Landed Xumi: There is no problem with my numbers!

But in order to make the old friend in front of him feel more at ease in the future, he still signed this new "contract" with a solemn attitude.

"."

"Eh? You don't have to be so formal. Just write a detailed note and it will be almost the same."

Hu Tao, who was originally angry, blinked in surprise after hearing Zhongli's reply, and was surprised by this unexpected gain.

He knew how serious the guest in front of him was about the word "contract".

Hu Tao, who originally just hoped that he would write a few more words on the leave application before leaving next time, suddenly felt a little at a loss.

In the end, the "dignified" head of the Wangsheng Hall just snorted in a somewhat arrogant manner, then pulled the guest official who looked like an old man behind him and headed to the main gate of Bubu Lu.

Back to Bubulu.

Lin Feng, who had already discovered Hu Tao and Zhong Li,

As soon as Master Hu stepped into the door, his plum-red eyes widened.

Not only did he look left and right, hoping to find the cute little zombie in every corner and give her "special treatment", he even had the tendency to start rummaging through the drawers.

Just when he was about to step forward and ask Master Hu to give You Qiqi a day off, Zhongli, who had been following Master Hu quietly, spoke first:

"Master, there seem to be other guests visiting Bubulu today. Can you please restrain yourself for now?"

"Hmm? Guests? Are you referring to Brother Lin? Although I didn't see him a while ago, he shouldn't be considered a guest in Bubulu, right?"

Thinking about how she had asked the young man in front of her if he was a guest of Bulu, and the other party did not deny it, Hu Tao felt that the guest Zhongli was talking about must be someone else.

"Well, as you thought, the guest I'm talking about is an old friend of mine in Mond. Judging from his personality, perhaps you and I will get along very well."

Smelling the faint smell of alcohol in the air, Zhongli originally planned to pretend not to know him.

But I also felt that the drunkard from Mond might have a lot of common topics with the head of my family who likes to "recite poems and write couplets".

So in the end, the "collusion of identities" was completed through the information transmitted by the wind.

Just as Walnut was about to ask further questions, a green figure and a white snake walked over from the direction of the backyard garden.

She felt as if a breeze was blowing past her, and then she heard the young man dressed like a bard speaking:

"Hey, I finally see you, my old friend!"

"It's been a while since we last met at the Mond Tavern. How are you? Do you miss me?"

Wendy walked in with a smile on her face. She was relieved to see that the old man acknowledged her "old friend" just like he did when they colluded in their testimony.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't mind acting out a drama of meeting too late with the old man who was on a secret visit.

He even thought of what to say when they first met - he would take the opportunity to praise the old man's knowledge and insight, and at the same time praise his superior, Master Hu.

——Just say that only smart and reliable bosses can recruit powerful subordinates.

But before he came, in order to travel with the "God from the Outside World", he boasted about the relationship between himself and the old man, almost to the point of saying that they were life-long friends.

If they meet and both of them act as if they don't know each other, no matter how casual he is, he will feel embarrassed under the scrutiny of this new friend.

Fortunately, the old man finally gave me face and recognized this "old friend" from Mond.

While Wendy was relaxing,

The head of the Hu family saw that the young man was dressed in a unique way and spoke in a lively manner, which was totally incompatible with his old guest.

For a moment, I became curious about how they met.

She, who calls herself the "interpersonal communication ambassador of the Wangsheng Hall," stepped forward quickly and said with a bright smile:

"Oh my! This guy is so cool and looks like my future friend."

"From what the young man just said, my guest has actually been to the tavern in Mondstadt?"

"——But the young man doesn't look very old. Could it be that he dragged you over there?"

Recalling the phrase "old friend" and keywords like "Mond Tavern",

Although this guest seemed to prefer tea to wine, Hu Tao still worried that the unreliable adult would lead the child astray.

"Hmm? This young lady's demeanor is as bright as a flower or the morning sun. She is a rare and smart and reliable person.

Could it be that you are the considerate boss that my old friend once mentioned?"

Wendy winked at Zhongli who was standing behind Master Hu, and quietly completed a new round of collusion.

"Hmm? Although I am his superior, would my experienced guest really say that?"

When Hu Tao heard what Wendy said about Zhongli, she couldn't help but glance at her guest's face.

And as usual, I couldn't see anything on that plain face.

"Hehe, of course. Last time at the best tavern in Mondstadt, Mr. Zhongli walked in but didn't drink any wine. He just ordered a cup of hot tea with a hard-to-pronounce name.

When asked, he said it was his boss's order, and he really cares about your opinion."

"Hmm? Well, since you said so, I'll believe him."

Seeing that the young man opposite her spoke sincerely and showed no signs of guilt, Hu Tao gave her guest a few points.

"Everyone who comes is a guest, and meeting is fate. We just happened to bring some food from the Hall of Rebirth. Since you are also a guest of Bubulu, would you like to sit down and eat with us?"

Hall Master Hu pointed at the square wooden box in Zhongli's hand, indicating that it contained the food they brought from the Wangsheng Hall.

"Eh? There's food? Okay, okay! Thank you very much, Miss!"

Wendy thought of the old man's cooking skills. He hadn't eaten good food for a long time since he woke up, so he couldn't help but drool and agreed immediately.

In a place he didn't notice, Lin Feng and Zhong Li looked at each other. After knowing that the food in the box was the "heartfelt work" of Master Hu,

Lin Feng couldn't help but cast a sympathetic look at the guy who had boasted that he could eat most of the food by himself.

As night falls,

The clinic has relatively fixed opening hours and no medical consultations are conducted.

