Genshin Impact, I, a mere mortal, cannot accompany you to the very end.

"I brought it a long time ago." Ying took out a bag of table salt from her small backpack, put her hands on her hips, and looked triumphant, like a victorious general.

Ying felt she had won again.

"I knew that guy was useless. Sure enough, he can't even make salt. He's lost his only purpose."

Lia remained expressionless.

Through the salt ruler, she coldly stared at the bag of crudely made salt in Ying's hand, and her face instantly darkened.

Those salt grains, mixed with all sorts of disgusting impurities, were filthy and disgusting—they were simply filthy and vile!

"Oh...it's good to have salt." Qing Nuoyan smiled happily and was about to take the bag of salt when Liya's cold voice came from the salt ruler.

"Put it down," Lia said coldly.

"Getting impatient?" Ying smiled.

silence.

"...Okay, okay." Lia looked like she was giving up. "I'll give you salt, I'll give you salt, but you're not allowed to eat that dirty wild salt from outside!"

The great Saint Liya always had an inexplicable need to be strong.

...In short, we got the salt.

They lit a bonfire and prepared to roast the trout that Ying had just caught from the lake.

Qingnuoyan's grilling technique is getting more and more superb. He perfectly controls the heat of the grilled fish. Accompanied by the sizzling sound of the oil, the surface of the trout gradually turns golden brown, and a faint aroma spreads.

Qingnuoyan was grilling fish while lost in thought.

The agreement was to go to the Guardian Forest, but they had already gone deep into the Guardian Forest and still hadn't found anything.

Who exactly is waiting here?

He thought about it for a long time, but still couldn't come up with an idea.

Wait a minute, he suddenly realized something was wrong. Just as he was distracted, he noticed that one of the grilled fish on the campfire was missing.

-

P.S.: Phew, the groundwork has been laid, and it's time to officially begin the main story of the post-Inazuma arc. The pace needs to pick up!

This chapter contains a major foreshadowing.

A friend's book, I'm recommending it!

Chapter 132 Ying: Cheating...?

Crackle, crackle.

The firewood burned, sparks flying, making the three golden-brown, crispy roasted fish on the campfire appear reddish.

One fish is missing.

Qingnuoyan remembers very clearly that he grilled four trout.

Did someone steal it?

Who enjoys doing this kind of thing the most...?

His first suspect, needless to say, was the little Paimon beside him, who was drooling and staring at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

Little Paimon noticed Qing Nuoyan's gaze and innocently looked up. She gently pursed her lips, patted her stomach, and asked expectantly, "Is dinner ready?"

“One is missing,” Qing Nuoyan said succinctly.

"!" Paimon exclaimed in shock, "One is missing!"

She made a very angry face, pouting her round cheeks and stomping her small, white feet on the ground. "Which thief ate my fish!"

Qing Nuoyan continued to look at her, still with that scrutinizing gaze.

"...Why are you looking at Paimon like that?"

Qing Nuoyan narrowed his eyes.

“...It wasn’t me!” Paimon shouted.

“I don’t believe it.” Qing Nuoyan shook his head.

Little Paimenggan has done many bad things—she loves to steal food, and he doesn't trust her character at all.

Paimon's face flushed red, and she stomped her foot angrily. She was furious that her character had been questioned. "Little dumpling, you know Paimon. If Paimon were to take action, not a single fish would be left!"

The way she spoke, with her head held high and hands on her hips, the yellowish firelight reflecting off her face, made her look smug and proud, not ashamed at all.

That seems reasonable.

...Qing Nuoyan nodded.

Indeed.

It definitely wasn't Paimon who stole it.

Qing Nuoyan lowered his eyes and looked at the crystal salt ruler with a scrutinizing gaze.

"...I always feel that your gaze is very impolite, Mr. Sardine." Lia smiled gently.

"Did the Salt God steal it?"

Qingnuoyan stopped speaking as soon as he opened his mouth. The salt ruler in his hand began to melt again, scattering salt grains in the air. Each glistening grain reflected the yellowish glow of the campfire, and specks of light made of salt enveloped Qingnuoyan.

"You know that."

In the hazy light, he felt a warm breath brush against his ear, soft and ticklish. The goddess named Heuria gently nibbled on Qingnuoyan's ear, her breath sweet as orchids.

