By the time they finished exploring the street, it was nearly noon.
After some debate, they decided to return to Hotel Debord for lunch.
The moment they stepped inside, the waiter spotted Charlotte and immediately rushed to the kitchen to fetch the owner.
Moments later, the owner emerged, sweating profusely.
"Reporter Charlotte, you're back?"
"Don't panic. We're just here for lunch. Got any tables?"
"Of course! With your large group, how about a private room?"
"Sure."
The owner instructed the waiter to escort them to the room, then hurried back to the kitchen, barking orders: "Everyone, focus! This time, you'd better not mess up the dishes, or else—"
In the private room.
"Boss, what should we order?"
"We should ask Charlotte—she knows Fontaine cuisine best."
"Charlotte, which dishes are good?"
"The duck confit is delicious, and the cream of mushroom soup is great too. Then there's Fontaine aspic, foie gras, Poisson seafood soup, tripes du port, consommé, cassoulet, tomates narbonnaises… Is that too much?"
"Don't worry, Guoba's here. Nothing will go to waste. Let's order one of each!"
"Woof woof!"
Soon, the dishes arrived one after another.
Everyone instinctively looked at Xia Zhi.
"Cousin, you try first!"
"Little cousin, you go first!"
"Boss, you first!"
"Mr. Xia, you first!"
"Master, you first!"
Xia Zhi was amused.
"Why so formal? The whole point of traveling is to relax."
"Just eat already!"
"Fine…"
Xia Zhi took a bite of the foie gras.
"Cousin, how is it?"
"Not bad, but there's room for improvement."
"That's not what we're asking!"
"Then what are you asking?"
"Can you recreate it?"
"…Of course I can. With one bite, I can reverse-engineer the recipe for any dish."
"Yay!"
"Boss, try this one! How is it?"
"Simple."
"Amazing!"
It seemed their meals for the rest of the trip would be Fontaine-style.
After lunch, they ordered desserts: ile flottante, conch madeleine, crêpes suzette, La Lettre à Focalors, blubber profiterole…
Xia Zhi found them all quite good. He'd have to recreate them later.
Once the bill was settled, the owner personally saw them out again.
Xia Ci complimented, "Boss, your food was delicious."
The owner beamed. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."
Xia Ci nodded. "So we've decided to come back for dinner tonight."
The owner's smile froze.
"Wel… come…"
Once they were a safe distance away, the girls burst into laughter again.
"Xia Ci, you're so mean! You scared the poor boss half to death."
"Scared? He was just overjoyed."
"Pfft."
"Where to next?"
"Let's book rooms at Wangshu Inn first. Noon is when most guests check out."
"Okay!"
Wangshu Inn was built around a massive tree, making it a spectacular sight.
Stairs led up to the entrance, but there was also a lift that functioned like an elevator.
Naturally, they chose the more fun option.
At the reception desk, they were greeted by the innkeeper, Huai'an, a Liyue native, and his wife, Verr Goldet, who was from Mondstadt but spoke fluent Liyuen.
After securing their bookings, Verr Goldet asked with a smile, "Will you be paying in Mora, or by card?"
"You take cards?"
"Of course, though we only accept Liyue Bank cards."
"Oh, that's fine."
Xia Zhi handed over his card, mildly surprised that Lady Ningguang had already expanded the bank's services to the outskirts of Liyue so quickly.
Verr Goldet took the card, glanced at the number, and her eyes widened.
"Sir, it seems you're one of our most esteemed VIP members. You're eligible for our finest suite."
"VIP member?"
Since when did I sign up for that? And what's "most esteemed" mean? Is my membership tier different from others?
"Sir, the current owner of Wangshu Inn is the Tianquan Star."
"…"
Ah. That explains it.
Come to think of it, just how many businesses does that rich woman own?
---
Xia Zhi leaned lazily against the railing, basking in the sun while chatting with Huai'an, the owner of Wangshu Inn.
Not far away, a cat was sprawled out on the stair railing, equally lazy. Its back fur was black, and its belly was white.
