Scorched Girl Beneath the Cryo Regisvine

The little figure in red lay in the grass with her bottom sticking up.

Wei Zhenzu approached cautiously and took the initiative to greet her in a low voice. "Hey there."

Klee, who had been concentrating on calculating the bomb's trajectory, jumped in fright, the little tuft of hair on her head shooting straight up.

She turned around and blinked her big eyes, looking puzzled at the strangely dressed fellow in front of her:

"Huh? Big brother, do you know me?"

Wei Zhenzu scratched his head. Who else in the City of Mondstadt besides you, the Knights of Favonius' resident solitary confinement regular and a walking, talking nuclear bomb, would dare come to the Cryo Regisvine's lair alone to blast fish (a tree)?

"Uh, of course."

Wei Zhenzu nodded.

Klee looked Wei Zhenzu's distinctive Dante-red coat up and down, and her eyes suddenly lit up:

"Oh, those red clothes... Are you the really amazing Brother Liangzi that Sister Amber told me about?"

At the sound of someone being praised, Paimon, who had still been floating behind them in a daze, immediately perked up.

She zipped in front of Klee, planted her hands on her hips, and proudly raised her little chin. "Me too, me too! Little Klee, call me Sister Paimon."

Klee obediently looked at the floating, white-haired thing in midair, which was only half her size, and naturally waved her little hand. "Hello, little Paimon," she said sweetly.

"Uh... okay."

Like a deflated ball, Paimon let her hands fall limply from her hips and began dejectedly tracing circles in the air.

Wei Zhenzu nearly laughed out loud.

Wei Zhenzu crouched down and looked ahead from where Klee had been lying:

"Klee, what are you hiding here for? You're not planning to use that big ice tree for target practice with your fish bombs, are you?"

"Shh-" Klee held a finger to her lips and shook her head mysteriously. "Big brother, look at that."

Following Klee's pointing finger, he saw that deep in the pit, where the Cryo Regisvine's enormous body should have been coiled, the huge frost plant was covered in a bizarre layer of black scorch marks, as though some unreasonable heat had roasted it into a half-paralyzed state.

And at the Cryo Regisvine's charred roots, a frail, tiny figure crouched silently.

It was a little girl whose entire body looked as if it had been scorched in a great fire.

She had no arms. Her eyes were hollow, her mouth slightly open, and her expression looked pained and vacant.

A huge, lit match pierced her body, its head burning faintly behind her.

The two legs supporting her body looked very thin by comparison.

A string of system characters floated silently above her head: F-01-02.

"Scorched Girl?" Wei Zhenzu's mind raced.

She was an old "well-done" acquaintance from Lobotomy Corporation.

Even an Abnormality of this level had come out to wander the wilds. It looked like The City's monsters really had invaded Teyvat on a full scale.

As a TETH Level Abnormality, Scorched Girl was not very aggressive at first. As long as she wasn't overstimulated, or if she could get the "attention" she craved, perhaps... they could communicate?

Wei Zhenzu looked down at Klee, whose face was full of curiosity, without a trace of fear.

Have an innocent little girl who liked playing with fire negotiate with a tragic little girl who had been scorched from playing with fire?

Two negatives made a positive. This script was an absolute knockout.

After briefly introducing the Abnormality called "Scorched Girl" to the other two, Wei Zhenzu decided to improvise.

He arranged a rigorous tactical formation: the tough and thick-skinned Wei Zhenzu, ready to switch to the South Association persona at any moment, would walk in front;

Klee would walk in the middle as the negotiator;

and Paimon, whose combat power was approximately zero, would be responsible for running behind a large rock at the very back to cover their retreat at any moment.

The three approached cautiously.

Seemingly noticing the sound of footsteps, Scorched Girl, who had been crouching on the ground all this time, slowly turned her head.

No expression could be seen on her face, which had been reduced to charcoal, but a faint glimmer of sorrow flickered in her empty eye sockets.

The temperature around them rose sharply, and a strong smell of burning filled the air.

"I've come... to find you... You will... turn to... ashes... just like... me..."

As she spoke, the frost around the Cryo Regisvine began melting over a wide area. The flames on Scorched Girl's body gradually showed signs of spiraling out of control, and a devastating self-destruction seemed unavoidable.

Wei Zhenzu's palms were slick with sweat. Watching the flames on Scorched Girl grow increasingly violent, he immediately stepped across and planted himself squarely in front of Klee and Paimon.

The large iron wok had quietly materialized in his right hand, ready to take the impending blast head-on.

"Get back, Klee! Paimon, take her behind that ice-covered rock!" Wei Zhenzu ordered without looking back.

Peeking out from behind Wei Zhenzu, Klee was not frightened off by the terrifying sight.

She stared intently at the frail, charred figure, her little brows drawn tightly together.

"Big brother, that sister..." Klee tugged at the hem of Wei Zhenzu's red coat. There was no fear in her voice, only pure bewilderment and sympathy,

"She looks so sad. She keeps crying. Did she burn herself so black because she played with fire the wrong way?"

Wei Zhenzu froze.

He had thought Klee would be frightened by the Abnormality, but he hadn't expected the little girl to notice what Scorched Girl truly was beneath her terrifying appearance: a pitiful soul who had set herself on fire out of loneliness to seek attention.

"Something like that... Her fire is for hurting herself." Wei Zhenzu stared fixedly at Scorched Girl and swallowed.

"That's not okay."

Klee cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted at Scorched Girl:

"Hey, blackened sister! Acting Grand Master Jean said, 'Set the mountain on fire, and Klee's done for!' If you're only playing with fire to hurt yourself, that's very, very wrong."

Scorched Girl's whole body trembled violently, and the match, about to ignite, froze in midair.

For so many years, everyone who encountered her had either screamed and fled or drawn their swords against her. This was the first time someone had earnestly "educated" her on the proper rules for playing with fire.

"If you wanted everyone to see you with your fire because you felt lonely..." Klee said as she deftly opened her little backpack.

Under Wei Zhenzu and Paimon's horrified gazes, Klee pulled out a round, red Jumpy Dumpty with a smiling face painted on it, then rolled it hard along the ground.

Rumble, rumble. Like a ball, the Jumpy Dumpty rolled across the frozen ground, coming to a precise stop at Scorched Girl's feet.