“Tsk tsk, as expected, a whole bunch of people are following me.”
Gu Sanqiu, starting from Yujing Terrace and heading in the direction of Tianheng Mountain, advanced towards several locations indicated on the map. Along the way, both overt and covert figures trailed behind him.
“If I were some second-rate celebrity trying desperately to get famous, I’d probably be thrilled to have so many people following me. Unfortunately, I’m not.”
He glanced up at the occasional black shadow passing overhead. “If you want to tail me, you’d better weigh whether you’re up to the task.”
Gu Sanqiu stomped heavily, and some of those trailing too close behind were caught off guard, showered in a spray of dirt kicked up by his movement.
“Damn it, what’s he trying to do?!”
One of the men grumbled, but upon seeing Gu Sanqiu’s terrifying speed, they immediately panicked and quickened their pace to keep up with him.
Joking aside, although this kind of aimless tailing job might seem perfect for slacking off, if they lost track of their target, there’d be no slacking off to speak of.
Strictly speaking, even slacking off requires skill.
“Come on then, let’s see if your strength and numbers are enough to keep me entertained for a while.”
Gu Sanqiu glanced ahead at a camp, where the smell of meat was already faintly wafting over, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.
“Ya!”
“Oowadah lah dah!”
Since Gu Sanqiu could see the camp, the creatures in the camp could naturally see him as well.
Several creatures with furball heads and muscular bodies, wearing masks, grabbed wooden clubs and torches and charged at him, following a larger creature wielding a shield, which resembled a demonic bull-headed being!
“Heh, only an idiot would fight you head-on.”
Gu Sanqiu grinned, and his Vision at his waist lit up, as a vast amount of Geo elemental energy formed a protective shield around him.
Whoosh—
A volley of arrows struck the shield, but the flowing Geo energy immediately neutralized the threat, reflecting the arrows right back towards the bull-headed creature in the lead!
“Raaawr!”
The Wooden Shield Hilichurl instinctively raised its shield, then swung it forward in a counterattack aimed at Gu Sanqiu!
“Thank you kindly!”
Gu Sanqiu laughed, gathering extra Geo energy into a glove on his right hand, using it to propel himself further ahead with a powerful leap!
“Gilee walaa!” (Unintelligible war cry)
The Hilichurls in the camp were thrown into disarray. One of the more hot-headed archers grabbed an arrow glowing with green light from its waist, nocking it onto its bow, and aimed at Gu Sanqiu’s back.
With a sonic boom and a flash of red and green light, the arrow hit Gu Sanqiu’s shield dead on, but unfortunately, the arrowhead barely penetrated the shield, awkwardly getting stuck in place.
“Oh, leaving me a parting gift, huh?”
Gu Sanqiu chuckled, found a high vantage point to stand on, then hurled the strange-looking arrow back in the direction of his pursuers!
“Dodge it!”
Seeing the oddly colored arrow, the pursuers panicked. One man, losing his balance, stumbled, exposing himself to the Hilichurls in the camp.
Even the slow-witted Hilichurls finally noticed the presence of multiple strange scents approaching!
“Raaaawr!”
o(▼皿▼メ;)o
The Wooden Shield Hilichurl roared, grabbing a flaming Pyro Slime from a nearby basin and tossing it into the air. Another archer quickly shot an arrow at it mid-flight!
Boom!
A brilliant explosion of fire lit up the sky, and roars echoed from all around as nearby creatures responded to the signal, drawn by the flames in the sky.
“Damn it! These monsters are calling for reinforcements. Take them out and keep moving!”
The pursuers grew desperate, realizing that Gu Sanqiu had already fled the scene, not giving them any chance to pinpoint his position.
“Attack!”
If Teyvat had satellites, they would show that in this small area, a skirmish had broken out between the Hilichurls and various human pursuers.
The people who dared to take on this mission were no pushovers, but the Hilichurls’ combat prowess and coordination were no joke either. The humans could barely avoid getting in each other’s way, let alone cooperate effectively.
“Hmm, the battle seems to be at a stalemate. Well, it’s a bit different from what I expected, but still pretty good.”
Gu Sanqiu distanced himself from the chaos behind him, practicing a basic skill of any troublemaker. Or, in another sense, he was “distilling” the situation.
“I didn’t spot any Treasure Hoarders, and as for the Fatui… I just made a deal with Northland Bank, so they wouldn’t be trying to mess with me, right?”
Using the terrain to leap nimbly between points, Gu Sanqiu compared his surroundings to the map with sharp focus, executing maneuvers that would’ve cost a dozen driving licenses worth of demerit points—though for him, it was easy as pie.
“Found it—the first site.”
Overgrown weeds, broken stone pillars, faint carvings barely visible, and the blackened remnants of an old campfire.
“Heh, they’ve clearly been here already.”
Gu Sanqiu sneered. “But for you shortsighted worms only focused on profit, it’d take another thousand years before you’d figure out the significance of this place.”
After examining the carvings and observing the terrain, Gu Sanqiu nodded to himself, then stepped on a specific spot.
Click, click—
A circular stone panel with intricate engravings slowly emerged nearby. Despite the wear of time, the delicate craftsmanship and meaning behind the images were still discernible.
“Hmm, looks like this was a wartime camp.”
Gu Sanqiu observed the stone panel, which depicted small figures holding spears, topped by a winged tiger roaring fiercely.
On the other side of the panel were shadowy, tentacled creatures, beneath which were carved the bodies of fallen humans.
“Is this supposed to represent Osial? Doesn’t seem right. That guy’s more like a bunch of cauliflower snakes mashed together.”
Shrugging off that thought, Gu Sanqiu recalled the secret techniques passed down by his family. He guided his Geo energy along specific paths across the stone panel.
As the elemental energy flowed in, the winged tiger’s body began to glow with golden light, and the soldiers beneath it stirred, as if readying for a charge.
Buzz—
The stone panel slowly sank into the ground, and a small platform holding a box rose in its place.
“Got it, first one secured.”
Gu Sanqiu opened the box, revealing a perfectly intact paper talisman brimming with elemental energy.
“Tsk, still storing talismans of this caliber? Or was this wartime stock that they didn’t get a chance to use?”
If a major battle had occurred, these kinds of last-resort items would have been deployed right away.
But the talisman remained untouched, likely because the stationed soldiers had left to reinforce other areas, leaving the supplies behind per military protocol.
Then something unexpected happened in the battle, perhaps something so catastrophic that the entire formation was disrupted, leaving this valuable talisman for Gu Sanqiu to claim.
“Not bad. A decent haul.”
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