He changed Tiwat

Flames scorched his skin, thunder seemed to pierce his eardrums, and the gale tore at his soul.

At the end of the hellish journey, what awaited them at the destination was... a baby.

The old adventurer originally believed that he was the first life to venture into this perilous place—but how could he explain the baby before him?

At that moment, an idea popped into his head, and he believed it to be the truth.

"This baby... is a child abandoned by the world."

Despite failing to obtain divine weapons or jewels and gold, the old man showed no disappointment, as if the little fellow whose life hung by a thread was the "treasure."

"This adventure must have some meaning," the old man thought, tucking the baby into his arms.

Even if what he is doing goes against the will of the world.

The old man passed away from his injuries before he could recount his adventure, leaving behind only the child he had rescued from the brink of death.

The old adventurer was all alone, without wife or children. At his funeral, there were no cries of sorrow, only many old friends toasting and drinking to bid him farewell.

In the Mondstadt branch of the Adventurers' Guild, there are still a few elderly adventurers who are also all alone. They named the child "Bennett" and raised him as their own.

"My fathers told me that the best place for an adventurer is to dedicate himself to the pursuit of treasure and the secrets of the land, and then have the wind god take his soul back to his homeland."

"The old folks also told me that the old man who took me in had a great regret in life: he hadn't been able to conquer the 'Sea of ​​Ashes.' I know he was an incredibly skilled adventurer, and if it weren't for saving me, he might have had the chance to fulfill his wish..."

"Therefore, I want to conquer the 'Sea of ​​Ashes' with the one I love. This poem is what I want to say to him."

"So this is a 'love poem' written for a deceased loved one," Wendy sighed softly.

Han Fulai nodded in agreement, deeply moved.

Love and family affection are ultimately just human relationships.

As the ancients said, "Poetry is the expression of one's will. What is in the heart is the will, and what is spoken is poetry."

Poetry is about expressing humanity's most sincere emotions in words, without being bound by formalities.

After a moment of silence, Sister Victoria raised the scoring board.

"Although it doesn't fit our theme, I think your effort deserves this score. 8 points."

“The story in the poem is like a poem itself. 8 points.” Lisa also held up her scoreboard.

Barbara clenched her fist to encourage him: "8 points. Mr. Bennett, I believe you can conquer the 'Ember Sea'!"

Despite going off-topic, he received such a high score and unanimous praise and encouragement from the judges, which moved Bennett to tears.

"Thank you, thank you teachers! I feel like today is the luckiest day of my life!"

Chapter 238 A Bard on Par with Barbatos [3k]

So far, three contestants have submitted their answers.

The 15-minute time limit...

"There are less than five minutes left, you know?" Wendy kindly reminded the two contestants who hadn't finished the questions yet, especially Han Fulai.

Six-Fingered Joseph, being a professional bard who frequently performs in noisy and chaotic settings like pubs, wasn't really affected by the recitations of the previous contestants or the judges' comments. Even though he hasn't finished his piece yet, it's because he's striving for perfection.

He had already written several versions of the poem on paper, and even used the lyre to refine the most suitable words and phrases. Now, he was probably just one step away from finishing it.

Compared to "Six-Fingered Joseph," Han Fulai's pen and paper remained untouched, and his message board is still completely blank.

Not only that, this guy would nod and shake his head along with the three judges' comments, as if he were on stage as an audience member.

With so little time left, even writing a draft would be a struggle, and Wendy couldn't help but feel worried for him.

Of course, the ever-present breeze knew about the "cheating" of a certain cavalry captain and a certain librarian.

Logically speaking, Han Fulai should have been prepared long ago.

Wendy thought he hadn't started writing before because he was deliberately delaying, not wanting to appear well-prepared. But now that things had come to this, it would be too late if he didn't start writing soon!

—Hey, you promised to get me the "Sky Harp"!

Wendy started giving Han Fulai meaningful glances, but Han Fulai remained nonchalant, pretending not to notice.

In fact, at least Jean knew Wendy's true identity. He could have simply asked Jean to use her privileges as acting leader to get the "Sky Harp".

The reason he went to such lengths to get Han Fulai to help him obtain the "Sky Harp" was not only to give Han Fulai a reason to participate in the "Badminton Festival" competition, but also because he had his own little scheme.

—Last time, Wendy broke the Sky Harp in order to save Dvalin.

