Chapter 16

Lu Lin opened the System and discovered that a special panel had appeared in the Resident Members section.

[Pending Resident: Guizhong]

[Soul Fragment Integrity: 0.01%]

[Note: This member is in a soul fragment state and has not yet taken up residence. No other data available.]

So there had actually been a wisp of Guizhong's soul fragment inside that glowing green orb?

A soul fragment with only 0.01% integrity remaining — the fact that it had persisted this long without dissipating was already remarkable.

This revival quest is going to be incredibly difficult. You can tell just from how generous the rewards are. And the most critical problem is that nobody's told me how to actually restore her soul fragment!

Oh well. The road will present itself when we get to the mountain. Sitting here guessing blindly won't do any good. It's getting late — time to sleep.

* * *

After leaving the Serenitea Pot, Ningguang wasted not a single moment and headed straight back to the Jade Chamber.

"My Lady Ningguang has returned. Shall I prepare your bath?" Tonight's attendant for her personal needs was Bai Wen.

"No rush. Bring the fire basin I normally use for burning important documents to my bedroom, then step outside. Do not allow anyone to enter." Ningguang's expression was cold and severe. Bai Wen dared not delay and immediately complied.

In her bedroom, Ningguang sat before the fire basin and, without hesitation, ignited the negatives Lu Lin had given her.

But when she picked up one of the photographs, ready to toss it in, she hesitated.

If she were being honest with herself, these photographs were exquisitely taken — they captured Ningguang's regal bearing and breathtaking allure to perfection. They were nothing short of works of art.

Even Ningguang herself couldn't help but feel it would be a shame to burn them just like that.

No, no — what am I thinking? These are photographs taken by that shameless scoundrel. Am I actually considering keeping them?!

She raised the photograph as if to throw it into the flames, then set it back down.

Then again, the photographs are in my hands now. If I keep them for my own appreciation, there's no harm in that, is there?

Ningguang, oh Ningguang — since when did you become so vain?

Just as she was wrestling with whether to burn them, the corner of her eye caught another photograph — and her pupils tightened sharply.

Something is wrong with this photograph.

Lu Lin had taken quite a few photographs — some before planting the strawberries, some after — ten in total. And he had genuinely kept nothing back, handing every single one over to Ningguang.

It was precisely because of this that Ningguang noticed the anomaly.

She held two photographs side by side and compared them. The angles were nearly identical, and the results were almost indistinguishable.

The only difference was that one showed strawberries on the snowy peak, while the other had none — only red plum blossoms against the snow.

Most critically: in both photographs, her expression was exactly the same.

She flipped through every photograph. Though the angles varied, her expression in every single one was completely identical.

But how could they all be exactly the same?

Lifting her clothes, taking photographs, planting the strawberries, taking more photographs — how much time had passed between all of that? How could her expression have never changed even once?

Like a statue, standing there, being posed at will.

Ningguang had speculated about Lu Lin's methods before — she had assumed it was something like memory erasure or hypnosis. Now it was clear that wasn't it at all.

This situation looked far more like — time itself had been frozen at that moment.

Stopping time? What a heaven-defying ability. Even gods and immortals couldn't do something like that, could they?

With a technique this unfathomable, what good did it do her to have taken back the photographs and negatives? If he wanted to take another set, she would still be powerless to resist.

No wonder he handed everything over so readily.

At this realization, Ningguang felt a wave of profound helplessness wash over her. In that moment, she truly felt despair.

The only course of action for now was to avoid meeting him again. As long as they didn't cross paths, even if he had such abilities, he would have no opportunity to use them on her.

Gazing at the strikingly beautiful photographs in her hand, Ningguang's thoughts drifted, and she found herself recalling the moment in the Serenitea Pot when Lu Lin had embraced and kissed her.

If only he weren't such a scoundrel…

She let out a soft sigh, found an elegant little box, placed all the photographs inside, locked it, and set it on the pillow beside her.

* * *

Lu Lin had no idea that a few photographs had allowed Ningguang to deduce his ability — and had dealt a certain blow to her state of mind. He slept soundly and didn't wake until dawn.

A new day. Lu Lin headed to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor first thing in the morning.

The Rite of the Descension was coming up soon, and Ganyu still had a mountain of work piled up on her end. Lu Lin didn't want to disturb her, so he decided to go find Hu Tao instead.

But as luck would have it, Hu Tao wasn't in either. The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor had taken on a job, and Hu Tao had set out for Qingce Village early that morning.