“If I were to ‘steal’ something, it wouldn’t be the trout that gets ‘stolen’.” She tilted her head, her long, pure white hair cascading over Qing Nuoyan’s shoulders, her voice as soft as a cricket’s chirp.

"You know, Mr. Sardine~"

I dare not know.

Qingnuo Rock fell silent, as if a cicada in winter.

"What do you mean by stealing food?"

Miss Ying, who was fishing in the distance, seemed to sense something and instinctively turned her head. Her cat-like golden eyes narrowed alertly, then widened in disbelief. In those amber eyes, the figures of Qing Nuoyan and Liya were reflected.

Liya's soft hands rested on Qingnuoyan's shoulders, the two of them so close that their breaths almost mingled.

Right in front of her, right in front of her.

His pupils trembled.

"What are you doing...?" Ying's thin lips parted slightly, seemingly devoid of emotion, as she asked, "Cheating?"

Lia made a smug face at her.

She replied lazily, "Hehehe~"

"Cheating." Ying repeated expressionlessly.

Miss Ying started weighing the Kamikiri she wore at her waist again. Kamikiri, what a great name! Kamikiri, Kamikiri, it's meant to be used to cut down gods...

Qingnuoyan was in a real bind. It was just a missing fish, why were you all arguing again!

He stole it, okay?

.

As the cool moonlight slowly blanketed the smoky sunset, dusk began to settle, and the guardian forest gradually darkened. Layer upon layer of leaves rustled against each other in the evening breeze, creating a soft, whispering sound. The sound of the pines echoed throughout the mountains, and this ancient forest was about to fall asleep.

"So," Ying paused after explaining, "it's true that a fish has gone missing?"

“Yes.” Qing Nuoyan nodded, then looked at Ying again with a scrutinizing gaze. “Ying, did you see that?”

“It wasn’t me.” Ying looked at Liya with a defiant gaze and said seriously, “If I were to take action, neither the fish nor the people would be left; they would all be kidnapped.”

As she spoke, her fair earlobes flushed slightly, like the sunset over a snowy plain.

As expected of Ying, she even goes so far as to kidnap and traffic people.

Qingnuoyan was abducted from the mountain by this guy.

“But…” Ying paused, then hesitated, “Is it really true that a fish has gone missing…?”

"Why don't I see... a single one on the grill?"

Qingnuoyan suddenly turned around, and sure enough, the campfire was empty, with only a few traces of oily aroma remaining, proving that the grilled fish had indeed been there. Just as Ying had said, not a single fish was left.

It's all gone.

Only one guy fits the suspect profile.

"It really wasn't Paimon!" Paimon cried, her little face contorted in despair. She was utterly speechless now, and stamped her feet in frustration. "It wasn't me!"

Qing Nuoyan narrowed his eyes slightly. He recalled the monster legends circulating in the Guardian Forest. Could it really have been the work of a monster...?

Stealing grilled fish... This monster's class is so low!

"We can't catch any fish." Ying said dejectedly, "There isn't a single fish left in that little pond. We're going to go hungry today."

nonsense.

Ying wasn't fishing at all; she used a large amount of black powder to blast the pond. Not that there weren't any fish left, but that there weren't any whole fish left. All that remained were mangled, bloody limbs and fish heads. The four trout were the only intact surviving carcasses.

“Or, we can eat emergency food,” Qing Nuoyan casually chimed in.

"You can't eat Paimon!"

Paimon stamped her foot again. Since she, the Heavenly Emperor Paimon, began cultivating the peerless technique 'Seven-Colored Sunshine,' she had never received such provocation and insult. How could this junior be so terrifying? "Let's go catch the thief!"

"The thief shouldn't have gone far." Ying nodded in agreement with Paimon's idea. "Let's split up and search."

...

In many ghost stories, the team splitting up is often the beginning of their own demise.

After practical experience, Qingnuoyan came to accept this truth.

The sky grew completely dark, and it started to rain.

He raised his head and looked around at his surroundings.

The path was overgrown with vines, their pale gray tendrils densely covering the withered tree trunks. A light drizzle fell on the dark red soil, damp and foul-smelling, creating a strangely gloomy and obscure atmosphere.