Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

He noted down the location, planning to try it again next time.

Continuing forward, a cave covered in ice came into view.

Although it is a cave, the ground is covered with a thick layer of ice crystals. Some luminous plants grow in the cave, bringing some light to it, so it is not completely dark.

Jiang Bai held the torch and slowly walked forward on the slippery, icy ground. At first, the cave was quite dark, with only the torch and the glowing plants providing some light.

But as you go deeper, the cave space becomes larger and larger, and the view gradually becomes brighter, until you come to a huge cave.

This is a huge cave, so big that it has almost hollowed out the entire mountain.

Light streamed down from above, illuminating the ground and walls. The frozen snow scattered the light, making the cave, located inside the mountain cave, incredibly bright.

Jiang Bai looked up and saw that even the cave's dome was completely covered by ice crystals. Strings of sharp icicles hung upside down from the dome, and every now and then an icicle would loosen and fall into the cave, smashing a dent into the ground that had been frozen into hard soil.

Jiang Bai quickly looked up at the top of his head, where an ice spike was poised to strike his head.

He quickly pulled out a large umbrella and covered himself under it to avoid being suddenly attacked by nature's hidden weapon.

"That was really dangerous..." Jiang Bai sighed as he heard the sound of icicles hitting the umbrella and shook off the ice shards.

There are all sorts of dangers in the wild. Take this cave, for example. It may look safe, but if you let your guard down because of that, an icicle falling from above could kill you.

He continued walking forward, and the entire cave unfolded before his eyes.

He was standing on a narrow path, only wide enough for one person, covered with frozen ice. Looking down, he could only see a thick white fog, making it difficult to see clearly.

If you accidentally slip and fall, you might slide right down this slope, and before you can even spread your wings of wind, you'll end up paralyzed on one side.

He threw a stone down, and the stone hit the ground with a crisp sound, followed by a cry of pain from the Hilichurl.

Jiang Bai shrank back, pretending that he hadn't done anything.

Were there Hilichurls in this cave before? The stone he just threw just happened to hit a Hilichurl.

He looked around and found that the only way to leave the cave was through a path leading to the light above. The light was so bright that he couldn't see exactly where it led, but following the light was always the right thing to do.

However, that path connects to the white mist below. If he wants to get to the path that leads upwards, he must first go down this path, enter the lower realm, and then find the path upwards.

It's a bit complicated, but in short, he needs to go down to find the Hilichurl he just hit and apologize.

Hopefully, that Hilichurl will be able to withstand his apology.

He carefully followed the path down, passing through the white mist. The visibility gradually improved, and he saw a small Hilichurl sitting on the ground with a large bump on its head. The stone he had just thrown was lying next to it.

It rubbed the big bump on its head and made a pitiful whimpering sound.

Jiang Bai felt a pang of conscience. He quietly approached the Hilichurl, preparing to give it a surprise.

In a fit of rage, it picked up the stone that had hit it and slammed it against the stone wall. The stone bounced off the wall and landed at Jiang Bai's feet, allowing the Hilichurl to see Jiang Bai.

Upon seeing the suddenly appearing human, the Hilichurl was stunned for a moment. Just when Jiang Bai thought it was about to attack him, the Hilichurl walked up to him, tilted its head, and made a puzzled sound.

“Olah~”

"what?"

Jiang Bai couldn't understand its language, but this Hilichurl didn't seem to want to fight him, which made him stop the Geo element he was gathering in his hand.

So far, his knowledge of Hilichurls is limited to the fact that they are monsters.

This was the first Hilichurl he had encountered that didn't attack him but was actually quite friendly to him.

“A~la~Uno~”

This Hilichurl was speaking a language he couldn't understand, but judging from the tone of voice, it seemed to be a positive one.

“A~la~”

Jiang Bai repeated it blankly, not understanding why.

The little Hilichurl started dancing around him, then walked forward without warning. After walking for a while, it realized that Jiang Bai hadn't followed, so it turned back.

