People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 196: Abyssal Forces Intervening in the Layered Abyss

The westernmost part of Liyue, the Firewood Collecting Valley.

Now, more than half a year has passed since the Stone Abyss was completely sealed off.

Caiqiao Valley, which was originally a resting place for mine workers, became particularly deserted after most of the workers had evacuated.

——But even if there are no workers, there are still some traces of other "laborers".

And at this moment,
A bard in a green robe was having a headache dealing with these treasure-stealing groups that appeared out of nowhere because of the commissions from the other two people.

"——There are too many treasure-stealing groups on this old man's side!"

"I thought the atmosphere in Mondstadt was quite liberal, why is it even more exaggerated here, old man?"

Thinking of the dozens of treasure-stealing camps of all sizes that he had dealt with along the way,
Wendy, who originally thought this was an easy job, couldn't help but put on a bitter face.

As the one who has known the old man the longest among the seven gods, although he is always slacking off on weekdays,
But the two friends who had signed the contract with him seemed to have an inexplicable trust in him as the third party.

Therefore, from the very beginning, they had no intention of hiding from themselves what exactly was going to be done at this ceremony of inviting the immortals.

But it feels good to be trusted like this.
But it is another matter if he is pulled over to help with work just because he is idle.

——While Zhongli and Lin Feng were participating in the Immortal Invitation Ceremony, all irrelevant personnel in the Caiqiao Valley area were cleared out.
Preventing them from being accidentally injured during the subsequent road connection process was the task Wendy was assigned at the beginning.

But who would have known that since he came to Caiqiao Valley, he had not seen any of the so-called "irrelevant personnel", but treasure-stealing groups of all sizes appeared one after another.

Those who steal ore, illegally refine gold, dig for relics, and engage in cross-border smuggling
In this small wood-collecting valley, all kinds of treasure-hunting groups with different functions are present.

Looking at the makeshift "alchemy workshops" around him, Wendy suddenly felt that the security environment in Mond, where treasure-stealing groups were rampant, was not that bad after all.

Seeing this scene, the Wind God, who seemed to be doing nothing, shook his head slightly and couldn't help but sigh:

"Alas, it's not easy for the old man either."

"With such a big country and so many people, if I had to manage everything myself like the old man, I would want to run away just thinking about it."

"——Sure enough, it's more suitable for me to just lie down and sleep in a corner after drinking cider like I did in Mondstadt."

Thinking of the time and energy his two friends spent on governing the country, Wendy shook his head and felt that the current "free" Mondstadt was actually quite good.

"Ah? Who are you?!"

"Boss, there are enemies."

"."

While thinking and complaining, he used strength close to that of an ordinary God's Eye holder to deal with the treasure-stealing groups hiding in caves and underground.

Wendy has been busy for a while, paying off the debts she had to pay for the free food and drinks she had been eating and drinking for a while.

Finally, I managed to complete this commission jointly issued by the two gods before the agreed time.

After sensing the faint elemental fluctuations in front of him,
The bard, who had not even broken a sweat, was more nervous than ever.

I took a look at my neat and tidy appearance.
Wendy, who was ready to take advantage of the opportunity to buy a few more bottles of good wine, thought quickly and simply smeared some dust on her face and rolled over.

With a miserable look as if he had been beaten up by someone, he faced the two young figures that appeared not far away.

"——Wow, old man, you are finally here!"

"——Before I came here, you didn't tell me there were so many treasure-stealing groups here!"

"Look, look, they beat me up when I wasn't paying attention, and I'm in this state.
Old man, you must be kind and give me a few more bottles of good wine as promised!"

"."

"."

Because I was afraid that Wendy would solve it too quickly, I waited impatiently in the woodcutter's valley.

Having given up their original rest plan, the road repair duo who had just been teleported from Qingyun Peak,
After seeing the God of Wind who seemed to have been pinned to the ground and kicked for a long time, they were both silenced by this operation.

