He changed Tiwat

In any case, his goal is to resolve the anomalies in the Layered Rock Abyss. Opening up the Layered Rock Abyss would obviously conflict with the interests of the Abyss forces. Furthermore, Zhongli had told him to act according to his own judgment, and Gan Yu did not hinder his plan to open the Layered Rock Abyss, indicating that even if he were to become an enemy of the "Abyss Order," it would not affect the overall situation in Zhongli's eyes.

The good news is that if the Abyss Order gains control of the lower levels of the Abyss, Nightlan's actions will be greatly hampered, increasing his chances of controlling the Fools' infiltrators before Nightlan does.

The bad news is that the Fools lurking in the Abyss are very likely connected to the Abyss Order, or even be allies of the Abyss Order, which also makes his operation more difficult.

Besides, the details of the transaction between the Fools and the Treasure Thieves are also worth noting… If this transaction is related to the forces of the Abyss… he's already starting to regret not chasing after them yesterday and wiping them out. Perhaps the Treasure Thieves are really in big trouble! This matter could be even bigger than “colluding with the Fools”…

In short, the area below the strata of the giant abyss was clearly more dangerous than he had previously imagined. Han Fulai looked at Zhiqiong.

Zhiqiong met his gaze and involuntarily took a step back—Han Fulai's golden pupils seemed to contain boundless pressure, and looking into them was comparable to... no, much more terrifying than Sister Jinwu when she was throwing a tantrum!

When Han Fulai saw Zhiqiong retreat, he realized that he was still in the state of using the "Emperor's Spear" and the aura he was exuding was not something that an ordinary person like Zhiqiong could withstand.

But Zhiqiong only took a step back. Although her voice trembled slightly, her tone remained firm: "I...I still want to see it to the end! Even if, even if I can't go down with you, I at least want to witness it...until I can no longer keep up!"

Han Fulai couldn't help but chuckle. He wondered if this girl's stubbornness was a common trait among adventurers or a result of Sister Jinwu's teachings.

He beckoned, "Zhiqiong, come here."

Zhiqiong moved over in small steps, covering her beret with both hands, looking as if she was afraid of being hit on the head.

Han Fulai then pushed the jade shield, expanding it to cover two people.

Are you feeling better now?

"Ah? Hmm!" Zhiqiong's expression brightened immediately. "Thank you, Master Han, I..."

"Don't be too happy yet. After we deactivate the last mechanism, you must return to camp. The depths of the Abyss of Layered Rocks are not within your reach right now... But I promise you, if we confirm that it is safe below, we will come back and take you with us to explore. The exploration team needs you more now, and the miners need you to guide them in setting up camp and exploring the surrounding minerals. Do you understand?" Han Fulai said to Zhiqiong very seriously.

Zhiqiong was silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

Chapter 184 I Want to Be Stanley

The process of disarming the last mechanism went very smoothly, and no new monsters appeared.

The Abyss Apostle seems to have truly retreated. Perhaps the Abyss power he brought to the upper levels was insufficient, or perhaps he had other schemes at play; in any case, this "purification" was undisturbed and unimpeded.

As the last red "lumenstone" turned blue, the three beams of light converged and completely connected with the "wishing stone".

Although the "Wishing Stone" did not undergo any obvious changes, those with extraordinary powers, such as Han Fulai and Jiang Xue, could clearly feel the change in the air. Simply put, the temperature here was dropping—just like when the "Wishing Stone" was contaminated by the black mud power, it was in an overloaded state, releasing a lot of heat, but after "purification," it returned to its normal working state.

Zhiqiong excitedly took a picture of the scene with her camera. Despite her coughing fit, she could become energetic and lively as soon as she encountered something that interested her, as if she had inexhaustible energy. She even went so far as to ask Han Fulai to take her to touch the "wishing stone," but of course, Han Fulai firmly refused.

The three mechanisms continuously supplied light energy to the "Wishing Stone," and the patterns on the "Wishing Stone" gradually began to glow in mid-air.

"Is this the 'change' you're talking about?" Jiang Xue asked in a low voice.

"Hmm? What 'change'?" Zhiqiong asked, very curious.

Han Fulai really wanted to tell Jiang Xue that he was only guessing, and that it was also the first time he had ever seen a "wishing stone"...

