He changed Tiwat

People are generally in a better mood when they see something they like, and the same goes for Yaksha.

Although Xiao still had that serious and unsmiling look, the fact that he was willing to come out and meet meant that he was in a good mood.

Although Keqing was slightly surprised by Xiao's elusive appearance, she was someone who had seen a lot and quickly regained her composure.

Keqing placed her hand on her chest and bowed to Xiao. "Hello, I am Keqing, the Jade Balance Star among the Seven Stars of Liyue."

“Yuheng Star Ke Qing…” Xiao looked at Ke Qing, raised his hand and touched his chin, as if recalling the origin of the girl in front of him.

The purple figure holding the Dragon's Roar box in the Jade Pavilion clearly left a deep impression on Xiao, this martial arts immortal.

Xiao nodded to Keqing. "I saw you when we were fighting Oser. Your swordsmanship is quite good."

"With the Lantern Festival approaching, the Liyue Seven Stars have prepared a small gift for all the immortals. Please accept it." Han Fulai subtly pointed out that the other immortals in Liyue had accepted gifts, while showing Xiao the large and small bags on the ground.

"Such fine things are unnecessary for me; it's too wasteful." Xiao hesitated, realizing that the seafood and silk that Keqing had prepared were indeed useless to him.

"These were specially prepared for you by the Seven Stars of Liyue." Han Fulai said, handing the food box containing almond tofu to Xiao.

"It is our duty to vanquish demons and monsters, there is no need for such formalities." Xiao said very politely, but he still accepted the food box and a rare smile appeared on his face.

"Karmic obstacles are harmful to the human body. Even if your physical abilities far surpass those of ordinary people... it's best not to approach me casually." After saying this, Xiao took a step back, seemingly preparing to leave.

Han Fulai knew that Liyue had experienced the Great War of the Demon Gods, and the resentment and hatred left behind by the dead demon gods had been tainting this land. As a Yaksha, Xiao had been constantly slaying the filth that grew from the remains of the demon gods for thousands of years, and the fragments of those filth had thus been entangled on Xiao's body—what Xiao called "karma".

Han Fulai was standing next to Xiao, but he felt nothing about the so-called "karma". But Xiao was only thinking about their health and had good intentions, so he couldn't say anything like, "I'm not afraid of karma, little brother, stay and have a meal with us."

Keqing then spoke up, "Liyue is preparing to hold a 'fireworks festival' this year, and many new decorations have been added to Liyue Harbor. If you are interested, please do us the honor of coming to Liyue Harbor for a gathering."

Xiao's face darkened. "...I don't like crowded places. We need to be even more vigilant during festivals, in case demons invade. I will patrol as usual."

Seeing that the gift and sentiments had been delivered, Ke Qing didn't want to keep him any longer, so she nodded, bowed slightly, and prepared to take her leave of Xiao.

Xiao's eyes lingered on Han Fulai's face for a moment, then he suddenly said, "I have something to tell you, come here for a second."

Han Fulai, unaware of what was going on, followed Xiao away from Ke Qing and walked to a corner of the rooftop.

"...Is the Emperor alright?" Xiao's voice softened slightly, and a hint of worry appeared in his cat-like pale golden vertical pupils.

"I see." Han Fulai instantly understood. Xiao knew that the Emperor was not dead, but he did not know that Ke Qing also knew about this, so he deliberately avoided Ke Qing.

The Emperor is currently disguised as Zhongli, wandering the mortal realm in Liyue Harbor. It's the Lantern Festival, so it's understandable that Xiao wants to pay his respects. However, due to karmic burdens, he's unwilling to enter the city, so he can only inquire with Han Fulai, who is "one of the Emperor's men."

Han Fulai had already sensed Xiao's deep affection for the Emperor.

He smiled and nodded, saying, "The Emperor is well. I met him in Liyue Harbor just a few days ago, so there's no need for Xiao to worry."

