Testing his suspicion, Xia Zhi used Skill Steal.
[Skill Steal successful. Learned skill: Eye of Stormy Judgment.]
[Eye of Stormy Judgment: Summon a hand of calamity to shield allies and punish enemies with thunder.]
A special buff skill. Useful for his Magical Girls.
[Skill Steal successful. Learned skill: Musou Isshin.]
[Musou Isshin: Master the Isshin-ryu style. Damage with swords and naginata +50%. Attain sword grandmastery and naginata grandmastery.]
Two more masteries gained.
[Skill Steal successful. Learned skill: Kitchen Ineptitude.]
[Kitchen Ineptitude: Passive. Whenever you cook, the result will always turn out strange.]
There it was—the cause.
Not a curse, exactly. Ei was a god—few curses could touch her.
It was more like a natural fate, a unique life-bound Trait.
Like Shenhe's.
Likely a side effect of her constellations, something unique to Teyvat's natives.
Which made things troublesome.
As long as Kitchen Ineptitude existed, even with the Book of Erudition raising her to Culinary Grandmaster, she would still end up making bizarre Gods' Temptation.
Unless he found a way to erase that passive.
The most straightforward way would be using a [Seven-Star Lamp] for Fate Alteration, like with Shenhe.
But Ei was diamond tier. Platinum artifacts wouldn't work.
And as the current Electro Archon, her constellations couldn't be tampered with lightly—any change might draw the Heavenly Principles' attention.
It was only a theory for now, of course.
Another option was a Golden Circlet, upgraded through Evolution to diamond Quality. That could suppress and seal the passive.
But that felt like overkill.
Xia Zhi thought for a while, then said, "Let's stop here for this morning. Time for breakfast—we'll continue at noon."
"Okay… What about these two plates?" Ei asked.
"…" Xia Zhi fell silent.
Judging by her look, she didn't want them wasted. She'd even tasted them herself, seemingly unbothered.
That gave Xia Zhi an idea. "You said Dragon King and Venti came here for food, right?"
"Yes."
"Perfect. Bring these two dishes to them."
"All right."
"If they don't want to eat, tell them we'll be making Gods' Temptation for lunch."
"Okay."
Ei carried the plates out of the kitchen.
Xia Zhi chuckled. That's what friends were for.
Late morning.
More people came to the shrine to pray.
Some faces were familiar—pilgrims from two days ago. Their expressions were haggard, yet strangely eager.
When the shrine maidens asked, they learned these people had eaten in the shrine's dining hall two days ago. The food had been so delicious—"the best meal of our lives," they said—that once they returned home, they couldn't stomach their usual food anymore. They hadn't eaten properly yesterday, so today they'd come back, hoping for another meal.
The shrine maidens exchanged exasperated looks.
But they understood.
After all, ever since Xiangling started helping in the kitchen, the meals had been so good that they themselves had been sneaking in extra bowls.
One clever maiden hurried off to tell Yae Miko.
After hearing, Yae Miko chuckled softly. Then she instructed the kitchen to prepare extra food at lunch, just in case.
Since everyone had gone shopping in Inazuma City yesterday, today they stayed at the shrine to rest.
With nothing better to do, some of them went off to help with fortune drawing and paper burning again.
Xia Zhi watched the bustle with a smile, chatting with a shrine maiden beside him.
Her name was Miyuki. Yae Miko had specifically sent her to look after them.
Though Xia Zhi had told Miko that they didn't need attendants, she insisted—since they were guests, having someone familiar with the shrine around would help if anything came up.
Xia Zhi couldn't argue.
Since he was posing as blind, Miyuki mostly stayed by his side to make things easier.
Over the past two days, he'd gotten to know her well.
Her full name was Kuki Miyuki. She had a younger sister named Kuki Shinobu.
The Kuki family was a long-standing shrine maiden lineage, serving Narukami generation after generation.
And with that heritage came countless rules: days of fasting to show sincerity, ritual baths to avoid defiling divine might… all of which she knew by heart.
After Miyuki entered the shrine, her little sister Shinobu had also been sent there as an apprentice. But later, something happened, and Shinobu chose to leave.
Of course, such "leaving the shrine" had been done with Yae Miko's permission.
As Xia Zhi and Miyuki were chatting about fortune slips, she suddenly clutched her stomach. Her face went pale, brows furrowing as she bit her lip in discomfort.
"Miyuki, what's wrong?"
"N… nothing…"
"Forgive me, Mr. Xia, I need to excuse myself…"
"It's fine. Go rest."
Flustered, Miyuki left.
From his vantage point, Xia Zhi watched her retreating figure, his expression wry.
As a medical master, it was obvious to him—she'd gotten her period, with cramps just like Zhu Zi had before.
Looks like he'd have to dust off those old skills again.
With so many shrine maidens here, Miyuki surely wasn't the only one with this problem.
At this rate, he was going to become the shrine maidens' best friend.
---
Tenshukaku.
Xia Zhen sat at her desk, poring over intelligence reports through the night.
The door suddenly opened, and Ei stepped in.
"Big sister."
Xia Zhen lifted her head. In Ei's hands was a familiar sight—a covered clay pot.
Her heart gave a little jolt.
Keeping her expression calm, Xia Zhen asked, "Ei, this is…?"
Ei set the pot down on the desk, speaking seriously. "Sister, I brought you breakfast."
"You made it yourself?"
"No, our cousin made it for you."
At that, Xia Zhen quietly exhaled in relief.
So it was from their cousin. In that case, no problem.
Instead, her mood shifted to anticipation.
Ei lifted the lid.
A puff of fragrant steam spilled into the air.
"Seafood porridge!"
"Sister, you were up all night working. You must be hungry. Please eat while it's hot."
"Mmm… Ei, have you eaten yet?"
"I had breakfast at the shrine already."
She carefully ladled a bowl and offered it to her sister.
Xia Zhen took a sip. The taste burst across her tongue—rich sweetness of shrimp and fish, the subtle saltiness of seaweed and kelp, all blending perfectly. Compared to last night's pathetic meal of [Slime Sukiyaki], her poor stomach felt instantly healed.
"Mmm, this is delicious!"
"If you like it, I'll make it for you from now on."
Xia Zhen choked, coughing. "Cough, cough—"
"Sister?"
"I-I'm fine…"
She steadied herself, then looked at her sister with deliberate seriousness.
"Ei, didn't you say you were going to learn cooking from our cousin last night?"
Ei nodded. "I already went to him this morning."
"How's your progress?"
"I learned a lot of useful things."
"Good. Keep at it."
"Yes! I will, sister!"
----
Join my Patreon for early access to 100+ chapters: Patreon.com/rivyura