Artifacts aren't so easy to repair when they're broken. So when Wendy and Ying returned the violin to the church, they did something tricky. The violin the church has now is one that Wendy disguised with illusion magic. It looks exactly the same as before, but all the strings are broken. Playing it would immediately reveal the deception…

Venti is planning to have Han Fu take the blame for him. After all, the Emperor of Liyue has taken the blame for him before, so the "successor of the Emperor" should follow suit.

Anyway, once the festival ends and the "Sky Harp" is returned, even if the church discovers the harp is broken, they will suspect the last person who played it—Han Fulai, who won the poetry competition and obtained the right to use the "Sky Harp" for one day.

...Well, the zither was ruined by Han Fulai. If your church has any complaints, go find Li Yue Yue Haiting!

That's Wendy's little scheme.

But now he's a little suspicious. Does this kid's look like he's about to forfeit mean he's heard what's going on in his mind?

Han Fulai naturally didn't expect that he would not only have to take the blame for the Knights, but also for Wendy... There was a reason why he didn't write anything.

This poetry competition isn't the kind of exam with a standard answer. As you can see from the reasons the judges gave their scores, they have a lot of discretion. As long as you can impress the judges, even if you're off-topic, you can still get a high score.

That's why he kept observing the judges' comments to other contestants and trying to figure out the judges' scoring preferences.

Moreover, judging from the competition format, the necessary condition for entering the finals is not how well you write poetry, but rather, "scoring higher than the other four contestants".

So he's waiting for "Six-Fingered Joseph" to submit his work.

"Six-Fingered Joseph" is the most skilled contestant in this group, and also his biggest competitor. What if he submits his work early, but "Six-Fingered Joseph" submits a better piece after him? Wouldn't that be a complete waste of effort?

Once a work is submitted, it cannot be modified, and even if a better work is thought of, it will be of no use. For others, it is difficult to rack their brains to come up with a poem in fifteen minutes, but Han Fulai is not an ordinary person; he has many choices.

For all the reasons mentioned above, as long as there is still time, he will definitely wait for "Six-Fingered Joseph" to make his move first.

Fortunately, "Six-Fingered Joseph" didn't keep him waiting too long.

With about three minutes left in the time limit, "Six-Fingered Joseph" presented his work to Wendy, holding the lyre in his arms.

A bard known as "Six-Fingered" cannot be without playing the lyre; a bard without the lyre is not a complete bard. If Joseph himself possessed ten percent of his skill, then at least seven percent of his skill was concentrated in the seven strings of the lyre.

In fact, until the eve of last year's "Badminton Festival", "Six-Finger Joseph" was known as "Six-Finger Joseph who is comparable to Barbatos".

While Venti was asleep, Joseph was the best bard in Mondstadt, having won the title of "Best Bard of Mondstadt" twice at the previous "Badminton Festival" thanks to his excellent harp skills.

Last year's Best Poet title should have been his, but in order to show off his superb lyre skills to his drinking buddies, Joseph attempted to play the lyre while flying using the Wind Wings, and insisted on singing his newly composed long poem in the air.

After enduring ten minutes of indistinct howling wind and chaotic harp music, most of Mondstadt's citizens witnessed "Six-Fingered Joseph, who rivals Barbatos" plummeting from the sky into the fountain in the center of Mondstadt.

Fortunately, Barbatos always seems to favor those who lack self-awareness. Despite the severe damage to the lyre and the wind wings, Joseph himself suffered only minor injuries.

However, due to dangerous flying and serious disturbance to the public, Joseph was punished by Master Jean with a five-year flight ban and three months of mandatory public service. Thus, he missed the opportunity to win the title of "Best Bard of Mondstadt" for three consecutive years.

After he finally made it through his public service period, repaired his beloved lyre, and returned to singing at the pub, Mondstadt now boasted a "green bard on par with Barbatos"...

At this year's "Badminton Festival," Joseph vowed to reclaim his title as "Six-Fingered Joseph, on par with Barbatos."

The poem he just presented could be considered a work of inspiration. If given a drink, he might boast to his drinking buddies that Barbatos wrote it with his help—that's how confident he was.

As the strings rang out, Joseph's voice rose with them:

“The winds in cloud and rain abide,

The wind is in the clouds, in the rain.

Through a flowery sea of ​​dreams they go.

Amidst dreams and a sea of ​​flowers.

You reside by my side and in my heart,

You are beside me, in my eyes.

Where waves of love shall forever flow.

