"Slimes are formed purely from elemental energy. To be extreme about it, they're actually cleaner than animals or plants. While excess elemental force can be dangerous for ordinary people, I've purified it all."
"So don't be scared—eating slime is really not a big deal!"
Seeing Ganyu's reaction, Xiangling hurried to explain, earnestly.
"Umm… that may be true, but… I-I've never eaten one before… Would you consider slime a meat dish or a vegetarian one?" Ganyu looked like she was about to cry.
"Meat or veg? I've never really thought about that."
Caught off guard, Xiangling scratched her head and rested her chin on her hand. "Slimes aren't plants or animals—they're creatures. If we're classifying… something like a Geovishap would count as meat, and a Whopperflower might be considered vegetarian?"
"Mm." Ganyu gave a gentle nod. In her younger, more naïve days, she'd eaten many Whopperflowers disguised as sweet flowers.
"Then a Dendro Slime should be vegetarian, right? It's quite similar to a Whopperflower."
"Maybe…?"
"Then wouldn't the other slimes, being closely related to Dendro Slimes, also be considered vegetarian?"
"C-Can we count them like that?"
Victor Wang stepped in to help:
"I once heard that scholars of the Amurta and Spantamad Darshans at Sumeru Akademiya had a prolonged debate over whether fungi were plants or animals. In the end, they compromised—fungi were reclassified entirely outside the animal-plant spectrum and the debate was dropped."
"My take? If they're elemental creatures, it depends on their origin."
"Take Fungi out of the equation for now. For example, a Cryo Regisvine formed from a Mist Flower that absorbed excess elemental energy—it's got a consciousness like an animal, but we still consider it a plant-based creature. No one disagrees with that, right?"
"That… makes sense."
"Then slimes, being even more purely elemental than fungi, Regisvines, or Whopperflowers, should be easier to categorize."
"A Hydro Slime originates from Hydro energy, a Cryo Slime from Cryo energy. Ganyu, I see a Cryo Vision on your waist—you naturally absorb and manipulate Cryo energy. Do you think elemental power itself can be classified as meat or vegetable?"
"Now that you mention it… I guess not."
"Slimes don't have animal flesh or fat. They're not fishy or gamey. I wouldn't recommend swallowing one, but just chewing? That should be fine, right?"
"But eating a slime still feels strange…"
"Taste and texture are both good—are you really going to let ingredient bias make you throw that away? That's just wrong!" At that point, Xiangling's stubborn culinary passion flared, and Ganyu could only retreat for now.
"Okay, okay, let me show you the fun part of bubblegum."
With no tricks or frills, Victor Wang pushed the gum to the front of his mouth. His cheeks puffed slightly—then he blew.
A perfect bubble formed.
As he kept blowing, the bubble grew larger and thinner. The quality of the slime-based gum held impressively, lasting a long while before popping. Even Victor was surprised—it was the biggest bubble he'd ever blown.
"How about that? Bubblegum isn't elegant, sure, but it's super fun!"
Xiangling stared, eyes wide. Abandoning all decorum, she puffed out her cheeks to imitate him—but no matter how hard she tried, no bubble came out.
"How did you do that? Teach me!"
"Uh… I don't really know how to teach it. I just… did it naturally the first time I tried bubblegum." Victor blew another big bubble as he spoke.
"Aaah—what the heck?"
Xiangling glanced at Ganyu—hoping she'd blow a bubble and give her pointers, but also hoping she couldn't, so Xiangling wouldn't feel like a total failure.
But that gaze made Ganyu blush hard. The gum was already in her mouth, but spitting it out in front of strangers would be unbecoming. She didn't want to swallow it either. Caught in the middle, she chewed twice, tasting the natural sweetness of sweet flowers, unsure what to do.
"S-Sorry, I just remembered I've got work to do—I have to go!" Face bright red, she jumped up and hurried off like she was fleeing.
Only after reaching a quiet alley did she remember—she was supposed to come to Wanmin Restaurant to eat because she was starving… and now she couldn't go back...
But the sweet flower-flavored gum in her mouth tasted better the longer she chewed. Once it became soft enough, she instinctively pushed it to her lips and blew. Without any prior practice, a bubble slowly inflated—larger and larger—eventually surpassing the one Victor had blown earlier.
A surge of joy rose in her chest. Her cheeks were still red, but she was beaming.
She turned instinctively—and seeing no one around to witness her joy, that happiness suddenly turned bittersweet...
"Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll gather Xingqiu, Chongyun, and Hu Tao. We'll test the gum and bubblegum together. And we'll find out whether I really suck at this or if you're just a prodigy!"
"Me?"
"That's right!"
Victor looked innocent—he really didn't think blowing bubbles was that hard.
After parting ways with Xiangling, Victor didn't want the day to end just yet. He stopped by the general store to buy a pen and notebook, carefully selecting a story to give Hu Tao.
Liyue's cultural treasures were vast, and just like when he'd "borrowed" old poetry, there were too many good choices. His indecision returned full force.
