Things Come to a Temporary End

Fortunately, Yelan, Bai Ye, and Xingqiu arrived in time. Coupled with the usual trope that villains talk too much before dying, the manager of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, Qian Er, was still spouting nonsense when Yelan arrived.

The battle was almost entirely one-sided.

With Xingqiu, Yelan, and Bai Ye—three holders of a Genshin Eye—facing a leaderless group of Fatui soldiers, it was a completely one-sided fight.

The Fatui soldiers were all defeated by the trio in less than ten minutes.

After the battle concluded, Xingqiu's father profusely thanked Bai Ye and promised to properly reward him once they returned to Liyue Harbor.

Bai Ye was quite pleased.

This life-saving favor, asking him to help find a few Floating Stones wouldn't be a problem, right?

With that matter settled, Xingqiu's father and brother wanted to go to The Chasm again to trade with "Sangemah Bayt, the Magnate" from Sumeru, thereby opening up trade between the Feiyun Commerce Guild and Sumeru. Xingqiu thought about it and decided to accompany his father and brother, which would also make it easier to protect their safety.

Bai Ye didn't react at first to the Sumeru merchant's name. But upon thinking carefully, wasn't this that unscrupulous merchant, Dori?

Good heavens, Did she come to Liyue to scam people?

Bai Ye quickly warned Xingqiu's father, mentioning that although Dori was wealthy and a big merchant, he should still be wary of her trying to scam him.

Xingqiu's father chuckled and said he understood, assuring Bai Ye that he would be prepared.

He had been in the business world for many years and wouldn't be scammed.

Seeing him like this, Bai Ye didn't have much else to say.

After all, he was only familiar with Xingqiu.

Afterward, Xingqiu, his father, and brother left.

This left only Bai Ye and Yelan.

Oh, and there was still a pile of Fatui on the ground.

Bai Ye manipulated the maze mechanism, collecting the Fatui into the Adeptus mechanism diagram.

Bai Ye said to Yelan, "This mission is over. Let's go back to Liyue. Oh, right, those Floating Stones..."

"Would I deliberately scam you?" Yelan rolled her eyes at Bai Ye, then took out a few Floating Stones from her pocket and tossed them towards him.

"They're already prepared. There's even an extra one. However, finding Floating Stones won't be this easy next time, so I'll just have to give you money instead."

"Alright, boss, you're generous."

Bai Ye squinted and smiled. The cute face showing a shrewd smile wasn't annoying but rather endearing.

I kind of want to pinch his cheeks...

A fleeting thought crossed Yelan's mind.

Shaking her head, she quickly dismissed the idea.

She quickly said, "Let's go. We need to head back to the Rock Tea House in Liyue first. That's a base I just set up. If you happen to catch any Fatui on the road in the future, quietly send them over to the Rock Tea House."

"Okay."

Bai Ye nodded vigorously.

He was ready. After returning to Liyue tonight and resting for a bit, he would start staking out The Chasm and Lingju Pass tomorrow, as there were many Fatui there.

It was a shame those Fatui couldn't respawn automatically after being defeated like in the game.

The two walked towards Liyue Harbor.

Halfway there, Yelan couldn't help but ask Bai Ye:

"By the way, what do you need those Floating Stones for? Are you building some kind of mechanism?"

She was somewhat confused.

Why did Bai Ye need Floating Stones so badly?

If Bai Ye wanted to make Sky Lanterns for fun with Floating Stones, he already had enough.

As for building a Jade Chamber, even if Bai Ye had the technical skill, he wouldn't have the money; it was simply impossible.

"No, I don't plan to use Floating Stones to build any mechanisms," Bai Ye shook his head.

Then, he found an excuse, saying, "I need these Floating Stones to absorb their power for cultivating Adeptal Arts. Yes, my Adeptal Arts require Floating Stones."

"Cultivating Adeptal Arts requires Floating Stones? Is there such a thing?"

Yelan was a bit curious.

"Yes, the Adeptal Arts I cultivate require Floating Stones."

"Which Adeptus did you learn these Adeptal Arts from?"

"I don't know which Adeptus these Adeptal Arts come from."

Well, even though my Teacher taught me these Adeptal Arts, I don't know which Adeptus they came from.

"I see..."

Although Yelan felt that Bai Ye's words weren't entirely truthful, she could tell that he genuinely didn't know which Adeptus his Adeptal Arts came from.

Bai Ye continued to ask at this moment, "Um, do you happen to have any information about the Adepti? I'd like to see which Adeptus I learned my Adeptal Arts from."

Information about his own Teacher was hard to find, but he could start by inquiring about the Adepti.

If he could first uncover the origin of his Adeptal Arts and who created this automaton schematic, he could also take the opportunity to gather more intelligence.

"Regarding information about the Adepti, I do have some. Recently, because the Fatui have been involved with Adepti artifacts quite a bit, I've managed to collect a bit more intel."

"Could you give me a copy? Hmm, is there any payment required?"

"Not for now," Yelan said, pausing. "However, if I need your assistance in dealing with the Fatui later on, I'll be counting on you. Recently, the Fatui's activities have become rather frequent. The 'Rich' is mainly active in commerce within Liyue, while that Fatui executive, 'Childe,' is constantly searching for Adeptal treasures. Things in Liyue might get a bit hectic soon."

"Understood. If you need me, I will definitely help you."

Bai Ye readily agreed.

Then, he thought of another question.

He asked Yelan.

"By the way, won't we reach the Rock Tea House around noon? Do they serve meals at the Rock Tea House?"

"Yes, they do."

"Then..."

"Don't get any ideas. They'll only provide one meal there, nothing else," Yelan glanced at Bai Ye and said.

"When we're out and about, those are matters for the Ministry of Civil Affairs. But at the Rock Tea House, the food is provided from my own assets."

"Alright."

Bai Ye was a little disappointed.

Afterward, Bai Ye and Yelan returned to the Rock Tea House in Liyue Harbor.

Bai Ye dealt with those Fatui members he had captured and handed them over to Yelan for detention and interrogation.

While this was happening, Bai Ye also had a good meal.

Having fought from last night until morning, Bai Ye was starving.

After Bai Ye finished eating, Yelan handed Bai Ye a pile of materials.

This was the information about the Adepti that she knew.

"Although it's not explicitly stated, information about the Adepti still needs to be kept confidential,"

Yelan reminded him as she gave it to Bai Ye.

"Don't worry, besides me, no one else will see it."