Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 125 The Moonlit Journey (1)

Kiana and her friends encountered Sora while strolling down the street that day. Sora was leading Karin on a quest to find people to try their newly developed dishes.

Then, the sharp-eyed Paimon spotted the three people shopping in the crowd and invited them to join him.

"Hey! Kiana, Ayaka Kamisato, and Mei, over here! Interested in trying some of the new dishes at Manmindo?"

Kiana, seeing that Paimon was calling them, went over to join him. Of course, this didn't include her interest in Xiangling's new recipes. After all, Xiangling's culinary research was all about spontaneity; she would often create dishes that came to her mind, and would even go into the mountains or abroad to find ingredients, all in order to create new dishes of her own design.

Because the dishes were inspired by a sudden flash of inspiration, the ingredients were highly unpredictable, including some monster-like materials like slime.

This has led to her friends, who were invited to try the dishes, becoming fed up with the blind-box-like experience, making it increasingly difficult to invite them for tastings. She also doesn't want to give away her new dishes to guests without having tried them herself; she doesn't want to ruin her own reputation.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone all over the streets to find acquaintances to persuade them to try the food. Kiana naturally knew the reason behind it, while Mei, having gleaned some information from the group chat, understood just how inconsistent Xiangling's new dishes were.

What they didn't know was that it was the Festival of the Moon, and this year's theme was a cooking competition. Xiangling's main purpose in having people taste her dishes was to prepare for this cooking competition, so the food produced naturally wouldn't be her original creations.

After explaining the reason to the three people in front of them, Kiana and Mei secretly breathed a sigh of relief and became interested in Liyue's cuisine. Of course, Ayaka Kamisato, who was standing to the side, was no exception.

"I just didn't expect that Sora and Paimon would know important figures like Inazuma, including the General."

Once again, Xiangling was impressed by Kong's connections. Just yesterday, she and Kong met the legendary Demon-Slaying Sage at the dock and received valuable advice from him.

"General?" Paimon asked in confusion, "Xiangling, are you referring to Inazuma's Thunder General?"

“That’s right. Hu Tao told me that she met this Miss Mei in front of her yesterday when she was looking for Mr. Zhong Li. And her true identity is the ruler of Inazuma—the Rai God, Lord Raiden General.”

"We do know General Raiden, that's true, but Mei doesn't..."

"Paimon!"

Kong quickly interrupted Paimon's big mouth, and Paimon belatedly covered his mouth.

Unfortunately, Xiangling's curiosity was piqued, and she asked, "What is it?"

"N-nothing, it's just that as the Thunder General, shouldn't Mei be meeting with Ningguang right now? Why is she here?"

"Let me answer that."

It was Ayaka Kamisato who stepped forward to explain.

"Hello, nice to meet you, I am Ayaka Kamisato."

"Hello! My name is Xiangling, and this is my good friend Guoba!"

Xiangling responded and introduced her partner Guoba, who tactfully stepped forward to greet her.

"Paymon's question is actually quite simple: the diplomatic talks ended yesterday. The follow-up work was left to my elder brother, while I was ordered to accompany the General to experience the Moon Festival."

"So that's it!"

Xiangling suddenly realized, but the most urgent thing was to hand over the dishes she had improved based on Xiao's suggestions to the three people in front of her for them to taste.

Although somewhat reserved in the presence of the legendary Thunder General, Xiangling, Mei mustered her courage and cautiously asked to try her dishes. Despite being impersonating the Thunder General, Mei wasn't really putting on airs and readily agreed to Xiangling's request.

After tasting it, Kiana and Ayaka Kamisato both gave it a delicious review, but when asked to elaborate on the dish's merits, they couldn't say anything and could only offer a few comments based on their personal preferences before quickly concluding the discussion.

Only Mei offered professional advice after tasting the food, which made Xiangling realize that the deity before her was someone who knew how to cook. So she abandoned her reverence for the deity and wholeheartedly wanted to share her cooking experience with Mei.

Mei was naturally happy to share her experience with Xiangling, and the two of them began exchanging cooking experiences and insights on the street, oblivious to everyone else around them.

Mei gained a lot at this moment, feeling that her cooking skills had improved even further. As for Xiangling, after talking with Mei, she became more and more excited and couldn't help but invite Mei to join her.

