Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

Upon hearing Jiang Bai's words, Kong looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"Don't get your hopes up too high, it might not be your sister." Jiang Bai didn't want to discourage him, so she gave him a heads-up beforehand.

"It's said that a year ago, someone saw a blonde person sitting on a guardian of ruins in the snowy mountains. Blonde hair is rare, especially sitting on a guardian of ruins, so I feel that this might be your sister..."

"Do you have a specific location? Or do you know who witnessed it!" Kong was overjoyed to finally hear news about her sister.

Jiang Bai shrugged, "I don't know the exact location either, and it's been a year, so there's probably no trace left..."

"As for the witnesses, I only heard about it from casual conversations, and I really don't know who the witnesses are. You might want to ask at the Mondstadt Adventurers' Guild or the camp at the foot of the snow mountain."

"I won't stay any longer, I'm on my way! I'll give you Mora later!"

As he spoke, Kong vanished in an instant, forcing Paimon to chase after him with all his might.

Watching Kong's departing figure, Jiang Bai turned his head to look at the snow-capped mountains. The snow on the mountains never melted, and thick clouds always shrouded the mountaintops.

That enormous snow-capped mountain still holds many secrets, waiting to be discovered.

"I hope he can gain something..." Jiang Bai sincerely wished.

Kong teleported directly to the camp at the foot of Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain.

After the hype surrounding "Once Upon a Time in Snow Country" and other similar works died down, the campsite, which had almost turned into a small town, was no longer as lively as before.

Kong directly found Yuxia, an adventurer from Mondstadt who spent most of her time stationed here.

He had been here several times and had met this adventurer a few times; they were acquaintances.

"Hello, Yuxia."

"It's you, traveler. You've come at just the right time; I happened to have something to discuss with you."

"You need something from us?" Paimon asked, puzzled.

"Yes, there are some strange ice blocks blocking the road in the snow mountain, which is very inconvenient for adventurers to pass through. So we are going to clear these ice blocks, but no matter how we use fire to melt them, we can't melt them. We are at a loss."

Yuxia slowly recounted the matter, which clearly caused them great distress.

"You are the honorary knight who saved Mondstadt and helped Liyue resist the invasion of the Demon God. I think if it were you, you could definitely help us solve this problem!"

She looked at the sky with hope.

“No problem, we accept the commission!” Paimon glanced at Kong, saw him nod, and readily agreed.

"Thank you so much. Let me tell you the details and the location of the ice..."

After handing over the commission, Kong finally asked about the matter Jiang Bai had mentioned.

"I heard that a year ago someone saw a blond person sitting on the guardian of the ruins in the snowy mountains. Have you heard about this?"

"I think I vaguely remember this, let me think..."

After thinking for a long time, Yuxia finally retrieved this part of the content from her distant memories.

"I remember Robbie telling this story in the pub. He was bragging about it. This guy likes to brag and tell stories he made up. We didn't believe him at all when we heard it."

"However, an avalanche occurred there later, and adventurers discovered huge footprints of the ruins' guardians in that area, which proved the truth of what he said."

"So I still have a pretty deep impression of this matter..."

"It's actually true!" Paimon was shocked that someone could actually be sitting on the Ruins Guardian!

Kong's heart was also filled with hope. As long as there was a clue, that would be good. He was not afraid of difficulties, but he was afraid of having no clues at all.

"Can you tell me how to find this Robbie?"

"He often drinks at the pub next door, and he has a full beard, so he's easy to recognize."

"Thank you so much! We'll go to the snow mountain and clear away those ice blocks after we've finished asking!"

Kong bid farewell to Yuxia and entered the simple tavern in the camp.

Mondstadt residents are generally fond of alcohol, and adventurers are no exception.

Therefore, someone built a wooden house at the foot of the snow mountain to shelter it from the wind and rain. People who liked to drink often gathered there to drink, and over time it became a tavern with an owner.

There weren't many people in the tavern at the time. Kong looked around for a while and found the man named Robbie.

There's no way around it, the features are just too obvious.

His thick beard almost covered the lower half of his face.

"Excuse me, are you Robbie?" Paimon flew over and asked.

“That’s right!” Robbie, with his bushy beard, nodded, holding a bottle in his hand and his face flushed from alcoholism.

Who are you? What do you want with me?

"Here's the thing, we want to ask you about something. Did you see a blond person sitting on a guardian statue of an ancient ruin a year ago?"

"Yes, that's true. Several people have asked me about it." Robbie looked a little drunk, but he was actually very lucid.

"Has anyone already inquired about this?" Kong and Paimon looked at each other in bewilderment.

“Yes, but the timing of the inquiries was different.” Robbie’s gaze fell on Kong’s hair.

"Unfortunately, the wind and snow blocked my view, so I couldn't see clearly whether it was a man or a woman. But that blond hair was exactly the same color as your hair."

The empty eyes lit up instantly.

He has the same blonde hair! There's a high chance it's his sister!

Can you tell us what happened back then?

“That’s fine, but…” Robbie’s gaze fell on the bottle in his hand, “I’ve finished my drink.”

Kong was quick to respond and shouted at the bar, "Boss, a bottle of the finest dandelion wine, please!"

"Hehe, thanks a lot." Robbie was in a great mood after receiving the new wine and began to recount the events of that time in detail.

"As you probably know, there aren't many living Ruin Guardians in the snow mountain, and those diamond-shaped Ruin Guardians are different from those one-eyed Ruin Guardians."

