Jiang Xiaofeng stood on the ground and lowered his hand.
The Abyss Curse and restraints on the Wolf King had vanished, and he was staring intently at Jiang Xiaofeng.
"Human, you have grown stronger."
That was the Wolf King's voice.
"Whoa! Weirdo, why are you so brutal?!"
That was Paimon's voice, cracking with fright.
"Why are you here...?"
That was Lumine, who had no presence.
Jiang Xiaofeng waved a hand and approached Dainsleif, who had already sunk into a half crouch.
"Have you reached your limit?"
Dainsleif said nothing, only gripping the Cursed Sword.
Understanding dawned on Jiang Xiaofeng, and he reached out to pull the Cursed Sword free.
Dainsleif covered his shoulder and stood up.
"Wait, weirdo, why did you attack Dainsleif?!"
Paimon spoke indignantly.
To her, Jiang Xiaofeng's behavior this time was just as infuriating as when he had attacked Venti without any sense of fair play!
Lumine frowned as well, as though she needed an explanation.
Dainsleif raised a hand to stop them.
"I'm fine."
"He was helping me."
With that, Dainsleif lowered the hand covering his shoulder.
The wound on his shoulder had healed at some point.
Seeing this, Jiang Xiaofeng spoke. "Looks like the curse really was absorbed."
Dainsleif nodded. "Thanks to that weapon of yours, the effects of Khaenri'ah's curse on me have been almost completely suppressed..."
"But I can't simply disappear like this yet."
Dainsleif's gaze was resolute.
"I still need to stop the Abyss Order's plot!"
"It's only so that the survivors of Khaenri'ah won't remain under someone's control even after being cursed..."
Jiang Xiaofeng waved a hand.
"Fine, but I've shown my sincerity. Now I need to see yours."
Dainsleif nodded.
"Of course."
Then the two looked at the Abyss Herald.
The Abyss Herald: "..."
A while later, Jiang Xiaofeng snapped the Abyss Herald's neck and checked the system's rewards while Dainsleif was lost in thought.
Host obtained: Legendary Scroll of Power ×10, Styx Lantern, Pure Nail, Dream Nail, , skill: "Focus," skill: "Vengeful Spirit," skill: "Mothwing Cloak," skill: "Mantis Claw," skill: "Desolate Dive," rune: "Void Heart."
Jiang Xiaofeng frowned.
Weren't these skills and weapons from Hollow Knight?
Wasn't mine supposed to be Dead Cells?
Jiang Xiaofeng felt that something might be wrong, but he had no idea what.
After thinking for a while, Jiang Xiaofeng decided to stop thinking.
He would deal with whatever came his way. There was no point dwelling on things he knew nothing about.
As for the things he did know... did those require thought? Not at all!
Jiang Xiaofeng was very confident about the current situation.
He had yet to offend anyone he couldn't beat too badly, and as for those he had offended... he was confident he could finish them off before they flipped the table.
Don't ask. If you did, the answer was that he was the goddamn Beheaded.
Jiang Xiaofeng put away the system.
Beside him, Dainsleif had already been talking with Lumine for a while.
Jiang Xiaofeng walked over.
"Are you done?"
Dainsleif asked.
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded, but before he could speak, Paimon beat Lumine to it. "Our commission is over now. Is there anywhere you want to go? Want to go to Liyue with Lumine?"
Lumine looked at Jiang Xiaofeng as well.
After all, Jiang Xiaofeng was quite strong and looked as though he had nothing to do. If his demands weren't excessive, having Jiang Xiaofeng go to Liyue with him wouldn't be out of the question...
To Lumine's disappointment, Jiang Xiaofeng shook his head.
"I have something more important to do, so I can't join you."
"Don't worry. Liyue isn't dangerous."
After some thought, Jiang Xiaofeng added, "My name is The Beheaded."
"If someone mentions that name, remember to ask whether they're my friend."
"Right, don't bother asking the Treasure Hoarders. Just take them out."
"Dainsleif and I have other things to do. You two go ahead."
As he spoke, Jiang Xiaofeng rubbed Lumine's head.
Hmm... this didn't feel nice at all. All he was rubbing was hair.
