"Da! Da! Da!"
In the deep, blue-lit corridor, the sound of steel striking stone echoed repeatedly.
Xingqiu's expression had changed from initial excitement to numbness. He had originally thought this Adventure to vanquish evil beings would be thrilling, but now it seemed… "Chongyun, get behind me! You're blinding me!" Xingqiu rubbed his reddened eyes and pulled Chongyun, who was covered in talismans, behind him.
Chongyun was walking at the very front of the three. The light emitted by the talismans on his body was so intense that it illuminated the dark underground corridor brightly, completely dispelling the gloomy atmosphere that a place for suppressing evil beings should have.
"This… alright, but if we encounter anything, remember to run to my side immediately."
Chongyun pondered for a moment before moving to the back as Xingqiu wished.
He had actually intended to use his potent Yang energy to force out any hidden evil beings, but after walking for so long, besides the increasingly dense Yin energy, he hadn't seen a single trace of an evil being.
Considering that Xingqiu might still need to help his father with accounts in the future, good eyesight would certainly be essential, so he stepped back.
"This place is quite large. I wonder what's inside." Ember looked up. Thanks to Chongyun acting as a light bulb, he could see the full extent of the corridor.
The corridor was wide and long, extending deep underground. Its width and height were sufficient for Ruin Guards to pass through side-by-side.
Even more thoughtfully, whenever Ember and the others approached, the blue lights on both sides of the corridor floor would illuminate.
If not for Chongyun, this would likely be the only light in this place.
"As for this, although I don't know what exactly will be here, it must be an extremely troublesome fellow."
Chongyun raised his arm, adjusting the angle of the light to be more suitable. He saw many Yaksha auspicious beasts carved into the walls on both sides of the corridor, symbols of exorcising evil in Liyue.
The corridor stretched deep into the earth. Walking through it, the surroundings were almost identical, making one wonder if they had fallen into the legendary "ghost wall."
However, that was impossible. Even if they had truly fallen into a ghost wall, Chongyun would be able to eliminate the hidden evil spirits.
The unchanging scenery finally shifted. The flickering blue candlelight in the distance suddenly vanished. When Chongyun approached with his light, everyone realized that the end of the corridor was a vast open space.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Just like the corridor, upon detecting someone's arrival, one after another, eerie blue candles suddenly lit up in the open space.
Perhaps the blue light alone wasn't enough to illuminate this wide-open space. Besides the blue flames, which were no different from the light of dying candles, there were also several red lanterns on the ground here.
The red lanterns, originally used for decoration during festive occasions, appearing abruptly in such a gloomy place, made both Chongyun and Xingqiu shiver upon seeing this scene.
Under the thin red and blue light covering the ground, everyone could discern the structure of the place.
This place seemed to have been transformed from a natural grotto. Aside from the flagstones laid on the ground, the cave walls still bore traces of corrosion from underground water.
This grotto was enormous; the paved plaza alone was almost as large as the Temple of the Thousand Winds.
If one were to include the other areas, it would probably be large enough to accommodate the entire Temple of the Thousand Winds.
Because this place was so vast, the glowing Chongyun looked even more like a light bulb.
"It's so big," Xingqiu exclaimed, utterly astonished by the sight before him. Who could have imagined that beneath the seemingly unremarkable Cuijue Slope, there would be such a hidden wonderland?
"It is indeed very large, but where are the evil beings?" Chongyun looked around. There was no evil wind, no ghostly roars; it looked like an undiscovered underground ruin.
While discovering new ruins was exciting, for Chongyun, none of that was as important as finding evil beings.
"Be careful."
"$#..."
No sooner had Ember finished speaking than a familiar mechanical sound echoed from the dark heights, quite familiar to the three of them.
What followed was a brilliant orange-red light. This light was easy to recognize, as it was something every Adventurer out in the field had experienced—being targeted by a Ruin Guard's missile.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
"Why are there Ruin Guards here?!"
Amidst the roaring explosions and sweeping heatwaves, Xingqiu's perplexed shouts were also mixed in.
Although everyone said Ruin Guards were everywhere, seeing them so deep in an underground ruin was simply too absurd.
Moreover, this ruin was clearly sealed by a great array before. Could it be that Ruin Guards could also break Liyue's formations?
Even though questions kept popping up in his mind, Xingqiu's movements did not falter in the slightest.
"Taste my Raincutter!"
Xingqiu said this, but he actually performed a double kick.
Pale blue ripples covered Xingqiu's toes, transforming them into sharp blades capable of cleaving steel.
"Splash!"
His toes kicked up splashes of white water, cutting all the missiles heading towards Xingqiu into pieces.
Violent, grey-black gunpowder was thrown from the steel casings, no longer having any chance of Burning.
In the distance, Chongyun was not to be outdone. He pulled out a Claymore nearly as tall as he was and brought it down on the incoming missiles with a smash.
"Rimechaser, Worldfrost!"
"Crack—, Bang!"
Frost and fire appeared simultaneously, but clearly, the frost had the upper hand. It firmly suppressed the gushing gunpowder, making the originally deafening explosion sound silent.
It sounded much like the firecrackers children set off during the Lantern Rite.
"Where's Senior?" Xingqiu, seeing that Chongyun was unharmed, looked around for Ember.
"Setting off firecrackers."
Ember's voice suddenly rang out. His figure abruptly appeared between Xingqiu and Chongyun, holding several long, slender steel objects.
Xingqiu looked closely and nearly jumped three feet high. Weren't these Ruin Guard missiles? How did they end up in Ember's hands?
"Senior, it's dangerous! Ruin Guard missiles are very powerful!" Xingqiu immediately moved to throw away the missiles in Ember's hand.
Don't let it seem like they usually cut down Ruin Guards as easily as slicing melons; that was all based on the Ruin Guards being old and poorly maintained.
Most Ruin Guards wandering the land lacked maintenance, not to mention those idiotic Ruin Guards who wandered into the water on their own.
Even when they fired missiles, most of the time it was just random movement. Those that actually hit enemies were few and far between.
But this didn't mean Ruin Guards were not dangerous. Anyone who saw the deep craters left by missiles would have to consider if their body was as thick as the depth of the large pit on the ground.
"Hiss—, Whoosh—"
"Boom!"
"Click, click, click!"
Fire appeared, fire moved, fire extended, fire exploded, and a Ruin Hunter landed.
"What? What did you say?" Ember ran over, carrying a large pile of missiles with fuses attached.
"..."
"Nothing, I just wanted to remind Senior that your face is blackened." Xingqiu said with a pained expression, looking at the Ruin Hunter constantly spewing sparks in the distance.
"Is it?" Ember touched his helmet, and several scratches immediately appeared on it.
"Don't worry about this. It's probably because the missile manufacturers cut corners, and the explosives they used were subpar."
Ember said, wiping clean the part of his face blackened by the missile's exhaust flame, then waving his sooty hands.
Xingqiu listened, wanting to speak but holding back. As someone well-read, he really wanted to correct him that only the warhead of a missile contained explosives, and what blackened Ember was the propellant.
But seeing the fuse sticking out of the tail of the missile in Ember's hand, Xingqiu decided it was better not to dwell on such details.
After all, he had never heard of any missile that could be detonated with such a fuse.
"Oh, right, have you two set off firecrackers this year?" Ember slapped his head, as if remembering something.
"If not, try these."
Without waiting for their reply, Ember handed one of his "firecrackers" to Xingqiu and Chongyun each.
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