Chapter 227

Hu Tao called out angrily.

"You dare to report me and still show up here?"

She immediately rushed forward, bypassing Zhongli, and confronted Takumi. Taking out her polearm, she aimed to knock him on the head.

"Good guy! You bastard, how dare you report my team? Today, I'm going to smack you with my polearm!"

Hearing Hu Tao's words, Takumi rolled his eyes and casually slapped her weapon away.

"Go, go, go. You know the law yet still break it. Of course, I reported you. Your team dared to speed while transporting a coffin. Were you in a hurry to reincarnate someone?"

Hu Tao snorted coldly.

"Obviously! Rushing straight to reincarnation!"

"Damn you, Takumi. Because of you, this Hall Master had to pay a hefty fine."

Saying this, Hu Tao put away her polearm but still looked like she wanted to hit Takumi.

Zhongli flew over at this moment, looking at Takumi and Shenhe with a flash of surprise in his eyes.

"Why are you here?"

Zhongli hadn't expected Takumi to be here.

"We went to Qingce Village to take care of some things," Takumi explained. "Then we visited Cloud Retainer's cave dwelling with Shenhe. Now we were just on our way back and happened to pass by. But you all seem to be having a lot of fun here."

He sighed, feeling a bit speechless. 

The old man really knew how to enjoy himself.

Hearing Takumi's words, Zhongli coughed awkwardly. He didn't want to answer. It was Hu Tao who had dragged him here, and recently, he had become fond of the thrill of high-speed riding—a sensation he had never experienced while flying.

At this moment, Childe also stepped forward with a smile.

"Mr. Takumi, we meet again."

Takumi simply nodded and said nothing.

Looking at the group, he decided not to stay any longer.

"Forget it, I won't bother you anymore. We'll be on our way—we still have things to do."

After saying that, he was about to leave with Shenhe. However, Hu Tao quickly hopped onto her bike and chased after them.

"Wait for me! I'm coming with you."

Without hesitation, she abandoned Zhongli and Childe and left with Takumi.

Seeing this, Zhongli shook his head and turned to Childe.

"So, how many more laps shall we go?"

Childe grinned. "Let's go, then. Mr. Zhongli, please open a shield for us."

Meanwhile, Takumi looked at Hu Tao in confusion.

"Aren't you going to keep playing? Why are you following us?"

Hu Tao snorted. 

"It got boring playing with those two. I plan to go to Guili Plains with you—I want to find Qiqi!"

She hadn't gone home in a while, and now that she had met Takumi, she figured she might as well tag along and see Qiqi.

Hearing her words, Takumi sighed.

"Qiqi doesn't want to play with you."

Even though Hu Tao no longer tried to bury Qiqi, the little zombie still wanted nothing to do with her.

"Of course not!" Hu Tao protested. "Qiqi is just shy. I can definitely become friends with her."

She huffed in determination, convinced that Qiqi secretly liked her.

Takumi could only sigh. 

"You're really pushing it. Do you even realize that Qiqi avoids you every time?"

He didn't bother arguing any further. The three of them continued their journey.

Upon arriving at Liyue, Hu Tao immediately activated her "Qiqi Radar." Without needing Takumi's directions, she dashed straight into the tavern.

Takumi shook his head and let her go. Instead, he returned to the General Affairs Department to catch up on what had happened recently in Liyue Harbor.

Back at his office, a stack of documents awaited him on his desk. Without delay, he picked them up and started reviewing them.

There was a lot for him to handle. A new warship had been completed at the shipyard, and Takumi needed to oversee the installation of critical components. Meanwhile, the shopping mall was nearly ready to open, with only the final stock arrangements left to be completed.

Additionally, there were various documents requiring his signature.

Checking the time, he saw that there was still some daylight left. He quickly got to work, planning to visit the shipyard the next day.

After signing the necessary papers, he handed them off to the appropriate personnel for distribution. By the time he finished, night had fallen.

With work done, Takumi left the office and went to Xiangling's restaurant with Shenhe.

"Huh? Takumi, you're back!" Xiangling greeted him. "By the way, did you check out the thing I gave you earlier? How's it going?"

Little Paimon's eyes lit up when she saw Takumi.

She immediately rushed forward. "Hey! I've been waiting forever. Did you look at it yet?"

Takumi froze for a moment before realizing what she was talking about.

"Oh… I completely forgot about that. I'll check it tonight."

Paimon pouted. "What?! You forgot? I waited so long!"

Disappointed, she turned her back on Takumi and refused to talk to him.

Seeing this, Takumi could only laugh helplessly. He had indeed forgotten.

After greeting Lumine, he and Shenhe headed upstairs for dinner.

After their meal, they left the restaurant and went to Diona's tavern.

The little girls like Klee had their dinner there, so there was no need to take them to Xiangling's place. Noelle was there to look after them.

When they arrived, the tavern was bustling with customers. Some people were having dinner, while others were enjoying their drinks.

Takumi also noticed that Angel's Share had opened. However, he saw no sign of Diluc's vehicle, meaning he wasn't present. With that in mind, Takumi had no intention of going there.

Inside the tavern, he saw Hu Tao chatting enthusiastically in front of Qiqi. However, Qiqi was staring at Hu Tao with an expressionless face, as if she were looking at a foreign creature.

It seemed that if Hu Tao continued, Qiqi might just pull out a weapon and unleash a set of Gu Hua sword techniques on her.

After all, Qiqi wasn't someone to be bullied so easily!