Kujou Sara was exerting all her effort to restrain her emotions, which was why her tone had sounded especially cold when she spoke earlier.
She couldn't afford not to restrain herself—that was three Archons, after all! This blissful scene had to be savored for as long as possible! Come on, self, don't faint!
Look at the girl named Barbara next to her—she had already fainted.
The reason for Barbara's fainting was simple: because Venti, being mischievous, had imitated something from a book and proposed a toast to everyone, even personally pouring tea for Barbara.
He had stolen the tea-pouring job from the knight Amber.
Where could Barbara withstand that? She slept very peacefully, so one could truly say that Xiao's mentality was quite good.
Oh, right—besides those two, there was also Keqing, who had been arranged by Lucian to sit next to Zhongli. That fellow was sitting upright and proper, her breathing even becoming a bit lighter.
Everyone was extremely satisfied with this story, after all, they had seen so many "heart-wrenching" tales before. Finally getting to see a heartwarming one made everyone's hearts feel all warm and fuzzy.
Suddenly, they felt that Lucian had finally done something decent this time. Watching Guizhong's story had felt like getting stabbed in the heart—who could have imagined that afterward, he would slap on a "band-aid" for them.
Hu Tao was extremely satisfied with her own performance; the only regret was that the astrologer hadn't divined about her. Otherwise, she really wanted to see what would happen if Lucian also participated in the "incense fighting"—would he go light some incense?
She figured he probably wouldn't, but she was still very curious what excuse he would find to distance himself.
By the way, the story that Little Lucian said he would write for me—couldn't be this one, right? Hu Tao pondered.
The others had watched with great delight as well, especially since everyone now knew Zhongli and Venti's identities. Watching the two of them acting opposite each other was truly one of life's greatest joys.
Kaeya had slapped the table so hard while watching this story that he turned Diluc's face black from the force.
Furina had been secretly chuckling the whole time too; her acting skills were excellent, her expressions perfectly managed, but her inner world had gone mad with laughter.
This was just with two gods present—they didn't even dare to imagine what the scene would be like in the future if even more gods gathered together.
But even just gods gathering together wouldn't be interesting enough; they still needed to find two types of people. One type was those who knew some of the truth but couldn't speak of it and were fun to tease, like Xiao, for example.
The other type was those who knew nothing at all but had intricate ties to the gods' "ordinary human" identities. In this story, that was those few children.
Only like this could the best "skits" be born, making everyone watch happily.
The one who had watched the entire thing in the most "cold sweat" was probably Xiao. The very thought of being treated like that by the Geo Archon and the Anemo Archon in the future, even having them toast tea to him together—Xiao felt utterly unwell.
For a moment, he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, with thorns at his back and a fishbone stuck in his throat, utterly uncomfortable all over.
Fortunately, this wouldn't actually happen anymore. Now that everyone knew the identities of the gods, they wouldn't "persecute" him anymore... probably.
Besides Xiao, Lumine also had a bit of doubt, and that was about Paimon's attitude.
Although Paimon was usually quite clingy with her, it hadn't reached the level in the story. It was just being apart for a little while—why had Paimon's reaction been so triggered?
The perceptive Traveler caught a whiff of something unusual, feeling that something must have happened in the future!
She asked Lucian, but Lucian wouldn't say. This guy was really stubborn when he clammed up.
Lumine was helpless: This is you forcing my hand, so I can only cling to you now, pestering you relentlessly until you spill it.
A beauty trap? No, an annoyance trap.
Everyone had a very happy Lantern Rite this time—not only was it peaceful and stable, but they could also watch the "skit" written by Lucian. The wounds to their hearts from Guizhong earlier had all been soothed.
Everyone was very happy, except for Scaramouche. After finishing the story, he unhesitatingly burned the book.
There wasn't any particular reason; the story hadn't stabbed at his heart. He was just purely venting his dissatisfaction with Lucian.
Who could blame Lucian for feeding him that "unspeakable meal"? After being tricked so badly by Lucian, the fact that he only burned his book was already quite restrained.
He still remembered back then, when Lucian had told him that eating that meal would let him experience "human" emotions, and he had believed it.
Indeed, Lucian hadn't lied to him—he really had felt "human" emotions, just unfortunately not any positive ones.
After the joyful Lantern Rite, everyone returned to their usual selves, each busy with their own affairs, waiting for Lucian's new book as usual.
In this world lacking entertainment, Lucian's books had already become everyone's after-dinner "talking points," just like essential side-dish videos—indispensable.
And on this day, Lucian's new book was released. This time, it was the story of The Chasm.
The Chasm was familiar to the people of Liyue; this place had been sealed off for quite a long time now, and no one knew what stories might still be inside.
The beginning of this story wasn't the familiar Katheryne; it had changed to Lan Si.
She told the Traveler about exploring The Chasm—this was something only the Traveler could accomplish!
Because The Chasm was still in a sealed state, aside from the great hero Traveler, no one else could really enter.
For a decision already made by the Qixing, even Ganyu wouldn't interfere much; she would only first soothe you and have you wait a bit on the side.
Perhaps Ganyu would help resolve this issue for you before getting off work? If she ever actually got off work, that is.
But she clearly wouldn't, so even the Adventurers' Guild couldn't apply for qualification.
In the end, they could only entrust it to Teyvat's king of face—the face of Lumine was huge! Upon arriving outside The Chasm, even the Millelith guards in charge of watching recognized her directly and let Lumine pass.
It was practically like having one-way access; wherever she went, it was all "green lights."
Once inside The Chasm, she sought out Mu Ning, the specialist from the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Lumine didn't recognize this person, but the other party recognized her.
Lumine's impression of him was merely that this guy owed Lan Si alcohol money.
To proceed deeper into The Chasm, one needed permission credentials from the Qixing or Ganyu. Unfortunately, Lumine hadn't prepared anything when she came; she had brushed her way in the whole route.
Without credentials, Mu Ning naturally couldn't let Lumine go deeper, but he allowed Lumine to look around—just "absolutely! do! not! touch! anything she shouldn't!"
During the process of wandering around, Lumine encountered Zhiqiong; this was an adventurer.
She also recognized Lumine because she had heard storytelling about Lumine's adventure tales from Iron Tongue Tian.
She even told Lumine that what Mu Ning had said about "absolutely not" was actually hinting at what to do—it was essentially indirectly telling Lumine how to enter The Chasm.
It turned out that Lumine's entry into The Chasm was already something tacitly permitted by multiple parties; they had even arranged "assistance" for her.
And the first thing Lumine had to do next was to find a catalyst, something like a "flashlight" to facilitate movement in the darkness.
But upon arriving at the warehouse where the catalysts were stored, there was a group of Treasure Hoarders here.
Treasure Hoarders?