Night had fully fallen.
Xia Zhi was in his room, holding a Golden Treasure Chest.
He'd gotten this yesterday when he invited Kaeya over for dinner and managed to farm it off him.
Besides that, he'd also gotten two Silver Treasure Chests from Sucrose and Lisa.
Silver chests weren't worth fussing over, but a Golden Chest still held some value for him to open.
A strange light flashed.
The chest vanished.
In its place appeared a slender embroidery needle before him.
[Suture Needle]
Quality: Gold
Type: Auxiliary Item
Trait: Stitching
Effect: Instantly become a master tailor. When using this item to sew clothes, no thread is required, and no stitch marks will be left behind.
Hidden Effect: None
Recyclable: 100 points
Xia Zhi picked up the fine needle, instantly feeling a flood of tailoring knowledge pour into his mind—far more advanced than the basic [Tailoring Basics] skill he'd once learned from Ningguang.
More interesting still was the needle's special effect.
No stitch marks.
It reminded him of the custom outfits he'd once ordered from the system for Shenhe—all utterly flawless, without a single seam.
Xia Zhi tugged lightly at the cuff of his sleeve.
Rip—
A neat tear opened.
He pinched the needle, and with a few deft motions at the rip—
A moment later, the tear was gone.
No sign it had ever been there.
So that was its effect.
Not exactly game-changing, but perfect for mending clothes Shenhe or Ganyu might accidentally damage.
He could even try evolving it someday—maybe it would gain something more useful later.
He put away the [Suture Needle] just as a loud boom sounded in the distance outside his window.
From the direction of the plaza… probably Klee and the girls setting off fireworks again.
Xia Zhi shook his head with a smile, opened his inventory, and took out a Diamond Treasure Chest.
This one he'd farmed from his cousin Xia Zhen over the past two days.
After reviving, Xia Zhen had regained her original rank and strength, which also meant she now had a shiny new Diamond progress bar. Just chatting with her and feeding her had been enough to max it out.
He chose to open it.
A necklace made of interlinked leaves appeared before him.
[Guardian of the Wilds]
Quality: Diamond
Type: Special Equipment
Traits: Communication, Transformation, Protection
Effect: Communicate with animals and share their vision; transform into any animal you've touched; permanently gain different protective blessings based on animals touched.
Hidden Effect: For every unique animal touched, all attributes increase by 0.0001%.
Recyclable: 10,000 points
Another intriguing growth-type item.
Xia Zhi turned the necklace over in his hands before equipping it to his character panel.
Time to test it.
No animals in the room right now—but that was fine. He'd learned the [Art of Black Earth] from Albedo.
A plain stone appeared in his hand, and he used Life Transmutation on it.
A moment later, a tiny firefly sat atop the stone.
The system's voice chimed in his mind.
"New animal touched. Gained [Firefly's Blessing]: +0.01 Charm."
"New animal touched. All attributes increased by 0.0001%."
Xia Zhi glanced at the slight shift in his stats. It was almost like filling out a bestiary—each new animal unlocked a slot and gave a bonus.
The boosts were small, but with the sheer number of animals in the world—and the fact that he'd likely visit other worlds in the future—stacking them all could get ridiculous.
In short, a pretty great item.
The firefly landed gently on his fingertip.
Insects like this had barely any intelligence, but he could still communicate with it smoothly.
"Go outside," he murmured.
It flitted toward the window.
Xia Zhi activated "Vision Sharing."
His sight shifted to the firefly's airborne view.
The compound eyes made everything look chaotic, though, and after a short trial he disconnected—it was too disorienting.
He looked at the stone in his hand again and used Life Transmutation once more.
This time, the stone became an adorable white cat.
The system chimed again.
"New animal touched. Gained [Cat's Blessing]: +0.01 Agility."
"New animal touched. All attributes increased by 0.0001%."
Interesting.
The firefly had boosted Charm, the cat boosted Agility—by that logic, a bear would probably add Strength.
The white cat sat in his palm, big round eyes blinking, head tilted. "Meow…"
Xia Zhi stroked its fur. "Go have a look around outside."
It obediently jumped down, padded to the window, and leapt out.
He used "Vision Sharing" again.
The cat's view was much easier to adapt to, and thanks to its night vision, Xia Zhi could see everything clearly despite the darkness.
Ten meters. Twenty. Thirty…
The cat had run far enough to leave his system's detection range.
It was the first time he'd seen a place so far from himself in the real world without using a mirror.
It was like having another set of eyes.
The potential convenience in daily life was huge.
That, he thought, was the greatest value of this item.
He guided the cat, moving silently through the cathedral and out to the plaza.
Sure enough, fireworks were bursting in the night sky, and faint silhouettes were visible atop the statue.
The cat padded toward it.
At the base, it began to climb.
A person might struggle, but for a cat, it was child's play.
In no time, it reached the statue's hands—where Cloud Retainer was perched with three little girls, playing with a Gatling gun.
Cloud Retainer noticed it first.
The instant it appeared, she turned her head and regarded it. "So there is a cat here after all."
Hearing that, the three girls looked over.
"There really is a cat!"
"So cute!"
"Come here, kitty, I have fish for you!"
The cat tilted its head at them, then turned and padded away.
The girls all let out little sighs of disappointment.
—
Having vision in the real world again felt amazing.
Xia Zhi couldn't help steering the white cat to wander the plaza and streets.
He saw passing townsfolk gossiping in hushed tones.
He saw patrolling knights sighing over overtime.
He saw tavern patrons clinking glasses and laughing loud.
—
Mondstadt at night had a beauty all its own.
It was nothing like the view Xia Zhi saw during the day through his god's-eye view.
Unnoticed, the white cat padded into a shadowy alley.
There was hardly anyone here.
It was about to leave when a low, startled cry came from ahead.
"What are you doing—"
"Hurry up. Hand over all your… Mora!"
Sounded like someone was in trouble.
The white cat strolled forward, curious.
A man, clearly drunk—slurring his words and clutching a bottle—was blocking a young woman's path, trying to rob her.
Xia Zhi recognized her vaguely. If he remembered right, she worked at that [Floral Whisper] flower shop. Donna, was it?
She was clearly frightened, frozen in place.
The drunk, seeing her unresponsive, stepped closer, his voice turning more menacing.
Maybe it was the alcohol talking… or maybe he was just a bad person.
Xia Zhi decided to intervene from the shadows, lend the poor girl a hand—
But before he could, the white cat saw a black figure drop from above. Flame flickered in the man's hand, and the drunk collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Without so much as a glance at the stunned Donna, the figure turned and slipped away.
The white cat stared after him.
So there were bad people in Mondstadt—but good ones, too.
That was when Donna, as if catching up a beat late, suddenly shouted, "Darknight Hero! The rumors about the Darknight Hero are true!"
Darknight Hero?
Xia Zhi instantly thought of the urban legend he'd heard at a tavern a few days ago.
So that man had been the Darknight Hero?
Judging by how naturally he wielded Pyro, he must have been a Pyro Vision holder.