"That's good...." Xiao lowered his head, looking at the food box in his hand. "Hmm... May I inquire? What does Your Majesty usually do?"

The Emperor's sudden retirement was naturally not discussed with Xiao beforehand, and Xiao was clearly also curious about the reasons for his retirement. Han Fu recalled the retired old man's lifestyle after his conversation with Zhongli at the rock teahouse—

"He listens to storytelling, drinks tea, walks his birds, and admires flowers in Liyue Harbor. Sometimes he even goes to Star Studio to appraise antiques..."

"Uh, walking birds? Admiring flowers? Appraising antiques?" Xiao rarely showed a look of surprise, but after a moment he convinced himself, "...The Emperor must have a deeper meaning in doing these things."

“Yes, there must be a deeper meaning behind it.” Han Fulai nodded in agreement with a serious expression. “I will convey Xiao Shangxian’s greetings to the Emperor.”

"Then... thank you for your trouble." Xiao looked up, his face showing gratitude.

Han Fulai smiled and indicated that it was just a small favor, since he also planned to visit Zhongli again during the Lantern Festival.

"By the way, there have been frequent disturbances from monsters lately, so please be extra careful when you're out and about," Xiao added after a moment's thought.

"Thank you for the reminder." Han Fulai cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Xiao.

"...If there is any danger, call my name." After saying this, Xiao's figure faded into a green afterimage and disappeared in an instant.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Fireworks Theft

Seeing that Xiao had left, Keqing also came over.

"This Demon-Slaying Sage is just like before, appearing and disappearing without a trace." Keqing recalled that during the battle of Oser, Xiao was the same way, leaving as soon as he finished his business, without any courtesy to people. But at least Xiao was willing to accept their gifts, which was already a great improvement.

"The Great Sage Who Subdued Demons just asked me to convey his greetings to the Emperor." Han Fulai briefly explained Xiao's intentions, and then asked Keqing if she also needed to send the Emperor a Lantern Festival gift.

At this moment, Qing shook her head, indicating that there was no need to trouble the Emperor. In her opinion, for the Rock King Emperor to go to such lengths as to fake his death and retire, and then seek him out to give him gifts, would go against the Emperor's original intention. Moreover, she had originally planned to take advantage of the Emperor's retirement to change the traditions of Liyue and find a new path of rule by men for Liyue.

So much time has passed since the ritual of summoning immortals, and Keqing has never thought of searching for the Emperor's current whereabouts.

"Well, we've visited all the immortals by now. Let's go downstairs for lunch, and then head back to the city," Ke Qing decided on the next steps.

After enjoying Chef Yanxiao's braised pork and bamboo shoots and stir-fried shrimp at Wangshu Inn, Han Fulai and Ke Qing took the elevator back to the ground.

As soon as the two stepped out of the elevator, they saw a familiar figure standing in front of the Wangshu Inn, spinning in circles. It was none other than the fireworks master Pengyi.

Pengyi looked distressed, scratching his head and muttering to himself, "Oh dear, oh dear, what am I going to do..."

Upon seeing Ke Qing, Peng Yi's eyes lit up, as if a drowning person had grasped a lifeline, and he hurriedly ran towards the two of them.

"Oh, Lady Keqing! Lady Keqing! Thank goodness, you're here!"

Ke Qing looked puzzled. "Peng Yi? What are you doing here? What happened?"

"Lord Keqing, please listen to me..." Pengyi quickly explained, "Didn't I replan the fireworks display according to your request and expand the area to Qingce Village?"

“The people I arranged have already taken the fireworks to Qingce Manor and set them up, and I’ve also left people to operate them. But, but…” Pengyi’s brows furrowed into a knot, “The person in charge came back and told me that all the fireworks placed in Qingce Manor have been stolen!”

Upon hearing Peng Yi's words, Ke Qing's expression immediately turned serious, and anger flashed in her eyes. However, she did not interrupt Peng Yi, indicating that he should continue his report.

