An amber held a girl captive?
Upon hearing the blacksmith's report, Makoto immediately thought of the little zombie, Qiqi.
Qiqi was originally just an ordinary herb-gathering girl.
It was an accident that drew her into the Archon War.
As the saying goes, when immortals fight, mortals suffer.
Qiqi was caught in the crossfire, her life hanging by a thread.
At the brink of death, Qiqi's fear of death, her longing for her family, and her desire to survive—
These powerful wishes granted her a Vision and unleashed immense power, bringing an end to the Archon War.
After the war, the various Adepti felt pity for Qiqi.
So, each extracted a wisp of their Adeptal power and sealed it within Qiqi, hoping to revive him.
Qiqi was revived, but not completely.
He became a zombie.
Not only that,
Qiqi's small and frail body couldn't bear the power of the Adepti at all,
and he became uncontrolled and frenzied.
Under duress, the Adeptus, Cloud Retainer, had no choice but to seal Qiqi in amber.
This seal lasted for hundreds of years.
Now it seems,
the girl discovered by the villagers is most likely Qiqi.
However, all of this is currently just Makoto's conjecture.
To know the specific situation, it's best to go and investigate.
Makoto looked at the blacksmith and then politely asked, "May I ask where you found the amber? Would it be convenient to take me to see it?"
Upon hearing an Adeptus's request, how could the blacksmith dare to refuse?
"Of course, no problem, no problem at all!"
"Adept, you don't know, everyone is afraid to go into that cave to investigate, they always feel that it's terribly cold inside!"
"Even strong young men who go in can't endure it for more than a few minutes and start shivering from the cold!"
"We came this time precisely hoping that the Adept could lead us into the cave to check the situation."
Regarding the blacksmith's claim that the cave was strange,
Makoto guessed it was caused by the cold air emanating from Qiqi's body.
One must know that after Qiqi became a zombie, his body became stiff and cold.
Over time, the cave also became exceptionally cold.
It's understandable that ordinary people couldn't endure such severe cold.
Makoto didn't say much, just gestured for the blacksmith to lead the way.
And Ningguang also followed Makoto closely, not leaving his side.
Now, she basically followed Makoto wherever he went.
Like a little tail.
There were also many villagers,
who found it incredible when they heard that a girl was trapped in amber,
so they all followed, wanting to find out what was going on.
....
The blacksmith led Makoto along a mountain path.
Finally, the group stopped at the foot of the mountain.
The blacksmith pointed to the cave entrance ahead, then respectfully said to Makoto, "Adept, this is the cave we found, and the amber with the girl is inside."
Makoto nodded, then prepared to enter the cave.
The cave was well hidden, basically blending into the surrounding environment.
If the villagers hadn't cut down some trees, it would have been difficult to discover it at all.
Many villagers stopped at the cave entrance, not daring to take another step forward.
Because just standing at the entrance, everyone felt the biting cold air rushing out,
that cold air, even with just slight contact with the skin, would make one shiver uncontrollably,
let alone the even lower temperature inside.
Facing the rush of coldness,
Ningguang also shivered subconsciously.
However, seeing Makoto enter the cave, the little girl gritted her teeth and followed him in.
Anyway, wherever Makoto was, she had to follow.
Makoto also noticed this, turned his head, and instructed Ningguang, "Little girl, the temperature in the cave is very low, it's easy to catch a cold, don't go in."
Upon hearing this, Ningguang pouted, looking disappointed.
However, since it was Makoto's command, she would still obediently listen.
Soon, Makoto entered the cave alone.
The temperature inside was simply immeasurably lower than outside.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was winter inside while it was summer outside.
Makoto couldn't withstand this cold either.
He crossed his arms over his chest and used the skill 'Earth Core'.
Solid as a rock.
With a low shout, a Stone Stele appeared within the cave.
At the same time, Yu Zhang Shield also encircled Makoto's body.
Logically speaking, shield skills cannot resist cold,
but the skill mechanism Makoto drew far exceeded the game's settings.
His Yu Zhang Shield could not only immune the cold in this cave,
even if he went to the snowy mountains in the future,
as long as he had the Yu Zhang Shield, Makoto wouldn't need to search for sources of fire.
As the shield enveloped him, Makoto immediately felt the coldness lessen considerably.
He looked up at the amber the villagers had spoken of,
and immediately saw a girl with closed eyes, deep in slumber, within the amber.
She wore a hat on her head and a purple dress.
Around the girl's chest hung a long string of jade beads, and her right leg was wrapped in bandages to cover a wound.
What drew Makoto's attention most was the large number of talismans pasted on the girl's body.
It was just as he had guessed.
The one sealed within the amber was indeed the little zombie, Qiqi.
At the same time, Makoto also noticed that above the amber there was a sealing talisman with an Adept's mark,
but due to the erosion of centuries, the sealing talisman had long since faded and lost its original effect.
Makoto strode forward and once again cast 'Earth Core'.
The amber sealing Qiqi shattered in response.
As the amber shattered with a crack,
Makoto finally saw Qiqi.
The little zombie was currently closing his eyes, maintaining a side-lying posture.
His face was serene, looking as if he had just fallen asleep.
After a while, Qiqi sensed the outside world, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Those beautiful pink eyes, like peach blossoms, surveyed the world, like a child who had just been born.
"Where... is this?"
"Who... am I?"
"Ah... I don't remember anything..."
The little zombie felt very unfamiliar with everything before him.
Although his face couldn't show expression,
his beautiful eyes were filled with helplessness and fear.
Although he had slept for hundreds of years, his mind was still that of a few-year-old girl.
Now, in an unfamiliar environment, his first reaction was fear.
Seeing this, Makoto immediately knelt down and softly said to Qiqi, "This is Liyue, Guili Plains."
"And your name is Qiqi."
Upon hearing the voice, Qiqi slowly raised his head, his clear, bright eyes looking at Makoto.
He felt like he had a very, very long dream,
in the dream there was nothing, just endless darkness.
Qiqi hated darkness and wanted to end that dream quickly,
but found that he couldn't wake up no matter what.
He just stayed in that darkness like that,
without any light, without any sound,
just... very lonely.
Qiqi was afraid of loneliness.
He hated being alone.
So now, seeing a human, Qiqi felt very close.
His beautiful eyes flickered, touched by Makoto's words: "Liyue... Guili Plains... sounds familiar."
"Qiqi... Is that my name?"
Such brief information, yet it took the little zombie a very, very long time to process.
After a moment, Qiqi raised his head, his gaze meeting Makoto's: "What's your name...?"
Makoto knew Qiqi had a poor memory, so he spoke very slowly and concisely: "My name is Makoto."
Immediately after,
Makoto heard Qiqi muttering to himself, as if trying to sort out his thoughts.
"Makoto... Qiqi..."
Qiqi tilted his head and said earnestly, "My name is Makoto... your name is Qiqi..."
"No... my name is Xunqi... my name is Qixun..."
"Ah... I forgot."