Genshin Impact's Sweet and Hard Free People

"Let me have a drink with you. Don't force them; they're just a bunch of kids." After what happened last night, Xinhui dared not let Gan Yu and the others drink casually again.

However, his sudden interruption made Ke Qing feel somewhat displeased, and her face puffed up with anger.

What do you mean by "kid"? I am a dignified member of the Liyue Seven Stars, and Gan Yu is the Qilin of Shao Nian. The only one who can truly be considered a child is Hu Tao, okay?

What she didn't expect was that, in front of this incarnation of the wind god and Xin Hui, who had traveled the world for thousands of years, apart from Gan Yu, who was at most an older "child," Ke Qing and Hu Tao were just incomparable humans.

Xinhui and Wendy each drank a glass of cider, and then the lunch came to an end.

"By the way, have you been to the cathedral in Mondstadt?" Wendy suddenly thought of this.

Judging from the puzzled expressions on Xinhui and the others' faces, they obviously hadn't been there before.

“Oh dear, that won’t do! When you come to Mondstadt, you absolutely have to visit the cathedral and get a deeper cultural experience. That’s how you truly appreciate Mondstadt’s customs and traditions,” Wendy said earnestly, clearly wanting to take them there.

"Can outsiders also go to Mondstadt Church?" Xin Hui wondered. Isn't a church a very sacred place? Surely they wouldn't allow just anyone to enter?

"Why not? As long as you are sincere, Mondstadt Cathedral, like Liyue, welcomes outsiders at any time..."

Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Strange Sky

On the other side of Mondstadt stands a massive Gothic building, its grandeur striking even from afar.

The ancient building, constructed from bluish-white megaliths, features three spires atop it, a distinctive architectural style of Mondstadt that gives it a soaring and slender appearance.

Once inside its spacious and solemn interior, one will discover its beauty and grandeur even more.

The floor was paved with neatly patterned gray tiles, making it look clean and bright. A main passageway led deep into the church, with many benches on both sides, presumably for people to sit during church services.

The windows are decorated with azure patterns, so much so that the light coming in from outside is multicolored, like the iridescent light reflected from glazed tiles. The magnificent interior structure reveals the exquisite nature of this church.

"Wow, this is Mondstadt Cathedral? It's truly breathtaking!" Hu Tao exclaimed involuntarily.

But after the initial amazement came her whisper: "If the Rebirth Hall had such an environment, perhaps business wouldn't be so bad."

Fortunately, no one heard her mutterings afterward, otherwise she would definitely have been criticized by Xinhui. The business at the Rebirth Hall isn't doing well; could that be related to the environment?

"Wendy, are we here to pray like everyone else?" Keqing naturally glanced at the Mondstadt people who were praying silently with their hands clasped together.

“We worship the Rock King, so it’s not appropriate for us to pray here,” Gan Yu also expressed her opinion, because she knew that the churches in Mondstadt worship Barbatos, and their wishes would be heard by Barbatos.

Wendy calmly replied, "There's no need for that. How could God listen to everyone's prayers every day? Besides, even if He did hear them, there's a high chance He wouldn't respond. And God is very generous; He doesn't need everyone who comes to church to pray."

Listening from the side, Xin Hui realized just how shameless Wendy truly was. Was this his excuse for spending his days drinking and slacking off at the mall, so perfectly plausible that no one could find a reason to refute it?

"I brought you to the church so that you could gain a deeper understanding of the lifestyle and even culture of the Mondstadt people, and also relax a bit. Otherwise, your constantly tense nerves might cause problems." Wendy's expression had softened, and she strolled leisurely into the church.

Xinhui and the others naturally followed, but from a distance they could see a cute girl in a white dress standing there, which caught their eye.

That was Barbara, the priestess of Favonius, a shining idol of Mondstadt.

Barbara has blue-grey eyes, and her long, light-gold, naturally curly hair is tied in pigtails, topped with a white priest's hat. She is petite, wearing a priest's robe from the Church of the West, a white dress with black and blue lace trim, white tights with petal patterns, and matching shoes. A large white and blue bow is tied at her chest. A blue-gold book with a metal cover is clipped to her waist, with Barbara's water-attribute divine eye embedded in the center.

"Barbara is a very simple and innocent child. She gives off a pure and innocent vibe," Wendy said as she walked, introducing Barbara to Xinhui and the others.

"It's you again! Hurry up and pay for my Sky Harp!" At this moment, the girl in the white dress named Barbara yelled at Wendy, but there was a hint of grievance in her tone.

Anyone would find this little girl, who was on the verge of tears, endearing, and the person who almost made her cry seems to be Wendy.

"What did you do to upset a girl like this?" Xinhui whispered in Wendy's ear.

