Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 128 The Moonlit Journey (3)

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they started chatting. When Yanxiao brought out the last dish, golden shrimp balls, Xiangling finally had a chance to have a conversation with Yanxiao, a chef.

During this time, Xiangling also learned that Yanxiao was participating in the cooking competition. Xiangling was naturally happy to challenge a chef as skilled as Yanxiao. Yanxiao, having also heard of Xiangling's reputation, was equally eager to face the genius young chef.

For a moment, the two found themselves appreciating each other, and after exchanging harsh words, they laughed and went back to work.

Just as everyone was marveling at the spectacular culinary showdown they were about to witness, Xiangling discovered that Guoba had somehow already devoured all the golden shrimp balls.

Keqing immediately looked sad, because these golden shrimp balls were her favorite food. Now that Guoba had eaten them all by himself, it would be impossible for her not to be sad.

Xiangling also taught Guoba a lesson, but fortunately Keqing was magnanimous and didn't blame Guoba for it. To make up for it, Xiangling also made a promise with Keqing that she would definitely cook Keqing's favorite food next time.

Paimon was a little confused as to why he didn't make another plate of golden shrimp balls for Keqing, but instead made her the dish she wanted to eat the most next time.

Xiangling's response was: "Paymon's likes and desires are different. Moreover, in my opinion, making a plate of golden shrimp balls for Keqing now would have a different purpose and bring a different feeling, and would lack some of the original sense of surprise."

"So that's it."

Ke Qing glanced at the time and suggested, "It's getting late. Since we haven't gained anything, let's head back soon. Immortal Chi Yuan, what are your plans?"

"Just call me Fu Hua. I don't have anything to do for the time being, so I can go back to Liyue Harbor with you. I didn't get to explore much last time, so going back with you will give me a chance to properly explore Liyue a thousand years in the future."

"That would be best. After three thousand years of development, even you would be amazed by the changes in Liyue. I didn't get to explore it thoroughly last time, but this time I'm sure I won't disappoint you."

Keqing knew why Fu Hua left Liyue last time, but she didn't expect that Kiana would know the Red Lotus Immortal, and that they seemed to have a good relationship.

At the same time, Kiana is shrouded in mystery. Considering that she first appeared in Mondstadt, let's assume she's a Mondstadt native. Since the Crimson Phoenix knows Mondstadt people, perhaps she came to Mondstadt after leaving Liyue. Let's have Ningguang try to investigate Mondstadt's history later.

After everyone returned to Liyue Harbor, Keqing immediately went to Jade Peak and met Granny Ping, whom Xiangling and the others had mentioned.

"Hehe, judging from your dejected looks, you haven't found the answer you're looking for, right?"

The speaker was a kind-looking old woman, whom Xiangling referred to as Granny Ping. She had appeared before Keqing and the others as a hermit during the crisis with the Demon God Oser, and afterwards, she acted as a mediator to prevent the other hermits from continuing to hold the Liyue Septim accountable.

"Yes, but some valuable intelligence has already been obtained. 'Dividing one into many and distributing it to thousands of households to help them start a fire'—I can feel his affection for humanity from this; he is a god who is close to the people."

"Haha, that's for sure. After all, he couldn't stand seeing you humans go hungry. He brought cooking to every household, allowing everyone to have hot meals."

"According to Grandma, before that, there was a celestial being who taught people how to make fire and cook?"

"That's natural, but that old friend only knew how to make some simple noodles. When it came to meat, he would just cook it and add some seasonings. But what kind of seasonings could there be back then? Naturally, the Kitchen God couldn't stand it and stepped in to teach people how to cook rice properly."

Grandma Ping's words made Fu Hua, who was standing to the side, lean back slightly, since the old friend she was referring to was Fu Hua.

Fu Hua admitted that she wasn't really good at cooking, since back in Shenzhou she mainly relied on Cang Xuan and Dan Zhu for food, clothing, and shelter. Although she had learned to cook from them for a while, she later lived in remote mountains like Taixu Mountain, where there were few good sources of ingredients and no good methods for preserving them.

So they could only pickle some spring greens and eat them with steamed buns to get by. The days when Cangxuan Zhishu was around were better, since Cangxuan Zhishu would buy a lot of food to satisfy their cravings when they went down the mountain, and would also bring back some easy-to-preserve ingredients so that they wouldn't have to eat only steamed buns and spring greens for a while.

