Genshin Impact: The Sharpshooter of Teyvat

Chapter 1199 Zhongli's Little Scheme

After hearing Zhongli's explanation, Barbara knew he didn't mind her, but she still apologized to show her attitude.

"I'm sorry... I'm really, really sorry..."

"The main problem is that I didn't know you were the Rock God at first. If I had known, I would never have stolen your things. Please forgive my recklessness..."

Zhongli looked at Barbara, who was bowing her head and admitting her mistake with a sincere attitude, and slowly nodded slightly.

Strictly speaking, he also understood that Barbara had no way of discussing the theft of faith with him beforehand.

After all, not everyone can be like Xiao, who thinks of reporting everything to him. Even if he can't find Xiao in person, he will still earnestly "report" to the Seven Gods statue, explaining everything, big and small.

Barbara, a priestess of Mondstadt, knew neither the truth of his "fake death" nor had a direct way to contact him. In desperation, she made an extreme choice, which, while wrong, was not entirely incomprehensible.

However, while he understands, Zhongli doesn't mind that Barbara borrows the power of faith that the people of Liyue have in Morax in order to revive Barbatos.

But once you've done something, you have to pay the price.

"However, while I don't mind you taking away the Liyue people's faith in Morax, there is something that must be made clear."

“You took advantage of Keqing, using her as the pretext of the temple fair to carry out your actions in secret. This matter has nothing to do with faith, so we need to separate the two. You need to make amends for this.”

Upon hearing this, Barbara's heart, which had been slightly relieved by Zhongli's tolerance, instantly became anxious again.

"This... then how do I make amends? As long as it can make amends to Miss Keqing, as long as it doesn't affect the plan to revive Lord Barbatos, I'm willing to do anything."

At this moment, Zhongli had already started making his own plans.

He recalled his collaboration with Alice and clearly realized that he and Shao Yun had ultimately become adversaries.

Now, it's time to deal with Ningguang, the Liyue leader who has been enslaved by Shao Yun.

We can't let Liyue continue to be controlled by such a subservient leader.

He recalled the touching words Barbara had said before, words that he himself quite agreed with.

I had hoped that this temple fair would have a positive educational effect, but it seems that those effects have not been achieved at all.

Given this, shouldn't Barbara "go all the way" and contribute further to the situation in Liyue?

Therefore, Zhongli decided to use a strategy of first criticizing and then steer the conversation back to the past, slowly asking, "Miss Barbara, what are your thoughts on the current situation of Liyue?"

"Also, do you remember what you said before?"

"You mentioned that you wanted to use this festival to promote Liyue's culture and thereby restrain the greed in the hearts of Liyue people, so that while pursuing benefits, everyone can also keep their true selves. Am I right?"

Hearing Zhongli accurately repeat what she had casually said, Barbara felt like she was about to collapse.

Seriously? Does God have such a good memory?

He had only made up the pretext of "restraining greed" to scheme against Keqing and steal the Rock God Sunset. How could Zhongli remember it word for word after so long?

That's it, now it'll be hard to get away with this!

I should have kept quiet. Now look what I've done. I've shot myself in the foot, and the Geo Archon caught me red-handed.

Looking at Barbara's evasive and obviously guilty appearance, Zhongli already knew the answer in his heart.

But he still deliberately used reverse psychology, asking, "Judging from your expression... you weren't just saying that to appease Ke Qing, and you didn't really take it seriously, were you?"

"No! That's not it!" Barbara shook her head repeatedly in denial as soon as she heard Zhongli hit the nail on the head. Her brain raced, and she quickly made up a seemingly reasonable excuse.

"I am just... I am just a Mondstadt citizen, and just a prayer priest of the Church of Favonius. At most, I help people heal their wounds and pray for them."

"All I can see is that Liyue is currently showing signs of being 'overly profit-driven.' They have absolutely no political experience and don't know how to truly implement those ideas!"

At this point, she swallowed hard, and to make her excuse more believable, she began to cite historical examples from Mondstadt to support her claim.

"As you know, ever since Lady Vanessa led the people to overthrow the old Mondstadt nobility, the Church of Favonius has been completely stripped of its right to participate in politics. I have absolutely no experience in this area."

Barbara wasn't lying. Back in the old Mondstadt nobility era, the Church of Favonius colluded with the Lawrence family to oppress the people.

After Vanessa ended the era of the old aristocracy, the Church of Favonius in Mondstadt could be said to have only assumed responsibilities such as social relief and education.

The Church of Favonius wants to interfere in Mondstadt politics? Screw them! If they dare to touch it, we'll chop off their hands!

This was also the reason why Jean divorced Barbara's parents, after all, one was a cardinal of the church and the other was a member of the Gunnhildr family.

It's hard not to think of the old aristocratic era! Things like the Church of the West Wind wanting to use the power of the nobility to return to the political stage, and so on.

Seeing Barbara's repeated refusals, Zhongli stopped beating around the bush and looked her straight in the eye, explaining the pros and cons:

"I think you are also aware that all of us have been affected to some extent by what Shao Yun did, with Mondstadt and Liyue being the first to be affected."