"General! Please join me in this cooking competition!"

The loud noise drew the attention of passersby, and Xiangling, realizing she had somewhat failed, blushed and pulled everyone to a quiet corner, looking at Mei with expectant eyes.

Mei was a little flustered by Xiangling's gaze. She admitted that after talking with Xiangling, she was itching to cook. She had originally planned to cook a feast to treat the Kamisato siblings when she got back, but before she could even start cooking, she received an invitation from Xiangling.

"But the registration period for this cooking competition should have ended long ago, and the preliminary rounds should have been over by now, right?"

Mei hesitated. Although the theme of the Moon Festival was a cooking competition, the rules stated that anyone who registered could participate. This led to an excessive number of people registering in the early stages, forcing the Liyue Septate to close registration early and hold its preliminary rounds at the same time, leaving the finals and semi-finals to be held during the Moon Festival.

Registration has long since closed, so is it against the rules for Mei to participate in this cooking competition now? This is why she hesitated and wanted to refuse, but just then a capable voice rang out from behind them.

"Since it is General Inazuma who wants to participate, I think Ningguang will not disagree. Moreover, she may even send you as a seeded player to the finals to compete against the two winners of the semi-finals. After all, this way, the cooking competition will be more interesting, and the scene will definitely be lively. The purpose of holding this event will be achieved."

Everyone turned around and saw that the voice came from a purple-haired woman with cat ears.

The newcomer was none other than Keqing, one of the Seven Stars of Liyue. Xiangling, who was standing to the side, also recognized the newcomer's identity.

"Oh! It's Lady Keqing, you're back?"

“Yes,” Keqing replied, “I’ve finished dealing with the Abyss of Lapis Lazuli. Now we can continue investigating that previous matter. However, given the current situation…”

Although Keqing didn't say it explicitly, Mei understood what she meant and stepped forward to speak.

"Could you tell me what you're talking about? If possible, can I come and help?"

"Since the General is interested, Keqing will naturally not hide anything..."

After Keqing's explanation, everyone finally understood what that matter referred to.

Just a few days ago, Beidou's fleet salvaged a strange stone near the coast. The stone's surface was covered with moss and was very smooth, but one could also vaguely discern traces of carving.

Preliminary assessment suggests this is likely a statue of the Kitchen God. While most people in Liyue believe the Kitchen God is part of the legend left by the Emperor, another version exists in folklore. It's said that the Kitchen God is actually someone else, but due to various reasons, the legend has gradually been attributed to the Emperor.

Keqing's grandfather believed this, and thus embarked on a journey to find the truth. However, he spent his entire life searching for it but never found it, ultimately returning to his family with regret. Influenced by him, young Keqing also believed that the Hearth God was someone else, but years of investigation yielded nothing, and with the work of the Liyue Septuagenarians becoming increasingly demanding, the matter was left unresolved.

The appearance of a statue resembling the Kitchen God rekindled Keqing's desire to find him. Just then, Xiangling and Sora happened to pass by, and after Ningguang, Keqing, and Beidou gave their opinions, Keqing entrusted the task to Xiangling and Sora.

Ningguang was unavailable because she had a meeting with the Inazuma envoy later, and Beidou was not interested in such matters. Therefore, the responsibility for this task fell to Keqing.

Keqing originally planned to begin the investigation immediately, but some bad news came from the Layered Rock Abyss. Left with no other option, Keqing had to deal with the situation there first, leaving the investigation to Xiangling and the others for the time being.

Keqing, who had just finished dealing with the emergency, returned without stopping, all in order to obtain the intelligence that Xiangling and the others had as soon as possible.

Xiangling and the others naturally did not disappoint Keqing's expectations. First, they went to Granny Ping's place to inquire. Although they did not get any specific information, they confirmed that the Kitchen God was indeed someone else.

They then visited Xingqiu and Chongyun, and with Xingqiu's permission, they went to Xingqiu's study to search for information.

Unfortunately, they didn't get any useful information. Since it was getting late, they had to return to Liyue Harbor to rest for the night and planned to visit Wangshu Inn again today, where they heard that there were books about the Kitchen God.

However, on the way there, Xiangling had a sudden burst of inspiration and made a dish on the spot. She originally planned to just have a quick bite at Paimon and talk about the taste, but she didn't expect that this delay would lead them to meet Kiana and the others, which led to the events described above.

