Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

"I can't stay here forever, after all," Shen Liang chuckled.

Philgoldate bit her lip, wanting to say something, like, "I'm very rich, I can support you," or "Shall we go together?" but she ultimately remained silent. Countless thoughts flooded her mind, but she also knew very well that the responsibility she had to protect in this inn far outweighed any sense of happiness she might have felt.

“I’m so unwilling to accept this,” Philgoldette whispered behind him. “When I met you, I was already an old lady.”

"Put your clothes on, Sister Phil." Shen Liang didn't respond much, just kissed her lips, picked up his suitcase and left. His main luggage was actually stored in Neuschwanstein Castle on the other side of the teleportation screen, so he only had a suitcase for show.

He then pushed open the guest room door and calmly walked towards the elevator outside. At that moment, a middle-aged man with a somewhat aged appearance, Huai'an, the innkeeper of Wangshu Inn, happened to be riding up the elevator. The two exchanged a glance and passed each other.

Huai'an was somewhat stunned; it was the first time he had ever seen such a beautiful child. Just then, he saw his wife rush out of the guest room. Her face seemed to palen slightly for a moment when she saw him, but quickly replaced by a joyful expression. She smiled sweetly and said, "Huai'an!"

"The rain was too heavy, and there was a problem. I only got home today." Huai'an smiled and hugged his young wife from Mondstadt. Then he turned his head and said with some surprise, "That guest was so beautiful. Although she was dressed in men's clothing, she looked like a young lady from a wealthy family."

Phil Gaudette couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"What are you laughing at? What's so funny?" Huai'an said helplessly. "Sigh, if only we could have such a beautiful daughter."

Phil Gaudette embraced her husband, watching through his broad, sturdy shoulders as the boy descended and disappeared in the elevator. In the final scene, she saw Shen Liang smiling and waving goodbye. She sniffled softly and hugged her husband tighter.

“Huai’an,” she said softly.

"What's wrong?" Huai'an felt that his wife seemed a little too happy to see him today, but it was a really heartwarming feeling.

“Then let’s have a child as beautiful as him,” Phil Gaudette said softly. “Haven’t you been thinking about this for a long time?”

Huai'an was overjoyed, but then asked doubtfully, "Goldette, didn't you always feel it wasn't the right time? Didn't you say you'd wait until the inn was taken over by the next person before considering having children? Why the sudden change of heart..."

He was much older than Phil Gaudette and had always cherished his young and beautiful wife, always deferring to her wishes. She didn't want things to be delayed because of the child, so Huai'an granted her wish.

“Just in case…” Philgoldet gently stroked her belly, recalling the dreamlike life she had lived these past few days. Her voice was low and her eyes were tender.

Huai'an didn't hear what his wife mumbled, but was simply immersed in the happiness of having his wish fulfilled.

----------

Shen Liang originally wanted to catch a caravan. He was supposed to take a boat to Mingyun Town Port and follow the caravan to Mondstadt to Wangshu Inn. Now he could follow the caravan to Liyue and go directly from Wangshu Inn through the vast Guili Plain to Liyue Harbor by the sea.

Because this journey is very long, and most of the area is wilderness with only a few small villages along the way, you may have to camp out in the open for a long time. So, following a caravan is the best option, at least you can stay in a tent at night and learn about the local customs and culture.

But he missed the caravan.

When he went downstairs, there was only one caravan left heading to Liyue Harbor. Unfortunately, it was a caravan transporting preserved products, and the caravan was full of burly men. The smell of salted fish mixed with the men's body odor from not having showered for a month or two. He couldn't accept the thought of having to live in a tent with such men for several days.

He is a person with a certain degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder related to cleanliness.

"You're out of touch with the masses! How dare you look down on the hard work and sweat of the vast working people! You're a lackey accustomed to a petty-bourgeois lifestyle!" Torachiyo loudly rebuked. "I didn't raise a little wolfhound like you who's out of touch with reality! You weren't like this before!"

Where did you learn all these clichés?

【Your pink app's comment section is full of people like this.】

Shen Liang shrugged. Of course, he didn't discriminate against these merchants. Hardworking and simple people are always worthy of praise. Strictly speaking, it was people like him who were used to a bourgeois lifestyle who should be criticized.

However, humans are ultimately visual creatures, and it's always difficult to reconcile theory with practice. Shen Liang genuinely couldn't accept sitting in a carriage that smelled of salted fish and getting covered in the smell of salted fish. In fact, he even bought groceries at supermarkets rather than the bustling vegetable market.

Even with the ability to self-cleanse himself via the Moonlit Sea, he still maintained the habit of showering at least once a day in winter and at least three times a day in summer. He would only wear his own and Rosalia and Lilia's personal items, such as stockings and underwear, for a month at most before disposing of them, so he spent money like water.

