Following Ryan's request, Paimon picked up the materials he had prepared in advance.
After all, the alchemy furnace was a full two meters tall, and Ryan stood in front of it, looking quite short, so it was most suitable for her, who could fly, to place the materials.
Just like that, Paimon flew above the alchemy furnace and then descended into its interior.
It was quite spacious inside for Paimon... "Mm, is it okay to put them here?"
Paimon placed the mixed pile of materials inside the alchemy furnace, just like he had arranged the noctilucous jade samples last time.
Bang—
However, as Paimon's words fell, a loud bang startled her, and the entire interior of the alchemy furnace plunged into darkness.
"Wait, wait! I put them in, but I haven't gotten out yet!"
A startled Paimon hurriedly flew upwards but bumped into the tightly closed lid of the furnace, so he quickly shouted outwards.
The environment, where he couldn't see his own hand, made him a little scared... However, the alchemy furnace's sealing was excellent; Ryan outside could only faintly hear muffled sounds, and without getting closer, he couldn't clearly hear Paimon's shouts.
"My dear disciple-grandson, why do you have time to visit your Martial Grand-Aunt today?"
After the lid closed, a girl's voice suddenly rang out. Ryan subconsciously looked up and saw a small girl with light blue hair and glasses sitting on the alchemy furnace, having appeared at some unknown time.
"Go, go, go, go play somewhere else first, don't disturb my alchemy."
Ryan grumpily walked over, grabbed her from the alchemy furnace, and, holding her by the back of her collar, walked to the side and tossed her away.
"You scoundrel! I am your Martial Grand-Aunt! Call Morax to see me! Otherwise, I'll teach him a lesson... Ow!"
The blue-haired little girl, held up by Ryan, was furious and flailed her limbs, but before she could finish her sentence, Ryan threw her out, and she landed on her backside with a cry of pain.
Having tossed aside the troublemaker, Ryan then returned to the alchemy furnace.
"I apologize, Paimon, but as I just said, you are too special, so special that if I miss you, I'll never find another you. So, merely obtaining your hair or saliva is not my goal."
"Immortal Art: Please, Martial Uncle, possess me."
The next moment, a blue phantom of a Damselette appeared behind Ryan. Hydro element power was gathered inside the alchemy furnace, transforming into pure water, which gradually soaked the medicinal ingredients.
"Waaah! Water, water is rising! Wait? Help, Ryan!"
Paimon couldn't hear Ryan's voice outside. Upon realizing the water was rising, he could only frantically call for help outwards.
"Don't be afraid, Xiao Pai. I won't refine you into a pill, but a pot of soup... I'll accept it. Rise!"
The water immersed Paimon's body halfway. Ryan once again performed an immortal art, and the phantom behind him transformed into another fiery red phantom.
With a whoosh, a fierce fire ignited beneath the alchemy furnace.
"No... don't eat Paimon... Help! Traveler, help—!"
Ryan had deliberately controlled the alchemy furnace to open a gap to vent air so that he could fill it with water, which also allowed Paimon to hear his words. Feeling the rising temperature around him, he immediately screamed for help outwards in terror.
No wonder those "medicinal ingredients" looked so familiar just now; those were the ingredients Liyue people add when making soup...!
"It smells really good. Give me a bowl later."
The little girl, whom Ryan had tossed aside, ran back again and sat on the ground next to Ryan, making her request.
Hearing her words, Ryan turned to look at her, sniffing the air with his nose.
"Actually, I think you smell pretty good too."
Saying this, Ryan licked his lips.
He could smell a fragrance from this little girl, a scent that felt similar to Osial's that day, making him instinctively excited.
"?"
"You scoundrel, I am your Martial Grand-Aunt! Even if Morax came, he wouldn't dare do anything to me..."
The little girl said as he retreated out of Ryan's line of sight.
Ryan didn't pay any more attention to her; instead, he turned back to the alchemy furnace.
'Am I... going to die...?'
Inside the alchemy furnace, the stuffy and hot environment made Paimon extremely panicked. After struggling for a while and failing to push open the lid, he was completely immersed in the water, as if he had lost all his strength.
Strands of black aura seeped out from his body, turning into black threads that floated towards the outside of the alchemy furnace.
"Hm?"
Seeing this wisp of black thread, Ryan hurriedly stopped what he was doing.
Then he raised a finger and flicked it, and the Pyro element force lifted the lid, revealing Paimon inside, soaking in water and accompanied by goji berries.
'Traveler... have you come...?'
'But... I have no strength left... Am I already... cooked...?'
'I'm sorry, Traveler... In my next life... Paimon still wants to travel with you...'
A tear slipped from Paimon's eye, dropping into the water.
However, the next moment, Paimon felt something cool against his forehead, and his mind instantly cleared.
He subconsciously opened his eyes and only saw Ryan holding a wet towel to his forehead with one hand.
"Feeling better?"
Ryan gently asked Paimon.
"..."
For a moment, Paimon felt a little dazed. Was it all a nightmare...?
"Actually, this is the surprise I prepared for you, a goji berry hot spring ~"
Ryan said to Paimon with a smile.
"..."
No, no... Looking at Ryan's smile, Paimon, soaking in the warm water, suddenly shivered. Looking at Ryan's gentle smile, he felt as if he was seeing a devil.
The person who wanted to cook him into soup a second ago suddenly gently asked if he was hurt, saying it was just a joke. Paimon got goosebumps with just a little thought.
He quickly pushed away Ryan's hand and flew out of the alchemy furnace, dripping water like a pollen-spreading bee as he quickly flew into the distance.
"It seems that even a simple little guy will become wary after being tricked once."
Watching Paimon fly away, Ryan didn't intercept him; instead, he turned back to deal with the paimon soup in the alchemy furnace.
First, he fed Paimon until he was full, thereby accelerating his body's metabolism. Then he tricked him into soaking in warm water for a good while, allowing the high temperature to promote the opening of skin pores, leaving sweat and body tissues inside the furnace. Therefore, the value of this pot of paimon soup would be no less than Paimon's hair and saliva.
This should be the best material one could obtain from Paimon without actually cooking him... "Aether... don't go...!"
At night, Lumine suddenly sat up from the grass.
"Why... am I here?"
Lumine looked around in confusion, not quite remembering why she had fainted here.
However, noticing the Teleport Waypoint nearby, she didn't think too much about it. She walked over, touched the Teleport Waypoint, and returned directly to Liyue Harbor.
Then she subconsciously returned to the room at Wangshu Inn that she shared with Paimon.
"Wuwuwu... Traveler!"
In the room, Paimon, who was hiding in bed wrapped in a quilt, immediately rushed out and threw himself into Lumine's arms, crying loudly.
"What's wrong? There, there, don't cry, I'm here."
Lumine instinctively hugged Paimon and gently comforted him.
Paimon sobbed for a while but said nothing, instead falling asleep in Lumine's arms like that.
Lumine had no choice but to carefully carry him back into the Serenitea Pot.
However, just as Qiqi fears Hu Tao, from now on, Paimon will also carry an indelible psychological shadow...