Arriving in front of the stone statue, it indeed had the cracks Xiangling had mentioned, but it still looked like an egg.
This was definitely not the true appearance of the Stove Archon; what kind of Archon is an egg!
Do you think you are Phanes?
"Eh? Why is it still like this? Could it be that the Cooking Competition also cannot make the Stove Archon statue reveal its true face?"
Xiangling's mood visibly dropped, but it was understandable.
Having finally seen a glimmer of hope, only for it to end up like this after all that effort, no one would be happy.
Keqing's expression was also somewhat disappointed. He had wanted to investigate the true identity of the Stove Archon to uncover the truth of history.
But the most important statue showed no signs of change.
Without evidence, no matter how many theories he had, he couldn't support them!
Shiki looked at the statue and pulled out her dagger, wondering if she should give it a slash to make the outer shell fall off and reveal its true appearance.
The Traveler, seeing this, immediately stepped forward to stop the girl.
"Hey hey hey, stop! You can't touch this!"
"Rest assured, it's just a slash, it won't be a problem."
"A slash won't do either, ahhh!!!"
The Traveler held onto Shiki for dear life, terrified that this ruthless person would shatter the precious cultural relic with a single slash.
The two's argument naturally attracted the attention of Keqing and Xiangling, but they didn't know what they were arguing about.
"Hey, hey, you two, stop for a second. Can't you just talk things out?"
Xiangling ran over and pulled the Traveler away, while Keqing stood in front of Shiki to prevent any accidents.
"I'm doing this for your own good! If she slashes it, even if she just touches it lightly, this statue will shatter into pieces!"
The Traveler said, panting. Also, why was the other person's strength so great? Although she was taller, it shouldn't have made her this tired, right?
"That's going too far. I just wanted to peel off the outer shell of the statue; it's not as serious as you say."
Shiki pouted and then put away her dagger.
If he didn't let her slash, she wouldn't. Just don't come begging her later.
Seeing the girl put away the dagger, the Traveler breathed a sigh of relief, but this made Keqing feel very confused.
Why was the Traveler acting so nervous? She had to know that they had spent a long time trying to leave a mark on this stone with various tools, but failed!
Could it be that this Young Miss from Inazuma was stronger than all of them combined?
"Alright, alright, everything is a matter of fate. Anyway, there is still plenty of time, we don't need to rush," Keqing said.
"Yeah, yeah!" Xiangling also chimed in: "It's only the second day now, no need to rush!"
"Besides, we are definitely not without good news!"
Keqing: "Oh?"
"Keqing, do you remember the recipe you gave me yesterday? This morning I asked Master to fill in the missing text, and I successfully made a portion."
Xiangling said, taking a plate of... yellow wotou from his Vision?
Shiki's expression was calm; this thing was exactly as she expected, after all, she had seen the incomplete recipe.
"Come on, have a taste."
Keqing reached out, picked up a wotou, and took a light bite...
"This!"
Keqing's purple eyes widened slightly. This was the taste! It was exactly the same as what he ate when he was a child!
Seeing Keqing's stunned expression, Xiangling couldn't sit still. Give some reaction!
"What's wrong? Is it good?"
"...It's good. It's the taste of my grandfather..."
Keqing felt a sour ache in his nose, and then his Vision blurred with tears.
When he was a child, his grandfather loved to make this wotou for him. He thought he would never eat it again, but he didn't expect Xiangling to perfectly replicate it.
"Eh, eh, don't cry! If you want to eat it in the future, just come to me!"
"I... I'm not crying! It's just that the sand and wind are a bit strong today..."
Keqing wiped the tears from his eyes. Fortunately, they hadn't fallen out, otherwise, the sand and wind wouldn't be a good enough excuse!
However, being able to explain it was one thing; whether they believed it was another.
In any case, Shiki didn't believe it.
"Oh..."
"Speaking of which, the recipe you gave me, Keqing, is exactly the same as a dish passed down in my family since ancient times, which is why I could make it so delicious."
"Eh? If that's the case, who invented this recipe?" Paimon was a bit dizzy.
Wasn't this recipe found by Keqing in his grandfather's notes? How did Xiangling's family have it too?
"I don't know." Keqing shook his head: "But I'm sure it wasn't invented by my grandfather. It was a recipe he copied from the common people. Perhaps my grandfather and Xiangling's ancestors had some connection."
"That's quite a coincidence!" Xiangling exclaimed: "This dish is called Spicy Meat Wotou. The method was passed down to me by my dad. My dad said our family has always known how to make this, but because it's emergency food, it has never been served on the table."
Traveler: "Just like Paimon?"
Paimon: "So that's how it is... Wait, no, no! Paimon is not food!"
Paimon started his specialty: stomping in the void, then crossed his arms with a sullen look on his face.
"Lu lu lu!"
Guoba jumped excitedly a few times. He just loved eating Spicy Meat Wotou, and that was exactly why he followed Xiangling.
"Right! The day I first met Guoba, I was making Spicy Meat Wotou!"
"You met… Guoba?" Ayaka asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.
This little bear, no matter how she looked at it, was a pet, right? Why did Xiangling say "met"?
"That's right!" Xiangling nodded. "Guoba and I met in a cave. That day, I went into the cave to shelter from the rain and saw an offering table, so I put some spicy meat rolls on it."
"And what do you think happened? Guoba actually ate all the rolls I put out! Since then, Guoba has been following me and has become my family."
"So it's family? My apologies, I initially thought Guoba was your pet," Ayaka said.
"Oh, it's nothing, nothing. Many people think that, but as long as it's clarified and understood, it's fine!"
Xiangling waved her hand, indifferent to the matter. What did it matter what others thought of her? As long as she considered Guoba her family, that was enough.
Of course, she wouldn't be friends with those who couldn't understand her.
Just then, Paimon suddenly shouted, "Hey! Stop chatting, quickly look at Shitou!"
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