Venti was a fairly famous bard in Mondstadt, and when he applied to take part in the "Iridescent Tour: Lantern Rite Gala," Dvorak and Xinyan welcomed him warmly.
As for payment, that was easy. Everything was negotiable!
...
As Lantern Rite drew closer, Xianyun grew more and more restless.
On the morning of Lantern Rite, she grabbed Zhongyue just as she was about to head out and asked, "Zhongyue! Let me ask you something. Do you know where Mountain Shaper and Moon Carver went?"
"No idea. Why don't you go look for them in the mountains? You might find them." Zhongyue shook her head, shouldered her candied hawthorn pole, and left.
After Zhongyue was gone, Xianyun immediately set out as well, heading for the two adepti's abodes. But she had only just reached the entrance to Qingyun Peak when she saw Moon Carver, in the form of Houzhang, and Mountain Shaper, in the form of Jiehu, walking out together.
Xianyun quickly stepped forward and stopped them.
"Well, isn't this perfect? Saves me the trouble of looking for you!" Xianyun smiled at the two of them and spoke in an easy tone.
"Oh? Isn't this Xianyun? What brings you here today?" Jiehu was slightly surprised to see her blocking their way.
Xianyun said, "I'm here to invite you to Liyue Harbor for dinner, of course! Don't tell me you two were planning to spend this year's Lantern Rite in the mountains?"
"Of course not. Houzhang and I were just about to head to Liyue Harbor today..." Jiehu shook his head.
Xianyun clapped her hands. "Perfect! I came specifically to invite the two of you to dinner at my place tonight!"
"Hm?" Jiehu paused, then looked at her in confusion. "Since when do you have time to invite us to dinner? Aren't you always tinkering with those inventions of yours?"
"Well, that's something you don't see every day," Houzhang said from the side with a laugh.
Xianyun coughed and said seriously, "We are adepti who have worked together for thousands of years, are we not? What is so strange about me inviting the two of you to a meal? To tell you the truth, tonight's dinner won't just include me. Ping'er and her disciple will be there as well, along with Rex Lapis and the others."
"Oh? Even Rex Lapis will be there? That's excellent!" Jiehu laughed and said, "Very well. Then we'll be troubling you tonight!"
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all!" Xianyun laughed and said to them, "Come on, follow me to Liyue Harbor. You can help me out while you're at it."
Laugh all you want. Laugh to your hearts' content! Tonight, you'll be crying.
Firmly believing that if she was doomed, she was dragging the others down with her, Xianyun did not explain the situation to Jiehu and Houzhang. She only told them there would be a banquet that evening, and that Rex Lapis would be attending.
Those two points alone were enough. More than enough to lure them over.
Xianyun brought Jiehu and Houzhang back to Liyue Harbor, where they ran into Zhongyue selling candied hawthorns near Tiger Rock.
"Oh, Xianyun, bringing two more victims..." Zhongyue saw her returning with Jiehu and Houzhang and immediately guessed what she was up to. But before she could finish speaking, she saw Xianyun blinking at her, so she smiled and shut her mouth.
Xianyun breathed a sigh of relief and said to Jiehu and Houzhang, "This is Azhdaha, the Geo Dragon Sovereign, Zhongyue. You probably haven't met her yet, have you?"
Houzhang and Jiehu, who rarely came to Liyue Harbor and had barely met Zhongyue before, froze on the spot.
What?
Azhdaha, the Geo Dragon Sovereign?
Zhongyue?
Like this?
She was not like this a thousand years ago!
Had they spent so many years in the mountains that they had completely fallen out of touch with the world?
Zhongyue plucked two sticks of candied hawthorn from the pole and handed one to each of them, saying, "Come on, take them. A greeting gift. Everyone gets one, so don't be shy."
The two held the candied hawthorns, looking somewhat at a loss.
Zhongyue went on, "I made these candied hawthorns myself. Proper ingredients, honest business, fair prices for young and old alike! You won't find candied hawthorns this good at any other shop!"
Zhongyue was not exaggerating. Other shops sold candied hawthorns to make money and get by, but Zhongyue mostly did it for fun. She did not care how much she earned, nor did she care about the cost of the ingredients.
"Thank you..." Jiehu and Houzhang finally came back to their senses and thanked Zhongyue while holding the candied hawthorns.
"No problem. I'm off. Bye!" Zhongyue waved, shouldered the pole again, and continued on her way.
Jiehu took a bite of his candied hawthorn, then suddenly remembered something and quickly said, "Wait, just now, Azhdaha... Zhongyue, what did she say? Victims?"
Houzhang shook his head. "I'm not sure. Xianyun, do you know what Zhongyue was about to say?"
Hearing their questions, Xianyun immediately laughed. She shook her head and said, "Nothing! She was just too excited to see you two and misspoke. It's nothing, nothing at all!"
"Is that so?" Jiehu blinked at her. "Then why are you so nervous?"
"Me? Nervous? Am I?" Xianyun smoothed out her long hair and said, "Let's not waste time standing around here. I may have invited you two over for dinner, but you still need to help me prepare a few things. I haven't finished buying today's ingredients yet, so come with me and help pick them out."
"But we're guests..." Jiehu said.
Xianyun said to Jiehu and Houzhang, "Even Rex Lapis and Lora have prepared festival supplies. Are the two of you planning to just sit there and eat without doing anything?"
Once she said that, both Jiehu and Houzhang could only sigh helplessly. "Fine, fine, fine. We'll go with you."
The three of them passed by the Yun-Han Opera Troupe. It was quite lively there today, and Shenhe was sitting below, listening to Yun Jin's opera. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Xianyun, along with Jiehu and Houzhang behind her.
"Hm? Master? And the two senior adepti?" Shenhe looked at the three of them in surprise.
It was not that she found anything wrong. It was just that, compared with Xianyun, Houzhang and Jiehu were rare figures who almost never appeared in Liyue. Seeing them here all of a sudden naturally surprised her.
Xianyun also spotted her young disciple listening to opera and immediately put on a smile as she walked over.
"Shenhe! What brings you here to listen to opera today?" Xianyun asked with a smile after coming to Shenhe's side.
Shenhe replied, "It's Lantern Rite today, so I have the day off. Master, where are you going with the two senior adepti?"
"Oh, me? I asked them to come with me to buy some ingredients. It's Lantern Rite today, after all, and we're having a big feast tonight!" Xianyun smiled at Shenhe, then added, "You have to come eat at Master's place tonight!"
After hearing Xianyun's words, Shenhe blinked and said, "I heard Madame Ping say that tonight..."
"Ahem!" Before she could finish, Xianyun cut her off with a cough. Shenhe looked at Jiehu and Houzhang, who had followed behind Xianyun, and did not quite understand what Xianyun meant. "Master, what's wrong?"