Peacocks Fly Southeast,The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl,Legend of the White Snake,Meng Jiangnu Weeps at the Great Wall… Any one of these could move people. Since they were ancient tales, they'd be easy to adapt. But for Hu Tao, only one truly fit…
Once he'd chosen his "inspiration," Victor put pen to paper… But night had already fallen. After leaving some time for spiritual training, he only managed to write halfway before his full day finally came to a close.
The next morning, he followed his routine and visited the Adventurers' Guild for intel.
Two new coded commissions had been posted on the board—both rather intriguing.
The first, issued by an informant codenamed "Weaving Bird," read: "Seeking tales—true or not—of hauntings around Feiyun Slope. Free removal."
It was posted early yesterday. Someone had commented afterward: "You've basically collected every suspicious story on Feiyun Slope. Why not check Wuwang Hill? I've got a bunch."
Weaving Bird replied: "Wuwang Hill's too far. Maybe next time. I just need even a whiff of a rumor in Feiyun Slope. Fakes are fine—come on, help me out, folks."
That commission had gone up yesterday morning, so Victor hadn't seen it, since he'd gone with Hu Tao to Wuwang Hill right after dawn.
"Weaving Bird? Didn't expect Xingqiu to be…"
Recalling how Xingqiu had 'coerced' Chongyun into 'hogging' Mushroom Slime Stew the other day, the identity seemed more and more obvious—but not 100% confirmed yet.
After a moment's pause, Victor read the second commission, also posted yesterday:
"Unusual activity observed among Fatui agents at Northland Bank. A major operation is suspected. The Qixing are already preparing accordingly. Stay alert and cautious."
"Also, the recent theft of Noctilucous Jade from Mingyun Village, previously mentioned by another source, has now been confirmed as the Abyss Order's doing. The stolen jade was shipped to Guyun Stone Forest for unknown purposes."
The commission was posted by someone named Bai Ling.
From an omniscient perspective, none of the Fatui or Qixing's movements were secrets. But without that god's-eye view, gathering such intel couldn't have been easy.
More importantly—the Abyss Order's activity was being tracked too. But hadn't they been mostly quiet in Liyue? Apart from showing up at The Chasm, they hadn't even taken part in the Rite of Parting...
Victor sighed. Realizing it was almost time for Xiangling's gum tasting, he hurried off to Wanmin Restaurant.
Sure enough, Xingqiu, Chongyun, and Hu Tao were all there. Xiangling said she'd invited Lumine too, but she had things to do and unfortunately couldn't join.
Lumine was preparing for the Rite of Parting. Since Ningguang had given her that invitation yesterday, today must be the day she fights Childe and Osial, right?
A storm is coming…
But Lumine could handle crashing the Jade Chamber solo—there was no need to steal her spotlight. Victor figured he'd just watch from the ground, seeing it all unfold from another angle.
Keeping calm, Victor and the others each picked a gum flavor.
"I'm fine with anything except Jueyun Chili," Chongyun declared.
"Jueyun Chili's great! I'll take that one." Hu Tao stepped in.
"Oh, right—Hu Tao, I should say this upfront: these are made with slime." Learning from Ganyu's situation, Xiangling explained beforehand this time.
"Looks better than that Mushroom Slime Stew, and you said it doesn't have that weird slime taste, right?"
"Yep."
"Then I've got no problem! Just didn't expect the candy to be invented by my 'No. 1 Customer.'" Hu Tao glanced at Victor. "Still, I'll judge after tasting it. If it's bad, I won't go easy on you."
Victor just smiled confidently without a word.
"I'll go with apple—sweet and tangy, sounds delicious." Xingqiu took his share.
That left Chongyun and Xiangling, who both politely let Victor choose first. "Then I'll take mint. In my dreams, that's the 'original' chewing gum flavor."
"'Original'? Then we'll officially call mint our standard from now on!" Xiangling gladly deferred to the inventor's view and turned to Chongyun for the final pick.
"If it's really up to me, I'll pick sweet flower. Onion's second only to Jueyun Chili on my least-wanted list."
"Eh… Is onion really that unpopular?"
"Anything that's not sweet doesn't belong in candy!" Chongyun said with rare conviction.
"I told you—it tastes like onion, but the texture's like jelly!"
"That's worse! Who just eats raw onion candy for fun…"
"Fine, I'll eat the onion one." Xiangling relented.
Five people, five flavors—perfectly divided.
"Spicy! Refreshing! Spicy! Refreshing!" Hu Tao was the most reactive.
"Waaaah… It's bubblegum, guys! Try blowing bubbles! Waaah—It's not that I can't do it…" Xiangling, the strangest of the bunch.
"Why are you crying?"
"Probably from eating the onion one."
"Waaah, no! It's not the onion! Cutting onions is what makes your eyes water! Eating them raw is fine!"
"I'm just… so touched. I've tried so many ways to cut onions without crying. None worked. But now… now I can finally eat onions without tearing up!"
"Well… that's… kind of incredible."
After hearing her, everyone started trying to blow bubbles. The novelty had Xingqiu and Chongyun delighted, even Hu Tao admitted it was fun.
Turns out, blowing bubbles really didn't require training.
Which only confirmed Xiangling's fear—she was the bubblegum failure. Head drooping, she fell silent.