Breakfast time.
Xia Zhen stared at the huge bowl of Braised Pork Stew her younger sister had set in front of her and fell into silence.
She looked up at Ei's expectant face and hesitated before speaking. "Isn't this a bit… heavy for breakfast?"
Ei answered matter-of-factly, "But didn't you say before that you wanted to eat meat, big sister?"
Off to the side, Xia Ci covered her mouth, unable to hold back a snicker.
Xia Zhen pressed her fingers to her forehead and sighed. "When I said I wanted to eat meat, that's not what I meant."
Ei froze. Not what she meant? Then what did she mean?
Xia Zhen brought over a bowl of Clear Noodle Soup and scooped two spoonfuls of the Braised Pork Stew into her noodles as toppings.
"Take the rest and share it with everyone else."
"Okay, big sister…"
Ei quietly picked up the bowl and distributed portions to Hanachirusato, Yae Miko, and Urakusai. She poured the remaining stew into her own bowl.
She picked up her chopsticks and stirred the noodles, head lowered, her expression still puzzled.
In her consciousness, Xia Ying spoke up. "You don't even know where you went wrong."
"Did I really do something wrong?"
"…When you have time, you should go to Yae Publishing House and buy a few romance light novels to read."
"What does this have to do with light novels?"
"You'll understand after you read them."
Xia Ying fell silent.
Ei frowned slightly.
Still, she took the strange advice to heart.
---
It had rained yesterday, but the weather had cleared today.
The Araumi team went back to continue clearing out the remaining war machines and monsters.
Urakusai headed to Inazuma City. On one hand, he wanted to see how the city was doing after five hundred years. On the other, he planned to discreetly investigate the current state of the Arataki Gang.
Based on Mona's prophecy, Charlotte also prepared to head to Inazuma City to interview the Arataki Gang for a news piece.
Xia Zhi took the girls who were still at the shrine and led them up the mountain to look for mushrooms.
Mt. Yougou was vast. With summer heat and the rain having just passed, mushrooms of all sizes and colors were popping out of the soil everywhere.
Yae Miko found it amusing and joined them.
They wandered around the mountain, and whenever they found mushrooms, they called Xia Ci over to identify whether they were edible.
"This one's edible, and it tastes pretty good. But after eating it, you'll experience mild hallucinations."
"Any other side effects?"
"No, none."
Xiangling, who had been listening nearby, immediately lit up with excitement.
She squatted down, picked the mushrooms, and tossed them into her bamboo basket. Clearly, she was already thinking up another innovative dish.
The other girls exchanged looks and silently decided they would not eat any mushroom dishes Xiangling made in the next couple of days.
There were plenty of mushrooms on the mountain, but most of them were hidden in the weeds.
Finding mushrooms was not just about sharp eyes. Experience mattered too.
The most experienced were Guoba and Rii.
For Guoba, it was more instinct than experience. As the former God of the Stove of Liyue, he had an innate affinity for ingredients. It was as if there were a built-in tracking device inside him. As long as edible ingredients existed nearby, he could accurately locate them.
Back when Xiangling traveled the world, she relied on Guoba to help her find ingredients in the wild.
Besides him, Ganyu also had a similar instinct. After all, she was a vegetarian adeptus beast by nature.
As for Rii, hers was pure experience. She used to be a tanuki youkai living in the wilderness. Food was scarce there, and competition from beasts and other youkai was fierce, so she slowly learned to tell which mushrooms were edible and which were not.
As for how many times she had poisoned herself during that process, only she knew.
Yae Miko was different. Though she was also a youkai, she had grown up with Kitsune Saiguu and never had to worry about food. When it came to identifying wild mushrooms… she could only be said to know a little.
But none of that really mattered. They were not here just to collect mushrooms. It was more about enjoying themselves.
Sometimes, mushrooms grew on steep slopes.
Those spots were hard to reach, so Guoba usually went, scampering over on his nimble little legs.
If Guoba got too busy, Xia Ci would help out.
Her method was even simpler. She raised both hands, formed a camera frame with her fingers, aimed at the mushroom on the slope, and snapped. The mushroom would end up in her hand.
