LANTERN RITE, ACT II: CURRENTS DEEP BENEATH THE LANTERNS, PART I
After leaving, Orochi with his mess alone you let out a sigh. Making sure he listened to you took so much energy and you're just going to pretend that hasn't happen . Now that your mind is much more clearer without him disrupting, you decided to have a walk around Liyue for the sake to calm yourself down. Though, it really is a shame that you did not get any interaction from any other Liyue characters other than Xiao also the bonus talk with Kaeya.
Or so you thought.
While walking around, there you saw Childe, a Fatui Harbinger opening what it seems a toy stall which bewildered you. Was this even in the game? You wondered but the toys in question is some Ruin Guard merchandise. You thought why not you visited his stall and took a look at the Ruin Guard stuffed toys. "I never knew you sold an actual toys." You stated before looking at him.
"Comrade! Long time no see! Well, you see for today, I am being the best toy seller in the whole world." The word toy seller reminded of the times you had to babysit his brother but he no need to know about it. You are rather curious though if these were selling since you doubt that these would appeal anyone but Teucer or the Genshin Impact players. You had to admit that this is pretty cute and in fact you have one back on Earth as your second merch other than Baron Bunny doll.
"So have anyone bought it?" You asked before he stayed silent. "I take it as a no then." He sighed before he pouted.
"I knew doing this would be hard but I wanted to try. Maybe I really could quit and make my own toys like I said to him I would." He said in remembrance before he shook his head. "Anyways, you seems interested in these. Would you like to buy some, Comrade?" He asked as you nodded.
"Let me have this one that I'm holding. How much is it?" You asked as you went through your phone to withdraw some Mora and you were not expecting to see 90 million in your wallet. You were so used to seeing 50 mora or heck even 0 mora on daily basis.
"It will be 500 Mora." You didn't expected it to be that cheap but you'll pay for it anyway. You handed it to him. "Pleasure doing business with you, Y/N! By the way, after this business thing over, can we have a duel later?" You just stared at him before smiling.
"Sure, if I'm not caught up in some sort of tro-" Before you could finish your sentence, you heard a familiar voice shouting across the road.
"You Fatui scum! If you want to sell some normal toys, at least pay for the rent!" You just blinked in disbelief before he flinched and immediately carry the whole stall.
"I'll talk to you later! If you want to duel with me just wait for me in Northland Bank." He ran off while carrying the whole stall as you watched him in speechlessness. Shouldn't he be able to afford to pay the rent? Like he is rich, right? You wondered before you felt somebody pat your shoulder and panting.
There you saw Keqing seems to be tired before the Millelith that followed her began to ask her if they should pursue him or not. "Yes and make sure he pay that goddamn rent." She ordered and the Millelith began to chase him as you turned to him.
"You good? Do you want a drink?" You asked as you handed her a bottle of water that you had in your inventory. She took it from your hand and drank the whole bottle and handed it to you.
"Thank you and I'm sorry I can't talk to you any longer. I need to chase him down." She said before she ran off. You still in shock and confusion but you had to admit it was pretty funny to watch. If only they made this as the real Lantern Rite scene. You kept the Ruin Guard stuffed toys you bought from Childe and kept walking that was before you saw Xiangling and her father at their restaurant.
"Try something new at the Wanmin Restaurant!" Chef Mao said as you approached to the restaurant. "Oh Y/N! Haven't seen you in awhile." He greeted you as Xiangling immediately turned her head around from her cooking for a moment.
"Hello, Chef Mao and hello Xiangling. It definitely have been a long time I see you two." You greeted them with a smile. The restaurant seems to be lively as always and the smell of spices always takes you back.
[Note: In case you forgotten, I skipped Xiangling's story quest and only briefly mentioned a bit about the story quest since I have no idea what should I write in there so technically you two have met]
"Y/N! I almost thought you would never come." Xiangling jumped for a hug which you immediately caught her while Gouba waddled to you and hugged your legs. Chef Mao, however, finished up the food preparation before giving it to the customer, let you and her caught up with each other.
"Of course, I would come. It's Lantern Rite and I can't miss out such experience!" You stated as she break the hug and look all excited.
"I really want to go around with you on the Lantern Rite and all but I'm terribly busy here. Anyways, you came here to eat right? What would you like to eat? I'll whip you up something." She said in excitement as you smiled.
