Their commission was suspicious.

"The place you're in is quite secluded," Chen Luo said as he walked over.

“Of course we need to be discreet when discussing these things, so did you get the item?” Wendy asked hurriedly.

"I have two pieces of news here, one bad and one good. Which would you like to hear first?" Chen Luo asked Wendy.

“Hmm, I choose the bad news,” Wendy said after a moment’s hesitation.

"The bad news is..."

Before Chen Luo could finish speaking, he heard a series of urgent knocks on the door downstairs.

After the knocking, the person on the other end of the door pushed it open and entered.

"Bartender, have you seen the robber who stole the Sky Harp? A strange man dressed entirely in purple..." The voice of a knight from the Knights Order rang out.

"No." The bartender's slightly deep voice came from downstairs.

After the door slammed shut, Chen Luo continued, "The bad news is that the Fools followed me when I infiltrated Mondstadt Cathedral."

"So, the Sky Harp was stolen by the Fatui?" The red-haired youth who had been scrutinizing Chen Luobing after he entered suddenly changed his tune.

"The Fools are really a troublesome bunch..."

"This must be Lord Diluc of Mondstadt, bard. Have you convinced Lord Diluc yet?" Actually, Chen Luo had already roughly figured it out when he saw Diluc sitting with Venti and the others.

“That’s all thanks to my convincing singing voice,” Wendy said proudly.

"Ahem." Yura, who was sitting to the side, coughed twice.

"Oh, and of course Yura deserves credit too."

"While the Knights of Favonius are not trustworthy, the Wave Knight Yola is," Diluc said calmly.

To those Mondstadt "giant babies," Yura's identity and achievements were nothing to be proud of, and many people even ostracized her because of her status.

However, in the eyes of truly wise and insightful people like Diluc, Jean, and Falgar, her identity doesn't represent any problem.

"That's why I said bringing Yura in was a great choice. Otherwise, how could you, an unreliable bard, possibly convince Lord Diluc?" Chen Luo gave Wendy a disdainful look.

“No, the bard’s songs do make up a significant portion of the music, and I feel there’s a convincing power in them,” Diluc countered Chen Luo.

"Hmm, okay, I have to admit, Wendy's songs are really good." Since Diluc has said so, Chen Luo can't deny it anymore.

After all, the first song Wendy sang for Chen Luo truly shocked him.

"Sigh, it's no use saying anything now. The most important thing is to get the Sky Harp back. Alo, I never expected you to fail at such a simple task."

Kid, you've disappointed me.

Although Wendy didn't say it that way, the meaning was clear from her words.

“There’s more good news. The Fools did follow me into Mondstadt Cathedral, but the Sky Harp is now in my hands.” Chen Luo placed the apple cider on the table and took the Sky Harp out of his backpack.

[Ding! Mission complete]

"Well done, Aro!" Barbatos, the god of wind, could tell at a glance whether the harp was genuine or not.

"Then why is it the Fatui who are wanted?" Diluc couldn't help but wonder, and then looked at Chen Luo.

"Who knows? Maybe I beat them up while they were running away and then took the harp? So, if that happens, will the Knights give me the title of Honorary Knight?" Chen Luo asked curiously.

"A Knight of Honor... In my opinion, joining the Knights is not a good choice." Diluc didn't focus on explaining whether he could become a Knight of Honor, but said this instead.

"I'm not planning to join the Knights of Mondstadt, I just heard that honorary knights get discounts on purchases."

"..."

"Hey, is there really a discount?" Little Paimon exclaimed in surprise.

"...Although there won't be any discounts on the surface, the people of Mondstadt have great respect for honorary knights, so they'll give you some kind of discount, more or less." Diluc hesitated for a moment before revealing this unspoken rule.

It's not exactly an unspoken rule, but rather like when you buy a pound of beef from an older woman at the market and she gives you a bunch of scallions as a gift.

However, judging from Paimon's thoughtful expression, it was clear that this matter had caused Paimon quite a shock.

"Oh, by the way, Master Diluc, I just saw that the only customer in your tavern left, so how about closing early today? Or how about I have the rest of the time to myself?" Chen Luo said to Diluc after taking back the apple wine.

“I don’t really care about the revenue in the next few hours. We can close early. Are you really going to insist on booking the whole place?” Diluc asked after a moment of thought.