After a busy day, Bai Zhu and Agui avoided the sight of Master Hu and found Qiqi from her hiding place.

In the backyard where only the two of them would have a proper meal in the past, today there was a large table of guests gathered, including Qiqi and Changsheng.

Let’s not talk about the exact proportion of immortals and gods among the people at this table. After all, the three gods present have their own ideas and don’t care much about the differences in status and power.

The most amusing one is naturally the one who boasted earlier.

Now, under the cordial invitation of Master Hu, the bard was eating those dishes which were cute in appearance but gave off a faint ominous aura.

Watching Wendy praising the deliciousness of the dishes with high emotional intelligence and pretending to enjoy them, he hoped that the lady in front of him would quickly divert her attention.

However, because of this behavior, Master Hu thought that he loved to eat, and he showed his dull expression when he stuffed more works of art into his mouth in one breath.

For a moment, everyone sitting at the square table, except Hall Master Hu, looked at him with sympathy.

after a while.

As the banquet came to an end, everyone present began to return to their own homes one by one.

After Lin Feng agreed on a time for the discussion with the old man, he returned to his residence in Yujingtai.

I plan to use this time to study carefully and decide what kind of reward I should offer tomorrow to exchange the ownership of this Rock Attribute God's Heart with Zhongli.

And just when everyone had left and night had completely fallen,

Wendy, who had originally put on a bitter face because she had eaten too much of Master Hu's food, said she wanted to go out and relax.

However, he and Zhongli, who should have returned to the Wangsheng Hall, appeared quietly in the backyard of Bubu Lu.

They stood facing each other beside the flowers left by the "outside god".

It seemed that he wanted to have a long-planned and detailed discussion all night about the biggest "variable" in the entire Teyvat.

Chapter 179 Discussion on Variables

On the north side of Liyue Harbor is Bubulu.

Under the bleak moonlight unique to winter, a few yellow fallen leaves that had not been swept away in time made rustling sounds under the blowing of the cold wind.

At this time, even in the bustling Feiyunpo, if you are just in the outdoor area, you can no longer see many pedestrians.

But the two people present now are obviously not the kind of mortals who will be affected by the cold or hot weather.

As the rulers of two countries, there is naturally a very important reason why they meet at such an unusual time, and this reason is not from anyone else, but from the owner of the flower in front of them.

"Speaking of which, old man, wouldn't it be a bit too conspicuous for us to talk here?"

"What if I accidentally say something that offends someone later? I won't be beaten up by my new friend like I did before when he said bad things about you behind your back, right?"

Wendy asked with some concern, thinking of the power fluctuations she felt when the god transformed Xumi.

"Haha, not to mention that my friend is not the kind of person who would often pry into various private matters."

"Didn't we actually intend to hide the results of our discussion from him from the beginning?"

Zhongli just shook his head when he heard this. Knowing his friend's behavior, he was obviously not worried that their conversation would be overheard.

"Eh? Old man, you can't be fickle. Even if you were kind to me back then, you weren't that confident, right?"

"How come you're already so siding with my new friend after only knowing him for a few days?"

Seeing that this old friend of mine, whom he had known for thousands of years, actually trusted the outer god from Xumi so much,

Wendy cried out that it was unfair that Zhongli was obviously treated differently.

"you"

Hearing the word "rest assured" from Wendy's mouth, even the usually calm Zhongli wanted to comment on his past "glorious deeds" for a moment.

But finally thinking of the main purpose of this conversation, he remained silent for a moment, then said:

"Forget it, let's not talk about the past for now. I wonder what you think of my friend during your observation during this period of time?"

"As the incarnation of the wind element, even if you don't leave your house, the wind between heaven and earth will reflect the many changes on this continent to you."

"But you have come all the way from Mondstadt this time. I think your real purpose is to judge whether this new 'variable' is trustworthy, right?"

Zhongli looked at Wendy in front of him, wanting to know what conclusion he had reached during this period of time.

"Eh? Old man, are you asking me this? Although I do have some preliminary opinions."

"But judging from your attitude during this period, you have obviously received enough information.

Don’t you think that the existence of my new friend is a great thing for the creatures on this continent?"

Thinking of the information I collected in Liyue Harbor,

He knew that his old friend, whom he had known for thousands of years, was very close to the "outside world god" from Xumi.

It seemed as if he completely trusted the other person.

For the "God of Contract" who is cautious in everything and knows how to measure and distance well, this is a quite incredible sight.

——You know, even he had to coax and persuade the old man for many years before he reluctantly accepted him as his friend.

Zhongli glanced at Wendy and did not respond directly. Instead, he said without any context:

"I intend to implement my plan. This matter is of great importance. There is no "contract" between you and me, and I will not interfere with your choice.

But you should also know that we don't have many opportunities left, so it's better to do it sooner rather than later."

"."

Wendy, who was originally smiling playfully, fell silent for a rare moment after hearing Zhongli bring up this topic.

After a moment he said:

".Anyway, it's not like you to put such a big stake on the line right from the start, old man."

"You should know what this choice means. If 'that person' still has the strength left, then not only you and I, but the entire Liyue might be affected."

Wendy looked up at the sky, and her words hinted at something.

". Of course I am aware of the risks of this move, but since I chose to do this, I naturally have my considerations."

Zhongli paused, then continued:

"Among the seven gods today, only you and I are the oldest. Therefore, you should also know what our identity called 'ruler' means."

"——Governing the country, establishing order, and maintaining the most basic stability and survival of the group of 'people'"

"Perhaps the newly born god will think that this is the whole meaning of ruling, but as an impostor of the 'Order of the Seven',