"Huh? Come with you?"
Upon hearing "let's go together," Yanfei, who was about to head out, didn't react at first. But once she did, she quickly refused.
"No need to trouble yourself! Sister Bonanus must have her own duties to attend to. You don't need to waste your time on me!"
Yanfei believed that Bonanus surely had her own contracts to fulfill—contracts far more demanding and dangerous than her own.
Like the Conqueror of Demons, Bonanus was one of the five great guardian Yakshas. She undoubtedly needed to patrol the surrounding areas for potential dangers and deal with external threats, demons, and evil spirits.
Not only that, the Yakshas also had to confront and endure the residual demon god remnants left over from the Archon War. That stuff was dangerous.
In Yanfei's view, Bonanus's offer to accompany her stemmed from a desire to guide her in areas where she was lacking.
Seniors guiding juniors was common, but Yanfei didn't want her own matters to interfere with Bonanus's responsibilities.
"Why refuse so quickly?" Seeing Yanfei's expression that screamed "no need to bother," Bonanus looked puzzled.
Could it be...
Was Yanfei worried she'd be dead weight? That made sense—she knew nothing about legal matters. If she went along, she'd probably just be a burden.
Come to think of it, as a Yaksha, all she did was fight, eat, sleep, accumulate karmic debt, and tease Xiao.
She really wasn't useful in areas like this.
"No, no!" Seeing Bonanus's crestfallen expression, Yanfei quickly waved her hands in explanation.
"Sister Bonanus must have her own contracts to fulfill, her own matters to attend to. You can't waste your time on me."
Hearing this, a light bulb went off in Bonanus's head. Ah, I get it now. Yanfei isn't rejecting me because she's afraid I'll hold her back—she's worried about wasting my time.
What a genius I am, figuring that out so quickly!
In that case, she might as well play along. Seniors guiding juniors naturally took up a lot of time.
Which meant she could secretly slack off.
As for dealing with external threats elsewhere... well, wasn't Brother Bosacius around? With his abilities, handling a little extra work would be nothing.
With this thought, Bonanus put on an expression that screamed, "I'm doing this for your own good" and said:
"Little Yanfei, don't worry about such things. Even without me, Bosacius is still around—he'll handle everything."
"And as for me, sure, I don't understand legal issues, but I can still offer advice in certain areas."
As she spoke, Bonanus narrowed her eyes and glanced at Yanfei, making her shiver.
Yanfei pursed her lips slightly and thought to herself. Sister Bonanus really is such a responsible senior. She's so gentle... I'm genuinely moved...
Just to guide a junior like me, she's willing to sacrifice her own time. What a wonderful person! So touching.
With this thought, Yanfei inexplicably recalled last night's milky scene. She rubbed her forehead and smiled awkwardly.
"Then... thank you, Sister!"
Bonanus smiled and nodded. Little Yanfei is so easy to fool. A few simple words and she's already convinced. Looks like today's going to be another wonderfully dull day of slacking off.
"Then let's head out." Bonanus gently patted Yanfei's shoulder, and moments later, the two left together.
The moment they stepped out, Granny Ping emerged from another room. Watching the departing pair, she shook her head lightly.
The sharp-eyed Granny Ping had seen through everything. Yanfei might be easy to fool, but Granny Ping certainly wasn't. She'd long recognized Bonanus's slacking intentions.
Ah, let them be.
With this thought, Granny Ping returned to the small courtyard, slowly settled into her rocking chair, and quietly admired the Glaze Lilies before her.
---
Elsewhere
"Little Yanfei seems to have quite a few matters to handle. Which one are you tackling first?" Bonanus asked curiously.
"I'm going to deal with those merchants who breached their contracts first. These profiteers, just to save a little Mora, dare to sell counterfeit goods and substandard products." Yanfei said sternly.
"Worse still, some food vendors have even caused cases of food poisoning."
She had to admit, these profiteers had some nerve, selling such things in Liyue. This was the land of contracts—daring to violate a contract here practically guaranteed losing your shirt.
If you signed a contract, you upheld it. Yanfei showed no mercy to those who broke them.
Seeing Yanfei's serious expression and the aura radiating from her whenever she mentioned contracts, Bonanus couldn't help but give a mental thumbs up.
She had to admit, Yanfei exuded the presence of a strong, capable woman. Paired with her adorable appearance, she was hard not to like.
The two young, woman-bodied seniors walked step by step down the street. Bonanus observed their surroundings—there were noticeably fewer people today than yesterday. Some vendors were already packing up to leave.
Judging by their grin-stretched faces, they'd likely earned a hefty sum of Mora during yesterday's peak festivities.
Bonanus wasn't particularly interested. Their money isn't my money. Besides, compared to Mora, I care more about karmic debt.
The irony was amusing. Karmic debt was something everyone feared—mortals, Yakshas, adepti; even Rex Lapis himself had no solution for it.
It was an absolute ill omen. Yet Bonanus spent her days fantasizing about acquiring large amounts of it. Back in the day, this would have shocked her comrades speechless.
Shaking her head, she shifted her gaze from the merchants to Yanfei. Gently licking her lips, she asked casually:
"Little Yanfei, have you ever encountered anything really absurd?"
At this, Yanfei rubbed her chin thoughtfully. A few minutes later, as if recalling something, her face immediately fell.
"Some time ago, a middle-aged man commissioned me for the most ridiculous lawsuit."
"Honestly, that case completely overturned my understanding." As she said this, her expression clearly showed her speechlessness.
Hearing this, Bonanus immediately perked up. Anything that could leave Yanfei speechless had to be interesting!
"Tell me about it!" Bonanus's expression screamed "spill the tea." If there'd been a stool and sunflower seeds nearby, she'd definitely have sat cross-legged to listen.
"Well... if I remember correctly... some foreign merchant was bitten by a dog. Then that guy brought the dog to me, commissioning me to judge the situation and seek justice."
"Something about demanding compensation from the dog, and compensation from Liyue too—claiming the dog was within Liyue's territory, so the safety department should be responsible."
Hearing this, Bonanus nearly lost it. While finding the merchant somewhat idiotic, she also felt a strange sense of familiarity. Where had she seen this before?
Honestly, she'd encountered similar cases in her previous life. With billions of people on Earth, you were bound to run into some real characters.
Putting other cases aside, the one that left the deepest impression involved an Indian guy and a lizard. The kicker? The lizard was male. Absolutely classic.
"And then? What happened to that merchant?" Bonanus barely suppressed her laughter. Who knew Teyvat also produced such one-in-a-million talents?
"In the end, he was blacklisted from Liyue Harbor for disturbing public order, kicked out, and forced to pay compensation on top of it all." Yanfei waved her hand dismissively. That guy was probably kicking himself now.
In this world, for an ordinary merchant to be barred from doing business in Liyue Harbor was worse than death. They were missing out on a fortune.
"Haha, serves him right. It wasn't a serious matter to begin with, but his own actions backfired spectacularly."
Bonanus slapped her thigh. She was genuinely curious who this idiot was. If she ever got the chance, she'd love to meet him.
How someone with that IQ became a merchant was beyond her.
Just as Bonanus was internally marveling at the merchant's... uniqueness, Yanfei suddenly stopped walking. Crossing her arms in a relaxed stance, she said calmly:
"Ah, Sister Bonanus, we're here."
Bonanus followed Yanfei's gaze. Before a shop stood two tall Millelith soldiers. In front of them was a foreign vendor with stubble, looking rather sleazy.
The vendor was currently speaking ingratiatingly to the two soldiers. Though she couldn't hear what he was saying, it certainly wasn't anything good.
It looked like Yanfei's first target was him.