Xingqiu and Chongyun followed Chang the Ninth back to Uncle He's house.
The moment they stepped inside, they stopped.
Chang the Ninth was on the floor.
His manuscript lay scattered around him, pages spread everywhere. Uncle He stood frozen nearby with both hands half-raised, as if he had meant to catch him but had somehow missed the entire person.
When Uncle He saw Xingqiu and Chongyun come in, he looked just as startled as they were.
"Uncle He!" Xingqiu called.
Uncle He jolted, finally snapped back to himself, and hurried to lift Chang the Ninth up.
"He scared me half to death," Uncle He said. "Look at him. His eyes are all red. What happened to him?"
"Let's get him inside first," Xingqiu said.
"Right, right. Help me."
Xingqiu and Chongyun quickly helped carry Chang the Ninth in.
Elder He passed by, took one look, shook his head, and walked out as if he had already decided this was not his problem.
By the door, he noticed a manuscript lying on the ground. He picked it up without thinking much of it and carried it to the stone table in the courtyard.
Tea first.
That had become Elder He's new rule.
Ever since he learned that Ryou's tea was adeptal tea, he had decided he would drink at least one pot every day. Something this rare, this good for the body, and this pleasant to drink could not be left sitting around like ordinary tea leaves.
He brewed a pot, poured himself a cup, and when Ryou's father came over, poured one for him too.
The fragrance rose between them.
Elder He took a sip, and just thinking about Ryou put him in a better mood.
"You really raised a good son," Elder He said. "If you weren't leaving so soon, I'd want him as my grandson."
Ryou's father smiled. "It isn't too late."
Elder He gave him a look. "You think I don't know what you're trying to do?"
Then he laughed and shook his head.
"But I won't lie. If you meant that seriously, I'd accept it even if I knew I was being tricked. I like that boy. I envy you too."
He looked down at his tea.
"My own son is around your age. After he left his position with the Liyue Qixing, he became a different person."
The old man sighed.
"Forget it. No point bringing up old stories."
He picked up the manuscript and flipped it open.
Ryou's father was still watching him. "I wasn't joking just now. If you think it's fine, I can have Ryou recognize you as his grandfather. What do you say?"
No answer.
"Elder He?"
Only then did Ryou's father realize Elder He had stopped drinking tea completely.
The old man was staring at the manuscript.
At first, Ryou's father thought he was just giving it a casual look. Then Elder He turned a page. Then another. And another.
Before long, he had reached the end.
He turned the last page over, expecting more.
There was nothing.
"That's it?"
Elder He stared at the empty back page.
"It stopped right at the best part?"
He thought of Chang the Ninth being carried inside and immediately changed his opinion.
"This opening is good. Really good. Looks like your son misjudged him."
Ryou's father raised a brow. "That good?"
"Very good. It pulls you right in."
Ryou's father took the manuscript and started reading.
At first, he only meant to skim it.
Then the tea went cold.
By the time he reached the end, his eyes were bright.
"This description is incredible. It feels like you're standing right there."
He looked at the final page, then frowned.
"And it ends here?"
Elder He nodded gravely, as if this were a serious crisis.
Ryou's father tapped the manuscript against the table.
"If Chang the Ninth can write at this level, then Ryou really did make a mistake."
"Exactly," Elder He said.
"This is more than good enough to publish." Ryou's father stared at the pages. "That brat was pretending to understand again. He nearly buried a real talent."
He stood up with the manuscript in hand.
"When he comes out, I'm going to have a proper talk with him. And Chang the Ninth needs to hurry up and write the next part."
…
Inside the pocket world, Ryou had no idea his father and Elder He were preparing to scold him over his own revision.
After sending Xingqiu and Chongyun out, he went to check on the dog.
The dog was doing well.
With the water and food Ryou had been giving it, the dog was improving nicely. Ryou looked through the reward information again and found that he could use mental strength to reinforce it, though the current limit was ten points.
That limit would rise as his beast-taming level improved.
In other words, the dog could keep growing stronger.
Ryou patted its head, then turned to go back to his room.
Before he got there, Tabibito's door opened.
A hand shot out, grabbed him, and dragged him inside.
"You awful man."
Tabibito pointed at her own face.
"Look at my eyes. Look. Dark circles. Do you see them?"
Ryou coughed. "I'll be more careful next time."
He had lost control a little last night.
Keqing had not exactly helped.
The result was that Tabibito, Dehya, Dunyarzad, and probably half the nearby rooms had been forced to listen to things no one had asked to hear.
"You'd better compensate me," Tabibito said, grabbing his sleeve.
"What do you want?"
Ryou looked at her face, then his hand started to move.
Tabibito slapped it down at once.
"No messing around."
"Fine, fine."
"I want you to make furniture for me," she said. "And I want my world to look as nice as this place. Can you do that?"
"Of course."
Ryou lowered his head and kissed her once. "Later, I'll take you to buy wood. I'll build the house myself."
Tabibito's expression softened immediately.
Then Ryou asked, "Are you rested? I put food in the hall. If you and Paimon are hungry, go eat."
