Genshin Impact: I'm The Envoy of Snezhnaya (Patreon)

Chapter 101: How About Adding Three More Sunsettias?

This was definitely not a situation Xingqiu could help with.

To be fair, Bai Luo had only himself to blame. Ever since switching identities, he had subconsciously ignored the fact that he was no longer in his "Hei" form, so he continued his old habits of eating and drinking without restraint.

When it came time to pay, he would suddenly remember that he never carried money, usually putting it on Childe's tab or asking his subordinates to pay first.

Sigh... The dragon slayer eventually becomes the dragon. Had he now become the type of person who never carries money?

It wasn’t a surprise that the Fatui had come looking for him. If anything, the fact that Tartaglia himself hadn’t personally confronted him yet was already a small miracle.

He couldn’t let Xingqiu get involved.

Blades have no eyes, and whether the Fatui hurt Xingqiu or Xingqiu ended up injuring the Fatui, neither outcome was something Bai Luo wanted to see.

Fortunately, his Reverse Blade Sword had a Non-Lethal Passive. As long as he didn’t use any special skills, no one would die—a feature Bai Luo himself had personally tested.

“Capture him!”

The Fatui guards were ordinary sentinels with neither rank nor significant power. They didn’t want to escalate the situation in Liyue’s bustling market, knowing that if the Qixing’s Millelith intervened, things would go badly for both sides.

So, they opted for a swift resolution to subdue this Inazuman rogue.

But they underestimated Bai Luo.

In his "Hei" class, he was most skilled at assassinations. In his Battousai class, however, he excelled at ambushes.

Speed, precision, and ferocity—hallmarks of Eastern swordsmanship—were taken to the extreme in Hiten Mitsurugi Style. Opponents were often struck before they even had the chance to lift their blades.

Admittedly, the system-taught version of Battousai that Bai Luo practiced wasn’t quite the same as the Kenshin Himura of movies or shows. It could be considered... a modified version, perhaps?

Clang!

Blocking a descending blade from one of the Fatui guards, Bai Luo slightly adjusted his angle and struck the side of the guard’s neck with the back of his Reverse Blade Sword.

The guard let out a muffled groan and collapsed to the ground.

He wasn’t dead. The Reverse Blade Sword was a weapon designed not to kill. As long as Bai Luo refrained from using any skills, it wouldn’t take a life. Furthermore, Bai Luo had deliberately held back, so this strike would leave the guard unconscious at most.

“Get him together!”

The remaining Fatui guards noticed the unusual nature of Bai Luo’s weapon but were undeterred.

If anything, this realization emboldened them. After all, the Reverse Blade Sword couldn’t kill anyone.

Unlike the choreographed fights in movies where enemies take turns attacking the protagonist while others stand idly by, the Fatui maintained a disciplined and coordinated approach.

They had their own techniques for group combat: some attacked high, others low, while still others focused on harassment and restricting movement.

Every move was deliberate and precise.

This discipline was one of the Fatui’s strengths.

They could endure boredom and solitude, stationed for years in icy wastelands or desert outposts. Even when abandoned and forgotten, they would still carry out their final orders.

Under such coordinated attacks, even Xingqiu would need time to deal with them without relying on elemental abilities.

But for Bai Luo...

It was a piece of cake.

With a subtle shift in footwork, Bai Luo disrupted the Fatui’s formation. One guard at the rear ended up thrusting his sword directly at a teammate in front.

“Watch out!”

If the thrust had landed, the unfortunate teammate might not have survived, or at the very least, would have been severely injured—perhaps even ending up like Bai Luo on that one memorable day.

Okay, to clarify: on that day, Bai Luo had only spilled wine from the corner of his mouth, creating the illusion that the liquid was seeping from a stomach wound.

If something as dramatic as flames or water spilling from an actual stomach wound ever occurred, Bai Luo knew he wouldn’t have much longer to live.

With no time to block the thrust, Bai Luo was forced to slash at the guard in front, sending him tumbling to the ground and narrowly avoiding his teammate’s blade.

As he watched the guard in front of him collapse, foaming at the mouth, Bai Luo couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

“Not bad.”

After a few exchanges, the Fatui guards began to sense something amiss.

This guy... How could he evade their attacks so effortlessly? It was as if he knew in advance where they were aiming. It was downright uncanny.

Could it be the power of a Vision?

Of course not.

The explanation was simple: the coordination technique they were using was one of the most basic formations taught in the Fatui. It was designed to be easy to learn and easy to teach.

The Fatui had a long-standing tradition: after basic training, new recruits would attend a disciplinary speech by one of the Harbingers and undergo the baptism of Her Majesty’s will.

It was an integral part of being Fatui.

When Bai Luo first joined the Fatui, he experienced this firsthand during a training session overseen by The Rooster. Back then, they used this exact formation and got thoroughly thrashed for it.

Later, when Bai Luo rose to the rank of Harbinger, he also took on the role of mentoring recruits, often using similar techniques to train them.

In short, Bai Luo knew this coordination formation inside and out—both as a recruit and as a Harbinger.

To use this formation against him was like trying to impress Xingqiu by writing fancy calligraphy. All those intricate strokes and curves? He could see through them in an instant.

In no time at all, Bai Luo had taken down the group of Fatui guards with nothing but his Reverse Blade Sword.

Glancing at Xingqiu, who was shielding Xiangling behind him, Bai Luo spoke up to clarify:

“My weapon is a Reverse Blade Sword, so it can’t take lives. They’ll recover soon enough. I hope the two of you can forgive me.”

As he sheathed his sword, Bai Luo adjusted his mask and prepared to leave Wanmin Restaurant.

“C-customer...”

Xiangling mustered her courage to call out to Bai Luo and pointed at the bill in her hand. While Bai Luo had been quite fierce in battle, the moment his sword was put away, he seemed harmless again.

Her meaning was clear: while it might have been possible to put the meal on Childe’s tab earlier, the Fatui guards had made it very clear that doing so was no longer an option.

So...

Bai Luo searched every pocket he had, only to display a somewhat embarrassed expression.

Other than a few Sunsettias, he had nothing on him. And as for his Reverse Blade Sword? It was bound to him, so even if he wanted to, he couldn’t offer it as payment.

It was a little awkward.

After a moment of thought, Bai Luo smiled and said, “Just put it on Tartaglia’s tab. He’s a friend of mine in the Fatui.”

“...”

“And... how about these three Sunsettias?”

Fumbling in his sleeve, Bai Luo pulled out three slightly bruised Sunsettias and placed them on the table in front of Xiangling.

Xiangling didn’t know who Tartaglia was, but she did understand that whether it was “Childe’s tab” or “Tartaglia’s tab,” it amounted to the same thing.

Oh, forget it. It was just a Mondstadt grilled fish—not worth that much anyway.

As long as they didn’t cause any more trouble, that was good enough for her. She pocketed the three Sunsettias and let Bai Luo go on his way.

Meanwhile, Xingqiu, standing nearby, couldn’t take his eyes off the note Bai Luo had left behind.

“Isn’t this... the style of Reed Sketches?”