At that moment, Xia Zhi sensed faint footsteps behind him.
From his god's-eye, he saw it was the same girl they'd seen at the door.
She was inching closer, in a sneaky posture that she probably thought no one would notice.
Uh...
Xia Zhi wondered why this chuunibyou girl, whom he'd only just met, was trying to get near him.
Surely she wasn't planning to steal his wallet?
Judging by her outfit, weird as it was, she didn't seem hard up for money — and besides, she had a Vision.
From his perspective, he watched curiously, wondering what she was up to.
But she stopped moving when there was still a table's distance between them, just standing there, using her uncovered eye to stare fixedly at his back.
Weird.
Xia Zhi watched a bit longer, but since she didn't do anything else, he stopped paying attention.
The girls finished their round and decided not to play another.
They all left the Cat's Tail together.
Xia Zhi noticed the unfamiliar girl was following them out as well, still clumsily trying to hide herself.
Her behavior was baffling, but after a while Xia Zhi actually found it kind of cute.
Chuunibyou girls really were full of surprises.
They walked across a small plaza with a fountain and stepped into Mondstadt General Goods.
It was essentially a marketplace selling anything and everything.
Xia Zhi headed for the alchemy section, which stocked all kinds of alchemical goods.
Ying'er spotted a special irrigation potion that Amber had told her about, which could increase Sweet Flower nectar yields by 70%, as well as a special spray that could keep Sunsettia fresh for an entire month after picking.
The potion was 500 Mora a bottle, and the spray 300 Mora a bottle — not expensive.
Since Ying'er was now flush with cash from her lipstick partnership with Ningguang, she bought five bottles of each without blinking, planning to research whether she could replicate them for other flowers and fruits.
After all, with a master alchemist like Xia Zhi around, if she couldn't figure it out, she could always ask him for help.
Xia Zhi browsed other alchemy wares, and finally found what he'd been looking for — a brand new Wind Glider.
He bought it, intending to take it apart and study Mondstadt's design style, then maybe apply some of its ideas to a new Wind Glider of his own.
The other girls also wandered around Mondstadt General Goods, buying things that interested them.
Xia Ci bought the most by far.
She had an absolute blast haggling.
After paying, they put everything into their Rings, which was very convenient.
The girl who'd been following them the whole time was a bit shocked.
These people — every one of them had a space item!
And I, the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, didn't even have one!
After leaving Mondstadt General Goods, it was nearly lunchtime.
Perfect timing.
Right across from the marketplace was the Good Hunter.
They went inside, tried its signature platter, and found it decent.
Since Ganyu didn't eat meat, and Good Hunter specialized in meat dishes, they later went to another Mondstadt restaurant for something else, which was also nice.
As they stepped out of the restaurant, Xia Lin suddenly tugged at Xia Zhi's sleeve.
"Daddy."
He lowered his head and gently asked, "What is it?"
Xia Lin pointed into the distance, a bit confused. "That person… feels really familiar to me…"
Xia Zhi followed the direction she pointed, but from his god's-eye, he didn't see anything.
Probably too far away.
He took Xia Lin and walked ten more steps in that direction.
Finally, a calm-looking young man came into view.
He had chestnut-brown hair, blue-green eyes, and a strange star-shaped mark on his neck, with a Geo Vision hanging beside it.
He wore a white hooded coat with black and yellow accents, its front connected by a diagonal clasp, and the back joined with chains at either side. Long gloves covered his hands, and underneath he wore a dark blue turtleneck, paired with shorts and knee-high boots.
What surprised Xia Zhi most was the sight of a diamond-tier progress bar on this young man.
Could Mondstadt have another god besides the Anemo Archon?
Xia Zhi couldn't help sinking into thought.
If there really was another god in Mondstadt, then Venti, as the Anemo Archon, would definitely know about their existence — and would have told him and the others.
Unless this newcomer had only just arrived in Mondstadt…
It seemed he'd have to fall back on the old methods of "know yourself, know your enemy."
