Genshin Impact, I'm Slime

Chapter 530: Song of Salt

“Hey, I said I came to Liyue to see the emperor’s holy face and compose an epic poem… Mr. Zhongli, do you believe me?”

Hearing Zhongli's question, the guilty Venti unconsciously leaned towards FAMAS, trying to defend herself with the same words she used to deal with Traveler and Paimon.

"…Of course I believe it, but a few days ago, many of the aged wines I collected in the Hall of the Dead were suddenly stolen, including two bottles of the century-old Wind God Special Brew from the Dawn Winery. Since you are a bard from Mondstadt, I believe you have heard of the deeds of the tavern thieves?"

Zhongli showed his usual elegant and refined look, squinting his eyes, smiling and nodding, but the implication of his words was obviously hinting that Venti took advantage of the battle in Liyue and when no one was left in the Hall of Rebirth, she sneaked into his room and stole the fine wines from all over the world that he had collected for many years.

“Ha, haha…really?”

  Although Wendy was very sure that he had not left any traces when he stole the wine, he could not help but feel even more guilty when he heard Zhongli's question. He tiptoed quietly towards Famas's position until he grabbed the hem of Famas's clothes with his hand, then he spread out his other hand and refuted confidently:

"What kind of tavern thief? This poet has never heard of him!"

"I suggest that Mr. Zhongli report the case directly to the Knights of Favonius... no, the staff of the General Affairs Department..."

Wendy muttered softly and hid behind Famas, and the boy cooperated very well by standing in front of Wendy. Zhongli frowned slightly when he saw the coordinated performance between the two, and then sighed helplessly.

Zhongli is not a wine lover, and he mostly drinks tea when he goes out. The reason why he collects fine wines from all over Teyvat is that he hopes that when the "Seven Gods Wine Party" is held again one day, Liyue will be able to serve fine wine and delicious food to entertain his colleagues.

However, ever since the Kanreya disaster five hundred years ago, the ruling position has changed many times, and the Seven Gods have never reunited.

Therefore, the mellow and fine wine that Zhongli bought from merchants and private brewers all over Liyue every year was just left in the room. Most of the immortals in Liyue were indifferent in temperament, the only remaining Golden Roc Yaksha had duties to perform, and Hu Tao was still young. Except for festivals when Zhongli occasionally drank alone facing the moon, there was no one in the vast Liyue who could drink with him.

Now that the wine in the room had been stolen by Wendy, Zhongli had no intention of scolding her.

After all, these drinks were originally prepared for the Seven Gods colleagues, and it was appropriate for Barbatos, a famous drunkard among the Seven Consuls, to take them and drink them.

"That's such a pity. This sweet wine was originally intended as a tribute to the neighboring country's wind god, but it was stolen by thieves..."

The corners of Zhongli's mouth twitched unconsciously, revealing a meaningful smile.

In addition to ordinary drinks, his room also had several bottles of wine brewed by General Razumaki himself when he was alive.

Perhaps knowing that these bottles and cups were the last legacy left by a certain Yaksha, although very envious, Wendy still deliberately passed over the bottles of fine wine that were served in Liyue porcelain bottles and exuded a rich aroma from the cracks.

However, after hearing Zhongli's words, Venti suddenly let go of the little hand that was holding the corner of Famas's clothes and rushed to Zhongli excitedly:

"Hey, old man, you have to keep your word... That's right, I was the one who took the wine!"

"I remember there were a few bottles of fine wine in Liyue bottles in your room... Are those also prepared for me... for Lord Barbatos?"

Wendy admitted to stealing the wine without hesitation, but when Zhongli heard Wendy mention the wine given by Fa Nan, the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

Two hundred years ago, Venti flew to Liyue after getting drunk late at night to talk to Zhongli. At that time, Zhongli listened to the poet's complaints honestly, trying to figure out the deep meaning behind his crazy words, and never thought that gods could also go "crazy when drunk".

After a brief conversation, Wendy insisted on pulling Zhongli to fly a few laps in the sky. Considering that the other party was already drunk, Emperor put on a stern face and reluctantly accompanied the other party to do irregular exercises in the sky.

Unexpectedly, when landing, Wendy, who was dizzy from flying, successfully vomited all the wine she had drunk on Zhongli's clothes.

These are the clothes that Mi Nu personally sewed for him!

From then on, whenever Zhongli saw Venti in Liyue, he would always ask if the other party needed help with any government affairs. If he got a negative answer, he would warn Venti to fulfill his duty of teaching humans well, and finally throw the lazy poet back to his hometown in Mondstadt.

It's a pity that FAMAS is now present, and Zhongli obviously cannot throw Venti back to Mondstadt in front of the boy. Moreover, Venti had made great contributions in the previous Liyue battlefield. If it weren't for him holding up the sky of Liyue, the damage suffered by the port city would definitely be greater than it is now.

  So when faced with Wendy's urgent question, Zhongli simply crossed his arms, stared at the expectant bard with his golden eyes, and asked helplessly:

"……What do you think?"

  Retirement is obviously something worth celebrating, so why does it become so complicated for him?

Forget it, let Ningguang deal with this kind of thing from now on. He can just be an ordinary guest of the Wangsheng Hall. We don’t understand anything and we know nothing.

Zhongli was determined to play dumb. Famas was also speechless and held his forehead with his hand, staring at the back of the little poet who was asking Zhongli questions. The Traveler and Paimon also turned their eyes away because of Zhongli's question. Everyone's eyes were focused on Venti.

"Ahem, why are you all looking at me?"

Seeing Zhongli's hard look, Wendy, who knew she had no affinity with good wine, curled her lips and turned away regretfully, "Okay, okay... I came to Liyue this time because I really have something serious to tell you."

"is it?"

Paimon rolled his eyes and raised his head with a look of doubt, but it was rare for the traveler to hear the word "serious" from Wendy's mouth, so he straightened his attitude slightly and pretended to listen attentively.

“Of course!” Wendy cleared his throat, opened his arms to everyone, and raised his hand to press the small bow tie on his chest. “Last night, this poet was observing the sky in the tavern and found that the star symbolizing [Salt Mother] Heulia was shining brightly again, and the place where the star rose was exactly above the Liyue territory.”

"For the sake of friendship among colleagues, I should definitely come to Liyue to see what's going on."

  The reason given by Venti was quite logical. Even Zhongli couldn't help but lower his eyes in deep thought when he heard Heulia's name. However, Paimon's focus was on what Venti said about observing the night sky:

"Eh? So Wendy also knows astrology like Miss Mona?"

"Hehe... Of course, there are so many customers from all over the world in the tavern, and I have learned a lot from them."

The little poet nodded proudly, and Famas immediately thought of the letter with the dandelion cluster.

This guy Wendy, the letter contained something like an expectant invitation from the wind elf to the slime hero, but in fact his purpose of coming to Liyue was no different from that of Morax.

All for the "resurrected" salt demon, Heulia.