Chapter 199

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***

This situation was reaching to absurdity levels already...

"Uh huh." Yomite commented before adding, "Look, there are many things in this world that are off, but Venti...that God is a mistake, no doubt about it...Let me pick you a random homeless person from the streets and they'll be more productive than that pile of giggling femboy energy that calls itself an Archon..."

Barbara barely understood what he was talking about, yet her psyche was shook to the core of her stomach as she just stood there stunned, shocked about this revelation and almost felt like she was drowning in her newfound perspective of reality.

A minute ago, the news that the man in front of her was Morax, the God of Liyue already shook her to her bones, but to think that Venti the Bard was The Barbatos...

It wasn't easy for the girl to take in this new piece of information but unfortunately for her, it happened to be true. It would also explain his knowledge about various songs she never heard before, and so many other things, that she was certain they weren't lying to her...

Barbatos was rumored to know every song ever created, be it in the past, present or the future...

He was the epitomy of music, who was the patron of all, possessing not only the abilities to create but to also destroy, and whose actions affected the heavens themselves.

Barbara was getting dizzy to the point she thought her eyesight might suddenly go blurred and empty, and her body might fall over sideways as a result.

Her mind blanked. In that state, for some unknown reason, the words 'god' and 'drunk bard' combined and sounded repugnant in her ears. It was going against everything she believed. At this point, it felt like most of her existence was shaken apart and thrown to pieces into a muddled mess that looked downright frightening...

"...Impossible..." She spoke half aloud in her distress. "Lord Barbatos is...a prominent and a gentle figure...he even gave me a Vision...and from then on...I started believing in him wholeheartedly...but this..."

All the color drained out of her face immediately afterward and a sick feeling traveled down her throat. Everything she'd learned since the beginning... everything taught to her by the nuns and her father...was starting to fade slowly into thin air..

Yomite was about to reply but he noticed that Zhongli wanted to say something so he took the gag and the blindfold off.

"...Venti? Is that his current sobriquet? Barbatos...That drunkard is a disgrace to the arts..." Zhongli grumbled lowly under his breath.

Yomite smiled after hearing the remark.

(Glad to see someone agrees with me!)

Zhongli sighed and continued, "I finally remember the feeling I felt from the young woman over there...Dragon of the East, Dvalin, are you not? Intriguing, it seems to me you've had quite the story to tell. Mind sharing it with me sometime?"

Iris nodded without saying anything else. Her history with Morax wasn't anything worth elaborating. They barely interacted in the past, yet she felt that his figure was lonely, perhaps as lonely as she was before meeting so many amazing people...

Zhongli eyed Yomite and asked, "Your powers, are far from ordinary. I could feel foreign threads drawn through the link formed with you and something else...something that does not belong here...What is it you wish to achieve by restraining me here today? Do you wish to harm this world? Does it have to do anything with Barbatos?"

"Not exactly, no. I do not wish to harm anyone."

Yomite shook his head. This God was truly the real deal. The fact that he could practically tell with a single glance Yomite wasn't of this world was kind of scary, even more so...the rope restraints from Lumine were practically pointless in the first place. This God willingly let himself be restrained, and he could leave his confinement whenever he wished for it, yet he didn't.

(He could probably take care of us in a few seconds if he wanted to...)

This kind of mindset brought more tension to the table than a clumsy gust of wind.

Yomite coughed and answered him, "Venti...ah...Barbatos only told us to look for you if we wanted help in finding someone. We are searching for a man, blond hair and golden eyes...His name is Aether and he is spitting image of Lumine here. Her sibling was missing for quite a while apparently and we would like to know if you have any means of searching for him."

"A person?"

Zhongli murmured intrigued, tilting his head curiously, "Lumine...Luminous...Able to bring light forth...with that title, the presence of great abudance extends to produce and illuminate the skies...how odd...Unfortunately, I have to disappoint. Despite being a part of this world for a few millennium or so, I am still oblivious about any person that matches your description, and searching for one soul amongst passels of people, would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Upon the revelation, Lumine seemed disappointed. They had travelled so far, and yet it was all for naught...Why did it seem like all of the Gods they met so far were inept?

Or perhaps, this God was just as incompetent and ignorant enough not to give them any details whatsoever, just like Venti.

With Venti, she could feel like he was dodging her questions, but this Zhongli person seemed to not care about anything whatsoever...

Were all Gods like this?