Since Orion had already introduced himself and Skirk, Chongyun didn't specifically emphasize the 'uncle-in-law' part.
What was even more frightening was that the child still thought Skirk was his second aunt; one could only say he was a bit simple-minded.
Xingqiu didn't suspect anything and simply invited everyone to take a seat.
After everyone was seated according to their host and guest positions, Orion felt a fragrant breeze pass by him. He turned his head to find Hu Tao sitting beside him, with only a half-moon table separating them.
On the coffee table was a plate of pastries, one of which was half-eaten, revealing its red bean paste filling, with crumbs scattered around it. At this moment, Hu Tao sat in a horseshoe chair, leaning sideways and picking up the half-eaten pastry with two fingers.
As Orion stared at her, Hu Tao slightly lowered her head, but her lively, large eyes looked up, her plum blossom-patterned pupils meeting his orange-red gaze. Instead of avoiding his eyes, Hu Tao revealed a playful smile, as if caught in a prank, and without caring about showing her teeth, she let half of her white teeth peek out from between her red lips.
It was clear that this half-eaten pastry was hers. Presumably, the uninhibited Hu Tao, after being welcomed in by the steward, had simply taken the pastries offered by the servants and found a random chair to sit down. She then began to explain how to make her one-stop funeral business more prosperous, and when she got carried away, she dropped the half-eaten pastry and started gesturing wildly.
How unlike Xingqiu! No matter how big the matter, he would always sit properly in the main seat. In his mind, if you couldn't distinguish between host and guest, how could you be a good host?
Their eyes met for a moment, then both Orion and Hu Tao looked away. Orion showed no abnormality throughout.
However, a hint of doubt was hidden in Hu Tao's playful gaze. The elder brother beside her had clearly frozen for a moment when he saw her eyes just now. Why? Did he know her?
From the main seat, Xingqiu proactively asked Chongyun what he had come for: "Speaking of which, a few days ago, a caravan from our commerce guild returned from Fontaine. When I went to greet them, I also saw His Excellency Orion and His Excellency Skirk from this region.
The Kamera Hu Tao just mentioned was also among that batch of goods. I didn't expect that at the time, I only thought the two of you looked extraordinary and took a couple more glances. Today, by chance, we are gathered together again, and you all even know Chongyun. I just wonder what brings you here today?"
Chongyun hadn't expected Xingqiu to have met his uncle-in-law before. He turned to Orion and saw the other person smiling and nodding: "Indeed, I caught a glimpse of Young Master Xingqiu from afar at that time."
Chongyun understood and got straight to the point: "Xingqiu, my pure yang body might be saved!"
Xingqiu was greatly surprised upon hearing this: "Saved? Your constitution can turn on and off by itself?"
Chongyun shook his head: "How could it be that good? It's like this: today I was in the area of Qingxu Pool... later I was officially rescued by my aunt and her companions, and then they even summoned the Conqueror of Demons, Guardian Yaksha, for me! And with his help, the Great Sage has agreed to let me join him in clearing out the demonic beasts on the land of Liyue in the future!"
"What?!" Xingqiu was so startled that he directly stood up from his chair. He took two steps forward and grabbed Chongyun's shoulders: "You said who?! Who did you see???"
"Calm down! Xingqiu, calm down!" Chongyun pushed Xingqiu's hands away, then said solemnly: "You didn't mishear, it's the Conqueror of Demons, Guardian Yaksha, who often appears in stories and plays! The Adeptus true name is Xiao, Adeptus Xiao."
Not only was Xingqiu stunned, but even Hu Tao's chewing of pastries stopped. She suddenly cast her gaze towards Orion, thinking, 'This elder brother actually knows an Adeptus from the storybooks?!'
Chongyun continued before Xingqiu could recover: "We came to you this time mainly hoping that the Feiyun Commerce Guild could provide a guarantee for me, so that the Millelith would approve of this matter. Otherwise, if I just reported it myself, I doubt anyone would believe it."
"And compensation," Orion reminded him. "Clearing demonic beasts is originally the duty of the Millelith. Now that Chongyun is doing it for them, and Chongyun isn't doing his usual alchemist work, he's certainly not earning money. So they naturally need to provide some compensation."
"Ah, actually, it's not necessary..." Chongyun wasn't very concerned about compensation, but his words were cut off halfway by Xingqiu.
"Understood!" Xingqiu tapped his palm with a rolled-up book. "It's essentially having the Millelith formally employ Chongyun as a professional consultant to handle the prevention of demonic beast outbreaks, right? Easy to do! I'll send someone to handle it tomorrow. Chongyun just needs to show his face at the Millelith and the Yuehai Pavilion, then wait to get his qualification certificate. It shouldn't take more than three to five days."
