nycdaug Chapter 127 The Moonlit Journey (2)
Chapter 127 The Moonlit Journey (2)
"This is my initial experience in Liyue. As for how I got back to the past, after returning to Liyue, I first went to that cave to investigate whether the so-called Danzhu had left any clues. Unexpectedly, after touching the clay sculpture, I lost consciousness, and when I woke up again, I had already traveled to the past with Xiao Xuan."
Inside the time tunnel, Fu Hua recounted the whole story to Kiana. Based on Fu Hua's description, Kiana could easily guess that the clay sculpture was the key to Fu Hua's time travel. Presumably, the clay sculpture contained some kind of time-related power, which would be triggered whenever a specific person touched it.
Furthermore, when Kiana was obtaining information by connecting to the Imaginary Tree, she accidentally glimpsed Fu Hua's Constellation appearing in the false heavens of Teyvat.
Even Mei and Bronya have corresponding Constellations, but they are missing their own.
It appears that someone orchestrated the fates of the three women and placed them as Constellations in the False Heaven. This created a deep connection between Mei and the others and Teyvat before their fates on their Constellations ended. However, this wasn't the work of their future selves, and it also connects to the Time Authority on the clay sculpture.
The answer is obvious: it was the work of Istaru, the ruler of time.
But why would she do that? She knew perfectly well that if she did, he would not let her off easily and would definitely teach her a lesson. What if she accidentally caused irreparable damage to Teyvat? Wouldn't that be a loss?
Furthermore, Istaru doesn't possess the ability to manipulate fate; the constellations she creates can at most influence Mei and the others' actions. Is the price she's paying too high, simply to force herself to act?
Wait, could it be that this was her original purpose? She went through all that trouble just to cause irreparable damage to herself, and then conveniently make herself the new God of Teyvat?
But isn't she one of Fanes' shadows? Why would she do this? What's the benefit of doing so? What exactly happened to Fanes that made her willing to pay such a price to become the new God?
Too many questions lingered in Kiana's mind, forcing her to clear her head and focus on taking Fu Hua back to their original timeline.
After all, they are currently in the river of time, and the flow of time here is different from that outside. If they are not careful, they may miss the time nodes, and then they will have to travel through time again.
If it were just Kiana alone, the exertion wouldn't be too great. But this time, Kiana also brought Fu Hua and the Book of Azure, and she couldn't guarantee she'd have the strength for a third time travel.
Fortunately, Kiana didn't miss the timeline and successfully returned to the present with Fu Hua and the Book of Azure without any major incidents.
At this moment, Mei and the others were walking upstairs at Wangshu Inn. Kiana saw this and grabbed Fu Hua's hand to catch up with the group.
Although everyone knew Kiana had left to pick up Fu Hua, who happened to be nearby, they were surprised by how quickly she arrived. Only two or three minutes after Kiana left, she was already there with Fu Hua.
Keqing silently observed Fu Hua, who was dressed in ancient Liyue clothing (similar to Yunmo Danxin's outfit), recalling the information Ningguang had given her earlier.
She suddenly appeared near Liyue Harbor and had close ties with the guest elder of the Hall of Rebirth. At the same time, there was intelligence indicating that she had been to Jueyun Karst and met with the hermit who lived there.
It seems she even possesses a celestial abode, which explains why Ningguang is paying close attention to her and suspects she might be a celestial being. With so many suspicious points, all related to celestials, plus the presence of that creature floating in the air resembling a Paimon, even she herself, upon seeing this information, would classify it as belonging to the celestial realm.
But if she really is an immortal, then what would her immortal title be? Why was there no information about her before, and what is her reason for emerging from seclusion after so many years?
Too many questions lingered in Ke Qing's mind; she wanted to ask, but didn't know how to ask.
Even Cangxuan Zhishu, who was eating a steamed bun nearby, felt Keqing's blatant gaze, let alone Fu Hua. In the end, it was Cangxuan Zhishu who couldn't hold back any longer and spoke up.
"I'm telling you, little girl, just ask whatever questions you have. Doesn't it make you uncomfortable to keep them bottled up inside? Besides, your gaze is too piercing. Hasn't anyone taught you that it's very rude to do that?"
Cang Xuanzhi swallowed the half-eaten bun in her hand in one gulp, then took out a bun bigger than her face from her small and exquisite sleeve and tossed it to Guoba, who was excitedly jumping up to greet them.