Just then, Han Fulai's ears suddenly went quiet. Jiang Xue and Zhiqiong's voices completely disappeared, and he seemed to have entered a silent world—he couldn't even hear his own breathing.

Is this... the effect of the "wishing stone"?

Just as Han Fulai was pondering, the "Wishing Stone" in front of him emitted an even more intense white light.

A female voice, resembling a synthesized electronic voice, rang directly in Han Fulai's mind—

"Six hundred and four thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight."

"Six hundred and four thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven."

"Six hundred and four thousand seven hundred and seventy-six."

"Wait, what are you saying?" Han Fulai opened his mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out.

But he had a strange feeling—he knew the "Wishing Stone" had heard him. Just like the "DingTalk" clocking-in tool he used in the Chinese workplace, he intuitively understood that the other party had "read" his message.

"...604,775."

However, the other party's response was "read but not replied".

"You're counting down? What's the countdown?" Han Fulai continued to ask, unwilling to give up.

Perhaps because of a lack of authorization, the "wishing stone" did not respond.

"Six hundred and four thousand seven hundred and seventy-three."

The countdown continues, one second at a time.

Han Fulai quickly calculated the number in his mind: 604,800 seconds, which is seven days. It's a seven-day countdown!

The question is, what is the countdown about?

No one could answer him, and he didn't have time to come to a conclusion because the "wishing stone" moved.

Han Fulai was suddenly jolted awake by a ringing in his ears, instantly snapping him out of his reverie. Then, he heard Zhiqiong's startled cry: "'Wishing Stone' is about to fall!"

At the same time, the jade shield that Han Fulai has maintained until now has also reached its expiration date.

"Retreat." Jiang Xue uttered only one word.

Without any hesitation, Han Fulai grabbed Zhiqiong's arm and pulled her outside.

Almost simultaneously, the "Wishing Stone" emitted a dazzling white light, as if it were "blooming with pure light"!

The light energy from the "Wishing Stone" instantly filled the entire space, and everyone's vision was filled with a white haze.

A few seconds later, the three people who were flying backward heard a loud bang behind them.

They felt a continuous, earthquake-like tremor beneath their feet. Compared to the "breathing of the fleshy lump" that Han Fulai and the others had experienced before, this tremor, though lasting only a few seconds, was far more intense.

Not to mention Zhiqiong, Han Fulai also tripped and fell, and could only lie on the ground in a sorry state, waiting for the earthquake to pass.

The floating rock "rings" around the "Wishing Stone" suddenly lost their support and crashed to the ground, while the "Wishing Stone" itself, like a falling meteorite, smashed through the surface and flew deep into the abyss of layered rocks, quickly disappearing into the depths of the earth.

The light faded, dust rose, and only the "Lumenite" catalyst in Han Fulai's hand remained as the sole source of light.

"Cough cough...cough cough! Huff...ha..." Zhiqiong sat up, panting heavily.

Han Fulai's voice came from beneath her: "Miss Zhiqiong...please get up..."

Zhiqiong then realized that she was sitting on Han Fulai's lap. When he saw her fall, Han Fulai instinctively caught her, which resulted in their current situation. Even though Han Fulai's physical condition was now far better than before, Zhiqiong's weight was still quite heavy on him—although Zhiqiong was small, she was carrying an adventurer's backpack weighing several tens of kilograms.

Zhiqiong apologized repeatedly and, feeling embarrassed, helped Han Daxia, who had been acting as a human cushion, to his feet.

Jiang Xue was unharmed. During the earthquake, he had immediately drawn his sword and plunged it into the ground to maintain his balance. Seeing that the two were alright, Jiang Xue quickly walked towards the deep crater created by the "Wishing Stone."

A moment later, his voice came: "Now we have a passage that leads directly underground."

Han Fulai and Zhiqiong followed the sound and indeed saw that where the "wishing stone" had been, only a dark and deep hole remained. Han Fulai kicked a piece of gravel down into the hole. The gravel bumped against the cave wall a few times and rolled down, but for a long time there was no echo of it hitting the ground.

"This might not be the ground below..." Han Fulai made a preliminary judgment about the cave.

