I, the Rock King Emperor with 21 billion in power, have joined the chat group.

However, the Bursting Slime Crystal Cake truly lives up to its reputation as the latest masterpiece by Chef Xiangling of Wanmintang. It melts in your mouth and flows smoothly down your throat, giving you no chance to spit it out.

"Spicy! Spicy! Spicy! Spicy!"

Little Paimon was like a fly buzzing around, flying about everywhere.

"Water! Water! Water! Water!"

Zhongli smiled and shook his head, pointing to his teacup.

Ying, the girl who had just caught up with the traveler entering the courtyard, took the teacup somewhat blankly and handed it to Paimon, who was constantly fluttering around.

Paimon, noticing this, quickly flew down and almost buried his entire face in the teacup.

Glug~~! Glug~~! Glug~~!

After taking several forceful gulps, Little Paimon slowly exhaled a long breath and lifted his head from the cup.

Zhongli looked at her flushed cheeks and couldn't help but laugh, "This is a new pastry invented yesterday by Chef Xiangling of Wanmin Hall—Bursting Slime Crystal Cake. Its main ingredient is a giant flame slime that has lived for more than a year. The characteristic of its taste is a hot and spicy flavor, like an eruption of magma, which directly stimulates the taste buds. Even people with the Fire Element God's Eye wouldn't dare to try this kind of thing easily. Paimon, you are really amazing."

"Waaaaah~~!"

Paimon pouted and let out two dissatisfied whimpers.

His mouth was swollen and his face was so swollen that he couldn't speak.

Zhongli glanced at it twice, then pointed her finger, and a wisp of pale golden energy merged into Paimon's lips. The next second, she felt a cool sensation on her very swollen lips.

Zhongli held up a piece of pastry, calmly put it in his mouth and chewed. As he ate, he commented, "If this pastry is just considered purely spicy, it is naturally a delicacy for those who love spicy food. But Xiangling is certainly not an ordinary chef. The signature pastry she came up with in her wild imagination is certainly not so simple."

At this point, Zhongli gently patted the bluestone table, and a new purple clay teacup and a cup of tea immediately rose up on the table.

Zhongli picked up the teacup, took a slow sip, swallowed all the pastries in his mouth, and showed a look of lingering enjoyment.

He picked up another pastry and continued to explain, "The outer layer of this pastry is the second core of this pastry. It is made by crushing the petals of the Ice Mist Flower and incorporating them with apples, raspberries, sweet flowers, and many other ingredients."

"As long as you drink a cup of warm tea immediately after eating the pastry, the outer layer will melt instantly and flow into your throat."

"At the same time, the icy sensation spread throughout the throat, completely eliminating the burning sensation and leaving only a faint coolness and a hint of sweetness, making it an unforgettable experience."

“Little Paimon.” After saying this, Zhongli looked calmly at the small food reserve: “If you hadn’t let me help alleviate your pain after drinking the water, you would probably be able to taste this feeling now.”

"Of course, this is also your fault for starting to eat without asking me first. At Wanmingtang, Xiangling always reminds guests three times before serving these pastries to drink warm water to relieve the spiciness if they can't stand it."

After hearing this, Paimon slumped down, lay on top of the traveler girl Ying, and made no further moves.

Zhongli smiled, unconcerned, and turned his gaze to the traveling girl, asking, "What's wrong? Traveler, what brings you here today?"

"But I came to my place out of interest."

Chapter Three: The lanterns at the Lantern Festival all belong to me, the traveler!

"nothing..."

The traveling girl looked around a few times, her gaze not fixed on Zhongli's face.

A moment later, she gently picked up a piece of pastry, put it in her mouth, and chewed it slowly.

Without Zhongli reminding her, she naturally took a cup of tea and took a sip.

A moment later, she seemed to show great satisfaction, her cheeks flushed naturally, and hot, damp sweat beaded on her forehead.

Drops of sweat quickly gathered together, running down her cheeks, across her delicate collarbone, and finally into the almost nonexistent valley below.

"Ah~~~~!"

The traveler sighed contentedly, "Delicious."

Seeing her expression, Paimon, who had just recovered a little, couldn't help but pick up another piece and stuff it into his mouth with a crunching sound.

The two of them each took a bite and quickly finished off the pastries on Zhongli's plate.

Zhongli smiled and shook his head slightly: "If you like it, you can go to Wanmintang and have Xiangling make it for you. You've helped her so much, she definitely won't refuse."

The traveler has not yet answered.

Paimon couldn't help but complain about this issue.

"Mr. Zhongli, you know about the Lantern Festival a while ago, right?"

“Of course, as Liyue’s biggest festival, how could I not know about it?” Zhongli smiled. “This year’s lanterns are as beautiful as stars, and I’m sure you, Traveler, deserve a lot of credit for that.”

“Hey, Mr. Zhongli, don’t say that.” Paimon said in a very old-fashioned manner, “I don’t think the Lantern Festival can be held without our Ying.”

"Last time, we complained to you about those weird quests in Liyue and Mondstadt, right? But I didn't tell you about the Lantern Festival then."

Paimon took a big gulp of tea: "We made over three hundred lanterns in total, over three hundred. At least one-tenth of the lanterns in Liyue Harbor were made by us."

"Then there are errands, giving us a map and making us go up mountains and down to the sea, and the reward is only ten or twenty thousand Mora. It's only because the Traveler is kind-hearted that no one would bother with you."

"The most disgusting thing is that mission to help the cargo balloon that was hijacked by Hilichurls. That cargo balloon must be defective, otherwise why would the whole cargo fall apart if you accidentally touched it? I've never encountered such a situation before when I helped cargo balloons."