Guoba was taken aback for a moment after receiving the steamed bun from Cangxuan Zhishu, then jumped even higher with joy. He didn't touch the shiny bun in his hand, making Cangxuan Zhishu regret giving it to Guoba.
But once something is given away, it's like spilled water. Cangxuan Zhishu naturally wouldn't have the nerve to ask Guoba for his bun back. He could only tearfully take out another bun of the same size from his sleeve and start eating it with tears in his eyes.
Perhaps it was tired, after calming down, Guoba held the bun in both hands and started eating. Judging from its slightly squinted eyes and the smile on its lips, it was clear that it was enjoying its meal.
As for Keqing, after apologizing, she finally decided to ask Fu Hua if she was an immortal. Fu Hua naturally did not choose to hide it, and she openly admitted that she was an immortal.
This caused everyone present who was unaware of the situation to show expressions of surprise, while Keqing showed an expression of "I knew it was true."
After Ningguang shared her speculation, Keqing immediately went back to search through ancient texts hoping to find clues. After a long process of searching, Keqing successfully identified a name.
Red Iris is said to have existed here before the Emperor established Liyue Harbor. The tribe she protected had lived here for generations. Later, the Emperor led his followers to migrate here, and after signing a contract with Red Iris, their tribes merged, and the tribe was named Liyue.
The tribe called Shenzhou disappeared into the long river of history. A hundred years later, for unknown reasons, the Crimson Lotus Immortal left Liyue and never appeared in front of the world again. Even when the earth-shattering war between the demons and gods broke out, the Crimson Lotus Immortal was never seen.
Over time, most of the legends about the Crimson Iris Immortal were lost, leaving only fragmentary records. However, because these fragments were too incomplete, they were mostly attributed to the legends of the Emperor.
Unexpectedly, the legendary Crimson Iris Immortal was actually real. And now he was right in front of her. Keqing looked at Fu Hua with a wry smile, a thousand words wanted to be said, but in the end, they all turned into one sentence.
"Welcome back, Immortal Red Iris."
Among them, Xiangling was probably the most surprised. When she was learning spear techniques from Granny Ping, Granny Ping mentioned that her spear skills were taught by an immortal named Chiyuan. Xiangling had been curious about the deeds of the immortal Chiyuan and had pestered Granny Ping to tell her many stories about him.
Legend has it that the tribe that originally lived on the land where Liyue Harbor is located was called Shenzhou, and the Crimson Phoenix was the guardian and guide of that tribe.
It was Chi Yuan who protected the Shenzhou tribe from the ravages of ferocious monsters. Chi Yuan also taught the Shenzhou tribe how to cultivate the land using slash-and-burn agriculture. This continued until the Emperor led his followers to settle near the Shenzhou tribe. The two sides maintained close relations, and over time Chi Yuan became a friend of the Emperor. Later, they signed a pact, officially merging Shenzhou and Liyue.
Originally, the Emperor intended to combine one character from each tribe's name to form a new tribe's name, but Chi Yuan refused, insisting on naming the new tribe Li Yue. The Emperor couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he simply agreed, and a hundred years passed in this way. Everyone originally thought that such days would continue indefinitely.
One day, Chi Yuan suddenly found everyone and told them that she was about to leave. Naturally, everyone disagreed and tried to persuade her to stay, but Chi Yuan was determined. Seeing that their efforts to persuade her were in vain, they let her go.
In any case, everyone thought that Chi Yuan was just going on a long trip and would be back soon, and life would return to normal. However, to everyone's surprise, Chi Yuan never returned after leaving.
In Liyue's three-thousand-year history, Chiyuan only occupied a mere hundred years, and was forgotten by Liyue because it was too short-lived.
Not only have they forgotten the existence of the Red Iris, but they've also forgotten who taught them slash-and-burn agriculture, and they've forgotten the purpose of the fireworks and firecrackers during the Lantern Festival...
After telling the story of Chi Yuan, Grandma Ping would stand there secretly saddened, which made Xiang Ling feel guilty, so she had to practice her shooting even harder to comfort Grandma Ping.
Now Fu Hua actually claims that she is the legendary Crimson Kite Immortal!
Upon hearing this news, Xiangling was naturally surprised. She really wanted to rush back to Liyue Harbor right now to tell Grandma Ping the news.
