Genshin Impact: Back From Teyvat - The Archon Follows Me Home!

Lu Chen's oversized RV was back on the road again.

The destination this time was the Magic Capital, but unlike before, the veteran driver Miko had handed over the wheel to the newbie—Venti.

As they merged onto the highway, Lu Chen, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced into the back.

Ei and Miko were nestled together reading a light novel. Whatever they were reading had them giggling nonstop.

Meanwhile, Xiao and Qiqi sat across from each other—one resting with his eyes closed, the other staring blankly into space. Not a word passed between them. It was like they were silently playing a game of "whoever talks first loses."

Only a few of them had come along this time. The rest had other commitments: Zhongli had to tend to the Glaze Lilies, Hu Tao had gone into the wilderness to gather materials, and Diluc was stuck running the store...

Barbara had flown ahead to the Magic Capital, but with five days left until the carnival, they had time to spare.

So Lu Chen planned to take things slow—eating, drinking, and having fun along the way—while letting Xiao soak in a little more of the mortal world's daily bustle.

"Hey..." Lu Chen slid into the seat beside Qiqi and Xiao, hoping to ease the awkward silence on this side of the RV.

"You two Liyue locals aren't gonna chat a little?"

Two blank expressions—one big, one small—turned his way.

"What?" Xiao looked over.

"Chat about... what?" Qiqi asked dully.

"Uh... well... just, you know... chat about something..." Lu Chen racked his brain but came up empty. No matter how he tried, conversation with these two always died fast.

If anyone could liven things up, it'd be Venti or Hu Tao. If Hu Tao were here, Qiqi would be bouncing off the walls by now.

"Let's talk about..." A memory suddenly hit him, and his eyes lit up with curiosity. "Didn't Xiao once pass out from a karmic flare and get carried back to Bubu Pharmacy by Qiqi?"

Xiao's passive gaze finally flickered, and Qiqi turned to look at him, her vacant eyes seemingly lost in thought.

"I've always wondered—how did tiny Qiqi manage to carry big ol' Xiao all the way back?"

Lu Chen had imagined countless possibilities: maybe Qiqi folded Xiao up and stuffed him into her herb basket... or tied him up like a bundle of firewood... or maybe just grabbed a leg or an arm and dragged him across the ground...

As soon as he finished, he noticed Xiao had already shut his eyes again, clearly not interested in responding.

But right before he did, Xiao gave him a silent glance—one that screamed, You really had to bring that up, huh?

Left with no choice, Lu Chen turned to Qiqi.

"I don't remember..." she said, shaking her head. Then her eyes suddenly widened.

"But Qiqi is very strong! Qiqi is amazing!"

Lu Chen chuckled and patted her on the head. "You really are."

After that awkward stall in the Liyue group, Lu Chen shifted over to the Inazuma group. The two girls set down their light novel as Ei looked at him curiously.

"I think... I sensed that your power has grown again?"

"Of course it has!" Lu Chen grinned proudly. "I'm not the same man I used to be. In terms of both strength and stamina, I'm almost back to peak condition. Ei, wanna try the new and improved me?"

Ei picked up a dessert from the table and glanced at Lu Chen's smug face. She took a small, graceful bite.

"My senses are sharp. You're not quite at your strongest yet. It's better not to rush. Take your time."

"How can I accept that?" Lu Chen grabbed a dessert himself and chomped down. "This is a matter of male pride!"

"I'm already satisfied with how you are now," Ei said softly, nibbling on her dessert until it was gone.

Yae Miko, sandwiched between the two, listened quietly... as a suspicious blush slowly crept across her cheeks.

"Hold up—!" she suddenly snapped.

"What are you two talking about?! If you're going to say things like that, go do it in your room!"

She shot Lu Chen a dramatic eye-roll, but even as she teased them, the blush on her face refused to fade.

"Hm?" Ei frowned. "In the room? That won't do..."

"Why not?" Miko's smirk froze.

"It gets too rough," Ei said plainly. "We'd break the room."

"Wha—!?" Miko's eyes went wide with disbelief.

She stared at her god in shock, her smile faltering like she didn't recognize her at all.

"You—you—you—"

"Ei!"

"How could you say something like that?!"

Then she turned on Lu Chen with the expression of someone who'd just discovered a criminal.

"Look what you've done! You've corrupted my pure, aloof Ei! She actually said something like that! Can you believe it?!"

"What's so bad about it?" Lu Chen asked, genuinely confused.

"Exactly," Ei agreed calmly.

Lu Chen glanced at Miko's flushed face. "Ei's right. The RV room is too cramped—it'd get wrecked." He looked around the spacious living room and nodded seriously.

"I think this spot's perfect. Ei, how about we just do it here?"

"Um... I don't know if that's a good idea," Ei said, hesitating slightly.

"Hey hey hey!" Miko couldn't take it anymore. These two were so perverted—even she was feeling scandalized.

They were saying all this in front of everyone!

Only then did Lu Chen and Ei finally realize something was off.

They exchanged glances. Lu Chen frowned.

"It's just a duel before the Emperor, right? Why's she reacting like that?"

"Huh? 'Duel before the Emperor'?" Miko looked at Lu Chen, studied his face closely, and realized—he wasn't joking.

"Yeah. What did you think we meant?"

Lu Chen narrowed his eyes, watching her suspiciously. "Then what were you thinking just now?"

"Me? Haha... I was thinking the same thing. Totally... a duel before the Emperor."

"Oh, really..." Lu Chen gave her one last doubtful look. He could tell—whatever she was imagining, it was definitely not the same kind of duel he meant.

He knew her too well.

"Same as before?" he asked Ei. She nodded confidently.

Of course, when they said "duel before the Emperor," it wasn't about swords or martial arts. It was just a pretext to challenge each other, like last time.

They'd battled in all sorts of ways before—not just sparring. Sometimes it was card games, rock-paper-scissors, drinking games, wrestling, even guessing how many petals would fall from a blossom...

All fair game.

The RV's living room was spacious, but swordplay wasn't ideal here, and card games were boring. Lu Chen wanted to crush Ei with pure strength.

Which left only one kind of contest.

He and Ei both turned to look at the lone remaining piece of dessert on the table.

In the past, every match ended with arguing, noise, and sometimes another fight over the last dessert. This felt like déjà vu. Even Miko, off to the side with her arms crossed, was part of the scene again.

"Hmph. Childish," Miko huffed, watching their little routine.

Lu Chen and Ei exchanged smiles, but neither moved.

A few seconds later...

Lu Chen was the first to act.

With lightning speed, he reached for the last dessert.

Faster than the punch that once knocked a scar-faced man sideways—so fast it was invisible to the eye, even to a camera.