Demons in Teyvat?!

🌸 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟘 🌊

"What? Now? You want me to go now?" Childe asked the adeptus incredulously. "Yes, now. The longer you wait, the more people will lose their lives. Leave now and you will get there just in time for sundown. Now go." The adeptus offered little more input than that,  disappearing into a wisp of anemo. 

Apparently, people had started disappearing in Qingce village, and it was now his job to figure out why. Although, he was 99.9% sure it was a demon at this point.  After the abyss war, even the movements of hillichurls and abyss mages had quieted down, to the point where accidents rarely occurred nowadays. Then again, there was always the possibility of treasure hoarders, but the one thing that they had above hillichurls was their human intellect. Treasure hunters would not be so bold as to kidnap so many people from one place. So, it was a demon. Now he just had to kill it. Childe sighed, turning from the balcony and heading back into the inn room, where Y/N was jumping up on down on the bed mattress. Upon seeing him enter the room, she stopped, jumped off and quickly ran to hug him. He chuckled.

Y/N looked up, giving him a questioning cock of her head upon seeing his expression. "Ah, don't worry about it, Y/N. I'm sorry, but can you get into the basket? We're going on a little trip." It was still nighttime, but if he hurried now, he could get to Qingce village while it was still day- catch an hour of sleep, then go hunting for demons when the sun went down again. That adeptus was annoying, but at least he had some logic behind his nagging. Y/N nodded, turning and scurrying over to the overturned bamboo basket. Carefully, she pulled the basket upright and dove inside. Childe's eyes widened, a hand outstretched as he watched her small feet wriggle in the air before disappearing. A moment later after some rustling, Y/N poked her head out of the basket, blinked slowly at him, then pulled the basket lid over her head. "Hmpf!" Ah. That was his sign to hurry up. As he strapped the basket to his back, he paused to look at the unmade bed covers, where an assortment of Liyue flowers lay in neat piles. In the middle were three finished flower crowns. It seemed that old habits die hard, he thought to himself. He smiled sadly to himself as he shut the door behind him, the images of the L/N siblings, the three of them wearing glaze lily flower crowns, flashing in his distant memories.

~🌸🌊~

Qingce village was a rather nice place, hidden in the hills and bamboo forests. The high bamboo stalks reminded him of Y/N's old home. The moon was bright in the sky. A full moon? Childe hadn't noticed. A loud thwack caught his attention, and he turned to see an old farmer splitting a bamboo stalk in half with an axe, then quarters, before binding the stalk together with twine. As if sensing his eyes upon him, the farmer straightened, then turned to him. "Ah, another traveler? Are you here for commissions?" Childe shook his head. "Hmm, no. I'm here on business, actually!" He paused. "It's dark out. Why are you working so late?" The farmer chuckled. "Ah... at my age, its true that my bones ache and creak all the time... but I can't help but get restless. Especially in the dark hours of the night." Childe nodded absentmindedly, his gaze wandering.

"I admit it is quite late, but, do you mind directing me to your village head?" The farmer paused his next swing in mid air, straightening and dropping his axe on the ground. "The village head? Of course, right this way. Would you mind telling me what sort of business you are on, young man?" He asked as he walked, with surprising stability, deeper into the forest. He motioned for Childe to follow. As Childe hurried to keep up with the brisk pace of the old man, he noted the sharp twinkle in his eyes- perhaps from the many years of wisdom he carried. "Sorry, no can do I'm afraid... I've been given orders not to give any information to anyone but the village head." For a moment, the man said nothing, the only sound the soft crunch of dirt under their boots as they walked. "Hmm, interesting." Was all the man offered in response. The rest of the walk to the village was in silence.

Soon after rounding a corner of bamboo stalks, several houses came into view, tucked into the mountains on large, wooden platform supports. Children ran from door to door, laughing when they got reprimanded by their parents. He watched as a little girl bound up the steps and disappeared into her home, probably to turn in for the night. It was a rather cheerful sight, and at first glance, you wouldn't think anything was amiss. But, as a harbinger, Childe had been trained to notice the little things- the things that normal observers would miss. It was a bit harder to see in the dark, but thanks to total concentration, he'd learned to hone his senses. It was one of the few, few  skills he was grateful the adeptus taught him.