Mr. Zhongli, we can't slack off anymore!

While lost in their fantasies, the crowds did not disappear.

The traveler, finding his hands empty, immediately sensed something was terribly wrong. Was he about to be swallowed up by the crowd once again?

Tinnitus masked the noise.

From within the overlapping bodies, a slender hand extends and grasps the traveler's hand.

The thumb ring on my hand felt barely noticeable against my soft skin, but the leather gloves were warm.

Zhongli exerted a slight force, and the traveler was drawn back to his side.

"Let's hold hands instead," he said with a smile.

Without needing to say anything more, the traveler nodded.

Almost simultaneously, the two gripped each other's hands tightly.

Several long fingers slid from the back of the hand down to the knuckles... Intuition made the traveler look up to confirm his expression.

Zhongli lowered her eyes and looked away, seemingly lost in thought.

Time stands still at this moment...

"Hey, you in front! Are you going to move or not? Don't block the road!" a man behind shouted impatiently.

"Haha." The two looked at each other and laughed, then moved forward.

On the high platform, hundreds of lanterns illuminated the stage brightly.

At the center of the stage, Jiaming held up a lion head and performed, vividly portraying the lion's form, movements, and expressions in time with the drumbeats. Sometimes he strolled like a lion, and sometimes he showed the lion's rolling and leaping.

He jumped onto the wooden stake and performed one difficult move after another on it.

Fireworks burst across the sky, painting the sea with vibrant colors.

The crowd below cheered and jumped for joy, creating a lively and exciting atmosphere.

At the end of the performance, the drumsticks struck the drumhead heavily, and Jiaming leaped off the platform, spinning once in the air before landing steadily on the ground.

He lowered the lion's head and raised both hands to thank the audience. The traveler also raised his hand and waved back.

*

The crowd dispersed.

"Let's go back." The traveler leaned on the railing, looking at the sea under the moonlight.

“Mm,” Zhongli replied.

Following the flow of people to the exit, and then through a deserted alley, we finally arrived at the hotel entrance.

Whether in the most crowded times or when they were all alone, the two never let go of each other's hands.

Xiuhua, who was standing at the hotel entrance, saw the two of them and asked, "Are you two checking out of your rooms on the fifth floor?"

"Shall we retreat?" Zhongli asked the traveler, looking down at him.

"You asked me...why?" the traveler asked stiffly.

"Your accommodation is up to you."

The traveler felt that he was just pretending to be stupid.

Xiuhua covered her mouth and chuckled to herself.

"Let's go back and discuss it. We'll let you know tomorrow." The traveler had no choice but to postpone the matter for now.

How can you let the girl say something so embarrassing first!

"Alright. You two, please go upstairs." Xiuhua managed to say through a smile.

Back in their fifth-floor guest room, the two naturally let go of each other's hands.

The traveler breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, nothing embarrassing happened, otherwise, he wouldn't know how to handle the situation.

"What are your thoughts on checking out?" Zhong Li asked proactively.

"Have you found me a safe place to stay?"

"No," Zhongli said firmly.

"Where will I stay after I check out?" The traveler began to have wild thoughts, but traditional virtues of modesty told her that she couldn't say it.

"Upstairs." He didn't hesitate at all, whether it was something he had planned for a long time or not.

"Together with you... isn't that a bit inappropriate?" The traveler turned his back to hide the smirk that was about to spread across his face.

"Really?" He began to play dumb.

"I, I, I am a respectable woman..." The traveler blurted out whatever words came to mind in her nervousness.

It was so hard to suppress my laughter that I almost burst out laughing.

"Perhaps you've misunderstood, traveler," Zhongli said calmly, as if he had already guessed what the traveler was thinking.

"Oh..." The traveler suddenly realized what he meant after hearing this.

I must have misunderstood.

How could he possibly do anything to me?

Why don't you do anything to me...?

She cried out in her heart.

“We can free up a guest room on the sixth floor. I’ll feel more at ease with you by my side,” Zhong Li explained.

"Then...why didn't you say so before?" The traveler suspected that he did it on purpose.

Why didn't you just say it clearly earlier?

Or perhaps... Mr. Zhongli's pleasure lies in watching others panic.

“The traveler didn’t ask me anything,” Zhongli said innocently.

"Alright." The traveler couldn't do anything about it.

“You don’t mean you want to live with me…” Zhongli was interrupted by the traveler before he could finish speaking.

"No! No! Mr. Zhongli, what shameful things are you thinking about! Don't say such embarrassing things!" the traveler retorted desperately.

