Xavier scratched his head awkwardly and smiled, defending, "How can that be the same? At least I gave them a quick death. These Bloodhound clearly tortured them to death."
Although there was some defensiveness in his tone, what Xavier said was also true.
These Bloodhound apparently don't need to eat, so their killing of these Hilichurls, besides claiming territory, was more about enjoying the thrill of the kill.
Xavier really couldn't understand why Rhinedottir would create such evil creatures, and what kind of existence was that man anyway?
This Hilichurl camp had been ravaged beyond recognition, and it was highly probable that no Hilichurls survived, and Bennett was most likely not here either.
Xavier shook his head, intending to lead everyone away.
"Wait, Xavier, something seems strange over there!"
Venti called out to Xavier, pointing to the mountain wall beside them.
Xavier glanced at it and said, somewhat puzzled, "What's strange about it? It's just a very ordinary wall."
Venti walked forward, tapping the wall and saying, "This is a large Shitou, clearly blocked by someone."
Xavier looked closely and found that there were indeed traces of pushing and pulling on the ground.
"You mean..." Xavier seemed to understand something.
"Whatever it means, we'll know once we open it."
Shenhe was indeed a doer; before she even finished speaking, she moved the Shitou aside.
It turned out there really was a hidden grotto here, a small cave.
However, calling it a cave was a bit of a stretch; at most, it could only be called a crevice.
"Unu!"
As soon as the Shitou was moved, the sound of Hilichurls came from inside.
Everyone was startled and quickly entered battle-ready status.
Amber quickly stopped them, saying, "Wait, they don't seem to have any hostility!"
Navia asked in surprise, "How do you know that!"
"Of course, it's because I'm proficient in some Hilichurl languages. After all, when patrolling outside, avoiding conflicts as much as possible is very important."
The others all looked at her with admiring and surprised eyes.
So, it was true that Mondstadters could speak Hilichurlian!
"So, what did these guys just say?" Although Xavier had studied it, it had been too long ago.
"Hmm..." Amber pondered for a moment before saying, "If I remember correctly, this is the deity that the Hilichurls worship. We translate it as Unu."
"Huh?" Hu Tao looked suspicious, "So, they're treating us as gods?"
"Hmph hmph hmph, I, Furina, was a Hydro Archon before, you know! Of course, they are!"
Furina, who hadn't exerted much effort, started boasting now.
Xavier explained helplessly, "To these Hilichurls, those Bloodhound were an unbeatable existence, and since we defeated them, we are naturally gods."
As it seemed now, this was probably the only explanation.
Sure enough, three or four masked Hilichurls emerged from the crevice.
They immediately prostrated themselves before Xavier and Shenhe, who were leading, and began to perform a ritual dance.
"You know, it's actually quite interesting..."
Xavier chuckled foolishly; it was his first time being treated like this by Hilichurls.
Looking at it this way, it seemed that Hilichurls and humans might not be unable to coexist peacefully.
He used to think that little girl was too foolish when he did quests, always wanting to communicate with Hilichurls.
But now it seemed that these intellectually inferior Hilichurls just lacked some thought and were more impulsive.
"Is... is that Xavier?"
Just when they thought this was already a pleasant surprise, another voice came from inside the cave.
"It's Bennett!" Fischl immediately recognized Bennett's voice.
Xavier was quite surprised. After walking in, he found Bennett leaning weakly inside the cave, with many wounds on his body that were constantly worsening.
He could tell at a glance that these were injuries caused by Bloodhound, which had a powerful corrosion effect.
It was quite a miracle that this unlucky fellow had survived this long.
Xavier used his power to help Bennett purify the corrosion on his body, while Furina helped him with treatment.
Klee took out bandages from her backpack and helped Bennett bandage his wounds.
"Bennett, what exactly happened?"
Xavier was a bit confused. It was one thing for Bennett to be injured, but why was he hiding here with a group of Hilichurls?
Bennett sighed and said, "Originally, I intended to clear out the Hilichurl camp, but these guys were numerous and chased me for half a mountain road..."
At this point, Bennett scratched his head sheepishly, even though this was already his daily routine.
"I didn't expect to go in a big circle and end up back here, and then not long after, I encountered those terrifying monsters."
"Fortunately, I was quick-witted enough to block the cave entrance with this Shitou, but I didn't expect there to be several Hilichurls inside."
"I originally thought we'd have a big fight and then be discovered by those terrifying monsters, but it turned out we got along quite well!"
Everyone looked at Bennett with admiration; this was simply Bennett's wonderful adventure.
He was a bit unlucky, but his life was truly colorful; most people probably wouldn't have such experiences in their entire lives.
"Alright, alright, here's your Mora. Let's talk more when we get back."
Xavier felt both distressed and amused, handing the Mora to Bennett.
Bennett was excited after receiving the Mora, saying, "Wow, there's so much Mora! But why are you giving it to me?"
"This is the Reward Tsarevich, that stingy guy, gave you. It's what you deserve."
Hearing Xavier say this, Bennett doubted, "Huh? How could that guy give me so much Mora? If I wasn't afraid that others wouldn't be able to take this path, I wouldn't have accepted this commission."
Everyone smiled knowingly; he was, after all, just a kind little silly boy.
"Anyway, he gave it to you. Just take it!"
Bennett no longer stood on ceremony and put away the Mora.
He was overjoyed, as if the pain and danger he had experienced earlier were forgotten.
He didn't care how much Mora there was, but rather that his efforts had been rewarded, and he rejoiced in his occasional good fortune.
"Hey, you, why don't you learn to be a bit smarter? Why did you accept this commission!"
Fischl snorted, scolding Bennett.
Bennett chuckled foolishly, "Speaking of which, it's partly because of you too. I remember Fischl, you often take this way when you accept gathering commissions, right? If I don't clear out the dangers, you'll also run into trouble."
"You!"
Fischl's face immediately turned red, and for a moment, she didn't know how to scold Bennett.
And everyone clearly understood that Fischl was just concerned about him, just caring in her own way.
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