Kong nodded; he had also spent some time in the snow-capped mountains.

Although I have seen many guardians of the ruins, most of them have lost their energy and are covered by heavy snow.

There are a few different machines at the Old Palace, probably left behind by the former Fendenil. They are different from the one-eyed ruins guards, but they also guard the only way to the Old Palace.

Chapter 356 The blonde girl who appeared a year ago

"I was wandering around the snow-capped mountains, hoping to stumble upon some treasure. As I was walking, I discovered huge footprints in the snow, neither like animals nor humans. Out of curiosity, I followed the footprints."

"Then, without warning, a snowstorm started. Through the snow, I saw a person sitting on the shoulders of a ruin guardian, being controlled by him to move forward. The snowstorm was too heavy, and I didn't dare to get too close, so I went back..."

"Could you tell us the exact location?"

“No problem!” Robbie, having had a drink, was very generous and didn’t hold back on sharing his information.

"It's in the suburbs, near the Starry Cave. Although a long time has passed and the footprints have been covered by snow, the guardians of the ruins didn't take the main road we usually travel. If we lift the snow, we might still find those footprints..."

Paimon was thrilled as he left the tavern. "Great! Finally, news of your sister!"

"Yes, that's great." Sora was also very happy.

If that person is his sister, it means that his sister has escaped from the god's grasp, which also means that it will be easier for him to find his sister.

"Let's hurry over to the location he mentioned and take a look! We can also take care of Yuxia's request while we're at it!"

The strange ice block that Yuxia mentioned is located on a main road leading from the camp into the snow mountain.

Because the mountains are covered in snow all year round and the temperature is very cold, it is very difficult to open up a road.

As soon as you enter the airfield, you see the huge group of ice pillars.

These icicles are enormous and cover a vast area; adventurers who want to pass through can only do so by circling around them.

Kong took out his sword and tried to attack the ice blocks to see if he could cut the ice pillars down, but the ice pillars were incredibly hard.

"Yuxia said burning it wouldn't work... so how can we melt it?"

Paimon looked around, searching for a solution.

"There are some deep red stones over there. These stones can provide warmth, radiating intense heat. I wonder if they'll be effective against these ice blocks. Let's go take a look!"

Kong nodded. "Okay."

He shattered a deep red stone, and fiery energy enveloped him. With this energy surrounding him, the cold of the snow mountain instantly dissipated.

He ran to the ice block and tried to attack it.

The fiery energy surged onto the massive ice block along with his attack, causing much of the ice to vanish under the power of the Crimson Stone's energy.

"Great! It worked! Let's go find more of these stones!"

Paimon dutifully fulfilled his role as a guide, leading the way through the air.

During the trip, all of this seemed to have become commonplace, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

As the ice was repeatedly struck with the crimson stone, it melted completely, revealing the massive tree stump that it had encased.

"What a huge tree stump! What is this?" Paimon flew around the tree stump, looking very puzzled.

"And what is this thing?"

Paimon tilted his head as he looked at a blue crystal floating in front of the tree stump.

“This energy fluctuation is somewhat similar to the Frost Nail on the mountaintop…” Kong said, reaching out to touch it.

Upon being touched, the azure crystal seemed to come alive and flew towards the mountaintop.

Paimon held his little hand in front of his eyes and looked out, "It looks like we flew to the top of the mountain."

"Forget about it for now. Yuxia said there are a few other places with this ice, let's just take care of it on the way."

"Ah."

As they walked, clearing away the icicles, they unknowingly arrived at the place Robbie had mentioned.

Robbie's description of the area is rather broad and covers a wide range; it's unclear exactly where it is.

He wandered aimlessly around, trying to find some clues.

Ultimately, it was Paimon, with his better view from the air, who spotted a clue.

She pointed to a rock and said:

"Empty! Here, here!"

Kong ran over quickly.

This is a rocky outcrop on the mountainside with a fairly vertical angle. Because it is almost vertical, not many snowflakes stay on it.

Kong saw a crater where he had stepped into the mountainside.

Upon digging away the surrounding snow, they found, sure enough, a footprint of a ruin guardian.

He squatted down beside it and reached out to touch the footprint.

As if influenced by some kind of magnetic field, certain images appeared in his mind.

He saw his expressionless sister sitting on the shoulders of the Ruins Guardian. She stared at the wind and snow ahead, her body rising and falling with the Ruins Guardian's movements. The Ruins Guardian walked through the wind and snow, leaving a long trail of huge footprints.

“Ying…” Kong was lost in thought for a moment.

"Have you seen your sister?" Paimon flew up to him and asked curiously.

"Ah."

Perhaps it was the telepathic connection that Geminis are born with, or perhaps it was due to some special circumstance, but in any case, he saw his sister's figure in the footprints he had left a year ago.

His sister wore the flower he had seen when he awoke, and no one knew how much time had passed, but the flower was still on her head.

Upon learning that my sister was safe, a huge weight was lifted from my heart.

He stood up and said to Paimon, "Let's follow these footprints and see if we can find anything."

He didn't know what his sister was doing, nor how she was manipulating the ruins guardian.

But he knew that a lot must have happened during the days he was asleep.

"Uh-huh!"

Finding a set of footprints from a year ago on a snow-capped mountain is difficult, but fortunately, I had some footage to show. Following the direction I saw, I searched all the way and didn't stray too far from the mark.

They came to an underground river, whose riverbed was covered by a thick layer of ice, through which they could see the rapid flow of the water below.