To ensure the safety of people and protect them from the threat of monsters, the Liyue Qixing established a garrison of over ten thousand Millelith soldiers in the northern region. They patrol twenty-four hours a day to prevent monsters from attacking travelers.
Wangshu Inn, a guesthouse built on a colossal stone, stands as tall as the Fu Ling Tree near Mt. Hulao and the Bitter Love Tree in the world of Fox Spirits, making it a landmark in the Dihua Marsh. Merchants from all seven nations generally choose to lodge and rest at Wangshu Inn. As for security, while the Millelith patrol openly, the Demon Slayer, Xiao, guards this place in secret. In terms of safety, it is no less secure than Liyue Harbor.
"Sister, you didn't bring any money?"
"I already returned all the Mora Master gave us last time to her. In the mountains, we don't need worldly possessions like money."
"...That makes sense."
Ling Feng and Shenhe stood in front of Wangshu Inn, intending to go inside for a meal and some rest. However, neither of them had any money, so they could only stand outside, shivering in the wind, unsure of what to do. They couldn't possibly storm in and dine and dash; that would make them famous in Liyue the next day. It could be front-page news, or it could be a wanted poster.
"Sigh, I originally wanted to try the food at Wangshu Inn. I remember Wangshu Inn has an ace chef named Yan Xiao. If we were lucky, we might even get to taste his cooking. Looks like we'll have to wait for another opportunity," Ling Feng sighed helplessly, as trying various delicacies was also one of his life goals. Shenhe, on the other hand, said nothing. In her eyes, eating food was not as good as eating Qingxin and Glaze Lilies, which were medicinal herbs, except for Dragon Beard Noodles.
"So fragrant~" Just as Ling Feng was about to leave, he suddenly heard a gulping sound next to his ear and instinctively turned his head.
"Holy cow! Who are you?"
He saw a girl with a pale face, so thin that her bones were almost showing. She was gazing at Wangshu Inn, her nose sniffing incessantly at the aroma of food in the air, with drool streaming down the corners of her mouth. She looked like a starving ghost, utterly terrifying.
"My name is..."
Hearing Ling Feng's voice, the girl snapped back to reality, wiped the drool from her mouth, and stood tall and proud, preparing for a grand self-introduction.
"Are you Mona?"
Without giving the girl a chance to speak, Ling Feng had already called out her name. Ling Feng looked her up and down in surprise. At first, he hadn't recognized the person in front of him as Mona, only being scared half to death by her starving ghost appearance. However, after regaining his senses and taking a closer look, he found her surprisingly familiar. Wasn't this Mona, the essential five-star character for the nuke damage build? Although he had never owned her, he had learned of her power from watching videos. Her burst multiplier in the game was indeed very high. He had watched countless videos of others performing nuke damage builds, and almost everyone had a Mona.
"You know me? Has my reputation, Mona, become so widespread that everyone knows of me?"
"Alright, since you recognize me, I'm very happy today. I'll generously offer you a divination session in exchange for a meal. How about it?" Mona held up one finger and smiled.
Ling Feng/Shenhe: ...
They had never met such an unashamed person!
"Sorry, we don't need it. Sister, let's go."
"Mhm."
With that, the two began to leave, one after the other. Mona saw this and quickly ran forward to stop them, holding up a finger again: "If you think it's too expensive, how about 1,000 Mora? This is the lowest price."
Ling Feng's mouth twitched, and he shrugged helplessly, "It's not about the price; we genuinely don't need it."
The two walked around Mona and continued on their way. Seeing their receding backs without any hesitation, Mona sighed. "I originally wanted to earn some extra cash. Oh well, I should hurry and find the person the old woman mentioned who can solve our current hunger problem. Bring back some food, or the old woman will starve to death."
With that, Mona returned to the entrance of Wangshu Inn, took out a compass from her Elemental Eye space, and began wandering around Wangshu Inn. However, after ten minutes of searching, the compass still showed no reaction. Seeing this, Mona became anxious. She hadn't eaten for three days either. She quickly fiddled with the compass, checking what the problem might be.
"What's going on? Why is there no reaction at all? It's supposed to make a sound to alert me within a hundred meters. Did the old woman lie to me?"
"Impossible, impossible. If she lied to me, she would have nothing to eat either. Could the compass be broken? That's impossible too. This is the top-of-the-line positioning compass we bought with all our savings three days ago!"
After fiddling with it for a while, Mona suddenly paused, as if she had thought of something. "Wait, there might be one other possibility."
"Could it be that the target is no longer within the vicinity of Wangshu Inn? But didn't the old woman say she detected it in my astral path? By rights, I should encounter that person, but why don't I see them?" Mona looked around, confused. After a moment, she suddenly remembered what had happened ten minutes ago.
"Could it be one of those two? Right, the young man who recognized me!" Mona thought back to the events, realizing that she hadn't revealed her name, yet he recognized her. Wasn't that strange? With this thought, Mona quickly used her Hydro abilities and chased in the direction Ling Feng and the others had gone. If it weren't a taboo to use astrology on herself, she would have definitely divined it.
Thirty minutes later, in a wild area about ten kilometers away from Wangshu Inn, a bonfire flickered, standing out starkly against the dark environment. A man and two women sat by the bonfire. One of the women was holding something and eating it.
"So delicious, what do you call this?" Mona asked, her mouth full of Braised Beef Noodles, eating with relish and slightly incoherently.
"Braised Beef Noodles, a type of instant noodle." Although Mona's pronunciation was unclear, Ling Feng roughly understood what she meant and replied faintly.
"I'll remember that. Slurp, it's really delicious. Could I have another bowl?" Mona finished the noodle soup in her bowl and licked her lips, still wanting more. She shouted loudly.
"Damn! This is your fourth bucket! You're still not full?" Ling Feng pointed at the pile of paper buckets beside Mona, annoyed. Mona glanced at the "evidence" beside her and was slightly stunned, blushing. How had she eaten so much without realizing it?
"No, I absolutely cannot say I'm still hungry. I need to think of a way," Mona thought to herself, her mind spinning rapidly. Soon, a reason she considered very good came to her.