Mu Yang knew it was time to get moving.
There were still two things left for him to do in Mondstadt.
He invested the Popularity Points that had just surged onto Weibo's trending list into upgrading his strength.
Even without using sword techniques,
solely in terms of his Vision,
he now possessed strength on par with Acting Grand Master Jean.
"System, have you been secretly skimming a cut off my Popularity Points?"
The system argued.
"Burp, no. This is like cultivation—every little step forward becomes unimaginably difficult."
"Do you think gaps like that can be filled so easily?"
Mu Yang said, "This had better be true."
After improving his strength,
Mu Yang got up and walked over to the bar.
He was ready to settle the bill and leave.
Little Diona looked at Mu Yang, her face flushed red.
She told Mu Yang
that the blonde-haired sister had already paid his Mora.
Mu Yang thanked Diona for telling him.
Then he praised her.
"The drink you mixed was delicious. I liked it very much."
"Really?! Then you have to come again next time!"
After watching Mu Yang leave,
Diona continued staring blankly after him.
She did not know why, but she was simply very happy.
Cat's Tail owner Marjorie could not help teasing her.
"Little Diona really likes that customer, huh?"
"N-No, I don't! I like all customers who don't drink!"
The tavern's regulars exchanged knowing smiles.
This was the tsundere Diona they knew.
"What are you laughing at? You awful bunch of drunks! Hmph!"
After Mu Yang walked out of Cat's Tail,
he did not head toward Angel's Share.
After all, he had said that if there was no payment, he would not get involved in the Anemo Dragon matter.
Besides, with the persona he had established,
it really would not be good for him to keep showing up in front of Venti.
The system said, "You're about to kill his servants. Do you think he'll be happy to see you?"
Mu Yang said, "Stop talking nonsense. Hurry up and mark the Fatui stronghold."
"The one holding the Lyre of Winds."
That place was fairly well hidden.
But unfortunately for them, Mu Yang had hacks.
All it took was placing a white box over the stronghold.
How could white-boxing possibly count as hacking?
Mu Yang used his Lightness Skill to reach the entrance of the Fatui stronghold in just a few moves.
He remembered that when Diluc and the others came here,
they even made Lumine wear a mask
to prevent her from being recognized.
They also had to finish things quickly.
Otherwise, running into La Signora would be troublesome.
No matter how detestable the Fatui were, they were still Mondstadt's allies.
Mu Yang had no such concerns.
He directly drew his sword and slashed open the wooden doors at the entrance.
The doors were split diagonally into upper and lower halves.
He walked into the stronghold.
The low-ranking guards at the entrance did not even have time to react.
Mu Yang only needed to make the slightest move
to learn the limits of the first layer of defense.
After defeating every Fatui soldier present,
Mu Yang headed straight deeper inside.
When the guards stationed farther in saw that the main gate had been breached,
they were scared out of their wits.
They tossed aside their weapons,
clutched their heads with both hands, and squatted down.
"Waaah! Don't eat me!"
He crouched on the ground, trembling nonstop.
Mu Yang walked up to him and asked, "Where is the Lyre of Winds?"
Hearing a human voice,
the guard secretly raised his head for a look.
When he realized Mu Yang was a normal human,
he slowly stood up.
Letting out a long breath, he said, "Whew, I thought the Abyss Order had broken in?"
"So it's a human..."
Then, belatedly, he realized
that the person before him
had broken through an entire floor of defenses to reach this place?!
Mu Yang placed his sword against the man's neck.
He asked again, "Where is the Lyre of Winds?"
The guard stared at the blade gleaming with icy light.
It was only a hair's breadth from his neck.
"Ah—don't do this! I'll talk, I'll tell you everything!"
"The Lyre of Winds is hidden in the deepest part of these ruins."
"The place where the holy relic is stored is locked. If you want to find the key, keep going inside. Don't come looking for me!"
"I don't know which advance team member has the key, either."
Without pausing for breath,
the guard spilled everything he knew.
Meeting Mu Yang's gaze,
he asked shakily, "C-Can I leave now?"
Mu Yang withdrew his sword.
He ignored the guard and continued deeper into the ruins.
After the guard ran some distance away,
he suddenly felt bold again.
He turned back and shouted.
"Y-You just wait! We Fatui have a Fatui Executive stationed in Mondstadt!"
"If Lady La Signora finds you, just wait to be burned to death!"
Hearing that, Mu Yang sighed.
Sigh, people only respect those who are useful to them.
He had been prepared to let the man go after seeing how sincerely he had cooperated.
Why did he have to bring up La Signora?
Mu Yang immediately drew his sword and sent out a flash of sword light.
Then he did not bother with him anymore.
Experts never looked back at explosions.
Seeing that things had gone wrong, the guard tried to turn and flee.
But he tripped over himself.
Fortunately, he had tripped.
The sword energy flew over his head.
It gave him a bald patch right down the middle.
The guard who had fallen to the ground did not dare shout any more threats.
He immediately played dead on the spot.
Only after confirming that Mu Yang was not chasing after him did he leave.
Meanwhile, Lumine and the others had already discussed their plan at Angel's Share.
She and Diluc would head to the Fatui stronghold and retrieve the Lyre of Winds.
But as soon as they arrived at the entrance,
Lumine was dumbfounded.
Only the upper half of the entrance's defensive measures remained.
The cut was remarkably clean.
Diluc examined it.
"It was split diagonally by a single sword strike."
Paimon said, "Someone got here first? Could someone else want the Lyre of Winds too?"
Diluc shook his head, indicating that he did not know.
"Let's go in quickly."
Lumine agreed and charged inside with her sword in hand.
The two of them had prepared themselves for battle.
However, there was no need for them to fight at all.
Because the Fatui throughout the entire stronghold were dead or severely wounded.
No one was left capable of fighting.
Lumine inspected the nearby corpses.
She found only one wound on each of them.
Every one of them had been killed in a single strike.
It was the same strike that had cleaved open the wooden doors.
Diluc returned after making a round.
"Some of those who survived are severely wounded and unconscious. We can't get anything out of them."
Paimon said, "Master Diluc, didn't you say the Fatui were extremely powerful?"
"Even you had to wear a mask to come cause trouble for them."
"Then who in Mondstadt would dare to storm a Fatui stronghold like this?"
Diluc frowned.
"To be honest, I don't know. There are obvious traces of Cryo energy around the wounds."
"But neither Kaeya nor that nun could possibly deliver slashes this refined and powerful."
Lumine said, "Looks like we can only keep going deeper."
Guinaifen's livestream.
Watching the story unfold, Xiao Guizi got excited all over again.
"Do we even need to guess? It's my Mu Yang!"
"Who else could be this wild besides him?"
"I haven't seen him for twenty minutes already. I miss him."
A Cryo Vision plus those sword wounds—there's no doubt about it.
My lovesickness is acting up. How am I supposed to live without Mu Yang?
He even helped clear the dungeon?
Why did Mu Yang come here? I thought he would leave after telling her about her brother.
Lumine and Diluc continued deeper into the ruins.
As they walked, Diluc suddenly shielded Lumine and Paimon behind him.
"Careful, someone's here!"
Lumine focused her eyes.
Sure enough, a figure was charging toward them!
Before you continue