The sky gradually darkened, and a bright moon slowly rose.
"Look, there's a courtyard up ahead. We can stay there tonight."
Zhong Baiye pointed at the courtyard halfway up the mountain.
"All right."
The two of them turned the carriage toward the courtyard.
Before long, they came across a little boy in a blue robe standing beside the road.
It was already getting late, yet the boy was still out by the roadside. Keqing, with her strong sense of justice, immediately stopped.
Keqing walked over to the boy and gently asked him a question.
"What are you doing out here? Why haven't you gone home when it's this late?"
When the boy saw Keqing and Zhong Baiye, his face lit up.
"Come play with me. Mom and Dad don't have time to come home and play with me. Playing alone is so boring."
The boy glanced at the distant courtyard and continued.
"And I can't go too far, or Mom and Dad won't be able to find me when they come home. They'll worry."
[Ding!] [Story detected: "A Game of Hide-and-Seek." Check in?]
Just then, the check-in system's voice suddenly rang out in Zhong Baiye's mind.
"A Game of Hide-and-Seek? Who remembers quest names? Doesn't everyone forget them once they're done...?"
Although Zhong Baiye inwardly ranted about how inconsiderate the check-in system was, he obediently confirmed the check-in.
[Received one Mysterious Family Portrait.]
"A Mysterious Family Portrait? What am I supposed to do with this?"
Zhong Baiye examined the family portrait in his mind. It showed a family of three in a courtyard. The child looked a little like the boy before them, and the courtyard was identical to the one halfway up the mountain ahead.
Keqing paid no attention to Zhong Baiye as he stood there in a daze and immediately continued her questions.
"What's your name? What would you like us to play with you?"
Seeing how friendly Keqing was, the boy happily answered, "My name's Xiao Jiang, and my home is just up ahead. Big sister, would you play with me here? Let's play hide-and-seek. It's really easy."
At that, Zhong Baiye finally remembered which quest this was.
In the game, there was a hidden quest below Mt. Tianheng in Liyue. Zhong Baiye had only discovered it back then because he had wanted to reach level 45 sooner.
The quest was simple. All he had to do was play hide-and-seek with the boy before him and find him three times within a minute.
Back then, he had thought the quest was completely uninteresting. Now that he had seen this family portrait, perhaps there was more to it than he knew.
Keqing did not agree to the boy's request right away. Instead, she consulted Zhong Baiye first.
"I think we should just take him home. Playing hide-and-seek this late is bound to be dangerous."
Zhong Baiye thought it over and decided to complete the quest, so he said to Keqing,
"His home is just up ahead. If we play with him for a while, it'll be easier to ask to stay the night afterward. If we don't play with him and he refuses to let us stay, you'll have to sleep in the carriage."
Keqing glanced at the carriage, which was cold in winter and cool in summer, and agreed with Zhong Baiye.
So she said to the boy, "Sure. This big brother and I will play with you."
Hearing that they were willing to play with him, the boy was so happy he nearly jumped for joy.
"Big brother, big sister, are you ready? I'm going to hide now."
With that, the boy dashed off and disappeared.
A little while later, a voice called out from the distance.
"Ready! You can come find me now."
Keqing wanted to find the boy immediately, but Zhong Baiye stopped her.
"I know where he'll hide. Follow me."
Seeing Zhong Baiye's serious expression, Keqing knew he was not lying and followed him.
Before long, Keqing and Zhong Baiye found Xiao Jiang behind a pile of rocks.
"Oh, you found me! Was this hiding place too obvious?"
Zhong Baiye reassured Xiao Jiang. "Not at all."
"Of course it wasn't. Dad never found me when I hid here."
Xiao Jiang looked very pleased with himself.
"We're only just getting started. I haven't shown you what I can really do yet. Wait here."
After saying that, Xiao Jiang ran out of Keqing and Zhong Baiye's sight again.
Seeing how quickly Zhong Baiye had found Xiao Jiang, Keqing asked curiously,
"How did you do that? Did you know he would hide here?"
"Of course. Back then, I specifically looked up a guide just to find Xiao Jiang. I know exactly where he'll hide next, too."
Zhong Baiye did not dare say that to Keqing. He only dared think it.
Faced with Keqing's curious expression, Zhong Baiye could only suppress the pleasure... pain of deceiving her and say smugly,
"I was a hide-and-seek master in my old world. Just by watching Xiao Jiang's every move, I can work out where he's hiding."
Seeing Zhong Baiye's smug expression and remembering what had happened earlier that day, Keqing said irritably,
"You liar, nothing but nonsense comes out of your mouth. Take me to find Xiao Jiang again. Let's see whether you really are a hide-and-seek master."
Even if Keqing had not said that, Zhong Baiye would have taken her to find Xiao Jiang anyway.
After that, Zhong Baiye led Keqing to find Xiao Jiang three more times in a row.
The first time, he was behind a large tree. They could see his rather chubby body hiding behind it from a distance.
The tree could not conceal him at all.
The second time, he was in a pile of miscellaneous items in the courtyard.
The third time, he was at the edge of a cliff. Seeing Xiao Jiang in such a dangerous spot, Keqing gave him a scolding.
The boy had a wonderful time.
"Thank you for playing with me for so long, big brother and big sister. It's a shame we can't keep playing, but Mom and Dad will definitely get angry if we do. This is to thank you."
With that, the boy ran to the pile of miscellaneous items from earlier, retrieved a bag, and handed it to Zhong Baiye.
Zhong Baiye opened it and found dozens of Primogems inside.
It was exactly the same as the reward for completing the quest in the game.
Zhong Baiye took out the family portrait the system had rewarded him with and handed it to the boy.
"I happened to find this just now. Take a look and see if it's yours."
The boy took the family portrait. After just one glance, tears began streaming down his face.
"Waaah, X﹏X, Mom, Dad."
[Ding!] [Congratulations, host, on perfectly completing "A Game of Hide-and-Seek." Reward received: one Electro Vision.]
Zhong Baiye was a little surprised. He had not expected this to trigger a system reward, too.
But he had no time to think about that now.
The boy's sobs grew louder and louder. No matter how Keqing and Zhong Baiye tried to comfort him, nothing worked.
"Waaah, thank you, big brother. Waaah... It's so late now. You can stay at my house. Waaah... I'm all right."
Only after a long time did the boy manage to choke out those words to Zhong Baiye.
Keqing also saw clearly that it was a family portrait. Remembering the two gravestones in the courtyard, she understood what had happened and did not blame Zhong Baiye for making Xiao Jiang cry.
Instead, her gaze softened a little as she looked at Zhong Baiye.
After that, Keqing and Zhong Baiye successfully spent the night at the boy's home.
Before you continue