The Embers of King's Teyvat Journey

Feeling her hand being pushed away, Ningguang snapped out of her daze. Clutching the hairpin in her hand, she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead as she curled her hair, saying, "Th...thank you."

The stinging pain between her brows still lingered faintly. Ningguang had no doubt that if the halberd had been just a little further forward, it would have cleaved her head in two.

Ningguang took a few deep breaths to compose herself and said, "Indeed, it was my oversight."

I thought it was just a cunning jackal, but it turned out to be a lion-tiger pretending to be weak.

If Ember hadn't shown mercy in the end, Ningguang would probably be dead by now.

"So, this strange gentleman wasn't following me in the middle of the night just to warn me not to walk at night, was he?" Ningguang tidied her hair, which had been disheveled by the strong wind, and said, adjusting her mindset.

Since the other party hasn't attacked me, they must have something else in mind.

Ningguang looked at Yu Jin, who was rubbing his hands together. She was also very curious about what this guy, whom Ye Lan was so wary of, was trying to get by following her.

"Well..." Yu Jin looked around at the scenery. Although it wasn't the right time to discuss serious matters, he couldn't very well refuse since the other person had asked.

"Um, actually I wanted to ask Lord Tianquan for a job, I don't know if that's possible."

Yu Jin rubbed his hands even more diligently. Actually, he had originally wanted to give Ningguang a gift. However, after asking around, he couldn't find out what Ningguang liked, so the matter of giving a gift was dropped.

"Oh? Looking for a job?" Ningguang lowered her head and pondered. Although she pretended not to know Yu Jin, she knew a lot about him.

Ember was quite well-known in the Adventurers' Guild, and he had saved up some Mora in the Liyue Adventurers' Guild, so he shouldn't have fallen to the point where he had to find another job.

Unless there's something fishy going on.

However, perhaps they could use this tactic to extract some information. Thinking this, a smile appeared on Ningguang's lips. She cleared her throat a few times, then said:

"Ahem! In that case, let's begin the process."

"Procedure? What procedure?" Yu Jin scratched his head, he knew nothing about this.

Ningguang pulled out a small but luxuriously covered ledger from somewhere, and then took out a gold-threaded brush from it, as if she was about to record something.

"Name?"

“Ember. Which is the surname and which is the given name is up to you. Anyway, if I had to say it myself, I would say I have no surname or given name,” Ember added.

In Liyue, the surname usually comes first, followed by the given name. If we follow this rule, then Ember's surname is Yu.

However, the thought of others calling him "Mr. Yu" made Yu Jin's skin crawl.

Upon hearing this, Ningguang looked up at Yujin, and then began to write rapidly.

"Where do you live?"

"Um... go 64 meters into the third alleyway, 563 meters to the right of Wanmintang in Huyan, and it's the fourth room." Yu Jin thought for a moment and realized that he didn't even know which street he was on.

Or perhaps the alley didn't even have a name, so he had no choice but to give out the exact location.

Ningguang looked up at Yujin again. How could he remember such an address?

Ningguang only glanced at it for a while before continuing to write. However, halfway through, she suddenly realized she was out of ink.

Just as she was about to reach out to grab it, she discovered that the moonlight was being blocked.

"Here, ink." Yu Jin held out his hand, revealing a bottle of pitch-black ink.

The ink was incredibly black, an unnatural black. It didn't seem like ink; it looked like the void after space shattered.

But just as Ningguang was about to take a closer look, she discovered that the ink had returned to normal.

Ningguang shook her head. Perhaps it was just her imagination?

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Yu Jin nodded as he watched Ning Guang dip her brush in ink and continue writing.

The deep, dark bathwater has one more use.

"By the way, why do you always carry paper and pen with you?" Yu Jin asked curiously, looking at Ning Guang's focused expression.

Could it be that Ningguang enjoys composing poetry? If so, that would be terrible; Ember's poetry skills are even worse than Venti's.

"When I walk around, I always see flaws. I have obsessive-compulsive disorder and can't stand flaws, so I write them down to deal with later."

Ningguang's fingers danced rapidly, and her mouth didn't stop either. She continued to ask, "Are you married? How many people are in your family?"

"A bachelor." Yu Jin felt something was off. Wasn't this supposed to be a job search? Why was it like a census?

Seemingly sensing Ember's impatience, Ningguang closed her notebook, rubbed her eyes, and said, "Alright, this is the last question."

Ningguang now suspects there's something wrong with the ink from Yujin. The more she looks at her own writing, the more confused she becomes, so she simply stops writing altogether.

"It's done?" Yu Jin was somewhat surprised, but he quickly realized his mistake and asked doubtfully:

"Wait a minute? I didn't even say what kind of job I wanted, how could it be okay?"

"You've only passed the first round of interviews. Now, tell me, what kind of job do you want?"

Ningguang's expression didn't change at all; she would never admit that she simply forgot to ask.

"Um... I want to be an insider at the Golden House, preferably someone who can come and go as they please!"

