Chapter 270

Since we've returned to Xu Mi.

Luo De could no longer loaf around the streets all day as he used to.

The first thing he needed to do was.

was to accompany the visiting Zhongli, who also served as a muscle.

This ought to have been Nadixa's job.

But Nadixa is a god, after all.

Besides, during her absence, even with the Great Merciful Tree King's aid, a backlog of matters had piled up that urgently needed attention.

So the duty of accompanying Zhongli landed on Luo De, who was already quite acquainted with him.

Thus, saying "Xu Mi Cheng has nothing worth seeing,"

Luo De then brought Zhongli on foot all the way to Hope City in the desert.

Maybe it had been a few hundred years since he last visited Xu Mi.

Regarding Luo De's saying there was nothing to see, Zhongli's view was otherwise.

He first spent two days wandering Xu Mi Cheng, from the Academy on high to the Grand Bazaar below, his presence seen everywhere.

Luo De, acting as a makeshift purse, also got to see this former Geo Archon's spending ability.

To put it in one sentence:

That is "shocking"! Zhongli's gaze is superb, and his curiosity is off the charts; no matter what novelty he sees, he buys it outright, never bargaining, leaving Luo De to do the talking.

After only two days,

the Mora he spent almost hit seven digits.

Even though Luo De now normally gets his cut from Duoli, seeing Zhongli's purchase list still left him feeling light‑headed.

Luo De, used to frugality in Xu Mi,

was still laying out that much Mora in a short span for the first time.

Had Nadixa not said it could be expensed,

he really felt like turning tail and running.

The good news is that Zhongli is fast on his feet; he covered the priciest areas of Xu Mi Cheng in only two days.

The bad news is that, even after leaving Xu Mi Cheng, Zhongli's expenses dropped just a bit, and they actually seemed to be climbing further.

As for the reason, that was because on the day he decided to leave Xu Mi Cheng, Luo De bumped into Duo Li, who is the biggest swindler in Xu Mi Cheng, holding in her hands all the fresh novelties that can be found and cannot be found in Xu Mi Cheng.

The other is a big spender, a wealthy client who spends money lavishly without restraint.

When these two met.

Luo De instantly felt as if his heart and lungs had stopped.

And the subsequent developments perfectly confirmed his bad premonition.

Zhongli was indeed attracted by the endless stream of little trinkets in Duo Li's hands, capturing all his attention.

Upholding the fine tradition of not haggling.

Luo De has been forced to argue with Duo Li these past days until his lips are almost worn raw.

Just like now.

Even in the lush water-heaven forest, Luo De's roar can carry for several li, startling the birds and beasts in the woods to flee in panic.

"What is this thing, and you dare ask for five million Mora?"

"Why don't you just go rob?!"

Who knows what Zhongli is thinking.

Duo Li's obviously overpriced desert travel backpack, marked up at least thousands of times, he actually intends to buy it.

This really has Luo De fuming.

Leaving aside how useful the contents of that desert travel backpack actually are.

You, Zhongli, a mighty Archon, still need this thing in the desert?

Facing Luo De's frustration, Duo Li calmly said, "Eh, you can't spout nonsense, Old Sir Sange maha baba yi is the most trustworthy merchant in all of Teyvat; how could he go rob people's property? Look, doing business is about mutual consent—this Mister Zhongli wants to buy, I want to sell, we hit it off immediately, there's no forced buying or selling, so what's the problem?"

"I——!"

Luo De gritted his teeth, glanced at the smiling Zhongli watching the joke, then turned his head unwillingly and said, "Five hundred Mora, that's all."

"Huh?"

"Five hundred Mora?"

"You don't know what I've used in here?"

Duo Li didn't show any anger at Luo De's random haggling; instead, she rolled her eyes, shifted her persuasion target to Zhongli, and then, as if counting her treasures, she pulled out items one by one from the desert travel backpack and introduced them.

Such as a miniature tent, a portable stove, hunger-resistant pills that one pill can last a day, and so on.

In such a small backpack, they actually managed to stuff in no less than thirty items.

"."

"Cave heaven?"

Watching Duo Li continually pull things out of the backpack, these two words popped into Luo De's mind.

Cave heaven is a legendary immortal art known as "external view" passed down by the adepts of Liyue.

