Chapter 550

On Takumi's side, they had all finished paying their respects at this time.

After worshiping at the Emperor's tomb, Takumi looked around.

He noticed the surroundings were quite bare.

After thinking for a moment, he said to Ningguang:

"Why not build a temple here for the Emperor?"

"In the future, during festivals and special occasions, people could come to pay their respects properly."

Hearing his suggestion, Ningguang glanced around and quickly made a decision.

"I'll arrange for it to be built soon."

It wasn't a bad idea.

The current state of the place was too plain and unadorned.

By building a temple, people from Qingce Village could visit and offer their respects.

It would be better than worshiping at a grave all the time.

Ningguang thought it was a great idea.

With just a few words, Takumi and Ningguang settled on the plan.

After finishing this visit, Takumi opened the space portal again and brought everyone back to the garden in the village.

At this moment, Xiangling had already arrived and was busy preparing lunch.

"You're back."

Seeing Takumi and the others return, Xiangling immediately greeted them.

She had heard about them going out to pay respects to the Emperor.

Xiangling felt a bit of regret.

If only she had arrived earlier, she could have joined them.

Thinking of this, Xiangling felt a little disappointed.

"Xiangling, thank you for your help again."

Takumi expressed his gratitude.

Recently, both lunch and dinner had been prepared by Xiangling.

There were too many people staying at the garden.

When everyone sat down to eat, they needed two full tables.

The guests from Inazuma and Ningguang's group filled the place.

Xiangling waved her hand dismissively.

"No problem!"

She didn't mind helping at all.

After chatting for a bit, she continued cooking.

Guoba, meanwhile, stayed in the living room, watching TV.

Interestingly, Guoba really enjoyed watching television.

Especially the anime from Inazuma.

Takumi had noticed this before.

Every day, Guoba would skillfully grab the remote, switch to the Inazuma channel, and settle on the sofa.

Guoba watched the shows with great focus, sometimes even cheering happily.

Seeing this, Ningguang finally understood what Takumi meant.

Guoba was genuinely enjoying life.

There was no need to restore his memories of being the Kitchen God.

Ningguang sat on the sofa, looking at Guoba with a thoughtful expression.

Should she add incense sticks for him too?

Sensing her gaze, Guoba looked back at her with a puzzled expression.

"Lulu?"

It seemed as if Guoba could tell Ningguang was thinking something mischievous.

Her laughter slipped out quietly.

The reaction was simply too cute.

Everyone else also settled down after returning.

They began chatting and relaxing.

There wasn't much else to do.

The streets were quiet, with most shops closed.

Even the malls had been given three days off, thanks to Keqing's arrangement.

This meant they wouldn't open until at least the day after tomorrow.

With limited places to go, the only options were to stay home, drink tea, and enjoy time with family.

In the days that followed, the streets gradually became lively again.

People began visiting relatives.

Some shops reopened, attracting eager customers.

As soon as the doors opened, businesses boomed.

People had money to spend and were more than willing to shop.

This was especially true in the malls, which quickly filled with visitors.

Many enjoyed strolling through the stores, buying a few things along the way.

The festival atmosphere had left everyone quite content.

The break had been very enjoyable.

Some people even had a half-month vacation, lasting until the end of the Lantern Rite.

It was a rare opportunity to truly relax.

However, when the Sea Lantern Festival arrived, it wasn't as lively as in previous years.

The New Year celebrations had been so extravagant that the festival felt quieter by comparison.

Still, it was a good balance.

Overall, everyone remained in high spirits.

With the Sea Lantern Festival over, schools reopened, and many returned to work.

At the same time, Chiyo, Huzhai Palace, and their companions had stayed long enough.

They were ready to leave.

Today was their departure day.

Takumi escorted them to the teleportation waypoint.

Raiden Shogun, Huzhai Palace, Mikoshi Chiyo, General Raiden, and Kujou Sara all said their goodbyes.

After watching them leave, Takumi prepared to return to work.

Ningguang, Ganyu, and the others had already gone back to Liyue Harbor.

Everyone was getting back to their tasks.

Keqing and Shenhe had become busy as well.

There was much to do in the new year.

No one had much free time to relax anymore.

Klee and the other children returned to school.

This allowed Takumi to focus on his responsibilities without worry.

When he returned to the General Affairs Department, Keqing and Shenhe were already waiting.

Keqing began updating him on the latest developments.

"Takumi, the road to The Chasm's edge will be completed in about half a month."

"The lower sections are already finished."

"I had given everyone a holiday, which slowed progress a bit."

"The same goes for Qingxu Pool."

"In about half a month, it should be fully accessible."

Keqing detailed the progress.

One of the main priorities was establishing a direct route between Sumeru and Liyue.

Takumi nodded thoughtfully.

"Let's keep up the pace."

"Assign more people if needed."

"Once this is done, we can shift focus to the Dragonspine area."

Over at Dragonspine, there was still much to handle.

Many machines had been installed, and roads needed to be built.

The cold weather made things difficult, but slow and steady progress would prevail.

Additionally, when Raiden Shogun and Venti had their duel, they unearthed a mineral deposit.

This made it easier to transport equipment and start excavation.

It was a stroke of luck.

Hearing Takumi's instructions, Keqing nodded firmly.

"Understood! I'll keep a close eye on things."

Afterward, Shenhe also discussed some matters with Takumi.

After the New Year celebrations, it was time to handle all the accumulated tasks.

Most smaller issues had already been resolved.

There wasn't much left for Takumi to personally address.

With the new year underway, everyone had returned to their roles with renewed energy.

It was time to build on the progress they had made and strive for even greater achievements.