Inside the camp at Guili Plains, Keqing, Yelan, Ganyu, Orion, Hu Tao, as well as the heads of the WangSheng Funeral Parlor, the construction team, and the Millelith, were all gathered.
Keqing stood up and said, "Allow me to introduce you. This is Yelan, a special commissioner dispatched by the Qixing to investigate the recent disappearance cases."
Yelan nodded to everyone, then specifically looked at Orion, who was sitting beside her, and extended her hand, saying, "This must be the WangSheng Funeral Parlor's new consultant, the same Mr. Orion who dealt with the Fatui Harbinger Dottore's clones, correct? It's a pleasure to meet you."
Orion happily shook her hand, "Miss Yelan, long time no see." After saying that, he withdrew his hand, leaving Yelan with a stunned expression.
Orion: Oh no, I used that too much in the game, so I subconsciously treated her as an acquaintance and said 'long time no see'. She won't think I'm weird, right?
Yelan: Long time no see? I did accompany Ningguang to investigate him at first, but then he settled down, and I didn't pay attention anymore. So, it really has been a long time. Did he notice me a long time ago? This man... is not simple!
Ganyu, Keqing, Hu Tao: What are these two communicating with their eyes?
But nothing was more important than business, so Keqing refocused everyone's attention on the incident.
With Yelan's help, everyone quickly sorted out the information of the missing Millelith and construction workers, as well as the time of their disappearances and their last known locations.
"Can we summarize any common points?" Ganyu asked with a frown.
"First, it's not just people who disappeared," Keqing said, pulling out a few more pages and pinning them to the wall. "Tools are also gone. Leaving aside the Millelith, these workers all had records of returning to retrieve digging tools before they disappeared."
Yelan nodded and looked at everyone, "Therefore, we speculate that these people went to excavate something, rather than simply getting lost."
"Is there a certain purpose... But why? Do the Millelith and the workers' tasks overlap?" Ganyu asked the crucial question, but it was clear the answer was no.
At this, Hu Tao suddenly raised her hand, "Hey, I found something! These people disappeared after our consultant left the camp! This includes the Millelith who were dealing with the Ruin Guard near Dottore's factory; they also went missing after our consultant left."
Everyone exchanged glances, and finally, Keqing asked, "Timewise, that's true, but what does that prove?"
"It proves that the mastermind is somewhat wary of me," Orion directly interjected. "This isn't just a simple disappearance; they were most likely brainwashed and abducted."
Silence fell upon the group; this conclusion came too suddenly.
However, Orion had a reason for saying this. He thought of a very similar plot: Zhongli's Story Quest II, where Azhdaha created an avatar in the form of a little girl to abduct some workers to dig tunnels for him, eventually unsealing the seal.
Orion couldn't help but get a headache. Why? Hadn't he, carrying the moon, already stayed far away from the Fulong Tree? Could it be that there was a second moon in Liyue?
Or, could this Ley Line corruption also be related to Azhdaha?
Hmm? Wait, Ley Line corruption?
Orion slammed the table and stood up, startling everyone.
Yelan was the first to notice something was wrong. She asked, "Did you discover something?"
Orion nodded, "Ley Line corruption, this matter should be related to Ley Line corruption."
Keqing suddenly realized, "Could it be that because you are the biggest contributor to defeating the corrupted monsters, the Ley Line corruption is wary of you, and thus avoids you in every action?"
Orion:...This guess isn't just off by a mile, it's completely irrelevant.
However, it did align with what Keqing could infer from the information she currently possessed.
But Orion actually suddenly thought of something else. Mona had previously mentioned that after Zhongli's land-shrinking technique, the Mondstadt Ley Lines and Liyue Ley Lines became mixed. What about the adjacent Sumeru Ley Lines? They're suffering from Eleazar over there.
This Ley Line corruption of yours wouldn't be forbidden knowledge, would it?
Azhdaha, are you alright?