Passed down from Zhongli, the forefather of all immortals.

Its function is to create a small, free-floating world.

Those with great divine abilities can use the external view technique to move mountains and fill seas.

For example, the sealing site that imprisoned the dragon king Ruotuó Longwang was a cave heaven crafted long ago by the joint efforts of Liyue's adepts; it could not only seal that dragon king Ruotuó Longwang, who could match Zhongli in battle, but also withstand the aftershocks of the battle between Zhongli and Ruotuó Longwang.

And when beginners study the external view technique,

It would be just like Duo Li's backpack—only able to create an independent little space similar to a spatial pocket, completely incomparable to a cave-heaven small world supported by immortal power.

That's why Luo De knows these.

It's because when he had free time in Liyue, he also consulted the immortals about some immortal arts questions.

Unfortunately.

Luo De's talent seems useless before Liyue's immortal arts.

Even with Zhongli's guidance, he has only barely gotten started in the External Landscape Technique so far.

It's precisely because he has studied the External Landscape Technique.

So when he saw Duo Li's backpack, obviously engraved with something similar to a spatial technique, his first reaction was that this backpack was a little cave-heaven made by a beginner using the External Landscape Technique.

"Not a cave-heaven."

Zhongli, standing nearby, heard Luo De's quiet muttering and explained to him: "It is Amon's skill."

"Amon?"

This unfamiliar name left Luo De momentarily unable to recall who it was.

Soon he remembered.

The Amon that Zhongli is familiar with.

Can only be the Red King whose personal name is Amon, Ahema'er.

"Is this little thing made by the Red King's craft?"

Upon knowing this, Luo De also understood why Zhongli was so interested in this backpack.

Or rather.

The items inside this backpack are indeed worth hardly any money, at most eight or ten thousand Mora.

But the backpack itself is valuable.

"Oh dear~~~"

"You really have an eye for quality, customer—you can spot the truly valuable part of this desert travel backpack at a glance~~~"

"Unlike some people."

"Obviously clueless, yet you stubbornly grit your teeth there."

Duo Li gave Luo De an annoyed glance, then turned enthusiastically to Zhongli and said: "How about it? Customer, you see, you only need five million Mora to take home this backpack made with the Red King's craft—absolutely a great deal, you definitely won't lose out at all~~~"

Meanwhile.

Duo Li was also muttering to herself.

"Is the Red King's name Amon?" This news she'd never heard before made her quite concerned.

Duo Li's business reaches far and wide; she has a presence throughout Sumeru.

As for her knowledge,

possibly even the Academy scholars who specialize in archaeology are not as knowledgeable as she is.

But she truly didn't know.

The Red King's name is Amon.

In Sumeru.

Whether it's historical documents, Academy records, unearthed relics, or the desert folk's title for the Red King, everything is Ahema'er; no one has ever mentioned the name Amon.

If only Zhongli were saying this.

then Duo Li would probably just put this matter at the back of her mind.

But Luo De also agreed with this statement.

Duo Li may not believe others' words, but she will certainly believe Luo De's.

This is the experience she gained after being swindled out of Mora several times by Luo De.

Duo Li, who considered herself to have obtained a piece of information of great historical significance for Sumeru archaeology, grew ever happier; while energetically pitching it to Zhongli, she also calculated who to sell the news to, even settling on a price—one million Mora, which she was sure would sell.

Naturally, Zhongli could not miss Duo Li's little scheme.

He did not remind Duo Li that the Dendro Archon had returned and that the Red King's true name, Amon, would eventually be made public; instead, he stroked his chin and nodded: "Hmm, this backpack is indeed a rare curiosity, worth spending money to bury."

Next.

In Duo Li's joyful expression, Zhongli shifted tone: "Still, five million Mora is too high; fifty thousand Mora would be about right, since your backpack merely uses a small part of Amon's technique, not even a complete inheritance, so its research value isn't that great."

"Hmph—"

"It's not just not high enough."

Having been mocked by Duo Li, Luo De murmured from the side: "Mr. Zhongli, if you want the Red King's technique, there's plenty of it in A Ru Cun—you can research it however you like, and you won't even need to spend a single Mora~~~"

Such opposing words.

