"Our first stop is Wangshu Inn," Tang Wang explained to Ronava, who had changed clothes, after glancing at the map in the Shadow Domain. "From there, we'll reach Stone Gate, pass Dawn Winery, and finally make our way to Mondstadt City."
"Normally, the trip would take two or three days, even if we traveled with a caravan."
"But thanks to the Shadow Domain's ability to shrink distances, we should reach Mondstadt City this afternoon."
"Mondstadt..." Ronava sank into recollection. "If I remember correctly, that's Is... the Ruler of Time's territory."
She had nearly spoken "that name."
Fortunately, long habit from her work stopped her: the people of Teyvat were not supposed to address the Four Shades by name.
Tang Wang had only dared to say "Istaroth" earlier because they had been inside the Serenitea Pot. Though he didn't know why, the Serenitea Pot really was a space separate from Teyvat. There, he could even read Before Sun and Moon aloud without any trouble.
"No, isn't the Anemo Archon actually the one in charge there?" Tang Wang questioned her. "I know he has close ties to the Ruler of Time, but is it really okay to say it so directly?"
"I don't know." She shook her head. "I just think that Istar... that Ruler of Time is always tinkering with who knows what, never doing the work she should or putting in the overtime she should..."
A terrifying resentment suddenly crept into her voice. Seeing that, Tang Wang could only change the subject.
By the time they reached Wangshu Inn, a blond youth stood on a beach where Liyue met the foot of Dragonspine in the distance, gazing at the distant horizon as he sketched freely on the board in his hands.
He had no particular reason for doing so. The idea had simply come to him, as though the world's "principles" had prompted him.
"Perhaps this scene will bring me valuable inspiration." The researcher, who routinely spent ten days or half a month at a time on Dragonspine, was naturally unaware of what had happened in Mondstadt City.
Otherwise, even setting his strength aside, his formidable mastery of alchemy alone would have been more than enough to provide the people of Mondstadt with greater protection.
Just as he was about to finish his sketch, a small figure reflecting the sunlight flashed across his vision.
When she appeared again, the blond youth saw her clearly: she was a tiny being wearing a crown, with a starry cape trailing behind her.
"What kind of creature is that?" As he wondered, the blond youth used alchemy to create a fishing rod. Aiming at the tiny being, he cast his line with extraordinary accuracy.
A moment later, he had fished the tiny being ashore. As he examined her form, his first instinct was naturally to make some preliminary judgments without harming her.
But just as he reached out, that desire to investigate vanished into thin air. The tiny being also slowly came around:
"Cough, cough, cough..." After instinctively coughing up water, she floated into the air. "Did you... save me?"
"Judging by the outcome, yes." The blond youth nodded. "My name is Albedo, chief alchemist of the Knights of Favonius."
"I... I'm Paimon! Nice to meet you!"
"Here, this is Stone Gate." Tang Wang smiled and pointed at the mountains ahead and the gorge between them. "What's it like, walking through here on the ground for the first time?"
"Nothing special." Ronava shook her head.
"All right, then. I hope you'll like Mondstadt's scenery." Tang Wang nodded.
By the time they reached the outskirts of Mondstadt, the devastation caused by Stormterror was already becoming apparent:
A large group of Hilichurls, led by an Abyss Mage, was relentlessly attacking a passing caravan. Carts and horses had overturned, spilling their cargo across the ground, and several bodies lying there had already stopped breathing.
"Is it really this bad?" Tang Wang's expression froze, but before he could act, Ronava had already lashed out with her elemental power.
Black tongues of flame gathered into a fierce whip, which she swung at the monsters pursuing the survivors. This time, however, she only meant to stop them from giving chase.
While the Hilichurls and Mitachurls were halted, Tang Wang had already driven his spear through the heart of the Abyss Mage commanding them. For him, who had no Vision, that was the most troublesome monster.
As for the remaining sorry lot, he chased them down and reduced every last one to ashes.
Looking at it this way, Ronava's control over elemental power is actually very precise, isn't it? Recalling what had just happened, Tang Wang suddenly grew curious. Then why couldn't she deal with even those monsters in the domain?
"Everyone," he said, despite what he was thinking, he still had to check on the survivors first, "are you all right?"
"Boo-hoo..." Most of the survivors fell to their knees or crouched down and began to weep.
Only the man standing at the front seemed to have retained some composure:
"Sir, you're an adventurer, aren't you?" Tears clung to the corners of his eyes, but his gaze was as hard as iron. "I'd like to commission you to escort us to Mondstadt City."
"A lot of these supplies were ruined, but we still have manpower. Mondstadt City isn't far from here. If we put in some extra effort, we can definitely get them there. Once we do, I'll buy you a drink."
"Okay." He nodded. When he glanced to the side, Tang Wang finally noticed that many of the frames of this supposed caravan's carts still seemed to be standing firm.
It looked as though the Abyss Order had only been interested in what the first cart was carrying. While he was pondering this, Ronava had already approached the wreckage of the cart.
"These things..." With a hand formed from flames, she pulled one weapon after another from the wreckage, all of them names Tang Wang knew well. "What exactly are they?"
The Widsith, Favonius Codex, Dragon Slayers of the Pool, Black Tassel... As Tang Wang silently listed the names, his expression changed at once.
The middle-aged man standing at the front, however, met his gaze without flinching:
"These are the most important supplies. Without weapons, how are people supposed to protect themselves?" His question seemed reasonable, but the words themselves betrayed his guilty conscience.
"All right, then. Ronava, let's go."
"Mm." After she answered, countless black and red hands took shape behind her. Under the others' astonished gazes, Ronava used nothing but her command of elemental power to pull the heavy-looking cart frames as though they weighed nothing.
"Tang Wang, how much farther is Mondstadt City?"
"It's just past that bridge ahead." As he spoke, Tang Wang looked around. He didn't see Timmie feeding pigeons on the bridge.
As they approached Mondstadt City, they saw the Favonius knight guarding it lying rather undignifiedly on his side, gasping for breath.
"Ah... the carts carrying supplies are here!" The knight brightened at once upon seeing Tang Wang's group, especially the huge load of supplies Ronava was pulling. "Everyone, hurry over!"
Naturally, the two of them didn't need to worry about what came next. They entered the city without incident.
Out of habit, Tang Wang immediately sought out Katheryne. She was still standing there, motionless. In front of her, however, a pink-haired figure was rapidly writing something down:
"An assessment of the damage in Mondstadt City, and the trade routes outside the city need to be replanned too..."
"Once Tang Wang arrives, we may also have to survey areas like Windrise..."
The figure was, of course, Linaya, the Adventurers' Guild consultant who had traveled all the way from Nod-Krai.