Shitou said with a smile, "Of course. You're my valued customers. These are perfectly reasonable requests."
With that, Shitou picked up a short knife and went to work on the three crates of noctilucous jade.
Before long, he had cut off three samples and handed them to Zhong Baiye and the others.
Looking at the samples in his hand, transparent and thin as cicada wings, Zhong Baiye couldn't decide whether Shitou was exceptionally skilled or simply too stingy. All he could do was give him a disdainful look.
As a "crooked" merchant who had spent years in Liyue Harbor, Shitou had weathered all sorts of storms. Zhong Baiye's and Lumine's looks were no more than a light breeze to him. He didn't care in the slightest.
But now Zhong Baiye and Lumine faced another problem: where could they test these samples?
Lumine suggested, "We could go to Dadaupa Gorge in Mondstadt. The Hilichurls there have a big pot we could 'borrow.'"
Zhong Baiye eyed Lumine skeptically. Was she really going to "borrow" it?
He quickly rejected her suggestion.
"No, Dadaupa Gorge is too far away. We wouldn't have enough time to get back."
If this were the game, Zhong Baiye would have agreed with Lumine's suggestion. After all, that was how the story was supposed to go.
But this was the real Teyvat, without the game's convenient waypoints. A round trip to Dadaupa Gorge might take at least ten days of travel.
Zhong Baiye racked his brain for a solution. Suddenly, he noticed Shitou playing with Childe's money pouch.
"We could ask Childe for help."
Zhong Baiye suddenly blurted out the words.
Lumine was a little bewildered. How had Childe suddenly entered the conversation?
Zhong Baiye continued explaining, "Didn't I get a Pyro Vision a little while ago? That means we don't have to worry about the flames."
Lumine nodded adorably, her eyes wide.
"As far as I know, Childe has a Hydro Vision."
Lumine caught on too, and she immediately spoke in unison with Zhong Baiye.
"So we'll ask Childe to work together with you-me."
Lumine continued, "You control Pyro, big brother, and Childe controls Hydro. That way, we can test the samples without using any equipment."
After hearing Lumine's explanation, Zhong Baiye gave her a look that said, "Yes."
Then Zhong Baiye and the others took the three samples, said goodbye to Shitou, and headed to the Northland Bank to find Childe.
Inside the Northland Bank's VIP room.
"So you came to me because you want help assessing the quality of this noctilucous jade?"
Zhong Baiye and Lumine nodded.
Childe had thought they were short on money and had come to him for reimbursement. He hadn't expected such a minor request.
Tartaglia checked his schedule for the day and confirmed that he still had some free time later.
"As it happens, I don't have anything to do for a while. I'll help you now. What do I need to do?"
Zhong Baiye took out the samples and told Childe,
"I'll surround these samples with Pyro. All you need to do is apply Hydro to them to protect them."
Childe nodded to show that he understood.
Once everything was ready, Zhong Baiye focused on directing the surrounding Pyro toward the samples.
Looking completely at ease, Childe quickly coated all the samples in a film of water.
Zhong Baiye, however, was struggling. Even though he was giving it his all, the temperature around the samples only rose a little. No flames appeared.
At this rate, forget high heat-he could barely produce enough warmth to boil water.
"Keep going, big brother! I can already feel a little heat."
Lumine cheered Zhong Baiye on from the side.
"That little bit of heat isn't even enough for me to wash my feet..."
Paimon looked at Zhong Baiye with disdain. She had finally remembered what had happened earlier at the Jade Mystery.
After half an hour of effort, a few tiny flames finally flickered into view.
But Zhong Baiye was already exhausted. This was clearly his limit.
It wasn't really his fault. He had only received his Pyro Vision a few days ago, and his level was simply too low.
In game terms, he hadn't even reached level 20.
His powerful attacks and Geo constructs came from the enhancements provided by his half-adeptus physique and the Skyward Blade.
Without those two things, Zhong Baiye might not even be able to beat ordinary Treasure Hoarders.
Zhong Baiye stared at the little flames before him, at a loss. The idea was clearly sound, but he wasn't strong enough to make it work.
He didn't take in a single word of Lumine's encouragement or Paimon's mockery. All he could think about was how to solve this problem.
What do you do when your elemental abilities are too weak in the game? Weak Pyro?
Suddenly, Zhong Baiye remembered the advanced elemental reaction theory that had troubled him for so long in the game.
According to the rules of elemental reaction theory, weak Pyro should become strong Pyro when Swirled by Anemo.
Someone who could control Anemo was right here. Why hadn't he thought of it sooner?
Zhong Baiye's eyes suddenly widened as he looked at Lumine, who was comforting him. He held her with both hands and asked, his face lit with excitement,
"Lumine, I remember you can control Anemo, right?"
Lumine was a little bewildered by his actions, but she still nodded.
Zhong Baiye released Lumine and stared eagerly at the tiny flames before him.
"Quick, Lumine! Try attacking this cluster of flames with Anemo!"
Lumine didn't know what would happen, but Zhong Baiye looked so anxious that she conjured a small whirlwind without a second thought and sent it sweeping toward the flames.
Bang!
The instant the flames touched Lumine's little whirlwind, they erupted like a detonated bomb.
The flames immediately swelled to dozens of times their size, nearly engulfing Zhong Baiye and Childe, who were standing nearby. Fortunately, their fundamental nature hadn't changed.
With Zhong Baiye putting everything into controlling them, the flames gradually settled down.
A delighted smile spread across Zhong Baiye's soot-blackened face. His guess had been right: the game's elemental reaction theory still worked in Teyvat.
But this was absurd. A flame barely larger than a candle's had expanded hundreds of times over just by touching a little whirlwind.
If Ye Tiandi were here, that flame could probably have swallowed the entire room.
As he was thinking this, the noctilucous jade samples before him began to give off a faint glow.
The more Pyro the samples absorbed, the more brilliantly they shone.
Another half hour passed, and Zhong Baiye noticed that the samples' glow hadn't changed for several minutes.
He knew their absorption of Pyro had reached saturation.
"Disperse!"
Zhong Baiye decisively dispersed the flames before him.
As the flames vanished, a wave of heat washed over everyone present, making them feel just how hot they had been.
When everyone looked back at the noctilucous jade samples, something unexpected happened again.
Before you continue