"Origin Power?"
Cael was momentarily stunned.
He'd always thought of himself as nothing more than an average, physically weak guy.
Where in the world would something like Origin Power even come from?
Faced with his confusion, the system offered no explanation.
[This requires the Host to explore on their own.]
"…Explore my ass."
Cael fell silent, thoroughly unimpressed.
At the same time, a faint suspicion crept into his mind.
Did the system mess with me somehow…?
He thought it over for a while, but got nowhere.
"Forget it," he sighed.
"At least it doesn't seem harmful."
He gave up on thinking about it entirely.
At that moment, Hu Tao leaned in from beside him, holding a skewer of candied hawthorn, tilting her head curiously.
"Hey, Cael, what's wrong with you? You've been spacing out for a while now."
Pulled back to reality, Cael shook his head.
"Nothing."
The next second, he suddenly bent down and—before Hu Tao could react—snatched one hawthorn straight from her skewer.
"Pretty good."
Hu Tao froze.
Then her face turned red in an instant.
"Th-That's—! I already took a bite of that one!"
Her face burned all the way to the tips of her ears.
Cael paused for half a beat.
Then his smile widened.
"Oh? Even better, then."
That was the final blow.
Hu Tao immediately lowered her head, too embarrassed to look at him.
"Y-You really have no shame…"
And this was happening in the middle of the street.
"Hehe. That's because it belongs to Director Hu Tao."
"Y-You—! If you keep saying embarrassing things like that, I—I'll personally send you to the afterlife!"
...
Their interaction drew quite a bit of attention.
Not far away, old Liu Erqiang watched the scene with deep emotion.
"Ah, youth really is wonderful… Isn't that Cael and the girl from Wangsheng Funeral Parlor? What an odd pair—but watching them cured my low blood sugar."
Others shared similar thoughts.
No one said anything aloud, but gossip seeds were already being planted.
By tomorrow, Liyue Harbor's unofficial auntie intelligence network would surely be buzzing.
"You know Cael?"
"Of course, such a good kid."
"And the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor director—that thing happened…"
"Really? That thing?"
"Hey, did you hear? Cael and the Wangsheng director are getting married!"
"What?!"
...
...
Suddenly, someone tugged at Cael's sleeve.
He looked down and saw a little girl—about twelve years old—Liu Erqiang's friend's granddaughter.
"Brother Cael, good morning!"
"Morning, Xiaoyu," Cael said with a smile.
"Did you need something?"
Xiaoyu glanced at Hu Tao, then back at him.
"Brother Cael… are you on a date with this big sister?"
"Huh?!"
Cael's brain short-circuited.
Hu Tao froze too, her face heating up again.
Thinking about it carefully…
Spending the entire day together did kind of feel like a date.
If only it really were…
Cael scratched his head awkwardly.
"Uh… not really. Me and Sister Hu Tao are just hanging around Liyue Harbor."
Xiaoyu stared at Hu Tao with blatant disbelief.
Then she turned back to Cael, eyes sparkling with innocence.
"That won't do! When I grow up, I'm going to marry Brother Cael!"
Hu Tao: "???"
Cael: "???"
...
Somewhere else.
Yanfei's nose twitched.
"I smell… criminal intent!"
...
Hu Tao shot Cael a death glare and muttered coldly:
"Lolicon."
"What?! No! Absolutely not!"
Cael panicked—this was a title he refused to accept!
At that exact moment, the system chimed in.
[Congratulations, Host, for completing the achievement: "Crowned with the Name of Lolicon."]
[Due to extreme difficulty, the Dull Blade has been upgraded to Tier 10, forcibly breaking through. Weapon attributes have significantly increased. Future upgrades will require higher difficulty.]
[Congratulations, Host. You can now contend with peak-era Dvalin.]
Cael's face twisted.
"…Should I be laughing or crying right now?"
Meanwhile, Xiaoyu spoke again—completely serious.
"Brother Cael, come live at my house! I'll take care of you!"
What kind of twelve-year-old says that?!
Hu Tao snapped.
She grabbed Cael's arm and dragged him away.
"Sorry, kid! This idiot is mine, so don't even think about it!"
And with that, she hauled him straight back to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
...
...
"What exactly have you been doing outside lately?!"
Hu Tao stood with her hands on her hips, furious.
Cael looked utterly wronged.
"I really don't know! I just do commissions and work. I met that kid on my first day at Wanmin Restaurant—I only made her a bowl of Yangzhou fried rice!"
"Hmph… I think she's not just after your body, but your cooking too…"
Hu Tao stroked her chin thoughtfully.
"Anyway, you're not allowed to bring other women into Wangsheng Funeral Parlor unless I approve it."
Cael nodded helplessly.
"Got it, got it."
...
"Oh? You're back already?"
Zhongli returned just in time, stepping inside to see the two mid-conversation.
Hu Tao immediately lit up.
"Perfect timing, Consultant Zhongli! Cael's opera skills are amazing! Even Yun Jin looked shocked! It was so fun!"
Cael stared at her flailing arms.
It's not even you performing—why are you so proud?
Zhongli, however, remained completely calm.
"Oh? Is that so. How unexpected."
Utterly perfunctory.
Hu Tao pouted.
"Hmph… such an old fossil. Sometimes I really wonder if you're secretly an adeptus experiencing mortal life—why else would you always look so unsurprised?"
Zhongli's body stiffened ever so slightly.
Hu Tao didn't notice.
Cael did.
He barely managed to suppress his laughter.
So close to getting exposed, huh…
Zhongli quickly regained composure.
"Leaving that aside, did the two of you enjoy today?"
Hu Tao thought for a moment.
"Yeah, it was pretty fun. We ate candied hawthorn, listened to stories…"
"That's good," Zhongli nodded.
"Oh, speaking of stories," Hu Tao suddenly said,
"I remembered something from a legend."
"A legend?" Cael's interest was piqued.
"I heard that opera was originally created by the great Dark Demon God, Agarest."
"I'm kinda curious if that's actually true."
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
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