"Hehe, wasn't this the other day when I helped the Traveler find the lost Sky Harp? Turns out it was already broken, so I used illusion magic to pretend it was fixed. I guess the illusion magic has worn off these past couple of days, and Barbara probably noticed something was wrong too," Wendy said with a sheepish grin, clearly trying to explain.

The Sky Harp must be something very important to Barbara, otherwise she wouldn't have lost her composure like this.

The perfectly healthy young woman suddenly knelt down, clasped her hands together, and said with a face full of remorse, "Lord Barbatos, Barbara will spend the rest of her life atoning for your sins..."

"...That's still not enough!"

It felt like a confession, though not quite that dramatic. It seems that because the Sky Harp belonged to Barbatos, the god of wind, its damage was also considered a dereliction of duty by the priests.

"Alright, alright, I promise you, I'll definitely fix the Sky Harp this time, and I promise I won't use illusions again." Wendy was truly at her wit's end. As a devout believer, sometimes too much admiration isn't a good thing.

"Really?" Only then did Barbara stop her self-reproachful voice.

“Really, really,” Wendy said with absolute certainty.

"Then come to the church now and fix it, and I won't blame you anymore." Barbara didn't intend to give Wendy any more time to escape, so she grabbed Wendy and pushed him away from Xinhui and the others.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Wendy's voice was immediately drowned out by the empty church; it was clear he was still struggling.

I witnessed an unexpected scene. A god was being forced by his followers to repair his own zither.

"Let's go, we've been looking around all day, we can go back now." Xin Hui naturally knew that Ke Qing and the others weren't interested in the church and had already decided to leave.

All three agreed, clearly wanting to escape this place. Although the buildings here were indeed beautiful, as fellow Liyue people, Keqing and the others simply couldn't get used to it.

They only felt relieved once they were outside. In Mondstadt, they were all outsiders, and moving around here inevitably felt unfamiliar and difficult.

After some discussion, we decided it would be better to go back to the apartment. At least it's a small home for four people, and we wouldn't feel so uncomfortable there.

In the evening, the troupe leader thoughtfully sent someone to deliver a sumptuous dinner.

Grilled mushroom pizza, squirrel fish, cold meat platter... many of these are unique to Mondstadt.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Commander Qin. It's also kind of you to have come all this way to deliver the meal," Xin Hui said personally to the girl dressed in armor but dressed as a maid.

With her pale purple hair, bright emerald green eyes, and perfectly cute face, her braided hair was secured to the right side of her forehead with a small shield-shaped hair accessory. She was dignified and had a gentle voice, making her quite a special maid.

"I am Noelle, a maid of the Knights of Favonius. If you need anything, please feel free to ask me to do it." The girl placed her small, armored hands in front of her chest as a sign of respect.

After watching Noelle leave, Xinhui looked up at the night sky with some unease. Tonight was a starless night, with only the lonely moon wandering in the sky.

The moonlight was dazzling, bright, and pure, yet this very sky deepened and intensified Xin Hui's unease—a strange feeling that even knowing they were far away in the sky, he was constantly being watched…

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Departure from the Silent Sea

For Xinhui and his companions, the two days of rest were merely a way to add some spice to their otherwise mundane lives. The real excitement came in the hours leading up to their departure for the Sea of ​​Ashes.

Ke Qing, Hu Tao, and Xin Hui all got up early. Gan Yu had another sleepless night. All they could do was check the weapons and prepare some dry food and water.

Before waiting for the group leader's call to assemble, the group chatted idly in the apartment, which also helped them relax.

"Xinhui, do you know anything about the Sea of ​​Ashes? Were there really creatures and humans living there before?" Keqing thought of what Wendy had mentioned earlier.

Upon hearing this, Xin Hui shook his head and said with a regretful expression, "I'm not too sure either. There should be living beings there. After all, the formation of the Sea of ​​Fire in the Sea of ​​Ashes took about a thousand years. Before that, the Sea of ​​Ashes was just an ordinary place."

He didn't reveal much, because Xin Hui himself wasn't very clear about the past of the Ember Sea. When he came to Teyvat for the second time, the Ember Sea already existed. Just as people later believed that the Frost Spikes were objects from outer space, many people speculated that the Ember Sea was formed by a fireball falling from outer space.

However, if we combine Wendy's few words, we can roughly understand that the formation of the Ember Sea is inseparable from the power of the sky, or perhaps... something else has attracted the attention of the sky.

"Perhaps we'll be able to understand it once we reach the Sea of ​​Ashes," Xin Hui said, trying to comfort Ke Qing's disappointed mood at not having her thirst for knowledge satisfied.

“That’s true.” Ke Qing smiled slightly, her face regaining its confident vitality. “However, we must not let our guard down. Even with so many people present this time, we must not be careless.”

