People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 563 Xiao: I... am feeling restless and want to go out for a walk.

"It seems that we really have no choice but to make do with the Great Sage."

"Although the Wangsheng Hall is indeed experienced in handling related issues, the head of the hall is acting out of good intentions."

"But right now, Inazuma is preparing for the festival to welcome the resurrected, so it's probably not a good time to promote family discount packages."

My hand holding the teacup paused slightly as I empathized with the old man's indescribable weariness.

Although Lin Feng felt that Xiao was probably under immense pressure, considering the consequences of letting Hu Tao run over there, he thought it was better to let Da Sheng hold the line first.
"However, old man, you don't need to worry too much. The hall master probably won't be able to catch up with the Academy's team this time."

"At present, Inazuma is still under certain restrictions on outsiders because the local people are not yet stable."

"If the sect leader doesn't go with us this time, we probably won't find another opportunity to go to Inazuma anytime soon."

Although he felt that this situation was not the first time it had happened, Lin Feng still tried to comfort Zhong Li in front of him.

If I had to say, after choosing the identity of "Guest Elder of the Hall of Rebirth," and after spending so much time together,
Faced with Hu Tao, the head of the hall who would usually agree to the old man's various outrageous excuses for taking leave, and the boss who went against everyone's objections to help pay for Mora's expenses,

Given the old man's ability to tolerate Wendy for so long, it's quite normal that he wouldn't be able to resist Master Hu's various requests.
"."

"I hope so, and hopefully nothing goes wrong with Xiao."

For some reason, the scene before him felt somewhat familiar. The guest elder of the Rebirth Hall, who usually maintained a calm demeanor, fell silent for a moment, sincerely hoping that it was just his imagination.

"Great Sage Who Subdues Demons—Immortal Xiao! This master has come to see you!"

"—I heard from my guest that you suddenly wanted to see me? Hehe, I knew inviting the Great Sage to the dinner party was the right thing to do. It's always good to keep in touch!"

"."

The top floor of Wangshu Inn, north of Liyue Harbor.

A lively girl dressed in a black ceremonial uniform with black hair tinged with red climbed up, glanced around, and immediately started shouting before even seeing anyone.

He was unaware that his guest was trying to get rid of him.

Upon hearing that the "Great Sage Who Subdues Demons," who was an immortal, actually wanted to see her, Hu Tao rushed to Wangshu Inn in a great hurry.

The Great Sage has a very deep connection with the Hall of Rebirth. According to the records in the hall, his ancestors received a lot of help when dealing with issues related to "evil spirits".

Unfortunately, the Great Sage was too introverted before, and after the remnants of those demons and gods were no longer in the wild, he became even more elusive, and he couldn't even find an opportunity to connect with others.

Everything is difficult at the beginning, and even in the Hall of Rebirth, it is not easy to see the immortals.

It's quite rare for the Great Sage to take the initiative to seek him out right now. Perhaps if he strikes while the iron is hot and communicates with him more, he can help the Hall of Rebirth recruit a real immortal as a guest elder.
Then, he could rightfully have his achievements recorded in the family genealogy, thus becoming the most outstanding among all the patriarchs in history.
elf:"."

There was a moment of silence, and even an instinctive urge to take a step back.

Although the Emperor must have had his reasons for asking him to hold off the girl in front of him.
But after experiencing that indescribable enthusiasm and excitement, he suddenly felt an urge to run away.

"Hmm? Why isn't the Great Sage saying anything?"

"."

"Ah, right! I forgot! How can I come to pay my respects to an immortal without bringing a gift!"

"—This is almond tofu I just made in the inn's kitchen. Would you like to try some, Great Sage?"

Having such a rare opportunity, I naturally have to give it my all.

He decisively unleashed his trump card for building relationships, spending a whole morning learning how to make this almond tofu himself. With this...
"boom--"

He placed the beautifully packaged wooden box on the table, and the words "almond tofu" in his words successfully attracted the attention of the young immortal in front of him, just as he had expected.

Fabric, box lid, and insulating layer.
The exquisite packaging, which shows sincerity, was removed layer by layer, just like a thin veil covering a pearl being slowly lifted.

It's hard not to be drawn to the incredibly thoughtful packaging, and as Xiao gets closer to the central dish, his anticipation grows ever stronger.
"Clang-"

The beautifully packaged box was fully opened, and a plate of almond tofu with a slightly subtle color and an inexplicably charred appearance was placed on the table.