So who exactly came up with the idea of rubbing girls' heads?
Lumine slapped Jiang Xiaofeng's hand away.
"Don't touch my head."
Lumine looked at him angrily.
Jiang Xiaofeng spread his hands.
"Then goodbye. Dainsleif and I are leaving."
"I hope you won't be as weak as you were today the next time we meet."
With that, Jiang Xiaofeng pulled Dainsleif away.
Dainsleif raised a hand, and a starry portal appeared before them. Jiang Xiaofeng and Dainsleif stepped inside.
Lumine watched Jiang Xiaofeng leave and was just about to go when he poked his head back out and tossed something over.
"This sword is yours."
Lumine caught the Blood Sword, glowing crimson, and was somewhat speechless.
Jiang Xiaofeng put his weapons away but fastened the Dream Nail to his waist.
Dainsleif was already waiting there.
Jiang Xiaofeng looked around.
"Is this that ruin?"
Jiang Xiaofeng immediately spotted the upside-down statue of the Anemo Archon, bound in chains.
Dainsleif said, "We need to use this domain as a stepping stone to enter the Abyss."
"Then hurry up and open the portal!"
"Wait a little longer. It isn't time yet."
With no other choice, Jiang Xiaofeng waited with Dainsleif.
Quite some time passed...
Whoosh-
A spatial portal suddenly appeared, and a Hydro Abyss Herald stepped out.
"Dainsleif, it really is you..."
"Who are you?"
The Abyss Herald spotted Jiang Xiaofeng immediately and asked.
Jiang Xiaofeng: "..."
"I seem to remember killing quite a few of your colleagues."
"Do you really not remember anything?"
The Abyss Herald thought for a moment. He really had no recollection.
So he formed blades of water.
Jiang Xiaofeng turned back. "Keep him alive?"
Dainsleif fell silent for a moment before saying, "As long as he's still breathing."
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded and raised a hand, releasing eight Geo shells.
Shells from the Geo Hypostasis.
Jiang Xiaofeng brought his hands together, and four of the shells slammed into the ground, continuously sending out violent tremors.
Jiang Xiaofeng transformed the other four shells into hammers, which kept chasing the Abyss Herald and smashing down at him.
Dainsleif: "..."
This Hydro Abyss Herald experienced the pain his two colleagues had endured.
Soon, the four huge hammers had beaten the Herald half to death. The eight shells slowly rose, restraining the Abyss Herald and carrying him before Jiang Xiaofeng.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
Jiang Xiaofeng clicked his tongue. "Even physical attacks can beat you into this state."
"Just how pathetic are you?"
If the Abyss Herald had a mouth, he would surely have spat blood in fury.
He had seen shameless people before, but never anyone this shameless!
I hadn't even used the power of the Abyss yet!
You damn sneaky bastard!
The Abyss Herald kept his mouth tightly shut and said nothing.
Dainsleif stepped forward and patted Jiang Xiaofeng. "All right, leave the rest to me."
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded and released the Abyss Herald.
The instant he was released, the Abyss Herald opened a spatial portal to escape, only for Dainsleif to raise a hand and restrain him.
"What are you...?"
Jiang Xiaofeng had barely spoken when a streak of sword light slashed toward Dainsleif!
"!"
Jiang Xiaofeng was surprised.
Because Aether had appeared.
Dainsleif looked at Jiang Xiaofeng.
"Go! The Abyss is on the other side!"
Jiang Xiaofeng pondered for a moment.
"I think I should've told you before we came that the reason I wanted to go to the Abyss was to find this guy."
With that, Jiang Xiaofeng pointed at Aether.
Dainsleif: "..."
The Abyss Herald: "..."
The newly arrived Aether: "?"
"What happened?"
Aether looked at Dainsleif. "Why are you here?"
Dainsleif pointed at Jiang Xiaofeng. "I owed him a favor."
"He wanted to go to the Abyss to find you, so I was going to take him there."
Aether looked at the seemingly harmless Jiang Xiaofeng and covered his forehead.
Why did I have to deal with this shameless bastard who couldn't be killed in a fight or beaten in an argument?!