Seeing that the old man seemed to have no idea how to respond for a moment,
Lin Feng shook his head, glanced at the large group of treasure hunters gathered behind Wendy, and said helplessly:
"Okay, okay. I know you've been working hard. Let's talk about the wine after we get back."

"——I'll give you some extra date palm wine from Xumi. Don't stare at the bottles of fine wine that the old man has stored for hundreds of years.
You obviously drank all the bottles at the dinner party before."

Lin Feng didn't believe in his heart that the God of Wind would be beaten up by a group of treasure thieves. Thinking of this guy's temper, he didn't even need to guess to know that it must be Wendy who made himself look like this.

After casually promising a few bottles of date wine that he had brought with him but had never used, he looked at Wendy, who looked very satisfied.

He sighed at this guy who didn't have any airs of a god, and then asked:

“I’m more curious than this.

——Did you catch all the more than one hundred treasure-stealing gangs behind you in Caiqiao Valley?"

"Even though I know there might be some guys here who steal ore and smuggle it, isn't this a bit too much?"

Looking at the treasure-hunting groups that were so densely packed on the ground that even the cages couldn't fit them all, Lin Feng was also surprised by the number of these guys.

——There are more than a hundred of them in such a small area. When did the treasure-stealing groups in Liyue become so rampant?

"Eh? Are you doubting me, my friend? You should know my personality. There is no way I would do extra work."

Wendy was very dissatisfied with Lin Feng's suspicion when she heard this, and she explained:

"——I did find all these treasure-stealing groups in this small area, but because there are too many of them,
So I also noticed that they are not all local treasure-stealing groups in Liyue, and there should be quite a few outsiders."

"How about it? Do you want me to help interrogate them about the reason for their appearance here? Just two bottles of good wine will be enough~"

A certain bard looked expectantly.

However, what responded to him was a straightforward rejection from the young man in front of him:

"Thank you, but I don't need your help. I already know it."

"Eh?"

"——If my conclusion is correct, then the reason why these guys are here is probably because of the rumored "Wish Stone" here." Without paying attention to the disappointed look on the face of a certain Mondstadt wine boy,

During the conversation, Lin Feng, who had already used the power of dreams to read some superficial information, gave his answer directly.

"Well, it seems that after the chasm was sealed off, I heard from some miner about the 'wishing stone' that can grant people's wishes."

“These treasure-stealing groups from other regions believe that the reason why the Stratum Crusade was sealed off is because Liyue does not want the information about the Wishing Stone to spread.”

"So they took advantage of the recent Immortal Summoning Ceremony and the Thousand Rocks Army being transferred away to find a passage deep into the Layered Rock Abyss, take away the "Wish Stone" that can fulfill people's wishes, and make a fortune."

Speaking of this, Lin Feng couldn't help but shook his head, feeling that this was very consistent with the stereotype of the treasure-stealing group in his mind.

——They value money more than their lives. As long as there is something unusual, they will think there must be treasure there.

"Forget it, we'll just hand these treasure-stealing groups over to the Qianyan Army later."

"According to the relevant reward rules, this many treasure-stealing groups should be enough for you to drink good wine for a while."

"The old man and I will first open up the mountain range between Caiqiao Valley and Xiangzui Slope."

"."

"——Hiss, that's not right. They seem to be influenced by the Abyss?"

"This group of people appeared here, maybe it was because of the abyss monsters?"

Lin Feng, who was originally speaking, was about to shift his attention away from the group of treasure thieves.
Suddenly, an extremely faint breath of the abyss was felt from one of them.

Perhaps it had considered the possibility of being detected from the very beginning, so this breath of the abyss was trying its best to hide itself.

If Lin Feng himself had not also contained a part of the power of the abyss, he might have been able to hide it.

He directly mobilized the elements to pull out a delicate box from the treasure-stealing group's arms.
A "stone" as black as ink slowly rolled out from it.

The moment this "stone" was exposed to the outside world, it was directly transformed into a primitive force of the abyss.

