The Embers of King's Teyvat Journey

"okay!"

After her final struggle failed, Chu Yi decisively abandoned her principles, because she didn't want to be hung at the door like dried meat.

"Waaaaah~, boss, I'm so sorry." Chu Yi led Yu Jin inside, lost in deep self-reproach.

"So, what kind of intelligence do you have here?" Yu Jin looked around. The seemingly normal storage cabinets contained countless hidden doors and tunnels.

You can only say they're truly dedicated to intelligence work!

"It depends on what you want, but don't expect too much. I have no access to the higher levels." Chu Yi answered Yu Jin's question decisively and truthfully.

It wasn't that she didn't try, but the enemy was just too terrifying!

"What if I wanted to know Ningguang's preferences?" Ember asked casually.

Chu Yi stopped in her tracks, turned her head and gave an awkward yet polite smile. "Mr. Yu Jin, what did you say? I can't hear you."

"I'm saying—do you know what Tianquan Star's preferences are?" Yu Jin said loudly, making a megaphone shape with his hands.

"What did you say—" Chu Yi picked at her ear and responded just as loudly.

The noise was so loud that if the soundproofing in the Yanshang Tea House hadn't been so good, the two of them probably would have been reported for creating noise pollution.

"I see, you don't want to talk to me about this at all, do you?" Yu Jin looked at Chu Yi's appearance and casually pulled up a chair to sit down.

"Hehe, thanks for understanding." Now Chu Yi's hearing was fine again. She chuckled a few times at Yu Jin, then poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him.

It wasn't that she was uncooperative, but rather that Ember's question was too shocking. Ningguang, as one of the Seven Stars, and the most powerful and influential among them, "Tianquan Star," had all her information kept as top secret in Liyue.

Even if Chu Yi knew, she wouldn't reveal a single word, even if Yu Jin hung her outside the door.

This is what she stands for as an intelligence agent for Liyue! Even though she has only been in the industry for a few months.

Yu Jin took the tea, drank it all in one gulp, and then said, "Since there's no room for negotiation on the intelligence..."

"It's not that there's no room for negotiation, but that I know nothing about Lord Tianquan except his name," Chu Yi emphasized.

"Okay, okay, then let's just treat this as a casual chat between friends, alright?"

"Don't tell me this won't work," Yu Jin said, pointing to Chu Yi, whose face was filled with conflict.

After hearing Yu Jin's words, Chu Yi sighed and said, "Alright, it's your way."

She didn't know anything about Ningguang to begin with. As Ember said, casual conversation between friends is fine.

"Hey~, that's right, tell me quickly, what does Ningguang like?" Seeing Chu Yi sit down, Yu Jin immediately asked impatiently.

Xiangling knows nothing, but surely Chuyi knows nothing too? After all, Chuyi works in intelligence, so she must know more than Xiangling.

"Well..." Chu Yi pondered. In truth, she had only met Ning Guang a few times. The few times she had met her were all in public places.

"I think Lady Ningguang might, perhaps, possibly... enjoy playing chess and smoking?"

Chu Yi thought of Ningguang's pipe and Liyue's renowned collection, "Liyue Millennium," and said uncertainly.

"Smoke?" Yu Jin stroked his chin, deep in thought. As for the chess game Chu Yi mentioned, Yu Jin hadn't even considered it; he usually put his brain to work last.

Yu Jin was surprised that Ning Guang, a woman, would smoke. A few days ago, he saw Ning Guang with a pipe hanging from her waist and wondered why she was carrying a back scratcher; it turned out it was a pipe.

This is truly eye-opening; I never knew that even a pipe could be made of jade.

"Understood, thank you!" Yu Jin clapped his hands; he now knew what to do.

Yu Jin stood up, tossed a small bag to Chu Yi, and prepared to leave.

"What is this?" Chu Yi weighed it in her hand; it contained Mora, and there seemed to be quite a lot of it.

"The money for the tea." Yu Jin picked up the teapot and drank it all in one gulp. He couldn't waste something he had paid for himself.

"Goodbye, I'll treat you to dinner if things go well." After saying this casually, Yu Jin ran out of the Rock Tea House.

……

The atmosphere at Huyan was lively at noon.

Countless vendors stood on both sides of the street, loudly hawking their wares. Among them were some rare items; it remained to be seen whether passersby had the discerning eye to spot them.

However, none of this concerned Yu Jin. At this moment, he was standing in front of a general store, holding a beautifully crafted wooden box in his hand.

Of course, whether the wooden box was truly magnificent is debatable. In any case, Yu Jin thought it was quite beautiful.

"Hehe, you have a good eye, sir. This is a famous master from Liyue..." Although the stall owner was puzzled by Ember's peculiar attire, who could possibly mess with Mora?

Yu Jin completely ignored the stall owner's incessant chatter. He twirled the wooden box in his hands a few times, then asked:

"Your wooden box can hold cigarette ash... oops! Tobacco?"

"Huh?" The stall owner, who was talking enthusiastically, paused for a moment, then said somewhat uncertainly, "It should be... okay."

Chapter 255 Yujing Terrace

2023-10-26

Inside the same house in the alley, Ember removed his arm guards—he was scraping the dust off his armor.

The ash on his clothes, the strong smell of smoke, the powerful heat—Ningguang would definitely like it if she smoked it.

"squeak--"

The sound of the dagger scraping against steel was teeth-grinding. Fortunately, there was enough ash on the ember armor; he only scraped it a few times before the wooden box he had just bought was filled with black ash.

