I'm in Genshin Impact, and I started by teaming up with Luna.

Just as Wu Qiu had suspected, Hidden Stone City was indeed the Hidden Stone Kingdom. And Wu Qiu finally learned the name of that great princess.

Erica Goode

After Princess Erica's death, the country returned to an era of male dominance. Furthermore, due to Erica's situation, the oppression of women in the country intensified.

But the women of this country are no longer the people who can only be bullied. Perhaps the biggest mistake Princess Erica ever made was abdicating.

Perhaps even she didn't expect that when her identity was exposed, everything she had done would affect the country and have such a huge impact on the women of that country.

Driven by her beliefs, the Church of Dawn was born, starting as an underground organization, rising to prominence, and eventually becoming the Knights of Dawn.

Hidden Stone City, though still a city, has become divided into two factions: the Hidden Stone Army and the Knights of Dawn.

This is a rather uninspired story, much like the old Mondstadt. The only difference is that Mondstadt had the help of Barbatos, the wind god, while Hidden Stone City did not.

After hearing this story, Wu Qiu was quite impressed with the Knights of Dawn. Although they hadn't overthrown the rule of the nobility like the Knights of Favonius, it was already remarkable that they had managed to maintain a balance of power.

However, compared to this story, Paimon and Ying were clearly more interested in Wu Qiu's. They came up to him one by one and whispered, "Hey, Qiu-zi, that zither isn't really yours..."

Paimon chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, you're not really pregnant, are you?"

Wu Qiu felt a chill run down her spine at the mention of this topic. "Don't talk nonsense. Sister Ying, you'd better get stronger quickly. If Qin finds out I exposed his secrets, I'm finished."

Well, it really was all hype. Ying and Paimon also lost interest instantly and followed the knights out of the forest.

Just then, a knight suddenly came running from afar. He bowed before Rolna and said, "Vice Commander Rolna, we found nothing."

Lorna frowned. "How could there not be? Could they have been taken away by Lu Yan and the others?"

Wu Qiu and the other two were curious. Ying stepped forward and asked, "What are you looking for?"

Lorna turned her head, looking a little embarrassed, but still sighed and asked, "Speaking of which, you arrived earlier than us, so, did you see a small bamboo tube?"

……

Chapter Thirty-Nine: A Pig Causes Trouble (Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

"What! It was swallowed by that pig! Oh no, it really was taken away by Lu Yan and the others. What are we going to do now?"

When Lorna learned that what they were looking for had been swallowed by a pig and taken away by Lu Yan, she became a little anxious.

"Is that...something very important?"

"Ying asked. Lorna sighed, "It's very important. We went through a lot of trouble to get our hands on it. If that bastard from the Hidden Stone Army messes with it, something bad will definitely happen."

"Is that the one called 'Young Master'? That guy wouldn't be called Tadalia, would he?"

Wu Qiu suddenly interrupted, saying that in his memory there was only one young master, the eleventh executor of the Fools, the young master Tartaglia.

Of course, Wu Qiu was just saying it casually, since it was impossible for D'Artagnan to be here.

"Actually, you don't need to be in such a hurry. Only we saw the wild boar swallow the bamboo tube."

Rorna was taken aback and looked at Wu Qiu. "What do you mean?"

Wu Qiu shrugged. "If that pig can't talk, then only we know about this."

"Moreover, judging from how easily Lu Yan left, he must have misunderstood and thought that your Morning Light Knights had taken the bamboo tube. That's why he left so easily after realizing that he was no match for you now."

Lorna's eyes lit up, and she looked at Wu Qiu with newfound respect for the first time. "I didn't expect you to have any brains."

Uh... okay, I'll take that as a compliment.

"Then let's go back to the Knights first. Are you able to ride horses?"

Then, they were about to set off. Wu Qiu looked at the beautiful female knights riding around him on their horses, imagining himself sitting on horseback, with his arm around a beautiful woman's waist, galloping along the way.

But soon Wu Qiu saw a burly man with a rugged appearance approaching, wearing blue armor.

The Knights of Dawn are mostly women, but there are also male knights. They wear blue armor.

Most of them were handsome, though a few weren't. They weren't ugly, just quite muscular.

The man who came over was a typical big man, as tall as a tower, making even the horse he was riding look small.

Wu Qiu turned around and slowly moved to the other side, saying, "You can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me."

But it was obvious that they were after Wu Qiu. They grabbed Wu Qiu like a chick and tossed him onto the horse's rump.

"Hold on tight, I can ride very fast."

Wu Qiu glared at him resentfully. "Who do you think you are? It's just a horse, what more can it possibly do..."

Before Wu Qiu could finish speaking, the horse let out a long neigh and then bolted off. Its speed was no slower than a motorcycle.

Especially since they were still in the forest, surrounded by trees, Wu Qiu almost peed his pants at this pace.

"what!!!!!!!!"

The screams echoed throughout the entire column; Wu Qiu's voice alone almost drowned out the sound of the horses' hooves.

And they didn't stop along the way. By the time they reached the gates of Hidden Stone City, Wu Qiu was almost fainting.

When his feet touched the ground, Wu Qiu's steps felt light and unsteady, as if it were all unreal. Was he even riding a horse? Was that thing a horse? How could a horse run that fast?

I looked up and gazed at Hidden Stone City again. Wasn't it supposed to be a small city? You're telling me this thing with walls at least fifty meters high is a small city?

At the main gate, squads of soldiers were patrolling, some of them from the Hidden Stone Army, but most of them were knights from the Dawn Knights.

Those women were all beautiful, but their armor was a bit different; they were probably ordinary knights, not as good as the elites.

Entering the city, you can see shops and vendors everywhere. The streets are also crowded, and it looks quite lively.

