The statue of the Seven Archons of Geo, Morax seated on the throne, and the dense Geo elental energy in the air—all confird this was indeed Liyue.
But Venti could tell—
The confusion on the citizens' faces when he ntioned Morax and the Geo Lord didn't look fake. They truly had no idea who Morax was, nor did they recognize the title of Geo Lord.
What was going on?
Was everything around him just an illusion?
A dream ford deep within the ley lines?
Seeing Venti's confusion, a nearby citizen kindly advised, "Now that you're in the city, it's best to cut ties with the past and focus on making a living here."
Venti nodded seriously. "Thank you for the reminder."
Inwardly, though, he was already chuckling in disbelief.
It was clear they'd mistaken him for soone else. They had no idea he was from Mondstadt—let alone that he was Barbatos, the Anemo Archon.
Right now, his head was full of questions.
He wanted to explore more of the area, figure out exactly where he was, and then find Zhongli for a drink.
"Excuse , which way to the tavern?"
"Tavern? You an a restaurant, right? There's nothing like that on Main Street. Try Second Street—there are several restaurants and hotels there... If you're after good wine, try Lumina Square or downtown. But honestly, I doubt you can afford it... Young man, since it's your first ti in the city, I'd suggest finding work first. Try Belobog Heavy Industries for manual labor, or do odd jobs in a restaurant..."
"Thanks for the advice. Goodbye—"
They didn't recognize the nas Morax or the Geo Lord...
And Venti had no idea where Lumina Square was, or what Belobog Heavy Industries even ant...
It reminded him of when the Traveler first arrived in Mondstadt—clueless about everything, not knowing anyone, and fascinated by everything new.
After walking a few steps, Venti suddenly turned back and pointed to the nearby statue.
"That's Morax. Your Geo Lord."
With that, he followed the directions and walked toward the adjacent street.
Behind him, a few puzzled citizens whispered, "Did that young man just say the statue is Morax? The Geo Lord? Does he actually know this god?"
By the ti they realized what he'd said and tried to catch up, Venti had already vanished.
All that remained was a gentle breeze and the faint sound of a harp...
...
After leaving the central avenue of the Federer District, Venti instantly appeared on another street, several hundred ters away. Here, he saw even more people dressed in Fontaine-style outfits—and several rectangular tal boxes with wheels slowly driving down the center of the road.
Though it was his first ti seeing them, Venti could tell they were a kind of vehicle, similar to chanisms found in ancient ruins.
He approached a little girl nearby with a smile. "Hey, little one. Have you seen a handso retired man carrying a birdcage?"
The girl thought for a mont. "Carrying a birdcage… I think I did…"
But before she could continue, a sharp horn blared behind them.
A car had lost control and was speeding straight at them.
The driver slamd the brakes, but they were clearly broken—it didn't help at all.
"Move!"
"Get out of the way!"
Panicked shouts rang out around them.
But the little girl was frozen with fear. She couldn't move—she even dropped the lollipop in her hand.
In that split second—
Venti spotted the incoming car and raised his hand.
"Take flight—!"
The mont he spoke, a powerful gust of wind swept across the ground and slamd into the car, lifting it into the air.
With a loud crash, the car flipped and landed upside down.
The entire crowd was stunned.
Then, after a mont of silence, applause erupted:
"That was aweso!"
"Unreal! He flipped a car before we even knew what was happening! That's elental power..."
"What elent was that? Where did the wind co from?"
"Who knows, but it was badass! With skills like that, maybe he's the new sheriff from Janus District..."
...
Even the little girl looked up at Venti with sparkling eyes, full of gratitude.
"Big sister, thank you for saving —"
"I'm a big brother!"
"Ah… sorry, sorry! Big brother, thank you for saving ."
"It's alright. Just now, you said you saw soone carrying a birdcage. Can you tell where?"
Venti smiled gently.
His smile was like a spring breeze, soothing the girl's lingering fear.
The girl thought for a while, then said with a bit of a pout, "Sorry, big brother... I forgot. But I'm sure I saw soone like that on the next street."
"That's fine. Thanks for the tip."
Just then—
The driver climbed out of the wrecked car and, seeing both Venti and the little girl unhard, let out a breath of relief.
He bowed repeatedly, apologizing to them both.
Venti gave a small smile. "No harm done."
As he turned to leave—
The little girl called out, "Big brother, can I add you on Knock Knock Chat?"
"Knock Knock Chat? What's that?" Venti blinked.
The girl looked puzzled. "You don't have a phone?"
Venti tilted his head. "What's a phone?"
The girl paused, then suddenly realized, "Oh! You must be from the outer ring. I heard there aren't any signal towers out there. So people from the outer ring never see a phone their whole lives…"
Venti raised a brow.
There it was again—"outer ring." Was that also part of Liyue?
After saying goodbye to the girl, Venti continued down the street.
He passed by all kinds of strange things—glass panels that displayed moving pictures, chanical dolls that could only hum, and the so-called phones the girl had ntioned...
He even saw a girl with a shark tail.
It looked like she'd been bitten by a shark and had a massive tail swaying behind her. Venti couldn't help but laugh.
She noticed him.
Quickly, Venti stifled his laughter, placed his hands on his lyre, and strumd lightly—pretending he was just passing by.
He barely played it off.
What an interesting city—so full of fun surprises. And Zhongli had hidden it all this ti?
Venti looked toward a nearby hotel... but he didn't have a single Mora on him.
With a helpless sigh, he turned and headed toward the plaza.
There, he sat by the fountain, strumming joyful tunes and singing songs of freedom.
Back to the old ways.
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