I opened a shop on the Astral Train-Chapter 81

Topaz sat down, pulled out some snacks from earlier in the day, and began eating.

Not long after, Liuyun, Xieyue, Lishui, Xiao, and Shenhe boarded the treasure ship.

Seeing the immortals arrive, Ningguang went forward to greet them. "Welcome, esteemed guests."

Xieyue and Lishui returned her greeting politely—after all, Ningguang was the host, and they were her guests.

Liuyun, however, strode straight past them, found a seat, and immediately pulled out a collection of computer parts, resuming her research.

It had taken quite some convincing for Hu Tao to sell her those parts. But much like Hu Tao's flying motorcycle, Liuyun could take it apart just fine—putting it back together was another story.

She sat in the corner, frowning in frustration, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, Xiao headed directly to the second floor, where he greeted Zhongli with a small bow. "Emperor."

Zhongli nodded. "The Lantern Festival is upon us. Take some time to relax."

Xiao hesitated, then nodded. "Yes."

Shortly after, Grandma Ping arrived, bringing with her six excited children and Yanfei.

Each child clutched a night lantern, their handcrafted creations from earlier that day.

Instead of going inside, the children remained on the deck, holding their lanterns and chatting excitedly.

Klee hugged her lantern tightly. "Yaoyao, when can we set them off?"

Yaoyao placed her lantern on the ground and clapped her hands. "We have to wait until evening. Once the fireworks start, that's when we can release them."

Klee's eyes sparkled. "Fireworks, fireworks! When will they come out?"

Qiqi stared blankly at the sky, clutching her lantern. "Fireworks... What are... fireworks? Qiqi doesn't remember."

Bailu giggled. "Fireworks are really pretty! You'll see soon."

Then, a thought struck Bailu. Qiqi's memory was always foggy.

Curious, she turned to Yaoyao. "Yaoyao, is Qiqi's memory really that bad?"

Yaoyao nodded. "Yes! Qiqi is a zombie, so her memory is poor. She forgets things a lot."

Bailu's interest was piqued. Zombies! She had only seen them in movies—she had to study this carefully.

She took Qiqi's hand and felt for a pulse.

Qiqi blinked at her blankly.

Bailu's brows furrowed. No pulse. No heartbeat.

Troublesome.

"Qiqi, come with me tomorrow. I'll check your condition."

Qiqi tilted her head. "Where?"

Follow current novels on freewebnσvel.cѳm.

"A good place. You'll find out soon."

Qiqi thought for a moment before nodding.

Just then, Klee interrupted, bouncing with excitement. "Let's ask Brother Yuri! Brother Yuri is amazing—he can fix anything!"

Bailu smacked her forehead. "Oh! That's right! If we ask Yuri, we won't have to run around!"

Without another word, she abandoned her night lantern, grabbed Qiqi's hand, and rushed into the cabin. The rest of the children followed eagerly.

Meanwhile, Grandma Ping led Yanfei to meet Xieyue and Lishui.

The children burst into the second-floor tea room.

Bailu barely had the door open before she heard Jing Yuan chuckling. "Well, well, look who we have here—our little troublemakers."

Ignoring the tease, Bailu pulled Qiqi straight to Yuri. "Yuri, do you have any medicine for zombies?"

Yuri raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Qiqi.

Qiqi? How had she ended up here? He figured Klee and the others had dragged her along.

After studying her for a moment, he sighed. "Let me check first."

As he observed Qiqi, he noticed the chaotic energy swirling inside her. That explained the memory loss.

Fixing a zombie body was simple enough.

After searching the system's marketplace for a solution, Yuri found the perfect item.

[Product: Water of Life]

[Description: A mystical essence extracted from the Tree of Life in a distant world. Balances internal energies and restores vitality.]

[Price: 30,000 Stellar Jade]

Yuri didn't hesitate. He bought it immediately.

A small glass vial filled with glowing green liquid appeared in his hand.

He smiled at Qiqi. "Open your mouth."

Qiqi stared at him blankly.

Bailu, standing beside her, patted her own chest reassuringly. "Don't worry, Qiqi! Yuri's a good guy. He's helping so you won't forget things anymore."

Qiqi's gaze flickered. "Won't... forget?"

That was enough to convince her. She opened her mouth, and Yuri poured the Water of Life inside.

The vial was small, and Qiqi drank it quickly.

The children crowded around eagerly.

"How do you feel?" Klee asked, sniffing at her curiously.

Qiqi looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers. "Qiqi... feels warm."

Yuri nodded. "Good. The Water of Life is restoring your vitality and stabilizing your energy."

Klee pouted. "But Qiqi still talks funny."

Yuri chuckled. "Give it time. The healing process isn't instant. Go play for now—she'll be fine soon."

Satisfied with that answer, the children cheered and dragged Qiqi out of the tea room.

Yuri raised his teacup.

"Come on, let's continue drinking tea. It's rare to have such a beautiful festival and scenery—let's enjoy the moment."

Jiaoqiu smiled and raised his glass. "Yes, yes! Thank you again, Mr. Zhongli, for inviting us to such a grand and lively event."

Zhongli lifted his own cup. "You are all my friends. No need for thanks. Let us drink."

Yuri and his companions continued sipping tea and chatting leisurely.

Two days ago, Kevin had questioned this kind of lifestyle, wondering why Yuri and the others spent their days playing chess and drinking tea.

Zhongli had simply replied, "You are not yet our age. You don't understand."

On the deck, Kevin, Hu Tao, and their group had boarded the treasure ship.

