“Kid, Mondstadt’s territory isn’t far ahead.” The road to Mondstadt was long, so Chen Mo had taken the chance to catch up on some sleep in the carriage.
He had only just woken up.
“Once we get near Dawn Winery, you’ll have to get off there.” “Why?
That’s still quite a distance from Mondstadt City.” The coachman slowed the carriage and said helplessly, “Lately, Mondstadt has been hit by frequent windstorms, and all kinds of monsters have been gathering near the city.
Several of my fellow coachmen have already lost their lives because of it!” Windstorms?
Could Dvalin already be causing trouble this early?
Chen Mo did not take it too seriously.
After all, the Traveler had only recently met Paimon.
The main storyline was still far from beginning.
“What are you panicking for?
I’ll protect you on the road if I have to.” “Kid, don’t joke around!
Ordinary people like us, without Visions, probably couldn’t even withstand a single axe strike from a hilichurl brute!” He kept trying to bargain with the coachman, and before long, they had reached the riverside near Dawn Winery.
“I get it.
Your next line is going to be, ‘That’ll cost extra,’ right?” “What extra money?
What’s the point of earning mora if I don’t live long enough to spend it?” Chen Mo was kicked off the carriage.
Carrying his briefcase, he stood alone in the wind of a foreign land, watching the carriage speed away in the direction of Stone Gate.
Across two lifetimes, he had never imagined a carriage could move that fast.
“What in Morax’s name—!
When I get back, I’m asking Yanfei to send you a lawyer’s letter!” Because he had been sitting inside the carriage earlier, he had not noticed it.
Mondstadt’s wind was indeed much more restless than Liyue’s.
Chen Mo walked over to a tree and sat down.
It was already lunchtime.
Fortunately, he had not eaten any of the pastries Hu Tao had left for him, so he could at least use them to fill his stomach for now.
He opened the exquisitely wrapped pastry box, and the first thing he saw was a pile of strange grayish lumps.
This was the appearance of those “love-filled pastries”…
There was no doubt about it.
Hu Tao had made them herself.
With a bitter expression, he forced down the last bite of pastry, then continued along the road toward Mondstadt City.
That damned coachman had not been wrong.
The closer Chen Mo got to Mondstadt City, the more monsters gathered around the area.
Along the way, he had already cleared out four waves of hilichurls blocking the road.
Creatures like these were just like rats in a city or goblins in a western fantasy world.
They were truly irritating.
At the moment, he was inside a hilichurl camp, confiscating the wealth those monsters had accumulated.
“Is it really around here?
Are you sure you didn’t remember the route wrong?” “How could I?
That was the most vicious group of hilichurls in the area recently.
I wouldn’t remember it wrong!” A soft argument drifted over from behind him.
Judging by the voices, they sounded like girls.
Chen Mo found them somewhat familiar.
He looked toward the source of the sound and saw two figures walking in his direction.
One had flowing blue hair, her entire body giving off a cold, unapproachable aura.
The other wore a red rabbit-ear headband and looked full of energy.
“EulAmber?” The red headband moved as if it had a life of its own.
Amber’s eyes lit up.
“Isn’t that Chen Mo?” “Chen Mo?
Who?” “He’s a friend I met in Liyue.” As she spoke, Amber quickened her pace and almost jogged over to Chen Mo.
“May the Anemo Archon protect you, my friend!
Did you finally have time to come visit Mondstadt?” Chen Mo shook his head, raised the briefcase in his hand, and said awkwardly, “I caused a bit of trouble in Liyue and got forcibly sent here on a business trip.” Eula could not join the conversation at all and was completely left aside by the two of them, who were already chatting and laughing.
She secretly felt displeased and firmly wrote both of them down in the little notebook in her heart.
“Oh, right!
I almost forgot to introduce you.” Amber pulled Eula forward and introduced her to Chen Mo.
“This is Eula, captain of the Knights of Favonius Reconnaissance Company, and also my best friend.” “W-What do you mean, best friend?” Eula’s face shifted slightly.