At this moment, Zhiqiong took a deep breath, "Phew... much better! The air suddenly feels so much fresher!"

As Zhiqiong said, the air has indeed become much fresher. The final burst of pure light from the "Wishing Stone" has cleared away the nearby black mud swamp, and the environment here is now no different from that of an ordinary mine tunnel.

"That thing... flew away, clearing a path for us?" Zhiqiong's eyes gleamed with that eager look again, and needless to say, she was once again thinking about continuing her adventure.

“It’s not ‘we,’ it doesn’t include you. Don’t forget what I told you before.” Han Fulai directly refuted Zhiqiong’s little scheme.

“I, I know…” Zhiqiong looked unwilling, paused, and then said, “I am just a mortal. Many obstacles that you can easily overcome are like insurmountable barriers in front of me… But I am an adventurer. I know that I can’t become someone like Master Han or Master Jiang… but I want to become someone like Mr. Stanley.”

“Stanley…” Han Fulai pondered.

"Mr. Stanley from Mondstadt was the one who inspired me to become an adventurer. He was also a mortal, and he didn't have the Eye of God, yet he traversed countless secret realms solely through courage and wisdom... The environment here is no more harsh than the 'Sea of ​​Ashes'..." Zhiqiong gave a self-deprecating smile. "Don't laugh at me for overestimating myself, but I don't think I'm much worse than Stanley..."

“But Stanley has… he’s stopped taking risks.” Han Fulai shook his head gently.

He had heard of Stanley before; he was indeed a legendary adventurer from Mondstadt, a brave mortal adventurer. However, the real Stanley had died in the "Sea of ​​Ashes".

Chapter 185 Zhiqiong, You Are My Hope

Han Fulai still remembered the storyline of the Wendy Legend quest.

The legendary adventurer Stanley that Zhiqiong mentioned was not Stanley himself, but a friend whom Stanley had rescued. This friend impersonated Stanley to spread his name and deeds.

Although he didn't know if Stanley's history had changed, Han Fulai guessed that it should be largely the same as the story he knew.

To Han Fulai, Zhiqiong's statement, "I want to be Stanley," was nothing short of a death flag.

“That’s why I want to carry on the will of my predecessors. Stanley has already retired, but I’m still young. As long as I grit my teeth, I’m sure I can achieve the same things as those adventurer predecessors,” Zhiqiong said earnestly.

"Do you remember Mr. Stanley's most famous adventures?" Han Fulai asked.

“Of course. I know all of Mr. Stanley’s adventures by heart.” Zhiqiong nodded. “Far away on the other side of the continent, there is a barren secret realm. There is an ear-piercing silence there, and before you lies a sea of ​​ashes… Monsters swirled in the sea of ​​ashes, and Stanley held tightly to his companion’s hand as he was about to be swept away…”

Han Fulai interrupted Zhiqiong, "Do you remember the ending of that story?"

“The ending…” Zhiqiong’s voice trailed off, “In the end, only Mr. Stanley was the one who set foot on his homeland again.”

"Do you know why Mr. Stanley retired?" Han Fulai continued.

Zhiqiong honestly shook her head; she didn't know why Mr. Stanley had retired. For an adventurer, being in their thirties is actually the prime of their life.

Han Fu answered his own question, "Because he didn't want to see his comrades die anymore."

“Ah…” Zhiqiong was stunned; she hadn’t expected the answer to be like this.

The profession of adventurer is one of being friends with danger and living with death. To be an adventurer requires both the courage to face death and the awareness to be prepared for perilous situations. Zhiqiong takes Stanley as her role model; in her view, a legendary adventurer like Stanley would not retire because of such a thing.

"Mr. Stanley really did it because of...?"

“I heard this from Mr. Stanley himself. What, you don’t believe me?” Han Fulai smiled and glanced at Zhiqiong.

"No, no. Of course you wouldn't lie to me," Zhiqiong quickly denied.

Zhiqiong had no idea about Han Fulai's past experiences, so naturally she wouldn't know that he had never been to Mondstadt or met Stanley.

Of course, it's not entirely wrong for Han Fu to claim that he heard Stanley tell his story from him personally—after all, he really did hear it in the game.

