Hu Tao first parked the RV in front of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and asked the staff there to look after it.
Then she took Lumine and Paimon on foot to Chihu Rock.
The streets at Chihu Rock weren't as spacious as Yujing Terrace, and they were quite crowded—definitely not suitable for Lumine to drive through.
So, Hu Tao led Lumine and Paimon swaggering down the streets of Chihu Rock.
Before long, they arrived at Wanmin Restaurant.
As soon as Hu Tao stepped inside, she shouted toward the kitchen:
"Xiangling! The head of the hall is here—are my dishes ready yet?"
The very next second—
Xiangling popped her head out of the kitchen.
"Go up to the second floor first, there's still a soup coming."
Hu Tao lifted the curtain and peeked inside—there was a pot of fish soup still boiling.
"All right, hurry up and come up when it's done—we'll eat together."
Hu Tao led Lumine and Paimon upstairs. The second floor of Wanmin Restaurant had only one large round table—basically their "private room."
Upstairs, Paimon was already drooling from the aroma in the air. It smelled so good!
The three of them sat down.
Lumine asked:
"Hu Tao, are you going over to Ye Yun's place later?"
Hu Tao tilted her head.
"You're going? Why?"
Lumine replied:
"I've saved up quite a few Primogems, so I was thinking of buying some stuff and then hanging out with Stelle and the others.
Didn't they go explore a new place? I want to check it out—are you coming?"
Hu Tao thought for a moment. Business at the internet café was booming, and the secretary girl already knew how to manage the place well.
As for the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, there were a few pending jobs, but all simple ones that didn't need her personally.
"Sure, let's go play later."
At that moment, Xiangling and Guoba came upstairs—one carrying a pot of fish soup, the other a bowl of rice.
"What are you all chatting about?" Xiangling set the fish soup on the table and looked curiously at Hu Tao.
Hu Tao said:
"Oh, just talking about where to go later.
Right, let me introduce you—this is the Traveler, Lumine, and this little one here is Paimon."
Lumine and Paimon smiled and waved.
Xiangling smiled back warmly.
"Nice to meet you, Lumine, Paimon!
Let's eat first—if the food gets cold, it won't taste as good."
The four of them started eating and chatting.
Hu Tao popped a golden shrimp ball into her mouth.
"Xiangling, wanna come with us this afternoon?"
Xiangling agreed immediately. She wasn't on duty today—she only came in because Hu Tao had asked her to make a big meal.
"Sure! Where are we going? Luhua Pool? Dihua Marsh?"
Hu Tao shook her head.
"Neither. We're going to another world."
Xiangling looked puzzled.
"Another world? What do you mean?"
Hu Tao explained:
"An alternate world. Want to come?"
Xiangling was shocked.
"What?! Hu Tao, you know how to go to another world? Are you messing with me again?"
Hu Tao looked speechless. She pointed at Lumine and shrugged.
"If you don't believe me, ask Lumine. I'm not joking this time."
Xiangling turned to Lumine, still confused.
Lumine nodded.
"Hu Tao's telling the truth. I'm not originally from Teyvat either—I came from beyond this world."
Xiangling stared at Lumine in disbelief.
"What?! You're from outside this world?"
Hu Tao quickly pressed the now-standing Xiangling back into her seat.
"Calm down, calm down—it's just another world! No big deal! Now sit and eat—after we finish, we'll head out."
About two hours later, Hu Tao, Lumine, Xiangling, and Paimon took Hu Tao's flying motorcycle to Jueyun Karst.
Just after they landed, they saw Cloud Retainer walking out of her abode.
Hu Tao tilted her head and waved.
"Cloud Retainer! You finally came out!"
Cloud Retainer recognized Hu Tao and huffed.
"Hmph! What does a little girl like you know? This one has been researching mechanical arts. Do you even understand what that means?"
Hu Tao threw up her hands.
"I don't, but I do know you broke my motorcycle and didn't fix it. In the end, Clara fixed it—teehee~"
Cloud Retainer immediately looked annoyed.
"You little brat, what do you know? I was just... just..." She couldn't think of a decent excuse.
"Forget it. You wouldn't understand even if I explained. Now go, go! Stop bothering me—I need to study the books brought back by the Lord of Geo."
With that, she grumpily turned and walked back into her domain.
Hu Tao pouted and dragged Xiangling into the portal.
