Junze felt a cool sensation from Eula.
Perhaps it was because she often bathed in the snowfields of Dragonspine.
Unlike Ganyu, Eula's knight uniform hugged her figure tightly.
Holding her up felt unexpectedly pleasant.
Last time I fell onto you. This time you fell onto me. I guess we are even now.
No one would dislike something soft and fragrant.
But when Junze noticed Eula slightly tightening her arms around him, he immediately realized something was wrong.
This is bad.
She must have noticed something unusual about his body.
Junze quickly used the black mist to simulate an adult physique, steadied her, then swiftly retreated.
Before Eula could fully react, the Ink Shadow Adeptus was already standing several steps ahead.
She found herself leaning against the wall.
Seeing she was unharmed, Junze wasted no time and continued pursuing the Ancient Geo Vishap.
Eula looked down at her hands, puzzled.
Was that an illusion?
When she first held him, he felt small.
But when he pushed her away, he felt tall and powerful.
A child and an adult switching in an instant?
She pulled out her claymore and murmured, "The Adepti of Liyue are truly strange. I will remember this."
As Amber might say, perhaps that was simply Eula's way of remembering kindness.
Junze followed the largest tunnel and advanced rapidly.
Soon, he reached the end and leapt up to the surface.
"This is… Cuijue Slope?"
He looked around.
The moment he arrived, the previously clear sky became overcast.
The atmosphere turned cold and oppressive.
In all of Liyue, only Cuijue Slope had such an aura.
His attribute Greed flickered faintly.
From beneath the ground, he could sense resentment and malice belonging to ancient gods.
"Do not tempt my appetite."
Junze lowered his voice.
A fierce light flickered in his eyes.
He raised his head and saw the nine towering stone pillars surrounding the area.
They were the Nine Pillars of Peace once used by Rex Lapis to suppress evil.
The solemn pillars slightly restrained the hunger rising within him.
But what was terrifying was that cracks had already spread across them.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Vishaps were repeatedly slamming into the pillars.
Worse still, they seemed to have pushed the pillars upward from underground.
Beneath the bases, crimson gold ore seals shimmered faintly.
These seals were clearly untouchable by ordinary monsters.
Whenever a vishap accidentally made contact, it was instantly killed by the power released from the ore.
Junze could sense adeptal energy from them.
After the pillars suppressed the evil, additional methods had been placed upon them to prevent unsealed demons from breaking the restraint.
And yet…
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sound of tools striking stone echoed in the silent land.
Junze saw many of the missing miners.
Their eyes were vacant as they frantically hammered at the bases of the pillars.
The seals did not attack humans.
The Adepti had never anticipated that humans would attempt to destroy the seals.
After all, what lay beneath was the remnant of ancient gods that once nearly destroyed Liyue.
As the miners struck the bases and the vishaps battered the pillars, one pillar began to wobble.
Its light dimmed.
It looked as if it might shatter at any moment.
"So that is why the vishaps captured the miners. To break seals that only humans can damage."
Junze finally understood.
As for why miners specifically.
The seals were made of crimson gold ore.
Mining was their specialty.
And miners were likely the humans these vishaps had encountered most frequently.
[Missing Miners Mission Completed]
[Reward: 60 Primogems issued]
After identifying the miners and uncovering the reason for their disappearance, the system notification appeared.
"Not easy. Crawling underground covered in dust, and this mission is finally done."
Junze smiled.
He counted the miners nearby.
More than a dozen.
If he saved them all, he could earn over four hundred Primogems at once.
Roar.
The Ancient Geo Vishap he had tracked turned its gaze toward him.
Its eyes burned with abnormal ferocity.
Malice radiated from its body.
Not its own malice.
But that of ancient gods.
"It seems your riot is connected to those restless gods sealed beneath here."
Junze nodded slowly.
The truth was becoming clearer.
Rumble.
The Ancient Geo Vishap charged.
Each step made the earth quake violently.
Not only it.
All the Geo Vishaps and juvenile vishaps nearby abandoned their assault on the pillars.
They turned toward Junze instead.
Roar.
Their collective roar was like a funeral hymn.
"Ah… is this group attack a bit excessive?"
Junze looked at the swarm surrounding him, scalp tingling.
There were at least a hundred vishaps.
And that did not include those still emerging from underground.
Even if he could fight while devouring their power, this number would overwhelm him.
At that moment, Eula climbed out from the tunnel, covered in dust.
When she saw the scene before her, she swallowed hard.
"Wind Archon above… you have to be joking."
Far away in Mondstadt, a certain drunken bard suddenly sneezed.
"Who is talking about me now?"
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