Genshin Impact, Teyvat's own beloved immortal.

"Welcome to Narukami Taisha Shrine! Visitors are required to purchase tickets to enter the shrine! Adult tickets are 10,000 yen, and children are half price! It is forbidden to bring flammable items into the shrine. Incense can be purchased at your own expense if you wish to make a wish."

Now I understand.

Inazuma has suddenly realized the predicament of his small country and had a sudden epiphany.

The country is small to begin with, and it consists mostly of islands, some of which are heavily polluted and have scarce resources.

Blindly closing ourselves off will only lead to our own destruction. Importing food and developing the tertiary sector are the only ways to survive.

There must be a wicked person guiding them behind the scenes!

Having come this far, what else could he do? Lu Sheng wasn't short of money, so he bought a ticket and continued up the mountain.

As time went by, Paimon went from making grand pronouncements to remaining silent, and finally began rambling incoherently.

"I need to rest... I can't take it anymore... I'm... I'm going to die..."

Lu Sheng glanced back at Paimon, who was half-dead, and was really afraid that she might die at any moment. So he pointed to the pavilion not far away and encouraged her, "Keep going, rest when you get there."

"Huff... huff... as long as... as long as I can get to that place..."

Paimon practically crawled to the edge of the pavilion before being pulled up by Riku, who was already resting inside.

She ignored everything and lay sprawled on the ground to rest.

The two men who were already in the pavilion burst into laughter at the sight.

"Hey friend, is this your sister? Haha, she's so cute!"

One of the blond, blue-eyed outsiders started chatting with the mainland student.

"Yes, she is my sister."

"Did you come to Narukami Taisha to pray or to see the chief priest?"

At this moment, another man spoke up: "Look at them, they're not Inatsuma people. They must be foreigners who just arrived in Inatsuma. Why would they come to the Inatsuma shrine to pray? They must be here to pull strings, just like you and me."

“Hehe, you’re right.” Then the blond man began to introduce himself: “My name is Henry, I’m from Mondstadt, and I’m a liquor merchant. When I heard that Inazuma was open, I rushed here to do business as soon as possible. As long as I can get the liquor business license first, I’ll be rich.”

The black-haired man next to him continued, "I don't have that many tricks up my sleeve. I'll just say it bluntly: I'm a womanizer! I want to see what that beautiful Guan Bai looks like, and whether she's as divine as the rumors say."

Henry gave him a thumbs up: "Friend, you have guts! You're so straightforward! But I heard that gaining the approval of this palace chief is not easy at all. She doesn't care about ordinary treasures at all. Only rare treasures can bribe her to agree to help introduce you to the Grand Chancellor. For this, I have prepared a case of aged dandelion wine, which was brewed by my grandfather. It is priceless in Mondstadt, and even if you are rich, you may not be able to taste it."

"What I prepared was a pearl taken from a thousand-year-old clam spirit. It was perfectly round, without a single flaw, and it even emitted a faint glow at night. Experts estimated its value at at least tens of millions."

Then the two of them turned to look at Lu Sheng and asked, "And you? What gift did you bring?"

Lu Sheng quietly tightened his grip on the bag containing the fried tofu.

"No, I'm just here for sightseeing, not to give gifts."

It was ostensibly a sightseeing trip, but in reality, it was a robbery.

"Oh, then let's not disturb your rest any longer. Let's continue up the mountain and make it in time for the midday shrine festival."

After saying their goodbyes to Riku, the two hurriedly departed in hopes of securing a chance to meet Kanpaku.

It turns out that no matter what world you're in, gift-giving is always a crucial skill.

I reckon Xingqiu will have to make a special trip once he finds out about this.

Being able to meet with the Regent in person to discuss matters is a huge advantage, especially at this crucial juncture when the gates have just been opened.

Lu Sheng looked up as he pondered, and suddenly realized that Paimon was gone.

He immediately got up and looked around, finally finding Paimon crouching under a tree, sneaking around doing something suspicious.

Hehe! So cute~

Paimon made rustling noises, completely unaware of the figure approaching from behind.

Lu Sheng approached and discovered that she was playing with a little fox.

What are you doing?

The sudden noise startled Paimon and the little fox. The fox darted into the tree hole, leaving only its eyes peeking out warily.

"Master, you scared the little fox away! I finally managed to get it out of its den!"

Hakimon also threw a tantrum like a child.

"Just scare it away and then call it back out," Lu Sheng said, squatting down and uttering the universal summoning phrase to the little fox in the tree hole: "Suckling sounds..."

Unexpectedly, the fox not only didn't obediently come over to be petted, but instead rolled its eyes at him.

Can this be tolerated?

Lu Sheng patted himself down and found he didn't have much to eat, so he took out two fried tofu puffs from his bag and threw them over.

"What fox would eat fried tofu?"

Before Paimon could finish speaking, the little fox actually crawled out of the hole, cautiously sniffed the fried tofu on the ground, and then happily ate it.

