He changed Tiwat

"I made this instrument myself. It was originally made to resemble a rock instrument from Fontainebleau, but as I worked on it, it ended up being something else entirely. I've been trying to give it a nice and memorable name, like 'Yanqin,' 'Suiyu,' or 'Dingshan,' but it still doesn't quite capture the essence... So I asked Chairman Han for some good ideas."

"He said that when I play the piano, I can make the strings flare red, so let's name it 'Red Strings.' I thought it was good, it sounded nice and it had my own characteristics, so we've kept using it ever since, and later we also used it as the name of the band."

He also told me that my piano could be used as a weapon, and my singing could also be used as a weapon; he called it a 'weapon of criticism.'

[Here, I quote Secretary-General Han, the founder of the "Liyue Laborers' Association," as the conclusion of this paragraph.]

—The weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons; material force can only be destroyed by material force. However, once theory has captured the masses, it also becomes a material force. A theory can capture the masses as long as it is persuasive; and a theory can be persuasive as long as it is thorough.

[Appendix: Lyrics to "Kill That Man from Mingyun Town," the first and most popular song released after the formation of "Red Strings."]

I finish get off work at 6 PM

Change out of the mine clothes

Wife is cooking porridge

I'm going to have a few drinks.

Living like this for thirty years

Until the mine collapsed

The darkness deep within the clouds

The flames extinguished in my heart

In Huyan

A hopeless grocery store

Using fake Mora

Buy fake knives and guns

Protect her life

Until the mine collapsed

Night fell over Bishuiyuan

Sadness permeated her face

Liyue Harbor Private School

The boy reading turned his back to me

Silent gaze

The classroom I can't leave

Living in experience

Until the mine collapsed

Ten thousand runaway horses

Running in his mind

Living like this for thirty years

Until the mine collapsed

Ten thousand runaway horses

Running in his mind

Living like this for thirty years

Until the mine collapsed

The darkness deep within the clouds

[The flame in my heart was extinguished]

—Excerpt from the historical biography "He Changed Teyvat" published by Fontaine Steambird Publishing, by Shi Jun.

Chapter 339 The Human World Remains the Same [4k]

For Chongyun, these three days were half a beautiful dream and half a nightmare.

The dream had two parts: first, he had indeed been eating hot food every day for the first time in a long time, fulfilling a wish he had kept for many years; second, he seemed to be helping a demon god regain his power, which was practically a legendary experience.

His friend Xingqiu's favorite novels often featured similar plots—for example, the protagonist accidentally falls off a cliff and happens to land in a secret realm where a demon god is sealed. The protagonist helps the ancient demon god break the seal, and the demon god, in order to repay the debt and regain its power, enters the protagonist's personal accessory and travels with the protagonist, helping the protagonist grow into a legendary powerhouse.

Although Chongyun didn't quite understand why eating could generate "wisdom," helping Guoba regain his strength was, in any case, a good deed.

He felt like he had become the protagonist of a legendary story, and even wondered if Guoba, after regaining his strength, could help him heal his "pure yang body"? After all, in the legend of the Kitchen God that Han Fulai told them, the Kitchen God was a being who could drive away plagues for the people of Liyue.

Of course, Chongyun wasn't helping for his own sake. In Chongyun's eyes, Guoba, the little helper who was inseparable from Xiangling, was already considered family. Even if Guoba wasn't some "Stove Demon God" and was just a small helper at Wanmintang, Chongyun, this warm-hearted young man, would never hesitate to help his friend.

Logically speaking, Chongyun being able to eat hot food and Guoba restoring his strength is the best of both worlds, and there's nothing wrong with that—the problem is that there's also a walnut here.

Hu Tao then chimed in, saying to Xiang Ling, "You want to try out new dishes, Chong Yun also wants to eat hot food, and the rice crust can also gain wish power—it's a win-win-win situation!"

Therefore, the third benefit of this three-pronged approach became Chongyun's nightmare.

Xiangling really did experiment with "medicinal cuisine" on Chongyun for three days, trying to improve Chongyun's "pure yang body" with food.

Xiangling's "Wanmintang" cuisine is based on the principle of making delicious dishes with any ingredients, and her greatest strength lies in using local ingredients. Even in a remote and desolate place like Wuwangpo, Xiangling is not stumped.

So Chongyun ate a lot of Wuwangpo specialties...or rather, strange things over the next three days.

For example, ice mist flower and sweet flower combined with glass bag powder and mint leaf syrup, how should I put it, Chongyun thinks this stuff should be able to stop coughing.

For example, there was a cake made by wrapping flour in a lizard's tail and a glass bag and adding frog oil... Chongyun never wanted to recall that taste in his life.

But the most terrifying thing was that Master Hu couldn't contain his eagerness and personally made him the "Ghostly March".

