"Sister Verr Goldet, this is the 'master' you mentioned? This man... his face is certainly something."
How to describe this man's face? It was like a freshly baked potato accidentally dropped on the ground, already dented from the fall, and then someone stepped on it. Quite an abstract sight.
Su Bai had expected an exorcist from one of the renowned families like Chongyun's. Instead, he found this slovenly, utterly hideous fellow. The sight was enough to kill his appetite. Lumine even covered Klee's eyes, worried she would have nightmares seeing this man.
As for Paimon and Mona, they had already turned away. They wanted to enjoy their meal later and didn't want their appetites ruined by this man.
Verr Goldet frowned, feeling embarrassed. This exorcist had been wearing a mask when he first arrived. She never expected the face underneath to be so ugly. Was he trying to scare ghosts to death with that face?
The exorcist was also panicking inside. He didn't know anything about exorcism. He was only hiding from the Millelith searching for him outside while trying to fill his stomach. He never expected anyone to show up before he could even take a few bites of the kitchen's ingredients.
"Ahem, if you have no business here, please leave. I fear I might harm you."
"Don't worry about us, Master. This is the renowned Liyue adeptus, the fox immortal Su Bai. With him here, I'm sure nothing dangerous will happen. Please continue."
The exorcist tried to dismiss them with a few pretentious coughs, but Verr Goldet was no fool. She worked for Ningguang, and those under the Tianquan's command fell into two categories.
The first were those without brains, who did exactly as told without question. People like this, Ningguang found very reliable—if someone like Arataki Itto worked for her, she would be delighted. Good strength, no brains, and follows orders perfectly. Truly the ideal underling in her eyes.
The second were those significantly smarter than average, forming the essential backbone of Ningguang's network. As someone in charge of intelligence under Ningguang, Verr Goldet clearly belonged to this category.
She had already noticed that the exorcist's face was deliberately made ugly. From experience, such people were either fugitives or hiding from enemies. By invoking Su Bai's name, she intended to put him on edge. Once nervous, he would easily slip up.
At the same time, she silently mouthed "on the house" to Su Bai, who understood and nodded slightly. When the exorcist looked at him, Su Bai gave a light flick of his three tails, adopting the aloof demeanor of an adeptus.
Though usually easygoing, Su Bai could perfectly imitate Cloud Retainer's mannerisms. Lumine, who knew him well, would never have guessed this wasn't his usual bearing if she didn't know better.
The exorcist was intimidated by Su Bai's presence. Left with no choice, he picked up a fire poker from the stove to use as a wooden sword and began performing strange dances under Verr Goldet's skeptical gaze.
Watching this bizarre dance, Lumine recalled the celebratory dances of certain barbarians after successful hunts in other worlds. Even those barbarians' dances were better than this—at least they had some rhythm. This "master" was just flailing about.
As sweat beaded on the exorcist's forehead, Verr Goldet's irritation grew. Did he take her for a fool? She had seen Chongyun from the exorcist families perform exorcisms. Those involved drawing talismans, not dancing.
Halfway through, Su Bai used his adeptal power to create an illusion shielding his eyes. The damage this man had done to them would require staring at beautiful women for a long time to recover.
"The ghost has been exorcised. I must take my leave. Boss, esteemed adeptus, please enjoy your meal."
The exorcist wiped his brow as if he had expended great effort. But Su Bai, with his adeptal senses, could clearly perceive that not only was the ghost not exorcised, but when the man started dancing, the spirit had joined in, seemingly quite happily.
What was this? A ghost's victory dance? Su Bai gave Verr Goldet a slight shake of his head. She immediately blocked the exorcist's exit.
"Master, since you have successfully exorcised the ghost, I must honor our agreement and pay you. A contract is a contract."
"Please rest here while I fetch your payment."
With that, Verr Goldet swayed her way toward the counter. Lumine and the others left with her, leaving Su Bai blocking the stairs in the kitchen.
After a long wait without any sign of Verr Goldet, the exorcist grew suspicious. He began to wonder if he had been found out.
The more he thought about it, the more certain he became. After all, the man before him was an adeptus—the legendary powers of adepti were deeply ingrained in every Liyue citizen's understanding. He cursed himself silently.
"Esteemed adeptus, I suddenly need to use the restroom. Would you mind letting me through?"
The exorcist put on an ingratiating smile. Su Bai ignored him entirely. After a few awkward chuckles, the man fell silent again.
Minutes later, Verr Goldet returned with several Millelith soldiers. The exorcist's face darkened at the sight, though he quickly composed himself, forcing a smile as he spoke in a joking tone.
"Miss Verr Goldet, what is the meaning of this? If you don't want to pay me, you needn't call the Millelith."
"Oh, I wouldn't dare. For a murderous treasure hoarder like you, I'd rather call the Millelith than notify your people to come retrieve you from my inn."
Upon hearing this, the exorcist grabbed a kitchen knife to fight. But before he could reach it, lightning struck his head, sending him tumbling to the ground. The Millelith quickly subdued him.
"You dare resist? Additional charges! Take him away!"
"Hah! Additional charges? I'm already facing execution. What's one more charge? Don't give me an opening, or I'll kill you all!"
Before the exorcist's menacing expression could fade, Su Bai sent a bolt of Electro to knock him unconscious. Threatening his friends in front of an adeptus—this man had a death wish.
"The Rite of Descension is approaching, and all sorts of unsavory characters are surfacing. Looks like Keqing will have her hands full."