"I want lobster."
Ryou pinched her nose. "Why do you like lobster so much?"
"Because it's good."
That answer was so direct he could not argue with it.
"Don't worry. I prepared three portions for you."
Tabibito's eyes lit up.
"Ryou, you're the best."
She kissed his cheek, then left in a hurry.
Ryou watched her go, amused by how fast she recovered when food was involved, then went back to his room.
Keqing was still asleep.
He did not wake her. He simply lay down beside her and stayed there.
A while later, Keqing opened her eyes and glared at him.
"Hey. Still in bed?"
"I was waking you up."
"That's what you call it?"
Ryou pulled her closer and kissed her. "We still need to visit the elders later. And I'm going out to buy some wood."
Keqing blinked herself awake. "Wood? What for?"
"I want to build something for the dog."
"The dog can stay," Keqing said. "But what are we calling it?"
Ryou thought for a moment. "Why don't we ask everyone while we eat?"
"Good idea."
They got dressed and went to the hall.
During breakfast, Keqing brought up the dog's name.
Paimon, who was busy eating lobster, raised a hand at once.
"Paimon thinks Taroumaru sounds good!"
Ryou turned to look at her.
For a moment, he seriously wondered whether Paimon had secretly gone to Inazuma behind Tabibito's back.
"Paimon," he asked, "why Taroumaru?"
Paimon swallowed before answering. "Yesterday, when Paimon and Tabibito were out looking for people, we heard a foreigner say there's a teahouse in Inazuma with a dog boss. Its name is Taroumaru."
Dehya looked interested. "A dog can be a boss?"
Dunyarzad tilted her head. "That's possible?"
"I was curious too," Tabibito said. "But the person walked away too fast. I almost chased after them to ask what was going on."
She glanced at Paimon.
"I didn't expect you to remember the name."
Paimon looked at Keqing. "So? Can we use it?"
Keqing considered it.
"Taroumaru… It does sound very Inazuman. But he's a Liyue dog."
Ryou imagined taking the dog to Inazuma someday and running into the real Taroumaru.
Fake Taroumaru meets real Taroumaru.
That would be something.
"If we can't think of anything better, Taroumaru works," Ryou said.
Keqing nodded. "Then Taroumaru it is."
Ryou looked at the dog. "From now on, your name is Taroumaru."
"Woof!"
A line appeared.
[Taroumaru: Master, I understand.]
Keqing picked up a lobster and placed it in front of him.
"Taroumaru, come eat."
Taroumaru immediately lowered his head and dug in.
Ryou watched it happen and shook his head, but did not stop her.
After breakfast, he turned to Dunyarzad.
"Later, come back to Liyue Harbor with me. I'll take you to Bubu Pharmacy."
Dunyarzad was still unused to how light her body felt. Back in Sumeru, she had almost forgotten what it was like not to be wrapped in weakness and pain. Even now, sitting there with everyone, she kept expecting the relief to vanish.
It did not.
"Thank you, Ryou," she said, emotion rising again. "I don't even know how I'm supposed to thank you."
"It was nothing."
"It wasn't nothing." Dunyarzad shook her head. "You gave me hope. I never thought I would feel this kind of hope again. I…"
Her breathing hitched.
Dehya immediately held her. "Dunyarzad."
Ryou checked her over and kept his voice calm.
"What I did yesterday can ease the symptoms for a while. Don't get too emotional. Let yourself settle first."
Dunyarzad took a slow breath and nodded.
"I understand."
Behind Ryou, Keqing watched quietly.
The more she looked, the warmer her heart felt.
She knew Ryou had helped because she had asked. Dunyarzad and Dehya had only known them for a short time. If Keqing had not gone to him, Ryou probably would not have stepped in so deeply.
But once he did, he took responsibility.
He had given Dunyarzad relief. He was taking her to Bubu Pharmacy. He was still thinking about how to treat her.
Keqing looked at him and felt pleased all over again.
Her husband really was kind.
Reliable too.
A treasure.
Then she noticed Tabibito staring at him.
The warmth in Keqing's eyes cooled instantly.
There she goes again.
That woman spent all day staring at someone else's husband.
Once Keqing's mental strength was high enough, she was absolutely throwing Tabibito to Inazuma.
Liyue to Inazuma took more than a month by ship. Perfect distance. Very safe. Very peaceful.
Tabibito suddenly felt a chill.
She turned her head and found Keqing watching her with a look that was far too calm to be harmless.
Tabibito narrowed her eyes.
Keqing was definitely plotting something.
If this were any other time, Tabibito would have fired back right away. But now was not the moment. She had to be careful.
Keqing had received too many good things from Ryou.
She could fly on a sword and had already thrown Tabibito all the way to Mondstadt once. On top of that, she could summon those weird Ninjas.
No.
One-on-one, Tabibito was not confident.
She needed help.
Someone had to go to Ryou with her and ask for a few things for self-defense. And if she wanted to fight Keqing, one person was not enough. Two against one would be much safer.
As for who to pull in…
Tabibito immediately thought of someone.
Xiangling.
[End of chapter]
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