Genshin Impact: I'm The Envoy of Snezhnaya
Chapter 324: Diluc, Ambushed
What is the one thing you'll never be short of by the shores of Starfell Lake?
Fish.
The five fish Bai Luo had caught earlier were nothing to the lake, they are hardly worth mentioning. After all, he could just catch more.
The only thing that made Bai Luo feel a bit regretful was that the thief hadn't tasted even a bite on the spot.
If that had happened, he would've been able to catch them personally.
Come to think of it… that wild boar wasn't small.
Anyone capable of stealing it away shouldn't be a small beast.
But in Mondstadt, aside from hilichurls, were there really animals large enough to do this while still slipping past his notice?
If it weren't for the fact that marks couldn't be placed on inanimate objects, he would've gone to see exactly what it was that stole his roast meat.
Still, so much time had passed without any sounds of wailing.
Either the thief was taken down in a single blow, or it had run far, far away.
He'd try searching for it again tomorrow.
After casually putting together a shelter, Bai Luo sat inside and looked up at the sky.
An unpolluted sky—each star was clearly visible.
But if those stars were fake… Then what meaning was there in seeing them at all?
In Bai Luo's "Hei" class, there was a saying:
"One day, I will tear apart this false sky."
Bai Luo didn't know whether it was because Teyvat's starry sky was also false that his first Class had become Hei.
Actually, ever since he began investigating the rumors surrounding Starfell Lake, he'd had an idea lingering in his mind.
The stars that fell from the heavens—were they truly stars?
And why did a Statue of the Seven appear here?
According to his research, Statues of the Seven were meant for people to worship.
But placing one at the center of a lake—didn't that effectively reject worshippers?
He had also tried to investigate when Starfell Lake first appeared.
But the bards all had their own versions of the story—some claimed it was as old as the Anemo Archon himself, others said it was nothing more than a beautiful legend.
Dozens of different explanations—enough to give anyone a headache.
Were these bards really that good at spinning tales?
Yet one elderly bard said something that caught Bai Luo's attention deeply:
Five hundred years ago, it descended together with calamity.
A calamity five hundred years ago?
Wasn't that the destruction of Khaenri'ah?
After that war, when the twins tried to flee Teyvat, they were intercepted by Asmoday and sealed away.
So… could Starfell Lake be the place where one of the twins was sealed?
Some might say the starting point of the game was by the sea, what does that have to do with Starfell Lake?
But don't forget one thing: when we control the protagonist, they aren't just waking up.
According to the protagonist's own words, two months earlier they had fished up the unconscious Paimon.
And during their conversation, it was revealed that even before meeting Paimon, the protagonist had already been wandering this world.
Yet from beginning to end, they never said where they woke up, nor where they had wandered.
Even the first time the protagonist obtained elemental power was at the Statue of the Seven at Starfell Lake.
Of course, all of this is just the author's speculation—take it as food for thought, don't take it too seriously.
Back to the point.
Before the sky had even begun to brighten, Bai Luo opened his eyes.
Not because he had a habit of sleeping early and waking early. Nor because he had a nightmare.
Because an Assassin does not dream.
He woke up because the perception he had released detected someone.
A familiar someone.
After kicking out the campfire in front of him, Bai Luo looked toward Whispering Woods.
And that familiar person of his was now inside Whispering Woods.
...
Whispering Woods in the dead of night was far more terrifying than during the day.
Leaving aside the monsters lurking in the shadows, even the rustling of leaves caused by the wind was enough to send chills down one's spine.
Yet a pale blue figure was completely unaffected by such sounds.
He carried a replica blue greatsword on his back, carefully distinguishing every sound in the forest that wasn't caused by wind through the leaves.
He hadn't gone far before he sensed fire-element residue that hadn't fully dissipated, as well as scorched traces left behind.
"This is…"
Diluc, who frequently dealt with the Abyss Order, immediately recognized the handiwork of an Abyss Mage.
It seemed the dragon's furious roar during the day was likely related to the Abyss Order.
But judging from the speed at which the dragon had departed, it shouldn't have fought the Abyss Mage at all.
Even if it had, Diluc didn't believe an Abyss Mage would stand a chance against a dragon.
Following the traces of battle, his sense of unease only grew stronger.
Because he could tell that the Abyss Mage's opponent hadn't used even the slightest bit of elemental power, relying purely on physical strength to fight.
Back when he abandoned his Vision, he still needed a Delusion to contend with the Fatui.
Yet this person… didn't need any elemental energy at all to battle an Abyss Mage?
When Diluc noticed the spring nearby, he realized something.
He stepped forward and tentatively tested the water's temperature with his hand.
Then he looked up at the sky, completely obscured by layers of leaves.
The faint warmth of the spring allowed him to roughly understand how the Abyss Mage's shield had been broken.
He was certain this temperature wasn't caused by the sun—even if sunlight had warmed the water, it couldn't possibly retain such heat late into the night.
This method of using the surrounding terrain to counter an Abyss Mage reminded him of someone.
The Ausbilder.
In Diluc's memory, the Ausbilder excelled most at this kind of approach.
Sure enough, as he continued following the traces of battle, he found marks on a fallen tree where steel wire had been used to bind and cut.
This kind of wire-based combat technique was used only by Ausbilder and his prized disciple in all of Mondstadt.
The Ausbilder clashing with the Abyss Order?
Diluc was somewhat puzzled.
Based on the intelligence they currently possessed, the Ausbilder was supposed to be cooperating with the Abyss Order.
Could it be that, for some reason, their cooperation had been terminated?
Diluc thought it was very possible—because the slashing marks imbued with Hydro-element traces were something he had never seen before in all his years dealing with the Abyss Order.
It seemed the Abyss Order had set up a scheme here to lure Ausbilder in, dispatching one of their internal elites to ambush him.
They had simply underestimated Ausbilder's strength and suffered a heavy loss here.
From the battle traces along the way, the fight had been completely one-sided, with the Abyss Order being overwhelmingly suppressed.
Only after that elite appeared did the situation begin to change.
As for whether that elite gained any advantage against Ausbilder, there was no way to know.
Because along the way, Diluc had seen only fragments of armor and torn cloth from Abyss Mages—there was no sign of human blood.
Which meant… unless the Ausbilder wasn't human…
"Hm?"
Diluc, who had been crouching to examine the battle traces, suddenly felt a chill at the back of his neck.
Immediately after, a familiar sensation spread through his entire body.
"This is bad— meow!"
The pale blue custom wig slowly fell to the ground.
Diluc was no longer present in Whispering Woods.
Instead, there was now a completely fiery-red cat.
"Meow!"
. . . . .
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