It didn't get too close to Jiang Bai, nor did it try to grab Jiang Bai's clothes. It simply used gestures to indicate that Jiang Bai should come with it.

"Ya~ Todo~"

Jiang Bai was even more confused. What did this Hilichurl mean?

Did they want him to go to the camp with them, and then have the tribesmen swarm him and execute him on the spot?

It's no wonder he speculated so maliciously about Hilichurls; he simply couldn't think of any other possibility.

It's impossible that this Hilichurl knows him, right?

Out of curiosity, he followed them, since the Hilichurls posed no real threat to him.

The Hilichurl led Jiang Bai through a maze of turns into a large cave, which was inhabited by many Hilichurls.

In the very center stands a simple wooden house. In front of the house is a specially cleared flat area painted with oil paint, and there are specially shaped pillars inserted beside it, resembling a small altar.

Torches were lit around the cave, and large graffiti painted on the walls made it impossible to understand what the paintings depicted.

Jiang Bai counted them and found that there were two Hilichurl Shamans, three large Hilichurls, and the little slimes placed in different pools, making a total of 21 monsters, which could be considered a medium-sized monster stronghold.

Upon seeing this human approach, the Hilichurls, who had been preoccupied with their own affairs, became alert.

However, because there were small Hilichurls following him, they did not attack him immediately. Instead, they held weapons and watched him warily.

“Olah~”

“Dala Ya?”

“Lka Zido!”

“Unu Movo…”

After the Hilichurls had a conversation that Jiang Bai couldn't understand, he noticed that their attitude towards him had improved a little. Although it was only a little, they were definitely not as wary as they had been at the beginning.

The Hilichurl who brought Jiang Bai over ran into the wooden house, took out two somewhat dried-out Sunset Berries, and handed one to Jiang Bai.

“Gurg guru~”

Chapter 109 A Gift from the Hilichurls

Fearing that Jiang Bai wouldn't know how to eat it, it patted its belly, put the dried-out sunset fruit into its mouth, chewed it loudly a few times, and swallowed it.

Jiang Bai looked at the sunset fruit in his hand, his feelings were very complicated.

It was obvious that even the Hilichurl tribe lived a very difficult life in such a harsh place as the snow mountain. They themselves were reluctant to eat the sunflower fruit that day, as it had become dry and brittle from being left out for too long.

But even such a precious fruit was offered to him, a human being.

And he was even thinking of wiping out this group of Hilichurls should anything happen!

His conscience was aching terribly!

He forced a smile, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, took a bite, and found the dry texture unpleasant, but he still finished it very seriously.

"Tomo~"

Seeing that it had finished eating the fruit, the Hilichurl was clearly very happy, dancing with joy.

As the saying goes, courtesy should be reciprocated. Since the other party had offered him fruit, Jiang Bai couldn't just leave empty-handed. He took out the sweet flowers, apples, and raspberries he had picked before going up the snow mountain, filled a tray with them using rock elemental energy, and handed it to the other party.

The Hilichurl was clearly delighted and happily presented the plate to the elder shaman of the tribe.

Upon seeing the food he took out, the Hilichurls who had been staring intently at him immediately became much more amiable.

Under the gaze of a group of Hilichurls, Jiang Bai followed the little Hilichurl to the two old shamans.

“Olah~”

The two old shamans carefully examined Jiang Bai's appearance, then let out a strange cry and began to dance a bizarre dance.

After listening to it several times, Jiang Bai guessed that the word was probably a friendly one.

Although he didn't know why the two old Hilichurl shamans started dancing, he mimicked the tune and responded.

“Olah~”

“Mosi Mita~La-la-la~”

Jiang Bai was bewildered as he became a guest of this Hilichurl tribe, and dozens of Hilichurls began to dance around him.

Their dance was very synchronized, with an ancient and rustic rhythm, and occasionally they emitted strange tones, like some kind of sacrificial chant.