To prevent everyone's thoughts from diverging, Orion took the lead and asked, "The crux of the matter is roughly identified; now the main thing is to determine where these people were abducted to."
Orion naturally knew these people were at the Fulong Tree. He was pondering whether to say it directly or feign ignorance when suddenly a man in black rushed in from outside the door, "Report! We found where those missing people are! Our people found traces of the missing individuals' activities under the Fulong Tree north of South Gate of Heaven!"
Orion looked down at Yelan, who, noticing his gaze, winked at him, "How is it, isn't my arrangement good enough?"
Orion gave a thumbs up, "Working with smart people is so much easier."
.
.
.
.
Led by Keqing, Orion, Hu Tao, Yelan, and a contingent of Millelith all headed to the Fulong Tree area.
Ganyu didn't come. She was about to follow when she suddenly received a message floating in the air, then said there was an emergency and left.
Before leaving, she winked at Orion, seemingly hinting at something.
Her actual meaning was: The Adepti have gone to Liyue to demand accountability, and I'm going along to try and mediate between the two sides. Watch me work!
Orion winked back, meaning: I don't understand, can we speak Teyvat Common Tongue?
But Ganyu seemed to have misunderstood. She felt that the two of them truly had a telepathic connection and then turned and left.
Now, everyone arrived at the Fulong Tree, walked past the river, and looked towards it.
It was an enormous golden ancient tree; its trunk was so thick that perhaps a dozen strong men couldn't encircle it. The branches of the entire tree grew in one direction, and at their tips were some blue crystalline substances, like solidified moonlight.
Beneath the tree, a group of Millelith officers and construction team personnel were performing mechanical labor, their eyes vacant.
They continuously dug up the land behind the tree and transported the sand out. By now, they had probably dug a huge cave!
"They've been brainwashed," Orion directly reminded them. "If you want to stop them, just knock them out."
Keqing understood. She waved her hand, "Charge!"
The Millelith didn't charge directly. Instead, they stealthily circled around from behind. Once close, they suddenly burst forth, restrained a person, then used skillful force to knock them out and secretly drag them away.
High up on the Fulong Tree, Azhdahas Avatar was like an overseer, swinging her two fair, short legs as she watched the workers below.
However, the more she watched, the more something felt wrong. Why did it seem like fewer and fewer people were working? When she looked back, she discovered that more than half of the people were gone!
"What?! Where did those ants go?" Azhdahas Avatar screamed in horror. She then spotted Keqing and the others lurking in the distance and immediately became furious, "Ants! Ants! How dare you!!!"
She leaped down from the tree, directly knocking away all the nearby humans. This scene also drew the attention of Keqing and the others to the little girl.
They naturally wouldn't assume that a little girl suddenly appearing here would be an ordinary person. Everyone stopped hiding, brandished their weapons, and steadied themselves.
Azhdahas Avatar glared at Orion and the others, then looked back at the almost unsealed barrier, finally making up her mind.
Orion and the others saw Azhdahas Avatar suddenly grab a weapon at random. Then, her entire body began to emit golden light, and she rushed straight towards the seal.
"Mortals! Do not presume!"
At this moment, Keqing, Yelan, and Hu Tao also discovered that there was something like a seal behind her. Instantly, an unsettling feeling arose in everyone's hearts.
But no sooner said than done, with a burst of golden light, the seal beneath the thick earth was completely broken by this blow. In an instant, the golden light receded, and the mountains and rivers changed color!
The Fulong Tree moved.
The massive Fulong Tree suddenly twisted like a python, then began to retract underground. The enormous commotion dragged countless rocks into the huge void.
Once the entire Fulong Tree entered the ground, it was as if the whole world returned to peace.
But in the next moment, the entire South Gate of Heaven area began to experience a violent earthquake! Mountains shook and rivers flowed backward, as if a great earth dragon had overturned!
A roar like the hum of the earth echoed from the depths—the suppressed rage of a dragon, returning after a thousand years.
Azhdaha, the Dragon King, officially awakened!
-
-
-
-