164: Descendants

After communicating with Xiangling and Chef Mao, the three arrived at a stove in the back room of Wanmin Restaurant.

Needless to say, Wanmin Restaurant in reality is much larger than in the game. Xiangling specially chose a back room for them to use; it was the stove that he and his father used for cooking their own meals daily.

Ying'er asked Lumine and Paimon to fetch a bucket of water, and then began his teaching.

"The first step is to mash the petals and pistils into a paste. Come on, little one, let me teach you. You must hold the pestle gently and tenderly like this, and make sure your palm is pressed closely against it. Never let it slip."

Lumine understood, his palm subconsciously making the motion: "Is it like this?"

Ying'er: ?!

—What is this? What is this technique?

—The angle of his palm, the curve of his fingers, how could it be so precise? It's as if, as if there really is a... in his hand.

—No, that's not right! I saw it! I think I really saw it!!!

—What, what is this size?!

In a daze, he seemed to see some phantom being held in Lumine's hand!

Ying'er had already realized something was wrong, but he would not stop. He nodded and said: "Yes! Miss Lumine is doing it perfectly! Now, let's continue to the next step! Next, stir with the rhythm you are most familiar with, until the juice of the Silk Flower..."

Lumine nodded: "Stir, huh..."

Although he didn't know why he had gone from being called "little cutie" to being addressed as a peer, his hand still started moving.

Ying'er was shocked again.

Lumine frowned; acting without the actual object was too difficult, so he intended to ask Ying'er for advice again. But when he looked up, he found Ying'er staring at his hand in a daze.

"Sister Ying'er? Sister Ying'er?"

Lumine called out twice without getting a response, then waved his hand in front of Ying'er. Ying'er finally came back to his senses and said hurriedly: "Ah? Oh, oh, I was just distracted. Go ahead, Senior."

Lumine: ???

Senior? Who? Me?

Although the process was rather strange, the result was successful. Under the careful guidance of little Ying'er, Grandmaster Lumine finally made three bottles of perfume with different scents.

Placing the perfume into his small bag, the three walked out of Wanmin Restaurant.

"Teacher, please take care." Ying'er bowed respectfully.

Lumine hurriedly helped him up: "You don't have to do this. I also just follow the careful guidance of my master every day to achieve these results!"

"Grandmaster?! " Ying'er looked extremely excited: "Teacher, I, do I have the opportunity to see the Grandmaster's face and ask him to give me personal instruction?"

"Uh... I'll go back and talk to him about it. Given his personality, I don't think he would refuse."

"That's great!"

Watching the two master and apprentice singing in harmony, Paimon was speechless on the side: "Have you two forgotten to mention the perfume?"

Ying'er then came back to his senses: "Oh, right, right. The three perfumes made just now are of three different scents. The purple one is mature and elegant, most liked by mature women."

Paimon nodded: "Purple, big sister scent, simple, I've got it."

"This red one is passionate and unrestrained, most suitable for young girls."

"Understood, red corresponds to young girls, noted."

Lumine looked at the third one: "And what about this pink one?"

"That is the infant scent."

Lumine, Paimon: ???

What is your reference object?

"Finally cleaned up!"

A group of Millelith soldiers had killed all the wandering Ruin Guards near Lingju Pass. Some of the mechanical parts inside could be collected for reuse, which was very cost-effective.

Actually, Huo Xi had the ability to help them solve it after dealing with Dottore's child segment, but after looking at the combat effectiveness of the Millelith, he felt it was unnecessary. The combat effectiveness of the Millelith was quite strong.

If he had taken action, this group of Millelith would have already returned to base.

However, as luck would have it, it was precisely because Huo Xi didn't help that the Millelith were late to return, which led them to encounter that child.

It was a little girl with blue hair, wearing two buns on her head.

The Millelith soldiers were warm-hearted. Seeing a little girl walking towards them, she quickly ran over and asked: "Little sister, why are you here alone? It's very dangerous here!"

However, the moment they met her gaze, all the soldiers fell into a dull-eyed state, moving like marionettes.

The little girl confirmed everyone's state and nodded: "Follow me, dig through the seal, and meet the true master of the thousand mountains and thousand rocks!"

"...Yes."

Just like that, Azhdahas Avatar led the group of Millelith soldiers towards the Fulong Tree illuminated by the moonlight.

Under the statue of the seven in Liyue Harbor, under Zhongli's guidance, Lumine placed the three perfumes under the statue of the seven in batches. Finally, when placing the purple perfume, the statue of the seven emitted light.

Paimon nodded: "So Rex Lapis likes the big sister style?"

