Chapter 31: The Adeptus Has Already Started Tormenting Little Ganyu. How Touching.

This impromptu tea party lasted until evening.

Only then did the four reluctantly part ways.

Mu Yang watched their retreating figures, feeling a hint of melancholy.

He shook his head, trying to cast aside these meaningless thoughts.

It was just a trip to Mt. Aocang, after all.

It wasn't like they were going somewhere far away and never returning.

Why overthink it?

He must have been influenced by their secretive gift preparations and their words.

During the tea party, they reminisced about past amusing incidents.

Memories flooded back one after another.

To say he was completely unmoved would be a lie.

Only after the others had gone far away did Mu Yang murmur to himself,

"Who knows how much longer this simulation has left?"

Originally, before entering,

he had thought that since it was all fake anyway,

he might as well speedrun it.

But after spending so much time with them,

could these feelings still be fake?

Were they really just added settings and nothing more?

The mischievous Fujin.

The ditzy, tsundere Lingyuan.

The clever and capable Yaojun.

Every moment spent with them—

the promise at the Ancient Tea Tree Slope,

the jade pendant received at the festival...

Mu Yang reached out to touch his sword scabbard.

A cold sensation spread from his palm.

Real. Too real.

His thoughts were in disarray.

His hand moved from the scabbard to the hilt.

Suddenly, he swung out a strike.

The sword qi tore through the air with a piercing cry,

startling birds and beasts into fleeing the forest.

"Hah..."

Mu Yang exhaled deeply,

his mood settling back into tranquility.

He turned and walked into the small wooden house.

"No good, no good. I almost lost myself there."

The Next Day

Mu Yang woke up early.

However, he didn't head straight to Mt. Aocang.

Instead, he went to another place first.

After a night of contemplation,

he felt this trip shouldn't just be for catching up and sparring.

He ought to bring something back as gifts

for Fujin and the others.

Since he was going to ask a favor,

he couldn't just bring ordinary tea leaves from Chenyu Vale.

He needed something more impressive.

The place Mu Yang was heading to wasn't too far—

just the desolate mountain where he had first fallen.

It had once been covered in ice and snow by him,

and most of its energy had been absorbed.

But for some reason, after Mu Yang transformed that ice and snow into his sword hilt,

the mountain slowly began to recover on its own.

Stranger still, things grew extremely slowly there,

but the matured herbs

were far more valuable than the adepti herbs even Cloud Retainer and the others consumed.

This likely had something to do with Mu Yang's origins.

To this day, he still didn't understand his own background.

Or rather, he didn't particularly care what he was.

This was a setting the world of Teyvat had imposed on him,

not something he wrote himself.

So as long as he could appear and act in human form,

he didn't bother dwelling on it.

Gaining popularity among players was far more fun anyway.

The rest didn't matter much.

Naturally, Yaojun was the most fascinated by this mystical place.

She had discovered many rare medicinal herbs here

and was overjoyed.

For safety's sake,

the four of them set up a protective barrier around it.

They didn't interfere much with the outer areas,

only cordoning off a small section in the deepest part

to cultivate what they needed.

Mu Yang had chosen some herbs for cultivation

and a few tea trees.

His reasoning was—

if medicinal plants could become more valuable here,

then tea leaves should too, right?

However, the growth time of these tea trees far exceeded his expectations.

Even now, he still hadn't gotten to taste them.

"Haven't checked in a while. I wonder if the tea leaves are ready to harvest yet."

"If not, I'll just have to bring some adepti herbs instead."

Mu Yang used his lightfoot technique to bypass the barrier.

His movements were fluid and effortless.

Arriving before his tea trees,

he found himself in luck—

they were ready for picking.

Mu Yang harvested a large bag of immortal-grade tea leaves

and another bag of precious medicinal herbs

before leaving the desolate mountain

and heading to Mt. Aocang.

Upon arriving at Mt. Aocang,

Mu Yang saw no one around.

Had he really been so unlucky?

Had Cloud Retainer gone out?

He tried knocking on the entrance to her abode.

Suddenly, a bird's cry rang out from the sky.

It was Cloud Retainer's voice.

Mu Yang looked in the direction of the sound

and saw her flying toward him,

a small figure seemingly perched on her back.

The moment Cloud Retainer landed, she sensed Mu Yang's presence.

"Mu Yang? What brings you here? Come, let this adeptus have a good look at you."

"Have you been living properly lately? Or have you been obsessing over sword practice again and neglecting rest?"

Mu Yang sighed inwardly, feeling a bit aggrieved.

Cloud Retainer was treating him like a child again.

When they first met,

Cloud Retainer was already quite familiar with humans.

So upon seeing Mu Yang's youthful human form,

she had always regarded him as a junior.

While this had its perks—

like Cloud Retainer doting on him almost excessively—

it also meant she showered him with the kind of concern only elders showed.

Mu Yang voiced his protest:

"Cloud Retainer, I'm really not a child anymore."

The adpetal crane raised her head proudly.

"Hmph. You little ones always say that."

"Little ones?"

Mu Yang glanced behind Cloud Retainer.

There, a small figure was crouching,

hiding nervously,

only the horns on her head visible.

Cloud Retainer urged the little one to come down,

and Mu Yang finally got a clear look at her.

Her chubby cheeks were rather adorable,

and she seemed a bit shy.

She tried to hide her face behind the food box in her hands.

Cloud Retainer introduced them:

"This child is Ganyu. Ganyu, this is Mu Yang."

Of course, Mu Yang knew this was Ganyu.

Though this was their first meeting in the simulation,

Mu Yang had played Genshin Impact

and recognized this little one.

Little Ganyu lowered the food box

and said timidly, "Hello… Mu Yang."

Mu Yang smiled and stepped closer.

"Hello there, Ganyu."

Ganyu didn't seem too afraid of Mu Yang's approach.

Perhaps his animal affinity was at work again.

Even Cloud Retainer was surprised.

"How rare. This child usually avoids strangers like the plague."

True to her title as the "Adeptus Who Loves to Talk,"

once Cloud Retainer started, she couldn't stop.

"Last time, she saw a lost herb gatherer wandering into the mountains."

"She bolted straight back to the abode, wrapped herself in a blanket, "

"and cried, 'There's a monster!' Refused to sleep unless this adeptus held her…"

Little Ganyu, already flushed with embarrassment,

protested weakly, "Cloud Retainer.…"

Mu Yang's gaze at Ganyu was full of sympathy.

Little Ganyu, I'll help you out this time.

But just you wait… the torment has only just begun…

Mu Yang interrupted Cloud Retainer's Collection of Ganyu's Embarrassing Stories

and asked where they had just returned from.

"Ah, that. We just came back from Guili Assembly."

"As you know, this adeptus's culinary skills are among the finest in our circle."

"They all said they missed this adeptus's cooking, "

"so I brought them some new dishes to try."

She then looked at Mu Yang.

"Enough standing around. Come inside with this adeptus."

"You must try this new dish as well."

The three of them walked toward the abode.

Along the way,

little Ganyu secretly tugged at Mu Yang's sleeve

and whispered a warning:

"Mu Yang, the Adeptus's new dish is delicious, "

"but don't eat too much! It'll make you fat!"