Hanxue in reality had already realized his mistake, but in the book, he was still stubborn.
"Then I ask you, thousands of years ago, when Liyue Harbor was undergoing extensive construction, Rex Lapis taught the people architectural skills."
"The demonstration models he used were all cast from Mora, right?"
"If it wasn't because he valued the divine power of Mora, why would Rex Lapis engage in such extravagant behavior?"
From an ordinary person's perspective, using gold for demonstration models was indeed very extravagant.
But viewing the actions of the Rex Lapis from a human perspective, it was akin to an emperor plowing with a golden hoe.
"This is easy to explain," Zhongli said. "Because for the Rex Lapis, Mora was the easiest and cheapest material to obtain."
Hanxue was speechless.
What Zhongli said made so much sense that he couldn't refute it.
Lumine complained, "It's like he's talking about someone else's story."
Zhongli chuckled softly, "Heh heh, it is the story of Rex Lapis, after all."
The people of Liyue were confused. Did the Rex Lapis have some kind of peculiar habit? Always telling or listening to his own stories.
Well, actually, it was also their fault for always bringing up the Rex Lapis in every other sentence.
For Morax, Mora was simply too easy to acquire, which is why Zhongli now always forgets to carry money.
He always felt that Mora was something that could be created at will, so there was no need to carry it around.
"Speaking of which, this act of telling one's own story and still having no money, it really is quite similar," Kaeya said, looking at Venti.
"Eh heh," Venti didn't argue.
He and Zhongli were different; Zhongli listened to others tell his stories, at most discussing them when there were inaccuracies.
Venti, on the other hand, personally sang his own stories as poems, then earned a little money to buy wine.
One of these Gods had money but didn't carry it, and the other spent money as soon as he got it, ultimately leading to the same result: both ended up with no money.
Returning to the book, Wanyan, who had been listening quietly, saw Zhongli's extensive knowledge and initiated a conversation.
She said she had archaeological questions that she needed to ask and wanted to move to a quieter place.
Zhongli readily agreed. The group moved to a quiet spot, and Wanyan explained her purpose.
It turned out that the reason she wanted to change locations was that her words might be disrespectful to the Rock God.
She sought Zhongli not only because of his vast knowledge but also because he seemed like a detractor of the Rex Lapis.
Therefore, she dared not speak such critical words about the Rex Lapis to others, only to him.
She asked Zhongli, "Were all the Gods killed by the Rock God evil?"
The readers exclaimed, "You guys are truly asking the right person!" Every single one of them managed to direct their questions so precisely to the Rex Lapis himself.
Zhongli, of course, was not annoyed and replied objectively, "...Good and evil, let's set that aside for now.
Rex Lapis respects contracts, so any God who died by his hand must have broken some kind of contract."
This sentence made Venti break out in a cold sweat. He had once forged Rex Lapis's name to sign a contract.
One could only say that the old man hitting him was not without reason; given Zhongli's temperament, he was already being lenient with him.
Wanyan continued to speak of her discoveries; it turned out she was advocating for a benevolent God.
"The God of Salt, Heuria… she was a kind God, yet she was still… by Morax in the war," Wanyan said.
"She was assassinated by Morax, using dishonorable means."
This God of Salt, inherently kind and committing no evil, was 'assassinated' by the Rock God.
Wanyan wanted to know the truth of the story, and so did the readers.
Wanyan wanted to know because she worshipped The God of Salt; others were merely curious.
What kind of divine being would require the Rex Lapis to resort to assassination!?
How terrifying must a being be if the Rex Lapis needed to assassinate them? Must they not have three heads and six arms, with a green face and fangs?
Under normal circumstances, would the Rex Lapis, with his strength, need to assassinate? He could just go directly and rampage, and few could stop him, right?
It was like the elderly Zhao Zilong; as soon as one saw 'Yun was enraged,' one knew the outcome.
Could it be that killing everyone so no one saw it counted as assassination?
The book stated that at this time, a Fatui named Clemente arrived. He hired Zhongli as an archaeological consultant at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor under the guise of an archaeologist.
This really made the people of Liyue want to complain, "You go to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor for archaeological business?"
Isn't Wangsheng Funeral Parlor for handling burials? And you go there to hire a consultant for 'grave robbing'?
Others wanted to complain, but Zhongli, hearing it was work from Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, professionally accepted it, and even brought the Traveler, who was not an archaeologist, along.
Clemente was not very pleased. This was archaeology, not sightseeing, and he didn't want to bring so many people.
"But this friend of mine has an unparalleled Talent for finding treasures," Zhongli said.
"What Talent?" Clemente asked.
"He never misses a single treasure chest within his line of sight!" Zhongli replied.
"Pfft, hahahahaha, that summary is truly spot on!" Kaeya burst into laughter.
"Hey, Traveler, did you offend a Prophet in Liyue?" Kaeya asked.
The Traveler was in Mondstadt waiting for someone named Dainsleif.
Lin Qiu had told her about his appearance, and he was quite recognizable.
Lin Qiu told her that he had information about her brother, so she had been waiting.
"No way! We have a great relationship!" Paimon said, crossing her arms.
"Lin Qiu is praising us. This Talent is super amazing for an Adventurer!" Paimon continued.
"That's right, it's like saying little Paimon won't let go of any bowl of rice in front of her. It's a compliment," Lumine nodded.
"Huh? Why does that feel weird?" Paimon tilted her head and scratched it.
Little Paimon's CPU began to load, seemingly trying to understand whether this was praise or a veiled insult.
The others no longer paid attention to the conflicted Paimon and continued reading.
In the book, the group arrived at Guyun Stone Forest, where many treasures were buried, all dropped when Ningguang crashed the Jade Chamber.
Everyone understood that if the Prophet had not been involved, Ningguang would indeed have crashed the Jade Chamber in the great battle with Osial.
"It is said that Rex Lapis threw his spears of rock into this sea area, piercing and suppressing the Gods," Zhongli said.
"Those rock spears underwent years of weathering, eventually forming this unique landscape."
"What remains before us today is but the tip of the iceberg. The rock spears the Rex Lapis cast back then were far greater in both number and volume."
Zhongli told the group the story of Rex Lapis. He wasn't boasting; he mainly wanted to tell this story to the Traveler.
This story thrilled the people of Liyue. Guyun Stone Forest was formed by the Rex Lapis's rock spears, and even more astonishing was that the rock spears the Rex Lapis cast were far greater than what was visible!
This is our Rex Lapis! Does your country have such a Rex Lapis?
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Character Voice Line · Traveler: About the Chapter of Ancient Tales
Paimon: "So, that line from Zhongli in the book, was he praising us or insulting us?"
Lumine: "Given Zhongli's personality, it should be praise."
Paimon: "Then that line you said about me, was that praising me or insulting me?"
Lumine: "Given my personality, it should be an insult."
Paimon: "Darn it! You, you! You're making me so mad, I'm not picking any Apples for you anymore!"