Luo Li considered whether he should explain things to Baizhu—telling him not to sell medicinal herbs to Shenhe if she came again.
Otherwise, that habit would never be corrected, and he couldn't keep watching over the girl forever.
"Oh? Mr. Luo Li?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Beidou turned around. Upon seeing an old acquaintance, she burst into hearty laughter.
The two hadn't met for quite some time since the pirate incident back then, but their relationship hadn't cooled in the slightest.
Lumine and Paimon greeted her as well.
Without time to scold Shenhe, Luo Li helplessly confiscated the medicinal herbs she had hidden behind her back. Under her pitiful gaze, he handed them to Ganyu and instructed her:
"From now on, Shenhe is your responsibility. If she doesn't listen, you, as the senior sister, should scold her."
Ganyu looked troubled. Scolding others was simply impossible for her.
The qilin girl was gentle by nature—she couldn't even bring herself to speak harshly, let alone reprimand someone.
Luo Li didn't care. This was actually perfect for tempering Ganyu's personality—killing two birds with one stone.
Leaving the two girls staring awkwardly at each other, he turned to Beidou and replied:
"I didn't expect to run into Captain Beidou here. What brings you today?"
Beidou answered honestly, "We're heading out to the open sea soon, and the fleet is short on backup medicine. So I stopped by Boss Baizhu to stock up."
"And I'm also hosting a martial arts tournament for my brother Kazuha—to select a warrior capable of awakening a Vision. This young lady here is one of the contestants. I didn't expect you two to know each other."
She pointed at Lumine, clearly holding her in high regard.
After all, she was the Honorary Knight of the Knights of Favonius who resolved the dragon crisis and played a crucial role during the Archon conflicts.
Well… she did remove the seal. That was crucial—otherwise, none of that would've happened.
Paimon said confidently, "We're not really doing it for a Vision. Captain Beidou said that if we win, she'll take us to Inazuma."
Luo Li nodded slightly. "I originally planned to ask Beidou to give you a ride anyway. Didn't expect you to charm your way in yourselves."
Beidou laughed loudly. "Then it looks like we're all pretty fated to meet!"
Paimon protested unhappily—what did he mean by charm? That sounded awful.
Ignoring the little one's protest, Luo Li asked, "When do we depart?"
Beidou calculated briefly, then said decisively, "Three days from now. The fleet will probably stop at Ritou—we need to purchase fireworks from the Naganohara family."
While Liyue had many varieties of fireworks, few could match the craftsmanship of the Naganohara shop.
That girl was known as the Queen of Summer Festivals—very few could rival her in fireworks.
"Three days, huh."
That meant he needed to wrap up Liyue's loose ends in the next few days.
Luo Li murmured to himself, planning to head to Inazuma together with Beidou and Lumine.
This time, he didn't plan to bring anyone else. His main goal was to see what Inazuma had become.
If he could also see old acquaintances, that would be even better.
Ideally, he could quietly leak the fact that both he and Raiden Makoto were still alive—giving certain people time to mentally prepare.
"Captain Beidou, your medicine is ready."
At that moment, a refined green-haired man emerged from the back of Bubu Pharmacy.
A white snake was coiled around his neck. He wore glasses and gave off a scholarly, gentle impression.
Beidou gladly accepted several large bags of medicine, lifting them easily with one hand.
"Alright then, I'll be heading out."
Baizhu stopped her. "Wait, there's more."
He turned toward the medicine counter and called out, "Qiqi, is it ready?"
After a moment, a voice came from a spot behind the counter where no one seemed to be.
"C-coming…"
The voice was soft, faint, and lifeless.
Soon after, a small loli emerged from beneath the counter.
She had little facial expression, a talisman stuck to her forehead, prayer beads around her neck, and bandages wrapped around her legs.
Yet somehow, she still looked quite cute.
"So this is a zombie?" Luo Li examined the girl named Qiqi with interest.
He remembered how this child had accidentally wandered into a battlefield between adepti and gods, died tragically, and was later resurrected through adeptal arts out of guilt.
The revived Qiqi, however, was imperfect—not the same herb-gathering girl as before, and prone to frequent memory loss.
Unlike ordinary zombies, due to her adeptal connection, Qiqi had to issue commands to herself in order to move.
"Here."
Qiqi handed another bag of medicine to Beidou, her eyes dull and unfocused—a common zombie trait.
"Thanks, little Qiqi."
Beidou took the final bag and turned to say goodbye to Luo Li.
"Then I'll be off, Mr. Luo Li."
She also reminded Lumine not to forget the martial arts tournament scheduled for tomorrow.
Watching Beidou's figure disappear down the steps outside Bubu Pharmacy, Luo Li turned his gaze to Baizhu's gentle face.
This man was quite mysterious—nothing like the polite and kind figure he appeared to be.
His reason for taking in Qiqi was impure; he valued her immortal body.
According to Luo Li's knowledge, Baizhu suffered from some kind of physical condition. Qiqi had once said that his body was even worse than hers.
But that had nothing to do with him.
"Is there anything you need, sir?" Baizhu asked with a warm smile.
After meeting his gaze for a moment, Luo Li shook his head lightly.
"I'm just here to take A-He with me. If she comes again, please remember not to sell her medicinal herbs."
"Understood."
Baizhu nodded after glancing at the silent, pitiful Shenhe.
Luo Li's eyes briefly passed over the white snake hiding fearfully behind Baizhu's neck, but he paid it no mind.
"Lumine, would you like to come with me to Heyu Teahouse later to watch an opera? Yun Jin has written a new one recently—it's worth seeing."
Before leaving with Shenhe and Ganyu, he extended the invitation to the Traveler duo.
After learning the full details of Divine Damsel of Devastation from Shenhe earlier, Yun Jin had refined the opera repeatedly, striving for perfection, and had asked Luo Li to review it several times.
Now, she finally felt confident enough to perform it publicly.
Just yesterday, she had sent him an invitation at once.
Paimon's eyes lit up. "Opera?! Yes, yes! Let's go right now!"
She agreed so quickly that Lumine didn't even have time to stop her.
With Paimon already on board—and nothing else pressing—Lumine simply nodded along.
She was actually interested in opera herself.
And hey—free entertainment was always nice.
With the decision made, Luo Li gave Baizhu a final nod.
"Sorry for the disturbance, boss."
"Not at all. Please feel free to come anytime you need."
Baizhu watched them leave, standing at the entrance of Bubu Pharmacy.
Only after Luo Li completely disappeared by the lotus pond did the smile on his face finally fade.
Gazing in the direction he had left, Baizhu gently stroked the white snake on his shoulder—now finally relaxed—and remained silent for a long time.