After seeing Layla off, Mu Yang left the lottery stall as well.
He began to carefully observe Port Ormos.
This port was massive in scale.
After all, it connected to Liyue Harbor, the largest port city in all of Teyvat.
Moreover, with the Chasm currently under sealed management, large-scale trade between Sumeru and Liyue typically passed through this port, making it hard for it not to thrive.
However, because of this, Mu Yang noticed after a quick survey that many of the goods here originated from Liyue.
For example, tea leaves from Chenyu Vale, mineral raw materials from Mt. Tianheng, and the like.
Mu Yang picked up an item to inspect. It wasn't exactly top-quality—mediocre at best, good enough to fool outsiders.
He asked the stall owner if there were other goods for sale.
The owner explained, frowning as she noticed Mu Yang seemed to be from Liyue, then waved her hand dismissively, unwilling to elaborate further.
Perhaps she already had a supplier.
It seemed that ordinary Liyue goods were already a saturated, red-ocean market here, with no room to break in.
To make money here, he'd need to find a blue-ocean niche.
Mu Yang pondered as he walked.
Lumine hadn't arrived yet, and Sumeru was still in the pre-3.0 storyline state.
This place harbored three distinct faiths:
The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, the Scarlet King, and the Lesser Lord Kusanali.
In a nation with such diverse beliefs, Mu Yang's carving skills wouldn't be of much use.
He couldn't exactly sell wooden carvings of the Lesser Lord Kusanali—that might sell even worse than sparkling water.
As for the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, since Mihoyo was too lazy to model her, Mu Yang had no way to proceed.
Even if he did, that business wouldn't last long before she became a forgotten name…
The Scarlet King was even less viable; he'd likely be taken down by the [Corps of Thirty] immediately.
Besides, the carving niche would mean competing with the Aranara for market share—a tough path to tread.
After much thought, it seemed mechanisms might hold some promise.
The Akademiya's Haravatat School specialized in this, so there should be plenty of interested people.
Maybe he could even lure out a certain centenarian scholar.
Mu Yang recalled the storyline related to Faruzan.
According to Tighnari's information, the sweet girl had been rescued from the desert by a caravan a few years ago.
So, she had already emerged from the ruins by now.
"That's the plan, then. Let's see how their mechanisms compare to Cloud Retainer's."
Snapping out of his thoughts, Mu Yang noticed someone nearby walking unsteadily, as if about to faint.
He quickened his pace and caught her just before she collapsed.
Uh, that anti-gravity hat looked oddly familiar.
Mona?!
— — — — — —
At a food stall in Port Ormos, passersby couldn't help but glance over, then cover their mouths to stifle giggles…
There was a girl who looked like she hadn't eaten in days.
She had ordered a massive table of dishes and was devouring them without a care for appearances.
The man sitting across from her, however, had no appetite, simply watching her eat.
But he himself was quite a sight—easy on the eyes!
Mu Yang, naturally, had no appetite.
Sumeru was modeled after the mysterious eastern nation of India from his original world.
The dishes on the table—Masala Cheese Balls, Green Juice Crisps, Potato Boats…
Mu Yang looked at them and genuinely couldn't muster any interest.
Thankfully, there was no Indian "Little Bee" here.
Otherwise, he'd have to throw in a line:
"Clean and hygienic, brothers!"
Sumeru didn't use Ganges water teeming with the periodic table to cook.
It was just that Mu Yang couldn't get past his own mental block.
But Mona was different. For someone who had nearly fainted from hunger, did such concerns matter?
She was eating with relish…
Mu Yang knew Mona's life was always financially tight.
As an astrologer, she had her own beliefs and pride.
That was—astrology was about keeping it real.
She said what she saw, regardless of whether it offended anyone.
But many people seeking fortunes wanted to hear flattery.
Even if it was fake, they preferred to delude themselves.
Mona didn't care for that. She was too honest.
So, she couldn't make money.
Her usual line was that Hydro Divination wasn't for earning Mora.
She relied on writing the [Horoscope Column] for The Steambird to earn some manuscript fees.
In a way, that made Mu Yang her colleague.
But Mona's spending on manuscript fees was quite absurd.
She'd rather eat vegetable salads just to buy heaps of astrology materials.
Research equipment, ancient Liyue divination books, Sumeru's astrolabes…
The shipping fees alone for these expensive items could ruin her.
Yet she kept at it, her spending relentless.
You think that's wild enough?
Compared to the story Mu Yang just heard, that was nothing.
To observe the stars in a few days, Mona had traveled all the way from Mondstadt to Port Ormos.
How did she get here?
To save on ship fare, she walked from Mondstadt City to Liyue Harbor.
Along the way, she ate only wild vegetables and mushrooms.
On the ship, others ate while she watched.
[As long as I get to Sumeru and collect my manuscript fees, I'll be fine.]
That belief sustained her throughout the journey.
She had calculated everything, arranging for The Steambird to send her payment to Sumeru.
But she miscalculated by one step and nearly perished…
Hearing this, Mu Yang could only describe it with one word: Unbelievable. She was a force to be reckoned with.
Mona finally ate her fill.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten so much.
After tidying herself up, Mona spoke, "Thank you. I'll pay you back once I get my money."
She seemed to have a bright idea.
"Right, Mr. Mu Yang, you're here for business, aren't you? Let me use Hydro Divination to read your fortune—it might help you avoid some pitfalls."
Before Mu Yang could respond, Mona had already pulled out her Hydro Disc and began muttering incantations.
Just as she was about to observe, the Hydro Disc suddenly started freezing.
A chilling frost pressure spread rapidly through the air.
Mu Yang reacted swiftly, pulling Mona out of her divination trance.
People around started noticing the commotion, so Mu Yang quickly led Mona away.
In a secluded corner, Mona gasped heavily, still shaken.
She hadn't even seen anything yet, and she was already met with such terror—what if she had seen something?
Since leaving her old teacher to travel, this was the second time Mona had encountered such a situation.
The first time was when she divined Venti's Constellation.
But that time, it was just sand in her eyes and a gust of wind blowing her hat away.
This time, she felt the fear of death.
Just who was Mu Yang?
Mu Yang hadn't anticipated this outcome either.
He only remembered Moon Carver divining for him once.
The result was: Unspeakable. The consequences are too great for him to bear.
He hadn't expected "unspeakable" to be so literal!
Mona's skills were nowhere near Moon Carver's.
If he hadn't intervened in time, she'd have been in serious danger.
What was going on?
The origin of "Mu Yang" needed some serious investigation…