Reciprocation

Nafis left first. He could no longer wait to seek out this newly born god of flora.

From outside the window, Lin Feng had overheard their entire conversation, and it gave him a measure of goodwill toward this Amurta Sage.

In the original story, Nafis had been secretly imprisoned by Grand Sage Azar for refusing to take part in the God-Making Project. Even among the Sages, his strange temperament stood apart.

But Lin Feng had no intention of revealing himself now and proactively forming an alliance with him.

After all, mortals had virtually no secrets in many circumstances. Even if it was not their intention, they could easily expose Lin Feng's existence to the Akademiya ahead of time, which would hinder many of his Follow-up plans against the Akademiya.

After all, if the Akademiya had no hidden trump cards or powerful reinforcements, Lin Feng's chances of catching them off guard and rescuing Lesser Lord Kusanali were not low.

If they were allowed to prepare in advance, it would only introduce more variables.

Once I finish Lesser Lord Kusanali's commission, I should visit Sumeru City.

In Short, Lin Feng temporarily took note of this hidden ally. Though he had no plans to work with him now, he might prove useful someday.

With a flash, Lin Feng vanished from the treetop and entered Tighnari's room.

With practiced ease, he blocked everyone else's thoughts of visiting, then lifted Lesser Lord Kusanali's influence over Tighnari.

Tighnari: "..."

After a brief daze, Tighnari seemed to be recalling who the person before him was. But that confusion was quickly replaced by resentment so intense it was nearly tangible.

"Lin—Feng—!"

Tighnari rushed before Lin Feng, grabbed him by the shoulders, and shook the young man wildly as though he had caught a brat who had smashed his figurines.

"You bastard, you made me suffer so much!!!"

"I've been graduated for years, and I actually got scolded by my teacher! I didn't even get scolded when I was in school, okay?!"

Knowing he was at fault, Lin Feng obediently stood there and let Tighnari vent his resentment. There was no passing the blame this time—it was all his doing.

Tighnari's experience was enough to make listeners sad and onlookers weep. The other Forest Rangers had less work, but Tighnari himself seemed to have been assigned an absurdly long overtime shift. Not only was his workload heavy, but he also had to endure criticism from his superior from time to time.

Lin Feng had thought Tighnari would be furious enough to ignore him, but he soon realized that Tighnari did not seem as angry as he had expected.

Curious, Lin Feng asked bluntly,

"Tighnari, I clearly caused you so much trouble. Why do you look like you're not actually that angry?"

Tighnari sighed at his words, releasing Lin Feng's shoulders. His gaze was incomparably complicated.

"Sigh... That's because, although someone caused me a great deal of trouble, he's also undeniably a great benefactor to Gandharva Ville."

"During this time, everyone in the Gandharva Ville region—Forest Walkers, merchants, scholars, travelers, everyone connected to Gandharva Ville—has benefited from this change to varying degrees."

"I'm angry because covering for you got me severely reprimanded by my mentor. But when it comes down to it, I should be thanking you on behalf of Gandharva Ville's residents."

"Thinking about it that way, even I'm not so angry anymore."

Lin Feng: "..." You're being so understanding that I feel even more guilty. What am I supposed to do?

"Let's put that aside for now. Even if you're a hero, you made me suffer this badly. If you don't treat me to a few meals, I definitely won't forgive you."

"Now, back to business. Since you've returned, does that mean everything has been taken care of?"

Tighnari recalled what Lin Feng had told him over half a month ago and became curious about the results he had achieved.

As for his mentor's utterly fantastical idea, Tighnari had never taken it seriously.

Lin Feng had told him long ago that he was from Liyue. Moreover, everything from his daily habits to his taste in food had indirectly confirmed it.

Seeing Tighnari's mood return to normal, Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief. With no intention of hiding much, he said,

"Although I really want to show off and say, 'Mere mortal, I have become a god,' considering your mental state these days, I'd better not provoke you."

"To put it simply, in order to ensure that no new Withering zones would emerge in Sumeru for the next few hundred years, I tried to draw enough power from the ley lines to accomplish that goal."

"And as you can see, although there were a few twists and turns, the original objective was indeed accomplished perfectly."

Hearing such explosive news from Lin Feng so suddenly, Tighnari fell silent for a moment.

"...Wait. That's too much information. Let me sort this out."

"Putting aside whether your 'I have become a god' line was a joke, weren't you working here as a Forest Ranger before? How did you get involved with the Withering across all of Sumeru?"

"That... is a long story. Let me start from the beginning."

Seeing Tighnari's complete bewilderment, Lin Feng understood that his journey through Teyvat was indeed somewhat unusual to ordinary people. So he gave Tighnari a brief explanation, leaving out everything concerning Lesser Lord Kusanali.

This included meeting the Aranara in the Withering, entering dreams to spend the Utsava Festival, and the Withering-cleansing plan, which now had only its final step remaining.

"..." After hearing of Lin Feng's experiences over the past few short months—experiences so eventful that ordinary people could not match them in ten lifetimes—Tighnari became certain that this guy was a born incident trigger. Wherever he went, peace and quiet had nothing to do with the place.

"Sigh, you've only been in Sumeru for such a short time, yet you're even more capable of stirring things up than I was at the Akademiya."

"Remember when I said you were Gandharva Ville's hero? I'll have to take that back."

"Hm? Why?" Lin Feng was confused. Why was he suddenly taking it back?

"Take a look at what you've done. How can the word 'hero' possibly encompass it anymore?"

"If my junior students learned about this, they'd probably be begging to follow you around and write several personal biographies about you."

"This is an achievement that will go down in history!"

Tighnari was genuinely amazed by what Lin Feng had done.

Although he knew the story Lin Feng had told him was not the whole truth, and although he had not forgotten his earlier memory abnormalities, Tighnari had secrets he was ashamed to mention as well. He had no intention of digging deeper.

"Hehe, not really. It's not as great as you make it sound." Suddenly being lavishly praised by a close friend made even Lin Feng feel a little embarrassed.

"Besides, although I've already left Gandharva Ville,"

"if you hadn't taken me in back then, I might still be digging up mushrooms in the rainforest to eat."

"If I've achieved anything, then you definitely deserve a share of the credit!"

Lin Feng's gratitude toward Tighnari was utterly sincere. Although he had grown quickly, without Tighnari, even his initial survival would have been a major problem.

Even if he probably would not have starved to death or fallen ill, there was no doubt that alone and without support, he would have embarked on a path of growth completely different from the one he now walked.

Thinking of this, Lin Feng took a rectangular wooden box from his Storage Space and solemnly handed it to Tighnari.

Seeing the puzzled look on his face, Lin Feng smiled and said,

"You've taken care of me all this time, so I prepared two gifts for you."

"The item in this box is the first one. Open it and take a look."

Many thanks to readers 20230520204537132 and One Thousand Rabbits for the rewards~