"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
A rhythmic knocking sound came from within the not-too-big, not-too-small courtyard.
"My King, what are you doing?" Morgott watched Ember hopping around the courtyard and couldn't help but ask.
"Making xiao lanterns, can't you tell?" Ember stopped his movements, twirled the riveter hammer in his hand, and replied.
"..." Morgott looked up at the contraption in front of him. He had seen Liyue's xiao lanterns before, but he had never heard of Liyue's xiao lanterns having a cargo basket?
"My King, this doesn't look like a xiao lantern." Morgott pulled out a small, exquisite red xiao lantern from his cloak and compared it to the object in front of him.
This was clearly a hot air balloon, not a xiao lantern.
"Who cares! As long as it can fly!" Ember didn't bother with such details. Since it was already built, was he supposed to dismantle it?
Seeing this, Morgott silently put away the xiao lantern in his hand.
"Are you trying to send something into the sky?" Morgott looked at the cargo basket beneath the hot air balloon's frame. Could it be that Ember had something he wanted to send into the sky?
But there was no need to go through so much trouble, was there? As for flying, putting Ember aside, even he himself could do it, completely without relying on external objects.
Ember noticed Morgott's pensive gaze and immediately understood what he was thinking.
"Don't be so rigid in your thinking; being a straight-shooter can sometimes be quite boring!" Ember spread his hands, speaking with a hint of helplessness.
Anyone can throw a stick, but if you pick up the thrown stick, bend it, and then wrap rubber bands around both ends, you'll get several times more joy than just throwing a stick.
Ember's current mindset was pretty much like this.
"This thing will be our reliance for crossing the sea! You don't want to be soaking wet, do you?"
Ember patted the hot air balloon's frame and said confidently. With this hot air balloon, he wouldn't have to painstakingly swim to Inazuma.
Morgott nodded in agreement. Although their reliance for crossing the sea included many things besides a hot air balloon, this did not prevent him from wholeheartedly agreeing with the latter half of Ember's statement.
Thanks to the fur on his body, Morgott also disliked the feeling of dampness, even though he grew up in such an environment.
In terms of being afraid of water, he and Ember were quite similar.
"Knock knock knock!"
"Is Brother Yu Jin in?"
"Yes, the door isn't locked."
As soon as Ember heard the voice, he knew it was Zhongli. He didn't even look up and directly told Zhongli to come in.
"Creak!"
The main door opened, and in walked not only Zhongli, but also Hu Tao and Azhdaha.
"Brother Yu Jin, your stone lions at the door..."
"So ugly! Where did you buy them? I need to avoid that place in the future!"
Zhongli hadn't even finished speaking when Hu Tao eagerly started complaining.
She had wanted to ask for a long time where these dyed stone lions came from. And not only were they dyed, but they were dyed purple, which was simply hideous.
"Uh..., I carved these myself." Ember scratched his head. He also looked up at the two stone lions at the door; they were indeed a bit ugly.
But what could he do? He couldn't be blamed for the poor materials! Who made that upside-down Statue of The Seven glow purple all day long?
When the stone lions were carved, Ember himself was startled, but after much deliberation, he still kept the two stone lions.
Mainly, there were no lanterns at his door, and these two stone lions could just be used to illuminate the area.
Although, two purple lights flashing at the door late at night was quite eerie.
"Haha, as expected of Ember, even the material for carving stone lions is so..., so special." Azhdaha adjusted his thick glasses, shook his head, and laughed.
It was already surprising enough that the Statue of The Seven was corroded by the Abyss; he never expected this statue would eventually be carved into stone lions. It was truly unexpected.
However, once they thought that Ember was the one who did it, everyone suddenly felt it wasn't so surprising after all.
"Do you want me to give you one?" Seeing Zhongli and Azhdaha occasionally glance at the two stone lions, Ember felt that their New Year's gifts were settled.
One purple-haired stone lion for each of them, take it or leave it!
"Let's not, this kind of wondrous item, only Brother Yu Jin can keep it in check." Zhongli smiled and shook his head.
If this thing weren't next to Ember's home, Zhongli estimated that the abyssal power within it would have long since leaked out.
Since this thing could be firmly controlled by Ember, then let it stay here.
Everything related to the Abyss was troublesome, and Zhongli didn't want to work overtime at the end of the year.
"So, what did you come for?" Ember lifted the covering, enveloping the hot air balloon's frame.
From a distance, it really looked like a large xiao lantern.
"To invite you as a guest. On the day of the Lantern Rite, we'll meet at Xinyue Kiosk! By then, I can teach you how to weave xiao lanterns!"
Hu Tao circled the hot air balloon in the courtyard and stated the purpose of their visit.
"Can your xiao lantern carry people?"
Ember immediately asked.
"This..., xiao lanterns aren't supposed to carry people, it seems." Hu Tao was almost led astray by Ember, but she quickly reacted.
xiao lanterns are not meant to carry people, alright!
"Then forget it, I have something to do on the day of the Lantern Rite." Ember waved his hand, refusing.
"Is that so? Then... then alright!" Hu Tao didn't expect Ember to refuse so bluntly and didn't react for a moment.
"In that case, we won't disturb Brother Yu Jin." Zhongli nodded upon hearing this, his tone showing no regret.
His lifespan was still very long; there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
"Bye-bye!" Ember was also not polite, directly waving goodbye to everyone.
As everyone left, the courtyard became quiet again. But Ember always felt something was missing.
He slapped his head, suddenly remembering, where was Morgott?
"Ahem! I'm here, My King." Ember suddenly felt Morgott appear before him.
But he looked closely again, Morgott's position hadn't changed at all. How could he have overlooked him?
"Did you learn from the Black Knife?" Ember looked at Morgott, asking curiously.
This skill of concealment was almost identical to the Black Knife's. If he were to put on a set of scale armor, he would be a proper oversized Black Knife.
"No, did My King forget the magic you cast on me?" Morgott reminded him.
Only then did Ember react. This was a good trick he learned from Paimon, short for: Grand Omission Art!
Its effect was to make others overlook anomalies in ruins, but now it seemed a bit overdone, directly turning into overlooking the existence of the person.
"Is anyone home?"
Just as Ember and Morgott were discussing improvements for the Omission Art, another voice came from outside the door.
"Come in." Ember looked up. Why were there so many people today? Wasn't this place usually deserted?
This time, another trio pushed open the door: Baizhu, Qiqi, and A Gui.
"Let me guess, you're inviting me to dinner?" Ember looked at the trio, pacing as he spoke.
"It seems Mr. Ember also has the art of divination." Baizhu was a little surprised to hear this. Ember guessed correctly; they indeed wanted to invite Ember for a New Year's Eve dinner.
"No, it's just that someone came earlier, and they also wanted to invite me to dinner." Ember stopped, spreading his hands as he spoke.
"I didn't expect Mr. Ember to be so popular. It seems we came late." Baizhu chuckled, shaking his head, speaking with some regret.
He had originally thought Ember was alone and could invite him to join in the festivities, but he didn't expect he wasn't the only one with this idea.
"I also didn't know so many people would come to invite me to dinner." Ember scratched his head; this was truly a strange thing.
"Actually, you could invite me to eat dirt; that would save you money."
Ember thought for a while and felt it was necessary to tell them something: eating a meal and eating dirt were the same for him.
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