She hated herself for having lustful thoughts but lacking the courage to act on them, and for still being a good girl who had to be punished even in another world.

She would not dare to take overly proactive actions even if the person involved gave her permission.

Moreover, if the immortals found out about this, they would be chopped into pieces.

Zhongli spoke again: "If you are willing..."

He dared to say what followed, but the traveler dared not listen.

"No, no! That's it, please don't mention it again, please." The traveler pressed his cheeks.

Please, sir, stop inciting people to commit crimes.

Let's maintain a normal idol-fan relationship!

The habit of indulging in fantasies just because someone is a two-dimensional character needs to be changed.

Dream Girl is temporarily banned!

"I mean, you can move next door to me if you'd like. That was how it was supposed to be yesterday, but the young lady chose the fifth floor because she didn't want to cause gossip. I never expected something like this to happen last night."

"If I lived next door to you, you could come immediately if any demons or monsters wanted to kill me, right?"

“Yes,” Zhongli gave a clear answer.

According to the game's character settings, even if you live in the east of Liyue Harbor and he lives in the west, he should still be able to sense if something is wrong around you. But last night's situation was really strange.

"Mr. Zhongli, did you go out last night?" The traveler asked without thinking.

"Yes, let's go find clues to send you back," Zhongli said without changing his expression.

It wasn't exactly a lie, but rather only half the truth.

“So yesterday… you went out to look for clues, and then a strange thing sneaked into my room. When you came back, the monster was gone, and you didn’t notice it.” The Great Detective Traveler went through the whole story.

"So today I asked the hotel staff to clear out the rooms on the sixth floor."

"The problem is... you can't be with me all the time," the traveler realized the key point.

"That's right. But I'll stay by your side until you learn how to defend yourself."

“Okay. I’ll go tell Xiuhua to cancel the room on the fifth floor.” The traveler nodded in agreement.

It's embarrassing to live so close to my neighbor...

"Then I'll take your things to the guest room on the sixth floor."

*

Soon the traveler moved to the house next to Zhongli.

Unlike the fifth floor, the room she pushed was just a wall away, and her excitement lingered for a long time.

A set of clothes was placed on the round table in the sixth-floor room.

The newly made clothes from the fabric shop are being delivered in batches, and the latest set has already arrived.

She was dressed in a dark brown outfit, with patterns and metallic embellishments similar to Zhongli's clothes.

A new style of outerwear paired with a long skirt and a tight-fitting inner layer.

The long skirt has a scale pattern and is designed in two pieces for ease of movement.

The heeled ankle boots added a few centimeters to the traveler's height, and the inside of the shoes was very comfortable, like walking on clouds.

This must be Liyue's cutting-edge technology; no wonder the characters are so fierce in high heels.

This outfit is perfect for working at the Rebirth Hall... Standing next to Zhongli, they look like a couple's outfit. I wonder if the shopkeeper did it on purpose.

The three people standing by the roadside looked exactly like a parent with a child!

The traveler then realized something was amiss. Could Zhongli have already anticipated that he would be going to work at the Hall of Rebirth? His clothes were all arranged!

The traveler dressed and, finding he had something to talk about with Zhongli again, quickly went to his door.

Let's boost our favorability today!

dong dong dong-

*

"come in."

Even if Zhongli knew that the traveler was outside the door, she would wait until she finished knocking before responding, after a short interval that wouldn't frighten her.

Another reason for placing the traveler on the fifth floor was to isolate some of her senses; after he moved next door, he would be able to know her every move.

The seven rulers of the mortal realm, as demon gods, all possess special abilities, such as Buyer's ability to read minds and Zhongli's extremely sensitive senses.

The traveler pushed open the door and entered: "How is it? Is it okay to wear this to work? Master Hu said the color can't be too bright."

Zhongli examined the garment closely: "This suit, made by a mortal imitating the work of the ancestor Mi Nu, has some ingenious design elements, but it still has shortcomings."

"Overall, it is acceptable as a replica."

"The gentleman is so strict," the traveler exclaimed.

Zhongli was very concerned about imitating the works of his deceased friends.

"However, I don't understand why we need to make a copy? I didn't give the shopkeeper any hints, which is strange." Zhongli was completely baffled. He only had a superficial understanding of human emotions and thoughts.

"It's probably a misunderstanding..." the traveler knew perfectly well.

It turns out it wasn't something he arranged on purpose.

"Consider it a lucky accident; this outfit suits you very well. However, one thing is missing." He took a box from the wooden cabinet and showed it to the traveler.

"Eye of God!"