"Let's go have some fun~"
Aboard the Astral Express, inside Ye Yun's shop.
Hu Tao, Lumine, Xiangling, and Paimon had just arrived when they saw Amber and Eula relaxing in the lounge area, playing with some little sprites.
Hu Tao waved.
"Amber! Eula! You two are here too?"
Amber was sitting on the sofa, cuddling a tiny Lumiblossom Bee.
"Yeah, after everyone in the Knights started training with the Wind Spirit Technique, they've all gotten stronger. So Captain Jean gave us a day off to relax."
Hu Tao nodded.
"Nice! Speaking of which, I wonder how that Diamond Body Technique Ningguang and the others bought is working out."
Eula replied:
"I heard that the Tianquan Star is a very capable woman. I'm sure it's working fine.
Anyway, what brings you all here?"
Hu Tao thought for a moment. Why did I ever doubt Ningguang? She's a powerhouse who built her success from scratch.
"I'm just accompanying Lumine to do some shopping. By the way—where are Stelle and the others? I haven't seen them around."
Amber explained:
"They're out on a Trailblazing mission. I heard from Himeko that they ran into some very tough enemies—but they've already wrapped it up and won."
Hu Tao perked up.
"Oh? I'll call her and ask where she is. We'll go visit them—sound good?"
Everyone agreed, including Lumine. Ye Yun's shop wasn't going anywhere, so there was no rush.
Hu Tao took out her phone.
"Hey, Stelle? Where are you?"
On the other end, Stelle had one hand holding Judgment of Shamash, the other on her phone, and one foot stomping down on a Guardian standing over a treasure chest.
"I'm in Luofu with March. What's up?"
Hu Tao replied:
"Lumine and I want to come hang out with you guys. Where are you? We'll come find you."
Stelle thought for a moment.
"I'll come pick you up. I'm far from the Express—I'm worried you might get lost."
Hu Tao grinned.
"Okay okay! We'll wait for you on the train."
She hung up the call, and then everyone started playing around on the Express.
It was Xiangling's first time there, and she was wide-eyed, curiously exploring everything.
Wow—is that a lantern? Probably...
And what's this thing that plays moving pictures?
***
Soon, Stelle and March 7th returned to the train and reunited with Hu Tao and the others.
Each of them was carrying a small bag filled with Star Jades.
Hu Tao's eyes went wide.
"Where did you get this much Star Jade?!"
Stelle and March 7th exchanged a glance, and Stelle chuckled.
"Of course we got them from opening treasure chests! Let me tell you, the Luofu is packed with Star Jade!
In the past two days, look how much March and I have made."
March 7th nodded in agreement. Indeed, the two of them had been raking it in lately.
"That's right, yesterday Stelle and I each got 150,000. Today should be about the same."
Hu Tao quickly said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's see how much that converts to in credits!"
Stelle and March 7th, upon hearing that, excitedly ran over to the exchange balance scale to start converting their loot.
When the final results came in, Hu Tao, Amber, and the others were practically drooling with envy.
The star credits they got were piled high all over the bar counter, while Stelle and March 7th cheerfully sorted through the stack.
Lumine sneaked a look at the stack of credits in her hand—these had been earned through grinding over 15 hours a day to farm Primogems and exchange for credits.
Comparison really is the thief of joy!
Her stack of credits was only about 10 centimeters tall.
Stelle and March 7th's stack was at least five times that! Five times!!
Lumine stared tearfully at Stelle and March 7th, who were grinning as they counted their credits finger by finger.
Suddenly, an idea sparked in Lumine's mind.
"Stelle, March 7th, are you going back out later to look for more Star Jades?"
By now, Stelle and March had already sorted through all their credits—340,000 total, 170,000 each. Add that to yesterday's 150,000, and each of them now had 320,000, shooting straight to the ranks of the rich.
Stelle replied, "Of course! Why wouldn't we? You think we'll hide in our room and regret it once the Luofu authorities catch on? No way! I won't allow that!
Girls! Assemble!"
Hu Tao, Amber, and the others raised their arms and cheered.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Xiangling watched them get fired up like they were injected with pure adrenaline and looked confused.
She tugged on the only one still calm—Eula.
"Eula, why are they so hyped? Are star credits that useful?"
Eula thought for a moment. Xiangling loved cooking... Got it!
"Let me put it this way."
She pulled out a single 100-credit note.
