Eyes of Perception

Chapter 4

Despite their so-called 'contract', the next few times the two met up, it was under the guise of discussing more deals regarding the partnership between Northland Bank and Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, though the details of said partnership would be taken care of within the first ten minutes of the time spent together. After that, they'd spend their 'meetings' trying new (at least for Childe, they were new) dishes that the street vendors sold, or taking to the more deserted paths of the city while Mister Zhongli would describe some Liyue tradition or how a certain invention came to be. 

Childe tried to pay attention, he really did. It wasn't his fault that Mister Zhongli's voice was just at the right pitch for Childe to get mesmerized by it, or that Mister Zhongli's eyes, which were closer to the color of cor lapis than amber as he now realized, always seemed to shine under the light so brightly that Childe couldn't help but get lost in them. 

Even so, he did manage to pick up some knowledge from Mister Zhongli's teachings. (Back when Childe had asked Mister Zhongli to be his mentor, he'd been kidding - mostly - but apparently the funeral consultant had taken that offer completely seriously. In the time they'd spent together, he'd explained just about anything there was to know about Liyue, though somehow, every time Childe thought he'd learned everything there was to know, Mister Zhongli would launch into another lecture and prove him wrong. Really, it was impressive how a funeral consultant, not even a professor, could know so much.)

Sometimes, the information that Childe would pick up from him would be completely useless, like how violetgrass prefers moist environments, and is best picked after the rain. Childe wasn't sure when he'd ever need to know that, but hey, at least that fact was drilled into his head now! Other times, the information would be more useful, though usually, Childe would have to be the one to prompt Mister Zhongli to share it. (Admittedly, he'd seen Mister Zhongli as a way to further himself on his mission from the Tsaritsa.)

On the evenings that no lecture in particular could come to mind for Mister Zhongli, Childe would ask for stories about the adepti, or on the occasions that he'd felt more daring, about Rex Lapis. Every time, Mister Zhongli would smile a fond smile, one that could almost be considered... wistful? As if he was remembering times that had long since passed. Then, he'd tell the tales of how the Conqueror of Demons had stayed by Morax's side until the end, or about how Cloud Retainer would sometimes descend upon the people of Liyue to see how their progress with mechanics had gone before returning back to her abode to tinker with some inventions.

Once, Childe had gathered the courage to ask about the Archon War. Mister Zhongli's expression had darkened, as if he himself had been there, but he'd recounted the tales of Morax nevertheless, about how the geo archon had fought day and night, molding the terrain to his will and throwing spears of geo to defeat his enemies. The somber expression on his face had been more than enough for Childe to regret asking. 

(It was for the mission, he told himself. He was just doing research for the mission, to figure out Rex Lapis' weak spot and how to best take him down. He was just doing research on how to best defeat the geo archon, nothing else. He wasn't asking so many questions just because he liked listening to Mister Zhongli speak. Nope, not at all.)

Still, as the weeks went on, Childe began to notice just how... in depth all of these lessons were, no matter if they were about Liyue's history or just about some tradition. It was almost as if Mister Zhongli had been there himself, had watched it all happen and was just recounting an old memory of his. But surely, that couldn't be right. That would mean that Mister Zhongli had to be old as hell, and he didn't look to be too much older than Childe. No, surely it was just a coincidence, or maybe Mister Zhongli was spending his time on studying old scripts rather than actually working.