7

                                    

                                          
You panted heavily, taking one last look around before finally relaxing and sheathing your sword again. You had just spent the better part of twenty minutes defending the traveler, Paimon, and Zhongli as they tested the jade samples in the hillichurls' cooking pot, and safe to say, you were beyond unamused. 
Even though the blonde traveler could fight fairly well, their expertise had been needed at the cooking pot, where they applied pyro in order to make the jade shine. Paimon obviously had no fighting abilities, and Zhongli claimed to be too old and feeble to help you.
You rolled your eyes once again when you remembered that excuse, even though it made sense for the part he was trying to play. 
"Too bright!" Paimon suddenly exclaimed from behind you, and you glanced over to see three very shiny lights coming from the cooking pot. "That was the third Noctilucous Jade, wasn't it?" 
You once again tuned out their conversation. After all, you were only here hoping to get a chance to confront the Geo Archon, not to bother messing around with his last rights. 
The trickle of a liquid dripping down your arm made you refocus your attention to yourself, realizing one of the hillichurls had managed to slash you in your left shoulder. It wasn't too deep but you knew you'd still need to deal with it sooner rather than later if you wanted to prevent an infection.
Sighing, you pulled out a scarf to wrap it with for now. You'd have to find some actual bandages when you got back to the harbor later, but it would work. 
As you tied it around your shoulder, you suddenly recalled how Xiao was supposed to be watching over you. You could feel his presence nearby, and yet he hadn't even stepped in to help you during that fight.
You internally scoffed. It wasn't like you needed the help, but if he insisted on following you around like this then he could at least make himself useful and prevent you from getting minor injuries like this one. 
"It was so much brighter than the rest. Let's go with that one!" Paimon continued behind you as you tied the last knot from the scarf. Luckily, you hadn't gotten injured anywhere else. It seemed that particular hillichurl had just been extra quick with his blade. 
You stood up straight now, turning to see the others come down from the cooking pot.
"Let's head back to the Jade Mystery to buy some jade, shall we?" Paimon smiled, floating ahead of everyone else excitedly. She seemed even more eager than you to be done with all of this. 
"Sounds like a good plan," Zhongli smiled back, eyes lingering for just a moment on your now wrapped shoulder as he passed. Since he seemed to have no intention of talking to you in the back of the group like earlier, you decided to just quietly bring up the rear. It gave you time to think to yourself anyway. 
Still, as you walked, you couldn't help once again noticing Xiao's presence somewhere around you, though you were still unable to see exactly where he was. You sensed that he was further behind you this time, as if lagging back for whatever reason. 
It almost made you want to pause and give him some time to catch up, but then you remembered it really didn't matter it you left him behind anyway. Not only was he an Adeptus that could deal with things himself, but you also couldn't be bothered to care if something happened to him. 
So, for the rest of the journey, you decided to ignore him as best you could. Soon enough, you were back in Liyue harbor and the jade salesman was greeting you and the others. 
"You're back my friends! I've kept the goods for you," he smiled brightly, "which of them would you like?" You realized that, although he did seem friendly and he'd been helpful by allowing you to take some jade samples to test, he still made you feel the need to put your guard up somehow, as if he were plotting something malicious.