"Alright, next is Mountain Shaper. Although this elder isn't as hot-tempered as Moon Carver and is generally a nice person, he's very rigid. I don't know how angry he'll be when he hears the news of Rex Lapis's assassination."
Su Bai rubbed his forehead. Among the elders of Jueyun Karst, each one was harder to deal with than the last. Cloud Retainer, the most difficult of them all, he would save for last. Compared to her, Mountain Shaper could at least be reasoned with.
As they walked toward Mountain Shaper's abode, Paimon, who had been eating raspberries, suddenly stopped. She tossed the fruit aside and flew off in one direction.
"Hehe, Su Bai, Lumine, come look! This is a huge piece of Cor Lapis! We're going to be rich! If we break this off and take it back to Liyue Harbor, we can sell it for a fortune."
"Wow, that's huge! Wait, there's another one over there!"
Paimon's eyes sparkled as she hugged the Cor Lapis, giggling to herself. Lumine stared at the massive piece, swallowing hard. She had good eyes too. Glancing toward Mt. Hulao, she spotted another huge piece of Cor Lapis.
Lumine dropped all pretense in front of Su Bai. This was Mora. In her days taking commissions in Liyue, she had specifically learned the prices of valuable items. The wealthy in Liyue never hesitated to spend when it came to high-quality ores.
Mr. Zhongli at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor had bought a piece of Noctilucous Jade a few days ago. She couldn't imagine that an ordinary chunk of stone had cost a million Mora.
When Mr. Zhongli told Director Hu the price, she thought the director had turned black and white. That strange little ghost had even come out to comfort Hu Tao.
Mona, fiddling with her strange instruments nearby, had gone cross-eyed, muttering about how many Mora Meats that could buy. Indeed, after learning the price of Mora Meat, that dish had replaced salad as Mona's favorite. This meaty, filling food had earned her high praise.
According to Director Hu, the first time Mona tried Mora Meat, she ate eight in one sitting. By the time Xiangling's other dishes came out, Mona had no room left. The look in her eyes made Hu Tao unable to eat much either, so she packed everything. After Mona digested, they ate again together.
Fortunately, Mr. Zhongli said a benefactor had paid for it, so the bill wouldn't come to Wangsheng. Otherwise, Lumine might have worried about the parlor going bankrupt. She had to admit, she really liked her friends at Wangsheng. Every one of them was a character, and they were fun to talk to.
"Be careful, you two. This Cor Lapis can eat people."
"Eat people? Don't joke, Su Bai. How could Cor Lapis eat people?"
Paimon patted the huge piece of Cor Lapis carelessly, thinking Su Bai was just scaring her. She had been in Liyue for a while and had never heard of gemstones eating people. Lumine, half doubtful, quietly moved away from the large stone.
Seeing that Paimon didn't believe him, Su Bai expertly wrapped the Cor Lapis in Electro energy. The electricity stripped away the cloudy outer layer, revealing the gemstone's true appearance.
"Wow, how did a crystal fly get inside? Wait, Su Bai, are you trying to tell me this crystal fly got eaten by the Cor Lapis?"
Paimon curiously leaned in to examine the Cor Lapis. She had been wondering how a crystal fly could be trapped inside. But remembering Su Bai's warning that the stone could eat people, she quickly scurried away.
Still, from the reluctant look in Paimon's eyes, Su Bai knew she hadn't given up. This little one, always thinking about food, was probably trying to figure out how to sell the stone without getting eaten herself.
"Alright, alright, Paimon. Stop thinking about selling this Cor Lapis. This isn't naturally formed."
Su Bai placed his hand on the stone. Adeptal energy flowed through his fingers. Crack. A sharp sound echoed as a fissure appeared on the massive stone. Under Paimon's incredulous gaze, the crack spread rapidly across the surface. In no time, the huge stone crumbled into a pile of debris, and several crystal flies fluttered out.
"Huh? The Cor Lapis broke? Why are the crystal flies still alive?"
"Su Bai, what's going on? Did you break it? That was all Mora!"
Paimon clutched her chest, her voice full of regret. Seeing her little dramatic act, Su Bai couldn't help but laugh. Little Paimon really had a talent for performance. What an adorable little piece of emergency food.
"Alright, alright. This kind of giant Cor Lapis was created by Mountain Shaper. He doesn't like being disturbed, so he made these as traps. See that base underneath? That's the mechanism that creates these giant stones."
Su Bai pointed to the base of the stone. A faint trace of Geo energy flowed through a strange piece of rock. If you didn't look closely, you wouldn't notice anything unusual.
He picked up a fragment of the giant stone. Under Paimon's puzzled gaze, he gently squeezed, and the fragment turned to dust, scattering in the wind.
"Because this kind of giant stone isn't naturally formed, it breaks easily. Even someone who knows nothing about Cor Lapis wouldn't buy this. So, Paimon, you should give up on making Mora from it."
Lumine picked up a fragment and squeezed lightly. Like Su Bai said, it instantly turned to powder. Seeing Lumine's demonstration, Paimon finally gave up hope.
"How could this happen? I thought we could sell it for a lot of Mora and go eat delicious food."
Her get-rich-quick scheme dashed, Paimon looked glum. Su Bai pinched her chubby cheek. He had never worried much about Mora himself, so he didn't understand why Paimon loved it so much. Hadn't they just given her and Lumine a share of Mora a few days ago? Had they already spent it all?
Su Bai turned to Lumine. She looked away guiltily. That share of Mora was already gone. Poor Paimon had barely enjoyed a day of being rich before being brought back to reality.
"Alright, don't make that face. Besides monsters or small animals, there might be chests inside these stones. If the two of you break open all the Cor Lapis around here, you might find something worthwhile."
Su Bai rubbed his chin. Mountain Shaper didn't like his abode to be messy, so whenever he found chests during his travels, he would seal them inside Cor Lapis, leaving them for so-called "destined ones" to find.
Cloud Retainer had often hinted to Su Bai and Shenhe about treasure chests on Mt. Hulao. That was why Shenhe, before every trip to Liyue Harbor, would search the area and always come back with plenty of loot.
Su Bai vividly remembered Shenhe taking him to Xinyue Kiosk for a meal. After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Shenhe pulled out three Precious Chests and opened them on the spot.