[That... does make him pause. Because it's not immediately obvious what Zhongli is talking about, and also, Venti's already downed yet another glass of wine, so that's not helping. Give him a moment to rub his last two sober brain cells together.]

Ohhh... did the Rite of Descension happen already? I guess that would put you in the clear for quite awhile. [that's definitely what he means, right?? it's not like he'd fake his own death or anything crazy like that haha.]

... Oh! That's right! There was an outlander who wanted to speak with you. Were you able to meet them?