"Is that merchant trying to extort money from people?!"

"Mr. Zhongli, no, Lord Geo Archon, are all the residents of Liyue so stingy? Compared to Mondstadt, it feels like the tasks in Liyue are all about running errands and ordering people around."

Upon hearing this, the former Rock King Emperor merely smiled faintly. After a long while, waiting for Paimon to finish speaking, he finally replied, "Liyue is the kingdom of merchants."

"..."

These words immediately silenced Paimon's remaining words.

“Since they are merchants, they naturally want to do the most work with the least amount of money. To them, you, Traveler, are a very useful tool. You have top-notch martial arts skills, a powerful divine eye, and are meticulous in your work. Why not use you even more?” Zhongli said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, “The essence of a contract is fairness.”

"Fairness means that you get what you give. Over the long years, the people of Liyue Harbor have almost forgotten these things."

"Traveler, I can give you some advice. In the future, you can choose which quests to accept. You need to let the merchants in Liyue Harbor know that your efforts outweigh your rewards, so they are unwilling to do them."

"Mm." The traveling girl nodded slightly.

Paimon, standing to the side, curled his lip and said, "Impossible. That girl Ying is just that kind of warm-hearted person. Asking her not to help others is like bullying her. I really don't know how she managed to keep up with so many strange missions. If it were me, I probably would have quit long ago. Anyway, Mora has enough to last her for a while now."

Hehe~!

The young traveler smiled shyly and scratched her cheek with her finger.

Zhongli then said no more. He knew that the young traveler in front of him had her own set of rules and had never been confused, so there was no need for him to say anything more.

"Actually... this time I came..."

After a moment of silence, the girl revealed the main purpose of her visit.

"I wanted to talk about...the snow-capped mountains." The girl smiled. "I'm all ready on my end."

"Well, I'm still lacking some preparations on my side. How about this, traveler, you come again tomorrow... no, the day after tomorrow. I'll go with you to the snow mountain then." Since Zhongli had already promised the traveler, he naturally wouldn't go back on his word.

"Yes, that's fine." The traveler nodded slightly.

"I'll be coming to find you the day after tomorrow." Paimon flew to Zhongli's side and patted his shoulder in an old-fashioned manner: "You must protect me and Ying. I know that this is a piece of cake for the former Rock King Emperor."

"Of course, please rest assured."

After finishing our business, we chatted for a while.

Paimon and the Traveler then officially took their leave.

......

After the two left, Zhongli's courtyard returned to peace once again.

He thought for a moment and then opened his chat group system.

A golden, glittering entry appeared above.

You have gained new chat group privileges; you can now create a new chat group.

[You can choose from the following modes in the new chat group.]

[1. Manual pull mode: You can manually add the people you need to the chat group. (This pull is only available in worlds where you own the coordinates.)]

[2. Random Retrieval Mode: You can randomly retrieve individuals who meet your set criteria from the seventeen void civilization clusters covered by the chat group.]

[Note: All abilities in this new chat group are provided by the main chat group system. The chat group shop and chat group healing function are no different from those in other chat groups.]

[Note 2: As you are a Super VIP user of our chat group system, you will receive the following special privileges when you create a new chat group: A) Upon entering the chat group, you will be automatically @all members, announcing the arrival of the group owner to everyone; B) After entering the chat group, you can replace your standard font with a golden flame icon; C) Upon leaving the chat group, you will again @all members, announcing to all group members that the great group owner has left the chat group.]

Upon seeing this, Zhongli silently closed the messages and decided that she would never use this new chat group system.

He can't bear this suffering.

Chapter Four: The Spider's Fear

-----The Promising Future True Lord Joins the Chat Group-----

Spider: Oh, oh, oh, Mr. Zhongli is here! I'm so glad to finally meet you!

Promising Future True Lord (Zhongli): Is there something you need?

Spider-chan: Well, I've encountered something truly significant, something that could change my life. It makes me wonder, can I really live such a carefree life in this world? Is it really appropriate for me to feel happy and secure just because I've had two delicious meals of eel and catfish?

I am Subaru Natsuki: The Riddler? The Spider?

Spider-Man: The Riddler? No, no, I'm a loyal follower of Bruce Wayne. Although I regret that I can only be sent to Arkham Asylum after defeating the Joker, this non-killing personality is also one of the charms of Bruce Wayne.

I am Subaru Natsuki: Hmm, that's not what I meant. I just wanted to say that you could express your thoughts more clearly.

Wings Unfold (Sexy Prisoner): Oh, dear Spider Girl, I think what Natsuki Boy means is that what you said above didn't reveal any information; instead, it was full of confusing self-talk. That's rather annoying behavior.

Spider: I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

Spider: I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

I am Subaru Natsuki: No, no, no need to apologize so much. To be honest, Spider-chan, your sudden change is quite frightening. I remember you used to be so ambitious, always smiling even when you were in the abyss, striving to survive and facing each day with a smile.

Spider: Something's happened that's making me really uneasy. Sorry, Mr. Zhongli, Subaru Natsuki, and Uncle Prisoner.

The Promising Future True Lord (Zhongli): Hmm, it's just a small matter, no need to mention it. What brings you here? You can speak here.

Spider: Let me calm down a bit. I just found out about something so serious, and then I went crazy in the chat group and made so many mistakes. I really need to calm down. Let me take a deep breath first.

Spider: Whoosh! Whoosh!

Spider: Okay, I've calmed down.

Spider: Mr. Zhongli, and everyone in the group, I would like to ask for your help.