Zhongli served himself a plate of food and sat in a window seat, enjoying the night view outside while eating his delicious meal.
At that moment, Hu Tao entered with Huohuo, both carrying their own food.
The two of them sat directly across from Zhongli.
"Guest Consultant, let me introduce you. This is Huohuo, our new member at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor."
Zhongli nodded slightly.
"I've heard about this from General Jing Yuan. Welcome, Huohuo."
Huohuo smiled and greeted Zhongli.
"Hello, Mr. Zhongli."
Hu Tao took a bite of her food and said, "Huohuo, if you ever have any questions about ghost hunting or exorcism, feel free to ask our Guest Consultant. He's an expert in that field."
Huohuo looked at Zhongli with admiration.
Zhongli said calmly, "The Hall Master is right. If you ever need help, don't hesitate to ask me."
Huohuo nodded happily in agreement.
These past couple of days had made Huo Huo feel really happy—everyone on the train was so warm and friendly.
At that moment, a firework bloomed outside the window.
Seeing it, Hu Tao suddenly remembered that the Lantern Rite Festival in Liyue was coming up.
"Guest Consultant, the Lantern Rite in Liyue is almost here!"
Zhongli nodded.
"Yes, I was just planning to invite everyone to Liyue for the celebration."
Hu Tao replied, "Same here! I was thinking of taking Stelle and the others to explore Dihua Marsh. There's this ruin I couldn't get into last time—couldn't find the mechanism. Maybe they'll figure something out."
Zhongli nodded. "Let's eat first. After dinner, we'll go talk to everyone about it."
Meanwhile, Ye Yun came out of his room.
He had just heard a system notification telling him that his mission was complete.
So he found an excuse to return to his room and claim the reward.
Notification! Congratulations, Host, for completing the mission: Clear one dungeon. Reward: Interdimensional Guest Invitation ×1
Notification! New mission issued: Complete 10 dungeons. Reward: Special large dungeon unlock ×1
Ye Yun looked at the Interdimensional Guest Invitation in his hand.
The last time he got one of these, it opened the link to Teyvat.
This time, who knew which world it would connect to?
But Ye Yun didn't use it right away.
He decided to wait a couple of days. No rush.
He returned to the dining area.
Kafka and Himeko were each dining with two little ones.
Klee and Bailu sat beside Himeko.
Diona and Hook were with Kafka.
Ye Yun smiled.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Himeko shook her head. "It's nothing. I'm used to this—when do I ever not eat with the little ones?"
Kafka also waved it off. "Diona and Hook are really sweet and well-behaved."
Ye Yun smiled and sat down to help feed the little ones.
Meanwhile, Stelle, March 7th, Amber, Eula, and Lumine had arranged a table in the lounge area. Each dish was placed in large servings on the table, and they sat around it, eating together.
They were discussing where to go tomorrow.
March 7th looked a little troubled. "We have to attend the martial arts ceremony tomorrow… doesn't that mean we'll miss the dungeon event?"
Stelle also looked a bit distressed. "How about we skip the martial arts thing?"
Amber shook her head. "We already signed up—it wouldn't be right not to go."
Lumine thought for a moment and said, "How about this—we wait to see what kind of dungeon shows up tomorrow. If it's boring, we go to the ceremony. If it's fun, we do the dungeon."
Eula considered it. "No, no, let's just go to the martial arts ceremony. We signed up already, so skipping it would look bad.
Besides, didn't you all want to show off a little there?"
Stelle, Lumine, and March 7th perked up.
Right! We were planning to show off at the ceremony!
Calestia, who was stuffing his face nearby, overheard and chimed in:
"Show off? Count me in!"
Lumine glanced at him and hesitated. "Um… maybe not? You're kinda overpowered."
Calestia protested, "Overpowered? Stelle is going too, so why can't I?"
Lumine thought about it and realized he had a point.
"Fine. Just go talk to General Jing Yuan and see if he'll let you in."
Calestia gave a thumbs-up.
Ever since she left her island, she discovered that life could be so colorful and fun.
Back in her island, she was bored out of her mind—just wandering in gardens or inspecting the fake sky.
Meanwhile, Paimon and Yunli were at the little bar counter, eating like long-lost friends reunited at last. Heads buried in their food bowls, they were devouring everything in sight.
