For once, Paimon actually had a smart idea. She told everyone, "Didn't we push the door open when we came in? Then shouldn't we pull it open to get out?"
Zhong Baiye and the others froze in stunned silence.
Zhong Baiye carefully recalled their arrival. They really had pushed that door open, which meant they needed to pull it to leave.
But out of habit, even Keqing had assumed they needed to push the door open to get out.
So after trying and failing to push it open, they had simply assumed the door was locked.
Now that Paimon had pointed it out, Zhong Baiye and Keqing both felt rather embarrassed.
What had they spent all that time doing? Trying to force open a door they were supposed to pull?
Just as the two of them began questioning their lives, the Domain stopped shaking, and a small, hidden door suddenly appeared in its main entrance.
The moment Paimon spotted the little door, she was ready to rush over and open it to see whether there was any treasure inside.
Before she could move forward, something appeared overhead and blocked out the light, plunging the ground into shadow.
Zhong Baiye and the others looked up and discovered a green Slime over ten meters across hovering above them. Powerful winds swirled around its body, making it clear this was no ordinary foe.
Using the power of Anemo, the giant Slime gently landed in front of the door, neatly blocking their only way out.
"Hehehe! This big guy looks pretty cool! Come on, Zhong Baiye, hurry up and take out the Sigil of Permission to tame it."
Paimon wasn't afraid of the ferocious-looking creature at all. Instead, she moved closer, preparing to ride on its head.
Paimon's words instantly brought Zhong Baiye to his senses. The Slimes here should all have been raised by Cloud Retainer.
As long as he took out the Sigil of Permission, he should be able to command it. There was no need to fight it at all.
Zhong Baiye immediately pulled the Sigil of Permission out of his bag and waved it at the Slime.
They had expected the Slime to turn docile and adorable as soon as it saw the Sigil of Permission.
To their surprise, however, this Slime wasn't buying it. It showed no reaction whatsoever to the Sigil of Permission.
But when Paimon approached its head, it suddenly went berserk, and a whirlwind instantly ensnared her.
Paimon didn't panic at all. Still thinking this was one of Zhong Baiye's pranks, she shouted from inside the whirlwind.
"Zhong Bai... ye, I'm... sorry! Let... me out!"
The whirlwind was so loud that Zhong Baiye and the others could only catch fragments of what she was saying.
Before they could act, the whirlwind swept Paimon into the Slime's body.
Lumine and Keqing were worried that something might happen to Paimon, but Zhong Baiye spoke with a look of gleeful amusement.
"Don't worry. The Slimes here can't hurt Paimon. If you don't believe me, just watch!"
Lumine and Keqing immediately looked over. The giant Slime that had swallowed Paimon was swaying from side to side as though suffering from indigestion.
A moment later, it sneezed, spraying out Paimon, who was covered from head to toe in slime.
Paimon still thought Zhong Baiye was teasing her. Stamping her feet in midair and shaking off the slime, she glared at him angrily.
"How dare you play a prank like that on me, Paimon! You're awful!"
But Zhong Baiye and the others had no time to talk to her. After spitting Paimon out, the giant Slime generated a powerful wind field.
All of them were caught within its range and were doing everything they could to keep their footing and avoid being sucked into the Slime's body.
Their faces were twisted with the effort of resisting the wind field.
Only then did Paimon realize something was wrong. She turned and saw that Lumine was almost unable to withstand the wind field and was about to be sucked into the sky. She hurriedly shouted to Zhong Baiye.
"Hurry and save the Traveler! She's about to get sucked into the sky!"
Hearing Paimon's cry, Zhong Baiye struggled to turn his head. Lumine's feet had already left the ground, and she was desperately holding on to the sword she had driven into it.
But seeing the sword wobbling precariously in the wind, Zhong Baiye knew Lumine wouldn't last much longer.
He glanced at Keqing beside him. Although she wasn't about to be swept away just yet, she wouldn't last long either unless the wind field stopped.
Countless possible solutions flashed through Zhong Baiye's mind, but none of them let him get around the giant Slime before him.
His only option was to risk his life for a chance at survival. He had to take out this Slime first.
Having settled on a plan, Zhong Baiye stopped resisting the wind field's pull. He prepared to activate the Sigil of Permission in his hand the instant he reached the Slime and finish it off.
But to his bewilderment, the Slime shut down the wind field as soon as he drew close.
The Slime slowly approached Zhong Baiye.
Zhong Baiye steadied his footing and immediately gripped the Sigil of Permission tightly. The moment the Slime attacked, he would activate it.
Keqing and Lumine were both on edge for him, but resisting the wind field had drained so much of their strength that even Keqing couldn't muster the energy to help him.
They could only watch helplessly as the Slime approached Zhong Baiye.
"Brother! (Zhong Baiye!)"
Just as they and Zhong Baiye thought the Slime was about to attack, it suddenly stopped.
Beads of nervous sweat covered Zhong Baiye's forehead, and he was gripping the Sigil of Permission so tightly that it was nearly crumpled out of shape.
Zhong Baiye and the Slime simply stared at each other, neither looking away.
After a minute, the Slime began moving again.
But this time, Zhong Baiye didn't sense even a trace of danger, so he didn't activate the Sigil of Permission right away.
The Slime kept circling Zhong Baiye, its gaze fixed on him the entire time.
If it had been human, Keqing and the others probably would have seen a puzzled expression on its face.
After inspecting every part of Zhong Baiye, the Slime seemed to confirm something and activated its wind field again.
This time, however, the wind field only affected its immediate surroundings, carrying the Slime back into the sky.
Before long, the Slime vanished. Just as when it had appeared, Zhong Baiye and the others couldn't tell where it had been hiding.
Only after the Slime disappeared did Zhong Baiye realize he had practically turned into a steam engine, with the sweat on his head constantly evaporating.
From Keqing and the others' perspective, steam was rising from Zhong Baiye's head in an ever-growing cloud.
Before you continue