In the end, Chen Luo didn't manage to get the reward the Church had promised him, but it wasn't that the Church reneged. The main reason was that Barbara ran into the secret passage and didn't come out for a long time.
"Alright, let's go, let's go. No need to stay here any longer." In the end, out of respect for Jean, Chen Luo didn't wait any longer.
The key point was that Chen Luo wanted to see Venti get his heart ripped out.
So exciting, so exciting! What expression should he put on when he sees Venti get his heart ripped out later? Shock? Anger? Or horror?
After Venti gets his heart ripped out, should he mock Venti or comfort him?
Hmm, maybe take the opportunity to shear some wool from Venti?
Order a ten-round set of Dandelion Wine? The "Drink to Live, Dream to Die" package?
Harboring this kind of troublemaker's mood, after the guards operated several switches Chen Luo couldn't understand, Chen Luo and the others pushed open the door.
And the moment Chen Luo pushed open the door, he saw a certain green-clad poet lying on the ground.
"Holy crap! Venti! What's wrong, Venti? How did you get your heart ripped out so quickly?!" Seeing Venti lying on the ground, Chen Luo immediately slid into a kneel beside Venti, trying to shake him awake.
Couldn't you have held on a bit longer? Wait until we came out before getting your heart ripped out! How could you do this?
Now Chen Luo understood why no one came out when the Anemo Archon had his heart ripped out right at the Mondstadt Cathedral entrance back then. It wasn't that they didn't come out; they simply didn't notice at all!
"Bar— Venti! What's wrong, Venti!" Seeing this terrifying scene, Jean immediately ran over.
Lord Barbatos has been assassinated! Lock down the area!
Although Jean really wanted to say that, there wasn't even a hair around. Lock down what?
It's worth mentioning that Chen Luo didn't exit through the cathedral's main door but through a side door, so it didn't face the Mondstadt plaza, and thus there really weren't many people around.
No, there was no one.
"Venti, my Venti! Without you, how can I possibly—how can I possibly live!" Chen Luo held Venti in his arms, crying miserably.
"Is... is there still hope for Venti? Chen Luo, quickly think of a way to save him!" Jean said somewhat frantically.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
[Save Private Barbatos]
Reward: 200 Primogems + [Honorary Knight]
Difficulty: 2-Stars
Acting Grand Master Jean is really devout, huh.
"Alright, alright." Looking at the reward, Chen Luo reluctantly nodded.
Normally, Chen Luo should be happy to see a commission, but seeing the words "Honorary Knight" made him feel a sense of dread.
Could he choose not to accept this reward?
It really felt like this reward was a trap.
"Emmm..." Looking at Venti in his arms, Chen Luo thought for a moment, then took out his Tricolor Dango.
Staring at his Tricolor Dango, Chen Luo pondered.
If one serving of Tricolor Dango restores 33% HP, with an additional 10% HP restored over time...
And one stick of Tricolor Dango has three balls, does that mean one ball is 11% HP, with an additional 3.3% HP over time?
Chen Luo felt this was a blind spot.
But Chen Luo also felt that giving this to Venti to eat would be a bit of a waste.
Even after obtaining the recipe, Chen Luo couldn't produce this Tricolor Dango infinitely. The key was the monthly material supply was only 30 servings, and Chen Luo couldn't find the raw materials for now.
And for someone like Venti, wouldn't a glass of wine suffice?
Hmm, a glass of wine...
Chen Luo thought for a brief moment, and a glass of wine surrounded by a gentle breeze suddenly appeared in his hand.
The appearance of this glass of wine surprised everyone present, especially Eula.
Eula was quite familiar with this glass of wine; after all, she ordered one every night.
The famous Anemo Archon Wine.
It's just that whenever Eula remembered she often drank Anemo Archon Wine in front of Venti, she felt a bit... you know?
The moment the glass of wine appeared in Chen Luo's hand, he keenly noticed the Venti in his arms twitch slightly. However, after just that one twitch, there was no further movement.
Chen Luo raised an eyebrow. Then, using one hand to hold Venti, he used a thread to gently pry open Venti's mouth and poured the Anemo Archon Wine from his hand into Venti's mouth.