But after the Book of Cangxuan was forced to shut down and fall into a deep sleep due to exhaustion, she lost interest in cooking and spent her days eating Chunbulao and steamed buns. This continued until she adopted Lin Chaoyu.

“Ah Ping, you know I’m not very good at cooking. Rather than teaching them how to eat well, I’d rather teach them how to eat their fill first.”

Fu Hua spoke up, and upon hearing her words, Granny Ping's eyes widened as she looked at Fu Hua. Then, she smiled sincerely, for she knew that the Fu Hua they knew had returned!

"It's you! You're back? It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

"So, the person who first taught the people of Liyue to eat their fill was the Red Lotus Hermit?"

“Miss Keqing, I think I told you to just call me Fu Hua. I am no longer the Chiyuan Immortal. And Ping, what's wrong with you? You look so different from how I remember you…”

"Hahaha! After all, we're going to live in Liyue Harbor. If we don't change into an old woman's appearance after a while, people will become suspicious. Here's what we'll do: Miss Keqing, go over to the statue. After looking at the statue, you'll naturally have an epiphany."

After saying that, Granny Ping pulled Fu Hua and Cang Xuanzhi to reminisce about the past. Although Ke Qing did not know what Granny Ping meant, she still did as she was told.

Upon arriving at the place where the hearth god statue was kept, Keqing fell into deep thought as she looked at the seemingly unchanged statue. Finally, it was the sharp-eyed Paimon who noticed the difference.

"Look, aren't there some cracks on that statue?"

After Paimon's reminder, everyone realized the difference in the statue. Just then, Granny Ping appeared before them with Fu Hua. She looked at the statue of the Kitchen God and slowly explained why she had brought them here.

"Just as you said before, the Kitchen God is a people-friendly god. As long as someone resonates with him, he will respond to that person, and even his statue is the same. After these two days of baptism, his statue has fully felt the atmosphere of life in Liyue Harbor. Those cracks are evidence of this. I believe that his statue will soon reappear in the world in its true form."

"So, even if we do nothing, we'll eventually find out what the Kitchen God really looks like?"

“Paimon, that’s not right. While the everyday life these past two days is important, the most important thing is Keqing’s thirst for the truth. The Kitchen God only appears when people need and are most satisfied. At this rate, perhaps the truth will come to light after the cooking competition ends.”

After saying this, Grandma Ping left, but after Grandma Ping's reminder, everyone was no longer in such a hurry to find the truth.

Rather than searching for the truth, Keqing recalled a dish she had once eaten. It was a dish she had shared with her grandfather, and although she had long forgotten the exact taste, the warmth it evoked remained in her heart. Now, thinking about it made her crave it, so after telling Xiangling about it, she went home to look for a recipe, hoping that Xiangling could make it for her someday.

Xiangling happily agreed when she heard that there was a new dish to cook, and it was even an ancient dish. Thus, today's investigation officially ended, and everyone returned to their original plans.

Mei and Ayaka Kamisato continued shopping with Kiana, while Fu Hua took the Book of Azure Profound to meet Zhong Li now. After all, she was now an employee of the Hall of Rebirth, and having not returned to work for so many days, she feared she might lose her job if she didn't go back soon.

As for Xiangling and Kong, they returned to Wanmintang. After today's outing and investigation, Xiangling had many new ideas. She couldn't wait to start creating new dishes after entertaining the guests at Wanmintang.

This time, Xiangling's new dishes were quite normal, receiving unanimous praise after being tasted by Kong and her father, Master Mao, not to mention Paimon. Paimon ate all the new dishes on the table, leaving the plates so clean they didn't need washing.

And so time came to the semi-finals of the cooking competition. During this time, Kiana explained Fu Hua to Mei, and Ayato Kamisato, having finally finished his meeting with Ningguang, had time to relax with Ayato Kamisato.

The winners of the semi-finals were Xiangling and Yanxiao without any suspense. After the winners were decided, the host, Yanfei, came out to announce some exciting news.

"Ladies and gentlemen, to celebrate the re-establishment of friendly diplomatic relations between Liyue and Inazuma, the Inazuma diplomatic mission has proposed to Ningguang, the organizer of the competition, that they also send a representative to participate in the finals of this competition."

Upon hearing this, the audience began to murmur amongst themselves. Some speculated about the contestant's identity, while others felt it was unfair. Only Zhong Li, sitting on the judges' panel, felt a sense of unease. Subsequently, Yan Fei revealed the true identity of the contestant and the rules for the final round.