Paimon finished one bowl, wiped her mouth, and glanced at Yunli, who was still going strong.
"Yunli, want to go get more?"
Yunli lifted her head. "Yes! Let's go!"
With just those few words, she stood up and followed Paimon for seconds.
In her first bowl, Yunli had mostly stir-fried dishes and rice.
For the second, she aimed for skewers. Xiangling had grilled tons of skewers and left them on a warming rack. Yunli walked up and took half of them.
"Skewers~ Skewers~ The tastiest skewers~"
Seeing this, Paimon took the rest.
Nearby, Noelle responsibly refilled the warming rack with freshly grilled skewers.
Feixiao and Venti each had a plate of meat to pair with their drinks.
Venti downed a whole beer in one gulp and sighed in satisfaction.
"Ah~ So good!"
Feixiao had just finished his own beer too.
"This stuff's great. Where'd you get it?"
Venti replied, "From Ye Yun. Ten bottles for one star coin."
Feixiao raised his brows. "That cheap?"
Venti nodded. "Yeah! Why else do you think I hang out here drinking every day? Come on, eat up!"
Feixiao smiled. "You treated me today—I'll treat you tomorrow!"
Venti grinned. "Deal! Let's drink to that!"
They clinked bottles and downed another in unison.
Everyone chatted and laughed as they ate, the atmosphere warm and joyful.
Here, there was good food, good drink, good friends, and good music.
They ate, drank, bragged, and messed around together—this kind of life made everyone truly happy.
Over two hours later, everyone had finished eating.
Hu Tao somehow found a megaphone.
"Testing, testing! Can everyone hear me? Hey guys, our Guest Consultant has an announcement! Gather round!"
Everyone came over.
Stelle asked curiously, "What is it, Hu Tao?"
Hu Tao handed the megaphone to Zhongli.
Zhongli took it and spoke slowly:
"Some of you already know—two days from now is Liyue's Lantern Rite. I sincerely invite all of you to come and celebrate with us."
***
Zhongli continued speaking.
"The Lantern Rite is the most important festival of the year in Liyue. It's very lively then. If you have time, you should come and have some fun."
As soon as Zhongli finished speaking, Hu Tao waved her hand enthusiastically.
"I'm telling you, the Lantern Rite is super fun~ There are lots of mini-games~"
Upon hearing "games," the young girls—Stelle, March 7th, Amber, Seele, and others—immediately showed interest and said they wanted to go.
Hu Tao continued introducing the activities.
"There are also sky lanterns, fireworks, poetry gatherings, and boat rides."
Upon hearing these activities, Jing Yuan, Welt, Jiaoqiu, and Huaiyan's eyes lit up.
Welt looked at Jing Yuan and the others.
"Everyone, how about we join in and take part in these activities?"
Huaiyan stroked his beard.
"This is a fine idea. It suits an old man like me."
Jing Yuan smiled and said,
"A boat ride sounds pleasant. By then, we can prepare a pot of tea and a chessboard, and enjoy the scenery while having a chess match."
Jiaoqiu fanned himself.
"With Mr. Zhongli's kind invitation, how could I refuse?"
At this point, Welt and the others had already started discussing which activity to try first.
Seeing that most people had decided to join the festivities, Ningguang, as Liyue's Tianquan, naturally had to do her part.
"Everyone, listen to me. All your expenses in Liyue Harbor will be covered by me, Ningguang."
Stelle was stunned—how generous! Ningguang was being incredibly bold.
Stelle stood up and applauded excitedly.
"Awesome!"
March 7th, Lumine, Amber, and the others also stood up and applauded at the scene.
At this time, Feixiao approached Jing Yuan and Huaiyan.
"General Jing Yuan, Elder Yan, look—there are more dungeons appearing in Ye Yun's shop, and now there's the Lantern Rite in Liyue.
Why don't we postpone the martial arts ceremony a bit?"
Jing Yuan looked troubled upon hearing this.
"Many of the participants have already arrived at Luofu and are raring to go. Changing the time might not be appropriate."
Feixiao, however, didn't mind.
"So what? At most, we just reimburse their daily expenses in Luofu."
Huaiyan also chimed in in agreement.
"We can also offer them some compensation, like giving them free access to training halls and such."
Jing Yuan lowered his head in thought. That could work.
So he called Fu Xuan over and had her issue a public notice.