But when only about 20 milliliters of the wine had been poured, Chen Luo suddenly put the wine glass away.
"..." Chen Luo just silently watched Venti.
"..." Venti remained motionless in Chen Luo's arms.
"..." Jean watched Chen Luo's actions with some confusion.
"..." Chen Luo still didn't move a muscle.
"...Water..." Venti's lips parted slightly, and then Venti weakly opened his eyes.
"Oh, so you wanted water, not wine." Chen Luo had a sudden realization.
"Wine!"
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
[Wine!]
Venti instantly sat bolt upright from Chen Luo's embrace and snatched the wine glass from Chen Luo's hand.
"Gulp, gulp..."
[Ding! Task Completed]
"See? Only wine can dispel a thousand worries. Of course, my wine isn't ordinary; it contains Anemo energy, so it has a very good therapeutic effect on Venti." Seeing Venti was already awake, Chen Luo didn't forget to help cover for Venti.
"Is that so? Thank you for your hard work!" Jean had a sudden realization.
[Ding! Task Completed]
[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the achievement (Honorary Knight)]
[Honorary Knight] (3-Stars): When walking on the land of Mondstadt, gain increased initial affinity with Mondstadt residents, easier to gain respect from others, easier to gain affinity with characters of Order and Neutral alignments, easier to receive commissions.
Ah, this... "Easier to receive commissions" is quite something.
It really is an achievement that maxes out the tool-person attribute. But fortunately, its compatibility with Chen Luo isn't bad.
Although others might issue commissions to Chen Luo, couldn't he just not accept them? Or if it's something convenient to handle, just complete it casually and get the Primogem reward.
Overall, it's a pretty good reward achievement, just a pity it has no potential for growth.
"Feeling alright now?" Chen Luo "concernedly" looked at Venti.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Venti, who couldn't resist the temptation of wine and woke up, gave Chen Luo an awkward look and said.
"Then give the glass back to me. It's very expensive." Chen Luo reached out his hand to Venti.
"Ah?" Venti was stunned.
"Ah what? I'm talking about the bottle in your hand." While Venti was still dazed, Chen Luo reached out and snatched the bottle from his grasp.
This was the bottle that originally came with the Void Wine. Feeling the wine was too expensive after selling it for the first time, Chen Luo had kept the bottle.
After keeping it, he later discovered while fiddling with it that the bottle had the ability to block aura and energy leakage.
Simply put, for something that cost five Primogems, even the bottle had special properties.
Although Chen Luo didn't yet know what he could use it for, keeping it certainly wasn't wrong.
"Ahem, thank you for the treatment. But I'm still a bit injured. If possible, could you send me to Windrise?" After standing up, Venti said to Chen Luo.
"Of course." Chen Luo nodded.
After all, having just been caught fainting—despite Chen Luo helping him save face—this was definitely not the time to let people start thinking too deeply. Reflection would only lead to trouble.
"Then I'll also..." Jean stepped forward.
"No need, just Chen Luo and me. I have something to discuss with him." Venti said seriously.
"Is that so? Alright then. By the way, Chen Luo, if you're free later, please come to the Knights of Favonius headquarters. It's time to give you the rewards you deserve—you've contributed greatly to Mondstadt." Jean said.
"No problem. Got it." Chen Luo nodded.
"And Senti, will you stay in Mondstadt for a while, or…?" Chen Luo looked at the Herrscher of Sentience.
"Hmm… Can I sit on the hands of the Statue of The Seven? It looks fun." The Herrscher of Sentience said excitedly, her gaze still fixed on the giant statue.
"... You and Chen Luo really are..." Venti was momentarily speechless.
Truly cut from the same cloth.
No need to phrase it so politely—just go do whatever you want.
"This..." Chen Luo looked toward Acting Grand Master Jean.
"Mondstadt can certainly permit such a small request from the hero who saved it," Jean said. She wasn't that rigid.
"Yay! I'm going to play! Call me if you need anything!" The Herrscher of Sentience cheered and flew straight into the air.
Jean, Lisa, and Eula were all stunned at the sight.
After all, being able to fly was still quite a miracle in Teyvat.
"Eh? Eh? Eh?! Can Fu Hua also fly?" Paimon gasped.
