Chapter 364

Following the Mondstadters.

The delegations from Liyue and Inazuma also arrived one after another.

Without exception.

After they arrived, the head of each delegation's first thought was to go find Luo De, the guy who had caused quite a stir in their lands.

It's a pity that.

Nobody knows where Luo De is.

Even Nadixa did not reveal his whereabouts.

Thus the slightly disappointed crowd could only go rest first, then leisurely stroll through the revitalized Xu Mi Cheng, making preparations for the upcoming Flower God Festival.

The delegations from Snezhnaya, Natlan, and Snezhnaya also arrived in Xu Mi Cheng two days later, repeating the ceremonial actions of the other nations.

Besides that.

Not counting the Thunder True Film Sisters who have always stayed in Xu Mi Cheng, the gods of the other nations also kept their appointment.

Among them, Venti came together with Xiao.

After arriving, he did not go look for the Mondstadt delegation, but instead wandered the streets everywhere, mooching food and drink.

Xiao, meanwhile, went with the adepts who had come with him to find Zhongli and the floating hermitage, and after a long separation, the guardians of Liyue finally reunited.

The Pyro Archon's delegation and the Natlan delegation stayed together, rarely going out.

Meanwhile, the Ice Queen's own Snezhnaya delegation, which had come in person, was unusually well-behaved this time; even Dottore in Xu Mi Cheng was forced to show himself to pay respects to the god he served, but at least he temporarily escaped the predicament in which Pantalone had left him helpless.

Speaking of Pantalone.

One cannot help but mention his actions in Xu Mi Cheng after his conversation with Luo De.

At that time, Luo De sternly criticized his recent conduct, which, for Pantalone, did not shatter his convictions but did pry open a small crack in his steadfast heart.

Out of curiosity about Zhongli.

During this period, aside from staying in Xu Mi Cheng, he spent his time bringing gifts to visit Zhongli.

Back and forth.

The two actually became like close friends, able to talk about anything.

Zhongli did not mind Pantalone's previous targeting of Liyue and the destruction he caused.

For Pantalone's questions, he answered without reservation.

Such sincere mutual treatment.

This also greatly improved Pantalone's impression of Morax, not eliminating hostility entirely, but he no longer felt the same utter hatred as before, as if he had swallowed gunpowder.

And his change in attitude.

This made Dottore feel very uneasy.

Because Pantalone had earlier monopolized many of the materials needed for forging gods and fabricating false Visions.

Originally, out of respect for his fellow Harbinger.

He and Dottore still maintained a temporary cooperative relationship, basically not releasing too many materials to the outside world that would ruin the market he had built.

However, after reaching an agreement with Luo De to adopt a non-hostile stance.

The materials that Dottore had originally wanted to use to control Xu Mi Cheng were all released, and at prices close to normal.

This undoubtedly ruined many of Dottore's plans.

In fact.

Having reached this point.

All of his moves have already been thwarted by Luo De.

All that remains is for the god's body to be completed, after which he will basically have no way out.

Especially after the Ice Queen arrived in Xu Mi Cheng, even the last chance of a desperate break-through was completely cut off.

This was also the first time Dottore felt such a severe sense of defeat.

He also suddenly understood why his listless, dejected slice had chosen to end its own life.

If Luo De were just a lone individual, he would not have been defeated so miserably.

But Luo De has far too many people behind him; no matter how he schemes, he still ends up suffering a crushing defeat.

But Dottore did not give up just then.

As the Second Seat Executor of the Fatui.

He still has a way to have another go at Luo De.

"This is the last chance."

The Lidugu laboratory crafting divine bodies, the Ice Queen's residence, a corner of the Xu Mi Cheng rainforest, and so on—Dottore's final slices all lifted their heads to gaze at the highest palace in Xu Mi Cheng, their eyes full of unruly defiance.

Inside Xu Mi Cheng.

Today, Jean, the Liyue delegation, and the Inazuma delegation gathered together.

To be precise.

It was the Inazuma fox shrine maiden who took the initiative to come to them.

As for what she specifically wanted to do.

It wasn't anything complicated.

She simply wanted to invite everyone to go out together to strengthen their bonds.

The Liyue delegation consisted of a woman with indigo hair and a bold woman wearing an eyepatch; they did not know Yae Miko, but they had heard her name and knew she was the highest-ranking shrine maiden of Inazuma, closest to the gods.

Jean was relatively unfamiliar with Yae Miko.