In my heart, which is constantly turbulent with love.

Within ten minutes, Joseph not only wrote this beautifully rhymed short poem, but also set it to a corresponding melody. The music and lyrics blended seamlessly, creating a perfect whole.

Combined with Joseph's already quite magnetic voice and his perfectly executed emphasis, these four tender love words have been etched into the hearts of every listener.

Mondstadt has a well-known children's book called "The Fox in the Dandelion Sea," which depicts a dandelion sea that only appears in dreams.

It is said that if you sneeze while standing in that sea of ​​dandelions, fluffy white dandelions will swirl and fly all over the sky, like a snowstorm, or like the wind blown by the flowers.

Joseph's lyrics and music bring people a sea of ​​flowers, as if a gentle, moist night breeze is carrying dandelions past everyone's ears.

This is love hidden among the flowers and carried on the wind.

What are your thoughts, esteemed judges?

Joseph bowed to all the listeners, his gaze sweeping over Wendy not far away and Han Fulai beside Wendy, a confident smile on his face.

In the short poem just now, Joseph even used the exact same "double rhyme scheme" as the short poem Wendy sang at the opening. Not only were the format and meter almost identical, but half of the rhymes were the same as Wendy's poem.

This can be seen as Joseph's "retaliation" against Wendy.

In terms of performance, Joseph was definitely better – Wendy is, after all, just a presenter.

He glanced at the hourglass beside the stage; the fifteen-minute time limit was almost up, and "Sir Humphrey" didn't even seem to have finished his draft. Oh, he'd only just picked up his pen.

But what if he finishes his work? How could he possibly be a match for "Six-Fingered Joseph, who rivals Barbatos"?

Joseph waited expectantly for the judges' scores.

The three judges unusually refrained from offering immediate comments. Leaving aside the two nuns from the Church of the West Wind, in terms of literary talent, Lisa, the librarian, was perhaps the best in Mondstadt besides Barbatos.

Even Lisa, who has read countless books, had to admit that Joseph's love poem was a masterpiece, even among the famous works in the Mondstadt Library.

From its phonetics to its word choice, the poem is aesthetically pleasing. What is even more remarkable is that he also set a melody that matches the poem's meaning.

Even if Joseph is a professional bard, it is no easy feat to complete a song of such quality in such a short time. Giving him full marks is not an exaggeration.

But the problem is, if Joseph gets a perfect score here, how can Han Fulai win the championship?

So this judge, who had been "biased" from the beginning, was unusually in a dilemma.

Compared to Lisa, the simple-minded Barbara didn't have as many concerns. As a singer, she understood the difficulty of writing lyrics and composing music best. If it weren't for the composition materials that Alice left her from some unknown world, her performance of "Song of the Wind God" at the opening ceremony might not have been completed on schedule.

Barbara believes that Joseph's short poem may become the top choice for young people in Mondstadt to confess their love to girls this year.

—If it weren't for Han Fulai.

The sand in the hourglass was about to run out, and Han Fulai handed his poem to Wendy.

Wendy took Han Fulai's work, her expression somewhat strange.

Because Han Fulai's message board only has a title.

“To my fair lord.”

Chapter 239 Han Fulai, who composes a poem in seven steps [5k5]

“Joseph’s poem is indeed a masterpiece, and the live arrangement and performance are equally excellent. Considering the time limit and difficulty, I think this poem deserves very high praise.” Sister Victoria, who was usually very strict, unusually refrained from any criticism.

The highest praise Victoria could give is that there was no fault to be found.

She silently raised her scoring board.

"10 points."

Wow, my first perfect score today!

"That's amazing!"

The audience below the stage began to get excited.

Barbara also held up her scoreboard.

"I also think this is a wonderful poem. Although it's short, I can feel the poet's sincere emotions, like strolling through a sea of ​​dandelions—it's both refreshing and natural. So, full marks!"

Both nuns from the Church of the West Wind gave "Six-Fingered Joseph" the highest score.

The audience stirred again.

Wow, another perfect score!

"What would Miss Nalisa think?"

Joseph looked at Lisa with anticipation.

Lisa hesitated for a few seconds, then made up her mind: "This poem, in terms of both rhyme and imagery, is comparable to the masterpieces of previous poets and deserves to be included in this year's 'Badminton Festival Poetry Anthology' for future generations to refer to. Mr. Joseph, your poem doesn't have a title yet. Does it have one?"