Unfortunately, that's not realistic. But thankfully, Fu Hua hasn't shown any intention of leaving. On the contrary, it seems she's planning to travel with them. It's inevitable that she'll come back to Liyue Harbor with them, and then they can naturally pass on this good news to Granny Ping. They can also take Chi Yuan along to visit Granny Ping.
After explaining their purpose to the owner of Wangshu Inn, the group went to the inn's kitchen. It wasn't that the books were stored in the kitchen, but rather that the cook, Yanxiao, was in charge of keeping the key to the library. After all, the library contained not only many ancient books but also numerous cookbooks. Yanxiao liked to occasionally browse through the recipes in his spare time, and over time, the key to the library was entrusted to him.
After explaining their purpose, Yan Xiao was naturally happy to lend them the key to his study. However, he had one condition beforehand; he would only lend them the key if they agreed to this condition.
Ke Qing naturally understood the principle of mutual help, so she asked Yan Xiao what the conditions were.
Yan Xiao's condition was very simple: he wanted Kong to teach him how to make a satisfying salad.
"Why is it a 'satisfaction salad'?"
Paimon asked curiously, while Kong vaguely guessed the reason why Yanxiao wanted to learn this dish.
"You know there's someone on the roof of our inn, right? That handsome young man who's not very tall..."
Hearing this, Paimon realized who Yanxiao was talking about, and she quickly interrupted him, telling him to speak more quietly. After all, Xiao was also a deity, and it was never good to speak ill of deities behind their backs. Who knew if the deities would retaliate if they heard it?
"Oh, oh! Anyway, as long as you know who it is, that's fine." Yan Xiao also reacted and said, "The boss told me to take good care of him, but he lives on air and dew every day, and he's too difficult to serve. He has no other hobbies besides almond tofu."
Listening to Yan Xiao's complaints, those who knew who Yan Xiao was talking about could only offer awkward but polite smiles.
"I heard from the boss that you made him a satisfying salad, and he really liked it. Could you teach me how to make it? I'd like to make it for him too."
"So you're making this for Xiao to eat! You guys are pretty good to him, aren't you?" Paimon exclaimed.
"How can life not be good when you're dealing with people you see all the time?"
Since it was just about teaching Yanxiao how to make a satisfying salad, Kong naturally agreed, and in return, he entrusted the task of finding the book to Yanxiao as well.
Yan Xiao smiled happily upon seeing Kong agree, then took the key and headed to the library.
Soon after, he brought back the books that Ke Qing needed. After Ke Qing took the books, Kong naturally followed Yan Xiao to the stove and demonstrated how to make the Satisfying Salad to Yan Xiao.
Keqing took the books out of the kitchen and sat at the staff table to read them.
Before long, Yanxiao had learned most of how to make the Satisfying Salad, so Kong and Yanxiao went to where Keqing was.
"So, are these books useful?"
Yan Xiao immediately stepped forward and asked with concern, and Ke Qing closed the book in her hand and gave an affirmative answer.
"The book says: 'Two hundred miles northwest lies the place of Guili Village. There are many settlements there, and the people hunt, cultivate, and weave for a living. When the Kitchen God appears, his form transforms from one into many, each as tall as a child. Like stars falling to earth, he scatters into thousands of households to help them start a fire. With this fire, the people know how to eat hot food, eat soup and rice, and cook meat.' These words are completely different from the records in the book 'Liyue Mythology Collection' that you found yesterday, and they even contradict each other."
“If one can be transformed into many, does that mean the Kitchen God doesn’t know of one?” Mei speculated.
Kiana offered some hints: "It's also possible that there's only one God of the Hearth, but he has a similar ability to create clones."
"Dispersing to every household to help them start a fire... Does the Kitchen God really help with the cooking himself?"
Xiangling asked, while Yanxiao marveled at the Kitchen God's approachability.
Seeing that the matter was over, Yan Xiao checked the time and realized it was just lunchtime, so he made a suggestion.
"I've troubled you all quite a bit usually, and since I happen to have some free time today, I'd like to treat you all to something nice. Would you mind staying for a simple meal? It would be a small token of my appreciation."
Xiangling naturally agreed wholeheartedly, as she could tell that Yanxiao was a very confident chef. A confident chef's dishes wouldn't be bad, and she wanted to try Yanxiao's cooking.
So, at Xiangling's suggestion, everyone readily agreed to Yanxiao's proposal. They found a good spot downstairs and sat down, waiting for the dishes Yanxiao had prepared to be served.