Interestingly, this wasn't a habit he developed after making money; he already had obsessive-compulsive tendencies back in Siberia. Fortunately, the orphanage's supplies were unevenly distributed rather than scarce. Aside from fresh fruits, vegetables, and snacks, which were indeed unavailable, there was plenty of clothing, meat, and even alcohol. Shen Liang didn't care if his sisters wore one item and threw it away.

It's clear that every child in the orphanage is somewhat abnormal.

Although he missed the caravan, the Wangshu Inn did manage to get him a horse.

Shen Liang is actually quite interested in the chivalrous spirit of roaming the world with a sword and a horse. What young boy doesn't yearn for such a chivalrous knight-errant in white horse and light fur? Inazuma is an island with a messy terrain, which is only suitable for short-distance carriages. Caravans travel by boat. Only in a vast and resource-rich place like Liyue can one gallop on horseback for days and nights without stopping.

It is said that it takes five days and five nights to travel from Wangshu Inn to Liyue Harbor, riding horses during the day and resting at night.

In short, it was awesome.

Then he sadly discovered that he couldn't even mount the smallest proper horse at Wangshu Inn, or rather, even when he was sitting on the horse's back, his feet couldn't reach the stirrups.

The horse races in Liyue are designed for strong, muscular men who are at least 1.7 meters tall. There are definitely men who are stronger, but smaller ones are preferred…

It's not that there's none at all.

While suppressing a laugh, the maidservant told him that there were also miniature horses from Nata. Generally speaking, these horses, which are less than 1.42 meters tall, are for girls or children who are new to riding horses. These words made Shen Liang feel that he had been insulted. He would rather walk away amidst the maidservant's laughter than ride the miniature horse.

Chapter Seven: The Tall, Ice-Style Leather-Pants Big Sister

However, Shen Liang did not actually intend to travel to Liyue Harbor on foot.

Not to mention that he can make continuous jumps within a kilometer by repeatedly entering and exiting the teleportation light curtain, since doing that all the time would prevent him from appreciating the scenery—it's just that he doesn't have a horse, and there are plenty of other suitable means of transportation in this kind of place.

He rode Kiana's black Harley-Davidson out of the garage. In the vast, uninhabited plains, Shen Liang never liked wearing a helmet. So the American violent muscles of the motorcycle and the cool boy's long black hair blowing backward in the wind appeared at the same time. The two things with completely opposite styles were surprisingly harmonious, like a splash of ink.

The boy sped across the land.

It had rained for a whole day, and the dirt road along the trade route was a little muddy, but the Harley was fast and tall enough that it wouldn't splash on you.

Shen Liang occasionally passed by some remote villages along the way, and sometimes brushed past some caravans on their way. At these times, those people would look at him with astonishment as he rode his strange-looking alchemical vehicle. Shen Liang was in a good mood, enjoying the ride, and waved to everyone along the way. Unfortunately, the Harley was just too fast, and he almost never got a response before he had already sped off a hundred meters away.

To outsiders, the young man on the motorcycle looked dashing in his riding gear. The weather was exceptionally good; the sun baked the earth, giving it a fragrant scent, and the air was crisp with fallen leaves drifting in the breeze. This kind of weather was perfect for riding a motorcycle around aimlessly, not caring where you were going, just going wherever the wind took you.

Tiger Chiyo changed into a petite loli pose, straddling the leather seat in front of Shen Liang, so that she could face him, hug his waist, and bury her face in his chest.

"Why did you deliberately shrink?" Shen Liang looked down at the tiny ghost loli.

“Now that you’ve grown bigger, I’ll shield you from the wind. That’s perfect.” Torachiyo said lazily, sniffing the faint scent of shower gel on him. “Besides, it would be too strange for us to sit face to face in the car when we’re at our normal size.”

Shen Liang thought about the scene and realized that it was indeed not even a question of whether it was strange or not; a normal-sized female like Tora Chiyo would completely block his view.

[Current Stigmata: Mikoto Chiyo]

[Recovery Timeframe: 175 years]

[Blessing of the Sacred Mark - Transmission of All Martial Arts: Mikoto Chiyo honed her martial arts throughout her life, defeating countless enemies and mastering numerous external martial arts techniques. You will inherit Mikoto Chiyo's thousand-year-old martial arts, but only through muscle memory.]

Shen Liang felt a mix of emotions every time he saw his overflowing collection of Holy Marks and his lonely Holy Marks.

He has only ever had one Stigmata, and now that Ruka Sango has been revived, he is considered human. In a way, Torachiyo has been quite lonely following him for so long.

"So when are we going to contract the next Heroic Spirit?" Torachiyo asked listlessly.

