Using their Elemental Skills repeatedly along the way had taken a toll on them as well.
Fortunately, Keqing remembered what Jiang Xuan had said.
As long as their hunger bar remained full, any injuries or exhaustion would instantly recover.
Coincidentally, Jiang Xuan always kept food inside the house.
In just a short moment, Keqing and Ganyu were back at peak condition.
However, neither of them dwelled on this miraculous effect.
Keqing sat on the sofa full of worry, staring at the doorway with a furrowed brow.
Ganyu had been standing by the window since earlier, peering outside to check the situation.
The village was lit with plenty of torches, making the nighttime visibility quite broad.
Yet while villagers could still be seen wandering aimlessly like headless flies during the day, now not a single one was in sight.
Dead silent, empty… like a village of the dead.
Fortunately, for some reason, no monsters spawned here.
“Jiang Xuan still hasn’t come back…”
Ganyu said this for the twenty-third time.
She turned to look at Keqing, her eyes reddening.
“Keqing, we can’t leave Jiang Xuan behind!”
Keqing didn’t answer.
How could she not understand that?
Setting aside the fact that this world belonged to Jiang Xuan and that they might not be able to return without him…
Jiang Xuan was their friend.
How could Keqing allow herself to lose the person who understood and supported her the most?
But she also understood that in this world, her power amounted to little.
Nor was she as skilled at survival as Jiang Xuan…
Ganyu quietly wiped the corners of her eyes, pulled out Rust, and made to push open the door.
“Ganyu, calm down.” Keqing sighed and said softly, “We can’t get in his way… He knows how to survive. He understands the rules of this world far better than we do.”
“But Jiang Xuan is in danger right now! I… I’m his friend!”
Her eyes red, Ganyu stared steadfastly at Keqing.
The usually gentle qilin appeared exceptionally determined right now.
“Keqing, Jiang Xuan is my only friend! I can’t let anything happen to him!”
Keqing fell silent.
She lowered her eyes, her gaze flickering for a moment before she said softly, “But… Jiang Xuan risked himself so we could escape. We can’t let that go to waste…”
“That’s not true!” Ganyu raised her voice, glaring at Keqing with a rare flash of anger.
“Jiang Xuan didn’t sacrifice himself! He said he’d be safe! Maybe he’s waiting for us to go get him right now!”
Surprisingly, Keqing was moved by Ganyu’s words.
After a moment of hesitation, she drew Lion’s Roar.
“In that case, let’s—”
Before she could finish, a few knocks sounded on the door, and Jiang Xuan pushed it open and stepped inside.
“Keqing, Ganyu, I’m back.”
His voice sounded slightly fatigued.
Before Jiang Xuan could even take in the scene inside, a dark shadow flew straight toward him.
“Jiang Xuan!”
With a tearful choke in her voice, Ganyu threw herself into Jiang Xuan’s arms.
“Jiang Xuan! You’re okay! Thank goodness you’re okay!”
Jiang Xuan froze for a second, feeling the warm, delicate figure in his embrace, and his expression softened.
He held Ganyu gently and said softly:
“Of course I’m okay. If something happened to me, wouldn’t you and Keqing be trapped here?”
Naturally, he was joking.
Jiang Xuan still wasn’t sure if he would respawn in a bed if he died.
Keqing had also wanted to step forward and speak to him, but seeing Ganyu hugging Jiang Xuan so tightly, she could only purse her lips in a smile and stay where she was.
However, there was a strange glimmer in her eyes.
But right after asking, she noticed that his face looked rather pale—a clear sign of internal injuries.
Instantly, panic surged through her again.
“Jiang Xuan! You’re hurt! Let’s go! We need to head back to Liyue Harbor right away and see Mr. Baizhu at Bubu Pharmacy!”
Jiang Xuan quickly pressed her hands on Ganyu’s shoulders and said helplessly, “It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s no big deal. My body works differently—did you forget, Ganyu? I’ll be fine as long as I eat something.”
Ganyu immediately recalled how she had restored her own stamina earlier.
“I’ll get some for you!” She released him, hurried upstairs, and brought back a few cooked porkchops.
Once his hunger bar was full, Jiang Xuan felt his vitality rapidly returning, and he let out a sigh of relief.
Recalling this experience, he felt a bit helpless.
He had been careless after all.
Without a good set of armor, he really shouldn’t mess around at night.
“Jiang Xuan, how did you get injured?” Keqing finally found a chance to jump into the conversation, looking at him with concern.
Jiang Xuan scratched his cheek and said sheepishly, “Well… it’s a long story. I got careless.”
Earlier, after escorting Ganyu and Keqing away, he had fought off the mob horde alone.
With firearms and a SlashBlade, he should have easily slaughtered those monsters.
And in fact, he did.
But it was precisely the ease of mowing them down that lowered his guard and got him caught.
Zombies and spiders were just a single slash away at close range.
As Jiang Xuan got carried away with the slaughter, he failed to notice the hissing suicide bomber.
By the time he realized it, the Creeper was already right next to him.
Caught off guard, Jiang Xuan could only raise his shield in a hurry.
A shield could indeed block a Creeper’s explosion, but while it prevented lethal overkill, being that close still dealt heavy damage.
The blast blew him back, instantly costing him four hearts.
Fortunately, the Creeper’s explosion cleared out most of the monsters around him.
With only a few stragglers left, Jiang Xuan spent a few minutes cleaning up the battlefield before rushing back as fast as he could.