[Switching to the Traveler's perspective…]
"It switched perspectives already? I haven't watched enough yet." Little Gui's tone was full of regret.
[This is already a blatant hint that the Geo Archon is Zhongli. Looking similar could be called a coincidence, but looking similar when the Geo Archon hasn't died can no longer be explained by coincidence.]
[So… we're helping the Geo Archon organize his own funeral?]
[Quoting one of Dvalin's lines — Do something useful, Morax!]
After the usual black screen for loading, the screen entered darkness.
A line of text appeared:
[A while ago…]
Using the teleport waypoint, Lumine and Paimon arrived at the Guili Assembly, then headed straight for Fengdeng Lou with clear purpose.
Arriving at the second floor of Fengdeng Lou, the two found the shopkeeper.
"Shopkeeper, good afternoon." Paimon was unusually familiar.
The shopkeeper turned around, saw Lumine and Paimon, and said in surprise: "So it's the two distinguished guests. Welcome, welcome."
Lumine asked in confusion: "Shopkeeper, you know us?"
This seemed to be the first time the two had formally met the Fengdeng Lou shopkeeper. Previously they had only seen his back from afar.
"You two don't know me, but I certainly know you two." The shopkeeper smiled, "Before, when General Bonanus brought the two distinguished guests up to the third floor, I already remembered you."
"The third floor is the Marshal's exclusive room. If the two of you could enter, who else could be distinguished guests if not you?"
"I see." Paimon smiled, "Shopkeeper, since we are distinguished guests, I wonder if we could pack one — no, two portions of Fengdeng Lou's special thousand-layer sweet sand pastry?"
The shopkeeper smiled: "Of course you can. However, please don't call me 'shopkeeper' anymore. That would shorten my lifespan."
Even though they were all distinguished guests, their statuses were different.
Being able to enter the Marshal's exclusive room meant their relationship with the Marshal was extraordinary. The shopkeeper did not dare to neglect such guests.
"You two distinguished guests may call me by my real name."
"My surname is Chen, given name Yuan, courtesy name Ping'an."
[Dream collaboration.]
[? Chen Ping'an?]
[This shopkeeper feels like he really knows how to use a sword.]
[With this surname and this courtesy name, miHoYo is using him as an NPC? Are they sure they don't plan to make him playable?]
"I feel like he's going to shout 'sword' any second now." Little Gui examined the three dialogue options that appeared:
Option 1: Hello, Chen Ping'an.
Option 2: Do you know swordsmanship?
Option 3: Won't this name of yours really cause copyright issues?
"All three options feel so lively." Little Gui's expression management was failing, "Option three is for Stelle, we'll pick two."
This immediately caused strong opposition from the enthusiastic viewers in the livestream.
Helpless, Little Gui could only choose three.
Chen Yuan scratched his head and said: "Ah? What does that mean?"
Paimon looked at Lumine with helpless eyes and said: "Can you not say things other people don't understand at a time like this?"
With that, Paimon turned to Chen Yuan and said: "Ignore her. Two portions of thousand-layer sweet sand pastry, packed to go, thank you."
"Alright, please wait a moment."
Chen Yuan went to the kitchen on the second floor. Before long, he returned holding two exquisitely packaged boxes.
"Dear guests, here are your thousand-layer sweet sand pastries."
Lumine took the boxes: "Thank you. How many Mora?"
"Put it on my tab, no need for Mora." Chen Yuan waved his hand.
Paimon waved her hand: "There's no need for that, we have Mora."
"Just treat it as returning a favor. When the time comes, please put in a few good words for me in front of the Marshal." Chen Yuan smiled kindly.
"Then thank you for your kindness, Ping'an."
Lumine did not bother with any more pleasantries. She put away the two boxes of pastries and left Fengdeng Lou with Paimon.
The moment they stepped out of Fengdeng Lou's main door, Paimon couldn't wait any longer: "Lumine, sweet sand pastry! Sweet sand pastry!"