Do you feel daring and try whatever food she's going to make for you or order the usual one which is Black-Perched Stew? "I feel like having whatever you make. Even if it's slime soup." You said as she nodded in excitement.
"I've been wanting to make this dish for you but I don't know when to make this and I know you'll love it! Take a seat over there and I'll bring you the food in no time!" She pointed at the furthest back of the table before you nodded and took a seat on it.
This Lantern Rite probably better than the one Mihoyo made. You let out a sigh and took out your phone to play one of those dumb games that the ad always show. "Excuse me..." You heard a voice from behind and there you saw Xingqiu and Chongyun looking a bit hesitant. "Can we sit with you? The other tables full so..." Chongyun seems to be rather hesitated before you forgot the fact that Liyue is based on China and table sharing isn't uncommon here.
"Sure... I don't mind." You gave them a welcoming smile before they sat down in front of you and next to each other. Before you could even continue playing, Xiangling brought a lot of food to you.
"Here you go, Y/N! Oh wait, Chongyun... Wait, did you invited them? I didn't make any dishes that is cold and no chili pepper in it..." Xiangling began to panic before Xingqiu stopped her from panicking.
"No, no, no. We don't know each other and we are just sharing table but I didn't expect for him to order so much food." Xingqiu said before he watched you eat the food without worrying what Xiangling might added in the dishes since he never seen her cook this dishes before and it smell terribly spicy. Chongyun was on his terrible dear life to survive and eating his popsicle to calm himself down.
"Oh, I see... Ah but I wouldn't recommend eating it anyway unless you have spice tolerant as high as him. So is it spicy enough for you? I put 10 Jueyen Chili in it since my father said that even 5 isn't enough for you." Chongyun looked at you in menace while Xingqiu is quite interested since one bite of Jueyun Chili already burst with spices.
You never thought that you had high tolerance for spices since you rarely eat spicy food since American 'spicy' dishes did not do a dent on you but you are happy with this spices that Xiangling made for you. "Yup, thank you!" You happily eat the food and finished it in just a few minutes.
"Wow... I didn't see you take a break to drink. Anyway, did I hear your name correctly? It was Y/N, wasn't it?" Xingqiu asked as you pulled out a bottle of apple cider and nodded.
"Yup, that's my name, alright." You took a sip of your apple cider before you could see his eyes twinkling in excitement.
"Wow... I happened to stumble upon a book written about your heroic deeds! So the one who really took down Osial, was you, my liege?" He asked as you were a bit surprised, not used to being so popular among people as you nodded. This caught Chongyun's attention when mentioned Osial.
You couldn't actually tell them that Osial is walking around on Liyue and probably with Aether and the others so this feels a bit awkward for you. "I did... Though, it was thanks to the help of the adepti that I managed to take down Osial." You said sheepishly while you scratched your cheek.
"So you have met the Conqueror of Demon, personally?" He asked as you nodded. "That is quite incredible though, he says our repertoire is lacking and our power is trivial. Has he not says that to you once?" You nodded.
"Not that I mind, of course since he looked quite worried. He may sounds really mean and heartless but he can be really gentle and caring. If he says that to you guys, he probably worried about you." Your words instantly made Chongyun pondered since he never thought about that.
You checked the time and realized how late you were before you stood up. "Oh god, I just realized how late I am. I must excuse myself and it was nice talking to you and I hope we get to see each other soon. See ya and also tell Xiangling, I'll pay her later!" You ran off and waved goodbye to them.
You really need to find Aether and the others. You continued wandering around the Harbor while looking around for them that was before you bump into someone and you automatically shut your eyes to ready yourself for the fall impact like an idiot but you did not feel anything before you open your eyes and blushed in embarrassment.
TO BE CONTINUED
Author Note:
I am tempted to pull for Baal/Kokomi but Scaramouche, Gorou, Tohma... Hmm.... this is tough decision I give Mihoyo that... Anyways, 5 days before the update come and I can't wait to see Scaramouche and Signora.
Istg if Mihoyo make Signora immune to Cryo and Pyro, I'm gonna cry while try my best to defeat here using Barbara which sound not nice at all especially her phase 1 is Cryo ffs. That's all from me and I hope you enjoy this chapter.