The afternoon event was the preliminary round of the Mahjong Tournant.
It was by far the most popular competition of the Windblu Festival, with the highest number of participants.
Mainly because Mahjong was easy to learn, and the rules were simple—anyone could pick it up quickly.
Plus, the prize money was generous, so naturally, everyone wanted to try their luck.
Back during the Liyue tournant, Xia Zhi had opted out, wary that his participation might raise public suspicions of favoritism or manipulation.
But here in Mondstadt, he had no such concerns. So, he signed up without hesitation.
Of everyone in their group, only Xia Lin didn't register—she honestly wasn't good at it, and had no real interest in learning either.
The little girl simply followed Xia Zhi around, quietly munching on a small piece of cake while he entered the arena for his match.
In every round, Ganyu was always the first to finish.
Her luck was, as always, absurdly good. She kept drawing incredible hands, crushing her opponents until they began to question their entire existence.
Xia Zhi's luck wasn't far behind, though he kept things a bit more restrained—didn't want to draw too much attention.
That evening, they all went out to dinner together.
Xia Ci ntioned that she'd seen Venti in the sa tavern where she'd played her first-round match.
Apparently, he'd entered the Mahjong competition as well.
Unfortunately, she hadn't been matched against him. Otherwise, it might've sparked a repeat of that unforgettable "double Archon face-off" from the Liyue tournant.
After dinner, they took a walk, then returned to the Favonius Cathedral and entered the Serenitea Pot.
Xia Zhi headed into the massage room, ready to treat the girls.
Mainly the five who'd participated in the gliding competition—ti to help them properly relax and recover.
Cloud Retainer, now lying on one of the small beds, was finally starting to loosen up. She no longer suppressed her voice so deliberately.
After all, there was no point in that kind of self-deception.
"How was the competition this morning?" Xia Zhi asked.
"The atmosphere was pleasant enough. But honestly, the whole process lacked any real challenge."
"With your strength, there aren't many who could be considered worthy opponents. Maybe Mountain Shaper?"
"That old fellow and I have indeed raced in flight speed before."
"And the result?"
"Naturally, I won."
"You're incredible."
"It's all thanks to your tily treatnt, Mr. Xia. Had you delayed even slightly, my broken wing might have healed poorly—losing flexibility."
"Just lending a hand, nothing more."
Once the massage ended, Cloud Retainer felt completely relaxed.
Xia Zhi moved over to a nearby basin, washing the essential oil off his hands with clean water.
Cloud Retainer stepped down from the bed, thanked Xia Zhi, and exited the room.
She went to the bathhouse for a soak first, had a few friendly squabbles with Mada Ping, pretended to be annoyed, then ended her bath early and returned to her treehouse to get dressed.
Afterward, she stepped outside the Serenitea Pot.
At this point, everyone else was still inside soaking or getting massages—she was the only one back at the Favonius Cathedral.
Cloud Retainer steadied her breathing and headed toward Xia Zhi's room.
She opened the door as quietly as possible. Inside, everything was still.
She walked over to his bed and leaned down, carefully searching the covers. Finally, she found a few strands of hair.
So long, so short.
She had no idea which girl had left the long hairs.
But the short ones… those had to be from Mr. Xia.
She pulled out the sachet, tucked the short hairs inside, then slipped out and quietly shut the door behind her, returning to her own room.
Only after sitting down in her chair did she finally exhale.
I probably didn't get caught, right?
I was careful. I didn't leave any traces.
Even if soone found out I went into his room, I can just say I was looking for Mr. Xia and he wasn't there.
Cloud Retainer thought it over and found no issues.
She took out the sachet again, planning to examine it—but suddenly there was a knock at the door.
Her heart, which had just settled, leapt back up again.
"Cloud Retainer Sister! You ho?"
A bright, cheerful voice ca from outside.
It was Klee.
Scared half to death.
Cloud Retainer patted her chest to calm herself, then walked over and opened the door. "Klee."
Klee's eyes sparkled as she held up a long cylindrical object, presenting it like treasure. "Cloud Retainer Sis! I finished building the Gatling gun!"
Cloud Retainer blinked in surprise. "So fast?"
Klee nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh! I stayed inside the whole day, working on it nonstop!"
Cloud Retainer patted her head. "You're amazing, Klee."
Klee bead. "Let's go play with it in the square tonight, okay?"
Cloud Retainer nodded. "Sure. But Yaoyao and Xia Lin are still in the bath, so we'll have to wait a bit…"
Suddenly, Klee's stomach gave a loud grumble.
Cloud Retainer looked down. "Klee, don't tell you didn't eat all day?"
Klee clutched her belly, looking pitiful. "Um… Klee forgot…"
Cloud Retainer sighed, but didn't scold her.
She was the sa way—once caught up in sothing, she'd forget everything else. Not eating or bathing for days was par for the course.
She brought Klee into the room, used a chanism to boil water, and made her a bucket of instant noodles.
The sll was amazing, and Klee ate happily, face full of joy.
While Klee was slurping her noodles, Cloud Retainer picked up the Gatling to inspect it closely.
No issues. The fireworks inside used the formula she'd provided, perfectly safe when launched.
