Chapter 110

"Customer, your juice is ready."

Zhu Zi carefully placed two glasses of juice from her tray onto the table.

"That will be 200 Mora."

Yelan nodded and took out her wallet to pay.

After Zhu Zi left, she lifted one glass and slowly admired it before her eyes.

The shop's specialty drink was indeed as beautiful as her informants had reported.

Yelan tilted her head back and took a sip.

This taste...

Yelan put down the glass and looked at the rainbow juice with a strange expression.

She didn't like sweet foods.

Not that she hated them, but rather remained wary of them.

When the body tastes sweetness, it easily experiences pleasure and satisfaction.

Yelan believed such intense satisfaction could weaken one's willpower and lower their guard. Just a few times could lead to addiction.

People who regularly consumed sweets might unknowingly become dull. Such consequences could be fatal for someone like her who constantly walked the edge of danger.

Because of her dislike for sweets, Yelan rarely drank juice or other sweet beverages, preferring tea spiced with dried Jueyun chilis instead.

But this rainbow juice was different. Its taste was contradictory - seemingly without any sweetness, yet somehow extremely sweet. Beyond that, it gave her an indescribable satisfaction far beyond ordinary desserts.

It tasted too good.

This wasn't something she should be drinking.

Yelan pondered for a moment before picking up the second glass and taking another small sip.

The taste was completely different from the first glass.

But equally delicious.

Indeed, just as the intelligence had reported.

Yelan looked up at Xia Zhi making juice behind the counter.

Unlike when she had observed him from afar on the street at noon, she could now see more details up close.

The first thing Yelan noticed was Xia Zhi's fair, slender fingers holding the glass.

Such beautiful, delicate hands must rarely do heavy labor, and their owner must have lived in a safe environment since childhood to show no calluses or scars.

'This doesn't look like someone who grew up in the mountains.'

'His fingers are nimble, movements smooth, suggesting specialized training, perhaps related to the massages mentioned in the reports.'

Yelan's gaze shifted slightly to the silver ring on Xia Zhi's finger.

Simple in style, appearing ordinary, seemingly just an inexpensive memento.

Yelan suspected this was just a facade. She gently touched the dark jade bracelet on her right wrist, noticing it still emitted a faint blue glow.

This jade bracelet, named "Yuqi Wanlan," was her family heirloom containing ancestral arts that could transmit simple messages, though it required a pair to function.

Yelan had lost one bracelet during a special operation. To prevent the remaining "Yuqi Wanlan" from becoming mere decoration, she studied family texts and inscribed new arts into it, allowing it to detect nearby magical fluctuations.

Currently, the "Yuqi Wanlan" was signaling toward the counter.

'Carries mysterious items, suspected to be the ring, abilities unknown.'

Yelan discreetly raised her gaze to examine Xia Zhi's face.

Though partially hidden by black glasses, he still appeared quite young.

'Matches the reported age of 22, but uncertain if this is his true appearance.'

'Since entering, he hasn't looked in my direction once - his eyes seem genuinely blind.'

'His walking steps are steady, and at Wanmin Restaurant, his chopsticks accurately picked up food. Suspect he has ability to sense objects in close range.'

'Gentle demeanor, no detectable elemental power, likely neither a Vision nor Delusion holder.'

Yelan withdrew her gaze and turned, meeting Ganyu's watchful eyes.

Yelan smiled slightly, nodding to Ganyu: "Ah, Miss Ganyu is here too."

Ganyu nodded back: "Yes, what brings Miss Yelan here?"

Yelan lifted a glass, stating matter-of-factly: "Naturally, I'm here for the rainbow juice. I've heard so much about it, I grew curious."

Ganyu gave Yelan a deep look: "I hope that's all. Mr. Xia is my friend."

Yelan smiled: "I know. I'm just here to see for myself."

Then she lowered her head and continued drinking her juice.

Though it was "poisonous" to her tastes, she'd already ordered it - waste not.

Just two glasses wouldn't get her addicted, as long as she didn't return to this shop.

Yelan quietly finished both glasses and left.

Ganyu watched her decisive departure, frowning slightly.

She pondered Yelan's words.

Using "I know" rather than "I knew" implied Yelan had already investigated her stay at the shop last night.

And "just here to see for myself" - was she here to see the rainbow juice, or Mr. Xia?

Ganyu sighed softly, deciding to visit Tianquan Ningguang at Yuehai Pavilion later to give her a heads-up, preventing Mr. Xia from being targeted by officials due to his unclear background.

Behind the counter, Xia Zhi kept his head down, making juice while "watching" Yelan's graceful figure disappear in his god's-eye view, lost in thought.

The two glasses of juice "feeding" had increased Yelan's silver progress bar to [2%], still far from complete.

But it was just a silver chest.

He now earned plenty of points daily, accumulating about 100 points every three days - equivalent to choosing a silver item, so he wasn't desperate for this silver chest.

Like Baizhu from Bubu Pharmacy and Xingqiu from the Feiyun Commerce Guild, he could leave it be and slowly progress naturally.

She knew Ganyu, so there would be future opportunities to meet.

What concerned Xia Zhi more was something else.

While Yelan carefully observed him, he also used his god's-eye view to examine her more closely.

Despite her well-concealing clothes, he noticed many bruises and wounds on her body.

The injuries looked fresh, some still bleeding - likely received in the past few days.

For a Vision holder to sustain such injuries in well-policed Liyue Harbor?

This alluring woman with an excellent figure seemed to be involved in unknown activities...

She was indeed a woman with a story.

--

Bubu Pharmacy, backyard.

Qiqi sat under a large tree, hugging her knees, quietly watching two finches in the treetop.

A long, thin white snake slithered before her, raising its head to speak: "Qiqi."

Qiqi lowered her head to look at the snake: "Changsheng..."

"My, how rare - you remember my name today."

"Mm..."

"You seem to have a strange fragrance about you lately. Where did you pick that up?"

"Fragrance?"

"Faint, but pleasant."

"The incense?"

"Incense?"

"Yes, I eat incense at night."

"Eat incense... Didn't you use to avoid incense? Why suddenly eat it?"

"Not ordinary incense. Someone gave it to me. It's delicious."

"Someone gave it?"

"If Changsheng likes it, I'll share half."

Qiqi took out a somewhat worn but clean small pouch from her clothes, opened it, and carefully removed a beautiful piece of incense.

Looking at it, a faint reluctance crossed her face, but she gently broke it in half and offered one piece to the white snake.

Changsheng's round pupils hesitated briefly before accepting the gift, gently wrapping it with their tail.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Qiqi carefully packed the remaining incense into her small pouch, returned it to her clothes, and resumed quietly watching the finches.

Changsheng observed Qiqi - though her expression and words remained as sparse as ever, they sensed she had changed significantly.

She seemed... more like a normal person now.

---

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