Everyone was hard at work. Not wanting to be a bother, Lu Lin wandered aimlessly until he found himself at Wanmin Restaurant.

Why do I feel like a good-for-nothing loafer?

Well, the Rite of the Descension was almost here. The Traveler Lumine would be arriving at Liyue Harbor soon, and then he'd have real business to attend to.

Inside Wanmin Restaurant, Xiangling was dressed in a sharp, practical outfit, a bamboo basket strapped to her back, looking like she was about to head out.

"Good morning, Xiangling. Where are you off to?"

"Good morning, Brother Lu! I'm heading to the area near Cuijue Slope to look for some special ingredients — I'm working on a new dish!" Xiangling was brimming with energy.

"As it happens, I've got nothing to do. I've been wanting to explore some of Liyue's famous mountains and rivers anyway. Why don't we go together?" Lu Lin suggested.

Yesterday, with Hu Tao and Ningguang having moved in, he was only one member short of completing the four-resident quest. He'd come to find Xiangling specifically to build a closer connection and coax the girl into the Serenitea Pot.

Going on a trip together was the perfect opportunity to deepen their bond.

But Xiangling was a little hesitant. The scene she'd witnessed in the private room yesterday was still vivid in her mind, and it had caused a significant clash with her worldview.

Even though Lu Lin had explained afterward that they were all genuinely in love with each other — wasn't his "genuine love" spread a little too wide?

So while she held no real ill will toward Lu Lin, she couldn't help feeling a tiny bit of wariness.

What if he did something like that to me? What would I do?

Alongside the wariness, there was also a small, fluttering sense of curiosity and anticipation.

Hu Tao and Sister Ganyu both seemed to enjoy it so much — what exactly did it feel like?

"Ahem, why are you spacing out?" Lu Lin waved his hand in front of her face, pulling her back from her wandering thoughts.

"Uh… sorry, I got distracted. Going together is totally fine! Let's head out!" The girl snapped back to reality, flashed an awkward smile, and ran ahead to lead the way.

The girl bounced along ahead, full of life, while Lu Lin followed at a steady pace. They chatted the whole way, talking about everything and nothing.

"I heard you went to Mondstadt a while back looking for special ingredients — and you even ran into that golden-haired Traveler?"

"Yes, yes! It was incredible! When Lumine and I were searching for ingredients, we came across a Cryo Regisvine. After we killed it, we rescued a person and a wild boar that had been frozen for three hundred years…"

Xiangling enthusiastically recounted her experiences in Mondstadt — the adventures with Lumine, the special ingredients she'd found, the intense cooking showdown — all of it with great delight.

"A wild boar frozen for three hundred years helped you win the cooking contest. So when you heard there was a Pyro Regisvine near Cuijue Slope, you wanted to check if there were any special materials around it that could be used as ingredients?"

"Exactly! Elemental creatures like that usually have unusual plants growing nearby. Maybe there'll be a surprise!"

Xiangling, who lived by the principle that "good food should know no class distinctions," was always chasing the next culinary breakthrough.

Mist flowers, Slime Condensate, strange insects, a wild boar frozen for three hundred years — even the wooden clubs in Hilichurl hands were potential ingredients in her eyes.

And this time, she had set her sights on the Pyro Regisvine at Cuijue Slope.

Lu Lin suddenly felt a twinge of regret about coming along. Would he end up being the taste-tester later?

Cuijue Slope lay to the northwest of Mt. Tianheng. The area was rarely visited — aside from adventurers, almost no one came out this way. The two of them trekked on foot the whole way, and given the distance, it took nearly a full day.

Lu Lin had actually tried using the Teleport Waypoints before — he could use them. But most people in Teyvat didn't know the purpose of these ancient devices, and only a very small number of Vision holders knew how to operate them.

Xiangling was a Vision holder, but she couldn't use the Teleport Waypoints either, so the two had no choice but to walk all the way to Cuijue Slope.

"We finally made it! Pyro Regisvine, here I come!" The two crested a hilltop, and far below in the valley they could see a strangely shaped, blazing-red great tree.

They quickly descended into the valley and approached the tree.

The area was dense with Pyro elemental energy. Both Lu Lin and Xiangling, who could manipulate Pyro elemental power, felt a faint, dry heat.

Strictly speaking, the Pyro Regisvine could no longer be classified as an ordinary plant — it was a sentient elemental creature. Sensing the two approaching, it reacted immediately.

Massive amounts of Pyro elemental energy gathered at its crown, and a pillar of fire shot out!

