Chapter 176
"This tea is good tea. I can tell that there are no signs of machine production. It is purely handmade. According to the tea seller, it is made using a tea-making technique that has been passed down for hundreds of years. Tea made with such a technique is worth trying."
Zhongli also offered an explanation for his actions at the opportune moment.
"Is it possible that those are just products from small workshops around here?"
Li Yue asked Zhongli speechlessly.
"Is there any difference?"
After a moment of slight confusion, Zhongli asked out of curiosity.
Kasumigaoka offered a helpless explanation from the side.
"In Japan, there are small workshops that like to exaggerate the value of their products. Because they can't industrialize and speed up production, they can't compete with the products of large factories. So they put labels on their products, especially labels that say they are handmade, preferably those that claim to be made by a master craftsman with a long-standing tradition. It sounds very high-end, but in reality, they are just products from small workshops. Most of them can even be described as products without any manufacturer, supplier, or quality certification. But they can use this method to make their products appear as so-called specialties, thereby raising the price. This is a marketing tactic."
"In short, what you're paying for isn't the product itself, but the extra story attached to it. The product isn't worth that much money, and even this so-called century-old craftsmanship might be available in many small tea-selling workshops."
Li Yue pointed to the tea leaves that Zhongli was holding.
"If you want to drink tea, the tea from Qingying Village is definitely better than the tea here. It is made by the same hand and the same century-old techniques, but the tea is definitely much better."
Just kidding. What kind of place is Qingying Village? It's a place where Adepti protect the land and water. The tea and water there are not even in the same league as the tea grown in industrialized countries like Japan. The key point is that the price can't possibly be one million yen for a small bag. Xianyun and Neuvillette, who have bought a lot of tea, are the most qualified to say this.
Although Li Yue was right, Zhongli still felt that she hadn't made a mistake in buying it.
"Well, perhaps you are right, but since I've come all this way to Otherworld, I'd like to try some tea from Otherworld."
There's a common type of elderly person who gets tricked into buying health supplements, and despite the younger family members trying to dissuade them, they stubbornly refuse to believe it!
Li Yue was also helpless. This old Bi Deng had his own stubbornness, and he probably wouldn't listen to you anyway.
"Alright, you can buy it if you want, just don't get arrested and taken to the police station because you don't have the money."
Zhongli's eyes lit up.
"So, if someone pays for my purchase, I can buy it, right?"
"That's right!"
Li Yue understood what Zhongli was thinking. In Teyvat, he had a personal wallet Childe, so he wanted to find a wallet in the Otherworld as well.
Because the Childe was always left in Liyue, Zhongli maintained a relationship with Childe. They used the Northland Bank's money for food and drink, and the Childe himself didn't care at all. He only cared about fighting and didn't care about money, or rather, he didn't care about the money in the Northland Bank. As for the Northland Bank, Li Yue didn't know what the Pantalone's expression was when he received the bills at Snezhnaya, but he always paid for Zhongli's bills without fail. Perhaps this was the Pantalone's twisted love for Morax.
"I see."
Zhongli nodded in satisfaction. As long as he found the wallet, he could buy it without worry, so this wouldn't be a problem for him.
"As for you, Ying."
Li Yue looked at Raiden Ei, Raiden Ei immediately apologized.
"I'm sorry, I'll be more careful to make sure the general controls his strength next time."
This apology was actually somewhat unexpected by Li Yue.
[Internal?]
Raiden Shogun sent an interaction request, but it was completely ignored by Raiden Ei.
Li Yue stared speechlessly at the Raiden Ei. "Are you going to blame this on the General? If the General were to intervene, it wouldn't just be the money from one counter; the entire bar would be in chaos!"
While speechless, Li Yue was also thinking.
Ever since he found out that Makoto Raiden not dead, has he started to act recklessly, making the general take the blame for everything?
So, General, haven't you rebelled yet and wanted to kill Shadow? I'm still waiting for your legendary quest storyline.
