Returning from Yujing Terrace, Lumine and Hu Tao walked further south.
Most of the worthwhile sights in the north had been seen, but they had not yet visited the southern harbor.
"Speaking of which, Hu Tao," Lumine slowed her steps, turning to look at a large, tightly shut house nearby.
"Is this place always closed?"
The plaque above the door read "Yanshang Teahouse," and it looked like a teahouse. Lumine and Aether had passed by here once before when they went to Wanmin Restaurant for a meal.
At that time, the shops on both sides of the street were bustling, but only this teahouse remained tightly shut, so Lumine had some impression of it.
She had thought at the time that it might be temporarily closed for some reason, but passing by again, it didn't seem like it.
"This place…" Hu Tao paused slightly, her expression becoming a bit complex.
"It only opens at night," Hu Tao whispered to her.
"At night?" Lumine was a bit confused.
Drinking too much tea would keep one awake. If it were a pub, she could understand it opening at night, but why a teahouse?
"This isn't a teahouse, how do I put it?" Hu Tao hesitated, then leaned close to Lumine, standing on her tiptoes.
After a whispered conversation, Lumine suddenly understood.
Simply put, this was a disguised casino.
No wonder it opened at night.
"You absolutely must not go inside to play out of curiosity; it's very dangerous," Hu Tao looked at Lumine's slightly reddened earlobes, momentarily lost in thought, but still delivered her warning without changing her expression.
Ten bets, nine losses; this is an eternal truth. Moreover, Yanshang Teahouse has recently undergone some changes; the former owner has been purged, and the current owner is a very dangerous man.
Hu Tao had heard some rumors, and although she didn't know much, she knew this was not a place for decent people to frequent.
"Actually, if you think about it, the people here might be even better clients for me than Adventurers."
"I think so too." Lumine nodded in deep agreement.
She didn't have much interest in this place, especially after learning its true nature.
Looking up at the tightly shut door of Yanshang Teahouse once more, Lumine and Hu Tao resumed their walk towards the harbor.
Soon after they left, a window on the second floor of Yanshang Teahouse slowly opened, and a figure leaned against it, a pair of beautiful eyes intently fixed on the direction they had departed.
"Yelan…" A man and a woman slowly approached the person, bowing respectfully.
"You two don't need to worry about this matter; I will personally oversee it," the woman called Yelan slowly said.
"Yes." The two bowed again and then withdrew.
Soon, only Yelan remained at the second-floor window.
"What an interesting Damselette, no wonder Ningguang is so concerned…" Yelan murmured softly.
Although he couldn't quite articulate what made him interesting, he instinctively felt that way.
Speaking of which, anyone Ningguang takes an interest in is not simple, and someone Ningguang takes an interest in and then sends him to investigate is even more extraordinary.
Although that Damselette hadn't done anything special yet, the moment Yelan saw him, he had a premonition that he might accomplish something significant in Liyue in the future.
As for whether this so-called "significant thing" would be good or bad… Yelan couldn't say.
In any case, it's best not to alert him for now; just keep watching.
(Note: In reality, Yelan took over Yanshang Teahouse after the Osial crisis. This has been slightly modified for convenience.)
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Lumine knew the way to Liyue Harbor because Wanmin Restaurant was on that road, and he had been there before.
And a little further on was the Adventurers' Guild, where someone exactly like Katheryne stood at the counter… No, that seemed to be Katheryne.
Lumine had observed carefully before; Katheryne herself was merely a highly intelligent puppet.
It seems the Adventurers' Guild has placed identical Katherynes in every nation.
The harbor was very bustling, with an endless stream of ships and various vendors, but compared to the inner harbor, there weren't many places worth exploring.
Hu Tao merely took him on a simple tour, incidentally inquiring with the sailors about the Crux Fleet and promoting Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's services.
The first part went well; the sailors generously shared information about the Crux Fleet, saying they would be back in a few days.
However, the latter part was a complete failure; hardly anyone was willing to listen to Hu Tao's sales pitch to the end.
No matter how great a discount Hu Tao offered, no one was willing to use Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's services.
"Really, what's there to be unwilling to face? It's going to happen sooner or later anyway," Hu Tao complained to Lumine, a bit annoyed.
"Ha, haha…" Lumine rubbed his head. To be honest, for people who spend long periods at sea, Hu Tao's sales pitch must be very inauspicious.
"Never mind, let's go back too. Time has flown by without us realizing it," Hu Tao looked up at the sky, then said with a smile.
Hu Tao's failed sales pitches were common, and she probably didn't even expect to succeed, so she didn't take this small matter to heart at all.
The sun, however, had gradually set; he hadn't expected time to pass so quickly today.
"Mm, let's go back." Lumine also nodded. After today's walk, he was familiar with most of Liyue Harbor, which would make it easier to navigate later.
Speaking of which, Mondstadt City did feel quite a bit smaller than Liyue Harbor. It took him a full day to walk through the main areas of Liyue Harbor, but Mondstadt City certainly wouldn't take that long.
"Let's go this way," Hu Tao pointed to another street, "and I'll give you an onboarding gift too."
They had come from the other side earlier, so returning this way would complete their map.
Lumine naturally had no objection, but speaking of gifts…
"Does Wangsheng Funeral Parlor give gifts for onboarding?"
"Of course—not. This is a personal gift from this Hu Tao to a friend," Hu Tao said with a smile, then directly took Lumine's hand. "Alright, hurry and come with me, let's go pick one."
"Eh? Wait…" Lumine hadn't reacted yet and was completely pulled along by Hu Tao.
This other street seemed to sell various antiques, porcelain, and jewelry, so it was no wonder Hu Tao said he wanted to pick a gift for him from here.
However, Hu Tao's target didn't seem to be those elaborate pieces of jewelry. He led Lumine to the front of a shop.
"Chunxiang Kiln?"
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