By the time she truly began managing the Knights of Favonius, Inazuma had already closed its borders, cutting off all trade and contact with Mondstadt.

Moreover, Mondstadt's affairs were numerous, and she herself was a hands-on type, so she was not as close to Inazuma's high-ranking officials as Liyue was.

This caused some hindrance for their companions.

Fortunately.

Having Kaeya, this social terror, around, they didn't lose Mondstadt's face.

As their companions.

Also, there's that maid knight of the West Wind Knights, Noelle—oh, she's now been made permanent, personally approved by Jean.

Her work is also very simple.

It's simply to protect Jean's safety during this diplomatic mission.

By the way.

This task was assigned to her by Kaeya.

Although Jean thought her martial skill was superior to Noelle's, protecting her seemed unnecessary, but Kaeya insisted that other foreign envoys all had bodyguard teams, while Mondstadt had none, which really looked too shabby.

Consequently, due to his insistence, Jean had no choice but to bring Noelle along as her personal bodyguard.

The only thing that let Jean feel relieved.

Probably just that the Inazuma Guuji also brought a bodyguard.

She is a woman with purple hair.

Like Yae Miko, she is also very lively and loves to laugh, always enjoying chatting with everyone, and she is very familiar with Xu Mi Cheng, even able to find those snack stalls hidden in remote streets.

There's just one thing.

Whenever she eats, her personality seems to suddenly change, giving the impression of shifting from a warm, gentle older sister to someone as cold and stern as a blade, although she still laughs happily while eating.

"Hey, Jean."

"What are you doing?"

As Jean was lost in thought, Kaeya quietly called out to her: "They're looking at you and laughing."

"Huh?"

Jean came to her senses, just in time to meet the teasing smiles of Yae Miko and the others.

"Yo, Acting Leader, what are you thinking about? Why are you spacing out?"

Yae Miko still wore her signature smile, paying no mind to Jean's embarrassed look.

Just a moment ago, they were chatting about those fun new trinkets on the street.

As a result, after calling Jean several times with no reply, this is how the scene came to be.

Jean's face flushed: "Sorry, I was just thinking about Mondstadt's affairs; not being in Mondstadt, I always feel uneasy about some things."

"Come out and play, just relax."

"If even one person is missing, such a big country would constantly have all kinds of accidents, and then the country would basically have no reason to exist."

Yelan speaks rather bluntly.

Her personality is just like that—she speaks her mind directly, with no need to beat around the bush.

The same goes for Ningguang.

Let alone others.

Moreover, what she says is indeed reasonable.

Even Jean, upon hearing it, has to admit that what she says is indeed reasonable.

Nowadays Mondstadt's situation is stable, the news of the Wind God's return has long spread throughout Mondstadt, and Te Walin is secretly protecting things, so there's really nothing to worry about.

Thinking of this, Jean chuckled: "I've grown used to it; every time I go out, I always end up thinking about these things."

"Hmph—"

"If I were to say, you should learn from me."

"Read some light novels, eat some fried tofu, or just go set off fireworks every now and then—you'd be so relaxed."

Yae Miko chuckled as she told Jean and Yelan about her daily life, meanwhile exposing the scar of Raiden Shogun: "You see our place's dead‑numb shadow, always holed up in the keep when there's nothing going on—how boring, can't even get a bite of the tasty tri‑color dumplings or milk tea."

Her words had just finished.

Raiden's sword One-Hearted Dream just moved on its own in her hand, swinging toward Yae Miko's head.

"Hehe—"

Yae Miko's reflexes are excellent; Raiden Shogun wasn't really trying to hit her, so she dodged that easily.

Meanwhile, Beidou nearby, seeing this, started shouting in surprise.

"Huh, your knife moves on its own—let me see if it works!"

Beidou had never seen such high‑grade gear before; her eyes lit up, and she instinctively reached out to grab One-Hearted Dream.

But Raiden's movements were even faster.

Before Beidou's hand could reach it, she had already shielded One-Hearted Dream with her stance, smiling: "Sorry, I don't like others touching my sword."

"That's quite a personality?"

Yelan raised an eyebrow with an inscrutable expression.

As for Raiden's skill, she was somewhat surprised.

She knew very well what level Beidou was at.

Just now Beidou had been probing with that intent, acting quickly.

Yelan judged herself.

Even she, if not given prior warning, wouldn't so easily dodge Beidou's 'surprise attack'.

But this Guuji's bodyguard handled it with unusual ease.

