"Guests from Xianzhou Zhuming? A little incident?"
Hearing Qingque's words, Yun Fan was slightly stunned. People from Zhuming? Could it be for the martial performance ceremony? He remembered that in the original plotline, the martial performance ceremony was supposed to take place after the events on Penacony. Thinking about it now, the timing seemed about right.
Even with the intervention of a butterfly like himself, the overall direction of the world line had changed dramatically, but small trends could be altered while major events were hard to reverse. Plotlines like the Starry Sky Martial Performance were not something that could be easily changed.
"How much time is left until the martial performance ceremony?"
"Hm... Probably less than a month now. The representative team from Xianzhou Zhuming has already arrived, though they came early for certain reasons."
Qingque rubbed her chin and briefly explained the situation to Yun Fan.
"The reason they came early? What reason?"
Yun Fan's interest was piqued by the girl's words. He set down the kitchen utensils in his hand and gently wiped his fair hands.
"You're asking about that? It's actually nothing major—just General Huaiyan's grand-disciple, or rather, his nominal granddaughter, Miss Yunli.
Her trip to Luofu wasn't only to participate in the martial performance ceremony; the main purpose was to search for a benefactor."
Spreading her hands, Qingque walked straight into the kitchen, stood on tiptoe, and craned her neck like a child to peek at the dishes in the bowls and basins. When she saw the red hawthorn fruits in the wooden basin, a trace of surprise appeared in the girl's eyes.
"Searching for a benefactor?"
Yun Fan's brows furrowed slightly. If he remembered correctly, in the original plotline, Yunli shouldn't have had any so-called benefactor. If anyone could be counted as one, it would be General Huaiyan, who was her greatest benefactor.
But at this stage, a sudden 'benefactor' had appeared out of nowhere—this left our Mr. Yun Fan somewhat puzzled.
'Should I... use the power of Causality to divine it and see?'
Just as the boy was contemplating whether to employ the power of Causality for a divination, Qingque—gazing at the beautiful hawthorn balls in the basin, each one a vivid red 'red haw fruit'—spoke up and asked.
"A-Fan? What are these things? Are they for making candied haws?"
Yun Fan: ??!!
Qingque's words struck Yun Fan like a thunderbolt. He quickly turned around, grabbed the girl's soft shoulders, and asked in a grave voice with a serious expression.
"Candied haws? Where did you hear that name from?"
Yun Fan could be absolutely certain that the name "candied haws" would not appear on the Xianzhou Luofu. Even on Herta's homeworld, the azure planet, that name did not exist.
Candied hawthorns belonged to his original world. Even the hawthorn balls used to make candied haws were extremely rare across this galaxy—only one or two planets had them, and the locals simply treated them as a type of fruit without developing any special ways to eat them.
Moreover, even if the natives of those planets had somehow made candied haws, they would never call it "candied haws."
Although Luofu had snacks like琼实鸟串, they only resembled candied haws in appearance. In essence, they were completely different things.
"W-What... Why do you suddenly look so... so serious?"
Qingque, who had only mentioned it casually, was startled by Yun Fan's sudden action. Looking at the serious expression on the boy's face, she stammered as she spoke. This was the first time she had seen such an expression on Yun Fan's face.
To make an Aeon show such a serious look... just how big of a deal must this be...
"I-I heard the name from Miss Yunli. She came to the Xianzhou to search for a lifesaving benefactor named 'Fan.' When I first heard the name 'Fan,' I actually thought it was you, A-Fan..."
"So that's how it is... I see..."
Hearing Qingque's answer, our Mr. Yun Fan roughly pieced together an idea in his mind. The previously serious expression on his face gradually relaxed.
Yunli's lifesaving benefactor was named 'Fan.' If nothing unexpected happened, that was most likely himself. And as for candied haws, Yunli must have learned about them from him as well.
Back when he was still on the continent of Teyvat, he had once traveled through Liyue under the name 'Fan.' Now that he was walking the Xianzhou Zhuming, the chances were high that he had reused the name.
'In other words, at some point in the future, I crossed through time and returned to the past? Then on the way, I saved Yunli and made candied haws for her to eat.'
With just a simple logical deduction, Yun Fan had already pieced together most of the incident using the information he knew.
There was just one thing he didn't quite understand. In theory, although the authority of [Causality] was powerful, crossing time to return to the past was still extremely difficult—or even outright impossible.
Because the macroscopic concept of 'the past' was far too broad. Crossing time involved [Causality] on the scale of the entire universe.
To return to the past, Yun Fan would have to account for the causality of the whole universe—that would require an amount of Imaginary energy that couldn't even be described as an "astronomical figure."
"A-Fan... are you alright?"
Seeing the handsome boy in front of her fall silent with a contemplative look, Qingque pursed her lips and cautiously asked.
"Ah... I'm fine. I just got a little excited for a moment. 'Candied haws' is the name of a snack unique to my hometown."
"A snack unique to A-Fan's hometown?"
Hearing this, Qingque was stunned. Then her mouth fell open wide. Candied haws was a snack name unique to A-Fan's hometown. Could it be... could it be that the lifesaving benefactor Miss Yunli was searching for was actually A-Fan?
— — — —
On the other side... Seat of Divine Foresight...
"Strange, why hasn't that girl Yunli come back yet? By my calculations, she should be about due."
Muttering to himself, Huaiyan raised his head and glanced at the antique clock hanging in the general's mansion, feeling quite puzzled.
It had already been more than half an hour since he sent the message to that girl Yunli. Why hadn't she returned yet? This wasn't right. Could it be that Miss Qingque had taken his granddaughter on some long trip?
"General Huaiyan, please don't worry. This seat will contact Qingque right away. She probably wouldn't take Miss Yunli too far."
Seeing Huaiyan's white eyebrows furrow slightly, our Master Diviner first reassured him before volunteering.
"Then I'll have to trouble Master Diviner Fu. My granddaughter has quite a wild temperament—most likely she dragged Miss Qingque off somewhere to play. Yunli has always been very fascinated by the Xianzhou Luofu."
Huaiyan did not refuse Fu Xuan's kindness. On one hand, he was indeed somewhat worried about his granddaughter's safety. Even though the one accompanying her was currently one of the strongest Emissaries—the Emissary of [Causality], Qingque—as an elder, he still felt uneasy inside.
On the other hand... Yunli actually had a severe sense of direction. Moreover, she was unfamiliar with the Xianzhou Luofu. If she got separated from Qingque, that would be real trouble.