“Mr. Stanley has always regretted not being able to save his companions on their adventure, and regretted leaving their souls in that ‘Windless Land’,” Han Fulai said.

“It’s not his fault!” Zhiqiong blurted out.

In Zhiqiong's view, any adventurer who embarks on this path is prepared to die; without such preparation, one is not qualified to call oneself an adventurer. If she and Mr. Stanley were to venture into the "Sea of ​​Ashes" together and die in the secret realm, she would never blame Mr. Stanley.

“It’s really not his fault.” Han Fulai said in a low voice, “So no one blames him—except himself.”

"...It's you who won't let you go...ha."

Jiang Xue seemed to remember something and lowered the brim of her straw hat.

Han Fulai gently grasped Zhiqiong's shoulders, staring into her eyes, "If you come down with us on this adventure and end up losing your life—I'll blame myself for the rest of my life. Do you want me to regret it for the rest of my life too?"

Han Fulai knew very well that Zhiqiong was stubborn and didn't even care about her own life. However, while Zhiqiong was risking her life, she also knew that she couldn't expect others to do the same, especially not to be a burden to them. She had been worried that she might be a burden to Han Fulai and the others, and Han Fulai wanted to take advantage of this sense of guilt in her heart.

—You can do whatever you want, but you can't make me regret your death for the rest of my life.

"I...I..." Zhiqiong stammered, unable to speak.

Seeing that the time was right, Han Fulai changed the subject: "Zhiqiong, we are not adventurers, but you are, and you still have the responsibilities of an adventurer on your shoulders."

Zhiqiong stared blankly at Han Fulai.

"...The adventurer's responsibility?"

"Yes." Han Fulai nodded seriously. "That's something I can't do, but only you can."

"Something you can't do but I can?" Zhiqiong's voice was full of doubt.

“Yes, I have an important commission that requires a reliable adventurer to complete, and Miss Zhiqiong, you are the best candidate.” Han Fulai put on an extremely serious face.

"Eh...me, me?" Zhiqiong was stunned.

According to the Adventurers' Guild's rules, adventurers, in addition to their own free exploration, are obligated to accept requests from local residents. The merits gained from completing these requests are also credited to the adventurer's rank. As a registered member of the Adventurers' Guild, Zhiqiong had previously accepted requests from the guild; in fact, her presence in the exploration team was, in a way, fulfilling a request from Haidifu to the Adventurers' Guild.

Generally, to commission an adventurer, the person commissioning the task needs to submit it to the guild, which will then publish the task. Some tasks are assigned by the guild to suitable adventurers, while others are accepted by the adventurers themselves.

However, it is also common for adventurers to suddenly see "exclamation marks appearing above the heads of passersby" while walking on the street. As long as they compile a report afterward and submit it to the association, they can still receive rewards and commissions from the association.

The commission Han Fulai mentioned is exactly this kind of situation. Generally speaking, adventurers don't refuse missions. The reason the Adventurers' Guild has been able to operate for so many years is because it enjoys a good reputation among the residents. The fact that adventurers have the right to move freely in the secret realms of the Seven Kingdoms is also inseparable from their actions of helping the residents.

“Yes. I would like to entrust Miss Zhiqiong as my ‘insurance’,” Han Fulai said.

If this were a game world with Zhiqiong as the protagonist, then Han Fulai would obviously have a huge yellow exclamation mark above his head right now.

“What does ‘insurance’ mean?” Zhiqiong asked.

"Now, the only person who knows that three strange mechanisms have appeared here, that the monsters from back then have appeared in the black mud, that the 'Wishing Stone' has undergone an anomaly and fallen, and that Senior Jiang Xue and I entered the depths of the Layered Rock Abyss from where—is you, Zhiqiong."

Han Fulai looked serious.

"All of these circumstances indicate that the journey ahead is extremely dangerous. In the worst-case scenario, if the three of us are trapped down there, no one will know what happened here. At the same time, we will lose the opportunity to send a message to the outside world and stop the anomaly."

"Therefore, I need 'insurance,' and even more so, 'hope.' If Senior Jiang Xue and I encounter trouble down below and are unable to return within the seven-day time limit, at least I can still look forward to your rescue. When people are in trouble, 'hope' can help them get through it."