Then she turned around and skillfully dumped Amber’s debt in her mental ledger onto Chen Mo instead.
“The rumored Spindrift Knight?
I am Chen Mo.
It is an honor to meet you.” “Mm…” By chance, she glanced at the ground.
One giant axe after another, along with wooden shields, looked as if they had been crushed into pieces by bare hands.
Eula had served in the Knights of Favonius for many years, yet she had never seen such a miserable sight at any hilichurl camp.
That level of strength was comparable to, or perhaps even greater than, Grand Master Varka’s.
“Speaking of which, you came at a bad time.
A giant dragon has been appearing frequently around Mondstadt recently.
You’d be better off finishing your work quickly and returning to Liyue.” “Thanks for the warning.
I’ll try.” Chen Mo tucked away the mora he had seized from the camp, then asked Amber, “Would you mind if I traveled with you from here?
You two should be almost done with your mission, right?” “Of course.” “No.” Eula gave an answer completely opposite to Amber’s.
“Protecting citizens is the duty of the Knights of Favonius.
Besides, you’re from Liyue.” “If anything happens to you, it could easily become a diplomatic incident.” Her cold, beautiful face tightened into a frown.
She had observed Chen Mo for quite some time, but she still could not believe he possessed that kind of overwhelming strength.
“Perhaps you are indeed skilled, but you do not seem to have a Vision.
If an unexpected situation occurs, we cannot guarantee your safety.” Eula’s tone carried both urgency and distance, but what she said was entirely reasonable.
For a moment, Amber looked troubled.
“I’m sorry, Chen Mo.
Eula is like this with everyone, so please don’t take it personally…” Chen Mo naturally understood Eula’s personality, so he was not going to seriously get angry with her.
But this was a rare chance to spend time with them and raise affection points.
How could he possibly let it slip away for no reason?
“How about this?
Once a battle starts, I’ll take the initiative to move farther back.” He pointed at the Prototype Crescent on his back.
“When the time comes, I can support you with arrows from a distance.
My archery is quite famous in Liyue for its accuracy.” Eula’s heart sank.
In the end, she still could not refuse Amber’s expectant gaze.
“Let me make this clear first.
I will not devote too much attention to him.” “Yay!” The next location the two of them were going to clear out was between the two Domains known as the Windless Land and the Forsaken Rift.
Chen Mo followed behind the two girls, keeping a distance of about two meters.
He checked the system list.
Amber’s affection had increased slightly and had now reached 41 points.
Eula’s affection, on the other hand, remained at 0.
“Wait.” Amber suddenly became alert.
She noticed that many motionless hilichurls were lying on the grass.
From the direction of their settlement, there was no sound from any other hilichurls either.
“Eula.” “Mm.” The woman’s expression became serious as she nodded in response.
“The Anemo energy in the air is extremely chaotic.
Something troublesome must have appeared here.” “Could it be an Eye of the Storm?” “Perhaps.” Chen Mo listened from behind them, completely confused.
He had no idea what chaotic elemental energy was supposed to feel like.
However, after hearing the two of them mention it, he did feel that the wind around him was making him very uncomfortable.
“You.
It’s about time you found somewhere to hide.” Eula’s tone allowed no argument.
It sounded almost like she was issuing an order.
“Just wait here for us.
We’ll be back soon.” Amber smiled at Chen Mo, then hurried after Eula.
Although Chen Mo had a bad feeling, he did not force the two of them to bring him along.
Instead, after waiting for the girls to walk farther away, he concealed himself and followed them like a creep.
“As expected, there isn’t a single survivor in this camp.” After sweeping her gaze across the ground, Eula raised her head and searched the sky for the shadow of an Eye of the Storm.
But no matter how she looked, she still could not find any trace of the monster.
Had it already left?
She decisively rejected that thought.
If the Eye of the Storm had left, then why was the Anemo energy in this place still so chaotic?
Boom—!
One of the hilichurl huts suddenly exploded, and a pale green, cube-like lifeform emerged from within with overwhelming force.
“This is…” “An Anemo Hypostasis!?”