"I immediately reported to Qianyan Army, and also made an extra batch of fireworks to be transported to Qingce Village and entrusted to the soldiers for guarding..."

Peng Yi said with a helpless expression, "But during the Lantern Festival, manpower is needed everywhere, and the Qianyan Army is busy running around. They are even short-handed for daily patrols, so they simply don't have the spare capacity to help us take care of the fireworks at Qingce Village..."

"We don't have many materials left. If the second batch of fireworks is stolen, we'll be finished... So, I thought I'd go to Qingce Manor to check on the situation. I didn't expect to run into you... Lady Keqing, do you... do you have a solution?"

Keqing lowered her head, thought for a moment, and replied, "According to the General Affairs Department's arrangements... during the Lantern Festival, the number of patrol personnel in the city will be doubled, and they will all be on duty in shifts..."

“They also have to take care of daily affairs, so they are really stretched thin. The only ones they can use are those special emergency response teams. But those teams are on standby, not many people, and cannot stay in one place for a long time. If we have to use them, it would be best to do it quickly…” Ke Qing said.

Peng Yi was dejected. Since even Yuheng Star couldn't do anything about it, he was even more powerless.

Han Fulai recalled Xiao's last words to him and tentatively asked, "Lord Keqing, if the Thousand Rock Army is short-handed, should we consider asking the immortals for help?"

“No, that would make us look so incompetent,” Keqing firmly rejected the proposal.

Han Fulai nodded and said no more. Although asking Xiao and the others for help was the most efficient course of action at the moment, and with the help of immortals, things would be much easier... since Keqing had decided to prioritize the Seven Star Government's position, he could only agree.

He had already foreseen what Keqing was going to do next.

Ke Qing looked up and glanced at her personal secretary, who had told her the night before, "I can help you with some of the work."

Han Fulai recognized him by his eyes; he was someone working overtime.

“Alright, let Vice Minister Han and I take over this matter. I have some ideas about it, let me make some arrangements,” Ke Qing said, turning to Peng Yi.

"Pengyi, go back to Liyue Harbor to tidy up the fireworks later, and then meet me at Qingce Manor."

Peng Yi nodded silently in acceptance of the order.

Ke Qing saw that Peng Yi still looked worried and remembered what Han Fulai had said to her last night: "Responsibility is always matched with power."

“Pengyi, the responsibility for this matter does not lie with you. You did not have the authority to mobilize the Qianyan Army to guard Qingce Manor, and my plan did not take into account the possibility of the fireworks being stolen, nor did it require manpower to guard the fireworks at Qingce Manor. The fault lies entirely with me.” Keqing said sincerely to Pengyi, “You have worked hard these past few days.”

Peng Yi stood there dumbfounded, seemingly never having imagined that Lord Yuheng would say such a thing to him.

A moment later, Peng Yi suddenly bowed deeply to Ke Qing.

"Lady Keqing, I'm sorry! I... have failed you. I'll return to Liyue Harbor now."

After finishing his sentence, Pengyi turned and headed towards Liyue Harbor without lingering.

Ke Qing watched Peng Yi's figure disappear. She realized that she seemed to understand what Han Fulai meant when he said, "Communication is the first step to trust."

“Mr. Han, let’s go ahead and ask the villagers in Qingce Village about the situation.”

The two boarded the carriage again and headed towards Qingce Village.

"Lady Keqing just said that you have a clue. What is it?" Han Fulai asked.

“It’s a treasure-hunting gang.” Ke Qing’s face showed displeasure.

She took out a report from the documents she was handling in the car; the report contained a drawing.

"This is the investigation report that the General Affairs Department recently submitted to me. The investigation is about this pattern that suddenly appeared in front of the material warehouse at the dock."

Han Fulai carefully examined the report and found that the pattern was something he was very familiar with—a raven with its wings covering a star stone, which was the proud symbol of the treasure-hunting group, "the treasure under the raven's wings".

As a Genshin Impact player, who hasn't run hundreds of Treasure Hunting parties?

