readytorunbook Chapter 198 Returning to Liyue Through the Stone Gate
Chapter 198 Returning to Liyue Through the Stone Gate
Xu Ning introduced Belial's identity to Qingyi.
Then he turned to look at Belial and said, "There is something I hope you can consider. Since you are going to use the name Belial to start a new life, you don't have to be so fixated on Abedo's appearance. After all, his hair is not as thick as it used to be."
"Have you ever considered giving yourself a new image? Ideally, one that is completely different from his appearance and physique."
Belial looked down at his body, nodded, and said thoughtfully, "I do need to think about this carefully."
Xu Ning smiled and said, "No rush. You have plenty of time before I introduce you to my friends."
Xu Ning asked Qingyi to vacate two guest rooms, giving one to Belial to rest in and tossing Wendy into the other room before going upstairs to rest himself.
The next day, Xu Ning was awakened by a burst of joyful laughter.
"This must be the kingdom of the god of wine! God, I'm willing to become your follower! Oh, I forgot I'm a god too..."
"It's really noisy."
Xu Ning pushed open the second-floor window, stretched out his arms, and said to Wendy below, "Rejoice! Before you stands the God of Wine, Lord Xu Ning. Are you shocked? Are you so shocked you want to cry? Come, offer me your loyalty, and I will bestow upon you endless fine wine."
Wendy looked up and saw Xu Ning, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons with a smile. She said happily, "So what you told me about the wine flowing down like a mountain stream and pooling on the ground was all true. Since it's all yours, I won't be polite!"
After Wendy finished speaking, she was about to run towards the wine pool marked with a thousand winds.
Xu Ning immediately jumped out of the second-floor window, somersaulted to the ground, and stopped Barbatos, who was about to let loose.
"I'm heading home today. If you don't want to come to Liyue with me, you can leave now. Don't get drunk here again."
Wendy dodged left and right, trying to get past Xu Ning's outstretched arms. "The spirit of Mondstadt is that whoever has the wine calls the shots. I'll listen to you."
Xu Ning's face darkened. Isn't the spirit of Mondstadt about freedom? When did you develop this "whoever drinks is my father" mentality?
"Alright, since you've decided to come with me, you'll definitely get your share of drinks. Come and take a look at this first..."
Xu Ningqiang pulled Wendy to a small corner opposite his wine spring, waved for Qingyi to lower the floating island fragment in the sky, and pointed to an ice ball in the center for Wendy to see.
Inside this ice ball were fragments of the Frost Nail, which had been retrieved from Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain last time. Within this cave, Qingyi had manipulated them and placed them in a corner.
Even so, the cold air released by this fragment almost constantly froze the flowers and plants that Qingyi had carefully cultivated to death, and it seemed to be spreading further.
Left with no other choice, Qingyi placed it on the floating island that Xu Ning had brought.
Wendy looked at them closely and said in surprise, "This is incredible! While Winter was still scheming to seize the power of the Seven Kingdoms' gods, I never expected that you would be at the forefront and have already begun to steal the authority of the heavens."
Xu Ning asked, half proud and half puzzled, "Although it's nice to occasionally put a jar of wine here to chill and drink, it's a celestial object after all. It would be too cheap to just use it as an ice cellar. Do you know how to use this thing to turn it into our power?"
Wendy shook her head decisively, "I have absolutely no clue."
Xu Ning stared at him for a long time, still finding it hard to believe that this guy knew nothing about the fragment. He threatened, "If I find out you know something but didn't tell me, I'll tie you to a bench and put you in front of Qianfeng Jiuquan, making you drool until you die!"
Wendy exclaimed, "How cruel! I already told you I didn't know! If you don't believe me, go back and ask your Geo Archon, and you'll see how honest I am!"
Xu Ning reluctantly let go of the guy, letting him cheer and run off to the wine spring to drink.
"Has Belial not gotten up yet?"
Xu Ning walked to the guest room and found a wooden sign hanging on the door with the four large characters "正规矩" (zhè guī jǔ, meaning "well-behaved" or "punctual") written on it.
"Do not disturb".
The woman in blue came over and explained, "Belial said he's going to start gradually changing his body in the room. Since the overall change involves a rather complex alchemy, we're not allowed to disturb him for the time being."
One was transforming into a butterfly inside the gate, preparing for metamorphosis; the other was turning into mud by the Jiuquan spring and collapsing into a pile.
Even though there were two more people on the road, it felt like I was all alone again.
Xu Ning patted Qingyi's head, "Come on, let's go find Diluc and have some breakfast before we hit the road!"
Upon arriving at the Dawn Winery, Diluc surprisingly did not sleep in.
Xu Ning and Qingyi had a hearty breakfast with him, and then he told her that he was going back to Liyue and that if she needed any help, she should send him a message.
Diluc never knew what to say in such farewell situations, so he simply nodded silently in agreement.
After leaving the winery, Xu Ning was teleported directly to the Stone Gate.
From this point on, Xu Ning decided not to continue teleporting. He wanted to see how Liyue had changed after he had been gone for so long.
Step down the wide wooden boardwalk, and you'll find a tea stall with large bowls of tea.
An old man saw Xu Ning and the man in blue slowly walking down the steps and hurriedly called out, "Oh my, you two must have come all the way from Mondstadt, right? You're walking! If you're tired, sit here for a while. Maybe you'll run into a merchant caravan and get a ride."
Xu Ning smiled and thanked the old man, then sat down as instructed and ordered two large bowls of tea.
Qingyi sniffed the tea in front of her curiously, picked it up and took a sip. She frowned immediately, looked up and saw that Xu Ning had already drunk it, and forced herself to swallow the somewhat bitter tea in her mouth.
Setting down the teacup, the woman in green complained to Xu Ning in a voice the old man couldn't hear, "This is awful..."
Xu Ning shook his head. "It seems you haven't suffered much hardship in your life. Merchants endure hardships on their journeys, traveling parched under the scorching sun. For them, a bowl of tea here might be like sweet rain or fine wine."
As the two were talking, a young couple also entered the teahouse from the direction of Liyue.
"You've been traveling for days, let's rest here. I'll pour you some tea."
The young man kindly helped the woman sit down and poured her a bowl of tea with a smile.
The woman picked up the bowl, took a sip, and just like the woman in green earlier, frowned and put it down again.
Facing the questioning gaze of the man opposite her, the woman gently shook her head and said, "I'm fine, it's just that... I'm not used to this."
The man said softly, "It'll just be a bit of a hassle on the way; it'll be much better once we get past the borders of Liyue."
Xu Ning found this statement rather unpleasant. Is there any place in the Seven Kingdoms more comfortable than Liyue?
What do you mean by "it's good enough once Liyue is made"?
Xu Ning turned to him and asked, "Are you two going on a long journey? Where are you headed?"