In the Chasm's Cinnabar Cliff subarea, at an abandoned workers' resting place stood a small hut built from thatch.
This was the very place where "Old Chou" hosted his treasure-digging game.
At the moment, it had temporarily become the makeshift camp for Shao Yun, Lumine, and Paimon.
For "Old Chou", whether he liked it or not, this was already a fact.
In the early morning, golden sunshine streamed through the sparse clouds, spilling across the mining zone.
The outlines of the pits gradually grew clear under the dawn light, with massive rocks and deep mine shafts interwoven.
The miners began their day's labor. The sounds of birdsong and tools striking stone combined to form the unique rhythm of morning in the mines.
By the campfire, Shao Yun, fully focused, once again recounted word for word the matter involving Noelle to Lumine.
At this moment, Lumine's heart was filled with helplessness. She remembered how, when Shao Yun returned from Mondstadt, he had immediately grabbed her and poured it all out to her.
On the way to the Chasm, he had repeated it again without a shred of impatience.
And now, at the break of dawn, just when they were about to head to Sumeru, Shao Yun had once more launched into his never-ending speech!
…
Shao Yun sat by the fire, a stick in his hand, prodding occasionally at the flames that were close to dying out.
Beside him, Lumine sat quietly, listening to him recount his Mondstadt tale for the third time.
Still fiddling with the fire, Shao Yun slowly said to Lumine, "And finally, I walked Noelle back to her home. After that, I hurried back to Liyue to find you."
When Lumine finished hearing Shao Yun's long-winded explanation for the third time about how Noelle confessed to him, and how he ultimately turned her down, she sighed helplessly, pressing a hand to her forehead.
"You've already told this story thrice! You really don't need to keep repeating how you refused Noelle. Once is enough—I believe you…"
Seeing this, Shao Yun's heart softened slightly. He gently reached out and drew Lumine into his arms.
"I just thought you should know the details."
Leaning against Shao Yun's arm, Lumine forced out a bitter smile and said, "Those details have already rubbed calluses into my ears. I really believe you! Don't bring it up again, just leave it at that!"
As the two fell into brief silence, the one who had once left the Treasure Hoarders and now ran the treasure-digging game here—"Old Chou"—returned.
He carried three packed breakfasts in his hands and called out loudly, "You two, I've bought breakfast for three!"
Lumine stood up, reached out, and took the steaming portions Old Chou had brought back.
"Thank you, that's very kind of you."
Old Chou scratched his head in embarrassment, showing an honest grin as he said politely, "Ah, no need to thank me, miss. You've helped me so much. Buying a bit of breakfast is nothing at all."
"Ever since the Chasm reopened for mining and the workers returned, lots of people caught onto the business opportunities. Tons of snack stalls popped up at the entrance. Buying breakfast is nothing big."
At that moment, Paimon flew out of the simple thatched hut.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes, still looking drowsy and not fully awake.
But in the next second, her keen nose caught the aroma wafting through the air. Her sleepiness vanished in an instant.
She immediately perked up, her eyes wide with delight. "Wow, what's that smell? It's so good! Is there tasty food? I want some, I want some!"
Lumine, amused at Paimon's cute gluttonous look, handed her the portion.
"Here, this one's for you. Try it."
Paimon eagerly took the food, her little face lighting up in a radiant smile. "Yay! It's delicious! Lumine, you're the best~"
Watching Paimon so easily satisfied, Shao Yun thought to himself with quiet amusement, Paimon is really easy to take care of…
…
Shao Yun sat with Lumine and Paimon by the dying campfire, slowly eating breakfast.
He tilted his head slightly, giving the crude hut they had slept in last night a careful look, muttering under his breath, "I honestly thought we'd have to put effort into pitching a tent last night."
"Never imagined you'd just bring me here and 'requisition' it."
At that moment, Old Chou was busy setting up his carefully prepared treasure-digging game in the clearing nearby.
The instant he heard Shao Yun say the word "requisition," he froze mid-swallow and nearly choked on his own saliva.
Meanwhile, Lumine nibbled happily at her meat bun, chuckling softly at Shao Yun's words.
She patted his shoulder lightly and reminded him with a helpless smile, "Old Chou is actually a good person. Don't talk like that all the time. He's the one who treated us to breakfast, after all."
Then, turning her head, she gave Old Chou a genuine thank-you.
"Thank you for letting us rest here last night."
Hearing Lumine's sincerity, Old Chou paused in his work, turned back with a smile, and said, "Haha, no need to be so polite. We're all out here in the world—it's natural to help each other."
"And I should thank you too, miss! Lots of the workers heard you played my treasure-digging game and won the jackpot. Now after work, they all want to come here and play a few rounds. Treating you to breakfast is the least I can do."
…
While enjoying her food, Lumine recalled what Shao Yun said earlier about tents.
"Ah! Back in Inazuma, I forgot to ask you to teach my brother how to pitch a tent. Who knows when we'll meet again…"
Shao Yun rolled his eyes playfully and teased, "Hehe, how about this—let's pick another fight. Maybe that'll draw your brother out again?"