"The General Affairs Department hasn't caught the members of the treasure-hunting group who left the crow's mark, but according to their deductions, the group is very likely eyeing the materials for the 'Sky Lanterns' in the city. The materials for the 'Sky Lanterns' were donated by the residents of Liyue Harbor and include many valuable items, including 'Floating Life Stones'. It's likely the group intends to resell the materials for profit," Keqing said.

"So the Thousand Rock Army in the city doubled their patrols because they discovered the marks left by the treasure-hunting group?" Han Fulai asked.

“Yes.” Ke Qing nodded. “It’s because of these despicable treasure-hunting gangs that the General Affairs Department couldn’t spare the Qianyan Army to garrison Qingce Manor. I never expected that these greedy bastards would set their sights on the poorly defended Qingce Manor.”

"So, Lady Keqing believes that this batch of fireworks was also stolen by the Treasure Thieves? Their purpose is... to resell fireworks?" Han Fulai frowned.

“Yes. The fireworks prepared for the fireworks club this time are a new product specially made by Pengyi. The cost is actually quite high. If the treasure-stealing gang resells them elsewhere, they can probably get a good price.” Ke Qing crossed her arms, her purple-red eyes flashing with a cold light. “It hasn’t been long since the incident. Those treasure-stealing gangs must not have gone far. I must give these guys a lesson they will never forget.”

Bonus Chapter Poll: Style and Genre of "The Complete Works of Wanwen"

As the title suggests, I mentioned in Chapter 3 of this volume that I could write a side story to "The Case Files of Wanwen Collection," which can be considered as a book written by Xingqiu.

The poll is mainly to survey our viewers about the types and styles of mystery stories they prefer. I currently have a few ideas for this side story, and we encourage you to post your preferred genres in the comments and let us know.

1. The Sherlock Holmes stories (leaning towards the classic mystery genre)

In short, the story revolves around Han Fei, a scholar-detective, and his tomboyish assistant Zhen Yu, who are both skilled fighters. They encounter all sorts of readers at Wanwen Collection House. The different books they read lead to different lives and trigger their own cases. Zhen Yu then writes their stories into books.

2. The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng (a genre leaning towards unconventional)

In short, the story is about the famous swordsman Han Fei and the young swordsman Zhen Yu, who is disguised as a man, meeting at Wanwen Collection House. In the process of doing good deeds, they solve one martial arts mystery after another. This will definitely be a story with the flavor of Gu Long.

3. *White Night* (a social realism novel)

In short, it's about civil servant Han Fei investigating a long-standing cold case at Wanwenjishe, where he meets Zhenyu, a wealthy young lady, and encounters various people and events during the investigation. The story primarily revolves around a fictional society where various criminal motives and torture can turn people into ghosts.

Each of the above types should be able to be written into a series of side stories, at least tens of thousands of words long.

Actually, many of the novels in the game are unfinished chapters, and I'm quite interested in continuing them. For example, if the story progresses to the Inazuma arc, I might even write a side story like "Please, My Fox Deity, Master Ji".

Chapter Twenty-Five: Footprints and Clues

Wangshu Inn is about a two-hour journey from Qingce Village, but when the coachman Luo Lun heard that the situation was urgent, he used his best skills and managed to get the two of them to Qingce Village in an hour at the speed of a shrimp catcher.

A coachman near Qingce Village witnessed the crazy carriage and commented afterwards: "Yesterday I lost to a carriage on Qingce Mountain. He used inertia to drift around the corner. His carriage was very fast; I only saw a purple plumb bob on it. If you know who he is, please tell him. I'll be waiting for him on Qingce Mountain tomorrow night."

After getting off the carriage, Han Fulai silently reminded himself that upon returning to Liyue Harbor, he should propose to Ningguang the enactment of a "Liyue Road Traffic Safety Law," which would include speed limits for even horse-drawn carriages. Even setting aside traffic safety, he needed to consider the passengers' psychological well-being.