"It's okay. It's fine to hit someone who's harassing you. Just be careful to control the damage. Or you could just make the person who got hit pay for it."
The reason the bar had to pay compensation this time was because after Ying pinned the man who tried to seduce her to the ground and rubbed him in the dirt, the man was dragged away by his companions. So the bar could only ask Ying to pay compensation, not the man who tried to seduce her.
"I see, I understand. I will remind the general to be more careful next time."
Raiden Ei gave a serious answer.
[Internal?]
Her Excellency requested to interact again, but was hung up on by Raiden Ei once more.
"Okay, I'll be more careful next time."
Li Yue didn't care what Raiden Ei would do next, and simply nodded and moved on.
Then the remaining ones are Kasumigaoka and Nahida appeared together at the end.
Kasumigaoka was helping with the payment and paperwork, while Nahida was following Kasumigaoka to express her gratitude.
"Thank you so much for your help."
"It's alright. Although I spent money, it was borrowed by your father, and he will pay it back in the future."
Kasumigaoka gently patted Nahida's head and explained with a smile.
Although she knew that the creature in front of her was 500 years old, it looked really petite and cute. Kasumigaoka couldn't help but reach out and touch its head. Its hair was indeed very soft.
"Alright, everyone's out now. You've been here for a few days, it's time to go back."
"Huh? You're going back already?"
Venti's eyes widened as she listened to Li Yue's words, only to be met with a Li Yue in return.
"What, as the Three Great Generals of Liyue, do you intend to stay on vacation forever? The United Kingdom of Liyue and Inazuma Islands is waiting for you to return and govern!"
"Then you're still the Rock King."
Venti disagreed.
"That's right, precisely because I am the Rock King, I'm on vacation while you guys work for me, understand!"
Venti fell silent. "What you said makes a lot of sense."
301. The Grand Sage Alhaitham.
Four days have passed since the Bleach of Teyvat left, so Li Yue decided not to let them stay there any longer. Under his insistence, all four gods returned to Teyvat. Of course, only Venti was reluctant to go back and wanted to play a little longer; the others were willing to go back, as they all had their own things to do.
Zhongli needs to go back to handle the pile of affairs in Liyue, Nahida needs to go back to deal with the follow-up of Sumeru and manage the World Tree, while Raiden Ei needs to go back to Inazuma to take a look. She hasn't been back to Inazuma for a while and needs to go back to take care of the lonely old fox. She also needs to see if Kikue has appeared. After all, Blondie has skipped the Inazuma storyline, so only the locals of Inazuma can go to find Kikue.
As for Venti, although he wanted to stay in this world, he also had to go back to Mondstadt. After all, his great task of stepping down as the Anemo Archon was not yet complete. He wanted to find a way to give up his position as the Anemo Archon and let Li Yue come and watch over Mondstadt so that he could completely give up and lie low.
He hadn't forgotten the plan they'd discussed together to have Li Yue gather the Seven Archons and become the Heavenly Principles Principle. And even if he didn't have a plan to retire and step down, he should still go back and take a look. After so much time, Dvalin should have calmed down by now.
Furthermore, giving the position of Anemo Archon to Li Yue should be discussed with Dvalin, shouldn't it? Dvalin is the East Wind Dragon and one of the Four Winds. If the position of Anemo Archon is suddenly changed, he, as a member of the Anemo Archon's family, should at least know about it.
After the four gods returned to Teyvat, they went their separate ways, while Li Yue followed Nahida to Sumeru.
"Lord Dendro Archon God, I have taken care of all the affairs in Sumeru City during the days you were away. You can take a look and see if there is anything amiss."
"Thank you for your hard work, Alhaitham. Nothing major has happened these past few days, has it?"
"No, apart from the Las Noches in the desert, everything in the rainforest has been taken care of."
Nahida had just returned to Sumeru when the Grand Sage Alhaitham came to report on his work.
