli came over from somewhere leisurely.

He looked calm and politely greeted Shao Yun, "Thank you Mr. Shao Yun for your efforts and contributions to Liyue."

When Shao Yun heard the voice, he just glanced towards Zhongli indifferently, and then quickly looked away as if he didn't see him at all.

Then he said goodbye to Grandma Ping: "Oh, then I'll take my leave first, Grandma Ping. Please take care of yourself! I have some important things waiting to be dealt with here."

As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Grandma Ping to reply, he turned around and prepared to leave.

Seeing Shao Yun ignoring him like this and walking away without even turning his head, Zhongli hurriedly tried to stop him, saying, "You're leaving so soon? Can't you stay and chat with me for a few minutes?"

However, despite Zhongli's attempts to keep him, Shao Yun continued to do as he pleased and just kept walking forward with his head down.

Seeing this, Zhongli suddenly spoke up coldly, “Xiao just told me that he found some horse hoof prints in the wild. More importantly, the unique aura of the abyss also coexists with them.”

Hearing that his whereabouts had been exposed, Shao Yun suddenly stopped, slowly turned his head, stared straight at Zhongli, and asked in a deep voice: "So, what do you want to say?"

Zhongli had no expression on his face as he raised the question in his mind.

"Have you already joined the Abyss Cult?"

Upon hearing this, Shao Yun turned around and explained with an indifferent expression.

"I have not joined the Abyss Cult. This is just your groundless suspicion."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shao Yun revealed a provocative expression again, and then asked: "Besides, even if I really joined the Abyss Cult, so what? What, you want to kill me now?"

Zhongli's face became increasingly heavy in the face of Shao Yun's arrogant provocation, and he warned in a serious tone: "The power contained in the abyss will bring endless disasters and destruction."

However, Shao Yun did not take Zhongli's warning to heart at all. Instead, he stretched out his finger unhappily, pointed it directly at Zhongli's face, and reminded him bluntly.

"Don't forget, Kong is my brother-in-law. We are a real family. What about you? You are just an outsider!"

The meaning of this statement is obvious. It's not your turn to interfere in my family affairs!

Zhongli asked abruptly: "Are you sure that Kong really..."

Without waiting for Zhongli to finish his words, Shao Yun saw that he was trying to sow discord between him and his brother-in-law! He didn't care about anything else and directly performed "oral gymnastics" on Zhongli, spitting out sweet words!

"That's much better than a big liar like you who can only eat stones! You seven gods all have ulterior motives and plotted against Ying, asking her to do things for you without paying her anything at all!"

Shao Yun became more and more angry as he spoke, and his chest heaved violently.

"It's me! It's me who reunited Ying and Kong. It's me! Not you! You didn't provide us with any help!" Shao Yun continued to roar with gritted teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.

"I never intended to be a messiah or a savior, and I have no obligation to save the world!"

"You should be thankful that I still have a little conscience and won't kill a child. Otherwise, I would have been completely freed long ago!"

Shao Yun roared at the top of his lungs, like an enraged lion.

Seeing that Shao Yun was so hostile, Zhongli couldn't help but flash a barely perceptible cold light in his eyes.

Shao Yun caught the flash of murderous intent in Zhongli's eyes, but he showed no fear and suddenly opened his arms.

He put on a righteous and fearless attitude and shouted provocatively.

"What? You want to kill me? Come on, come on, try it and see if you can do it!"

"Do you dare to bet with me whether I will be resurrected after I die? If so, I can burn Liyue Harbor without restraint!"

Zhongli was so shocked by Shao Yun's overwhelming hatred that he stood there in a daze.

He stared blankly at the person in front of him who was once familiar but now so strange, and a bitter feeling arose in his heart.

After a long while, Zhongli slowly loosened his clenched fists, and his originally tense body gradually relaxed.

"Do we have no chance to reconcile? Just like the first time you smashed three bowls of Bu Guo Kong and invited me to drink?"

After hearing this, Shao Yun just shrugged indifferently, with anger still on his face, and responded mercilessly: "I can still communicate with you now, which is already because you can still speak a few human words."

After saying that, he turned his head away and no longer looked at Zhongli.

Seeing this, Zhongli sighed helplessly, then took a deep breath and said, "No matter what, I still want to thank you for your contribution to Liyue."

"I can promise you that if there ever comes a day in the future when we have to go to war, I will never attack Ying and Paimeng who are by your side."

After hearing what Zhongli said, Shao Yun was slightly stunned, but he quickly regained his composure.

He nodded gently, indicating that he accepted Zhongli's kindness, and said: "When that moment comes, victory will definitely belong to me! Because I still have to live with Ying, Kong and Paimon!"