Since there aren't many people coming to the bar right now because of the typhoon, it's fine to close the shop early or have Chen Luo book the whole place. And to be honest, Diluc doesn't care about the money he can make that night.

"It doesn't matter, just consider it as me having the whole place to myself, otherwise I'd feel really bad," Chen Luo said directly.

As for how to pay for the venue booking, Chen Luo already had a plan.

After hearing Chen Luo's answer, Diluc went down to the second floor and called out to the bartender below.

"So, does that mean I can drink to my heart's content?" Wendy asked, raising her hand.

"The important thing now should be the Sky Harp, right? Can we use it to summon Dvalin now?" Diluc said, returning to the table.

"The flowing rosewood, the cool star iron strings... it's such a nostalgic feeling... Now, I'm using this Sky Harp to summon Dvalin... Hmm, although it's a genuine treasure of the Wind God, it's probably not enough right now. As you can see, after thousands of years, the power of the wind has long since dried up. In this state, it's only good for singing for people under the statue of the Wind God..."

"Hey, poet, you asked us to lend out the Sky Harp just so you could play it better under the statue of the Wind God and then use it to earn Mora?" Little Paimon said discontentedly.

"Emmm, hehe?" Wendy thought for a moment, then tilted her head.

"What does 'eh hey' mean?"

"Exactly, Wendy, you never know how to get down to business, you weirdo." Chen Luo also joined the condemnation.

"Huh? I can accept Paimon saying that about me, but I can't accept you saying that about me. Who's the weirdo between us?" Wendy looked at Chen Luo in disbelief.

"So here's the solution, the solution!" Chen Luo slapped the table, reminding everyone.

“There is a solution, Traveler. Bring over the Dvalin’s Tear Crystals you’ve saved. Try dripping them onto the Sky Harp,” Wendy said to Luminous after placing the Sky Harp on the table.

Although Luminous didn't know what Venti was planning, it didn't stop her from listening to Venti's words and taking out the tear of Dvalin that she had kept and dripping it onto the Sky Harp. When the tear touched the Sky Harp, it seemed to come alive instantly.

“Hmm, not bad. The original concentration of wind element attached to the strings was far from enough. Now, thanks to the Dvalin’s Tear crystals, the concentration has increased, but it’s still far from enough. Judging from the current situation, a few more Dvalin’s Tears are needed,” Wendy said, looking at the Sky Harp.

"I understand, it means to make Dvalin cry, right?" Upon hearing Wendy's words, Chen Luo once again drew his sword, which was bathed in dragon blood.

"Chen Luo! Don't be so rude, okay? There should be some Dvalin's tears scattered in other places as well. Just go and collect those tears," Wendy said, sounding a bit annoyed.

Can you please stop taking out that sword bathed in dragon's blood all the time?

“This matter… I can help with. And after hearing the bard’s story, I invited someone else, who should be able to help as well. So how about we wait a little while?” Diluc suddenly spoke up.

"After all, finding things requires manpower and resources."

"So... that means we don't have to go looking for it ourselves. That's great! We can wait a bit." Wendy was instantly happy to hear that she didn't have to go looking for it herself.

And then... two hours passed.

Chen Luo didn't care. Since he had booked the entire place, outsiders couldn't get in, and the second floor was secluded enough, so Chen Luo finally had time to continue working on his puppet skill.

As a qualified puppeteer, one cannot always use real lives to control puppets; one should at least own some puppets of one's own creation.

Only after Chen Luo became the Herrscher of Domination and learned the Puppeteer skill did he understand why the future Herrscher of a Thousand appeared in that form, because such puppets with obvious joints were really easy to manufacture.

So, out of boredom, the crowd watched as Chen Luo spent two hours creating a very realistic 1:1 life-size wooden doll.

Just as Chen Luo was about to modify the last Honkai Crystal and put it into the doll's body, the person Chen Luo and the others were waiting for finally arrived.

To Chen Luo's surprise, he had thought Diluc would only invite Jean, but unexpectedly, two people came: Jean and Aunt Lisa.

But thinking about it carefully, it's normal for Qin and Lisa to run into each other since they are best friends.

"I'm sorry, I should have arrived two hours ago, but the Sky Harp was stolen, so... Sky Harp? How did it end up here!" Qin had just apologized when, thanks to Lisa's prompting, she saw the Sky Harp on the table.

"..." Chen Luo paused for a moment, then silently turned his head back and continued to work on the Honkai Crystal in his hand.