Nahida, the Dendro Archon, sat in the seat of the Grand Sage, while Alhaitham stood beside her, placing the documents he had processed over the past few days in front of Nahida for Nahida to review.
While Nahida was examining the situation, Alhaitham focused all his attention on Nahida, observing Nahida behavior and habits.
This Momo Hinamori Inazuma transformed into the form of the Lesser Lord Kusanali, occupying the Lesser Lord Kusanali's position and secretly controlling Sumeru together with the man named Aizen. This was extremely dangerous for Sumeru, but unfortunately, he had no evidence to prove it.
So now, all he can do is try his best to be a good Grand Sage and prevent the two guys who control the god positions from passing down random orders from above.
The current situation in Sumeru is very special. Within Sumeru City, the gods need to pass on orders to the lower levels through two high-ranking officials: one is the Grand Sage Grand Sage, who is in charge of the Akademiya, and the other is the Grand Disciplinary Officer Grand Disciplinary Officer, who is in charge of the Disciplinary Officer Army.
However, when the scope is expanded to the entire Sumeru Rainforest, the situation changes. In Gandharva Ville, there is a relatively small unit called the Forest Patrol Officers, which are under the command of the newly appointed Grand Forest Patrol Officer, Tighnari. Just like the Disciplinary Officer, the Forest Patrol Officers have also been given their own Grand Forest Patrol Officers.
Besides that, there's the Millelith. That's right, the Millelith that helped Nahida suppress Sumeru City didn't leave. After helping, they stayed in Sumeru and became Li Yue's garrison in Sumeru. The Millelith is stationed in Sumeru City and is responsible for its defense. At the same time, the Millelith also controlled Port Ormos from the sea, and Omos Port is now under the control of the Millelith.
As for Caravan Ribat, it was no longer needed. The Fatui, which was originally responsible for the security of Caravan Ribat, became a security team that could only provide protection for caravans and no longer had an official status.
Alhaitham understood this perfectly well: the Millelith was absolutely untouchable by him. They were sent by Liyue to support Nahida and were directly under Nahida's command. But the Ranger was different. The Ranger was Sumeru. Although the High Ranger Tighnari was currently directly loyal to Nahida, he would definitely switch sides if he knew the truth.
Alhaitham knew it would be difficult, but within the Sumeru City, he could do his best.
While contacting the forest ranger forces in the rainforest, he also needed to keep a close eye on all the orders and requirements issued by Nahida in Sumeru City, as a Grand Sage. He would also make every effort to keep a close watch on the Akademiya.
As for the Disciplinary Officer, due to their past experiences, Alhaitham and the Grand Disciplinary Officer Cyno, now have a surprisingly good relationship. Cyno, in particular, often comes to chat with him. Aside from the occasional lame jokes that Cyno throws out, their relationship is quite good.
Therefore, he could also win over Cyno, and by winning over Cyno, he could win over the Disciplinary Officer.
As long as we can win over the forest rangers Disciplinary Officer, and add our own Akademiya, we will have control of three of the four nominally subordinate units of the Dendro Archon. This will allow us to prevent the enemy from causing trouble in Sumeru to the greatest extent possible!
That's right, Alhaitham's idea wasn't to overthrow the Dendro Archon, but to stop him from causing trouble in Sumeru as much as possible. As for why he only wanted to stop him instead of overthrowing him, it was because Alhaitham understood that the other party truly possessed the power of Demon God. That giant Wood Person was still in the river Sumeru City, becoming a new landmark Sumeru City.
Of course, if the other party really does what Aizen mentioned before, experimenting on all the Sumeru beings, he will risk his life to stop them!
With this thought in mind, Alhaitham watched Nahida was looking down at the documents.
Unfortunately, Nahida didn't show any special reaction; she just kept her head down and silently looked at the documents in front of her, appearing very serious.
Are you looking for the information you need? Or do you have some other idea?
Nahida spent an hour reviewing all the documents submitted by Alhaitham, and after reviewing them, Nahida nodded with great satisfaction.
