After returning home, Valerius took a full day to rest.
He had already agreed with Xianyun that once the game ended, he would go to Teyvat to check on Shenhe's condition. Something felt off—why wasn't it working?
Logically, it should have been effective.
"Jingliu, I'm heading to Liyue. Want to come?"
"No need."
Jingliu didn't even turn her head, her eyes fixed on the livestream.
"What are you watching that's got you so hooked?"
"Version T0."
Curious, Valerius leaned in to look at her screen—and immediately froze.
No way… Guinaifen was actually livestreaming Su Shang.
At this moment, in Changletian on the Xianzhou Luofu.
Su Shang had grabbed a Foxian man, twisting his arm behind his back. Beside them, a Foxian woman was crying her eyes out.
"Speak. Why are you bullying her?"
"Ow, ow, let go!"
The man cried out in pain. "Are you crazy? She was the one who bumped into me!"
"Then why didn't you dodge? Why bully her?"
"I… miss, please… she pushed me down the stairs! My leg is broken! And I'm not allowed to ask for compensation?"
"Your leg is broken?"
Su Shang glanced at his leg. It did look abnormal—swollen badly at the injury.
"Why did you push him?" she asked, her tone noticeably gentler toward the woman.
"I… I was rushing to a date, but he kept blocking my way. I couldn't get past, so I just lightly pushed him."
Hearing this, Su Shang felt she had a clear understanding now.
She turned back to the man. "This is all your fault. Why were you blocking her?"
"I…" The man looked like he was about to cry. "I wasn't blocking her! The road is so wide—she just insisted on going past me!"
"That's true."
Su Shang nodded thoughtfully, then delivered her judgment.
"You're both at fault. Just apologize to each other and let it go."
"Why should I?!" The man protested. "She pushed me! Why do I have to apologize?!"
"You were standing in the way of her date."
"So that makes it okay to push someone? My leg is broken!"
"Hmph." Su Shang snorted. "You only broke a leg. She lost love."
Inside the livestream:
[Keqing: Listen to that—does that even sound like something a human would say?]
[Yanfei: I don't understand it, but I'm deeply shocked.]
[Jing Yuan: Sigh… how much longer until the Ministry of Justice arrives?]
He covered his face. This was embarrassing on an interdimensional level. What were the authorities even doing? Why hadn't they arrived yet?
[Fu Xuan: The notice has already been sent. They should be here soon.]
[Jing Yuan: As soon as possible, please.]
[Yunli: Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter. As expected of Su Shang, she really knows how to stir things up.]
[Feixiao: Th-this… it's a punishment… it's not really her fault… pfft… not her fault… haha…]
[Valerius: This is just the beginning. You have no idea how terrifying Version T0 really is.]
[Jiaoqiu: There's still more chaos to come.]
[Sunday: Sigh… what are we supposed to do now?]
[Lucy: Help! Caesar has gone crazy! She's trying to make the Overlord assign all delivery routes to us!]
[Zhe: Isn't that a good thing?]
[Ling: Looks like the outer ring is about to get lively too.]
[Valerius: Just keep watching. The real madness is yet to come.]
Valerius had already lost interest in watching. He knew exactly what kind of state those three were in. All he could do now was hope they could survive the week.
"I'm heading out. You really not coming?"
Jingliu had her mara-struck condition, so Valerius was still a bit worried about leaving her alone.
"No need. I'll just stay home and watch the stream."
Jingliu didn't even blink, completely absorbed. Somehow, the current Su Shang felt even more terrifying than mara-struck abominations.
"…Alright."
Since she wasn't going, Valerius didn't push it. He pulled out the Anywhere Door and stepped through.
At the peak of Mount Aozang.
In the middle of a tranquil pool stood an ancient tree. Beneath it, Xianyun and Shenhe sat facing each other.
"Not bad. Your senior sister has good taste. This outfit suits you well."
She picked up another piece.
"This one is nice too. It really highlights your figure."
After inspecting each piece of clothing, Xianyun finally nodded in satisfaction and stored them away.
"Shenhe, do you remember what I told you?"
"I remember, Master."
"Good."
Xianyun nodded, then noticed Valerius in the distance, still admiring the scenery.
"How is my abode?"
"As expected of an adeptus' residence."
Valerius nodded in praise. The place was truly beautiful—mist curled around the trees, and the pool reflected a gentle glow. It looked far better than anything in the game.
"Of course."
Xianyun looked quite pleased. After all, she was one of the illuminated adepti—her abode had to be impressive.
Walking over, Valerius first glanced at Shenhe. He didn't notice anything unusual.
That only made things stranger.
There didn't seem to be any problem at all?
"Ahem… you're a guest. Please, have a seat." Xianyun gestured for him to sit, then gave Shenhe a meaningful look. "A guest has arrived. Why don't you prepare some of your specialty dishes?"
She even winked at her. What are you waiting for? Get moving.
"Yes, Master."
Shenhe glanced at Valerius a few times before standing up and heading into the abode.
Shenhe… cooking?
Valerius felt a bit uneasy. Shenhe didn't exactly have a strong sense of worldly life. Could her cooking even be edible?
But then again, aside from Raiden Ei, most people in Teyvat could cook… Shenhe should be fine, right?
He found himself oddly looking forward to it. After all, it was a meal personally prepared by a divine maiden.
So he sat there, chatting with Xianyun as they waited.
To be fair, Xianyun was quite the conversationalist—though most of what she talked about were other people's embarrassing pasts.
Of course, she didn't see them as embarrassing. To her, they were amusing anecdotes.
After quite a while, Shenhe returned, carrying a large basin.
"What is that?"
Valerius was surprised. The contents looked colorful—visually appealing, but… not exactly like food.
"This is something I learned from Xiangling at Wanmin Restaurant."
Shenhe had followed her master's instructions seriously. If her master told her to learn a few dishes, then it must be for her own good.
And Xiangling had been recommended by Ganyu. Anything she taught had to be reliable.
"Uh… can I ask what this is exactly?"
Valerius picked up a sticky, gelatinous lump with his chopsticks. No matter how he looked at it, something felt off.
"This is slime condensate."
"…What slime?"
For a moment, Valerius thought he had misheard. Shenhe… was eating slimes?
"Slime."
"…What slime?"
"Slime."
Shenhe answered honestly, puzzled. Didn't Valerius even know what slimes were?
At that moment, Xianyun's expression darkened, with a hint of embarrassment mixed in.
Inside, she was screaming.
I told you to learn some dishes—how did you end up learning this?!
She immediately made up her mind. Later, she was definitely going to find out who taught Shenhe this. This was outright sabotage.
It was over.
Shenhe's image in Valerius's mind was about to plummet completely.
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