"I knew it." Lumine shook her head with a smile, "I remember Bonanus once mentioned that there is a place in the Guili Assembly with a view of the sea."
"Let's go there, enjoy the sea view while eating the pastries."
"Okay!" Paimon was so excited she spun in the air, then flew ahead, "Hurry, hurry!"
[Sea view? Looks like we're recycling another PV scene.]
[The weather in the Guili Assembly is still bright and sunny, but Jun Bai has dark clouds overhead?]
[It might be a time difference. After all, before switching perspectives, it was mentioned that this was "a while ago."]
Lumine and Paimon walked together and arrived at a scenic viewpoint.
Lumine took out a box of thousand-layer sweet sand pastries from her backpack. When she opened it, there were eight pieces inside.
This made things easy — four each.
Paimon picked one up and impatiently stuffed it into her mouth: "Mmm~ So sweet, so delicious!"
Is there anything in Teyvat that you think tastes bad? Lumine looked at Paimon and smiled helplessly.
She reached out, picked up a pastry, and took a gentle bite.
The crust was golden and slightly hard to the touch. When bitten, layer after layer of crispy texture spread between her lips and teeth.
The outer layer was crisp, while the inner filling was exceptionally dense. The red bean paste was not overly sweet and carried the fragrant aroma of the ingredients. The more she chewed, the sweeter and more fragrant it became.
The moment she swallowed, Lumine had only one thought:
One more bite!
A traveler who had journeyed between the stars for hundreds of years had rarely tasted desserts of this level.
It could even be said to be the first time.
"It's really delicious."
[No, isn't this cutscene a bit too detailed? It's making me hungry just watching.]
[This is the situation where watching game livestreams makes me hungry.]
[I want something sweet right now. Already ordered milk tea.]
"I feel like I need afternoon tea." Little Gui picked up her phone and ordered herself a full dessert afternoon tea set, plus a milk tea with 30% sugar and less ice.
After placing the delivery order, Little Gui continued the story.
In the plot, Lumine and Paimon ate the pastries while admiring the sea view below.
A gentle breeze blew, and the sea surface was vast and majestic. The water and sky merged into one color, making it momentarily impossible to distinguish between the sea and the sky.
"Lumine, look!" Paimon pointed at a distant solitary island.
"That should be the Guyun Stone Forest that Jun Bai mentioned. It's really hard to imagine that it was actually formed from the rock spear thrown by the Rex Lapis." Paimon sighed as she looked at the island whose scale could still be felt even from here.
After thinking for a while, Lumine said: "I remember when Jun Bai introduced it, he said that below it is suppressed the god Osial, who was a formidable power even during the Archon War."
"Miss Bonanus also mentioned that battle when she was introducing it." Paimon nodded in agreement.
"…The Marshal fought a great battle with it and severely injured its body. Rex Lapis cast down a rock spear to suppress its authority. The Dust God set up a seal so that it could never escape for all eternity…" Lumine recited the words Bonanus had said at that time.
[No, Osial's treatment is really something. All three major gods of Liyue took turns giving him the death penalty.]
[Osial: Back then, the God of Dreams only had to face one Nirvana God. What did I do to deserve facing three gods at the same time?]
[This also indirectly shows that Osial's strength is indeed not comparable to ordinary gods.]
[By "ordinary god," do you mean the God of Dreams who got completely wiped out along with his entire army by a newly born god who was barely over a hundred years old?]
"Thinking about it this way, the origin of Guyun Stone Forest is really extraordinary." Paimon sighed while looking at Guyun Stone Forest, "In a sense, this Guyun Stone Forest should have been jointly created by four gods, right?"
Before her words even finished, dark clouds instantly gathered in the sky. The gentle wind suddenly became violent, nearly blowing Paimon away.
"Ah! I'm about to be blown away!"
Lumine immediately reached out and grabbed Paimon's clothes.
Paimon's body danced in the air. Her gaze kept shifting, and she unintentionally saw the sea surface.
"Lumine! There seems to be something in the sea!"