Zhongli used his divine power to bring Hu Tao to the pond in front of the Dwelling in the Clouds, located at Mt. Aocang in Liyue.
That's right.
Zhongli had placed the portal Ye Yun gave him here at Cloud Retainer's domain.
This area was remote, and with the reclusive Cloud Retainer watching over it, plus a divine seal Zhongli had left behind, it was quite secure.
Hu Tao looked around in amazement, tugging at Zhongli's sleeve.
"Wao~ Mr. Consultant, you're amazing! You really brought me whoosh~ all the way here in a flash!"
Zhongli didn't answer her and instead walked toward the portal.
"This way, Hall Master."
Hu Tao, who had just flipped over a frog with her Staff of Homa for fun, quickly followed after hearing him.
Before leaving, she made sure to flip the frog over again.
Frog:What did I ever do to you?! Will anyone speak up for me?!
Hu Tao arrived at the portal and looked at it curiously.
"Wow! Why's there a door here? It looks so out of place."
As she spoke, she gave the portal a kick—but it didn't budge at all.
Zhongli opened the portal.
"Let's go, Hall Master. Our destination is on the other side."
The two stepped through the portal.
In Hu Tao's vision, everything went black for a moment. Seconds later, her sight returned.
When it did, she found herself in a very strange place.
The décor was odd—definitely not Liyue style.
And outside the window… were those stars?!
The group sitting around the long table in the center eating breakfast all greeted Zhongli when they saw him arrive.
Zhongli gave a slight nod in return.
What surprised him was how many people were there this morning.
Ye Yun, Welt, Dan Heng, Himeko, Pom-Pom, Stelle, March 7th, Lumine, Paimon, Amber, Eula, Noelle, and even Venti with the three little ones.
From the kitchen, Ye Yun saw Zhongli walk in.
"Yo, Zhongli, you're late today? You were the earliest one the past few days."
Zhongli explained, "I brought my Hall Master with me today and had to wait a bit for her."
As he spoke, Hu Tao waved cheerfully.
"Hi everyone~ I'm Hu Tao!"
Himeko smiled warmly.
"Hello, Hu Tao. I'm Himeko. Come have a seat over here. You two haven't had breakfast yet, right? Join us."
Hu Tao laughed, "No need~ I just ate! Had some grilled skewers the Guest Minister brought me last night. Hehe."
"Oh right—are you the friends he mentioned? You all had a gathering last night, right?"
Himeko thought for a moment. "That's right. Still, have some porridge. Heavy food so early in the day isn't good for you."
As she spoke, Himeko served Hu Tao a bowl of plain rice porridge and placed it on a seat beside her.
Hu Tao smiled and sat down.
Himeko added a small dish of pickles to the side.
"Feel at home. No need to be polite. I'll take care of the three little ones for now."
Hu Tao looked where Himeko gestured and saw three adorable girls standing on stools, eating.
"Got it, thank you for the porridge. You go ahead—I'll help myself."
Himeko nodded and turned back to helping the little ones.
Hu Tao took a bite of pickles with a spoonful of porridge and immediately felt refreshed and cozy.
She then noticed March 7th sitting nearby.
"Hi there, what's your name, friend?"
March 7th lazily turned her head.
"Hi, Hu Tao. I'm March 7th, a Nameless passenger."
Hu Tao stared at the dark circles under her eyes.
"Did you stay up all night? Your eye bags are huge."
March yawned and nodded.
"Yeah, we pulled an all-nighter farming Hilichurl camps for Primogems. I'm dead tired."
Hu Tao was confused. "What do you need Primogems for?"
March 7th explained, "You don't know? Zhongli didn't tell you? You can exchange Primogems for Star Coins, and with those, you can buy items from all across the multiverse at Ye Yun's shop."
"The multiverse might be hard to grasp, so just think of it as countless different worlds."
Hu Tao was surprised. Primogems can do that? She'd always used them to skip stones on water or pelt birds.
March 7th pointed toward Ye Yun.
"That's Ye Yun over there. If you want to buy something, talk to him."
Hu Tao took note of Ye Yun's word face and nodded.
"Got it. Thanks!"