A hissing sound echoed from the hut in the embers, followed by wisps of black smoke.

"Oh no! Fire!"

Yu Jin hurriedly patted the wooden box that was about to catch fire, shrinking the flames in the black ash.

Looking at the wooden box covered in charred marks, Yu Jin was somewhat troubled. This seemed a bit out of place for Ningguang Tianquan Star.

But this worry soon disappeared because he felt that his gift was good enough to make up for the simple packaging.

"It's almost time, time for the interview!" Yu Jin glanced at the bright light outside the window, knowing it was almost time.

So he stood up and ran toward Yujingtai.

Before the completion of the Jade Pavilion, Jade Palace was the tallest building complex in Liyue.

Standing in front of the carved railings of Jade Capital Terrace, one can overlook the entire bustling city of Liyue.

Below the Jade Capital Terrace, in the lotus pond, a completely different scene unfolded. The Bubu Lodge remained incredibly busy, with a constant stream of people coming and going.

The Yujingtai opposite it, however, was deserted.

After all, the General Affairs Department can handle most matters, so there is absolutely no need to go to such a high-class place as Yujingtai.

However, Yu Jin didn't care about all that. There were too many people? He simply walked across the water! This scene attracted the attention of pedestrians on the lotus platform passage and the Thousand Rock Army on the steps.

"Is this what you call being very unique?" A woman with purple hair in double buns said, twitching her lips, in front of the carved railing on the Jade Capital Terrace.

"Hehe, I thought he would be more to your liking, Keqing!" Ningguang looked at Keqing and chuckled.

The Yuheng Star before her was a well-known radical reformer in Liyue, whose various actions often drew opposition from the staunch supporters of the Geo Archon.

"I'm just being a bit radical about the relationship between Liyue and the Emperor. Don't let that prejudice affect my personality." Keqing rolled her eyes at Ningguang.

To be honest, if it were her, she would have refused Ember's absurd request on the spot. She wouldn't have gone to the trouble of holding some kind of "test" like Ningguang did.

Of course, if Ningguang knew this, she would definitely think Keqing was being presumptuous. After all, Ember's halberd had almost struck her on the head.

For this reason alone, Ningguang and Yujin should be more careful when they speak.

"How much of his strength do you perceive?" Ningguang asked curiously, watching Yu Jin skimming across the lotus pond like a dragonfly skimming the water.

As Yuheng, who is in charge of land planning and infrastructure, Keqing is different from Ningguang, who lives in seclusion in the Jade Pavilion. She travels across the land of Liyue all year round and has probably experienced more dangers than any of the Seven Stars.

Naturally, her strength is also second to none, especially in close combat.

"I can't tell. His footwork is completely unorthodox. He doesn't seem to come from a prestigious family. He looks more like a self-taught amateur." Ke Qing narrowed her eyes and took a closer look at Yu Jin's footwork.

The footwork was just like ordinary running, but the speed was faster, and Ke Qing couldn't see any trace of a master.

Of course, it's also possible that she's just not good at seeing things and can't see anything.

"Alright, Tianquan, Yuheng. Mr. Yujin will be coming up soon. Let's get ready."

Just as Keqing and Ningguang were having a pleasant conversation, a girl with two horns on her head and wearing a light blue cheongsam walked over.

"Understood, Gan Yu, we're coming." The two glanced at Yu Jin, who was kicking and shaking off the water, and then walked towards the back of Yujingtai.

"How about it, young man, isn't he handsome?" Right below Yujing Terrace, Yu Jin shook off some water and then said to the dumbfounded Qianyan Army soldiers not far away.

"Cool! So cool!" The armored soldier immediately nodded, walking on the water, a scene straight out of a martial arts novel.

But he quickly realized what was happening, shook his head, and said in a serious tone, "Yujingtai is a place of great importance. Unless it is urgent, do not talk to the guards!"

"I'll listen to you! Bye!" Yu Jin nodded, then ran straight up to higher ground.

The steps leading to Yujing Terrace were winding and steep, but what puzzled Yu Jin was that despite the height of the steps, there wasn't a single person in sight.

Is Yujingtai closed for the day?

When Yu Jin stepped onto the Jade Capital Platform, he knew that his idea was wrong.

Yu Jin glanced at the three people sitting on the altar of Yujingtai, then touched the wooden box behind him.

It didn't say there were three people, did it? This gift is a bit difficult to give.

"Mr. Yu Jin, welcome to the Golden House Guardian assessment. These two are Lady Ningguang of Tianquan Star and Lady Keqing of Yuheng Star."

Gan Yu, who was sitting next to Ning Guang, stood up, nodded to Yu Jin, and said while trying to keep a straight face.

She really wanted to complain about this "Golden House Guardian Assessment," wondering if this was how they recruited people for the Golden House Guardian position.

Gan Yu has worked at Yujingtai for thousands of years and has never heard of anything good!

However, considering that it was Ningguang's idea and that Keqing was also involved, Ganyu had no choice but to continue acting alongside Ningguang.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Yu Jin said, bowing with his hands clasped in the same manner as Zhong Li.

Keqing glanced at Ember's bow and nodded almost imperceptibly. This gesture was common in ancient Liyue, but few people knew about it now.

It seems that this guy, despite his peculiar attire, is quite knowledgeable about etiquette.

Then Ember's next action made Keqing reconsider her idea.

Seeing Gan Yu sit down again, Yu Jin immediately said, "Hey, hey, girl, where's your self-introduction?"