Chapter 124: Traveler: Do you have Mora? Paimon: I hid a little bit!

Outside Liyue Harbor!

Looking at the bustling metropolis across a bridge in the distance, the two figures, one big and one small, were amazed but relieved.

"Traveler, we’ve finally arrived!"

As far as the eye could see was the wooden bridge leading to Liyue Harbor. Paimon was full of bitterness and tears.

Heaven knows what they had experienced on this journey.

Coming from Mondstadt to Liyue, the two of them had initially passed through Springvale, borrowed the path of the Dawn Winery, and entered the Stone Gate on the merchant road.

As a result, because they got lost, they bumped into an elemental creature, a Rhodeia of Loch, for no reason. The other party thought they were assassins, and they had a fight before they realized it was a misunderstanding.

Afterward, the spirit kindly told the Traveler the direction to Liyue.

Immediately after, the two walked through the marshy Dihua Marsh and finally reached Wangshu Inn with great difficulty.

There, they finally encountered more merchants and travelers coming and going.

The two, who were not very clear about the road conditions, followed them to Liyue.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have accepted the task. It would have been better to come with Luo Li and the others," little Paimon floated, hands on her hips, complaining.

The two had been sleeping in the open during this time and had lived very miserably.

Walking in the wilderness, they had to rob Hilichurls of their things when they were hungry.

Occasionally, they would pick some wild fruits or run into the lake to catch a few fish to roast.

If they hadn't approached a civilized city, they would probably have been assimilated into wild people.

The Traveler nodded silently, but she felt embarrassed to refuse when others asked for help.

"By the way, Traveler, when we were eating at Wangshu Inn, did you see someone standing on the roof the whole time?"

After a little complaint, Paimon brought up the previous question again.

"Someone standing on the roof?" The Traveler fell into deep thought and shook her head after a long while.

"Alright, maybe I saw it wrong. Hehe, the proprietress there—oh no, it should be the boss—was quite enthusiastic."

"Yeah, she added a small side dish for us for free."

"Shall we go eat Slime ice cream later?"

"Do you have Mora?"

Paimon giggled and patted her chest, saying proudly: "Hehe, I secretly hid some before."

"..."

"What’s with that look? Don't you dare have designs on my Mora. It’s mine. Hmm... at most, I'll buy some and let you have a bite later."

The two chatted as they approached Liyue Harbor.

Before long, they finally stepped onto the wooden bridge.

However, unlike the city in the lake that was disconnected from Mondstadt, Liyue Harbor was surrounded by mountains on three sides and the sea on one.

There was only an extremely narrow passage leading to the port, which could be described as easy to defend and hard to attack.

Paimon floated beside the Traveler, unable to help but marvel as she looked at the streets ahead, which were hung with countless red lanterns.

"Wow! So lively! So grand!"

Looking around, the towering and solemn ancient city walls stretched in a continuous line. Ships were coming and going at the port near the sea, and porters were running around unloading cargo.

Watchtowers stood in all four directions, and golden crane statues were erected on the sea surface below, holding fluttering ribbons in their mouths.

And the soldiers patrolling the streets had solemn expressions.

Even though they were only on the outskirts of the city, they could see lively markets set up on both sides of the road.

Most of them were small vendors, and of course, the goods sold were not expensive; the point was that there was a wide variety, enough to dazzle anyone.

The Traveler and Paimon walked all the way, simply overwhelmed.

Not only snacks and toys, but also antiques, paintings, daily necessities, ores, and seafood—everything was available.

The hawking and the fragrance that kept coming made Paimon bite her fingers and drool.

"So... so fragrant! I'm so hungry!"

The little one looked pitiful, struggling between whether to use her private Mora to buy Slime ice cream or to enjoy the snacks.

The Traveler rubbed her stomach, sighing that it was really hard to move without Mora.

Fortunately, she had earned quite a bit by completing tasks for the Adventurers' Guild, so she wouldn't be as strapped for cash as when she first went to Mondstadt.

Just as she was thinking this, she was stopped by a waitress at an inn.

"I am Xiuhua, a waitress at the Baiju Inn. Would you like to dine or stay here, guest?"

Baiju Inn?

The Traveler thought for a moment, looked at the somewhat grand inn, pondered for a long time, and agreed.

Arriving in a strange place, the first thing to do was to find a place to stay.

Moreover, this girl looked quite gentle.

Seeing her agree, Xiuhua was very happy, but halfway through her smile, she suddenly remembered something and said.

"By the way, my twin sister will swap shifts with me tonight. Please don't be surprised by her words and actions when the time comes."

Traveler: "..."

Is it too late to leave now?!

She always felt like she kept running into strange people.

The Traveler sighed and followed her in after all.

During this time, Paimon asked curiously: "When we came in just now, we saw many foreign travelers and soldiers, and many of them were running toward the pavilion at the very top. Why is that?"

Xiuhua explained: "That’s because today is the annual the Liyue Qixing Rite of Descension. The Millelith are guarding the order, and travelers all want to see the true appearance of the Geo Archon. Maybe they’ll be touched by some divine aura."

"Eh, today is the Rite of Descension?!"

Paimon was taken aback and shouted to the Traveler, who had just realized it: "Let’s hurry and join the fun! Maybe we can run into Luo Li and the others."

The Traveler was also very interested, not only because of Luo Li, but also because she could see the Geo Archon and confirm whether he was the culprit who had separated her and her brother.

— Author's Notes —

...Seeking flowers...