Death of the Yuheng?

The black-clad figures surrounded Zhong Baiye and his companions, and a masked man in a red robe stepped forward.

Seeing that they were surrounded, Lumine realized things had taken a turn for the worse and hurried over with Yuzhong.

The man in the red robe looked familiar to Zhong Baiye. After another look at his mask, he immediately recognized him as a Pyro Debt Collector of the Fatui.

The Debt Collector spoke in a low voice. "Lady Yuheng, we need your help with something. Please come with us."

Although he said "please," Zhong Baiye and the others could feel the murderous intent radiating from the black-clad figures. They might attack at any moment.

"Waaah, T﹏T! Keqing, just agree to go with them! There are so many of them-we can't beat them!"

The murderous looks on the black-clad figures' faces instantly scared all the courage out of Paimon.

Zhong Baiye carefully counted them and found there were a dozen or so. With his and Keqing's strength, defeating them would be next to impossible.

"Keqing, let's keep them calm for now and look for an opening. Fighting them head-on is too dangerous."

Zhong Baiye whispered into Keqing's ear.

This was the first time Keqing had ever had Zhong Baiye speak to her like this. His warm breath brushed against her ear.

Her ears were almost as red as a Pyro Slime.

Keqing shook her head and covered her flushed ears with both hands, thinking to herself.

Now isn't the time to worry about something so trivial. I need to pull myself together.

Seeing Keqing's bashful expression, Lumine wanted to rush over and have Zhong Baiye do the same to her, but reason held her back.

Instead, Lumine could only take her frustration out on Paimon, delivering an uppercut straight to her.

"Traveler, why did you attack me out of nowhere?!"

The sudden uppercut left Paimon dazed. Seeing stars, she slumped onto Lumine's shoulder, shattering the tense atmosphere.

"Ahem! Can't you tell me what you need right here? If it's something I can actually help with, I'm not opposed to it."

Keqing suppressed her smile and addressed the Debt Collector seriously.

The Debt Collector paid no mind to their antics. He replied in the same tone as before.

"Please come with us, Lady Yuheng. This is no small matter."

Still hoping to avoid a fight, Keqing exchanged a glance with Zhong Baiye before continuing.

"Where do you want to take me? What will happen to my companions?"

"Hahaha!"

This time, rather than remaining impassive, the Debt Collector burst into laughter.

"Lady Yuheng, you can barely save yourself, yet you're still thinking of protecting them?"

A fat, black-clad man behind him added, "As long as you come with us, Lady Yuheng, nothing will happen to you. As for them, we'll finish them off one by one."

As soon as he finished speaking, the black-clad figures surrounding Zhong Baiye and his companions all burst out laughing.

"Hahaha!"

Zhong Baiye, Keqing, and Lumine exchanged glances, knowing there was no avoiding this fight.

They each drew their swords and readied themselves for battle.

Realizing that asking was no longer an option, the black-clad figures immediately drew their weapons as well.

Holding a sharp blade, the Pyro Debt Collector spun around and vanished from sight.

Noticing this, Zhong Baiye hurriedly warned Keqing and Lumine.

"Watch out for a sneak attack from their leader! He can turn invisible!"

But Keqing and Lumine didn't answer him. The other black-clad figures had already surrounded them, leaving only Zhong Baiye relatively safe for the moment.

Only two black-clad men surrounded Zhong Baiye: a fat man wielding a Cryo-Flame Thrower and a tall, thin man carrying a Firearm.

Zhong Baiye knew getting hit by the Cryo-Flame Thrower would put him in serious danger, so he intended to take down the fat man first.

After trying everything he could, he finally managed to rush up to the Cryo-Gunner Bracer, only for a sudden warning to flare in his mind.

With his half-adeptus physique, he possessed an ability much like Spider-Man's spider-sense.

Trusting that warning, Zhong Baiye immediately abandoned his attack and rolled to the side.

Just then, a fiery-red blade appeared behind him, narrowly missing his shoulder.

Thump, thump...

Zhong Baiye's heart raced. If he hadn't rolled aside just now, that blade would already have pierced him.

Now he knew why only two Fatui were surrounding him: the Pyro Debt Collector had been watching him all along.

He couldn't keep his attention solely on the Fatui in front of him. The invisible Debt Collector was the greatest threat.

While Keqing and Lumine only had to deal with the enemies before them, Zhong Baiye needed eyes in the back of his head. His enemies weren't only in front of him.

As Zhong Baiye fought the two Fatui, he occasionally glanced toward Keqing and Lumine.

There weren't many Fatui surrounding Lumine, only four. But they coordinated well, leaving her able to do nothing but defend.

Keqing was doing all right too. The Fatui seemed afraid of hurting her and didn't attack her, merely taking her blows.

"Someone, save me!"

Yuzhong, whom Zhong Baiye and the others had forgotten, suddenly shouted.

Zhong Baiye looked over and saw a black-clad man holding a huge hammer slowly approaching Yuzhong.

He wanted to break past the two Fatui in front of him, but every time he tried, a warning of danger flared in his mind.

The hidden Pyro Debt Collector was watching Zhong Baiye constantly. He couldn't leave this spot.

Lumine was struggling to protect herself and couldn't do anything either. Keqing alone was in a different position.

Zhong Baiye saw Keqing actually break out of the encirclement of seven Fatui. With an Electro Flash, she put herself directly in front of Yuzhong, shielding him behind her.

But what Zhong Baiye, Keqing, and the others failed to notice was that the fear had disappeared from Yuzhong's face, replaced by a smug smile.

He held an Injection in his hand. While Keqing's attention was focused entirely on the hammer-wielding man before her, he thrust it toward her neck.

Zhong Baiye happened to catch sight of this, but he was far too far from Keqing. Even if he could use the Bamboo-Copter, he wouldn't be able to stop Yuzhong.

Seeing that Yuzhong's Injection was about to pierce Keqing's neck, Zhong Baiye could only make a desperate, last-ditch attempt.

He focused his attention on the Injection in Yuzhong's hand and shouted.

"Stealing!"

A white light flashed. Just as Zhong Baiye thought he had succeeded, he saw that the Injection was still in Yuzhong's hand.

The green-glowing Injection was still hurtling toward Keqing's neck.