"This is 100 credits, and it only costs one Star Jade to get it. And with these 100 credits..."
Xiangling saw how mysteriously Eula was acting and was getting anxious.
"What about the 100 credits?!"
Eula smiled faintly.
"With 100 credits, you could buy a whole stack of recipes!"
Xiangling immediately stumbled backward, gasping.
"Hissss!!!"
A few seconds later—
Xiangling suddenly shouted, imitating Hu Tao and the others as she raised her fists and joined the team.
"Star Jades! Star Jades! Star Jades!"
Stelle saw this and was very satisfied with the morale.
"Good! Sisters! Our mission is to sweep up every single Star Jade in the Luofu! Lazy dogs, move out!"
Stelle led the charge, storming out of the train like a pack of hungry ghosts, eyes scanning every corner, determined to leave no treasure chest unopened.
Time flew, and before long it was the next morning.
Jing Yuan slowly got up, washed, and dressed.
His steward approached.
"General, what would you like for breakfast today?"
Jing Yuan straightened his collar and smiled.
"No need to prepare anything today. I've been invited to a friend's place for breakfast.
Did you prepare the tea I asked for last night?"
The steward returned to the room and brought out three boxes of tea leaves.
Taking the tea intended for Ye Yun and the others, Jing Yuan checked his reflection in the mirror—yes, appropriately dressed. Time to depart.
Just as he was about to leave, the steward said, "General, there is one more matter to report."
Jing Yuan turned back. "What is it?"
The steward spoke slowly, "Last night, the girls from the train team were running around the Luofu opening treasure chests. It caused quite a stir, and many citizens lodged complaints. What shall we do?"
Jing Yuan thought for a moment.
"It's fine. The train team helped us greatly. Let's compensate the affected residents and calm things down."
The steward bowed. "Yes, General."
Jing Yuan nodded, then boarded a star skiff bound for Starport.
The previous night, he had an enjoyable conversation with Ye Yun, Zhongli, and Welt, talking all the way past 8 p.m.
Given that they had just survived a fierce battle, Jing Yuan held back his eagerness to continue the conversation and instead invited them to meet again today.
Ye Yun had then directly invited Jing Yuan to come visit the Astral Express and have breakfast together.
Jing Yuan agreed—he was also curious to see the legendary train.
About an hour later—
Jing Yuan's star skiff arrived at the Starport, where the Astral Express was docked.
He walked to the viewing car's door and knocked lightly.
As soon as he finished, the door opened, and Pom-Pom stood before him.
Pom-Pom looked up at him.
"I'm Pom-Pom, the conductor of the Express. Who are you? What brings you here?"
Jing Yuan smiled.
"Hello, Conductor Pom-Pom. I am Jing Yuan, here at Ye Yun's invitation."
Pom-Pom was a bit surprised to hear the name.
"Whoa, you're that Jing Yuan, the general of the Luofu? Come in then! Ye Yun and the others are in his shop. Follow me, pom!"
Pom-Pom stepped aside and let Jing Yuan in.
As he entered, Jing Yuan took in the interior of the train.
Hmm, very nicely decorated. Elegant and lighthearted.
Following Pom-Pom, Jing Yuan arrived at Ye Yun's shop.
As soon as he entered, he saw Ye Yun, Xiangling, and Noelle busily cooking in the kitchen.
Ye Yun noticed the movement at the door, looked over, and seeing Jing Yuan, quickly called out:
"General Jing Yuan, you're early! Have a seat first—breakfast will be ready in a bit."
Hearing Ye Yun's voice, the others in the shop turned and greeted Jing Yuan.
Jing Yuan looked around and saw Stelle, March 7th, and a few unfamiliar girls slouched at the table, all with dark circles under their eyes.
On the sofa, Welt and Zhongli were chatting comfortably.
Jing Yuan took out the tea.
"Mr. Welt, Mr. Zhongli, I brought some tea I happened upon. Please, try some."
He handed the tea to Welt, Zhongli, and Ye Yun, then joined them at the sofa to continue the chat they hadn't finished the night before.
Jing Yuan truly enjoyed talking with the two. Both were full of wisdom, and speaking with them always broadened his horizons.
In the kitchen—
Ye Yun glanced at the happily humming Xiangling, smiled.
Xiangling, holding her new stack of recipes in one hand and cooking with the other, added ingredients with gusto. Even though she'd spent all night treasure-hunting, she was still full of energy.