"Xiangling!" Keqing called.
"Ah… I-I'm sorry." Xiangling lowered her head. Just now, she had lost control of her thoughts and somehow started imagining all sorts of things.
If Keqing had not called out to her, she might have sunk even deeper into it.
Xiangling's entire face turned red. Heat surged through her chest, and even her body felt a little feverish.
She did not dare look at Keqing.
She could already imagine the look in Keqing's eyes, so she lowered her gaze.
Ryou picked up a Golden Shrimp Ball and tasted it.
That first bite stunned him. Quality +5 truly lived up to its name.
He could stack all sorts of buffs to achieve a similar effect, but Ryou could not reach this level so easily through his own cooking skill.
That alone proved Xiangling was far above him.
[Ding! Demonic Shadow Flower!]
[Ding! Demonic Shadow Flower active. When you kiss a person or object, you may grant them a random all-stat boost. Duration: two hours. Applies to one person or item, with a one-day trigger cooldown!]
Ryou picked up a pork meatball and gave it a quick kiss.
[Ding! Special Pork Meatball gained a 5% all-stat boost!]
Ryou took a bite but did not feel a major difference. The increase was probably too small.
He thought that if he used it directly on a powerful monster instead, then…
Before long, Ryou saw Hu Tao, Xiangling, Chongyun, and the others finish every last pork meatball and Golden Shrimp Ball.
After everything was cleaned up, Ryou brought Keqing to a wooden table outside Dawn Winery to enjoy the evening air.
The night breeze brushed over them, cool and comfortable.
Ryou set out watermelon, bubblegum, strawberries, and other fruit on the table. Everyone sat together, eating and chatting happily, making the scene lively and warm.
After nearly half an hour of conversation, everyone started to grow sleepy and returned to their rooms one after another.
Ryou took Keqing back to their room.
"Ryou, let's go to the pocket world!" Keqing said.
"You just need to keep your voice down." Ryou patted Keqing's head, then stood behind her and began combing her hair.
"Mm… I-I can't help it!"
"Hey, w-what are you doing to my hair? This style makes my face look so exposed."
"Twin tails," Ryou said.
"T-Twin tails?" Keqing tilted her head back to look at him, but he pressed her back into place.
"Sit still. There'll be a reward later."
"What reward?" Keqing asked.
"You'll know soon." Ryou smiled.
Keqing stared at the mirror. The smile on Ryou's face looked very suspicious, and it made her heart pound with unease.
The night gradually deepened.
Ryou helped Keqing change into the nun outfit. Her entire face was flushed scarlet, shy and adorable.
The longer he looked, the more he liked it, and he reached out to caress her.
"Ryou…" Keqing murmured, biting her lip.
"You're looking at me like that and still expect me to behave?" Ryou leaned close to her ear.
"But before that, I'll show you a magic trick."
"What magic trick?" Keqing looked confused.
"Touch your backside," Ryou said.
"What?" Keqing was puzzled, but when she reached back, she touched a fluffy tail.
She froze. "This… When did you buy a tail?"
"Have you not realized it's growing from your body? You can move it," Ryou reminded her.
Keqing: ???
Keqing discovered that she really could control the tail. "Wh-What is going on? Why can I control a tail? Don't tell me…"
"That's right. It belongs to you." Ryou moved closer.
"Ah… mm!" Keqing's eyes widened, but she could no longer speak.
[Ding! Keqing gained a 50% all-stat boost!]
[Ding! Keqing obtained Demon Mask!]
[Demon Mask]
[Effect: Summons the Shadow Army. Opening shadow passages and commanding them consumes mental energy.]
[Note: This mask is Keqing's exclusive item!]
Ryou fell silent for a long while when he saw the reward. Then he said, "Queen Keqing?"
He shook his head, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.
When Ryou opened his eyes again, he saw Keqing staring at him with a puzzled expression. She watched him without saying a word.
"Keqing, what's wrong?" Ryou asked.
"I… feel strange. I discovered that I can summon some people," Keqing said.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Ryou said.
"It is, but… this ability came too suddenly. A lot of strange things have happened to me lately."
"Look, I can summon people now, I gained another sword, and I also have a Cryo Vision."
"Oh, right. Yesterday, I grew a tail too." Keqing looked utterly aggrieved. When she saw Ryou laughing at her, she pinched him.
"It's all your fault!"
"All right, blame me. Don't worry… none of these things are harmful to you, are they?" Ryou stroked Keqing's cheek.
"I-I guess not," Keqing said.
"Then… what happened with that tail yesterday? And I feel like you went much crazier the moment you saw it." Keqing asked him in a small voice.
Ryou coughed and lowered his voice. "I'll tell you next time."
"Ryou, just tell me." Keqing hugged his arm tightly.
"No," Ryou said.
"Then don't even think about leaving!" Keqing pressed herself against him, clearly refusing to give up.