"Alhaitham, you did a great job. You handled these things very well."
Nahida was very satisfied with Alhaitham's performance. Was this the Grand Sage candidate that her father had strongly recommended? Although a small method was used to make him the Grand Sage, the result was really amazing. Sumeru needed a talent like him!
"Then, Lord Dendro Archon God, I'll take these documents with me and head down now. I have some new matters to attend to today."
Alhaitham took back the documents and turned to leave.
"Wait a moment, Alhaitham."
It's here!
Alhaitham perked up; was this imposter Dendro Archon finally about to make a move?
Alhaitham turned around and stared calmly at Nahida.
"Lord Dendro Archon, what are your orders?"
Nahida thought for a moment and then asked.
"How is that Fatui's Harbinger we locked up before?"
That Fatui's Harbinger, huh?
"He was imprisoned in a specially made cell beneath the Palace of Wisdom."
"Take me to see him."
"Yes."
Alhaitham nodded in agreement.
302. Scaramouche, such a weak god.
Deep within the Palace of Wisdom lies the place where the Doctor originally created the True God; it can be said to be a place where the technologies of the Fatui and the Akademiya were brought together.
After the fall of the Sages Group led by Azar, this place was taken over by Alhaitham. Without Alhaitham's order, no one else was allowed to enter. This was to prevent the research machines here from being taken out by those with ulterior motives for research, and also because a major criminal was imprisoned here: the pilot of the True God created by the former Grand Sage Group.
The Fatui's Harbinger [Scaramouche], the Sixth Seat of the Fatui, this high-ranking officer serving the Fatui of Snezhnaya, was currently bound by chains thicker than himself, suspended in a position with his hands and feet pulled up, leaving him with no foothold.
The reason he was hung up like this is because he was a high-ranking member of the Fatui and had strong combat power. Furthermore, because he had once served as the pilot of the True God, although he had not been a god for long, he had truly become Demon God, so he still retained some divine power.
After being defeated by Li Yue, he was placed under a restriction that Li Yue had learned from Morax. Putting aside everything else, Morax's knowledge reserves were truly high. As the new Rock King, it shouldn't be a problem for Li Yue to learn some sealing techniques from Morax's consciousness.
Not only that, Li Yue also used his dream powers to put the Scaramouche into a dream. Therefore, the Scaramouche' power was not only sealed, but they were also forcibly put to sleep. In addition, they were bound by giant chains that were thicker than other people. This triple protection was used to control the Scaramouche and prevent them from causing trouble.
As for the other Fatui Harbinger, the Doctor., he is currently on Sumeru's wanted list. As for himself, he ran away after the battle between Aizen and Nahida ended. He would not stay in Sumeru City to wait to be caught. At that time, there were many people in Sumeru City, so no one was able to discover his escape.
Therefore, there is currently only one Harbinger imprisoned in Sumeru City.
As for the charge against the Scaramouche, it was that they conspired with the former Grand Sage to usurp the throne.
Judging from the previous performance of the pilot of the Scaramouche, the True God, it could even be said that he fought for Sumeru. After all, Aizen was an invader at that time, especially after Aizen wanted to sacrifice everyone in Sumeru City Sumeru experiments. Therefore, for the people of Sumeru, the True God could be said to have fought for them in a sense.
Unfortunately, they were defeated, and after the Dendro Archon came to power, the original group of Grand Sage was directly demoted to a criminal group that conducted forbidden research. Naturally, the True God, a deity created by the previous Grand Sage, was also relegated to the status of a criminal.
"Lord Dendro Archon, we have arrived."
Inside the enormous cell, the gate slowly opened, and Alhaitham and Nahida entered the specially designed cell together.
Incidentally, this cell was previously used to form the True God.
Two figures, one large and one small, entered the huge underground prison.
Although she had been the Dendro Archon for some time, this was Nahida's first time entering this place. She had been busy with things outside and then spent a few days playing in the Passerby World with Li Yue, so this was her first time here.