[Genshin Impact] A world where only travelers are alone

To be honest, this house is really spooky. Apart from the filter brought by the night, the spider webs and rotten wood everywhere are fully worthy of the word "haunted house".

However, as the granddaughter of the owner of the house was present, Hu Tao didn't dare to say these words out loud and just kept sighing.

Although she is not afraid of such places due to her job, Xun Ming behind her seems to be almost scared to death!
With the hem of her dress firmly grasped in someone's hand, Hu Tao couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Xun Ming, do you remember where the box you knocked over is?"

If you want to solve the problem completely, you must get to the root of the problem. The easiest way is to find that strange box.

Xun Ming pondered: "... in my grandfather's bedroom. I remember clearly that my grandfather seemed to treasure the box very much and always kept it in the cabinet in the bedroom."

"In that case, let's go straight to your grandfather's bedroom and find out what's going on!" Walnut said firmly.

According to Xun Ming, she did not notice anything strange at the time, but just felt a little palpitated. After discovering that she had accidentally knocked over her grandfather's most beloved box, she quickly put it back to its original place and continued to organize other things.

Later, because of the strange noise, she didn't dare to come to this gloomy place again, so if nothing unexpected happens, the box should still be in the cabinet.

After asking Xun Ming for directions, Hu Tao took her and Zhongli straight there.

As expected, as soon as Walnut pushed the door open, he saw what was in the cabinet. He didn't know what material it was made of, but its reflective performance was quite good, and the torch was very conspicuous.

As soon as he saw the box, Xun Ming's face turned pale.

Noticing Hu Tao's eagerness to take it, she hurriedly spoke out to dissuade him: "Master Hu, why don't we be more cautious..."

But she spoke a little too late. Walnut, who was a man of action, had already grabbed the box in her hands at lightning speed, and now she couldn't even take back the action of opening it.

The box was opened a crack, and the overwhelming black fog suddenly swarmed out from it, wrapping the three people in its body, and swallowed up the torch in just a blink of an eye.

In an instant, the room fell into darkness.

*
This is a black fog that is powerful enough to block human perception.

Zhongli stood where he was, the brown-red ends of his hair glowing with golden light, and the black fog suddenly became invisible in his eyes.

He saw Kurumi finally become serious after coming back to her senses and realizing that they and the box were gone. The staff of Homa in her hand started to ignite in flames as she tried to break through the fog.

He also saw Xun Ming, who did not have the Eye of God, showing a terrified expression and stumbling forward, trying to escape.

Her steps were hurried and her vision was dark because of the black fog. From time to time, she bumped into the furnishings in the house. Soon, her pair of white legs were covered with bruises, which was shocking to see.

Zhongli could have directly dispelled the black fog, after all, it was easy for him to do so, but he just watched quietly.

He watched Xun Ming running towards him by accident, and listened to Xun Ming sobbing as he got closer.

Then, the woman bumped right into his chest.

Xun Ming's breathing stagnated at that moment, his body fell backwards and sat on the ground. The tears in his eyes immediately slid down, leaving a trail of water on his cheek.

If Hu Tao saw this scene, she would definitely cry out in pain and would surround her and ask about her well-being with sympathy.

Unfortunately, the person standing in front of her now is Zhongli.

The man was silent, with no expression on his face, just watching as he always did.

Xun Ming's cries became louder and louder, his body curled up into a ball, and he instinctively relied on this clumsy method to gain that little bit of almost non-existent sense of security.

Only when she realized there was no other sound around her except her sobbing, and that she did not seem to have encountered any terrible monster, did she slowly calm down, and slowly crawled up from the ground, trying in vain to open her eyes that could not see anything.

This time she was a little smarter and no longer ran forward recklessly. Instead, she slowly touched the things around her.

Then, she touched Zhongli.

Xun Ming was obviously stunned for a moment, and his brain stopped working briefly.

The touch of her fingertips was warm, not at all like the cold and hard tables, chairs and benches she had touched before. Before she could react to what it was, she couldn't help but touch it again, and even subconsciously wanted to pinch it.

But before she could take action, Zhongli spoke first.

"Miss Xun Ming," he said, "are you okay? Are you okay?"

He blocked Xun Ming's randomly touching hands, and his voice was gentle with a hint of concern, but his face hidden in the black mist remained unchanged.

It’s a pity that Xun Ming, the only person present, couldn’t see it. The only expression on his face was relief after confirming that the person in front of him was an acquaintance.

After realizing that she was out of danger, her tense nerves relaxed instantly, her body became a little weak, and she threw herself into Zhongli's arms.

"Sorry, sir!" Xun Ming struggled to get up, but her weak limbs could not provide her with any support.

She could only cling to Zhongli softly like a dodder.

The man looked at her with an obscure look.

"Don't move, Miss Xun Ming." He supported her, "If you are not feeling well, just take it easy for a while."

Xun Ming finally stopped moving, lowered his head and stopped talking.