By the ti Klee finished her noodles, feeling full and satisfied, Yaoyao and Xia Lin had also finished bathing. Klee ran over to invite them to join.
Xia Ci happened to be nearby too. After hearing Klee's invitation, she seed intrigued and expressed interest in joining as well.
Klee happily agreed.
So the five of them headed to the cathedral plaza, using a gust of wind to hop onto the outstretched hands of the stone statue of the maiden.
Each girl held a Gatling, firing fireworks into the sky.
This brand-new experience was definitely more exciting than last night's display.
Cloud Retainer looked up at the night sky, feeling her mood lift as the brilliant fireworks exploded above.
Suddenly, she heard Klee talking to Xia Ci beside her.
"Xia Ci Sis, what are you thinking about?"
"I feel like the fireworks are missing sothing."
"Missing what?"
"They're not big enough."
"Klee thinks so too!"
"They don't go high enough either."
"Klee agrees!"
"And the explosions… they don't feel satisfying enough."
"Klee also thinks the explosions aren't exciting enough!"
The little girl listened to Xia Ci like she'd just found her soulmate.
Cloud Retainer quickly coughed to interrupt, reminding them, "Um… according to the formula, this is already the maximum limit…"
Xia Ci waved dismissively. "That just ans your formula isn't good enough."
Klee's eyes sparkled. "Xia Ci Sis, do you have a better formula?"
Xia Ci nodded. "Of course. I've got a super powerful one."
Klee eagerly asked, "What's it like?"
Xia Ci leaned down, smiling mysteriously. "Klee, have you heard of 'Burgeon'?"
Klee tilted her head, confused. "'Burgeon'? What's that?"
But Cloud Retainer was already coughing again. "Wait a minute… Xia Ci… 'Burgeon' doesn't count as fireworks, does it?"
Xia Ci argued, "It's still a burst of fla in the sky—why wouldn't it count as fireworks?"
Cloud Retainer tried to reason, "But fireworks are supposed to be…"
Xia Ci cut her off, "Co on, it's the modern era—who plays with traditional fireworks anymore? This is way more fun."
Cloud Retainer was speechless. "…"
Klee whispered, "So, Xia Ci Sis… what exactly is Burgeon?"
"In simple terms, it's an Elental Reaction."
Xia Ci took out a bottle and poured a little water into the air, letting it float.
"Water."
She extended her hand, summoning so Dendro elental power and letting it interact with the water.
"Add Dendro."
A green elental orb ford in midair.
"This becos a Dendro Core. And if you add just a little bit of Pyro…"
Klee stared at the floating orb, curious. "What happens?"
Xia Ci smiled. "You've got a Pyro Vision, don't you, Klee? If you're curious, just add a little Pyro and see for yourself."
Klee blinked, then raised her hand, summoning a flicker of red elental power and tossing it at the Dendro Core.
Cloud Retainer panicked, imdiately summoning a gust of Anemo energy to blow both the core and the Pyro elent high into the sky.
Monts later, a massive explosion blood above, like a radiant, dazzling flower.
Klee gazed up, eyes filled with the light of the blast.
It felt like a whole new world had just opened before her.
This… this was the kind of explosion she wanted!
Xia Ci clapped her hands. "So, Klee, how's Sis's fireworks formula?"
Klee cheered, "Amazing! I love it! …But it seems really hard to make…"
Xia Ci smiled. "Don't worry, your sisters will help you. Right, Cloud Retainer?"
Cloud Retainer, resigned, nodded. "...Yes."
Klee bead. "Thank you, Xia Ci Sis! Thank you, Cloud Retainer Sis!"
Xia Ci picked up the used-up Gatling gun and said, "I still think it's more fun in Gatling form, but the material probably needs to be improved."
Cloud Retainer shook her head. "It's not about materials that can withstand the power of Burgeon. The key is controlling the reaction sequence: first form the Dendro Core, launch it, then apply Pyro to trigger Burgeon."
Xia Ci grinned. "Didn't you already make that Elent Reaction Box? It could handle seven reactions precisely—just three should be child's play for you."
Cloud Retainer was quiet for a mont, then replied, "It's not hard…"
"How long will it take to make?"
"If we're just making the container, an hour is enough. But sourcing the materials to generate the elents—that's the tricky part."
"So the gun's easy, the bullets are hard?"
"Yeah."
"No worries, leave the bullet part to . You just build the gun."
"Okay."
After finishing their fireworks session, they hopped down from the statue—just in ti to "coincidentally" run into Kaeya making his rounds.
Like the night before, he took Klee ho along the way.
Cloud Retainer returned to her room and started building a new Gatling shell.
An hour later, a sturdier, larger chanical container was complete.
It had no actual bullets in the magazine section, nor did it need any. Just three slots, each designed to hold materials that could generate a specific elent.
Cloud Retainer examined her work and found it satisfactory.
She took a sip of water and noticed a new ssage on her phone.
Mada Ping, that gaming addict of an old woman, was nagging her to go play at the internet café again.
Always with the gas…
Cloud Retainer turned off the lights and got into bed.
She took out the sachet, tied it around her neck, and finally closed her eyes to sleep.
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