Xingqiu's agreement naturally brought joy to everyone. Chongyun also let out a heavy sigh of relief. He had been somewhat worried that if he told the Millelith about encountering an Adeptus, they might think he was a liar.
You can't really summon an Adeptus and ask the Immortal to prove they are an Adeptus, can you?
During the conversation, several servants also brought tea, and new pastries were placed on each table. Except for the quiet Skirk and Shenhe who only sipped tea, everyone else used the conversation as an opportunity to chat.
"Oh my! I didn't expect so many strange things to have happened in Liyue recently!" Xingqiu took a sip of tea and said with a smile to everyone: "First, my caravan returned early, then it was rumored that on the same day, the Millelith captured a large group of Treasure Hoarders, reportedly over a hundred people!
"Later, rumors began to circulate in Liyue Harbor about a group of Magus belonging to that legendary coven of witches who were doing good deeds and putting on light shows for the people of Liyue. And now you've run right into an Adeptus. Don't you think it might be because the Rite of Descent is about to begin, and Adeptus like these Magus have come to Liyue Harbor to pay their respects to the Lord?"
Hu Tao looked over at Orion and Skirk and remembered that, when Orion introduced himself, he had said he was a Magus, and now Xinquiu was talking about the good deeds those Magi had done. She couldn't help but take an interest in this older brother.
After Chongyun echoed a couple of times, Xingqiu suddenly seemed to remember something and continued: "Oh, right, even our Guhua Clan recently hired a new Great Worshiper! "And she's a young lady! The Adeptus yaksha we had just been talking about also looked small—do you think this young lady might be an Adeptus?"
These words immediately caught everyone's attention. Chongyun was the first to ask: "Hired a Damselette as a Worshiper? What kind of Damselette?"
Xingqiu pondered for a moment: "Short black hair, roughly chin-length. She wears a slightly exotic outfit, somewhat a combination of Liyue and Sumeru styles.
Barefoot, with red nail polish on her hands and feet. Oh, right! She has a greatsword! Half red, half dark ink, that long and that wide!"
Xingqiu gestured as he continued: "And this Damselette, despite being small and having a tender voice, says she's already married. I think in such a situation.
Xingqiu: "she's most likely an Adeptus, right?"
Chongyun exclaimed in wonder upon hearing this, and even Shenhe cast a surprised gaze.
But Orion and Skirk grew increasingly puzzled as they listened.
Why does that sound so much like Yunli?
Hu Tao, beside them, immediately noticed Orion's strange expression and leaned over to ask directly: "Oh? Looking at Brother Orion, could it be that you know this Damselette?"
Xingqiu looked over upon hearing this. Orion rubbed his nose and asked: "Is the little girl you're talking about named Yunli?"
"Precisely!" Xingqiu exclaimed. "Could it be..."
Orion nodded: "She's our companion. She was actually there that day when we first arrived in Liyue, but she's quite short, so you probably didn't see her."
Xingqiu was truly surprised this time. He had witnessed how strong Yunli was; she alone could take down the entire Guhua Clan with just a wooden sword. He hadn't expected such a Damselette to be Orion's friend, and Orion indeed knew Adeptus.
Xingqiu: "Could that Damselette really be an Adeptus?"
Orion shook his head: "He's not an Adeptus, but there are certain similarities."
This was not false. As peers, Yanqing and Yunli had at least army-level combat power on the interstellar battlefield. Against ordinary people of the Guhua Clan who were neither Path trailblazers nor Genshin Impacts, using a wooden sword was like directly beating people to death with fists.
A wooden sword was much softer than Yunli's fists.
Just then, a servant suddenly ran in: "Young Master! I have urgent news to report!"
"Come in! What is it?" Xingqiu didn't avoid anyone and directly let the servant come in to report.
The servant responded and then handed over a letter: "This is a letter sent by pigeon post from Teacher Calx (Albedo's pen name)!"
Xingqiu took the letter. Chongyun beside him asked: "Is Teacher Calx the one who illustrates for you?"
"That's him. A new volume of my 'Records of the Autumnal Scroll and Sword' is about to be published, so I guess there's progress on the illustrations?"
After speaking, he carefully read the letter, but soon let out an "Eh?"
Chongyun quickly asked: "What's wrong?"
Xingqiu shook his head: "It's nothing, just that Teacher Calx said the illustrations would be delayed by two days because he also took on the illustrations for 'a record of a mortal's journey to immortality' and plans to finish them all and send them together.
However, Teacher Calx actually entrusted me to hand over the accompanying manuscript to the author of 'a record of a mortal's journey to immortality' so he can see if the drawings match his imagination... Does this mean the author of 'Mortal' has come to Liyue?!"
"Did he say what that author's name was?" Hu Tao suddenly asked.
"He did say... He said the person's name was..." Xingqiu looked down, then his eyes suddenly widened even more.
Then he abruptly looked up at the red figure in the room: "—Orion?!"
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