"Is it quite lively?"

Ying looked around, not feeling that the place was particularly bad. Lorna, however, smiled bitterly, "Behind this hustle and bustle, how many untold stories lie hidden?"

"Let's go, I'll take you to the Knights."

With that, Lorna led the group toward the Knights. Along the way, Wu Qiu and the others could see that Lorna's group was quite popular in Hidden Stone City.

Along the way, they saw people making sounds of worship. Of course, Wu Qiu and his group also witnessed this dark side.

Along the way, many men could be seen showing expressions of disgust towards them, especially those who had joined the Knights, whose expressions were filled with hatred and contempt.

It seems that this patriarchal system wasn't limited to the nobility; it applied to the common people as well. Otherwise, how could the nobility possibly control half of the country?

The Dawn Knights are located in a relatively central part of Hidden Stone City, near the original royal palace.

The kingdom system has been abolished, and after Princess Erica's death, Hiddenstone City has been without a king. Now, Hiddenstone is developing in the same direction as Mondstadt, dreaming of becoming a free city-state.

However, it is clear that this issue of male chauvinism and the problems of the nobility must be resolved, but this is difficult and cannot be resolved in a short period of time.

"In such a long period of confrontation, the Knights of Dawn have gained a clear advantage. In the hearts of the people, we are already far stronger than those nobles."

"However, we still cannot completely gain everyone's acceptance. The deep-rooted male chauvinism is difficult to change completely, even though our Knights of Dawn have ruled the country for 150 years."

Lorna spoke as she walked. Wu Qiu, however, asked curiously, "One hundred and fifty years in power? Don't the nobles have any objections?"

Lorna shook her head. "We have a competition that happens every fifty years. The side that wins gets to rule the country for the next fifty years."

This competition has been held three times so far. Our Knights of Dawn have won every single time, so naturally, we are in charge.

"That's amazing! But if it only happens once every fifty years, then every one hundred and fifty years, does that mean the next competition is just around the corner?"

Paimon asked with some excitement. After all, this was a competition that only happened once every fifty years, not something you could see just anytime.

"Yes, it'll be tomorrow," Lorna answered decisively. Wu Qiu and the other two were somewhat surprised; they hadn't expected it to start tomorrow, as they thought they'd have to wait at least several months.

"You don't need to get so excited. This competition is very simple. It's just a one-on-one duel between the two strongest players from each side, and the winner will be decided in one match."

"Ah~" The three who were initially excited immediately deflated. They thought it was some kind of big competition, but it turned out to be just a one-on-one match.

"So, Rolna, do the Knights of Dawn have a chance of winning this competition? Are you the one going to fight this time?"

Ying was just curious about this, but she didn't expect that when the topic came up, Lorna lowered her head and then shook her head helplessly.

"Oh! I see. Rolna is only the vice-captain, so the captain must be stronger. The one who goes into battle must be the captain of the Dawn Knights."

Paimon stood with his hands on his hips, looking like he'd seen it all. But Lorna shook her head, indicating that Paimon was wrong.

The atmosphere around us was clearly tense; even a fool could tell something was up.

"It's actually very simple. I used to be a slave to a nobleman. Although I was removed from the slave status long ago, as someone who was once a slave... I am not worthy to participate in such a competition."

She spoke these words so frankly, as if she no longer cared. But Wu Qiu could hear the resentment in her voice.

She might not feel anything about her past experiences. But the fact that these experiences prevented her from participating in this competition is perhaps the most painful thing.

Chapter 40: The Trouble Caused by a Pig (Part 2)

A slave, Rolna was once a slave. If you had seen her when she was a child, you would never have imagined she would become the person she is today.

At that time, she was very thin and frail, her life was truly worth less than a dog's.

And her master is the current commander of the Hidden Stone Army, the guy known as the Young Master.

From birth, Lorna was a servant, and from birth, she was raised like an animal.

"That day, that day, is one I will never forget. I will never forget that it was a cold winter day, with the wind biting to the bone."

"Lorna, dressed in thin cloth, was hung from a tree by the street. And all this was simply because her master wanted to have some fun."

“Winter is really cold, extremely cold. Rolna’s body was trembling all the time. But this servant will not be pitied. In the eyes of nobles, slaves are consumables, beings that can be tortured and killed at will.”

"And it was during her final moments that I met her for the first time."

Inside the Dawn Knights' main hall, a woman sat at a table, recounting the events. Her name was Heather, and she was the leader of the Dawn Knights.

Just now, they followed Lorna to the Knights of Dawn and met their leader.

This is a very young girl. She has long, flowing blue hair that cascades down like a waterfall. Her face is stunningly beautiful, and her smile is incredibly warm and approachable.

She was an ordinary person, and it was possible that she couldn't even beat Wu Qiu. But her prestige in the Knights was no less than that of Rorna.

Just now, Hess recounted Rorna's experience. Even after so much time had passed, Hess's tone was still filled with anger, showing how truly moving Rorna's ordeal was back then.

"That's outrageous! So, did you save her later?" Paimon asked, her little fists clenched, clearly angry as well.

“Yes.” Hais nodded. “I was just passing by at the time, and when I saw what had happened to her, I had someone put her down.”

"When I first touched her body, Lorna seemed to have no body temperature, and her whole body was like an ice sculpture."

“Her entire body was covered in bruises from being beaten with sticks, and she was trembling all over, but she didn’t even have the strength to cry.”

"Later, I brought her back, and since Lorna was just a servant to them at that time, they didn't stop me."

"But they could never have imagined that the slave they could once torture and kill at will would one day become the owner of the Thunder God's Eye and the strongest knight of the Dawn Knights."