Ember's first words almost made Ningguang want to turn around and leave.

Want to enter the golden palace? And as an insider, what's even more outrageous is that you want to come and go as you please?

Ningguang strongly suspected that Ember was joking with her. The Golden House was arguably the most heavily guarded place in all of Liyue, and its access was even more difficult than that of her Jade Pavilion.

Now, Yu Jin actually wants to come and go as she pleases. You should know that even if she, from Tianquan Star, enters, she needs the consent of the other six stars, and she also needs someone to accompany her.

Ningguang really wanted to reply to Yujin with "Impossible!", but she swallowed the words back.

Because this is a good opportunity to find out the extent of the embers.

"Hmm—, the competition for this position is quite fierce. Come to Yujingtai for the second round of interviews in three days," Ningguang said, feigning nonchalance.

"Really? Thank you, thank you!" Yu Jin didn't doubt him at all. He directly grasped Ning Guang's hand and began to shake it.

Yu Jin was somewhat surprised that he got the interview opportunity so easily. Although it wasn't a done deal yet, Yu Jin didn't think any difficult questions could stump him during the interview.

"Ha...haha, you're welcome." Ningguang tried to pull her hand away, but it was no use. Then she gave up struggling and waited for Yu Jin to let go of her.

Ember shook his hand for a while before releasing Ningguang's grip. Ningguang, on the other hand, clenched her fist without changing her expression.

Ningguang wasn't trying to punch Yu Jin; she was just trying to improve her circulation—Yu Jin had made her hand numb from shaking it so much.

“Actually, you don’t need to follow me in the middle of the night. If you want to see me, all you need to do is write a letter on the Jade Capital Terrace,” Ningguang said slowly, shaking her arm.

“Aren’t you a very busy person? I heard from Beidou that your schedule is booked for several months in advance.” Yu Jin shook his head and said with a sigh.

He couldn't even imagine how busy he was day by day.

If Ember had to live that kind of life, he'd rather slaughter his way through the borderlands and Lordran all over again.

"That's your imagination. In fact, I have a lot of free time. And that's the time I use to meet with the public and to fill in any gaps in Liyue's reputation."

Having risen from a humble fishmonger to the position of Heaven's Power, Ningguang is deeply concerned about the people of Liyue.

"I see, I'll do it next time." Yu Jin nodded, having gained even more useless knowledge.

Because Ember estimated that after this, he wouldn't actively seek out Ningguang anymore. At least not just because he needed something from her.

"In that case, prepare well. I'm very strict." Ningguang looked up at Mingyue, but in her heart, she was thinking about how to set the questions.

Chapter 254 Careful preparation

2023-10-26

"Ugh, so annoying!"

In the small, tiled house, Yu Jin impatiently closed the revised rules of "Liyue Millennium Chess Game, Edition 32".

He was surrounded by books; to prepare for the interview, Ember had practically bought every book available in Liyue.

He felt a pang of heartache when he thought about his dwindling savings.

Looking at the thick book in his hands, Yu Jin tossed it behind him. He'd had enough reading and wanted to go for a walk.

Although Yu Jin usually skims through books, he has an amazing memory! He can memorize any book after just one glance.

Therefore, Ember felt that his current knowledge base was definitely top-notch in Liyue.

However, the formal preparations have been completed, and now it's time to prepare for the informal ones.

As for what kind of irregular law it was? Well, it was simply catering to their preferences. Thinking of this, Yu Jin slapped his thigh.

I was so busy answering Ningguang's questions the other day that I forgot to ask her what she liked. I was so careless.

But self-pity wasn't Yu Jin's style, and soon he thought of a good place.

……

The sun was shining brightly, and Chu Yi was grinning foolishly.

Chu Yi found that her new job was much better than her old one. She no longer had to deal with those unpredictable gamblers all day, and there wasn't much else to do.

All she had to do was give the code signal, then lead the person to the room. She'd plug their ears, and everything would be fine.

This kind of leisurely life was exactly what she had been dreaming of.

Unfortunately, her smile soon faded as the last person she wanted to see appeared in her line of sight.

【Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!】 Chu Yi's smile froze as she frantically prayed in her heart that the person opposite her wouldn't come over.

Then Yu Jin walked over. He had come specifically to find the Iwagami Tea House, so there was no reason for him not to come.

"Ha...haha, Brother Yu Jin, come and have some tea?" Chu Yi chuckled dryly, speaking with a hint of flattery.

She's now afraid that Ember is here to cause trouble.

"Are you... selling information here?" Yu Jin looked around for a while, then leaned close to Chu Yi and whispered.

"Absolutely not!" Chu Yi shook her head instinctively. For someone working in intelligence, secrecy is a basic requirement!

Then she felt a sharp, piercing gaze.

“Stare—” Yu Jin didn’t say anything. He crossed his arms and just quietly looked at Chu Yi in front of him.

"Don't...don't look at me like that, this...this is where we sell tea!" Chu Yi wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, struggling.

"stare--"

"Okay! Stop staring at me like that, come in!"