"I know some of you might have objections, and Lady Ningguang anticipated this as well. Therefore, she specifically modified the rules for the final round of this competition, adopting a tournament format. Inazuma will represent our two winners, Ms. Xiangling and Mr. Yanxiao, in a challenge. The competition will be conducted in pairs, with teams from each country competing against each other. And our Ms. Xiangling and Mr. Yanxiao will be facing opponents who are…"

Yan Fei's deliberate prolongation of the announcement undoubtedly whetted the appetite of the audience. At this moment, Zhong Li's unease reached its peak. He tried to remain calm and picked up the tea beside him to drink. The next moment, he completely lost his composure.

"Next, please welcome the delegation from Inazuma, the Inazuma administrator and the eternal executor—General Raiden! And the eldest daughter of the Kamisato family, one of the three great families of Inazuma, the beautiful Princess Kamisato Ayaka!"

After Yanfei finished her introduction, Mei and Ayaka Kamisato appeared. This time, Mei was wearing the same outfit worn by Raiden General. Originally, this outfit was intended for Mei to wear during the diplomatic talks, but due to various reasons, she didn't wear it to the talks herself. Instead, she's now wearing it to participate in the cooking competition.

Zhongli looked at Mei on the stage, his heart dead. He was now wondering how many of the other judges, besides himself, would survive to the finals.

Unfortunately, it's too late to stop it now that the die is cast, and besides, given Zhongli's public status, he has no right to stop it.

So he could only look at the somewhat reserved Mei with a resentful gaze. Mei felt Zhongli's gaze, glanced at the handsome man first, and then tilted her head in confusion.

Realizing they were still in a public place, Zhongli could only pretend nothing was wrong and continue drinking his tea. However, Ningguang, who was standing to the side, had been watching all of this. Long ago, when the Emperor appeared to her in a dream and told her that everything before was his plan to fake his death and return power to humanity, she had already begun to suspect Zhongli's identity.

After all, Zhongli is a remarkable person who looks very young but has a knowledge base far exceeding that of ordinary people. No matter how long ago the Liyue traditions were, or even traditions that have long since disappeared, Mr. Zhongli can explain them in great detail, and can even tell you about the origins of the traditions.

As for when she truly began to investigate Zhongli's identity, it was after he came into contact with Wanyan from Yinyuan Hall, when Zhongli was discussing the legend of the Emperor with someone at the Pearl Pavilion.

Among their discussions was the whereabouts of the world's first Mora. It was around that time that Wanyan came into contact with Zhongli and invited him to help uncover the truth about the Salt Demon God Heulia.

Ningguang was not clear about the specific process, only that Wanyan left Yinyuan Hall in a state of collapse after that, but after that, the rumors that were originally circulating in Yinyuan Hall about Heulia and the old man Emperor not being very good stopped.

Afterwards, Ningguang also sent people to that legendary ruin, where a broken sword and a salt statue with a fearful and panicked expression were preserved deep inside.

After Ningguang sorted things out and questioned Ganyu, she learned the truth about what had happened.

It turns out that the Salt Demon God Heuria was a weak deity. During the Demon War, she believed that as long as she chose to give up before the battle began, the war would never affect her or her people.

Unfortunately, her constant concessions caused her territory to shrink until only ruins remained. During this time, her people believed that this goddess was too gentle and would only be cruelly killed by other demons in this cruel world, so they chose to grant her liberation.

However, the energy released after a demon god's death was far too immense for humans, even for the Salt Demon God, who was a weak deity. At the moment of the Salt Demon God's death, an energy burst forth, salting all living things in the vicinity. The survivors began their exile and eventually received the protection of the Emperor.

Later, fearing that the Salt Demon would seek revenge after its death, the people broke the sword that had killed the Salt Demon and risked returning to the ruins to enshrine it there.

The Silver Plains Hall, responsible for the salt industry among the Seven Stars and Eight Gates, is descended from the followers of the Salt Demon God. However, this truth was too shocking for them, and Ningguang decided to keep it a secret after much deliberation. But perhaps Wanyan was so devastated by learning the truth that she chose to leave the Silver Plains Hall.

Realizing this, Ningguang began to pay real attention to Zhongli. This arrangement was actually somewhat of a test; unexpectedly, the general was interested in the competition, so Ningguang readily agreed.

She hadn't yet figured out how to face the situation if Zhongli was indeed the Emperor in disguise. However, since the Emperor didn't want his identity exposed, as his subjects, they should respect his wishes.

But now that the die is cast, she can only hope that her speculation was wrong.