He changed Tiwat

When Tinari carried Ying back to Huacheng Guo, he took her along this road once, and Paimon remembers it very well now.

With Paimon's guidance, Ying quickly found the cave where she had first smelled the "spiritual fragrance".

The cave remained exactly as it had been three days ago—plant roots scattered everywhere, the tree stump where Haibasha sat during her meditation, an incense burner burning "Lingfenxiang" (a type of incense), and some books and scrolls casually placed on the ground... The only thing missing was Haibasha herself.

"Hypatia—Hypatia—"

Paimon called out several times, but his voice echoed repeatedly in the cave without a response.

Paimon shrugged: "Strange, did she go out to find food herself?"

Ying frowned slightly: "According to Tinari, Haibasha should be too hungry to walk, otherwise she wouldn't have asked Tinari for help..."

“Let’s look around the area,” Paimon said, turning and flying out of the cave.

Ying then walked deeper into the cave.

She heard some faint sounds coming from deep inside the cave—like a ball bouncing on the ground, making a "poof poof" sound.

The sound seemed to be coming from behind some plant roots.

Ying bypassed the roots and immediately saw Haibasha's algae-like hair.

"Paimon, I found Hibiscus!" Ying shouted, then rushed to Hibiscus's side.

Haibasha was clearly already unconscious and did not respond to her calls.

Just as she rushed to Haibasha's side, a small, round, cabbage-like strange creature appeared at Haibasha's feet.

Ying and that strange creature locked eyes.

"?!"

Realizing that it had been seen by outsiders, the little thing was literally "startled".

Ying saw the "cabbage" suddenly jump very high, and then disappear into thin air with a "bang".

Paimon arrived at Ying's side at that moment: "Ah, Hibasha! How is she now?"

Before they finished speaking, a white mist suddenly surged around them, making it impossible to see their own hands in front of their faces for a moment.

The fog came and went quickly, vanishing completely in the blink of an eye without a trace, yet—

"What's going on?" Paimon exclaimed.

The place where the two were standing was no longer a cave, but an antique-style Inazuma mansion.

Ying recognized the maple leaf symbol on the mansion.

"How could this be... this is... Wan Ye's house?"

During their adventure on the "Golden Apple Islands," Ying and Paimon had already experienced firsthand the terror of the Inazuma-style mansion—layer upon layer of corridors and sliding paper doors that divided the entire residence into a labyrinthine structure.

Furthermore, because the Kaede family was originally one of the "Five Transmissions of Thunder and Lightning," they built many traps to protect their treasure vault containing the "Divine Sword" and the place where the "Isshin-den" sword-making secrets were kept. Once the traps were activated, the entire mansion would turn into a real maze.

Because it's a maze controlled by mechanisms, the little tricks like the "right-hand rule" that Han Fulai taught Ying and Paimon before are completely inapplicable. They might even fall into a trap by touching the mechanisms on the walls.

With Wan Ye, the head of the Kaedehara family, leading the way, they still wandered around the mansion for at least an hour before finding the exit. This time, without Wan Ye, Ying and Paimon wandered around inside for even longer.

Fortunately, they had only recently left the "Golden Apple Islands" and still remembered some of the layout of the mansion, which allowed them to successfully find the exit.

Unfortunately, the exit of one maze is the entrance to the next.

Just as she stepped out of the Manyo family mansion, she was greeted by the Sumeru Rainforest—which led Yingmei to the unconscious Daocheng Forest maze.

What exactly is going on with this strange place?

Of course, the Manyo family's mansion couldn't possibly be built on the edge of the Sumeru Rainforest. Even a little fool like Paimon could see that they had definitely fallen into some kind of illusion. If they didn't break through the illusion, there were still countless mazes to navigate.

Ying knew from the beginning that she and Paimon had fallen into an illusion again, but she still dutifully navigated the maze in order to figure out why they had entered the illusion and try to find clues in it. Previously, in the illusion of the "Golden Apple Islands," they also searched for clues in the illusion and eventually resolved the knots in the hearts of Manyo and others.

Unfortunately, no clues were found, but one maze after another appeared.

Since Tina was not around, and no one would stop her from destroying the ecological environment of Sumeru, Yingmei drew her "Mist Cutter" without saying a word and slashed at the rainforest in front of her!

Vast swathes of trees, like reeds under a scabbard, knelt and bowed before the unseen might, instantly transforming the lush rainforest into a barren wasteland.

Ying did not relax at all, still gripping the "Mist Cutter" tightly in her hand, maintaining her battle-ready posture.