Even if he just glanced at him briefly, Lin Feng had the illusion that someone was whispering in his ear.

"."

Looking at the extremely pure dark power in front of them, Zhongli and Wendy beside Lin Feng seemed to subconsciously recall some past events and were silent for a moment.

In order to prevent this thing from affecting the outside world, he collected the power of the abyss.
Zhongli shook his head and said:
".My friend is really perceptive. This characteristic is indeed the power of the abyss."

"——It seems that there are some uninvited 'guests' hiding in this abyss.
The problems you and I will have to solve in the future may not be as simple as we imagined at the beginning."

After a pause, Zhongli looked towards the direction of the Layered Abyss and said:
"But the motives of the abyss are always elusive and cannot be solved in a moment.
——For now, we should finish the road work first and return to Liyue Harbor to rest for a night.
When we come here again in the future, my friend and I will teach these bad guests how to be a good guest. "

Lin Feng nodded.

"Well, to be honest, I am a little tired after using my strength repeatedly today."

"——Then let's follow the Emperor's advice and open up the land passage between Liyue and Xumi first."

During the Immortal Summoning Ceremony, Lin Feng, who had consumed a lot of energy by spreading his own power,
I also know that any incident involving the abyss cannot be resolved in a short period of time.

Shake your head, take a deep breath,

After ensuring that there were no more humans who had strayed into this barren mountain,
He and Zhongli looked at each other, and together they projected their strength to the mountain range north of Caiqiao Valley and south of Nantianmen.

Earlier, when the two immortals went from Jueyunjian to Xumi to help build the road,
In fact, Lin Feng had already lamented that the natural barrier between Xumi and Liyue was of no significance to flying beings like immortals.

But even though these mountains do not pose any obstacle to extraordinary individuals, in the past thousands of years,
Because of the existence of the mountain range from Jueyunjian to Layered Abyss, all communication between Liyue and Xumi on land was almost cut off.

——The mine tunnel in the Layered Abyss is not accessible to ordinary people at all, let alone for travel between civilians.

But even though this mountain range has greatly affected the flow of resources between Liyue and Xumi,
However, Lin Feng and Zhongli did not intend to completely move it away as they had done when they were building the road in Xumi.

——After all, the natural border between two countries should exist from many perspectives.

If there really is a flat area thousands of kilometers long with no obstacles for residents to travel through,

Not to mention the increased pressure on border troops, just catching those smugglers would probably make them overwhelmed.

Therefore, with the joint efforts of Lin Feng and Zhongli, this land vein transformation can even be described by the word "peaceful".

With the help of Zhongli's understanding of Liyue's veins.

——Under the control of the two rock elemental authority holders, countless rocks flowed like water.
It follows the rhythm of the earth very naturally and blends into the surrounding mountains without any sense of incongruity.

Rocks, soil, vegetation, living things.
All kinds of "materials" were sorted into different categories and placed in the most suitable environment for their existence under an extremely sophisticated control ability.

In Wendy's envious eyes,

The two gods completed a landform transformation with almost no sound and without any external elements, just like eating and drinking, very easily.

He had once been in deep sleep for a very long time because a mountain range was blown away, and for a moment he was a little envious of the rock element holders like the old man.

——If his authority was also that of rock element, there would be no need to go to such great lengths to blow the mountains away. Wouldn't it be enough to just let the rocks "grow legs" and move away like this?

After a while,

A very wide and flat road appeared between two towering mountains without any sense of disobedience.

Every detail is very natural, as if it has existed here for thousands of years.

Lin Feng and Zhong Li, who had finally finished all their work, breathed a sigh of relief.

He packed up the treasure-thieves who were still unconscious and threw them to Wendy, who had not yet reacted, and asked him to help hand them over to the Qianyan Army.

Before a certain bard could reply, he was directly transferred to the Bubulu in Liyue Harbor through the earth veins.

They began to prepare for the series of problems that the two of them would face next.

(End of this chapter)