Luo De and Duo Li both saw crackling sparks in each other's eyes.

However, Duo Li did not have the confidence her face showed.

Knowing that A Ru Cun is currently developing stockpiled Red King technology, she didn't wait for Luo De to keep haggling and immediately said: "Fifty thousand Mora, deal."

"No problem, deal."

Zhongli's words left Luo De completely deflated.

Faced with a deity who has no concept of money, he really had no recourse.

After pinching his nose and paying fifty thousand Mora.

The trio's presence then revealed a strange atmosphere.

Luo De walked along, fuming, and as he felt he had wasted a lot of Mora, he didn't want to say a word.

Duo Li, meanwhile, happily counted her money, even picking up a Mora coin, blowing on it, then holding it to her ear to listen to the sound; her face showed only satisfaction and joy.

Zhongli was comparatively simple.

After getting this backpack, he kept researching its functions, and didn't care at all about the so-called survival tools inside that he deemed as freebies.

Just like that.

The three of them crossed the entire Water Heaven Jungle all the way and arrived at Kawanyi, the pass connecting the desert and rainforest.

Compared to before Nadixa ordered the development of the desert.

Nowadays Kawanyi is bustling, more than several times as lively.

People coming and going here.

Besides merchants, many more desert folk who shuttle back and forth for work have appeared.

Of course.

Many rainforest people also go to the desert to look for work opportunities.

When walking on the road.

The three words "Hope City" are constantly heard.

Almost in every corner of Kawanyi, one can hear people saying they want to go to Hope City to try their luck and see if they can find a well-paying job.

The old black market is gone too.

As Duoli said.

It was banned by Kawanyi.

The reason is that the black market would affect normal trade between the two places.

Losing the black market caused Duoli to lose a large sum of income, and when she mentioned this, she couldn't help but blame Luo De.

"It's all your fault."

"If it weren't for your spearheading this trade route, how could Elder Sanggemahabai have suffered such a loss?"

Even in Duoli's luxurious mansion, her complaints can't be silenced even while eating.

Judging from her expression.

The loss of this gray income truly pained her, to the point that she actually ended up blaming Luo De for it.

Regarding that.

Luo De snorted: "Just because the black market is gone, does that mean your underlings are clean? Selling canned knowledge right under my nose, you really aren't afraid I'll report you to the Discipline Officer? By the way, the Grand Discipline Officer is my senior brother—don't forget that."

"."

Duoli was choked badly.

But she isn't someone Luo De can easily push around; she immediately retorted: "Hmph, this matter is tacitly permitted by the Academy; you're an official there—don't you know some things shouldn't be spoken casually, yet both sides tacitly allow it?"

Luo De of course knew.

Who is Duoli?

She is not only the richest merchant in Sumeru, but also the Academy's biggest patron now.

Therefore, let alone the Academy.

Even if Nadixa were here, she'd have to turn a blind eye to some of Duoli's actions.

This is the helplessness of reality.

Where is there a place that can enforce absolute justice?

Luo De saying these words was merely a slight reprimand to Duoli, urging her to restrain herself.

Some things.

Nadixa can turn a blind eye.

But if she goes too far,

then it's not allowed for her to do so.

If it ends up making everyone unhappy, that would be troublesome.

The ever-clever Duoli also understood this tacitly.

This topic was only briefly discussed for two sentences before both parties tacitly skipped it and moved on to the next topic.

"By the way, recently many Mondstadt folks have come to Hope City, causing some unpleasantness with the Academy people."

"Among them, some are using your name, claiming you allowed them to rebuild their families in Sumeru."

Duoli, holding her wine glass, dropped a piece of news that made Luo De involuntarily spit out a mouthful of wine.

"When did I ever say that?"

Duoli was surely referring to the Lawrence family, but even though he understood their family's conduct, Luo De still couldn't hold back.

Weren't these bastards forcibly exiled to Sumeru in a manner similar to banishment? Logically, the only one who knows the full story, Youla, wouldn't possibly tell these internal factors to those old fogeys, right?

Then where did they find out they were the masterminds behind this?! And they even presumptuously considered themselves the backers of those people!

"Hmph——"

"There are bad people in the Academy."

Luo De narrowed his eyes and muttered that sentence.

(End of chapter)