Lumine's lips pouted slightly at his words. "Stop messing around! We didn't even fight back then!"
Seeing her reaction, Shao Yun quickly stopped teasing and shifted the topic smoothly, asking with concern, "Alright, fine. By the way, how did Yelan's commission turn out? Did you run into any tricky problems?"
Lumine sipped her steaming soy milk and said slowly, "Oh, it went very smoothly."
She then began recounting Yelan's story quest. Since there weren't many changes, Shao Yun didn't pay too much attention.
But there was one detail—Fatui Harbinger, "Regrator" had ordered "Yusupov" to direct Zhiyi.
If he truly became the Tianshu Star, he would immediately need to investigate the Northland Bank case, and determine whether the Liyue Qixing were involved in the disappearance of fifty billion mora…
…
After breakfast, Paimon patted her round belly and sprawled across Lumine's pale, slender thighs.
She rubbed her now overly full stomach with both tiny hands, mumbling nonstop, "Wow, that breakfast was so good. I'm stuffed… It feels like it's all the way up to my throat!"
Taking advantage of the digestion time, Lumine pulled out the detailed materials on Sumeru and turned to Shao Yun.
"Since we still have a bit of time, let's plan our trip to Sumeru properly."
She waved a map of Sumeru before his eyes and continued, "Look, this is the information you got from Ningguang last time."
"It even comes with a tourist map of Sumeru. We can compare it with our current maps."
With a sigh, Lumine murmured, "If only there was a Teyvat Travel Guide: Sumeru Edition. Ever since the Inazuma edition, there's been nothing new…"
Shao Yun pondered for a moment. It was probably the problems near Teyvat's borders that distracted Alice.
Of course, there was also his own role in stirring things up…
Snapping back, Shao Yun pointed at both Liyue Harbor and Yilong Wharf on the map.
"Actually, before coming to the Chasm, I was thinking—if we go by ship, we could sail from Liyue Harbor to Port Ormos, or from Yilong Wharf to Bayda Harbor. Wouldn't that be more convenient?"
Lumine explained her choice to trek through the Chasm instead.
"Because Paimon and I discovered a mine tunnel that leads directly into Sumeru."
She pointed toward the rope ladder not far to the north. "The tunnel's over there. Just climb down and you'll see it. Saves us the money for boat tickets."
"Even though we have plenty of travel funds, if it's reachable on foot, we might as well go by horse. Then we can spend the savings on more good food."
Resting on Lumine's lap, Paimon immediately agreed, "I'm in favor!"
Shao Yun admitted it made sense. Their expenses mostly came down to lodging and food.
For land routes, horses cut costs; for waterways, Lumine had the Waverider. Unless Yae Miko ordered Inazuma to close its borders again, they wouldn't need boat tickets.
"Alright, we'll go with your plan. I'm not that fond of ships anyway," Shao Yun nodded.
After deciding on the route, Lumine pulled out the Sumeru intelligence files.
"This is the basic introduction to Sumeru. It says Sumeru is divided into rainforest and desert regions."
"The Akademiya rules all of Sumeru."
"The highest title for Akademiya researchers is GreatSage. The six Sages are both the academic elites of their schools and their leaders."
"From the six schools, one 'Grand Sage' is chosen as the supreme head of the Akademiya."
"The Akademiya is divided into six schools: Spantamad, Amurta, Rtawahist, Haravatat, Vahumana, and Kshahrewar."
"Within each school, there are positions such as Sage, Herbad, Dastur, and Driyosh…"
…
Shao Yun sat there listening as Lumine recited one arcane name after another. The terms were so convoluted they felt even more unfathomable than Mona's hydromancy.
Before the flood of knowledge drowned him entirely, Shao Yun interrupted her stream of mysterious titles. "Stop, Lumine. I'm really getting lost. What do all these strange names mean? I barely remembered any of it. The only thing I caught was the word Sage."
Seeing his reaction, Lumine stuck out her tongue. Even her own tongue was going numb from reciting the names.
"They really are hard to remember… Just saying them is…" Lumine laughed helplessly.
Her gaze then shifted mischievously to Paimon resting on her lap.
"Next time, let Paimon read out these tongue-twisters. My tongue's about to tie itself in knots." Lumine half-joked.
Paimon immediately whined.
"Ah… Even though I am Teyvat's best guide, if I have to read these complicated words, my tongue will tie up too!" She put on a pitiful look.
Watching the two, Shao Yun took the terms Lumine had rattled off and explained them more simply.
"I think the Grand Sage is like the headmaster of a university. The Sages are like deans of each school. Those 'Das-what's-its' must be professors. The 'Her-whatever' are lecturers. And the 'Dri-something' are students."
He did his best to simplify the concepts into something easier to grasp.
Speaking of professors reminded him of that woman collecting dinosaur bones—her goal had been to land a professor post at some university.
Though the fossil she assembled was a bit… questionable. At least in the end she gave him a dinosaur-bone knife…