She knew that there was definitely more than one illusion, and even if she broke through the rainforest, there would definitely be more illusions appearing.

As she expected, the remnants of the rainforest vanished into mist, and something new appeared within the mist.

This time, it's not a maze, but people.

A person wrapped in a dark blue robe, wearing a full-face mask, with a black sun emblem printed on his chest.

—“An Apostle of the Abyss!?”

Ying and Paimon were both startled.

The "Apostle of the Abyss" laughed in a deep, muffled voice that seemed to come from underwater: "Hehehe... Traveler, we meet again!"

Ying seems to vaguely recognize that voice.

"You are... the one my brother rescued that day..."

When she first learned about the "Loom of Fate" project, the "Apostle of the Abyss" that she was tracking down with Daines Reeb was this person!

It seems this illusion is yet another conspiracy by the "Abyss Cult"...

“Yes, it is I, the ‘Speaker of Ominous Signs’.” The apostle bowed politely to her.

"Hey, what kind of conspiracy are you plotting in this weird place?"

Paimon stomped his foot in anger—hadn't Sora, Luminous's blood relative, "Prince of the Abyss," promised them not long ago that he wouldn't interfere with Luminous anymore? How could he go back on his word? Sora, you're awful!

The "Monologue" sneered: "'Strange place'? 'Conspiracy'? Heh heh... You don't need to know these things!"

After saying that, he activated his water elemental shield, brandished the swords in his hands, and lunged at Ying.

The battle didn't last long. With the four elements and the "Seven Transformations of the Serpent," Luminous was no longer the same Luminous from Mondstadt. A dozen seconds later, Luminous's longsword broke through the Abyss Apostle's elemental shield and stopped at his throat—if it weren't for the questions he still had to ask, this guy would have been decapitated long ago.

But then something strange happened.

The elemental shield that she had just broken through suddenly reformed, and this time the shield was even thicker than before, and it was able to knock her far away!

Chapter Twenty: Ying's Nightmare [4k]

It took Ying twice as long to break through the Abyss Apostle's new shield, which was about half a minute. This time wasn't long, of course, but...

"How is this going?"

Even Paimon, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise—the shield of "Ominous Confessor" seemed to be endless. As soon as Ying broke through one layer, an even thicker new shield appeared in an instant.

This wasn't their first time fighting the "Abyss Apostle," and they knew very well that the elemental shield was the "Abyss Apostle's" ultimate survival skill, equivalent to the elemental power of the "Abyss Apostle's" entire body, and it was impossible for it to be used continuously.

According to their experience, after the shield is broken, the "Abyssal Apostle" will usually be so weak that it can't even stand up.

But this "ominous voice" was completely unaffected. Not only could it generate new shields repeatedly, but its attacks became more and more ferocious, as if it could grow stronger in battle and become stronger without end!

Even Ying is starting to feel the pressure.

From a martial artist's perspective, the opponent's moves and techniques haven't improved at all; it's always the same old routine. But if that old routine is combined with the power of a demon god, even a simple sword strike like Yi Dao Ying would require the opponent to concentrate fully.

She felt as if she had returned to two months ago, back to the "Pure Land of One Heart," facing the Shadow of that time—no matter what moves she used, she could not break through the Shadow's defense, but a casual move from the Shadow could kill her.

What's even more frightening is that the opponent still has potential and is constantly getting stronger.

She didn't know why this was happening, but she knew that now was no longer the time to worry about "leaving survivors."

Ying's eyes narrowed, and lightning representing destruction appeared on "Mist Slash"—the ultimate heavenly light capable of slaying demon gods reappeared!

With a flash of "Mist Slash," the Abyss Apostle, along with the surrounding space, was cut off in half like a thin mist over a mountain.

But the next second, Paimon exclaimed again, "Why is this happening?"

The "Abyss Apostle," which had clearly been severed in two, was miraculously restored to its original state as if by mist, with not a single wound visible on its body.

Ying was equally shocked. With her combat experience, "battle-hardened" would be an understatement, yet she had never seen an enemy who could be cut in half at the waist and still act as if nothing had happened.

What's more, she used a "thoughtless strike"!

Even the "Great God of the Sea" Orobas couldn't withstand the blade, so how could this "Apostle of the Abyss" possibly catch it?

The "ominous voice" laughed maniacally: "Hehehe... Even if you've survived countless crises before, good luck will eventually run out. It's time to recognize your insignificance and powerlessness!"

"I will never fall here! But you, daring to lay a hand on me, aren't you afraid my brother will come after you?" Ying said, taking a defensive stance while trying to extract information from the "Abyss Apostle".