"Watch out!" Lu Lin's sensitivity to elemental power already surpassed that of a Vision holder like Xiangling. Before she had even registered the danger, he moved first — grabbing her and rolling aside, dodging the strike.

"Wow! What a ferocious ingredient!" The two tumbled across the ground a few times, and Xiangling let out an astonished cry.

She was used to roaming mountains and fields in search of ingredients and had faced situations far more dangerous than this. Rather than being frightened, she was raring to go.

In her eyes, the snarling, thrashing Pyro Regisvine was probably already a fine meal in the making — she'd likely already decided whether to season it with salt and pepper or braise it in soy sauce.

After its fire pillar attack missed, the Pyro Regisvine raised its massive flower crown and began spitting fireballs at them one after another.

Lu Lin flicked his fingers in rapid succession. A wall of ice condensed from Cryo elemental power appeared before the two of them, blocking the relentless barrage of fireballs.

Using the ice wall as cover, the two pressed forward through the onslaught. Xiangling shouted excitedly, "I can see it — there's nectar inside that big flower at the crown!"

"Good. Let's push in a little closer. Find your opening and cut the flower down." Lu Lin's voice took on an excited edge as well.

He kept pouring Cryo elemental power into the ice shield as they advanced rapidly toward the Pyro Regisvine.

"There's an opening!" After such a prolonged barrage of fireballs, the Pyro Regisvine's elemental power was visibly flagging, and a brief gap appeared in its attacks.

Xiangling was no stranger to combat. She seized the fleeting opportunity as well — leaping into the air, she charged her spear mid-flight and swept it horizontally. The tip traced a precise arc across the great flower crown at the top, then flicked upward lightly.

"Got it!" Xiangling landed steadily. Her spearmanship was equally masterful — the flower crown was balanced on the tip of her spear, and not a single drop of nectar had spilled.

Without its flower crown, the Pyro Regisvine immediately wilted, all its earlier vigor gone.

"Hmm~ The tree is still alive. It just loses a lot of vitality without the crown. Let's leave it be — when the crown grows back, we can come harvest it again."

Xiangling had quite a grasp of sustainable development. Lu Lin gave her a thumbs-up.

Pyro Regisvine: You'd better act like a decent person!

Having obtained the most prized part — the flower crown — the two left the valley and found an open spot outside to pitch their tent.

They could have returned to the Serenitea Pot to rest for the night, but what's the point of going on an outing without camping? Sleeping under the open sky was the whole fun of it!

They divided the work neatly: Lu Lin handled setting up the tent, while Xiangling got a campfire going and started preparing dinner.

"Mmm! The nectar smells wonderful! Sweet and spicy at the same time — so that's what Pyro Regisvine nectar tastes like. I have to write this down!" Xiangling dabbed a little nectar and tasted it, then pulled out a small notebook and began recording.

The notebook was filled with dense writing — recipes she had developed herself, along with notes on their effects.

Clearheart Blossom Stir-fried Lizard, Slime Fried Rice, Charcoal-Grilled Rock Lizard…

Goodness — just from the names alone, it was all dark cuisine. Lu Lin glanced at it and couldn't help feeling anxious about tonight's dinner.

No, he had to ask first. He needed to mentally prepare himself.

"Xiangling, how are you planning to cook these ingredients?"

"Hmm~ let me think. I brought a fresh piece of lean meat — I could try grilling that. And we collected quite a bit of Slime Condensate from the Slimes we dealt with on the way here. A cold dish, or maybe a soup?

Actually, let's use the flower crown for the soup. The nectar is best served cold. That's settled!"

True to her reputation as Wanmin Restaurant's head chef, Xiangling's mind spun quickly and she came up with several dishes in no time. But the moment Lu Lin heard "Slime Condensate," his expression turned pained.

Is that actually edible?

Seeing Lu Lin's troubled face, Xiangling giggled and patted her not-so-ample chest reassuringly. "Don't worry, Brother Lu Lin — the taste will absolutely not disappoint!"

Lu Lin was skeptical, but she was the chef. He supposed he'd trust her just this once and see.

Xiangling moved with practiced ease, first skewering the meat and setting it over the fire to roast. Lu Lin couldn't help much elsewhere, but he could at least help turn the skewers.

Nearby, Xiangling also set up a simple makeshift stove, propped up a small pot, and began preparing the Pyro Regisvine Flower Soup.

The flower crown was no small thing — it was as large as a millstone. The two of them certainly couldn't eat all of it, so she took a small portion of the crown and handed the rest to Lu Lin to freeze in ice blocks for preservation.