"Ow!"
Lumine's fist landed squarely on Ryan's head. Ryan couldn't help but yelp in surprise, raising his hand to cover his forehead, his ears drooping down to rest on the back of his hand.
"Do you know why I hit you?"
Lumine rubbed her wrist and asked Ryan, who was still covering his head.
"Wh-why?"
Ryan looked weakly at Lumine.
"Because you shouldn't use this kind of moral blackmail. If you like me, just pursue me. Don't try to blackmail me with your big belly."
Lumine explained to Ryan.
..."I understand. Then, beautiful lady, may I pursue you?"
Ryan finally nodded in realization, then looked at Lumine with a sincere expression.
Seeing Ryan's sincere face, Lumine smiled, then parted her lips slightly and said gently:
"No."
"Do you think I'm Paimon? Go dream your beautiful dreams."
Lumine rejected Ryan without hesitation.
"Alright..."
Rejected, Ryan could only slump back against the headboard, feeling dejected.
However, he had no intention of giving up. He observed Lumine while pondering how to get closer to her.
It was just like how he'd figured out how to approach Paimon and increase Paimon's friendship.
But Lumine wasn't as gluttonous as Paimon, so Ryan didn't have anything that could attract her attention.
"Your belly is digesting quite quickly..."
Lumine, observing Ryan's belly, noted that it was already noticeably smaller than before.
"Perhaps it's because the things I ate were purer. I didn't see many of Martial Grand-Aunt's memories..."
It was Ryan's first time eating so much. He rubbed his belly, a little unsure.
Previously, whether it was the Exuvia or the emotions from Osial, he had seen some memory fragments related to the emotions when he absorbed them. But there weren't many from Azhdaha.
Perhaps this was due to the erode, causing him to lose many memories, or perhaps his anger stemmed from losing his memories.
"Then I'll leave after you can move again."
Lumine nodded, then sat on the edge of the bed and took out her Serenitea Pot.
From the Serenitea Pot, Lumine pulled out a book and began to flip through it to pass the time.
Seeing this, Ryan knew his chance had come. He sat up again and moved closer to Lumine.
"Traveler, what are you reading?"
There were no extra chairs in Ryan's cave, so Lumine was sitting directly on the edge of the bed. Ryan curiously leaned in from behind.
"Teyvat Travel Guide, Liyue Chapter."
Lumine explained simply.
She and Paimon had only managed to get this a few days ago after helping Master Chang.
"Speaking of which, Ryan, do you know the author of the Teyvat Travel Guide?"
After explaining, Lumine seemed to recall something. She turned her head and asked Ryan, who was leaning so close he was almost on her shoulder, subtly shifting her position to the side.
"Huh? Who? I haven't heard of them..."
Ryan scratched his head in confusion.
"The author's name is Alice. She's apparently the mother of a child we met in Mondstadt, a very famous Adventurer."
"And look at this page..."
Lumine briefly explained the author's identity, then flipped back a few pages and pointed to the content, reminding Ryan.
Ryan had to crane his neck to glance at the book's content, following Lumine's finger.
[When I was about to ascend Aozang Mountain, Mr. Morax, who was accompanying me, suddenly had to leave, so I had to go up the mountain alone.
At the summit, I encountered a small white fox being struck by lightning. Although I didn't know if it had done something wrong and was being punished, I still used bombs to blast away all the terrifying thunderclouds for it.
Afterward, to repay me, it voluntarily gave me the fur from its tail. The texture was very soft, so I wove it into a plush toy.]
The Teyvat Travel Guide was a special issue of the Teyvat Geography Magazine, but it was also a brief travelogue of the Adventurer Alice's journeys across Teyvat.
So some of the content was in a diary-like format.
"See? The fox on Aozang Mountain, getting struck by lightning—who else could it be but you? Paimon and I guessed it was you when we read this last night."
Lumine pointed to the passage and said with certainty.
"..."
Ryan recalled the content recorded above.
Indeed, an aunt with pointy ears had visited Aozang Mountain before..."It's her! That bad, pointy-eared aunt made my Sweet Sweet Pill fail its tribulation and even pulled out my tail fur!"
Then, Ryan exclaimed, his fur bristling, though with his round belly, he had no intimidation factor whatsoever.
A Sweet Sweet Pill's tribulation required it to be struck by lightning. Ryan helping to bear it only absorbed most of the tribulation lightning's power, but a portion of the tribulation lightning still fell on the Sweet Sweet Pill and was absorbed.
The Sweet Sweet Pill also needed to absorb the power of this tribulation lightning to complete its transformation and successful gilding. Otherwise, why wouldn't Ryan just take the Sweet Sweet Pill and run out of the tribulation lightning's range?
Therefore, after the thunderclouds were blasted apart, causing the lightning tribulation to cease, Ryan's Sweet Sweet Pill failed its tribulation and lost its chance for gilding.
"Pfft..."
Seeing Ryan's bristling fur and recalling the image of his tail fur being plucked clean, Lumine couldn't help but let out a light laugh.
Lumine's soft laugh made Ryan freeze, staring intently at Lumine's face.
"Traveler, you looked so beautiful when you chuckled just now."
Ryan suddenly said.
"Ehh... even if you're so direct, it won't work."
Lumine, after a moment of distaste, closed the book and said helplessly.
"Forget it, just tell me directly what you want to do to me. Are you going to boil me like Paimon?"
Lumine was getting tired of Ryan's sudden compliments and decided to be direct.
Otherwise, constantly being told she was beautiful would make her embarrassed.
"How could I? I'm always very gentle with beautiful ladies..."
Ryan tried to continue explaining, but before he finished, he saw Lumine raise her small fist.
..."Alright, actually, I want a little bit of your saliva."
Looking at the small, soft but very intimidating fist, Ryan instinctively covered his forehead and honestly stated his purpose.
Given Lumine's ferocity, he really wouldn't dare to imagine boiling a pot of ying water like he did with Paimon.
"Eww~"
Hearing Ryan's explanation, Lumine put her hand to her mouth in disgust.
Seeing Lumine's disgusted expression and her body instinctively recoiling, Ryan's eyes darted around, and he tentatively suggested:
"I'll give you half of the Sweet Sweet Pill I refine then?"
"Deal!"
No sooner had Ryan finished speaking than Lumine's eyes lit up, and she grabbed Ryan's hand.
Actually, she had been a little envious after seeing the Sweet Sweet Pill Ryan took out at the Bubu Pharmacy last time.
As an Adventurer, she and Paimon often ventured into dangerous areas and frequently fought monsters. Injuries were naturally common, so having some Sweet Sweet Pills for healing would be perfect.
So, ever since the Sweet Sweet Pill, Lumine had always been very interested in Ryan's Sweet Sweet Pills, she just hadn't found a good opportunity to ask Ryan for some...