Xiao Ming's wish

Seeing Lumine acting coy with Zhong Baiye again, Keqing immediately said, "She's only a ghost. Judging by her appearance, she probably hasn't hurt anyone. Lumine, let go of Zhong Baiye. She won't hurt you."

With that, Keqing pulled Lumine out from behind Zhong Baiye.

Zhong Baiye had no attention to spare for what Lumine and Keqing were doing. When he saw that Ghost Xiao Ming had spotted them and run outside, he immediately interrupted their tug-of-war.

"Let's follow her!"

Without waiting to see whether Lumine and Keqing were coming, he ran after her.

Only after they had chased her to a secluded spot did Ghost Xiao Ming stop.

"The first hilichurl fell ill♪, the second came to see♪..."

Xiao Ming stood there and began singing the Hilichurl Ballad, a song Zhong Baiye knew all too well.

"Huff... huff... finally caught up. Couldn't you run a little slower?" Paimon panted at Zhong Baiye.

Keqing and Lumine finally caught up too.

"Zhong Baiye, slow down! I could barely keep up."

Before Zhong Baiye could answer Keqing, Ghost Xiao Ming stopped singing the Hilichurl Ballad.

"Are you here to play with me?"

As soon as Xiao Ming spoke, the sky suddenly darkened.

Paimon turned around and saw that an enormous robot was looming overhead.

"Waaah, T﹏T! A Ruin Hunter! Zhong Baiye, Traveler, help!"

Zhong Baiye reacted first. He created a Geo construct to protect Xiao Ming, then drew the Harbinger of Dawn and slashed at the Ruin Hunter.

"Lightning Stiletto!"

"Hah!"

Keqing and Lumine were right behind him, drawing their swords and attacking the Ruin Hunter.

"Starward Sword! Cut down all the Beef Offal!"

Keqing's figure accelerated, unleashing countless flashes of purple sword light. Under their combined attacks, the Ruin Hunter was reduced to scrap.

"Huff... huff... good thing you had Paimon directing you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have beaten him so easily."

Paimon caught her breath and planted her hands on her hips.

"Shut up!"

All three cut Paimon off in unison.

After resting for a moment, Zhong Baiye walked up to the little ghost girl and spoke with a friendly expression.

"Xiao Ming, we'll come back and play with you again. Please stop playing tricks on the people at Wangshu Inn, all right?"

As soon as Xiao Ming heard that Zhong Baiye would come back to play with her, her face lit up.

"Okay, okay! It's a promise!"

With that, Xiao Ming's translucent figure became completely transparent, and moments later, she disappeared.

[Ding!]

[Xiao Ming's final wish has been fulfilled. Half-Adeptus Physique acquired.]

"Just as I thought. As long as I help people fulfill their wishes, I can earn system rewards."

The reason Zhong Baiye hadn't followed the storyline and gone straight to Xiao Ming was that he wanted to test a theory. It had occurred to him after he played hide-and-seek with Xiao Jiang and fulfilled his wish.

He had suspected that helping characters from Genshin Impact's storyline fulfill their wishes might earn him system rewards.

It had only been a suspicion before, but receiving another system reward now proved him right.

"This reward is seriously outrageous. A Half-Adeptus Physique!"

Zhong Baiye felt the changes in his body and discovered that his strength had increased dramatically. Even his affinity for the elements had changed.

For comparison, the largest Geo construct Zhong Baiye could previously create was about the size of Aether's pillar in the game.

But now that he had acquired a Half-Adeptus Physique, he could create something as large as the Jade Chamber, given enough time.

Of course, that would take a very long time.

And that wasn't all. He also gave off the distinctive aura of an adeptus, making people and animals naturally feel drawn to him.

Paimon was the most sensitive to it. Folding her arms, she looked at Zhong Baiye in confusion.

"Hey! What did you do? Why do I suddenly feel like you're really nice?"

Lumine spoke up in bewilderment too.

"Me too. Suddenly, being beside you feels really comfortable, big brother."

Looking at Zhong Baiye, Keqing realized what was causing it.

"This is an adeptus's aura. Only half-adepti and adepti give it off. I never imagined you were a half-adeptus, Zhong Baiye."

Keqing's expression grew complicated as she recognized the reason behind Zhong Baiye's change.

Keqing had always considered adepti and the people of Liyue to be two different kinds of beings, and she had no fondness for adepti at all. Now that Zhong Baiye's identity as a half-adeptus had been revealed, she didn't know what to do.

Zhong Baiye couldn't control this aura. Seeing Keqing's conflicted expression, he remembered her characterization in the game and immediately explained.

"Keqing, I may be a half-adeptus, but I'm a person just like you. Adepti are people too. They're no different from anyone else."

Keqing recalled the journey she had shared with Zhong Baiye, then glanced at the place where Ghost Xiao Ming had disappeared.

At last, she showed him a smile he had never seen before. "You're right. Adepti are people too."

She had finally let go of her prejudice against adepti-or at least, that was how Zhong Baiye saw it.

Lumine also spoke up to ease the awkwardness.

"Big brother, we've fulfilled Xiao Ming's wish. What do we do now?"

Only then did Zhong Baiye explain.

"To ask the Conqueror of Demons for help, we need to make him some Almond Tofu. But the only person here who knows how to make it is Yanxiao, the chef at Wangshu Inn."

"Then why didn't we just go straight to Yanxiao?"

Paimon voiced the question Keqing and Lumine also had.

Zhong Baiye took a breath, glanced at the spot where Xiao Ming had disappeared, and continued.

"I've been to Wangshu Inn before. I heard it was haunted, and that Yanxiao hadn't made anything tasty in ages. Later, I heard about Xiao Ming, so I wondered if she was behind the haunting."

Zhong Baiye smiled and went on.

"Now that we've settled things with Xiao Ming, we can go back to Yanxiao. He can relax and make the best Almond Tofu."

"Great! I want to see what's so good about this Almond Tofu, too. Why would the Conqueror of Demons let himself be won over with just one plate? Let's go, let's go!"

The mere thought of Almond Tofu made Paimon urge everyone to hurry back to Wangshu Inn.

Keqing and Lumine both smiled at the sight of Paimon practically drooling.

Before long, everyone was back at Wangshu Inn.

Zhong Baiye found Yanxiao on the inn's balcony.

"Yanxiao, could you make me some Almond Tofu?"

Yanxiao was just about to refuse when Paimon interrupted him.

"Don't worry. My companions and I have already dealt with the ghost haunting Wangshu Inn. She won't come out again."

Even after hearing that, Yanxiao still hesitated.

But then he noticed that Keqing, the Yuheng, was there.

Only after Keqing also assured him that they had dealt with the ghost did he stammer out his agreement.

"Then... all right. If Lady Keqing says so, it must be true."

With that, Yanxiao hurried into the kitchen and got to work.