? ?
The anticipation reached its peak but then abruptly ended, followed by a dramatic drop, like falling off a cliff.

Even from a distance, he could smell the acrid, burnt odor lingering at the tip of his nose. Looking at the girl's expectant eyes in front of him, Xiao suddenly regretted accepting this mission.

"."

"Great Sage, please have a taste! Even my guest elder praises my cooking skills, as he is usually very picky!"

"Don't worry, even if you don't have an appetite right now, it's okay. I'll go downstairs and make a couple more dishes, and we can eat and chat."

elf:?!!

I instantly sensed an indescribable sense of crisis.
And he seemed to see some burnt chili peppers in the almond tofu?!

I have absolutely no desire to try any more outlandish ideas.
Xiao remembered the task he had agreed to, fell silent for a moment, and ultimately relied on his years of experience to forcefully maintain his composure.
"No need, no need to make any more. This one dish is enough."

"As for the reason for summoning the hall master here..."

"I was feeling restless and suddenly wanted to go out for a walk."

He forced himself to give the only reason he could think of, trying to delay the girl's actions as much as possible, as instructed by the Emperor.

I thought the other party would be suspicious, but then I heard a hint of surprise in Hu Tao's voice:

"Oh my? I get it, I get it! The Great Sage must be wondering where to go for sightseeing and needs a guide!"

"—There just happens to be a well-informed but idle fellow in the hall! I'll go cancel his leave right now and have Zhongli take you there."

!!!

"—Ahem, no need, I..."

His movements froze, as if he could see the glaring "Mission Failed" message right in front of him.
Xiao unconsciously took a step forward. If he hadn't been used to having a blank expression for thousands of years, the word "anxious" would probably be written directly on his face.

? ?
"Eh? You don't want it? Could it be that you want to specifically name this hall master?"

"Hiss, although I know my guest advisor is a bit old-fashioned, I didn't expect even the Great Sage would think so."

Normally it wouldn't matter, but right now she had a "big business deal" to discuss, and Hu Tao was unusually hesitant.

"."

After hesitating for a moment, she finally decided that the matter at hand was more important. It was a rare opportunity to get closer to her, so she nodded and decided to wait until the Great Sage had circled twice before trying to find a way to go to Inazuma.

"."

"Well, although I had some suspicions, it seems that this job is proving to be more difficult for the Great Sage than initially anticipated, and it's really putting him in a tough spot."

"As expected of the sect leader, he maintains a consistently high level of performance."

"I took the gift box you helped me choose, and it turned out to contain almond tofu with chili peppers. Although visiting immortals is more about the sentiment, this is still a bit much."

North of Wangshu Inn, on the mountaintop of Qingce Village.

After hearing about his arrangements from the old man, both of them were somewhat worried about Xiao's situation, so Lin Feng took the old man to observe from a distance.

But it doesn't matter if you don't watch. In a short period of time, the mental pressure that Master Hu put on Xiao was no less than experiencing a bloody battle on the battlefield.

Leaving aside the beautifully packaged burnt spicy almond tofu, it might at most give you the urge to buy the box and return the pearl.

Judging from Xiao's rather abstract excuses for delaying, although he inexplicably achieved his goal in the end, it can only be attributed to the matchmaking mechanism at work.
“What you say is absolutely right, young friend.”

"Phew, this is truly a last resort. Inazuma's trip was just too special. I will try my best to make some compensation to Xiao afterward."

Sigh slightly,

As if he were in the same boat as the hall master, Zhongli could only comfort himself that at least for the time being, the hall master would indeed be held back by Xiao.

"."

"There are no remnants of the Demon God left in Liyue now. Liu Yunli and the others advised Xiao to stay among the mortals for a while."

"But Xiao had long been accustomed to keeping away from others while carrying the karmic burden of clearing away demons. Although the karmic burden on him has now been cleared, he still prefers to stay alone in secluded places, just like before."

The initial arrangement was made in the hope that the leader could make Xiao more outgoing, but now the expectation has been lowered to the point that it would be best not to have the opposite effect.

Over the past thousands of years, Liyue has been plagued by too much war. As generals who charged into battle, the Yaksha clan lost almost all of Xiao's familiar companions.