"In Mondstadt, Barbatos ultimately died at the hands of Shao Yun, causing Mondstadt to lose the protection of the gods and the collapse of the people's faith."

"In Liyue, Ningguang's governing style has become increasingly autocratic lately. Ultimately, this is also due to Shao Yun's influence."

"She consolidated her power by using the name 'Shao Yun' on the grid, but she gradually became hostage to this 'reliance'."

"I underestimated the desires in human nature. I thought that Liyue could develop smoothly under human rule, but I didn't expect that it would eventually breed such hidden dangers."

At this point, Zhongli changed the subject and finally put forward his core proposal.

"So, I was thinking, could you, someone from Mondstadt who witnessed the 'Freedom Revolution' in history, help our Liyue become a hero similar to 'Vanessa'?"

"Vanessa was able to overthrow the oppression of the old Mondstadt nobles, and you may also be able to help Liyue break the current deadlock."

Zhongli's subtext was almost explicit: as long as Barbara is willing to help Liyue overthrow Ningguang's dictatorial rule and steal the faith, I will completely forgive and forget about it, and may even regard you as a hero of Liyue.

Looking at Zhong Li's serious expression, Barbara vaguely understood what he meant and tentatively asked:

"You mean... you want me to save Liyue and break the current situation, just like Vanessa overthrew the old nobles?"

Zhongli nodded slowly and began to explain the reasons behind it in detail.

"The disaster caused by Shao Yun has long exceeded the scope of a single country. Mondstadt, Liyue, Sumeru, and Inazuma are all suffering greatly."

“I admit that Shao Yun did make many contributions to Liyue in his early years. He helped with the invasion of the Old Ones, the chaos of the Bashe, and the problem of the Lava Abyss, but things are different now.”

"He is now on the opposite side of us and has become an enemy that threatens the safety of Teyvat."

"Ningguang, however, is still using Shao Yun's reputation to rule Liyue and maintain her power. She is undoubtedly the biggest destabilizing factor in Liyue."

"I don't want Liyue's safety to ultimately be entrusted to an 'enemy,' and I don't want Liyue's achievements in governance to be destroyed by this blind 'dependence.'"

"Ningguang is now completely obsessed with Shao Yun, refusing to listen to any advice, and is even willing to do things that violate human ethics in order to please him..."

"Therefore, Liyue needs to change again. Someone needs to stand up and cut off this dangerous 'reliance'."

Looking into Zhongli's earnest eyes, Barbara finally understood completely.

Zhongli wasn't trying to be a "Vanessa-style hero" at all; he was clearly using Zhongli to eliminate Ningguang, this "unstable factor" who was attached to Shao Yun.

Despite understanding the situation, Barbara couldn't help but frown and voice her concerns.

"However, as Mr. Zhongli said, Ningguang is now consolidating her power by relying on Shao Yun's reputation, and she is almost becoming a 'dictator'. Moreover, the reputation that Shao Yun left in Liyue back then is still effective to this day."

"Even if I really want to help Liyue break the deadlock, I am ultimately a Mondstadt person."

“It is not only illegitimate for an outsider to intervene in Liyue’s politics, but it is also easy for others to seize on this as ‘a Mondstadt-sent person to interfere in Liyue’s internal affairs.’ In that case, it would only disrupt the situation and inevitably be biased.”

Listening to Barbara's concerns, Zhongli wasn't sure if Barbara genuinely hadn't connected the dots or was just pretending not to understand, so he simply cut to the chase and uttered two words.

"Ke Qing."

These two words instantly sparked Barbara's train of thought.

Her eyes lit up, and she nodded in sudden realization, exclaiming:

“Oh! I remember now! Back at Qiaoying Manor, Miss Keqing complained about Ningguang’s autocratic rule…”

Then, a new question arose in her mind. She looked at Zhongli and asked doubtfully, "So, you want me to help Miss Keqing?"

“But Mr. Zhongli, since you are the God of Rock, why can’t you take matters into your own hands and set things right? With you here, Ningguang has no chance to resist.”

Seeing that Barbara was from Mondstadt and did not understand the core principle of "rule by man" in Liyue, Zhongli patiently and kindly explained the logic behind it.

“Miss Barbara, you may not know this, but Morax was already ‘dead’ after the Ascension Ritual, and Liyue entered an era of human rule.”

"Now that I have returned power to the people of Liyue, the matter of restoring order can only be handled by the people of Liyue themselves. I can no longer interfere as the Geo Archon, otherwise the previous 'rule by man' will become a joke."

At this point, Zhongli broke down his plan and explained it to Barbara.

“Now, I don’t need you to charge into battle, nor do I need you to bear the reputation of ‘leading the change’. I only need you to assist Keqing in secret.”

"Help her contact forces that are dissatisfied with Ningguang, help her gather public support, and help her devise a plan to overthrow Ningguang."

"Simply put, it means assisting Keqing so that she has the ability and confidence to overthrow Ningguang's dictatorial rule."