Chapter 27: Zhongli: You ask what I think? Naturally, I'm watching while eating

San Yue Qi quietly leaned against the train window, her exhaled white mist swirling on the glass as the girl's slender fingers drew a cute smiley face on it.

"Not bad," Xing's voice suddenly sounded from behind her.

"Hey! Don't scare me from behind!" San Yue Qi shuddered, whipped her head around, and just caught Xing's teasing smile.

"You came to see me before departure—are you nervous because it's your first expedition?" San Yue Qi said, hands on hips full of confidence, "Don't worry, Dan Heng and I are veterans of 【expedition】—follow us and you'll definitely have meat to eat—uh, provided we can find meat on that planet."

"But seeing this planet, I can't help wondering—this world is all ice; could it be related to my past? Once this thought arises, I can't stop thinking about it."

Xing joked, "Maybe it's your hometown."

"Probably not? At the time, I was trapped by a rare substance called 【sixfold ice】, which is hard to find on ordinary planets." San Yue Qi shook her head, then suddenly shivered, "Honestly, I don't hope this is my hometown—it looks freezing, and a beautiful girl isn't very tolerant of cold."

Um… this girl isn't really going to wear this outfit to an icy snowy place, is she?

Seeing that icy planet in the light curtain, Dada Liya instantly recalled his happy hometown. The wind and snow of Snezhnaya that could freeze a person to death he had known since childhood; someone dressed as lightly as San Yue Qi would probably not even make it across the snow‑covered plains.

Compared to Snezhnaya's snow, he still prefers the scenery of Liyue right now.

Liyue Harbor is lined with willows, a beautiful sight this time of year; along the shore, every willow tree looks dressed in jade. The willows sway in the wind, the water ripples under the sky light, and all the world's green sways together—a vista you cannot see in Snezhnaya.

At home, Tuoke and the other siblings were fighting over Pam's stuffed toy, and besides, after the light curtain appeared, several executive officers had been arguing about it, so he had no choice but to go to the clown to request a new assignment and come to Liyue, where he was tasked with gathering information on the Liyue high‑levels' response plan to the light curtain.

"Don't forget, Miss San Yue Qi herself can wield the ice element." In the VIP room of New Moon Pavilion, Zhongli slowly set down his chopsticks, picked up a cup of fine Sublime Jade Immortal Tea, and took a sip.

"That's also true."

Dada Liya never expected to meet Zhongli, the Geo Archon, as soon as he arrived in Liyue; as the former top leader of Liyue, he only needed one meal to gain a private audience with this deity, and seizing the moment, he finally asked the question he had always wanted to know.

"Mr. Zhongli, what do you think about that sudden light curtain in the sky… and the star gods inside it?"

The tea fragrance drifted; Zhongli seemed satisfied as he let out a long breath, his gaze lingering on the jade‑green cup in his hand, his golden pupils reflected in the clear tea.

"Well… of course, it's watching while eating."

"..."

Just as they were speaking, Dan Heng slowly walked up from behind San Yue Qi to join the pre‑departure discussion, only to notice that San Yue Qi had been staring at him.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

"Nothing, I'm just imagining what fun things we three might run into… hehe!" San Yue Qi scratched her head, cute yet a bit dazed.

"…" Dan Heng sighed helplessly: "This world is truly full of disasters—first we encountered the Star Core, and now you've got your eye on me."

Xing tried to steer the conversation back, looking at Dan Heng and saying, "Such a huge planet—where should we land?"

Dan Heng: "I did a preliminary survey and found a spot on the planet's surface with a relatively normal temperature—though by 'normal' I mean just barely survivable for humans."

"If we're picking a site for the expedition survey, I'd definitely choose that relatively warm area."

Xing nodded in agreement: "All right, then let's go."

"Great!" San Yue Qi could no longer contain her excitement, cheerfully declaring, "The Yaluoluo-6 Expedition Squad, setting off now!"

The three passed through the drop pod and landed on a previously selected snowfield.

The world before them was nothing but silver‑white; the wind howled fiercely, snowflakes fluttered like torn cotton wool, drifting aimlessly. The once‑green pine needles, buried under years of snow, had turned into rows of white icicles.

"There's not a trace of life…" Xing drew a deep breath; the freezing cold air sucked into his lungs, his chest beginning to ache faintly.

"Really a world of ice and snow." San Yue Qi glanced around the endless white expanse and couldn't help sighing.

Xing: "Really a world of ice and snow."

"You're like a parrot." San Yue Qi was speechless, while Xing showed a little hurt expression.

"Hey, this endless white—where should we go?" San Yue Qi looked to the all‑knowing Dan Heng.

"According to the target coordinates, the goal is not far away." Dan Heng pointed toward a direction in the distance.

"Come to think of it, why didn't they just drop straight at the destination?" Inside the Clever Rabbit House, the cat glanced dubiously at Nicole, "Do we really have to trek that far? It's freezing."

"How would I know? Anyway, I refuse to walk that far."

Um… Nicole, I think this is actually pretty easy to understand.

Billy slowly edged up beside Nicole, lowering his voice: "Nicole, do you remember that time? We drove through a void rift to retrieve a commission item, but by sheer coincidence we ended up crashing onto the roof of a rich district villa, punching a hole in someone's house—"

"Enough, Billy! Don't bring up the past!" Nicole seemed to recall some extremely unpleasant memory, shaking her head violently, her large chest lights also beginning to sway horizontally.

"That day we were like the protagonists of a movie, chased by the authorities for three whole hours." Meanwhile, An Bi, who had been staring fixedly at the light curtain, took a bite of his burger and showed a rare, pleased expression.

"If we hadn't run, we would have owed 35,000,000 dinnies and spent the rest of our lives in the prison of Xin Aili Du."

Although Nicole was still uneasy, recalling the matter inevitably sparked a hint of pride, and she couldn't help but lift her chin proudly: "Running for three hours exempted us from 35,000,000 dinnies in compensation—doesn't that mean the Clever Rabbit House earned 35,000,000 dinnies in three hours?!"

Billy's eyes instantly lit up with gleaming gold as he sprang up from his wobbling bed: "That makes sense, Nicole—you're a genius!"