March waved it off. "No need to thank me—AHHH I'm so tired!!! I wanna sleep!!"
Hu Tao tilted her head, confused. "Then go sleep?"
March pulled out a handful of Primogems.
"We just got back and haven't exchanged them for Star Coins yet. Plus, we've been busy all morning and were starving, so we had to eat first. You can't sleep on an empty stomach."
Hu Tao agreed—she always had to eat before sleeping after returning from Wuwang Hill.
Soon enough, Hu Tao was chatting away with Stelle and the other girls, fitting right in.
When she heard they were planning a snowball fight tomorrow, she got super excited and insisted on joining.
She also learned through their conversation that this was another world—not Teyvat.
She was currently aboard a train that traveled through the universe.
Lumine explained that the universe is made of countless planets, and Teyvat was just one of them.
Hu Tao was amazed. The train could travel through worlds! If not for her duties at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, she'd love to join them.
The group continued chatting and eating breakfast.
Suddenly, loud banging came from a unique booth nearby.
"WAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Everyone turned to look.
There stood Silver Wolf, arms akimbo, laughing maniacally. Her dark eye circles looked like ink, but her eyes sparkled with energy.
Ye Yun rolled his eyes.
"What are you doing? Can't you open a door normally?"
Silver Wolf shot him a glance and snorted.
"Hmph, I won't stoop to your level!"
Then, she looked around with satisfaction.
"Hmm, lots of people here. Perfect. All eyes on me—Silver Wolf has an announcement!"
"Listen up! Eyes forward!"
Everyone looked at her, and she proclaimed loudly:
"The invincible Silver Wolf has finally beaten Black Myth: Wukong! Applaud now!"
Stelle was the first to clap, cheering her on.
"Nice! Nice! Nice!"
The others followed suit.
Even though they didn't fully understand, they clapped anyway.
Hu Tao clapped along and leaned toward Lumine.
"Lumine, what's going on now?"
Lumine, yawning and clapping, replied:
"I have no idea. Just clap. Everyone else is doing it, right?"
Hu Tao nodded—made sense.
***
Silver Wolf looked at Ye Yun, wanting to try out the Immobilization Spell.
"Alright then! Freeze!"
Silver Wolf struck a casting pose toward Ye Yun.
Ye Yun raised an eyebrow and smiled as he took a sip of porridge.
Silver Wolf stared wide-eyed at Ye Yun.
What? Did I buy a fake item? Or was my pose wrong?
Silver Wolf changed her pose to one like Ultraman firing a beam.
"Freeze!"
Ye Yun calmly picked up a piece of pickled vegetable and put it in his mouth.
Silver Wolf was stunned.
No way! No way! I grinded Black Myth: Wukong for so long, and it turned out to be a scam?!
She looked utterly wronged—heaven knows how hard she worked to finish the game.
She went without eating or drinking, finally cleared it, and the reward was a dud?
Ye Yun, seeing Silver Wolf's soul-crushed expression, said,
"Is it possible... that you picked the wrong target?"
Silver Wolf heard this and suddenly remembered that Black Myth: Wukong had a condition:
The spell only worked on targets below Emanator rank.
She looked around and finally chose Stelle.
"Ah Stelle! I'm sorry! Freeze!"
The next second—
Stelle was indeed frozen, but only for a few seconds before moving again.
Seeing it actually worked, Silver Wolf finally cheered up.
Perfect! The great Silver Wolf can finally counter that evil Kafka!
She struck a sinister pose, baring her claws.
"Hehehehe! Kafka! My dear Kafka! Next time you come around, the great Silver Wolf will have her revenge! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"
Klee tugged at Ye Yun's clothes and whispered in his ear,
"Big brother Ye Yun~ Is that sister sick or something?"
Ye Yun smiled.
"Hmm, she's a little sick. So Klee has to eat well to stay healthy, understand?"
Klee glanced at the now-manic Silver Wolf and was visibly shaken.
"Klee understands!"
Then everyone resumed eating while Silver Wolf kept fantasizing by herself.
About ten minutes later, everyone finished breakfast and went about their own business.
Stelle, March 7th, and Amber, who had stayed up late grinding Primogems, all went home to rest.