A proper Honkai Crystal should be the size of a human head, but a Honkai Crystal the size of a human head cannot fit inside a doll, so Chen Luo split it into three pieces, turning it into a three-part crystal.

Before inserting the three-dimensional crystals into the doll, the structure of the three-dimensional crystals needs to be adjusted so that they can produce a violent explosion when subjected to a strong impact.

In this way, a self-destructing doll was created.

"Prometheus, quick, quick, make a copy of this self-destructing doll," Chen Luo said hastily.

The self-destructing doll, as the name suggests, is a one-time use prop.

However, if Chen Luo copies the other party's blueprint using the Void Treasury, he can use the spiritual power, magic power, or Honkai energy within his body to materialize a self-destructing puppet.

To be fair, it took Chen Luo two hours to make this doll, which was quite troublesome.

Since they're all one-time use items anyway, it's so simple and quick to create them using the Void Treasury after it's been upgraded.

Chen Luo just felt that the way the doll exploded was a bit monotonous.

It needs some fancy touches.

Hmm, a bouncing bomb?

Chapter 157: Turn Wendy into Wind God Wine?

"So, in the end, it was this kind passerby who snatched the Sky Harp from the Fools?" Lisa asked, looking at Chen Luo who was fiddling with the doll.

"What exquisite puppetry!" Suddenly, Lisa's eyes lit up.

Lisa could tell that although the other person's technique was still somewhat immature, it was clear that the other person had a strong lineage. Although the dolls they created were simple, they had a very special spiritual essence.

Hmm, a strange, inexplicable aura that makes you want to smash that doll to pieces.

Although it sounds far-fetched, it is a technology that can be applied to disposable mocking dolls.

Moreover, judging from the thing that the other party put into the doll, which felt like a bone-chilling danger even from several meters away, this doll should be a suicide doll.

Overall, this doll isn't particularly intricate, but it's practical enough.

"Hey, Alo, stop fiddling with that doll. Everyone's here, come over and discuss the Dvalin's Tear." Wendy called out to Chen Luo.

"Oh." Chen Luo nodded and put the doll into his backpack.

"Is this... yet another traveler?" Qin asked, noticing Chen Luo's dark eyes and black hair.

"Let me introduce you. This is Jean, the acting Grand Master of Mondstadt, and this is Lisa, the librarian of the Knights of Favonius, an excellent mage." Diluc introduced the two women who had arrived to Chen Luo.

"Greetings, everyone. I am Chen Luo, a traveler on a journey and a puppeteer currently studying. I look forward to your guidance." Chen Luo introduced himself to everyone present.

"Hey, Alo, are you a puppeteer?" Wendy asked in surprise.

"...I'm not a puppeteer, so did you sculpt those statues in the bar?" Chen Luo glared at Wendy.

"Oh." Wendy sat down timidly.

Even after the other party learned that she was Barbatos, Wendy always felt that the other party should at least show her some respect and not keep taking advantage of her like that.

But thinking about it carefully, perhaps the other party is taking advantage of him because they know he is the Wind God.

Wendy was truly at a loss with Chen Luo.

Gods? Those things are indeed rare in the Zero Point Bar, but other demons and monsters are very common.

"A bar?" Diluc paused for a moment.

Diluc is very sensitive to this word.

"Oh, it's like this. You might not believe it, but even though I'm not an adult, I'm still a bar owner," Chen Luo said.

"The bar owner...is it a family business he inherited?"

"No, my parents are archaeologists," Chen Luo shook his head.

"Well, now that everyone's here, how about we come to my bar for a bit?" Chen Luo asked with great interest.

In Chen Luo's view, everyone present was a high-quality customer.

"Um, isn't that unnecessary? Isn't it more important to discuss the Sky Harp right now?" Qin politely declined.

I'm already in a bar, and now I have to go to your bar? I don't know how far that would be.

The problem is that it's a waste of time.

Qin and the others can wait, but Tvalin is almost gone.

"Fine then." Chen Luo shrugged helplessly.

What a great opportunity, and they wasted it.

How should I put it? Is this what you call mutual non-cooperation?

"Since the wind element on the Sky Harp has become so minimal, it can no longer unleash its full power, right? But then again, it's quite something that people still know the Sky Harp's hidden uses..." Lisa paused, giving Wendy a meaningful look.