Xia Zhi saw through it immediately. She was just using the power of the Dendro Archon to pull off some flashy tricks.
---
As noon approached, the sun grew hotter.
They returned to the Grand Narukami Shrine with baskets full of mushrooms.
"There are so many mushrooms on Mt. Yougou."
"This was pretty fun!"
"It's nothing special. The rainforest in Sumeru has way more mushrooms."
"Really?"
"Yeah. By then, you'd probably be too lazy to even pick them up."
Rii listened from the side, her mind drifting.
A life with endless mushrooms to eat would have felt like a dream to her in the past.
Yae Miko probably felt she had not helped much earlier, so she came over to wash mushrooms as well.
She suddenly asked, "Mr. Xia, I've heard Liyue has a famous dish called Almond Tofu."
Xia Zhi nodded. "Yes, there is."
"Is it good?"
"You've never tried it? There should be Liyue restaurants in Inazuma City."
"Those foreign-run places are never authentic. I never eat there."
"Oh. It's pretty good."
"Really?"
"If you want to try it, I'll make it for you at lunch."
"That's wonderful. Thank you, Mr. Xia!"
"You're welcome."
"Mr. Xia."
"Yes?"
"Can Almond Tofu be made into fried tofu?"
"Almond Fried Tofu? I've never thought about that…"
Xia Zhi froze.
Xiangling's eyes lit up again.
"Master! That actually sounds doable!"
"Almond Tofu is called tofu, but it's only similar in shape. It's not the same as tofu, so it probably can't be deep-fried."
"We can improve it!"
"If you're interested, give it a try."
"Okay!"
Then Yae Miko saw Xiangling turn to look at her.
"Since Lady Yae is interested, would you like to help me taste-test it?"
Seeing Xiangling's excitement, Yae Miko felt a bad premonition.
When Xiangling made instant noodles yesterday, she had witnessed the entire so-called innovation process.
It was the kind of thing that could knock someone straight into a whole new world.
Yae Miko fell silent for a moment, then smiled brightly. "Sorry. I still have some official business to handle later."
Xiangling looked disappointed. "Oh… then I guess it can't be helped."
Yae Miko smiled again. "But Urakusai really loves fried tofu. I'm sure he'd be happy to taste-test for you."
---
On the streets of Hanamizaka.
Urakusai suddenly sneezed.
He looked up at the sky, puzzled, and muttered, "Is someone talking bad about me behind my back?"
Then he lowered his gaze toward the distance.
Setting aside the eye-catching oni horns and that booming voice, just the sight of him enthusiastically playing games with a group of children was enough to make Arataki Itto stand out from the crowd.
Urakusai felt a little speechless. "So this is him? He really is… special."
He had wandered Hanamizaka all morning and only finally found this guy in a narrow alley.
Before meeting Arataki Itto, Urakusai had been looking forward to it.
After all, the oni race had been famous five hundred years ago.
But now…
Watching the two Onikabuto beetles fiercely battling in a dish through the excited crowd of children, Urakusai shook his head.
Forget it. No need to interrupt their game for now.
It was almost noon anyway. He should head back to the shrine for lunch.
Urakusai turned around and started walking toward Mt. Yougou.
As he passed the alley entrance, a young couple walked by with a child.
The child was crying over something, and the couple tried to comfort him, but nothing worked.
Urakusai stopped and watched the lively, down-to-earth scene with a smile.
Then the couple noticed the First Generation leader of the Arataki Gang playing with the children nearby, and their eyes lit up.
"See that over there? If you don't behave, Arataki Itto will steal all your snacks!"
The child froze instantly. He did not dare cry anymore and followed his parents away obediently.
Urakusai watched their backs and fell silent again.
Stopping a child's crying… sure, that was technically a privilege of youkai and oni, but…
This one felt nothing like the oni of the past.
Forget it. Lunch mattered more. Time to head back.
Wait…
Urakusai suddenly stopped and looked toward a familiar figure that flashed by in the distance.
That looked like… Ei?
----
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