According to Huai'an, this was the proprietress's cat, named Awei.
Further off, a dog was happily running around. Qiqi and Yaoyao were playing with it using animal whistles, making it roll over, sit, and curl up like a cotton ball.
That dog was Huai'an's.
Xia Zhi asked, "Does it have a name?"
"Of course! A dog's gotta be named Wangcai!" Huai'an laughed.
"It's well-behaved and clean, never causes trouble for the guests. A lot of them love playing with it…"
As they chatted, a few people dressed like adventurers walked over.
"Excuse me for a moment, Mr. Xia," Huai'an said with an apologetic smile before heading over to greet them.
Xia Zhi, curious, listened in on their conversation.
"Boss Huai'an!"
"You're back. Everything go smoothly?"
"Yeah, we did another sweep around the inn. Aside from a few slimes, nothing dangerous."
"Thanks for your hard work."
"Just doing our job as adventurers."
"Here's the agreed payment."
"Boss Huai'an, always so straightforward!"
The adventurers took the payment, confirmed the amount, and left satisfied.
Huai'an returned to Xia Zhi's side.
"What was that about?"
"You might not know, Mr. Xia, but this area around Wangshu Inn used to be a battlefield during the Archon War. Many gods fell here. Because of that, monsters sometimes spontaneously appear. If we don't clear them out in time, they could pose a threat to passing travelers and merchants."
"I see…"
Must be the lingering influence of the fallen gods.
"But there's no need to worry too much. This place is under the protection of an adeptus, so monsters can't cause too much trouble. We also hire adventurers weekly to patrol and clean up any potential threats."
That adeptus must be Xiao.
"Still… Mr. Huai'an, if you're running a business in such a dangerous place, you must be quite capable yourself?"
"Oh, nothing special. I just know a bit of martial arts…" Huai'an waved his hands modestly.
Xia Zhi glanced at the silver progress bar floating above Huai'an from his God's Eye, then looked at the one above Verr Goldet, behind the counter. Both were silver.
He smiled without saying anything.
The two of them continued chatting about all sorts of things.
Eventually, Xia Zhi maxed out Huai'an's progress bar.
The system's voice echoed in his mind.
"Progress bar reached 100%. Silver Treasure Chest reward obtained."
Xia Zhi opened his inventory and saw the fresh silver chest. He opened it immediately.
A black guitar appeared in his inventory.
[Focus Guitar]
Quality: Silver
Type: Set Instrument
Trait: None
Effect: When playing music with this item, you will always be the center of attention. Music appeal +20%, Perfect Performance chance +10%.
Hidden Effect: Collect all eight set instruments to unlock set bonus.
Recyclable: 10 points
An instrument—and a set item at that. Xia Zhi couldn't help but be intrigued.
Not a bad start.
This was one of the reasons he'd left Liyue to travel—meeting new people and unlocking more treasure chests.
After all, he'd already opened nearly every chest in Liyue Harbor.
After chatting a bit more, Xia Zhi said goodbye to Huai'an and walked alone toward the inn's lift.
He wasn't planning to go downstairs.
His target was a familiar device near the lift—something that looked like a giant lantern.
Its base floated in the air, glowing with a soft blue light.
Xia Zhi walked up to it and reached out his hand.
He looked like someone simply curious, wanting to touch the outer shell.
The moment his fingers made contact, the system's voice rang out again.
"Teleport Waypoint detected. Recorded."
"Host may now use Teleport Waypoints to jump between recorded locations."
"Currently recorded waypoints: [Dunyu Ruins], [Chihu Rock], [Feiyun Slope], [Teleport Waypoint: No. 4]."
"Host possesses trait: Space Rip."
"Can forcibly use Teleport Waypoint. Destination: Random."
Xia Zhi selected the new waypoint and renamed it.
"Rename to [Wangshu Inn]."
"Renamed."
With the waypoint recorded, Xia Zhi withdrew his hand and turned to leave.