According to the recipe Xiangling studied, the dish should be a very pure and light vegetarian dish made with matsutake mushrooms and snapdragons, which his "pure yang body" could fully withstand.

Most importantly, he had eaten this dish before, and it was one of the better-tasting new dishes that Xiangling had been experimenting with these past few days.

According to Xiangling, this is a dish similar to "Chicken Tofu" and "Hibiscus Chicken Slices," but with a different concept: "using vegetarian ingredients to represent meat." If categorized by taste, Xiangling would name it "Vegetarian Abalone."

Slice the matsutake mushrooms thinly, pan-fry until golden brown, then pour over the sauce. The matsutake mushrooms are plump and meaty, with a flavor reminiscent of abalone, making them almost indistinguishable from the real thing. Enhanced by the sauce, the matsutake mushrooms present a superior and sophisticated texture, as tender as scallops and as fresh as abalone, making them virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.

Xiangling had asked Chongyun to guess the ingredients several times before, and Chongyun had named various seafood dishes, but he never expected it to be a vegetarian dish. This speaks volumes about its deliciousness.

Hu Tao was taught all the cooking steps by Xiang Ling, step by step. From washing and chopping vegetables to controlling the heat, Xiang Ling was there to guide her, so theoretically there should be absolutely no problems.

Moreover, Chongyun watched Hu Tao make it with his own eyes, and he was absolutely certain that Hu Tao did not add anything strange to that dish.

If there's any room for creativity with Walnut, it's in the final plating stage.

Unlike Xiangling's conventional plating, Hu Tao's whimsical idea resulted in matsutake mushrooms in the "Ghostly March" dish being arranged to resemble ghosts—to be honest, those "ghosts," with their round heads and huddled together, actually looked quite comical and cute. At least, that's how Chongyun felt.

So he ate one of the "ghosts," or more accurately, he only took a bite.

Then his tongue felt like it had been burned, and his taste buds completely stopped working.

Then he lost consciousness.

His only thought before he blacked out was—this dish is poisoned!

As for why Hu Tao, who used the exact same ingredients and processes as Xiang Ling and made the same "vegetarian abalone," could produce such a big difference just by having a different presentation, this mystery was something even Maximus, the god of the hearth, could not unravel.

If there's a 50% chance that Xiangling's new dish will be a "special dish," then Hu Tao's dish is a 100% chance of being a "deadly dish."

In short, Chongyun remembered one thing from then on—if you value your life, never eat food made with walnuts. No… it's best not to let her into the kitchen at all.

So when Han Fulai and Xingqiu returned to Wuwangpo, Master Hu was kicking pebbles outside the cave, talking about life and ideals with the old crooked tree at the cave entrance.

The dialogue was roughly as follows:

"Have you eaten? Please!"

"I've already eaten."

"You know, how could the scenery of Wuwangpo not be good?"

"Oh, are you waiting for someone too? What a coincidence, me too."

"Oh dear, let me give you a piece of advice: at your age, it's time to let go..."

Han Fulai and Xingqiu were truly horrified.

Actually, they weren't the only witnesses to Kurumi's strange behavior; the Chiiwa guards at the General Affairs Department's gate were the most qualified to speak on the matter. If they had spoken with the guards at the General Affairs Department, perhaps it wouldn't have seemed so strange.

For a long time, every midnight, there would be soft footsteps and voices in front of the General Affairs Department, which was already closed.

Hearing the noise, the guards on night duty went out to investigate and found a girl in black, who looked like a ghost, talking to the stone lions at the entrance of the General Affairs Office, which symbolized the majesty of the government.

The young woman was seen carrying a bucket of warm water in her left hand and a large brush in her right, seemingly giving the stone lion a bath. Her movements were meticulous and her attitude serious. She would occasionally ask the stone lion how it felt, and whether it needed more scratching under its chin, treating it like a pet.

She not only chatted with them and bathed them, but also gave them names: the one on the left was called Da Mi, and the one on the right was called Er Mi.

In the dead of night, a little girl dressed in all black was chatting with the stone lions at the entrance of the General Affairs Office and giving them a bath... The bizarre scene naturally frightened the guards.

Later, when the guards asked Hu Tao why she did such a strange thing in the middle of the night, Hu Tao answered confidently, "My Da Mi and Er Mi are so cute! Their fur may be a bit stiff, but it's still fluffy! Can you resist petting cute cats?"

When the guard pointed out that the stone lions in the General Affairs Department were not the Kurumi family's pets, Kurumi retorted once again, "A small animal that brings joy is naturally a pet. As for imposing presence, no cat can rival Big Mimi and Little Mimi!"

So, after a considerable period of time, the guards of the General Affairs Department became accustomed to a young girl coming at midnight to chat with the stone lions and bathe them. To the guards, as long as they didn't dwell on the eerie aspect of the situation, it was essentially someone cleaning the statues at the gate for free—a good thing, of course. So the guards grew accustomed to it.