Upon closer inspection, Mondstadt has six combatants, while Liyue only has four, including Xinhui and Hutao who joined later.

However, with ten people capable of wielding elemental power, plus a large number of knights, as well as the presence of immortals and the Liyue Seven Stars, this is already an incredibly luxurious lineup for an exploration team, and safety is a given.

Even so, Keqing felt her reminder was indispensable, because she had seen many people get injured or even lose their lives due to underestimating the dangers. Life should never be taken lightly, especially for someone as serious as her.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Hu Tao rushed over and opened it, only to find Noelle dressed as a maid.

"Hello, I am a maid from the Knights of Favonius. I apologize for disturbing you." Noelle greeted everyone politely, her voice gentle and soft like a gentle rain. "Master Jean requests that you all move to the Knights of Favonius for a meeting. Please follow me."

Xinhui and the others did not linger; they all shouldered their weapons and followed Noelle to the Knights of Favonius.

The weapons themselves, such as the Divine Blessing, the Staff of Homo, the Bow of Amos, and the Dragon's Roar in the Box, are all quite formidable.

Upon arriving at the temple of the Knights of Favonius, Commander Qin had already led the team to wait for Xinhui and his companions. There were two men and four women, plus the little floating figure next to Honor Knight Ying.

"Greetings, the Knights of Favonius are ready and can depart at any time." Commander Jean bowed to Keqing with a knightly salute, her eyes resolute as she spoke.

Keqing returned the look with affirmation, "Liyue is also ready."

Looking at Xinhui and the others and the weapons they carried, Commander Qin understood the situation. In order not to waste any more time, she immediately issued the order together with Keqing.

"set off!"

……

……

The Sea of ​​Ashes is located at the border between Mondstadt and Natalya, the Land of Fire. To reach it, one must traverse numerous canyons and mountains, and cross the Ruins of the Wind Dragon, before finally seeing its beauty.

However, even such a journey was extremely physically demanding. As a scout knight, Amber led the way, and being familiar with the terrain of Mondstadt, she was also searching for the most convenient route for everyone.

Amber has long chestnut hair, always tied in a red bunny ear knot on top of her head, which is her signature feature. Petite and slender, she wears an outfit dominated by red, with white and brown as secondary colors, and a pair of goggles hanging from her collar, which she wears when flying. Two utility pouches hang from her belt; the left pouch holds Amber's Vision. The red bird feathers on the Vision are derived from a demonic bird that Amber captured during a mission. She wears red stockings and white boots, and her face always radiates youthful energy.

When reconnaissance is needed, she will nimbly leap onto a tree trunk, walk in front of everyone, put on goggles, and gaze intently ahead with a serious expression. She looks very professional and capable, and her serious attitude is no less than that of Qin and Keqing.

"how's it going?"

After walking for a long time, Jean called out to Amber, who was high up on the hillside at the edge of the Wind Dragon Ruins.

“…slightly…to…” Because the wind was so strong, only a few words could be heard from Amber’s mouth, which made Jean feel very distressed and anxious.

“I’ll go up and take a look,” suggested a girl named Yura Lawrence.

Yura's short, blue hair with white ends was tied with a black lace-trimmed headband, secured by a metal four-leaf clover ornament on the left side of her head. She wore a sleek yet elegant knight's outfit: a black bodysuit with a thinner strip of fabric down the middle, and a white lace-trimmed short jacket fastened to her body with a chest strap. Her forearms, beneath double-layered bell sleeves, were protected by metal armor, and she wore a pair of black gloves with a palm-sized blue tinge. A double-layered shawl draped over her right shoulder; the inner layer was white fading to yellow, while the outer layer was blue. An ice-attribute Eye of God was pinned to the feather ornament on the shawl's front shoulder. She wore thigh-high high-heeled boots, reinforced with black leather straps on the inside of the boots, and silver spurs at the heels.

With the ice-blue greatsword on her back, Yura's cool and aloof face gave off an even more heroic and dashing vibe.

"Okay, remember to be careful." The troupe leader agreed to her suggestion, while reminding her to be careful, because climbing such a steep slope is extremely dangerous, and one could easily get scratched or injured.

After getting permission, Yura didn't say a word. She first lowered her body slightly, then suddenly exerted her strength, and with seemingly light steps, she leaped to Amber's side in just a few steps.

What an amazing girl, she's incredibly skilled.

Even Lian Xinhui was somewhat amazed, not expecting the Knights of Favonius to be so powerful. Looking at Yura talking to Amber on the hillside, her expression soon turned serious...

Chapter Seventy-Nine: A Short Rest

"What's wrong? What happened?" After Yura came down the hillside, Commander Qin asked, seeing her serious expression.