Caelus watched a group of Cryo Slimes hopping past him. Why was this different from what was recorded in the Adventurer's Handbook? He was not hiding his presence.
He curiously picked up the Cryo Slime that was following at the very back. The Slime wobbled a few times in Caelus's arms, then stared at him with its big eyes and remained motionless. Even though it was a Cryo Slime, its texture was unexpectedly soft and lacked the hardness of ice.
Holding it in his arms, it was still soft and cool to the touch.
Looking at the Slime that did not attack even while being held, Caelus began to wonder what it was about him that prevented the Slime from attacking.
The system did not step in to provide an answer this time, so Caelus could only poke the Slime a few times. After confirming that it would not resist no matter how he played with it, he returned it to the wild.
Because Caelus had to go to Liyue, and he truly did not have a single Mora on him, he had previously accepted a commission at the Adventurers' Guild to deliver something to Liyue.
Mondstadt was generally very peaceful. Because of the recent dragon disaster, many monsters had appeared, but with the cleanup conducted by the Knights of Favonius afterward, things would likely return to how they were before.
At least on this road from Mondstadt to Liyue, apart from some Slimes, there were no other monsters.
In this world, the danger level of Slimes is indeed very low. After all, although these little creatures are life forms formed from elemental energy, their control over their own energy is extremely rudimentary. Most of the time they simply ram their bodies into people. Even the most inexperienced rookie adventurer, even if they cannot defeat them, can usually escape.
Furthermore, Slimes in this world can never be completely cleared out. Just as Ley Lines occasionally clog and give birth to new monsters, Slimes, as life forms formed from elemental energy, will reappear as long as elemental energy exists in this world.
So unless there is an excessive accumulation of Slimes, the local authorities generally do not bother with these small creatures. Only adventurers who specialize in hunting Slimes for money will search everywhere for their traces.
Although Caelus was traveling on foot, his speed was certainly not something ordinary people could compare with. It took him less than half a day to reach the junction between Liyue and Mondstadt.
As soon as he stepped into the territory of Liyue, Caelus felt a unique atmosphere. Everything around him reminded him of his experience traveling in the land of Shenzhou not long ago.
Right at the border between Mondstadt and Liyue, there was actually a tea stall. Caelus thought for a moment and sat down, planning to inquire about the situation in Liyue or learn about local customs, so that he would not accidentally violate any taboos like he once did while traveling in Shenzhou.
Because he lacked a sense of taste, the only reason Caelus insisted on eating every day without skipping meals was so that Bianka, who had always been by his side, would not worry.
Then one day, when they were eating together at a restaurant, Caelus dipped a dumpling in chocolate sauce and stuffed it into his mouth.
He still remembered the look the shop owner gave him. It was extremely strange, with an expression that seemed to want to say something but repeatedly held back.
Since that time, to avoid causing trouble due to ignorance of culinary culture, Caelus made a point of learning about such things.
Sitting at the tea stall, perhaps because the dragon disaster had ended not long ago, there was only Caelus at the stall, and he had not ordered any tea.
The owner of the tea stall was an old man who looked aged but whose spirit was no weaker than that of a young man. Seeing Caelus sitting alone without ordering tea, he did not remind him or drive him away. Instead, since he had nothing better to do, he sat down opposite Caelus and asked,
"Young man, your clothing does not look like that of a Mondstadter. If I am not mistaken, you are from Fontaine, are you not?"
The old man spoke with great confidence. Over the years, he had seen many people, and he could roughly judge which country someone came from simply by their clothing.
Although the young man in front of him dressed somewhat in Mondstadt style, Mondstadt clothing was always a bit flashy, often decorated with accessories and patterns. Yet this young man wore only a simple black coat with no accessories or patterns at all, making it look extremely plain.
Under such circumstances, it was very likely that the other party came from Fontaine.
Because clothing from other regions had very distinctive styles, if a piece of clothing seemed to have no style at all, it was either from Fontaine or Snezhnaya.
As for Snezhnaya, perhaps because the region was too cold, their clothing designs, although simple, would definitely not be as thin as what the young man in front of him was wearing.
The old man ran through these thoughts in his mind and looked at Caelus confidently, waiting for his answer.
"I am not. I am an outlander."
"Cough, cough!"
The old man coughed several times. After stopping, he looked at the young man in front of him with disbelief.
"An outlander? That is truly rare."
The continent of Teyvat had never lacked visitors from beyond the heavens since ancient times. Although ordinary people might not know this, the old man had lived for a long time and possessed enough ability to run a tea stall at the border of two nations without fearing monsters or bandits, so he naturally knew some things.
Moreover, it was a matter of fate. His ancestors once had contact with an outlander from beyond the heavens, and it was precisely because of that contact that his family's prosperity began. Therefore this story had been recorded within the family and passed down until today.
He never expected that one day he would personally see an outlander.
Since he was idle, the old man began chatting with Caelus. Basically, the old man spoke while Caelus listened. An old man truly is an old man. Having lived here for so many years, he knew many stories and events, including quite a few secrets that ordinary people did not know.
Unfortunately, the secrets the old man knew were only secrets to ordinary people. According to the system's judgment, they did not count as secrets at all.
"Follow this road and you will see a very tall tree. That is Wangshu Inn. According to rumors, an adeptus lives there. Most people think it is only an excuse the inn uses to attract customers or just hearsay, but I know for certain that there really is an adeptus there."
The old man chuckled mysteriously, then stopped talking. He picked up the teacup on the table and slowly drank his tea, deliberately putting on airs.
Caelus had no intention of discouraging him. Although he could not show extreme curiosity, he slightly raised his tone and asked, pretending to be somewhat eager.
"Are you saying you have seen it with your own eyes, old man?"
"Not exactly, but I am very sure there truly is an adeptus there. A younger member of my family is close friends with a waiter at that inn. According to that waiter, a room on the top floor of the inn has always remained unoccupied, yet it constantly shows signs of being lived in, and almost every day a serving of Almond Tofu is placed inside that room."
"Is that not obviously an offering to an adeptus? As for whether that tofu was eaten or not, that is unknown."
"Is it possible this is only their marketing strategy?"
"Uh..."
The old man fell silent for a moment, but he stubbornly insisted that the people of Liyue would never joke about their respect for the adepti.
After chatting with the bored old man for a while longer, Caelus continued toward Liyue.
Earlier he had asked the old man, and indeed, a day ago, a golden-haired girl with a small floating creature had passed by here.
That was the Traveler Caelus was searching for.
(To be continued.)