From his god's-eye view, Xia Zhi locked onto the young man's figure.
The system's voice echoed in his mind.
"Do you wish to use [Skill Steal] on the target?"
"Yes."
"[Skill Steal] successful. Learned skill [Kreideprinz] from the target."
"[Kreideprinz]: Passive. A forbidden life transmuted from immaculate earth and primordial matter, capable of absorbing fragments of shattered primordial godhood."
Reading this description on his system panel, Xia Zhi felt his heart skip a beat.
The so-called primordial of this world naturally referred to the being that once battled the seven elemental dragons and stripped them of their authorities.
But this line about "fragments of shattered primordial godhood" revealed an even bigger clue:
It seemed that primordial being had long since fallen.
Not only fallen — even their godhood had been shattered into many pieces.
And someone had taken one of those pieces and, through some kind of forbidden technique, transmuted it into the humanoid life-form standing before him now.
As for this secret art of life transmutation — Xia Zhi knew of one person in this world who had already mastered it.
The one who had created Xia Lin's previous incarnation, Durin:
The "Mother" — Rhinedottir, known as Gold.
There was a high chance that Rhinedottir was also the creator of this.
Could this… have been the unforgivable sin committed by Khaenri'ah five hundred years ago?
Because they had blasphemed against the supreme?
Xia Zhi fell silent for a moment, then once again locked onto the young man's figure in his god's-eye.
"[Skill Steal] successful. Learned skill [Mastery of Painting] from the target."
"[Mastery of Painting]: Passive. Become a painting master."
"[Skill Steal] successful. Learned skill [Art of Black Earth] from the target."
"[Art of Black Earth]: An alchemical technique capable of nurturing life. Mana consumption varies based on the type of life created."
Reading this new skill description, Xia Zhi was a little surprised.
Why would this [Kreideprinz] also have mastered the art of life transmutation?
Was it something their creator had taught them, or had they realized it on their own?
At that moment, the young man seemed to sense Xia Lin watching him, and cast a glance their way.
But because Xia Lin was wearing the [Golden Circlet] around her neck, which suppressed all her abilities, right now she was nothing more than a delicate, ordinary girl.
The young man found nothing out of the ordinary about her, and soon turned away to keep walking.
Their paths were opposite.
In no time, Xia Zhi and the seemingly harmless young man brushed past each other.
Neither spoke a word.
When the young man finally disappeared around a street corner, Xia Zhi lowered his head and asked, "Xia Lin, did you see anything on that person's back just now?"
Xia Lin looked a bit troubled, thought for a moment, and said, "Daddy, I only saw a blur…"
"A blur?"
Xia Zhi nodded slightly, then asked again,
"You mentioned he felt familiar to you?"
"Mm."
"What exactly did you mean?"
"It was like… like a family member…"
"A family member…"
Xia Zhi lowered his head, lost in thought.
Xia Lin's previous incarnation, Durin, had been created by Rhinedottir.
If that [Kreideprinz] had also been created by Rhinedottir,
then from a certain point of view, she and that person could be considered siblings — so feeling a familial bond wasn't so strange.
Xia Lin looked up and saw Xia Zhi saying nothing, and thought maybe he was upset by what she'd said.
Worried that he might abandon her to that "family member," she clung to his sleeve and asked in a timid voice, "Daddy… you won't leave me, will you?"
Xia Zhi couldn't help but laugh, raising a hand to gently pat her head. "Of course not. Don't let your mind run wild. You're my disciple. Even if your 'mother' showed up in person, if you don't want to go, she couldn't take you away."
Feeling the warmth of his palm on her head, Xia Lin finally relaxed again.
Xia Zhi sighed inwardly. This little one really was starved for a sense of security.
They wandered around the streets for a while longer, then decided they were getting tired and headed back to rest, planning to go out again in the evening to see how Mondstadt's nightscape compared to Liyue's.
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