Seele held up the salt ruler and salt cup she had found, intending to ask Zhongli about their value.

"Mr. Zhongli, could you take a look at these?" Seele asked as she handed over the artifacts.

Zhongli examined them carefully, his brows furrowing. "Where did you find these?"

Seele recounted their discovery of the underground ruins.

An old memory surfaced in Zhongli's mind. "Congratulations. These are priceless treasures."

Seele's eyes sparkled. "Really? I found a treasure?"

Zhongli nodded. "The first item is a salt ruler. If inserted into the ground, it can convert soil into salt. The second is a salt cup, which always contains half a basin of salt."

Seele's mind raced. "So I'll never run out of salt again?"

Zhongli shook his head. "These once belonged to a demon god whose domain was salt. Over the centuries, their power has weakened. However, they should still be able to produce a few hundred tons of salt."

Seele's eyes lit up at the words "hundreds of tons." "That's more than enough! I saw Bronya ordering salt from Topaz recently. Now we can save some money."

Kevin, who had been listening, suddenly remembered something. He pulled out the broken sword he had found and handed it to Zhongli.

"Zhongli, what about this sword? It came from the same ruins."

Zhongli inspected the blade. "It is just an ordinary sword. However, it is said to be the weapon that struck down the Salt Demon God. If you market it with that story, someone might buy it."

Kevin deflated. "So, it's not actually valuable?"

Zhongli sighed. "Unfortunately, there is no way to prove its authenticity. That history has been buried underground, unseen for ages."

Seele carefully packed away the salt artifacts, planning to deliver them to Bronya upon her return to Belobog.

Meanwhile, Kevin, Seele, and the others headed to the first-floor hall.

Hu Tao peeked into the kitchen, where Xiangling was hard at work alongside several helpers.

Hu Tao grinned. "Xiangling, how much longer until the food is ready?"

Xiangling turned her head. "A little while. Go play first."

Hu Tao relayed the message to the others.

Kevin pondered. "How about we play Diyuan Qiongyu?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qingque strolled in.

"Diyuan Qiongyu? Perfect! Set the table up!"

March 7th looked at Qingque in surprise. "Qingque? You're here? Didn't you say you couldn't make it?"

Qingque rubbed her hands together eagerly. "I finished my work! I saw you weren't on the train, so I came looking for you. If Sister Yelan from Wanmin Hall hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known you were here. But enough chatting—where's the Emperor's Jade? Let's play!"

Kevin took out two sets of Emperor's Jade tiles, and soon, they had two tables set up for the game.

On the deck, Barnabas arrived with the Lady and the Young Master, stepping onto the treasure ship.

Ningguang observed them with mild curiosity. "I don't recall inviting the Fatui. What brings you here?"

At that moment, Asmodeus descended onto the deck, accompanied by Silver Wolf and Nahida.

"Ningguang, I invited them. Let them in."

Ningguang eyed Asmodeus carefully. She knew his identity—he was the Ruler of the Sky, an existence more powerful than her own Archon.

Asmodeus, unconcerned, pulled out a controller. "Silver Wolf, let's head inside and find a place to play."

The two of them casually walked into the cabin.

Nahida, meanwhile, noticed the six children sitting beside their night lanterns and decided to inspect their handiwork.

Ningguang turned back to Barnabas. "Since you are guests of His Majesty Asmodeus, you may enter."

Barnabas smiled. "Much appreciated."

He and his companions entered the cabin and took their seats.

Barnabas noticed the Young Master fidgeting and smiled. "Go on, you don't have to sit here with me."

The Young Master bowed slightly before dashing off to watch Kevin play Diyuan Qiongyu. He found it rather entertaining.

The Lady sighed at his lack of decorum. "He really left just like that? Doesn't he know how to act in a formal setting?"

Still, she admitted to herself that such carefree colleagues were often the most trustworthy.

The Young Master arrived at Kevin's game table but felt something odd beneath his foot.

Looking down, he realized he had stepped on a broken sword.

"What's this junk?" he muttered.

Kevin immediately noticed. His eyes gleamed with mischief as an idea struck him. He slammed the table and stood up dramatically.

"Unbelievable! You stepped on my priceless treasure! You have to pay for it!"

Kevin quickly pulled out his phone, snapping a photo for "evidence."

The Young Master glanced at the sword dismissively. "How much can this piece of junk even be worth? Fine, name your price."

Kevin smirked and held up three fingers. "Three million Mora."

The Young Master froze. "How much?!"

Kevin leaned in. "This isn't just any sword. This is the legendary blade that struck down the Salt Demon God."

Amber chimed in, "You mean Heulia, the Demon God of Salt."

Kevin nodded. "Exactly! And don't just take my word for it—Zhongli, the Rock God himself, verified it!"

The Young Master hesitated. That was quite the claim. But with Zhongli's name brought into it... perhaps it was true.

With a resigned sigh, he pulled out a silver note. "Here. This is a 5-million Mora deposit note from Northland Bank. I don't carry that much cash, so take this instead. The extra 2 million is just for goodwill."

Kevin took the note and inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of money. "Ahh~ The sweet, sweet smell of wealth."

He tucked the note away, grinning in satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad. You handle things well. But let's not call it 'goodwill'—aren't we friends? This just strengthens our bond."

The Young Master shook his head, chuckling. "I was actually curious about what game you were playing."

Kevin glanced at March 7th, Qingque, and Ying at the table.

March 7th stretched. "You can take my spot. I'll rest for a bit."