However, after they got used to Hu Tao's presence, Hu Tao—she stopped coming.

The guards from the General Affairs Department had been staking out the streets for days, finally waiting for Walnut to pass by. When asked why she no longer visited "Big Mimi and Little Mimi," her answer was even more baffling: "Big Mimi and Little Mimi have grown up and are independent; they no longer need my care! Now, I'm busy discussing life with the idols!"

For Hu Tao, this was just one part of her usual self-entertainment—she hadn't yet shown Han Fulai and the others her amazing mahjong skills.

If they don't come back soon, bored Walnut will probably end up playing cards with that old crooked tree at the cave entrance.

When Hu Tao saw the two of them, she waved goodbye to the old tree, and then led them into the cave as if nothing had happened. Neither Xingqiu nor Han Fulai dared to ask who she had been chatting with.

Xiangling was studying a new recipe, while Chongyun was giving her advice, and Guoba was sitting upright on the offering table.

Although the appearance of the rice crust remained unchanged, Han Fulai immediately noticed its—no, it should be his—change—a change in temperament.

If Guoba a few days ago was like an adorable little animal that was unaware of the ways of the world, now Guoba clearly deserves the description of "dignified and solemn".

Although he was just sitting cross-legged on the altar with his eyes closed, he looked like a real deity, and a very efficacious one at that.

Even having lost most of its power, a demon god who has regained its sanity is still a demon god, a being whose inherent status is higher than that of mortals. Upon seeing Guoba now, Han Fulai instinctively sensed the aura of a demon god. He was now considered half a demon god, and there seemed to be some kind of resonance between him and Guoba.

Sensing Han Fulai's arrival, Guoba opened his eyes.

Guoba, now more accurately described as the Stove Demon Maxius, no longer has the innocent look of the past; instead, his eyes are piercing and radiate a subtle sense of power.

The instant their eyes met, a warm, deep voice resonated in Han Fulai's mind—

"Thank you, successor of the Salt God."

This is Maxius communicating directly with him in his consciousness. Maxius now at least possesses the sanity to communicate normally with people.

Han Fulai nodded to Maxius with a hint of relief. With the power of will provided by those who possessed the Eye of God, such as Xiangling and Chongyun, Maxius's "rehabilitation" seemed to be progressing quite quickly. And with his consciousness restored, there was no need to worry about Guoba inexplicably losing control.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Hearth." Han Fulai greeted Maxius in his mind. "This is not just my achievement, it is the achievement of everyone present, as well as the people of Liyue who are not here."

This is not Han Fulai being modest. Right at this very moment, in the "Heyu Tea House" in Liyue Harbor, a new play by the "Yunhan Society" is being staged.

Guoba was able to regain the consciousness of Maxius because the name of Maxius began to revive in Liyue Harbor.

Demons are immortal; as long as faith persists, they can be reborn in another form.

This process may take hundreds or thousands of years, which is a very long time for a human lifespan, but for Maxius, the "hearth god," it was just a long dream.

Now, he seems to have woken up.

Xiangling excitedly stepped forward, showing off the recipe in her hand to Han Fulai: "You know what? Guoba has become so amazing! He can even teach me how to cook!"

Xingqiu nudged Chongyun's arm and asked with a grin what kind of delicious food he'd enjoyed these past few days, and whether he'd asked the Kitchen God to help him cure his special constitution. Chongyun scratched the back of his head, somewhat annoyed, and replied softly, "He said my constitution is something others would beg for, and there's no need or way to change it..."

Seeing the place bustling again, Hu Tao pulled out a fan from somewhere and, imitating Tian Tiezui, waved it while proclaiming loudly, "Last time, we talked about how, in Liyue at that time, a great demon invaded the sea, and evil dragons roamed the mountains. The Demon God of the Hearth summoned all the immortals to restore a bright and clear world to the land..."

The rice crust on the offering table suddenly jumped up with a "smack" and covered Hu Tao's mouth.

In the “Heyu Teahouse”, Yun Jin is performing on the newly renovated stage.

She was performing "The Story of Chensha's Rebirth" again, but after the performance ended, Yun Jin added a new segment when the audience called for an encore.

This new play is called "The Kitchen God".

This story was adapted by Yun Jin from the story that Han Fulai told her a thousand years ago. It tells the story of the "Gui Li Ji" and the story of the Kitchen God.

The story begins with the destruction of Guili Village by a great flood, and the hearth god Maxius escorting the people south to Liyue Harbor. It then goes on to tell how the hearth god makes "spicy meat buns" for the people to drive away disease, and finally tells how the hearth god transforms into the hearth fire of thousands of households to bless the people of Liyue with family reunions.

A thousand years after the disappearance of the hearth god, the name of Maxius, the hearth god, began to circulate again in Liyue Harbor.