"Lord Zidian Yǒngzhě, we're nearing the Princess's sleeping quarters..."
After much winding and turning, Feng Yi finally arrived at the secret chamber where Ying slept.
At the entrance to the chamber, the two Abyss Mages guarding the area quickly bowed upon seeing the Yǒngzhě approach for inspection.
Feng Yi waved his hand, signaling the accompanying Cryo Abyss Mage to wait there, and entered the secret chamber alone.
The Cryo Abyss Mage, looking at his two companions beside him, rejoiced inwardly.
According to what Lord Zidian Yǒngzhě had inadvertently revealed on the way, only a select few subordinates who worked exceptionally hard were to be privately rewarded by the Prince. And he was one of them!
Wouldn't he soar to great heights from now on?
The Cryo Abyss Mage chuckled at his two companions, his sesame-seed-sized eyes unable to conceal his burgeoning joy.
Feng Yi had already entered Ying's secret sleeping chamber and, with a flick of his wrist, closed the chamber door behind him.
In the center of the chamber, a complex magic array was slowly operating.
Upon the ice-blue light cast by the magic array rested an exquisite ice coffin.
Feng Yi approached the coffin and saw Ying, sleeping peacefully within, her expression serene.
In the next moment, Feng Yi took out the Serenitea Pot and stored the ice coffin within it before entering himself.
"Dada... dadada... da~"
Barbara, who was in the Serenitea Pot making a refreshing drink while practicing her singing, was startled by the sudden appearance of an ice coffin and a monster.
"Don't... don't come any closer, I'm fierce!"
Barbara clutched the cooking utensils she used for cutting Jueyun Chilis with both hands, pointing the sharp end towards the monster and threatening with a lack of confidence.
"Hahaha, Barbara, it's me, Feng Yi!"
Forgetting to restore his appearance, he had startled Barbara, and Feng Yi felt deeply apologetic.
But Barbara's timidly fierce reaction just now was too adorable!
"Your singing just now was really good, you have the potential to be an idol in Mondstadt. Go, Barbara!"
Feng Yi waved his hand, returning to his original appearance, and gave a thumbs-up to the slightly dazed, uncomprehending Barbara, offering a word of encouragement.
"Feng... Feng Yi, why... why do you say that too!"
Barbara covered her blushing face. She hadn't expected Feng Yi to have heard her practicing her singing!
This was too embarrassing!
Barbara felt like she couldn't face anyone.
"Uh... has anyone else said that?"
While chatting with Barbara, Feng Yi had already begun to stir the mud, starting to craft an earth golem.
He didn't have much time. To minimize the risk of exposure, Feng Yi had to speed up.
"It was Lisa. She said the same thing... Um, Feng Yi, what are you doing now? And what's with this ice coffin? Who is the girl inside?"
Seeing Feng Yi busy with his work, Barbara couldn't help but be very curious. She lost interest in making her refreshing drink and, holding her cooking utensils, squatted beside Feng Yi, her big eyes wide open, unwilling to blink, like a curious baby.
"Hehe, that's a secret!"
Feng Yi grinned at Barbara, but his one word, "secret," made her pout her cheeks and stare at him with a mournful look.
"Feng Yi, if you keep doing this, you'll lose a smart and cute friend like me!"
Barbara put her hands on her hips, deciding to give Feng Yi another chance to rephrase.
"Feng Yi, if you tell me, I can help you too!"
Feng Yi, maintaining his gentlemanly demeanor, remained unfazed by Barbara's threat.
Barbara sighed helplessly, feeling exasperated at Feng Yi, this clueless blockhead, for being unresponsive to the pouting of such a cute maiden as herself!
Seeing that appealing to emotion was useless, she began to appeal to reason.
"Seeing how kind-hearted you are, I'll tell you. This young lady was imprisoned by a monster in an ice coffin within a secret realm. I plan to make an exact replica of her. We'll rescue her without disturbing the monster... I actually need your help with something. Take her to the wooden house over there and change her clothes for me..."
Making a golem was easy, but within such a limited time, rushing to create the custom travel clothes that Ying was wearing would be difficult for him!
So Feng Yi chose to directly remove Ying's travel clothes and put them on the golem. How simple and fast was that?!
Although he really wanted to change Ying's clothes himself, how would he explain it to her when she woke up?
He couldn't exactly tell Ying, "When I met you, you were naked"?
Even though Ying had slept for so long, she wasn't an idiot and wouldn't be so easily fooled.
Feng Yi didn't want to ruin his good impression of Ying, so he could only regretfully let Barbara have the pleasure of this delightful task!
"So that's how it is! Feng Yi, you're such a good person! Leave the clothes changing to me!"
Barbara carefully lifted the sleeping Ying from the ice coffin and then dragged her towards the wooden house beside them.
"Daddy, daddy, look what Yuanbao found!"
Feng Yi, who was making the golem mold, suddenly heard Yuanbao's happy cry from a distance.
"Yuanbao's so happy, did he find a depressed rabbit?"
Feng Yi carved the mold into shape, then poured in the mud to cool.
"It's two! Yuanbao was lucky enough to find two depressed rabbits! Why don't we roast them? If they get too thin from hunger, they won't be tasty... no, they won't look good!"
Yuanbao dangled two plump rabbits in his hands and suggested to Feng Yi.
"Leave it to Daddy!"
The first stage of golem creation was complete. Feng Yi needed to wait for the golem to solidify and cool before he could carve array formations onto it to add a deceptive appearance.
For example, on the golem's chest, he would carve a timed pulsation array to simulate a heartbeat.
On the golem's mouth, he would carve a breathing array to simulate respiration.
Feng Yi carved hundreds of such arrays, large and small, finally disguising an ordinary clay golem as the sleeping Ying.
Then, after changing into the clothes Barbara brought, the golem before them was enough to deceive anyone who didn't observe closely from a short distance!
"Barbara, that young lady seems to be under some sort of sleep spell. See if you can help her break it..."
Feng Yi placed the golem, now dressed, back into the ice coffin. Before leaving, he casually mentioned this to Barbara.
Although Ying would wake up automatically at the appointed time if left alone, wouldn't it be better if Barbara could break the sleep spell and help her wake up earlier, allowing her to experience more of Teyvat's customs and traditions?