Oh no—there went her unique selling point.
"Alright, you all keep chatting. I need to discuss something with Chen Luo." Venti signaled with his eyes.
Chen Luo understood and summoned the bar, then brought Venti inside.
Although the others were curious, out of respect for Venti—the Anemo Archon—they didn't follow.
"A-A'Luo, my Gnosis, my Gnosis was stolen!" Once inside and with the door closed, Venti looked at Chen Luo tearfully, full of grief and despair.
"Your Gnosis was stolen? H-how could you not even protect a mere Gnosis??" Chen Luo stared at Venti in disbelief.
"And who would even steal that thing? What would they use it for? Playing chess?"
"It was the Fatui. The Fatui's Signora. Each Harbinger has authority granted by the Tsaritsa. Ordinary Vision wielders are no match for them. And my divine power is too thin, so I lost. She took the Gnosis." Venti said, clearly deflated.
"So, do you need me to help you get the Gnosis back?" Chen Luo asked.
"Get it back… that won't be necessary. The Signora is too powerful. A'Luo, you might not be her match. As for the Gnosis… let her have it. What matters is that you don't get hurt." Venti immediately said with concern.
"But I really am very sad right now."
"So…"
"I'd like to have a 10-round set of Anemo Archon Wine and drink myself numb. Is that okay?" Venti looked at Chen Luo hopefully.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
"Sure, of course. My bar is open for business. How could I refuse a customer? And my favorite thing is helping others." Chen Luo raised an eyebrow, then nodded, accepting the commission.
"A'Luo, you're so good to me." Venti looked at him, deeply moved.
It was rare for Chen Luo not to deduct his drinking quota. That alone nearly brought Venti to tears.
And the thought of drinking his fill soon made him giddy with anticipation.
Chen Luo placed ten glasses of the Void Wine in front of him. The spiraling breeze atop each glass made Venti's heart bloom with happiness.
Even without the Gnosis—ten glasses of Anemo Archon Wine meant life wasn't so bad.
"Oh, by the way, Venti, have you thought about getting the Gnosis back?"
"Of course I have, but what else can I do if I can't beat her? Right?" Venti said. Since it was the first glass, he planned to enjoy it slowly, taking only a small sip.
"Oh, really?" Chen Luo drawled.
"Of course it's true. Why would I lie to you?" Venti said casually.
After that, he didn't plan to engage with Chen Luo anymore. With fine wine before him, drinking came first.
"Then look—what's this?" Chen Luo raised something in his hand.
"Hmm?" Venti, about to take a big gulp, glanced over.
"Pfft!" The wine in Venti's mouth sprayed out, nearly hitting Chen Luo—who dodged just in time.
"Cough, cough! G-Gnosis? H-how is it in your hand?" Venti's pointer finger trembled.
"You… you didn't snatch it back from Signora, did you?" His voice shook with horror.
"That's strange. Logically, you should be excited to see this. But I don't see excitement—only sheer shock." Chen Luo held the Gnosis in one hand and stroked his chin with the other, suspicious.
"Gulp..." Venti couldn't say anything.
"But I might've scared you for nothing. This Gnosis is actually simulated with one of my items. I touched your Gnosis earlier, remember? My equipment can perfectly simulate it." As Chen Luo spoke, the Gnosis in his hand suddenly transformed into Void Archives.
"Phew, you scared me to death." Venti exhaled in relief.
Rewarding himself, he drank the rest of the wine to calm his nerves.
"After all… this Gnosis is the real one." A golden hexahedron floated in Chen Luo's right hand, and a beautiful chess piece filled with Anemo energy appeared in his left.
"PFFT!!!" Venti spat another mouthful of wine at Chen Luo.
This time, Chen Luo didn't dodge. Instead, he used Anemo energy to blow the wine straight back into Venti's face.
Then he handed Venti a tissue.
"This… this is fake too, right?" Venti looked at him, nearly in tears.
Is this guy insane?
Am I that fun to mess with? Why keep tormenting me?
"Of course… it's not." Chen Luo tossed the Gnosis back to him.
And the moment Venti felt the unmistakable weight and energy of the real thing, he knew—
This was the actual Gnosis!!!