Jiang Bai discovered that the Hilichurls also have their own language, but humans cannot understand it.

These Hilichurls are not low-level monsters; they have their own consciousness and basic intelligence. They only appear ignorant and intellectually deficient because they lack history.

If given enough time to grow, they might evolve into an intelligent civilization similar to humans.

But what Jiang Bai couldn't understand was why these Qiuqiu people were so kind to him.

He didn't consider himself anything special. After all, the Hilichurls had attacked him without hesitation when they saw him before, so he shouldn't have any qualities that would make Hilichurls friendly.

If you are not special yourself, then it must be that your ethnic group is special.

He planned to stay with this group a little longer to see what was so special about them.

After they finished dancing around him, he found an open space, set up a pot, and started cooking soup.

In this freezing weather, you just need a bowl of hot soup to warm your stomach.

The little hillock that brought Jiang Bai over squatted down beside him with a curious expression, watching Jiang Bai start a fire and set up a pot.

Is there any water?

Looking at the little chinchilla next to him, Jiang Bai gestured with his hands and feet.

"Drinking, gurgling water..."

He had boiled water in his water bag, but he had to use it sparingly while traveling.

Jiang Bai gestured for a long time before the little hillock finally understood what he meant.

It led Jiang Bai to a corner of the cave.

This corner was covered with a thick layer of ice, the rocks were frozen, and the temperature was lower than in other parts of the cave.

Beneath the ice wall was a small ice pool. Because it was flowing water, the surface was not frozen. An ice slime slid across the surface, covering everything in its path with ice.

Upon seeing Jiang Bai approach, the ice slime immediately attempted to attack, but was grabbed by the little hilichurl and thrown away.

The ice slime slammed to the ground with a thud, its face turning aggrieved, and it hopped away.

The little volcano pointed at the ice and danced with joy.

Thank you.

After saying thank you in a language they couldn't understand, Jiang Bai filled a pot halfway with water from the sink and began washing the ingredients in the water.

He took out a large radish, peeled off the skin, and as he worked, pieces of radish fell into the pot. He then took out a piece of dried meat, cut it into small pieces, and put it into the pot, along with some ginger, salt, and other seasonings.

Just as he was about to take the pot back, the little kilich pointed at him, then at the ice wall, and began to dance in front of the ice wall.

Jiang Bai's brain went blank for a moment, and he looked at the ice wall that he hadn't paid much attention to before.

The ice wall was quite clear, with few air bubbles, and one could even clearly see the patterns on the stone wall behind the ice.

However, there is a not-so-obvious dent in the ice wall, as if a large block of ice was once connected to the ice wall, and that large block of ice cracked and fell into the pool one day.

Jiang Bai looked down at the water, which was flowing and appeared to be connected to an underground river.

But what does this have to do with him?

He felt a chill in his body, and he also felt that the snow-capped mountains had a connection with him.

Could it be that he was once frozen inside this ice wall, which is why the Hilichurls here know him, and then one day the ice that was freezing him broke open, and he fell into the underground river, and he drifted all the way to Liyue.

It makes sense logically, but there's no evidence.

Jiang Bai also refused to accept the fact that he was sealed inside the ice wall and worshipped by the local Hilichurls.

This is just his bold speculation, and it's hard to say how likely it is to be true. He also has no way to communicate with these Hilichurls, so naturally he has no way to ask them.

He carried the pot back to where he had started the fire and began to cook soup.

The flames scorched the bottom of the pot, and gradually a fragrant aroma wafted from it. Jiang Bai stirred it with a spoon, and when the soup started to bubble, he tasted it and added some salt.

The aroma made the stomach of the Hilichurl sitting next to him rumble with hunger.

“Gurg guru~” The little Hilichurl rubbed its belly, looked at the pot, and drooled.

"It needs to cook a little longer, don't rush, the radish needs to be soft and tender to taste good." Jiang Bai said, and without caring whether it understood or not, he put the lid on the pot.