"Wow! It actually eats! Does Inazuma's fox like to eat vegetarian food?"

Paimon, having had his eyes opened, suddenly found the herbivorous fox even more adorable.

Lu Sheng clicked his tongue and said, "Wow~ No wonder that scumbag fox lives here, even her pet fox loves to eat this stuff."

"Master, master, may I take it into the Dust Song Pot to raise?"

Paimon stared longingly at Lu Sheng.

"Wild foxes are dirty, let's ignore them and go."

Just as Lu Sheng was about to leave with Paimon, the fox, having finished its fried tofu, seemed to understand that the person in front of it was cursing it. Instantly, it changed its expression, baring its teeth and hissing at Lu Sheng.

"You dare breathe on me after I give you food? Do you think you're so special?"

Without saying a word, Lu Sheng kicked it off the mountain and instructed Paimon: "Next time you encounter one like this, just kill it."

The two continued climbing and finally arrived at Narukami Shrine near noon.

"Wow! There are so many people! Hmm? It looks like some event is about to start, let's go check it out!"

After reaching the top, Paimon seemed to forget his fatigue and rushed up to squeeze into the crowd.

Beneath the sacred cherry blossoms, a stage for sacrificial rites was erected. Several shrine maidens stood on either side of the left, their faces expressionless and their heads bowed, seemingly waiting for a certain moment to arrive.

Jingle bell bell bell~

A clear bell rang out from inside the shrine, followed by the playing of classical music.

The priestess standing at the front shouted loudly, "The High Priest has arrived!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a beautiful pink figure emerged from the shrine, surrounded by elegant music.

Yae no Miko, wearing wooden clogs and holding a gohei (a type of shrine maiden), made a grand entrance with the steps of a shrine maiden.

A noble, elegant, and inviolable aura was perfectly embodied in her.

The moment Yae no Kami appeared, all eyes in the arena found their place.

"My goodness! If the palace attendant is this beautiful, then what about the regent?"

"Why bother meeting the regent? No matter how pretty she is, can she be as pretty as the High Priest? Just seeing the High Priest's face is enough to excite me to the point of waving my flag!"

"I want to be the Goddess's dog!"

Someone shouted something, drawing Yae no Miko's attention.

Her noble and aloof demeanor was tinged with a captivating and alluring charm; a single glance from her was enough to make every man hold his breath.

Those were captivating eyes!

"Is this unbelievable? How come these people act like they've never seen a woman before?"

Lu Sheng mingled in the crowd, silently reciting to himself.

To be fair, the performance was really good, and it was worth half the ticket price.

If all the shrine maidens could wear black stockings, it would be worth doubling the price!

Yae no Miko slowly walked onto the stage, raised the gohei with both hands, and gently touched the sacred cherry tree.

Hey~

A clear, ethereal voice that could penetrate the heart spread out, as if it could resonate with the soul.

The surroundings instantly became quiet, and everyone was peacefully enjoying the soothing music that cleansed their souls.

Suddenly, a masked figure burst out from the crowd, lunging forward while gripping the hilt of a sword and unleashing a slash at Yae no Miko.

"Ok?"

The Divine Child caught sight of the attacker out of the corner of his eye. After a lazy, puzzled look, he flicked the gohei in his hand behind him, and several bolts of lightning instantly blasted towards the attacker.

The attacker had already made his move and couldn't retract it, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and use his knife to strike at the lightning.

Bang!

A burst of icy mist erupted from the man's blade, colliding with and canceling out the lightning. After regaining his balance, he suddenly attacked again, sweeping his blade to unleash a horizontal icy tornado that flew towards the divine child.

"How dare you attempt to assassinate me, the Palace Attendant, in broad daylight!"

The Eightfold Divine Child remained unmoved, dodging the ice tornado in a flash, and then unleashing another bolt of lightning that struck the assassin on the head.

Boom!

The assassin managed to dodge, but this time the lightning still struck her body, knocking off her mask and revealing her true face.

Holy crap! Ayaka Kamisato?

Lu Sheng, who had been watching the show with a relaxed attitude, suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Ayaka Kamisato assassinated Yae no Miko? Am I insane, or has the world gone mad?

Rikuo really wanted to call his good brother right now. When Ayaka Kamisato came out, he shouted that he wanted to be Ayaka Kamisato's dog, and when Miko Yae came out, he shouted that he wanted to be Miko Yae's dog.

He's quite the genius.

Now that his two owners are fighting, wouldn't he be heartbroken to see that?

"Hehe~ I thought it was someone else? It turns out to be a remnant of the Kamisato family. You've come at the right time. Just grab him and send him to Kanpaku, so you won't cause me any more trouble."

Yae no longer concealed his strength, brandishing his holy coin, and unleashed a series of thunderbolts, forcing Ayaka Kamisato into a corner.

"Just obey orders properly. Why do you have to oppose the Regent? This is all your own fault, the Kamisato family."