Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

At this point, Paimon finally dared to speak up.

"Jiang Bai is living a really good life, he even has his own courtyard." Paimon said sourly.

The attendant who brought them chuckled, "Jiang Bai is highly regarded by the hall master."

Hearing the knock, Jiang Bai opened the gate and was somewhat surprised to see Kong and Paimon.

"Oh, you've arrived."

He had just returned and taken a shower; his hair was still wet, but the wound on his forehead was barely visible.

“We asked around all the way here,” Paimon said, arms crossed.

"Is your leg all better?" Kong's gaze fell on his leg.

Jiang Bai nodded to the maid and invited the two guests into the house, saying, "It's been ready for a long time. Welcome, welcome, please come in."

"Hey, what's that slime?" Paimon spotted the slime playing in the pool at a glance.

This shallow pool was created by Jiang Bai some time ago. It's located in a corner of the yard and is lined with pebbles, making it a perfect spot for Gudu to rest.

“That’s my pet, named Gudong.” Jiang Bai looked at Gudong in the pool and called out, “Gudong, come here.”

Gudu hopped over, looking curiously at the two strangers who had come to visit.

Jiang Bai reached out his hand, and Gudu jumped onto it. Jiang Bai proudly held Gudu up in front of Paimon to compare it with her.

"How about it? Isn't she cuter than you?"

Paimon scoffed, "Hmph, how could a slime possibly compare to me!"

"Gulp, teach this white floating object a lesson!"

Gudu obediently blew a big bubble and put Paimon in.

Paimon struggled for a while before finally breaking free from the bubble, and was so angry at Jiang Bai's behavior that he jumped up and down.

"Damn it! They ambushed me!"

"This isn't a sneak attack; it was a perfectly legitimate attack, don't you think, Kong?"

Kong sighed helplessly, rubbing his forehead.

He realized that Jiang Bai really enjoyed teasing Paimon.

Seeing that no one was answering, Paimon's cheeks puffed out even more than a wind slime.

"Please come in, please come in. Let me pour you some tea." Jiang Bai led the two into the house.

Paimon spotted the coffin in the corner of the living room immediately. The dark coffin startled her so much that she quickly hid behind Kong.

"Why do you put a coffin in your house?!" Paimon couldn't understand this behavior at all.

"This is my future home, what are you afraid of?" Jiang Bai looked at her as if she was making a fuss.

Kong's lips twitched slightly. "Is this the style of everyone in your Rebirth Hall?"

"It's alright. Do you want to book one too, reserve your accommodation in advance? You know, exploring outdoors is very dangerous; you never know when something might happen..."

Before Jiang Bai could say anything more dangerous, Kong quickly covered his mouth to prevent him from making a self-fulfilling prophecy.

He still needs to live well to find his sister; this is something he can't talk about.

Seeing Jiang Bai's mouth covered and Paimon standing with his hands on his hips, he finally felt relieved.

"Sigh, your level of thinking is still a bit lacking..." Jiang Bai shook his head, looking regretful.

"We're here to pay back the money." Kong took out 10,000 Mora and handed it to him, wanting to escape this place as soon as possible.

He feared that if he stayed any longer, Jiang Bai would arrange where he would be buried and what kind of funeral he would have.

"Not bad, you've earned so many Mora so quickly." Jiang Bai was in a great mood with the Mora coming in.

"I've taken on quite a few commissions from the Adventurers' Guild."

"If you had come a month earlier, I might have had Mora treat you to dinner at Wanmintang. Unfortunately, I am currently burdened with huge debts, so you will have to treat me instead."

Paimon was furious. "We've come all this way as guests, and you're making your guests treat you to a meal? That's shameless!"

Jiang Bai took out some pastries and poured a cup of tea for each of them. "We're all friends, it doesn't matter who treats us, right?"

"Hmph!" For the sake of the snacks, Paimon decided not to argue with him.

"I heard you have guests. Where are they? Let this master of the hall see them quickly!"

The two were eating snacks and drinking tea when, before Walnut arrived, her voice had already reached them.

Paimon and Kong both looked up, very curious about what this "hall master" looked like.

Instead of taking the proper route, Hu Tao easily climbed over the courtyard wall and walked into the house in just two steps.

She glanced at Paimon, then her gaze fell on Kong.

She grabbed Kong's empty hand and shook it, saying enthusiastically to Kong's somewhat bewildered gaze:

"You must be Jiang Bai's friends. I am Hu Tao, the 77th generation head of the Rebirth Hall. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Jiang Bai's gaze fell on Kong's hand, and he suddenly felt that letting the hall master get to know this guy was not a good decision.

Chapter 262 Today, the Hall Master is the Host

Kong suddenly understood why Jiang Bai was so outgoing; his personality was exactly the same as the hall master's.

"Are you the head of the Hall of Rebirth? I've heard Jiang Bai mention you." He pulled his hand away and smiled somewhat awkwardly.

"Really? What did he say about me?" Hu Tao sat down casually beside her, ready to hear how her good subordinate usually praised her.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Kong's forehead. Any normal person would know that this was just polite talk, so why did they have to make such a big deal out of it and keep asking?

