I'm a male god in Liyue

"That's the biggest shrine in Inazuma. There's a huge cherry blossom tree there, and every day many people go to the shrine to pray for good fortune and draw lots. If they draw a bad lot, they throw it onto the roof. It's said that this way they can leave the bad luck at the shrine and get rid of it."

"Oh? That sounds similar to the Rocky Palace in Liyue."

"Yes."

While listening to Xia Zhi and Zhu Zi's conversation, Master Mao suddenly asked, "Is Miss Zhu Zi Dao's wife?"

"Ok!"

"I heard Miss Zhu call Mr. Xia 'boss.' Is Mr. Xia also a wife of Inazuma?"

"No, I just opened a small shop in Liyue and happened to hire Miss Zhu Zi."

"I see. May I ask what kind of shop Mr. Xia owns?"

"It's just a specialty beverage shop, right next to the Rebirth Hall. It will open in a couple of days."

Xia Zhi "saw" that Guoba seemed interested in the special drink he was talking about. He probably thought that a drink made by someone with his culinary skills must taste great, so he said something.

"You're welcome to come over and have a seat then. I'll treat you to drinks from our shop."

Xiangling smiled and said, "Okay!"

Master Mao agreed: "Okay."

Guoba nodded, looking expectant.

"correct!"

At that moment, Zhu Zi suddenly remembered something.

"Xiangling, we need to put up a notice in our shop and we'd like to ask you for some rice cereal."

"no problem!"

Chapter 42 The Sealed Eyes

Stir-fried meat slices, made by quickly stir-frying game meat over high heat, are a great choice whether you want to whet your appetite or eat it with rice.

Xiangling had a sudden inspiration: she added slime gel instead of egg whites when marinating the meat slices. As a result, the stir-fried meat slices were exceptionally tender and smooth. Even Zhu Zi, who couldn't handle spicy food, couldn't help but eat an extra bowl of rice because of it.

Xia Zhi also thought the dish was delicious and said, "It is indeed a very good idea."

Xiangling smiled happily and asked, "Mr. Xia, do you have any suggestions for improvement?"

Xia Zhi thought for a moment and said, "The knife skills and heat control are fine, but I think the spices could be improved..."

Xiangling carefully wrote down his words and asked him to come back that evening to try the dish.

Xia Zhi readily agreed, not because she was short of money for the meal, but because meals treated by others always tasted better.

After lunch, Xia Zhi and Zhu Zi returned to the shop.

Zhu Zi took out the rice paste she had brought back and pasted the red paper she had written in the morning onto the wall.

Although the poster looks a bit rudimentary, the effect is passable.

Zhu Zi cleaned up the rice grains and scraps of paper on the floor, wiped the table again, then brewed a pot of tea for the boss before sitting down to continue reading the book she had been reading that morning.

Xia Zhi sipped his tea while browsing the [Shop].

This time, he mainly looked at items related to zombies.

【Corpse-fixing Talisman】

Quality: Black Iron.

Type: Consumable.

Features: None.

Effect: When attached to a zombie, it can immobilize it, and the duration varies depending on the zombie's strength.

Hidden effects: None.

Price: 2 points.

This is a relatively inexpensive item specifically for dealing with zombies. It has a simple effect, but it is quite practical.

It looks somewhat similar to the talisman on Qiqi's forehead, but the patterns written on it are a deep blue, making it appear even more mystical.

I just don't know how long it can hold Qiqi still...

Before today, Xia Zhi might have considered buying this item, but judging from what happened this morning, Qi Qi will obviously come to the store often for incense in the future. Her progress bar can be filled very easily, so this item is useless.

Xia Zhi glanced at it, then continued to look down.

【Corpse Bead】

Quality: Black Iron.

Type: Jewelry.

Features: None.

Effect: When a zombie wears this bead, its body can remain cold.

Hidden effects: None.

Price: 3 points.

This is a deep blue crystal bead, and it looks very beautiful.

Zombies love cool environments. Wearing this bead is like having a portable freezer; you won't feel uncomfortable even when standing in the sun.

If Qiqi had this Corpse Pearl, she wouldn't need to gather herbs by day and night anymore.

This is a must-have for zombies when they're at home or traveling.

Xia Zhi continued reading and found an item with the same name.

【Corpse Bead】

Quality: Silver.

Type: Jewelry.

Features: None.

Effect: When a zombie wears this bead, its body can remain cold and its mind can remain intact.

Hidden effects: None.

Price: 30 points.

Compared to the Black Iron Corpse Bead, the Silver Corpse Bead has an additional effect: it can keep the zombie fully conscious.

Xia Zhi recalled Qi Qi's various behaviors this morning and found that she was indeed very lacking in emotion and common sense. She couldn't even finish saying what she wanted to say in one go, which showed that her mental state had deteriorated to a very serious degree.

If this continues, perhaps one day she will forget who she is?

Thinking of this, Xia Zhi couldn't help but sigh softly.

Actually, he had a good impression of Qiqi. This good impression was not because Qiqi had a petite, cute, and innocent appearance, but because of her similar experiences to his.

Qi Qi died once, and Xia Zhi also died once.

Qiqi lost her sense of taste, and Xiazhi lost her sight.

Qiqi is from hundreds of years ago, and she has no relatives or friends in Liyue today. Xia Zhi is from another world, and he is just as lonely here.

These factors combined to give Xia Zhi a sense of shared suffering with Qi Qi.

If possible, he hoped to help this poor zombie girl so that she could at least continue living like a normal person.

For Qiqi, this silver corpse bead would be a very good choice.

However, its price of 30 points is really too expensive for Xia Zhi right now.

If the remaining [Calming Pills] were refined into [Calming Incense] and recycled, it would be enough to accumulate enough points. However, the [Calming Incense] itself also has its uses...

Xia Zhi shook his head.

Forget it, let's put this matter aside for now and deal with it after he gets the golden treasure chest from Qiqi.

Xia Zhi closed the [Shop] and then opened the [Personal] panel.

It displays his various stats: health, mana, stamina, equipment, skills...

Xia Zhi glanced past the normal green data and looked at one particular gray data point that stood out starkly.

Those are the measurements for his two eyes.

Left eye: Blindness [Unknown divine erosion].

Right eye: Blindness [Unknown divine erosion].

Strangely, his eyes are blind, which should be considered an abnormal injury state, and the data should be red, but the system displays it as a gray sealed state.

This wasn't the first time Xia Zhi had opened the [Personal] panel and seen this grayed-out data under his eyes.