Returning home and lying on her bed, Aili pulled the doll from the bedside table towards her.
Lying on the bed, Aili pondered her current strength.
Perhaps it wasn't top-tier, but it was certainly sufficient.
She just didn't know when the Moonlight Throne would appear.
(If I don't check, I also don't know when the Moonlight Throne appears.)
However, the later, the better, allowing her to gain a bit more strength.
She took out the Death Herrscher's gem.
After using it once today, the Death Herrscher's gem seemed to have stopped emitting Honkai Energy outwards.
She didn't know why.
Now, Aili felt as if she could directly use the gem's power. Thinking this, she touched the gem with her finger and drew out a cluster of purplish-black mist.
The mist condensed into a small ball, floating at Aili's fingertip.
After a while, Aili waved her hand, and the mist dissipated into the air.
If the gem wasn't emitting Honkai Energy anymore, then...
Aili picked up her necklace and then held the gem in front of it to compare.
It seemed like it could indeed be inlaid.
Finally, the necklace melted in Aili's hand, enveloping the gem, and transformed into a hair ornament. (Referencing the hair clip Aili wears.)
Aili stood in front of the mirror and clipped the hair ornament into her hair.
"Mhm, like this, Miss Fairy is even more perfect ♬~" Aili tilted her head, closed one eye, and then held one hand horizontally by the hair ornament, making a peace sign.
After resting in her room for a while, Aili twitched her nose; she had already smelled the aroma of delicious food!
Then, Aili quickly went downstairs. Seeing Fu Hua still stir-frying in the kitchen, Aili directly ran behind Fu Hua and hugged her.
"It smells so good, Hua! Today's lunch looks very fragrant ♬~" Aili said, resting her chin on Fu Hua's shoulder.
"Mhm, we can eat in a little while," Fu Hua continued stir-frying.
"Mhm, then I'll look forward to Hua's delicious food ♬~"
"Aili, you go dish out the rice first. I'll come over after I dish out the dishes."
"Alright, alright ♬~" Aili released Fu Hua, took out bowls from the nearby cupboard, served the already steamed rice, and then sat by the dining table, waiting for Fu Hua.
When Fu Hua brought the dishes to the dining table, she saw Aili propping her head up and swaying her head at the table.
"What's wrong? You're suddenly so happy," Fu Hua sat down beside Aili.
"Mhm, because of this ♬~" Aili pointed to her hair ornament.
Fu Hua followed Aili's gaze, looking at the hair ornament inlaid with the herrscher gem. "Is this a herrscher gem?"
Looking at its familiar appearance, Fu Hua asked with some doubt.
"Mhm, Hua is truly perceptive ♬~" Aili took off the hair ornament.
"It just looks very similar. How could a herrscher gem turn into this?" Fu Hua reached out and picked up the hair ornament.
The hair ornament was instantly covered in purplish-black mist.
Seeing the purple mist, Aili quickly reached out and took the hair ornament into her hand, and the mist immediately dispersed.
Looking at the marks on Fu Hua's hand, Aili was a bit anxious.
"Eh! I, I didn't know it would be like this!" Aili quickly mobilized the gem's power to help Fu Hua recover from the corrosive marks on her hand.
After checking her hand several times, up and down, and confirming that there were no more wounds, Aili finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I, I didn't know it would still be like this. It was so quiet in my hand," Aili said somewhat aggrievedly, looking at the gem resting quietly in her hand.
"It's fine," Fu Hua squeezed the hand that Aili had just healed.
"What's going on? Why doesn't the gem go out of control like this in my hand?" Aili placed the hair ornament on the table.
The hair ornament stayed there, unharmed.
Fu Hua reached out again, intending to touch the hair ornament. This time, too, as soon as Fu Hua's hand touched it, the gem emitted some black mist.
Aili quickly reached out and dispersed the black mist, preventing it from harming Fu Hua again.
"This is the first time I've encountered such a situation. Do gems also choose their masters, like Divine Keys?" Fu Hua said, stroking her chin.
"Aili, when you control the gem, do you have any other feelings?"
"Other feelings?" Aili took the hair ornament into her hand. As she willed it, some black mist gathered in her hand. "No other feelings."
"Then how do you control this power?"
"Well, I just think about it. I just think about this black mist, and it floats to my hand on its own."
"Alright, it seems we can't explain the gem's power. As long as it's harmless to you, it's fine," Fu Hua sighed.
She knew that even if she asked Aili to explain in more detail, Aili wouldn't be able to.
It could be said that most of Aili's power relied on her thoughts; she believed she could do it this way.
"Keep the gem safe yourself. It seems the gem doesn't like other people either," Fu Hua picked up the chopsticks nearby. "Let's eat. It won't taste good if it gets cold."
"Ah, mhm, I understand." Aili was momentarily stunned. Shouldn't they try to understand the dangers of something like a gem as soon as possible? Why were they suddenly eating again?
But looking at the color of the braised pork in front of her, Aili's mouth began to water.
She directly put the hair ornament into her pocket, then picked up her chopsticks and grabbed a piece of braised pork.
"Delicious," Aili said with immense happiness.
"Hua, how did you make this braised pork? It was such a short time." Feeling the soft, glutinous texture in her mouth, Aili asked curiously.
"It's very simple. You just need to break up the meat," Fu Hua said with a calm expression.
"Break up?"
"Mhm, you just need to break up all the connective tissue in the meat without damaging the outermost layer of meat," Fu Hua said, picking up a piece of meat and putting it into her bowl.
After breaking the meat into two pieces, she showed Aili the cross-section of the meat. The meat fibers were connected one by one, looking very appetizing.
After hearing Fu Hua's words, "Hua, no one will be able to learn your cooking method," Aili said.
"Which means, if I want to keep eating such delicious braised pork, only Hua can make it for me."
"Mhm, I'll make it for you whenever you want to eat," Fu Hua nodded casually.
Aili immediately turned to look at Fu Hua's serious expression. "Hua, what you're doing is very unfair!" Aili reached out and poked Fu Hua's face a few times.
"What's wrong?" Fu Hua asked somewhat strangely.
"Never mind. Hua really doesn't understand these things. And here I was, just touched," Aili sighed, then continued to eat the delicious food in front of her.
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