The "ominous voice" became even more arrogant: "Brother? Hehehe... Hahahaha! Traveler, oh traveler, are you simply oblivious to the truth, or are you unwilling to face reality?"

“The Prince has abandoned you. To the Prince, you are nothing more than an eyesore!”

"The family ties you're seeking no longer exist; your journey is utterly meaningless!"

This is the answer Ying least wants to face.

When they were in the Abyss Palace, Kong had hoped that she would join the "Abyss Order" and become a god of the Kanria remnants, but she refused Kong's offer on the spot.

Although Time and Space expressed respect for her will and reached a cooperation agreement with her and Han Fulai, who was present at the time, the agreement was only verbal and had no binding guarantee...

This self-proclaimed "Apostle of the Abyss," who calls himself the "Teller of Ominous Signs," is a direct subordinate of Sora. Sora even had to personally rescue him from Dainesreib, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a confidant of Sora. Normally, when Sora's subordinates treat her, they would fawn over her like Fuchigami, calling her "Princess."

Although Ying doesn't plan to join the "Abyss Order," she actually quite enjoys the feeling of being called "Princess" by a group of people—what's wrong with taking a few bites of her brother's money? It's so sweet!

...But this "teller of ominous omens" calls her "traveler," clearly disowning her as the "princess." His presence in Sumeru suggests the "Abyss Order" is likely involved in the events there, and even the "World Tree's disease" might be related to the "Abyss Order"... The appearance of the "Dead Zone" might be the work of Abyss forces.

Furthermore, this "ominous confidant" now attacked her without any restraint, even appearing intent on killing her...

This can only prove one thing—

Kong has already broken ties with her.

why?

Was it because she wanted to see the Grass God?

Was it because she was in the way of her brother?

Ying felt a lump in her throat. Just for this reason, her only brother, her one and only blood relative in the universe, was going to abandon her?

As she was overwhelmed by the bitterness in her chest, the "ominous voice" raised a knife and slashed at her: "You don't need to worry anymore, because today is the day you die!"

In a panic, Ying raised her sword to meet the attack, but the instant the swords clashed, everything went black before her eyes—

"—!!"

Ying was panting heavily.

She seemed to have just experienced a nightmare; her back was covered in cold sweat, and the lingering fear still lingered in her chest.

But she couldn't remember the content of the dream.

Ying looked around and found herself still standing in the cave, in the same spot where she had found Haibasha earlier. Haibasha was lying face down on the ground, still unconscious.

Little Paimon circled around Haibasha, seemingly checking on her physical condition.

Suddenly, Haibasha's lips moved: "...So sweet...Mmm..."

Paimon quickly reported the good news to Ying: "Great, she's still conscious. ...Wow, how did you drop your lunchbox on the floor!"

Only after Paimon pointed it out did Ying realize that the lunchbox she had been holding had fallen to the ground sometime earlier.

The "emergency food" that Tinari prepared for Haibasha was an easily digestible, nutritious liquid meal, probably millet porridge and coconut curry with the spiciness removed. The bento box fell to the ground, and the porridge and curry inside must have mixed together, turning into a thick, mushy mess… The smell… well, Ying thought it best not to think about it.

The key question is, why did the lunchbox fall? Was she distracted?

Paimon, hands on his hips, scolded her: "Hey, how could you be so careless!"

Yingmei smiled apologetically and picked up the lunchbox from the ground.

At this moment, Haibasha let out a soft cry, as if saying "I want to drink more"... Ying noticed that there was a liquid that looked like juice near the corner of Haibasha's lips.

Paimon then picked up something from beside Hibasha—a shriveled peach, which looked like it had been squeezed for juice and then left there.

Following Paimon's movement, Ying looked over there and discovered that Haibasha was cradling several plump peaches in her arms.

She remembered that Cole had told her during his forest patrol yesterday that the Dun Dun peach had firm flesh and a sweet and delicious taste, and could be eaten as a snack. The juice on Haibasha's lips must have been from the Dun Dun peach.

If she had peaches to eat, why did she faint from hunger?

By the way... did Haibasha originally have these fruits around her?

There was a subtle sense of disharmony about Ying, as if she had forgotten something.

"Huh, why is there so much fruit next to her?" Paimon was also puzzled, but her way of thinking was much more positive: "That's right, Haibasha said she was thirsty, so we can use these juicy peaches to quench her thirst!"

Without further ado, the two took out the clean gauze that adventurers always carry and began to make "freshly squeezed peach juice" for Haibasha.