Zhongli supported her against the table beside him, looking elegant and polite, and said gently: "Miss Xun Ming, please rest here for a while. I will look around to see if I can find the hall master."

That silly girl was walking further and further away, and if she continued like this she would be out of his sight.

Although he didn't sense any dangerous aura, he still had to be cautious in case of any accidents. Zhongli didn't want to go through the trouble of rescuing the person himself for the time being.

Xun Ming responded with a low "yes", looking very obedient. But doing is always harder than saying. Zhongli's footsteps gradually faded away. With each step, Xun Ming felt the presence of darkness around her getting stronger. She even felt a faint damp and sticky feeling, as if it had turned into a pool of turbid black water that wanted to drown her.

Xun Ming's grip tightened again and again.

She comforted herself, it's okay, didn't she walk such a long way before and successfully found Mr. Zhongli? So it's okay, there's nothing scary here, it's just a little dark...

really?
Xun Ming remembered the voice of the woman calling the name of the Rock God.

Did she put the black fog in the box because she guessed that I would go back to ask for help? Was she hiding in the black fog and watching me coldly? Was she waiting for the third person to leave so that she could come out and kill me?

……

"Mr. Zhongli!"

At the last second before the footsteps disappeared, Xun Ming called his name uncontrollably.

Zhongli turned around and saw the pale-faced woman standing up shakily, holding on to the table.

She probably felt that her fear was too difficult to express, and was unwilling to say that she was afraid, so she made up a plausible excuse: "... Let's go together. There's no light here, and it's easy to get lost. Two people can also look after each other."

Zhongli didn't say anything.

Xun Ming carefully pulled his sleeve and said, "Sir, I won't be a burden to you... Please let me go with you..."

"Ms. Xun Ming is certainly not a burden." In the darkness, the man laughed softly, "If you want to go with me, I'd be happy to do so."

So the two of them continued to move forward in the same posture.

Xun Ming didn't know that Zhongli had changed his mind the moment she grabbed him.

He didn't plan to look for Hu Tao first. Like he said before, there was nothing too dangerous here, and Hu Tao could handle it alone. Now he wanted to do something else.

Zhongli had a leisurely expression on his face and began to circle the area.

Xun Ming followed him quietly.

She seemed to really trust him and was completely obedient. Even though she couldn't see clearly, she still looked at him with eyes full of admiration.

The smile on Zhongli's face disappeared.

He had his back to her now, so there was no need to worry that Xun Ming might see the expression on his face in this situation. Zhongli showed his inner emotions on his face without restraint.

——Yes, in his opinion, Xun Ming was able to see the situation around her clearly through the black fog, even though she acted so realistically and even went so far as to get hurt in order to gain his trust.

The reason is simple: Zhongli had seen such methods thousands of years ago.

The person in my memory was the same, with tears always in her green eyes. When she looked at him, her eyes were soft and timid. She hugged him and said in a trembling voice that she was so scared and begged him not to abandon her...

Thinking of this, Zhongli pursed his lips tightly, almost into a straight line.

"...Sir! Could you please slow down a little?"

It was not until he heard Xun Ming's stammering voice behind him that Zhongli realized that he had let his emotions run too far, causing him to walk much faster than before, and Xun Ming could hardly keep up with him.

Zhongli stopped.

Xun Ming finally grabbed his sleeve again, hardly daring to look up at him. After all, she had just said not long ago that she would not be a burden, but now she had to beg others to slow down and wait for her.

She didn't want to make a sound, but she was too scared. She was afraid that if this continued, Zhongli would leave her here.

Xun Ming swallowed the sobs in his throat, shed tears quietly, and tried to plead in a calm voice: "Please don't abandon me..."

*
"Please..."

The girl hugged him tightly, tears falling down in big drops, wetting Morax's clothes.

The newborn, immature god had never seen such a scene before. His hands hung stiffly at his sides, as if he wanted to push her away but was unable to do so.

On his hands was the blood of another demon god he had just killed not long ago. It should not be stained on the girl's white priest robes, even if the blood came from the demon god that the girl was supposed to worship.

Morax lowered his eyes and looked at her. His amber eyes showed the indifference of the demon god and his own deeply hidden confusion: "You should hate me like them."

The "they" he was referring to were the girl's tribe, after all, he had killed their god.

He couldn't understand why she rushed over to hug him and asked him not to leave her even though he was merciful enough to let her go, just like he couldn't understand why the girl picked him up in the first place and became a fool who was cursed by others.

Morax finally stopped caring about the dirt on his hands. He pinched her face and forced her to look up at him, forcing those eyes, which were always blurred by tears, to reflect only his own shadow.

The demon knew how fragile humans were, so he restrained his strength, but even so, his sharp nails still scratched her cheek, and blood oozed out.

The inferior face chain broke, and the pearls and jade on it scattered all over the ground.

Morax waited for her to give him a reason.

But the girl still had no intention of resisting. She gently pressed her cheek against his palm and whispered, "Please have mercy on me..."

(End of this chapter)