Fu Xuan quickly arranged for the notice to be released, and most of the participants accepted the time change.
Luka, who had come to compete with Svarog, was very happy when he received the news.
"This is great! I was worried I wouldn't find a place to train."
Svarog said,
"According to calculations, with the postponed schedule, Luka can gain free access to the training halls, which increases his chances of winning."
Since Svarog and Luka could only afford the cheapest inn for the competition—after all, Belobog was poor.
The entire credit reserve of Belobog was small. The first batch of ice antlers hadn't matured yet. For now, Belobog could only rely on selling rare ores to earn credit points.
Even then, it was thanks to Topaz and Sushang, who pulled some strings and did Bronya a favor.
Belobog's ores weren't considered rare in the universe. Many mining companies didn't even bother accepting them.
Now it was great—free food and lodging, and a training facility provided. It solved Luka's urgent needs.
Back at Ye Yun's shop—
Basically, everyone had agreed to go, and they planned to head out the next day.
Even the time before the festival was full of excitement.
Having made the decision, everyone stayed a bit longer at Ye Yun's shop before going home to rest.
The next day arrived.
In Himeko's room—
She was asleep in bed, while Stelle and March 7th were sleeping on floor mats.
The alarm rang, and Stelle jumped up like a carp.
"Fully revived!"
Stelle turned off the alarm and looked outside—the morning sun was rising, and red clouds drifted across the sky with the breeze.
She stretched and looked at the still-sleeping March 7th beside her, gently shaking her shoulder.
"March, March, time to get up."
March 7th sleepily opened her eyes and brushed Stelle's hand away.
"Let me sleep a bit longer... so tired~"
Himeko, who was already tidying up her bedding, chuckled at the scene.
"Stelle, give her another shake. Once we wash up, we'll head to Liyue Harbor. Didn't you all say you wanted to eat breakfast there?"
Stelle, upon hearing this, immediately pulled March 7th up and helped her stand.
March 7th felt numb all over—she was so sleepy and wanted to go back to bed.
But since she was already standing, there was no going back to sleep.
Seeing this, Himeko said,
"You two tidy up your bedding. I'll go wash up first."
She then stepped out into the hallway.
Right outside, she ran into Jing Yuan and his group who had just boarded the train.
"Good morning, Ms. Himeko."
Himeko smiled in response.
"Good morning, everyone. You're up so early?"
Jing Yuan shrugged and joked,
"Wasn't my choice. Elder Yan woke me up early."
Hearing his name, Huaiyan laughed heartily.
"Old men like me sleep little. Couldn't sleep in the inn, so I had to resort to this trick, haha."
Feixiao, seeing everyone chatting, urged them.
"Let's hurry up. I have an appointment with Venti to drink at a Liyue tavern."
Himeko replied,
"You all go ahead. I'll freshen up first."
Jing Yuan and his group then said their goodbyes and headed to Ye Yun's shop.
Inside the shop, Jing Yuan saw Ye Yun helping the four little ones wash up.
The four were brushing their teeth with small cups and toothbrushes by the sink in the little bar.
Ye Yun was warming water for them so they could wash their faces after brushing.
Jing Yuan turned to Feixiao and said,
"General Feixiao, you go on ahead. Elder Yan and I will wait for Ye Yun."
Feixiao dashed off without hesitation.
"Alright, I'm outta here."
Jing Yuan and Huaiyan waited for Ye Yun, since they had agreed to check out the poetry gathering together.
After the little ones finished washing, they lined up in front of Ye Yun to receive his instructions.
"What's the number one rule when going out to play?"
The four chimed in together,
"Safety first!"
Ye Yun nodded in satisfaction and turned to Rios.
"Rios, please watch over them today."
Rios nodded.
"Got it."
Ye Yun gave the four one more reminder.
"Remember, don't stray too far from Rios, okay?"
The four all promised in unison.
Ye Yun then waved his hand.
"Alright, go have fun!"
The little ones cheered and ran through the teleportation portal to Liyue Harbor.
"Charge! Let's go, girls!"
"Klee can go play now~"
"Hook is so happy!"
"Slow down, wait for me!"
Then, Ye Yun, Jing Yuan, Huaiyan, and Jiaoqiu waited for Welt.
Once everyone was ready, they stepped through the teleportation portal to find Zhongli.