Early morning.
Hu Tao woke from her dreams to find herself inside a tent, her expression still a bit dazed.
What happened last night again?
When did I fall asleep?
She yawned and stepped out of the tent, still groggy.
"Good morning, Director," Jiang Bai called out with a smile as he warmed up some milk.
"Morning~ When did I fall asleep last night?" Hu Tao rubbed her eyes and yawned a few more times.
"We were talking, and the next thing I knew, you'd nodded off. I don't even know exactly when."
"Guess I was more tired than I thought…"
She scooped up a handful of snow and patted it onto her face. The cold shock woke her up fast.
A few steps later, she blinked in surprise.
"My legs feel way better! Not sore at all!"
"Well, you can thank me for that!"
Jiang Bai grinned and walked up with his hand outstretched.
"So, Director—shouldn't we settle the massage fee?"
Hu Tao slapped his hand away, unimpressed. "A little brother helping out his boss isn't that just basic loyalty?"
"And getting paid for hard work isn't just basic fairness?"
Jiang Bai shot back without a trace of shame. When it came to Mora, his shamelessness knew no bounds.
"Fine, fine!" Hu Tao pulled out a 100-Mora coin and slapped it into his palm, looking vaguely annoyed.
Where did he even pick up this obsession with Mora…?
Jiang Bai gleefully tucked the coin into his pocket.
Another small deposit to his growing funds — it wasn't much, but at this rate, he'd finally be able to afford one of Mr. Zhongli's fancy teacups.
Though honestly, those cups really are outrageously expensive…
"Here, breakfast for you, Director." Jiang Bai handed her a mug of warm milk and a piece of toasted bread, the crust crisp and just slightly charred.
Hu Tao eyed it warily, full of suspicion. "You're not going to charge me for breakfast too, are you?"
"Of course not! You're my Director! I live and eat under the roof of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor — how could I ever charge you for just one breakfast?"
Jiang Bai spoke with righteous conviction, like he hadn't just tried to invoice her a minute ago.
Hu Tao: "…"
Roll that speech back a minute and try again.
Grinding her teeth, she snatched the breakfast from him.
This guy's just asking for a beating.
"Eat up, Director. I'm heading back to the summit to set the charges," Jiang Bai said with a lazy stretch, stifling a yawn.
Albedo and Klee were probably already up and getting started — he should be helping, too.
He pointed to the Statue of The Seven in the distance. "Just follow that path straight up. It'll take you about two hours to reach the area near the statue. Once you reach the innermost cave, call for me, and I'll pull you up with the rope."
"Got it."
Hu Tao nodded.
Her main purpose in coming here was to take care of the trapped soul, Cartis — detonating the Skyfrost Nail wasn't her primary mission.
After finishing the warm breakfast, she put out the fire, packed up her things, and got ready to head out.
"Huh? No sign of a tent or coffin setup nearby…"
Don't tell me that guy didn't sleep at all last night?
…
Jiang Bai reappeared near the teleport waypoint atop the mountain. Albedo and the others were already awake and eating breakfast.
Seeing him return, Kaeya let out a breath of relief. "You didn't come back last night. I thought something might've happened to you."
"Klee was worried too!" Klee nodded seriously.
Albedo hadn't been concerned — Jiang Bai carried dual elemental visions, and there weren't many monsters out there who could threaten him. Unless he tripped and fell off a cliff, there wasn't much to worry about.
Jiang Bai shrugged. "I was planning to drop off the rabbit leg and head back, but it got too dark. Couldn't find the trail, so I had to wait until morning."
"When's your Director supposed to get here?"
Kaeya didn't know Hu Tao personally — he'd only heard Jiang Bai talk about her in passing.
Still, she'd come all the way here to help deal with the Skyfrost Nail. As Jiang Bai's direct superior, her presence mattered.
"If she's just setting out now, probably two or three more hours."
After breakfast, they split into two teams, as planned.
Jiang Bai followed Albedo and Klee to the Skyfrost Nail. At Albedo's signal, he poured out large amounts of explosives from his ring.
"Klee, Big Brother Jiang Bai and I will handle the charges on the spire. You take care of the ones on the ice spikes and ground level, okay?"
"No problem! Leave it to Klee!"
Klee puffed up with exaggerated seriousness and gave a knight's salute — slightly off, but cute all the same.
"We're counting on our Spark Knight, then." Jiang Bai chuckled and gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder.
Setting the explosives wasn't difficult — the real challenge was staying warm in this climate.
Jiang Bai had a thermal device Albedo had made for him, and Albedo himself was practically immune to the cold.
The two of them climbed the Skyfrost Nail slowly, placing a charge every few meters and linking them with fuses.
From a distance, it looked like a massive web of explosives wrapped around the entire spire.
No one knew how much time had passed when Jiang Bai — clinging to the side of the Nail like a gecko — suddenly heard a familiar voice calling up from below.
Realizing Hu Tao had arrived at the cave, he called out to Albedo, leapt down, and rushed toward the entrance.
"Hold on, Director!"
The basket Klee had used earlier was slowly being lowered. Once Hu Tao was seated inside, Jiang Bai started cranking the winch, raising her up little by little.
It took nearly fifteen minutes to pull her through the narrow shaft.
Once out, Hu Tao jumped in place, trying to get her blood flowing again.
"Man, it's freezing up here. Good thing I brought my little ghost with me, or I might've frozen to death…"
She hugged her little ghost tight — usually insubstantial, the spirit had taken on a soft, pillow-like form, snuggled close in her arms.
Jiang Bai still didn't really get how Hu Tao's ghost companion worked. Sometimes it had a body, sometimes it didn't. Total mystery.
But Hu Tao didn't care about his confusion. She was too busy looking around.
The Skyfrost Nail was hard to miss, and within moments, she spotted it. Her eyes lit up.
"Whoa! That's the Skyfrost Nail?"
"Yep."
She gave her ghost a quick toss — it vanished in a puff of mist and retreated into her ring — then took off toward the massive spire without a second thought.
She didn't even seem to feel the cold anymore.
This was her first time seeing something like this up close.
She was buzzing with excitement.
She ran up to the base of the Skyfrost Nail and looked up, eyes wide with awe.
It was hard to believe that a single object could destroy an ancient civilization — that this towering spire had turned a once lush, vibrant land into the icy wasteland it was now.
"The first time I saw it," Jiang Bai said softly, coming up behind her, "I was just as stunned."