Mountain Shaper's Appreciation

After figuring out how the amber worked, Keqing and Zhong Baiye split up and soon freed all the Treasure Hoarders who had been swallowed by it.

"Thank you so much."

Li Ding looked at his rescued companions and bowed to Keqing.

But only Zhong Baiye noticed that Li Ding was holding a short blade as he bent over.

Just as Keqing reached out to help Li Ding straighten up, he moved.

With lightning speed, he thrust the dagger in his hand toward Keqing's chest.

"What..."

Even with the power of her Vision, Keqing could not react in time.

Lumine and Paimon were both shocked. They wanted to rush over and stop Li Ding, but they were too far away.

Clang!

Just as the dagger came within a centimeter of Keqing's chest, a sword knocked it away.

Keqing looked at the sword. It was identical to Zhong Baiye's Harbinger of Dawn. Turning her head, she saw Zhong Baiye holding the Harbinger of Dawn, having blocked the attack for her.

At that moment, Keqing had no idea that her heart was beating faster and faster, or that her cheeks were growing redder as she looked at Zhong Baiye.

"Don't just stand there! Get them, boys! Look at their clothes-they must be loaded. Once this job's done, I'm going back home to get married."

Seeing that his sneak attack had failed, Li Ding immediately shouted, letting the remaining Treasure Hoarders know what was happening.

"But they just saved us. Isn't this a bit wrong?"

A fat man whom Zhong Baiye had just rescued muttered.

Despite his words, everyone could see that he was actually moving faster than the other Treasure Hoarders. He quickly launched an attack on Zhong Baiye.

"Watch your back!"

Seeing that the Treasure Hoarder's shovel was about to strike Zhong Baiye's back, Keqing immediately warned him.

"Brother, look out!"

Seeing the danger Zhong Baiye was in, Lumine also shouted a warning.

Hearing Keqing and Lumine's warnings, Zhong Baiye scoffed inwardly. He had finally managed to look cool in front of Keqing, only to be interrupted so soon.

Then Zhong Baiye swept his sword across. Before the ambushing Treasure Hoarder even understood what had happened, his shovel had been cut in half.

"Hurry up and get in there! There are so many of us, they can't hold us off!"

Li Ding hurriedly urged the hesitant Treasure Hoarders on.

Hearing their leader's voice, the hesitant Treasure Hoarders stopped watching, immediately picked up their weapons, and surrounded Zhong Baiye and the others.

"Looks like there's no avoiding a fight now. Let's go help them."

Seeing the situation spiral out of control, Paimon was ready to call Lumine over to help.

But when Paimon turned around, Lumine was nowhere to be seen. Only a group of Treasure Hoarders remained, eyeing her menacingly.

Worried about Zhong Baiye, Lumine had already rushed over when she shouted her warning.

"Aaah... Traveler, come save me!"

Looking at the vicious faces of the Treasure Hoarders around her, Paimon lost all her nerve and immediately flew toward Lumine, flailing her arms and legs.

Looking at the chaos around her, Keqing realized that she had made the wrong decision. She should not have trusted others so readily.

At the thought that everyone was in danger because of her, a pained expression appeared on Keqing's face.

"There's nothing we can do about it now. Let's deal with them first and worry about the rest later."

Zhong Baiye noticed Keqing's reaction as well. He comforted her while fighting off the Treasure Hoarders closing in.

"Brother's right. Keqing, snap out of it!"

Seeing more and more Treasure Hoarders surrounding them, Lumine hurriedly called out to Keqing too.

"Keqing, aren't you one of the Liyue Qixing? Hurry and save me! ˃ʍ˂"

Seeing that Lumine and Zhong Baiye had their hands full, Paimon flew toward Keqing, crying for help.

"That's right. I'm one of the Liyue Qixing, but I'm also Keqing. Everyone still needs me. I can't fall here."

Hearing Zhong Baiye and Lumine call out to her, Keqing seemed to undergo a change.

The Lion's Roar in her hand no longer hesitated, thrusting toward the attacking Treasure Hoarders.

With Keqing joining the fight, the pressure on Zhong Baiye and the others dropped sharply. But there were simply too many Treasure Hoarders, and they had to hold back for fear of accidentally killing them.

Lumine nearly fell victim to sneak attacks several times. Fortunately, Zhong Baiye was keeping an eye on her.

This can't go on. Do I have to use that already?

Watching the situation grow increasingly dangerous, Zhong Baiye decided to use the Sigil of Permission Zhongli had left him.

"What bandits are these, daring to plunder this place of my secluded cultivation?"

But before he could take out the Sigil of Permission, an ethereal voice rang out from afar.

The Treasure Hoarders and Zhong Baiye's group all stopped attacking at once.

A black-headed crane appeared atop a large rock.

"It's an adeptus! Please spare us!"

"Adeptus, we were wrong! Please let us go!"

Realizing that the voice had come from the crane before them, the Treasure Hoarders immediately understood who he was and dropped to their knees, begging for mercy.

Mountain Shaper ignored their pleas and swept his wings.

A gentle breeze blew toward the kneeling Treasure Hoarders.

Every Treasure Hoarder touched by the breeze was sent flying into the sky.

Soon, all the Treasure Hoarders had vanished without a trace.

"Whoa... Adepti really are amazing. Good thing we're not Treasure Hoarders, or we'd be in real trouble."

Even as Paimon watched the Treasure Hoarders disappear into the sky, she did not forget to offer a comment.

"And who are you? How dare you..."

Mountain Shaper was about to continue when he suddenly noticed Zhong Baiye and the Vision at his waist. He stopped what he had been about to say and muttered.

"So it's you...?"

Seeing that he had fallen silent, Zhong Baiye took the Sigil of Permission out of his bag.

"A Sigil of Permission! What brings you here to seek me?"

The instant Mountain Shaper saw the Sigil of Permission, he understood that something might have happened in Liyue.

"Let me explain. I'm one of the Liyue Qixing. This concerns Liyue."

Keqing stopped Zhong Baiye before he could explain, then stepped forward herself and told Mountain Shaper what had happened.

"You are one of the Liyue Qixing? After something like this has happened, you still dare stand before me?"

After hearing Keqing's account, Mountain Shaper scrutinized her. Though he made no outward move, anyone could sense the fury in his eyes.

Even the usually carefree Paimon realized that something was wrong and hid behind Lumine.

Suddenly, Mountain Shaper moved his wings, and a breeze identical to the one from before swept toward Keqing.

Paimon and Lumine wanted to rush forward to help Keqing, but they were too far away and could only watch anxiously.

Seeing this, Zhong Baiye immediately moved to step forward and block it for Keqing.