After listening to Shao Yun's declaration, Zhongli felt mixed emotions.

He hoped that such a cruel situation would never happen, so he prayed sincerely: "I hope... that day will never come..."

However, Shao Yun did not respond to him and left the Yujingtai area directly.

After Shao Yun left, Grandma Ping turned her gaze to Zhongli. She lowered her voice and asked carefully, "Emperor, is there really no room for easing the situation?"

Zhongli frowned slightly and began to carefully list the earth-shaking things Shao Yun had done so far.

"First, he killed Baalzebub, which greatly reduced Inazuma's strength; second, he made a 'feud' with the grass god Buyel (Zhongli's speculation)."

"Not only that, according to the information we have so far, he is also connected to the Abyss Cult... Considering his reckless personality of doing whatever he thinks of without regard for the consequences..."

"To be honest, I can't be sure whether he will become Liyue's enemy one day."

Having said this, Zhongli's expression became more solemn.

Hearing this, Grandma Ping couldn't help but gasp. The severity of the situation was obviously far beyond her imagination.

However, she still held on to a glimmer of hope and asked, "Even if he had made so many contributions to Liyue?"

Zhongli shook his head slowly, and replied in a heavy and meaningful tone: "'Wear and tear', I know it clearly in my heart..."

"If it really comes to the last resort, in order to ensure the safety of Liyue, I will do my best to wipe it out, even if it means perishing together with it!"

When Grandma Ping heard this, she could never have imagined that the situation had deteriorated to such a state.

Finally, she could only sigh and lament helplessly: "Alas, fate is so fickle... Who could have expected things to turn out to be so bad?"

At this time, Zhongli silently looked up into the distance and saw a red sun rising slowly from the coastline, and the sunlight gradually spread over the earth.

He looked at the brilliant dawn for a moment, then said helplessly, "A Ping, I'm leaving first. The master needs to get up..."

……

Fontaine, on the streets of Fontaine.

Shao Yun rushed back and muttered gloomily, "This hidden mission is so damn unlucky. Apart from earning Mora, there is no benefit at all."

A dialog box pops up.

[At least, Ying and Paimeng have been confirmed not to be implicated by you, right? You killed so many people, but they won't be harmed. If there is a day when you really die, your situation will be much better than others. ]

Shao Yun still said somewhat unwillingly: "I hope that day will never come. Where are Ying and Paimeng now?"

The system replied.

[The newspaper office of Steambird News. ]

……

In front of the Steambird newspaper office.

At this moment, Ying was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. The reason was that when she got up this morning, she found that Shao Yun was not around.

The most important thing is that Shao Yun did not leave any information at all.

Ying didn't know what was going on. She felt empty inside, and an inexplicable feeling of anxiety surged in her heart.

The key point is not the most important thing. The key point is that Ying asked Navia, Linny, Linnit, and even Catherine about Shao Yun's whereabouts, but these people didn't know!

This made Ying feel an inexplicable sense of fear, and she began to frantically look for Shao Yun.

As a result, I searched for a whole morning but found nothing!

At this moment, Navia, Charlotte and Paimon tried to persuade them earnestly, but it was all in vain.

Ying said with a worried look on her face: "I have turned the entire Fontaine upside down, but I still can't find any trace of Shao Yun!"

Seeing this, Charlotte could only helplessly persuade him, "Calm down first, Ying. Shao Yun is not some child who knows nothing about the world. He is such a grown-up, it is impossible for him to disappear without a trace."

Ying said with extreme sensitivity: "But he didn't leave any message! This is too abnormal! Based on my understanding of him, if he really had to go out for an emergency, he would definitely report to me in advance! At the very least, he would have left a note or something..."

At this point, Ying's voice couldn't help but tremble, and it was obvious that she was extremely uneasy.

Navia, who was standing by, saw this and quickly comforted him, "Don't be so anxious, Ying. How about this, I mobilize all the members of the Thorn Rose Society to help look for him? More manpower will always increase the chances of finding him."

Charlotte wrung her hands anxiously and said as best she could: "How about I go and talk to Miss Oufu to see if we can urgently print a missing person notice on the front page. Maybe we can find the person faster this way."

As she spoke, she looked at Ying worriedly. She saw that Ying's eyes were red with anxiety and tears were about to burst out.

At this moment, Shao Yun followed the instructions given by the system and hurried all the way to the gate of the Steambird Newspaper Office.

He immediately saw Ying, Paimon, Navia, Charlotte and others standing there.

Shao Yun greeted everyone.

"Hi, Ying, wow, I didn't expect you to be here... Oh, everyone is here..."