Chapter 39: Wandering the Mortal World

“Bro, can we add WeChat?”

“Huh?”

“Another guy said Zhongli’s cosplay didn’t bring a phone or wallet—can you forward his WeChat to me?”

The architecture of Chunyu Pavilion resembled Tang-era decor but incorporated some Song-dynasty elements.

The long corridor felt like stepping into the courtyard of an ancient wealthy household.

“That won’t do.”

“Alright, what a shame.”

The waitress in Tang attire didn’t press further and gave up after trying.

Getting complained about would be a bad trade-off—this job had little work, decent pay, and five insurances and one housing fund.

It was a premium position in the service industry.

Between rare heart-flutters and job security, the job came first.

“But he’s so handsome, so authentic.”

“Your friend is just like Zhongli stepped out of reality—so dashing, I’ve never seen such an accurate cosplay,” the waitress praised.

“Haha, yeah, everyone says that,” Su Lin agreed.

“Sis, can you not demand authenticity? That’s Zhongli himself—It’s not that I won’t give you his WeChat, he literally doesn’t have one.”

Not long after, the two reached the door of a small separate room in the courtyard, where brush-calligraphy read “Guyu.”

“Try this again.”

Before entering the room, they heard a weathered but powerful voice.

“The skin is crispy, the meat tender, with a hint of fruitwood aroma—not smoked too long, probably less than three minutes.”

“The meat is soft and glutinous, the juices perfectly locked in—should’ve been first…”

Su Lin pushed open the door and saw, inside, Zhongli and Kelaien , plus a middle-aged chef in a white hat sitting beside Zhongli.

Before them stood a long table formed by joining two large square tables, covered with over a dozen dishes.

Zhongli was chatting animatedly with the chef, while Kelaien sat nearby eating with chopsticks and bowl.

“Excuse me, sir, mind if I pass?” came a waitress’s voice behind Su Lin.

“Sure.”

The waitress lifted a thirty-centimeter clay pot and walked inside.

“Master Zhou, your Mountain Delicacies Medley is ready,” she gently set down the pot.

At that moment, Kelaien , who had been eating, noticed Su Lin and waved him over.

The waitress who had guided Su Lin stood staring blankly, whispering:

“So lifelike—even his movements are perfectly replicated…”

Su Lin sat beside Kelaien , refrained from interrupting Zhongli and the chef’s conversation, and joined the eating crew once the waitress brought him chopsticks and bowl.

What can you do? The money’s already spent.

Just eat.

While eating, Su Lin sent a few messages to Kelaien .

Su Lin: “Aren’t you supposed to book this place? How’d you get a table?”

Kelaien : “A table just opened up—someone canceled.”

Upon arriving in Rongcheng, Kelaien and Zhongli were immediately surrounded by crowds wanting photos—though everyone only asked for photos with Zhongli.

As a native of Earth, Kelaien became Zhongli’s tour guide.

“If you want to understand a place’s culture, food is a good entry point.”

Kelaien : “He said that, so I found this place on Dazhong Dianping.”

Kelaien : “But does he always order like this?”

Su Lin: “Pretty much…”

The meal cost 62,800 yuan—still a discounted price set by Master Zhou.

Aside from a few ingredients requiring advance reservation and unavailable stock, Zhongli ordered nearly every dish on the menu.

When the kitchen received the order, they thought a large group had arrived—only to find two guests.

After confirming no cameras were present and it wasn’t some influencer doing a review, the head chef assumed it was a fellow professional—and that’s why Su Lin witnessed what he did upon arrival.

“My restaurant is in Xinqu Derong—add me on WeChat after you get back, and message me next time you come,” Master Zhou gripped Zhongli’s hand warmly, as if they’d met too late: “My master’s away these days, so I’m covering for him for two days. Too bad he’s not here—he’d have loved to discuss these culinary ideas with you.”

“No matter—there’s plenty of time. I’ll return in a few days to taste your master’s skills again,” Zhongli smiled faintly.

“That’s wonderful!”

Su Lin’s WeChat contacts now inexplicably included a chef’s account—once Zhongli got WeChat, he’d forward it to him.

Kelaien and Su Lin each carried two large bags of takeout food away—the weight meant nothing to them.

Finding a secluded corner, Su Lin stored all the food into his system space.

“Old Su, is this a Sumeru Ring or a spatial ability?” Kelaien asked curiously—he usually stored things via sacrifice rituals, offering them to himself and keeping them on the Source Fortress.

“Similar to the space technique the Traveler uses,” Zhongli said, intrigued—he’d seen the boy named Kong use the Wanmin Hall stove to stir-fry several large pots of food, and the boy claimed it was food for the coming week.

The principle matches that of immortal storage techniques.

“Basically a space backpack,” Su Lin said after stowing the food, then asked the two: “What’s next?”

“Let’s find a place to drink tea—I’m quite interested in this world’s tea culture.”

“What about you, Old Zhou?”

“I’m fine with anything,” Kelaien shrugged—he was already content to have escaped the oppressive atmosphere for a while.

No Primordial, no Outer Gods, no loss of control— Kelaien felt he could easily spend months as a street loafer in this parallel world without getting bored.

Merely being in this parallel Earth had already stabilized his mental state considerably.

But his home was gone.

Learning he was now in Earth’s future had left Kelaien deeply downcast.

But what could he do? Life had to go on.

His current state was slightly better than the version in the story who’d been shattered by the news.

Only slightly.

The existence of the chat group gave him a sliver of hope.

With countless worlds out there, perhaps a way home would one day be found.

Until then, wandering ordinary Earths like this was better than seeing Miss Audrey for therapy.

Should he bring something back for the Goddess of Night? After all, this fellow countryman had protected him for a long time.

The three wandered Rongcheng all day and returned to Shuijing Peak at night.

“The technique is at the peak, right?”

“Correct.”

Zhongli swiped a brand-new phone twice, adding Su Lin and Kelaien as friends.

“For the next few days, I intend to focus on studying cultivation methods and filling my gaps.”

“Thank you both for accompanying me today—when you have time, please visit Liyue. I’ll treat you then.”

“You’re too kind,” Su Lin said.

Shortly after Zhongli left, Su Lin looked at Kelaien and asked: “Feel like making some money together?”