Hearing the change in Keqing's voice, Ryou said, "Keqing, if you keep going, you're going to suffer."
"Mm… then I won't push it!" Keqing said quietly.
"Too late," Ryou said.
[Ding! Keqing's Strength increased by 10%!]
Ryou looked outside and finally noticed that it was getting late. He kissed Keqing a few times to help her recover.
When Ryou came out, Lumine, Xiangling, and the others looked at him very strangely.
"Let's go," he said.
"Mm." No one said anything else.
They could all guess some of what had happened.
But none of them had heard any sound, which made it feel even stranger.
By the time they returned to Liyue Harbor, night had fallen.
"Ryou-sama!"
"Keqing-sama!"
The Millelith were surprised to see Ryou and Keqing.
Ryou nodded to them, and Mona arrived behind him shortly after.
The others went their separate ways. Lumine, Shenhe, and Mona followed Ryou back home.
Because everyone was exhausted from the journey, Ryou did not tease Keqing that night. He simply held her and rested until morning.
The next day, Ryou brought Keqing and Mona to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. A group of shadow ninjas followed behind them.
The shadow ninjas carried many gifts, all prepared to thank the staff at the back mountain.
"Ryou-sama!"
"Ryou-sama!"
Almost everyone stood up when they saw Ryou.
Ryou raised a hand to quiet them down. "We brought gifts back for you. Thank you for your hard work."
"Thank you, Ryou-sama!" everyone said excitedly.
Ryou walked over to Zhongli and asked, "Nothing happened while I was away, right?"
"Nothing," Zhongli said with a shake of his head.
"Good." Ryou nodded.
He called Mona over and said, "She'll be following you to learn for now. This is Mona, an astrologist. If she runs into any trouble, make sure she can come to you at any time."
"Help her with the onboarding paperwork later."
Zhongli glanced at Mona. "All right."
After settling Mona in, Ryou spoke with Keqing for a little while and had her stay at the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Then he went to find Xiangling and Lumine. With Xiangling leading the way, they went to visit Madame Ping.
Xiangling had not expected Ryou to return so quickly.
"Yanfei, long time no see," Ryou greeted her.
"Hmph." Yanfei turned her head away.
The lottery shop incident in Mondstadt had caused a huge stir, and everything had started because of Ryou.
Naturally, Yanfei had no good expression for him.
"Yanfei," Madame Ping called.
"Granny, this man definitely didn't come here for anything good!" Yanfei said.
Madame Ping shook her head.
"Master, Yanfei," Xiangling said as she stepped forward to greet them.
"Xiangling, you brought them here because something happened, didn't you?" Madame Ping asked with a smile.
"Well… you two should explain." Xiangling looked at Ryou and Lumine.
"Hello, Madame Ping. This is a small gift," Ryou said, taking out a package of Adeptal Tea.
It was Quality +2.
"Madame Ping, this is a small token of my respect," Ryou said, taking out a package of Adeptal Tea.
"Heh. Don't act so familiar." Yanfei glared at him. "Madame Ping isn't someone you can just casually cozy up to."
Ryou turned to her. "Is there a problem with me showing her respect?"
"Of course there—" Yanfei began.
"Yanfei," Madame Ping called.
Yanfei glared at Ryou but said nothing more.
Madame Ping said, "I heard you married Keqing. She is a good girl. You must treat her well."
"Yes, of course," Ryou said.
"Madame Ping, I came today because I heard you are one of the Mighty and Illuminated Adepti and possess the power of Sub-Space Creation. I would like to ask you to help me create a pocket world," Ryou said.
"Sub-Space Creation?" Madame Ping glanced at him. "That is not difficult. I can refine one for you."
"Truly?" Ryou was a little surprised.
"Truly. You saved Liyue Harbor. You are also an adeptus, and you helped the Millelith build monuments and a cemetery for the fallen. For that alone, I should help you," Madame Ping said.
"But it will take some time to make. Come find me tonight."
"Also, Yanfei has always been like this. I hope you can be a little more tolerant of her. Consider it a small request from me."
"Of course. That won't be a problem," Ryou agreed.
"Who needs him to tolerate me? I'm trying to find a way to lock him up," Yanfei said with her arms crossed, clearly unhappy. "Madame Ping, I'm going back first."
With that, she hurried away.
"Yanfei!" Madame Ping called after her, but in the end, she could only shake her head.
"I promised you, Madame Ping, so I'll naturally keep my word. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave," Ryou said.
"Mm." Madame Ping nodded.
"You two go ahead. I'll stay and talk with Master," Xiangling said.
"All right." Ryou left with Lumine.
Once they had gone far enough, Madame Ping set down her teapot and looked at Xiangling.
"Is it him?" she asked.
Xiangling's entire face burned so fiercely it felt as if the heat would never fade. She lowered her head and said, "Master… yes. It's him."
End of Volume 2...
[End of chapter]
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