Early the next morning, Lin En was woken by a notification from the system panel.
It was still dark outside. He rubbed his eyes and made out the words on the panel.
"New quest: Gather a red spider lily for Ronava. Time limit: Before sunset today."
Lin En sat up on his bedding on the floor, instantly wide awake.
Red spider lilies. He recalled the map of Teyvat. Liyue did have flowers that resembled them, but even the closest place they grew was more than half a day's walk from the harbor. Between the round trip and the time spent picking one, it would be a tight squeeze.
Still, there was no penalty, and the weather was so nice today. It was just picking a flower-he wasn't going to lose an arm over it, was he?
He glanced back at the bed. Ronava was fast asleep, her silver hair spread across half the pillow. The red rose hairpin lay beside it, and her complexion was much better than yesterday.
Lin En got up as quietly as he could and pulled a piece of paper and half a stick of charcoal from his clothes. He hesitated, then decided to leave a note.
"Gone out to take care of something. I'll be back before sunset. The medicine is on the table. Remember to take it."
He looked it over when he was done and thought it was too short, so he added another line.
"If you're hungry, they sell breakfast downstairs."
He put the note and some Mora on the table, weighing them down with a teacup.
Before leaving, he looked back. Ronava rolled over and buried her face in the pillow, mumbling something.
Lin En gently closed the door, went downstairs, and left the inn.
Liyue Harbor in the early morning looked completely different from how it did at night. The night market was gone, and the streets were deserted, with only a few vendors up early setting up their stalls.
He asked an old man sweeping by the roadside and learned that the closest place with red spider lilies was a stream valley at the foot of Wuwang Hill. Most of them had already withered, though, and it would take about four hours to walk there.
Four hours meant eight for the round trip. Even with the time spent looking for a flower, he should be able to get back before sunset.
He quickened his pace and left the city, following the main road toward Wangshu Inn.
The farther he went, the fewer people he saw.
The main road gradually gave way to a narrow path, and the outline of Wangshu Inn drew closer ahead.
Lin En reached Wuwang Hill and searched for a long time. There were indeed a few red spider lilies, but most had already finished blooming. The few that remained were half-dead, their petals wilted.
He walked up the slope. The stone walls on either side were covered in moss, making it very easy to slip.
At last, after searching for a long time, he found a red spider lily in full bloom beside a rock.
Its scarlet petals curled like dragon claws, and its long stamens reached outward. In the shadowy crevice between the rocks, it glowed red like a little flame.
"I finally found one!"
Lin En wiped the sweat from his forehead and carefully dug up the flower, roots, soil and all. Holding it in his hands, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned back.
Amid the sound of the stream and the shadows of the trees, he failed to notice the things following him.
Halfway back, Lin En heard a low growl forced out from someone's throat.
A chill ran down his back. He looked around to see several Hilichurls burst out of the bushes and charge at him with wooden clubs raised.
Lin En turned and ran. The Hilichurls might have looked weak, but they had clubs, and there were so many of them. He was just an ordinary person; if they hit him, wouldn't he be black and blue all over?
He ran fairly fast, protecting the red spider lily against his chest with one arm while using his other hand to push branches out of his way. Even so, the Hilichurls stayed close behind.
After he ran out of Wuwang Hill and onto the path, the going became easier. But the Hilichurls were clearly more familiar with the wilderness than he was. A stone flew in from the side and struck him squarely in the shoulder. His legs gave way, and he pitched forward.
He instinctively shielded the flower in his arms with his body.
The moment his chest hit the ground, he heard the crisp snap of a plant breaking. The sound chilled him more than the Hilichurls' roars.
He looked down. The red spider lily's petals had been flattened, and its red juice stained his clothes like a small patch of blood. The petals were broken, the stem had snapped, and only the last section remained attached to the soil around the roots.
The Hilichurls closed in around him.
Lin En gripped the broken stem, his hand clenched into a fist.
"Just because the tiger hasn't shown his might, you think he's a sick cat!"
The few strands of the Authority of Death inside him trembled slightly, a chill creeping up through his meridians. But he didn't know how to use it, the system hadn't explained it, and he hadn't brought the Delusion with him.
After trying for a long time, he found that he could indeed use the Authority of Death, but even draining himself completely only killed one Hilichurl.
The Hilichurl leader lost patience and charged at him with its club raised, the others following behind.
"Big brothers, we can talk this over. Could you please not hit my face?"