After finally having a lot of free time, Xiao might still feel lonely most of the time, except for occasionally visiting the bronze sparrow left in the temple.

"Is this so"

"It's alright. At least the matter you entrusted to me, sir, regarding the Floating Yaksha, shouldn't encounter any problems now."

"My biggest concern before was whether the Floating Abode would still have any remnants after being swallowed by the mysterious space at the bottom of the Abyss of Layered Rocks for five hundred years, since that place is not a suitable place for souls to remain."

"But five hundred years ago, there was a chance that could turn everything around."

"Judging from what I'm about to do, ensuring that a trace of the remnant soul of the floating abode remains in that place where no one has been for five hundred years should probably not be a problem."

The mysterious space beneath the towering abyss of rock has a property that can wipe out even memories. If you venture in with the intention of finding someone, it's hard to guarantee that you won't be disappointed in the end.

But the good news is that it is also because of that characteristic that seems to exist independently of Teyvat,
At this point in time, no one has entered that place for hundreds of years; in the history of Teyvat, it is a complete "black box."

Whether the cat in the box is dead or alive can only be determined by opening the box and checking.

Compared to a certain spot under the sunlight that attracts countless eyes, a box that has never been opened naturally offers ample room for maneuver.

"."

"Wendy's guess was correct. It seems that you indeed know the secret of 'time'."

"However, only you, young friend, have the confidence to get that person to cooperate with you in changing the time. On behalf of Xiao, I would like to express my gratitude to you in advance."

He also knew some secrets that ordinary people could not know, and he was very clear about the information contained in the few words of his young friend in front of him.

Any manipulation of time is extremely sensitive, and given the consistent practices of those shadows, even the seven gods of the mortal world would never ask them to cooperate willingly.

"It's nothing, just something I did on the spur of the moment."

"A space that no one has ever been to before, whether there are more or less things, makes no difference at the moment. If such favorable conditions were not available, I probably wouldn't be dealing with it now."

As one gains more and more power, the laws of the world naturally tilt in one's favor.

Just like the "master" that the young master always talks about said, once the power reaches a certain level, one will naturally understand "tricks" like penetrating space.

Although "time" is somewhat special and cannot be manipulated by someone with enough power under normal circumstances, its operating logic is no longer untraceable in his eyes.

"The difficulty in manipulating time lies in not affecting the results of the 'present,' while the 'past' is not static in the face of time."

"Even the slightest adjustment made five hundred years ago would have had an unimaginable chain reaction."

"This means that for centuries to come, we will need to continuously correct the course of the world, and when inexplicable problems arise, we may have to resort to 'ambiguity'."

"But a 'box' that has remained untouched and never been opened is the best medium. You once said that you have a good memory, so I suppose you are not unaware of this."

Simple and crude time manipulation is almost entirely impossible; even if the Divine Cherry Blossom Seed were truly left behind, it would be through that consciousness space isolated from the outside world.

The ability to "time" is not a wonderful thing; the time and effort required to use it are probably the highest, even in the shadows.

"."

“Young friend, you are indeed perceptive. But no matter how favorable the conditions are, without your appearance, it would all be just empty talk.”

"A span of thousands of years is too long. Right now, I can only hope that nothing unexpected happens on this trip to Inazuma. If my young friend's plan can really succeed, then perhaps..."

He paused for a moment, then shook his head, knowing that it was not something he could do right now.

Let's temporarily set aside the "gift" someone gave me a thousand years ago.
Zhongli looked up at Xiao in front of him, hoping that his little friend's first attempt would go smoothly.

"Grandpa, don't worry. With the Great Sage paying such a high price, Master Hu will definitely miss the opportunity to go to Inazuma."

"Beidou's fleet just made a trip to Mondstadt a while ago. Judging from their itinerary there, even if they're going to Inazuma, they most likely won't return to Liyue to rest. You can rest assured for now, sir."

Returning to the present, let's no longer discuss conjectures that can only be verified after meeting "Ishtar".

I'm not exactly an expert on "time," something completely different from the laws of elements, so it's hard to say how biased my current views are.

But putting those things aside, predicting Master Hu's current movements is not as complicated as it is with time.

Without a doubt, unless she could, under virtually impossible circumstances, hitch a ride on a ship bound for Inazuma, and that ship was even permitted to pass,
Otherwise, the probability of them getting the old man to work as a salesman again is extremely low.
(End of this chapter)