Ye Yun, Zhongli, Welt, and Dan Heng sat by the coffee table, brewed some tea, set up a chessboard, and started playing.
Venti sat by the little bar, pulled out a bottle of wine, and began drinking. Now that the Twalin issue was resolved, he could finally relax.
Himeko took Clara to class.
The three little ones ran around the train playing.
The newly arrived Diona, like Klee and Hook before her, was full of curiosity about the train.
However, there was one place Diona absolutely hated: the little bar.
Every time she passed by, she'd glare at it as if she wanted to tear it down.
Noelle was helping Hu Tao shop.
Just earlier, March 7th had heard Hu Tao wanted to go shopping and lent her 5,000 star coins.
Hu Tao arrived at the little bar with her 5,000 coins. The display screen was full of dazzling items, and she didn't know where to start.
"Wow! This flying motorcycle looks awesome? It can fly! So cool!"
"This handheld fan is so cute! Even the guest has one, so I want one too!"
"What! They even sell exorcism spells here! I'll take one!"
Soon, Hu Tao made her choices:
• One "Flying Motorcycle (Smart Edition)" with flight capabilities, auto-navigation, and fingerprint engine lock/unlock. Price: 4,000 star coins.
• Five uniquely styled "Handheld Fans (Solar-Powered Edition)," one hour of sunlight = full day use. Price: 10 star coins.
• One book of exorcism techniques. Price: 800 star coins.
She kept the remaining 150 star coins for next time.
After purchasing, Hu Tao listened to Noelle's introduction and rushed into the teleport gate back to Teyvat.
The moment she landed, Hu Tao slapped 4,000 coins onto the protective bubble around the flying motorcycle.
The bubble popped, and the motorcycle appeared in front of her.
She hopped on excitedly. As soon as she sat down, the smart system spoke:
"Driver's license not detected. Initiating beginner tutorial.
Please remember: Unsafe driving brings tears to loved ones."
Under the system's guidance, Hu Tao began learning to ride.
At first, she moved slowly, but soon picked up speed.
"Xiangling! I'm coming!"
Inside the store—
Ye Yun was shopping with the three little ones.
How could he have forgotten? The three had never gone shopping before.
Now with them, he'd gained an extra headcount.
That meant he completed another mission, didn't it?
Dang! Why didn't I think of this earlier?
"Here, 100 coins each. Buy whatever you want."
Ye Yun generously handed each of the three 100 star coins.
They happily ran off to the bar to shop.
When they reached the bar, they found they couldn't reach the display screen.
Hook had a bright idea.
"Klee, Diao... uh, Diona, let's stack up!"
She patted her shoulders.
"Diona! Stand on Hook's shoulders."
Diona was not happy with the nickname.
"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Diona, not Diaona!"
Hook put her hands on her hips.
"No, I'm sure it's Diao-na. Right, Klee?"
Klee nodded.
"Yeah yeah, it's Diao-na, no mistake~"
Diona drooped her head and sighed.
Forget it, let's just buy our stuff.
She climbed onto Hook's shoulders, and Klee climbed on top of her.
Only then could Klee reach the screen to shop.
Nearby, Dudoco saw what was happening, quickly came over and disassembled the human tower. She lifted them onto her arm and raised it so they could shop safely.
The three little ones excitedly chattered as they picked their items.
Soon, they were done.
Diona bought some food ingredients that looked particularly "nasty" to use in her cocktail experiments.
She didn't believe for a second that food from another world could produce delicious drinks. No way! Impossible!
This time, she—ahem—Diona was going to brew the worst drink ever and destroy Mondstadt's liquor industry!
Hook bought a bunch of snacks to take back to the Moles in Belobog.
Tomorrow, Ye Yun would take the little ones to the Belobog Icefield to play.
The rest of the Astral Express crew were also planning to join.
After this outing, everyone would rest for a couple of days, restock supplies, and prepare for the next journey.
[Congratulations, Host! Mission Complete: Host 20 Unique Guests. Reward: Lottery Shop!]
[New Mission: Host 50 Unique Guests. Reward: Instance Dungeon Portal]
(End of Chapter)