"Thank you, please hang the lanterns here as well."
The young woman with light-violet hair tied into twin tails resembling cat ears spoke to several Millelith soldiers in armor.
"Yes, Lady Yuheng."
The Millelith carried red lanterns and began setting them up.
Once they left, Keqing was about to check if any spots had been overlooked when she suddenly noticed a familiar figure walking toward her.
"Keqing, still working so late?"
Nolan asked curiously.
Seeing the young adventurer before her, a trace of joy flickered across Keqing's fair face, but she quickly restrained it, lifting her chin slightly in dissatisfaction.
"Hmph, of course you wouldn't know! You're always busy hanging around with other girls, while I'm running myself ragged—both overseeing construction and preparing for the Lantern Rite!"
"Haha, sorry, sorry. Let help you then—this way you can finish sooner." Nolan laughed awkwardly.
With that, he lifted all the remaining lanterns—except the ones already taken by the Millelith—and hung them neatly onto the waiting hooks using his spiritual power.
They drifted without wind, streaking across the air like red phantoms, leaving behind a dazzling crimson trail.
"How about that? I didn't make a mistake, right?"
Nolan looked at Keqing as he spoke.
Keqing carefully inspected the placent. The lanterns all hung properly, none out of place.
Crossing her arms, she gave a light nod.
"No problems. Thank you."
"Anywhere else that still needs lanterns? If so, I'll help finish those too." Nolan asked.
"This was the last spot. That's why I asked everyone to work overti a bit longer." Keqing shook her head lightly, then told the returning Millelith soldiers that the work was done.
Relief instantly spread across their faces.
After all, they had been busy since morning and hadn't even had dinner yet.
"Good work, you may head back first," Keqing said to them.
"Not hard at all, Lady Yuheng. Then we'll take our leave."
The Millelith hurriedly waved their hands, but before leaving they cast grateful glances toward Nolan. They had seen him finish the remaining lanterns in one sweep.
Without his help, completing the task would have taken them at least another hour.
Nolan only smiled, signaling it was nothing.
After the Millelith left, Nolan gently took Keqing's soft hand, sending a flow of harmonizing energy into her as he said:
"You've worked hard too. Let help you relax a little."
Bathed in the soothing energy, Keqing felt her whole body unwind. Parting her soft lips, she spoke:
"Hmph, co with . Let's stroll through the night market—and I'll treat you to sothing to eat."
Hearing this, Nolan hesitated for a mont. Just earlier, Ganyu and Shenhe had said they'd accompany their master to the night market.
If they happened to bump into each other, and Cloud Retainer saw him standing so intimately with Keqing… what if she got upset and tried to stand up for Shenhe?
With his understanding of Cloud Retainer, it really wasn't impossible that she would act that way.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Nolan decided it was best not to go to the night market. After thinking for a mont, he said:
"The night market is crowded, too many eyes around. If soone were to see the great Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing standing together with a certain legendary adventurer, it wouldn't even take until tomorrow—it'd instantly beco the hottest headline on the Akasha Forum.
"So let's skip it for now. I'll take you to my place to eat instead."
He opened a rift in space and gestured for her to enter.
Keqing was, of course, familiar with the Akasha Forum on the Akasha Terminal. Anyone could post there, and she herself occasionally browsed through it.
While the Akasha Forum allowed real-ti discussion, it was still separated from reality by an unseen network. People didn't have to worry about offending anyone face to face, so they tended to express their opinions quite boldly.
This made it easy for Keqing to understand the public's needs—where the Qixing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, or other branches of governance might be lacking—and she could address problems in ti.
She was quite fond of the Akasha Terminal, and she also knew well: if anything happened, the news would spread in no ti.
So Keqing dropped the idea of strolling through the night market with Nolan.
"Fine then, let's go have a look at your ho."
With that, she tugged him along and stepped into the space rift as casually as walking through a doorway.
---
Wonderland Space
It was around seven in the evening now, and the girls naturally welcod Keqing's arrival.
Just in ti for dinner, they pulled her over to sit and eat with them.
Since Nolan had already eaten with Cloud Retainer earlier at the Xinyue Kiosk, he didn't need another al. With free ti on his hands, he teleported into the stomach of the cosmic behemoth.
There, he planned to practice so of the newly-acquired sword techniques.
But before training swordsmanship or grinding Adventure EXP, he intended to use the affection skill that Yelan had given him.
Otherwise, if the day ended, the usage count would reset, wasting today's opportunity.
With that thought, Nolan activated Yelan's affection skill—Exquisite Dice of Fate!
A large azure die glowing with a faint light was summoned, floating in mid-air. Nolan caught it and tossed it down onto the ground.
It rolled across the floor just like any ordinary die.
Nolan was hoping for the buff effect of "Enhanced Ability." With that, his rate of farming Adventure EXP would definitely improve.
Soon, the die began to slow, and when it finally stopped—the face showed a six!
The effect for rolling a six—Blessed by Fortune!
"Oh?" Nolan thought this wasn't bad either.
Though it didn't boost his attack power, against the sub-parasites and true parasites inside the cosmic behemoth's stomach, his own strength was already more than enough. With Blessed by Fortune, perhaps he'd encounter more high-level true parasites that he could still easily defeat.
After randomly gaining Blessed by Fortune, he still had to roll once more—to determine the multiplier on the skill's effect!
Picking up the large die from the ground, Nolan gave it another casual toss. It rolled a few tis and ca to a stop.
He quickly looked at the result. Not bad—he had rolled a five, just one short of the maximum six.
That completed the whole process.
For the next 180 minutes, he would enjoy fivefold Blessed by Fortune!
With the clock ticking, Nolan didn't want to waste any ti. He swiftly activated Yoimiya's affection skill, using gravitational force to hurl teors and rupture the behemoth's stomach wall.
Then he drew his longsword and unleashed a technique called "Bloodletting."
This art was fad for its speed—strike, and blood would imdiately be drawn.
(End of Chapter)
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