Shen Liang checked the progress of the Stigmata candidates. Currently, the candidates, in order of progress, are Naganohara Yomi, Kamisato Ayaka, Kujo Sara, and the Lady. He had previously made a deal with the system that he needed three candidates with full progress consecutively to unlock the Leyline Contract Heroic Spirit. Apart from Kamisato Ayaka, he was still two short.

Although Anna seems to be able to communicate telepathically and possesses the same Shenliang Stigmata as the Stigmata Candidates, the system does not explain this and does not count Anna as a Fully Loaded Candidate.

“Two more are needed.” Shen Liang squinted, enjoying the cool morning breeze after the rain, and casually stroked the hair of the oni loli in his arms. “But this is Liyue, not Inazuma anymore. The people I can contract with may not be friends you used to know, like, for example, Miss Fox Palace.”

"It's okay to make some new friends, it's best to have someone to chat with!" Torachiyo muttered. "It's so boring to only chat with you every day... Ah, I'm not saying I don't like you, it's just that you spend most of your time with other people, so I can only chat with you when no one's around."

"I'm sorry." Shen Liang knew he felt indebted to this top employee.

"No need for apologies, I've already won enough by being given a second chance at life." She pouted. "But you're rarely alone. In Teyvat, you're a womanizer and have girls everywhere you go. On Earth, your brother-obsessed sisters are always clinging to you. When you finally have some private space, that Miss Anna always manages to sneak in."

Shen Liang scratched his head. It seemed to be true. No wonder Torachiyo had been so resentful lately.

"Boss, you haven't paid me for a month!" Torachiyo grinned, grinding her little tiger teeth. "What do you mean?"

Shen Liang chuckled. Tiger Chiyo's boundless enthusiasm as a member of the Oni clan remained unchanged; she never concealed her desires and motives. According to the contract, the so-called "payment" meant that Shen Liang had to fulfill this request.

Of course, this request doesn't necessarily have to be indescribable. In fact, Shen Liang prefers to resolve things through combat. The Ghost Clan also reveres combat, so sparring with her... or being beaten by her for a few hours, would have the same effect.

In short, the price to borrow her power is to make her happy.

"But it's only been a month?" Shen Liang retorted, "It was clearly that night at the Royal Hot Spring..."

"Stop talking." Torachiyo rubbed her temples, sighed, and said with distress, "I clearly... Sigh, sorry boss, I remembered wrong."

Shen Liang noticed that Hu Qiandai's expression had become even more depressed.

Shen Liang sensed that Hu Qiandai was still bothered by what happened at the Imperial Hot Spring that day. He didn't know what Hu Qiandai was bothered by, so he could only comfort her, "Alright, let's find a place to camp after dark. I won't go back to Earth. That way we'll have a whole night to practice. I just learned some grappling techniques online, the kind that American police use."

Torachiyo's eyes lit up, "Then I want to play with a police baton!"

"Go, go, go."

"I also want to play with the riot shield and the stun gun!"

"Buy, buy, buy."

"Police pepper spray!"

"That's going too far. We're practicing grappling techniques, not catching criminals! You're getting a little too involved, aren't you?" Shen Liang said, displeased.

"What does it matter? I can wear a policewoman uniform and black stockings anyway. If I'm fully equipped, I'll look even more like a cosplayer, right?"

"But I don't want to get beaten up for cosplaying a criminal!"

The two continued their journey across the vast plain, bickering as they went.

"Who will be the next one to be fully loaded?"

"Sister Yoomiya?" Shen Liang looked at Yoomiya Naganohara's progress bar, which was at 92%.

He really didn't cultivate any affection for Xiaogong; in fact, one could say he intentionally distanced himself from her a little. Because a sunny, warm-hearted girl is kind to everyone, easily finds happiness, and easily brings warmth to others. Such a girl shouldn't be too close to him; she should have her own happiness.

To put it bluntly, a girl as unguarded as Xiaogong is too easy for him to win over. Shen Liang knows how poor his self-control is; a good girl shouldn't be held back by a playboy, but Xiaogong fits Shen Liang's criteria for a partner. So he's afraid that he might lose control and ruin her life... Xiaogong trusts him so much, and he can't betray this precious friendship.

Unlike Linghua and Xinhai, Shen Liang knew very well that Xiaogong had no romantic feelings for him, so he couldn't let this friendship change.

"Pure friendship, how pure," Torachiyo said sourly. "Ninety-two percent progress, pure friendship, hehehe."

"Progress doesn't equate to affection level. Don't think of my system as something out of anime," Shen Liang said irritably. "My progress with Aunt Liu Ge and Sister Hua Dai is also 100%. Aren't we just friends?"

"Yes, that's right." Torachiyo turned her head away, and Shen Liang noticed with confusion that the corner of her mouth seemed to be twitching.