Lin En raised both hands over his head to protect his face.
The wheel of fortune turns! Don't underestimate Lin En just because he's weak!
But the pain he expected never came.
"Stop."
A powerful voice came from the other end of the path.
Lin En looked up. A man in a long, dark brown coat was walking along the path at an unhurried pace. He didn't even have a weapon in his hands.
His dark brown hair was tied back, and though his face was young, he carried an indescribable air of composure. It was Zhongli!
At that moment, Zhongli gave him such a sense of protection.
The Hilichurls seemed to sense something too. Their leader turned around and ran off with the remaining Hilichurls.
Zhongli walked up to Lin En and looked down at him, then at the flattened flower in his arms.
"A red spider lily?"
he asked.
"No one in Liyue is willing to touch this flower. You don't look like you're from Liyue. Did you pick it because you like it?"
Lin En panted, nodded, then shook his head. In the end, he simply said,
"Thank you. I picked it for the woman I love. She likes them."
"I see. You have some injuries."
Zhongli said.
"Come with me."
Lin En followed him to the foot of Wangshu Inn, where Zhongli told him to sit and rest for a while.
Before long, a man in simple, old-fashioned clothes arrived. After looking at Lin En's injuries, he took a white handkerchief from his sleeve and gave the scrapes on his arms and knees some basic treatment.
"Mr. Zhongli, I've taken care of them."
"That flower..."
Lin En looked at the crushed mass of red in his arms, his voice sounding a little aggrieved.
Zhongli glanced at the broken flower without passing judgment.
"Go back. Although the flower is ruined, the sentiment remains. I believe the woman you love will understand."
Pretending not to recognize him, Lin En looked up and asked,
"You are...?"
"Zhongli."
Zhongli stood up and brushed the dust from the hem of his coat.
"A consultant for the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. If fate wills it, we shall meet again."
The sky had grown somewhat darker. It was unlikely he could pick another red spider lily now, so he could only see if this damaged flower would do.
He dragged his injured body back. Though every step hurt, he didn't stop.
By the time he reached the inn where he was staying, it was already half-dark.
He pushed open the door to find Ronava sitting at the table. The cup of tea was still there.
Hearing the door open, she turned her head. The moment she saw him, her gaze froze.
Lin En stood in the doorway, covered in mud, with several tears in his clothes. His palms and knees were wrapped in bandaging cloths stained with blood.
"Where did you go?"
Ronava's voice was calm, betraying no emotion.
"To pick a flower."
Lin En placed the bundle from his arms on the table and carefully unwrapped it, only to discover in surprise that the flattened red spider lily had been restored.
Ronava looked at the flower on the table for a long time.
Then she stood and walked over to him.
Lin En instinctively wanted to back away, but Ronava was faster. She reached out and gently touched the edges of the scrapes on his arm.
"You really are an idiot."
she said quietly.
Her gaze moved from the flower to Lin En's cheek, where a scrape was mixed with dried mud. She raised her hand, her fingertips pausing beside his face for a moment as if she wanted to touch it, but in the end she didn't. She simply withdrew her hand and turned back to the table.
"Come here. Let's put some medicine on those."
Lin En's face turned bright red. He hadn't expected Ronava showing concern for someone to be so overwhelming. He couldn't handle it at all.
So he obediently went over and sat down. Ronava took the ointment Lin En had bought for her yesterday from the cabinet, set it on the table, and sat opposite him. Then she picked up the red spider lily and examined it.
"Apply it yourself."
Lin En reached for the ointment, but she pressed down on his hand.
She released his hand, took the ointment, and scooped out a little with her fingertip before applying it to the wounds on his arm. Her movements weren't particularly gentle; they were even a little stiff.
Though it hurt, Lin En thought of how Ronava was the one applying the medicine and swallowed the words he had wanted to say.
He lowered his head and watched her fingertips move over his wounds. Strands of silvery white hair hung down, obscuring her profile.
"Ronava."
"Shut up."
"That flower..."
"I said shut up."
After applying the ointment, she walked away coldly. She took the flower with her and put it in the teacup beside her pillow.
Lin En suddenly felt that all the falls and beatings he had taken today had been worth it.
"Quest complete. Reward: Geo Vision x1."
A beam of light shone down, and a Geo Vision appeared, floating before Lin En.
"A Geo Vision? I can use elemental power now too? I don't have to be afraid of those Hilichurls anymore!"