Zhongli also said: "With this, it is decided which perfume to offer. You can take the remaining two for your own use; it just so happens that one is for young girls and one is for infants."

"Who are you calling an infant?" Paimon hugged his arms, a bit unhappy.

Next, Zhongli began to assign new tasks: "I will go back and offer this perfume on Yujing Terrace later. As for you, please help me find an old friend and borrow a Catalyst from her, the item is called [Cleansing Bell]."

Paimon wrote down the name [Cleansing Bell] in his small notebook, then asked: "Where is this old friend of yours, what is her name?"

"She is also near Yujing Terrace, just go find Grandma Ping."

After explaining the matters, Lumine and Paimon left quickly, leaving Zhongli alone staring at the statue of the seven in a daze.

Not long after, someone suddenly called his name from behind.

"Zhongli? What are you doing here?"

Zhongli turned back and saw Huo Xi carrying Hu Tao appearing behind him.

Zhongli closed his eyes and sighed. Have your role definitions been fixed?

Huo Xi put Hu Tao down, and Zhongli greeted them: "Hall Master, Brother Huo. You came at an inopportune time, Lumine and Paimon just left."

"Oh, you are preparing for the Rite of Descension, I see." Hu Tao nodded, looking at Zhongli and Huo Xi, feeling that they had something to say, so she took the initiative to speak: "I'll go over there to catch a few Crystalflies, you two chat for a while."

After speaking, she ran away alone.

Zhongli looked at Hu Tao's back: "The Hall Master is indeed clever."

"Yes." Huo Xi nodded.

Zhongli looked at him again: "Is there something you want to say?"

Huo Xi pondered for a moment and told Zhongli about Dottore.

Zhongli's expression became solemn after listening, and he frowned tightly: "Thank you. It seems that even after stepping down from the duty of the Geo Archon, I cannot let my guard down."

Huo Xi knew that Zhongli would probably pay more attention to the Fatui's actions after this, so he could rest assured.

This couldn't be blamed on him for not noticing before. After all, it's hard for an ordinary person to imagine that Dottore, that son of a bitch, could come up with such a shitty idea that definitely wouldn't have been thought of if his brain hadn't been soaked in feces.

However, Huo Xi also felt a little uncomfortable about this: "Zhongli, have I told you about my Clairvoyance?"

"You mentioned it while drinking tea, what's wrong?"

Huo Xi pondered for a moment: "In my Clairvoyance, although Dottore originally built an arsenal in Liyue, he didn't do the thing of kidnapping children. This matter is likely the butterfly effect caused by me taking action against his segment in Mondstadt, and his appearance in Mondstadt was because I took action against La Signora. So, did I save these children, or did I cause them to experience suffering they shouldn't have had to endure?"

Zhongli looked at Huo Xi and patted his shoulder: "Suffering always happens in life. Even with the celestial canopy and fate stars anchoring the future, the sentient beings of Teyvat will always have times when they deviate from their tracks and bring about disaster. This has nothing to do with who is right or wrong. On the contrary, if you use your status as a Descender well, you might be able to bring a different future to the common people."

Huo Xi shook his head: "But I have never actively changed any major events. I only did what I could within a small range. Those who really received good influences might just have happened to go in a good direction."

"The status of a Descender is indeed cheating; you are someone who can change the world through your will." Zhongli continued: "Even if you didn't actively influence certain major events, I believe you must have thought about letting certain things develop in a good direction in your heart, right? Or rather, want to make up for some regrets you saw? So, if you really encounter some regrets you don't want to happen in the future, feel free to intervene."

Huo Xi couldn't deny it. He really thought, 'I've already come to Teyvat, if some tragedies still happen, wouldn't I have come for nothing?'

But he was still a little worried: "But the ending of things still develops according to the original trajectory. Even if I caused a significant butterfly effect along the way, the ending of the Mondstadt incident still happened in the direction it was supposed to happen."

Huo Xi meant that although his intervention changed many events in the process, during the period, due to some reasons such as 'he forgot' or 'who did what', the same ending as the game would always happen. The system settlement rewards he kept receiving were proof of this.

It was as if he was always worried that his intervention would be too much and cause the plot to not continue, affecting his ability to get system settlement rewards, but in fact, no matter how much the process changed, the plot still pushed forward step by step and happened at the time and place where certain things were supposed to happen.

Regarding this, Zhongli only asked one question: "Then have you ever hoped for the ending to change?"

Huo Xi stared at him blankly, and finally shook his head. He wanted system rewards, so naturally, he subconsciously hoped that the plot could come step by step.

Zhongli smiled slightly and looked at the statue of the seven again: "That's why I said the status of a Descender is really cheating."