Jiang Bai tried desperately to signal him with her eyes, urging him to say nice things, but after trying for a long time, he couldn't come up with anything.

Hu Tao didn't make things difficult for him and turned her attention to Paimon.

"You're so tiny, how did you manage to fly?"

Paimon could only scratch his head at Hu Tao's curiosity.

"I don't know how I fly, I was born with the ability to fly..."

"Master, let me introduce myself to you." Jiang Bai stopped Hu Tao from asking any more pointless questions.

"This is the traveler, Kong, the honorary knight who saved Mondstadt during the Dragon Plague, and this is his travel companion, Paimon."

Hu Tao's eyes widened in surprise, "So you were the honorary knight who saved Mondstadt!"

Kong waved his hand modestly, "I only helped a little, it's hardly a rescue."

Hu Tao patted his shoulder, indicating that he didn't need to be so modest. "You're too modest. Look at our guy. He went to Mondstadt and got beaten up badly. He even came back covered in injuries."

This made things even more awkward.

If Jiang Bai struggled a little when facing the woman, he was knocked unconscious before he could even touch her.

To avoid further embarrassment, he decided to leave with Paimon.

"Um, we haven't eaten yet, we'll go out to eat first..."

However, this tactic did not succeed.

Hu Tao waved his hand and said, "It's rare to have guests, so today I'll treat you to dinner at Wanmin Hall!"

"Yay!" Paimon's eyes lit up instantly.

What can we do about the air energy? This is the only way.

Jiang Bai put his arm around Hu Tao's shoulder and followed behind, threatening in a low voice, "Hey Kong, you don't want our sect leader to find out that you were knocked unconscious by the Fools the moment you met them, do you?"

Kong's lips twitched slightly; he actually wanted that Hu Tao to know.

What are you trying to say?

Jiang Bai lowered his voice, "Our sect leader has a rather passionate personality. If she tries to grab your hand again, you absolutely mustn't let her..."

Kong gave him a strange look.

He thought it was something serious, just this?

Despite Jiang Bai's threatening gaze, he still nodded.

"What are you two whispering about?" Hu Tao turned around and looked at the two who had suddenly stopped.

Paimon also stopped and looked back.

"His shoelace was loose, so I reminded him..."

Hu Tao's gaze fell on the empty shoe, and her lips twitched.

His shoes don't have shoelaces! He can't even come up with a plausible excuse...

Forget it, I'm too lazy to complain...

"Don't lose them..."

"I'm coming!"

It was lunchtime at Wanmintang, and the aroma of food wafted out from the kitchen. Paimon couldn't help but drool at the smell, eager to have a big meal.

Today, Xiangling is working as a helper at the shop with Guoba, as there is no head chef.

"Xiangling, are there any tables left? I'm treating my new friends to dinner."

"Yes, come over here." Xiangling gestured for the group to sit down at an empty table, then looked curiously at the two unfamiliar faces.

Who are these two?

"This is the Traveler Kong, and this is Paimon." After introducing Xiangling, Hu Tao turned to introduce the two of them, "This is Xiangling, my good friend. Her cooking skills are among the best in Liyue."

"Stop praising me, let's order quickly." Xiangling was a little embarrassed by the praise. She looked at Kong and Paimon, "You two must be new to Liyue, right? Would you like to try some of Liyue's specialties?"

"Yes, yes! When you come to a new place, you have to try the local specialties!" Paimon rubbed his hands excitedly.

Xiangling noted down the names of the dishes Hu Tao had mentioned and was about to pass them on to the kitchen when Hu Tao called out, "Come and eat with us later!"

"Busy..."

"Looks like we'll have to do it next time..."

Walnut's dinner party is usually quite casual, with the group chatting while eating.

Hu Tao also asked about the purpose of their visit.

Kong briefly explained why he had come to find his sister.

Hu Tao suddenly realized, "Oh, I see... Does your sister look a lot like you? I'll let you know as soon as I see her."

"Thank you," Kong said sincerely.

"Tomorrow is Liyue's annual Summoning Ceremony. Since we're here all year, we absolutely can't miss it!"

Paimon's mouth was stuffed full of food, and his words were somewhat muffled, "We're also here to participate in the Immortal Invitation Ceremony. We don't know if we'll be able to see the Rock King Emperor tomorrow."

"As long as you don't miss the appointed time, you'll definitely be able to see our Prince Yan, but getting a chance to speak with him will be a bit difficult..."

After a pleasant dinner, Paimon floated out of Wanmintang, patting his round belly.

"I'm so full! The food in Liyue is so delicious..."

Hu Tao nodded with considerable pride, "When you come to Liyue, the one thing you absolutely can't miss is the food!"

"Do you have a place to stay tonight? Would you like to stay at our Rebirth Hall for the night?"

“This…” Kong and Paimon exchanged a glance, both somewhat hesitant.

They initially planned to stay at the shrine, but after going inside and seeing it, they changed their minds, feeling that sleeping there would give them nightmares.

Seeing their fear, Jiang Bai shushed them, "You're not scared, are you?"

Paimon, unusually, did not refute.

"We've already booked a hotel," Kong lied.

They didn't insist on going to Walnut Tree, but said, "Let's meet here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning and go to Yujingtai together."

"See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."