To be honest, after listening to Keqing's story, Mei did become somewhat interested in the so-called Kitchen God, so she suggested that they join the investigation team as a way of repaying Keqing for agreeing to let her temporarily join the cooking competition.

Thus, the original five-person team expanded to include three more, forming a sizable group that headed towards the location of Wangshu Inn. However, of the three, only Mei was genuinely interested in the place. While Ayaka Kamisato was also somewhat interested, she wasn't quite ready to get involved. Her joining in was purely to fulfill her earlier promise.

As for Kiana, she immediately connected to the Imaginary Tree when Keqing revealed that the Hearth God was someone else, and found the answer there.

During this time, he glanced at the carefree Guoba with a complicated look, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "Is Master Lu Guoba too high-ranking? From now on, it might be more appropriate to call Diluc Count Lulu."

Unsurprisingly, Grandma Ping already knew who the Kitchen God was. The reason she didn't say anything was because it would ruin the story if she revealed it. After all, such things only have meaning when the person involved realizes it themselves, which is the ending that Guoba once wanted to see.

After understanding Grandma Ping's intentions, Kiana chose to remain silent and quietly observe Keqing's experiences along the way.

Strangely enough, while investigating the true identity of the Hearth God, Kiana discovered that Fu Hua actually appeared in Liyue's past history. However, because there were too few legends about her and her deeds overlapped too much with those of other immortals, there are no legends about the Crimson Lotus Immortal circulating in Liyue today.

With a bit of curiosity, Kiana investigated Fu Hua's location through the Imaginary Tree. It would have been better if she hadn't investigated. She discovered that Fu Hua and the Book of Azure had somehow traveled to the past, to Liyue, and were protecting a settlement under the command of the Demon God. As a result, the people of the settlement revered her as the Crimson Kite Immortal.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Kiana quickly left the group and went to the Imaginary Tree. Following the river of time, Kiana arrived at the time point where Fu Hua was located.

However, Kiana arrived a little too late; in Fu Hua's memory, she hadn't seen Kiana and the others for nearly a thousand years. Now, she had once again become the Crimson Lotus Immortal, protecting the people of Shenzhou.

Yes, the settlement saved by Fu Hua has grown into a vast tribe over nearly a thousand years, and Fu Hua named it Shenzhou. However, now that the Demon God War has broken out, Fu Hua, realizing she has returned to the past, begins to consider how to establish contact with Zhong Li, who is still Morax, so that he can protect this tribe called Shenzhou.

Ultimately, she knew Kiana would realize something was wrong and take her back to the future, but without her protection, Shenzhou would one day be devoured by those envious demons. To avoid such a future, Fu Hua consciously chose to locate Shenzhou near the future Liyue Harbor, so that it could border the people of Liyue under Zhongli's protection.

Through centuries of interaction, she and Zhongli became close friends and made a pact in exchange for Fu Hua joining Zhongli's forces and gaining the protection of Shenzhou. Now that Shenzhou and Liyue have officially merged, Zhongli originally planned to combine one character from each tribe's name to form a new tribe's name, but Fu Hua refused in order to ensure that Liyue would still exist in the future.

Not wanting to dwell on the matter any longer, Zhongli didn't say anything more after Fu Hua refused. Now, seeing Kiana's arrival, Fu Hua realized it was time for her to go back.

After quickly tidying up, Fu Hua went to say goodbye to Zhong Li. When she returned, she looked at the cave where she had lived for many years and felt a little reluctant, but she quickly suppressed it.

To prevent herself from suddenly having second thoughts, Fu Hua hurriedly asked Kiana to send her back to the future as soon as possible.

What Fu Hua didn't know was that Zhong Li was actually inside this cave at that moment. However, because Fu Hua's mind was entirely focused on returning to the future, she didn't notice that Zhong Li was also inside the cave.

What she didn't know was that the cave that Zhongli had taken her to when she first arrived in Liyue was actually the cave they were in now.

It wasn't until Zhongli encountered Fu Hua in Liyue Harbor that he realized the Fu Hua he met thousands of years ago was from the distant future. The initial joy of meeting an old friend gradually faded, and after composing himself, Zhongli approached Fu Hua as if they were meeting for the first time.

"My friend, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Zhongli..."