Itto continued his role as translator.
"Ushi says it's down there!"
Down there?
Yelan glanced at Itto, who retorted irritably, "Don't look at me like that! That's exactly what Ushi said."
Lumine chimed in, "Even though Itto's usually so reckless, he wouldn't lie about something like this."
Kuki Shinobu added, "I trust the Boss!"
Yelan crouched down, carefully examining the ground beneath their feet. Suddenly, her eyes lit up!
It seemed... the area below was hollow!
"Everyone, step back!"
Yelan instructed the group to retreat. She drew her longbow, nocked an arrow, and fired at the spot where they had just been standing.
Rumble!
Yanfei: "The ground is shaking!"
Her words were immediately followed by the collapse of the stone slabs.
In mere moments, the area where they had stood transformed into a bottomless pit.
Itto swallowed hard.
We were standing right there?
Moo~ Moo!
Ushi's cries grew even louder.
Yelan glanced at the others and immediately leaped into the pit.
The group: "..."
Paimon: "Yelan just jumped down like that?!"
Lumine, still holding Paimon, leaped down next, followed by Paimon's piercing screams from the depths.
Yanfei, though visibly frightened, closed her eyes and jumped.
Itto: "Heh, if my benefactor and best friend are going, I can't be left behind!"
His legs trembled slightly, but he gritted his teeth, shuffled to the edge of the pit, and leaped down.
Kuki Shinobu followed without even blinking.
-
Player World.
[It's pitch black down there! How dare they jump?]
[Bro Itto really pulled off a heroic feat this time! Who knew that unassuming Ushi could be so powerful?]
[Yelan is genuinely worried about Qingge. She didn't hesitate at all before jumping.]
[Qingge, oh Qingge! Please don't let anything happen to you!]
[Haha! When the Traveler jumped, they actually grabbed Paimon to their chest! Were they trying to slow their descent?]
[Paimon: I've finally seen your true colors!]
-
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"
Paimon clutched her head, glaring at Lumine. "Traveler, I wasn't ready!"
Lumine: "You were in my arms the whole time. Where does it hurt?"
Yanfei slowly sat up, rubbing her backside. "Even with the books as cushions, it still stung."
Itto, seemingly unscathed, called out: "Shinobu, my best friend, my benefactor—are you all right?"
Kuki Shinobu: "I'm fine."
Paimon: "Hey, Big Dummy, where's your bull?"
"Who are you calling Big dummy you 'Flying Lavender Melon'? You're the real dummy here!" Itto huffed, recalling Ushi, whom he'd already summoned back, and released him again.
Ushi wobbled forward, and Itto immediately shouted, "Don't fall behind! Keep up!"
The cavernous space stretched below. Ushi's slow pace frustrated Itto, who simply scooped him up in his arms.
"Suddenly, 'Big Dummy' doesn't seem quite right for you anymore," Paimon teased. "Maybe I should start calling you 'Bull Herder' from now on."
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Watch your tongue, or you'll feel my iron fist!"
Paimon darted behind Lumine for cover. Though Itto was a bit dim-witted, he was still incredibly strong. A single punch from him would surely leave a tiny Paimon crying for days.
Led by Ushi and Itto, the group arrived at a corner of the wall.
"This..." Yelan tapped the stone wall, and the sound confirmed it wasn't solid.
Yanfei stared at Ushi in disbelief. "This little guy is incredible! How could he pinpoint Qingge's location from so far away?"
"Hmph, of course! Did you forget whose pet he is?" Itto puffed out his chest proudly.
"But how do we get through?" Paimon, surprisingly, didn't argue with Itto this time; finding Qingge was clearly the priority.
Lumine stepped forward. "I'll handle this."
She instructed everyone to step back, gathered a massive amount of Geo Elemental Power, and stomped her right foot into the ground. Countless Geo Crystals erupted from the earth, hurtling toward the wall.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion left a large crater in the wall, but the passage remained blocked. Lumine, winded by the attack, gasped for breath.
Yelan steadied Lumine. "Are you alright?"
Lumine shook her head slightly and turned to Itto. "Itto, let's do this together."
Breaking through the wall would require Geo Elemental Power, and Itto and Lumine were the only ones present with that ability.
"A mere wall? I, the great Itto, can crush it alone!"
"Boss!"
"Uh, ahem, cough... My dearest friend, let's work together."
After a brief rest, Lumine gathered her strength again, launching another Geo Crystal attack against the stone wall.
Itto, meanwhile, planted his feet in a steady horse stance, unleashing a thunderous, fully charged punch that slammed into the wall alongside Lumine's strike.
A deafening crash echoed as the stone wall shattered into rubble.
Ushi wobbled excitedly into the opening, followed closely by the group.
"Ushi says Qingge is just ahead!"
"Is Qingge in there? How strange... how did she fall down here?"
No one answered Paimon's question.
Yelan's heart raced, a fine layer of sweat beading on her usually cool, composed face.
Now that they were so close, her anxiety only intensified. She feared what she might find when they rushed inside—Qingge's lifeless body.
After all, it had been over ten days. Ten days trapped in this place... even for Mu Qingge, the odds were grim.
Rounding a corner, Yelan, leading the way, immediately spotted the familiar figure—the one who had haunted her thoughts these past ten days.
Qingge lay quietly in a corner, her face deathly pale.
Yelan's heart lurched, her legs trembling slightly.
"Qingge!"
Lumine and the others, following closely behind, also saw Qingge collapsed in the corner and rushed toward her.
-
Player Perspective
[Holy shit, no! Not my Qingge waifu!]
[Please, please don't let anything happen to her!]
[Her pale complexion is likely due to long-term malnutrition. She's probably just fainted. Mihoyo wouldn't dare kill off such a popular character, right?]
[Heh, did the commenter above forget about Mondstadt's Rola?]
-
"Qingge, how is she?" Paimon asked anxiously.
Yelan frowned deeply, gently placing her hand on Qingge's neck. When she felt the faint warmth and the steady pulse, her heart finally settled.
"She's probably just fainted. Does anyone have water?"
Kuki Shinobu immediately produced her canteen. Yelan took it and carefully trickled water between Mu Qingge's lips, again and again.
Lumine and Yanfei worked together to prop Mu Qingge up, helping her swallow the water more easily.
After a few minutes, Mu Qingge slowly opened her eyes.
"Yelan... and you guys..." Her voice was hoarse and weak.
Yelan: "Don't speak. Rest."
Yelan retrieved some dried rations from her pack and glanced at Mu Qingge's lips.
"You're not thinking of chewing it up and feeding me, are you?" Mu Qingge quipped, despite her frail state. "Even though I'm... not in great shape right now, I can still eat on my own."
After searching alongside Yelan for so long, a little joke wouldn't hurt. Besides, judging by the look in Yelan's eyes earlier, she seemed to be seriously considering the idea.
Seeing Mu Qingge still had the spirit to joke, Yelan felt even more relieved.
"Drink some water first. Once you've recovered a bit, then we'll get you something to eat..."