Just as Su Han was teaching Kaedehara Kazuha how to cultivate the Golden Light Mantra, Shenhe slowly walked down from upstairs. Perhaps because she had been well nourished, the usually cold and detached Adeptus now carried a faint touch of mortal warmth about her.
For a moment, Su Han was completely stunned. It was not until she walked up to him that he finally snapped out of it.
"How did you sleep today?"
"Pretty good, just no strength left in my body. Walking is also a bit difficult. Other than that, nothing much."
Faced with Su Han's concern, Shenhe did not feel embarrassed at all and quickly spoke about her condition.
Su Han nodded and said, "Mm, those are normal reactions. Let's go inside and talk. Kaedehara Kazuha still needs to cultivate for a while."
Mainly, he wanted to remind Shenhe that certain things should not be spoken about. Otherwise, mentioning such private bedroom matters in front of others in the future would be somewhat inappropriate.
Although Shenhe did not quite understand, she trusted Su Han completely and would listen to whatever he said.
The day passed very quickly.
The next morning, Su Han was awakened by the ringing of a Transponder Snail before he even got out of bed.
"Hello?"
"It's me, Ningguang. I heard you agreed to Beidou's challenge. But weren't you injured? Why did you agree to her nonsense?"
"Mainly because Inazuma is short on transport personnel. On top of that, she was extremely persistent, so I agreed."
Ningguang was silent for a moment before sighing. "She tricked you. Merchants put profit first. Beidou would be delighted to run errands for you. But since you've already agreed, it wouldn't be good to break the promise. When are you planning to spar? I want to go watch."
Since she could not stop it, she at least needed to be there in person. Otherwise, who knew what Beidou would turn into once she started fighting.
After thinking for a bit, Su Han said, "Probably around three in the afternoon. Let's set the location at Guyun Stone Forest."
"Guyun Stone Forest? No problem. I'll arrange time to head over in the afternoon."
"Mm. By the way, how has the Guili New City project been recently?"
Hearing Su Han mention the construction of the new city, Ningguang immediately became interested. She picked up today's report and said with a smile, "The progress is very fast. It should be preliminarily completed in about a week. When the time comes, you'll have to come cut the ribbon."
"Of course. But don't forget to reserve a shop for me."
"Don't worry. Anyone can be missing except you."
The call between the two of them lasted a full hour before it finally ended. Although they mostly discussed official matters, Su Han could hear Ningguang frequently laughing through her voice. This was far from the first time they had chatted at length over the phone.
They had even gradually formed a habit. Now, they talked at least twice a day.
While Su Han was discussing work with Ningguang, Shenhe quietly got dressed and went out to cultivate. The two of them had still slept together the previous night, but due to his condition, there had been no intense activity. They had simply held each other.
After getting up, Su Han checked on Kaedehara Kazuha's cultivation progress, then went to inform Hu Tao and the old gentleman. With such a lively event, if he did not say anything, the Director would definitely make a fuss afterward.
Sure enough, when Hu Tao heard that Su Han was going to spar with Beidou, she immediately declared that she was going to watch the show.
"Finally get to see you go all out once. It's definitely going to be spectacular. Wait a bit, I'll go call Qiqi and Yaoyao. They'll definitely want to see it."
Recently, Xingqiu was away on business, Chongyun was stationed at Dihua Marsh with his family, and Xiangling was not home either.
As a result, there were fewer and fewer people Hu Tao could play with. After their relationship had just been repaired, she often went to find Qiqi to play. Fortunately, Hu Tao no longer buried her, and she always brought coconut milk when visiting, so their relationship was fairly good.
Watching the Director turn and leave, Su Han sat down and said, "You haven't gone out for a stroll recently?"
"Leave external matters to you young people. I have nothing to do in Liyue. Reading comics and sipping tea is more than enough."
The old gentleman looked completely at ease. Not having to worry about anything was truly comfortable. If Su Han's strength were sufficient, he would have already wanted him to meet Azhdaha. At present, this was the only matter giving Zhongli a headache.
Su Han did not say anything about it. After all, this was the path he had chosen. If he liked Ningguang, he had to share her workload. If he liked Shenhe, he naturally had to help the Adepti. Unless he cut off all desires, but even then, he would still need to consider his own safety.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was three in the afternoon.
Originally, Su Han thought there would be very few spectators. But when he arrived at the scene, he discovered that it had already become a sea of people.
Not only were there elite Millelith troops, but also Keqing, Hu Tao, Qiqi, Yaoyao, Beidou's crew, Ningguang, and her secretary. All together, there were roughly over a thousand people.
Seeing this, Su Han could not help but complain, "Are you all here to watch a show?"
Hu Tao said, "Hehe, such a great opportunity, we wouldn't want to miss it."
Keqing said, "Letting the elite Millelith watch together also allows them to experience the battle of strong experts in advance. Isn't that a good thing?"
Yaoyao said, "Big brother, good luck!"
Qiqi said, "Good luck." Her expression was indifferent.
Ningguang said, "I also wanted to reduce the number of people, but when I arrived, I found the news had already spread. Don't worry though, the perimeter has been sealed off."
Yanfei said, "Hehe, I also want to see just how strong the person Grandma keeps praising really is. Good luck."
Zhongli said, "A rare grand occasion indeed."
Venti said, "Eh heh, how could I be missing."
Looking at Venti waving at him, Su Han felt rather speechless. This guy's timing was impeccable. But he was not going to let him watch for free. Later, he would have him promote some goods and conveniently send the Transponder Snail over to Jean.
Just as his friends finished cheering for him, the people on Beidou's side were not to be outdone.
"Go, boss! Take Boss Su down hard."
"Wait, today's really a fight with Boss Su? Is this real? Is he that strong?"
"Boss wouldn't be interested in this pretty boy, right? He looks weak at first glance."
Sailors who spent their days at sea naturally had foul mouths, but they were just gossiping. Beidou did not mind at all, since she herself often spoke without restraint.
Seeing that Su Han had arrived, Beidou carried a greatsword and jumped down from the mountain, saying, "I've been waiting a long time. Need to warm up?"
"No need. Let's start directly."
While they were talking, a small black boat broke through the blockade and was speeding toward the island. On the bow, Tartaglia said excitedly, "Faster, go faster. I've finally waited for this day."
He had always wanted to personally cross hands with Su Han, but he had never had the chance.
Today, Tartaglia's subordinates had accidentally learned that Su Han was going to have a decisive battle with Captain Beidou at Guyun Stone Forest. This news made him incredibly excited. Only heaven knew how long he had waited for this day.
Especially since higher authorities had recently evaluated this Harbinger unfavorably, and there was a strong possibility that Tartaglia would be transferred away from Liyue soon. He had to seize this one and only opportunity.
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