Watching the figure dart rapidly through the area, Ganyu's expression was complicated.
With a slight sigh, she turned to Bai Ye and introduced, "Bai Ye, that person ahead is also one of Liyue's Adepti, the Demon-Queller—Xiao. He must have come here under orders to clear this place out. Let's go meet up with him first."
"Mm."
Bai Ye nodded.
Then, the two of them charged over together.
Bai Ye reached Xiao first. Several wooden kites flew out at once, speeding into the horde of monsters. Their wings were like blades, slicing through enemy bodies one after another.
Xiao was still harvesting the monsters' lives with his spear when he saw those wooden kites, and his expression froze.
Had Cloud Retainer come?
He wondered inwardly.
Icy arrows struck the surrounding area, freezing all the remaining monsters.
With every enemy slain, Xiao was finally able to catch his breath.
Letting out a long breath, he removed the mask from his face.
He turned around.
Why were Ganyu and a young man walking over?
And why were those wooden kites returning to the young man's hands?
Wasn't that Cloud Retainer's Art of Automata?
"Demon-Queller, we've come to help you."
Ganyu said to Xiao.
"Mm." Xiao nodded. At the same time, he turned to Bai Ye. "Who is he?"
"A bounty hunter from Liyue Harbor. A lucky fellow who happened to learn a little of Cloud Retainer's Art of Automata."
Bai Ye immediately explained.
He truly wasn't that familiar with Xiao, so it would not be good to act too presumptuously.
Of course,
he still secretly observed Xiao.
He wasn't looking at anything else.
He was simply checking Xiao's height.
Then he quietly compared it to his own.
I won.
Thanks to the advantage of his high ponytail, he had gained the slightest edge in his height comparison with Xiao.
Hair counted as part of the body too, right?
Bai Ye was very happy now.
Although they were both Anemo users, he definitely wasn't the shortest anymore.
Besides, his body was only fourteen years old. If he worked at growing, there was still room for him to get taller.
If he grew a little more, he should at least become taller than Scaramouche and Venti, right?
"Mm."
Xiao did not notice Bai Ye's thoughts. He merely nodded indifferently.
He slung his spear across his back and said to Ganyu and Bai Ye, "This cave dwelling is the burial ground of Shakoth, the god defeated by the Geo Archon long ago. The next island may contain his remains. Withdraw first. I will deal with that place."
Ganyu said to Xiao, "Though Shakoth was not among the stronger gods of that era, he was certainly not like the Salt God. If you face his remains alone, I'm afraid you may not be able to handle it."
Bai Ye also said from the side,
"Ganyu and I both possess Adeptal Arts. At the very least, we can protect ourselves. There may be mistakes if you go alone, but the three of us should not have much trouble together."
He was extremely interested in the lingering aura and remains of a god. Perhaps they could help him find a way to restore his teacher.
Xiao carefully studied the two of them, then silently walked ahead.
He did not object.
Seeing this,
Bai Ye and Ganyu followed after him.
As they walked forward, Xiao asked Ganyu, "How much do you remember about that god, Shakoth?"
Shakoth belonged to the earliest group of gods to die in battle. At the time, Xiao was still enslaved, so he knew nothing about Shakoth. Ganyu was older than Xiao, so he wanted to ask her about Shakoth.
"Nothing. Shakoth truly was one of the earliest gods to fall. I have no idea how he died."
Ganyu shook her head as well.
"Forget it. No matter what, we only need to defeat him."
Xiao had not received the answer he wanted, so he simply decided to wipe everything out.
The three of them arrived at Shakoth's burial ground.
If it had been blood clouds outside, then within this burial ground, it had already become a rain of blood.
The thick stench of blood rushed into his mind, and pain appeared on Xiao's face.
The will of a god could easily affect those around it.
There was no better solution now.
They could only keep charging forward.
"Demon-Quelling Dance!"
A mask appeared on his face once more, and he rushed into the rain of blood with his spear in hand.
A faint glow emerged around Bai Ye and Ganyu.
They used Adeptal Arts at the same time to protect themselves.
The three of them entered the rain of blood one after another.
As they stepped into the bloody rain, all three looked up at the sky.
At its very center,
the corpse of a one-winged bird hung suspended in the air, bound by chains.
Its eyes glowed blood-red.
It had no consciousness. Its mind was filled only with the desire to break free.
Its body constantly struggled to fly away, while the chains binding it tore blood from its flesh.
The rain of blood here was all blood from its body.
The blood of a god was affecting the people around it.
Xiao bore the brunt of it and suffered the most.
To escape this situation as quickly as possible, they needed to find a way to defeat it quickly.
"Cover me."
After saying that,
Xiao swiftly wielded his Anemo Element. Even beneath the thick blood, he leaped incredibly high, landing on the chains binding Shakoth and charging forward along them.
Ganyu aimed once more, preparing to fire, while Bai Ye assembled his two Handheld Crossbows together. After triggering the Spring Mechanism several times, they transformed into a crossbow suited for long-range shooting.
The two fired at the same time.
Ganyu's ice froze the rain of blood, while Bai Ye used Anemo Elemental power to spread the ice.
Only then did the god's remains seem to notice that, while it was trying to escape, someone was attacking it.
So,
its blood-tear-streaked eyes looked directly at the three of them.
Then,
the blood turned into red light,
enveloping all three of them in an instant.
At that moment, Bai Ye remembered something.
The name Shakoth was probably based on Sallos, one of Solomon's seventy-two demons, wasn't it?
And Sallos's most famous ability was...
to deprive people of their Seven Senses.
A worried expression appeared on Bai Ye's face.
The next second,
Bai Ye felt his sight vanish. It was like going blind—not darkness before his eyes, but the inability to see anything at all.
Then,
he could no longer hear anything.
His sense of smell vanished, and he could no longer smell the heavy stench of blood.
His sense of touch vanished too, and he could no longer feel the rain of blood falling onto him.
Next, even the sensations within his body disappeared.
His sense of time disappeared as well.
There was no sensation left at all.
If he could not still think, Bai Ye might even have felt as though he were about to die.
His Seven Senses had been stripped away.
Before you continue