The first stop on their investigation of Qingce Manor was to find Ruoxin, the manager of Qingce Manor.

Keqing introduced the old lady to Han Fulai on the way. There are no Liyue government departments in Qingce Village, and this Grandma Ruoxin is not a Liyue government employee. However, because she is quite famous in the area, the villagers are willing to listen to her, and she has been doing the work of the village chief. So over time, everyone regards her as the village chief, and she is in charge of most of the affairs of Qingce Village.

Keqing had previously consulted with Grandma Ruoxin when dealing with land affairs in Qingce Village. When Pengyi came to Qingce Village to set up fireworks, he naturally had to communicate with Village Chief Ruoxin as well. Consulting the village chief was the easiest way to obtain information about the fireworks.

When Han Fulai and Ke Qing met Ruoxin, the old woman was sitting in the hall sighing incessantly.

"Sigh, how could this happen during a holiday? A perfectly good batch of fireworks, just vanished..."

"Grandma Ruoxin, hello. We would like to ask you about the details of the fireworks theft." Although Ke Qing was a noblewoman from the Jade Balance Star, she had great respect for this elderly woman who had no official position or power.

Ruoxin was clearly surprised that this matter had alarmed such a prominent figure as Qixing, and exclaimed in astonishment, "Lord Keqing? You actually came here in person..."

"It's alright, please explain the situation first." Ke Qing waved her hand, indicating that there was no need for formalities.

"Sigh, when those people brought the fireworks over, the village children were so happy, they stood around watching for a long time," Grandma Ruoxin recalled. "They piled all the fireworks together and said they were going to confirm the location for setting them off, so they left the village first."

“I remember, those fireworks were placed… uh…” She turned around and pointed to the southwest of the village, “… right in the open space next to Old Lu’s house.”

"But after just one night, all the fireworks disappeared. The person in charge was extremely anxious and went straight back to the city to find a solution."

Grandma Ruoxin sighed deeply, her face showing even more worry.

"Sigh, the villagers are all quite worried. The fireworks have gone missing, which means there are thieves around. This village is full of old people and young children... Although there are Thousand Rock Army soldiers stationed here, no one dares to go out."

“I understand. Village Chief, please help reassure the villagers and tell them that the Thousand Rock Army is on duty and there will be no problem.” After listening to Ruoxin’s report, Keqing reassured them briefly and then turned to Han Fulai. “Mr. Han, let’s go to the place where the fireworks were stolen and investigate.”

After the two came out of Grandma Ruoxin's house, Han Fulai frowned and asked Ke Qing, "Since there is the Thousand Rock Army stationed here, why not assign them to manage the fireworks?"

Ke Qing shook her head. "Those Thousand Rock Army soldiers were sent to deal with the flood in Qingce Village. They are stationed along the Biyue River, and their patrol range does not include Qingce Village. They will not go up Qingce Mountain unless there is a reason. The treasure-hunting gang must have taken advantage of this loophole. Neither Pengyi nor Grandma Ruoxin has the authority to deploy the Thousand Rock Army. I will give the Thousand Rock Army orders later to deploy them to guard Qingce Village during the Lantern Festival so that the residents can rest assured."

Han Fulai recalled the fight he and Xingqiu had had with Maocai Gong's servants in Qingce Village some time ago. The Qianyan Army hadn't arrived until the fight was over, which explained why the residents of Qingce Village lacked a sense of security. He nodded in agreement with Ke Qing's statement.

The two walked southwest along the country road, passing several houses and a watermill, and crossed a small bridge before arriving at the open space that Grandma Ruoxin had mentioned.

The "Old Lu" that Grandma Ruoxin mentioned, known as Master Lu, was a carpenter in Qingce Village who ran a time-honored workshop called "Fanmutang".

There is indeed a very spacious open space in front of "Fanmutang", which is usually used by carpenter Lu Ye when he works. There is also a small thatched shed on the open space, which is where Lu Ye stores timber.