She made Beidou lunge at empty air, and it was almost as if she had anticipated Beidou's move—before Beidou's hand even moved, she had already sheathed her blade.

"Indeed, there are hidden tigers and dragons."

Ye Lan did not think of Lei Dian Zhen as the previous Electro Archon; she merely felt that Inazuma this time indeed placed great importance on its cooperative relationship with Sumeru.

Ningguang possibly somewhat underestimated Luo De's influence a bit too much.

This is her true thought.

"Everyone, the Grand Bazaar is right ahead; shall we go take a look?"

Qin interjected at just the right moment: "I heard this place is the liveliest spot during Sumeru's Flower God's Birthday celebrations each year."

They looked in the direction Qin pointed.

Describing it as a sea of people is not an exaggeration at all.

In previous Flower God's Birthday festivals, the Grand Bazaar was a scene of shoulders rubbing and heels touching.

And this year, even the Academy has begun making grand preparations.

The entire Grand Bazaar has become lively to the extreme.

Especially the performances at Zubayr Theatre, which have attracted countless foreign tourists to come watch.

Such liveliness.

Yae Miko definitely wouldn't miss this; she immediately agreed: "Great, great, let's go take a look."

Qin and Yae Miko both want to go.

Then Ye Lan couldn't say she wouldn't go; together with Beidou, a group of seven people followed the crowd and entered the Grand Bazaar.

Compared to Luo De's first visit to the Grand Bazaar earlier.

Although the Grand Bazaar has not undergone expansion now, the old decorations have all been replaced with new ones, and the stalls are more densely packed than before.

And the merchants in the Grand Bazaar have not been carried away by the current prosperity; they continue to uphold the past strategy of site-wide discounts during the Flower God's Birthday festival.

This has caused more people to come to the Grand Bazaar.

Even though their own countries have similar festive celebrations, seeing such a crowd gather in one place is still something Qin and the others have never witnessed before, so they inevitably feel surprised, wandering around to find some bustling stalls to see how they manage it.

Especially Ye Lan and Beidou, who hail from a merchant nation.

Although they are not merchants themselves, they are also very interested in business with strong appeal.

They couldn't help but look.

Upon looking, they indeed found a new discovery.

The marketing methods in the Grand Bazaar are indeed different from those outside, and even from those of other countries.

Like merchants in most countries.

In festival marketing, they basically just do uniform discount promotions.

The Grand Bazaar is different.

Here they have things like collecting cards from different stalls to exchange for gifts, raffles, group buying, trade-ins, free gifts, buy more get more, and so on—all kinds of methods; you can basically see any approach.

While Ye Lan was shopping and trying to chat with some stall owners, what she and Beidou heard most often was not about the merchandise.

but the name Luo De.

Not only them; Qin and Yae Miko also heard the name Luo De most often.

Such as the emissary of the Red King appearing out of nowhere to save the desert, disregarding the conflict between desert and rainforest to save the Dendro Archon, building cities in the desert, helping countless desert dwellers thereby gain a home where they can settle—so many things that they cannot be counted.

Some stalls also sold wooden figurines of Luo De, and quite a few people bought them.

"This guy."

"He's that famous?"

Ye Lan, who had exchanged greetings with Luo De for a while in the Chasm, muttered doubtfully to herself.

Qin also learned of this for the first time.

Like Ye Lan, she also wore a look of surprise.

"Hehe."

"You've only been here a short time."

"You still don't know how popular that little guy is in Sumeru."

Saying this, Yae Miko pursed her lips toward the open-air stage of Zubayr Theatre: "Go over there to have a look; that theater occasionally puts on a song-and-dance drama starring that little guy."

Ye Lan, whose interest in Luo De was growing, immediately took the lead, and the group soon entered Zubayr Theatre.

Here it is much noisier than the outside market, with cheers, screams, and shouts all mixed together, making it hard to hear even the people next to you speak.

And it was precisely at this time.

Ye Lan, who habitually scanned her surroundings, suddenly spotted a very familiar figure in the crowd.

It was a handsome young man, with a green-haired girl laughing while pointing at the stage perched on his shoulder; beside him, on the left, a black-haired cat-eared girl holding a blue elf-like creature in her arms, also laughing heartily; on the right, another green-haired girl and a girl with waist-length hair, compared to the laughing few, that girl appeared much more vigilant, her eyes sharp as a hawk's scanning everywhere, her right hand never leaving the saber at her waist.

Who else could it be but Luo De! (End of chapter)