The cavern was extremely dark, yet she stood within the light.
That solitary figure, standing apart from the world, was dazzling beyond measure.
Kaedehara Kazuha did not dare approach and only observed from afar.
The shrine maiden showed no movement at all, as if she were standing there asleep.
After an unknown amount of time, the shrine maiden lifted her head and let out a soft sigh.
"The pollution has increased again."
"And he still has not appeared."
"This body will not be able to hold on much longer."
The shrine maiden murmured to herself.
Outside the cave, Kaedehara Kazuha did not dare stay long. After confirming that she truly existed, he withdrew silently.
He went all the way to the beach and only after making sure no one was around did he place the call.
"How did it go?"
Su Han's voice came from the Telephone Snail.
Kaedehara Kazuha immediately reported, "Reporting to my lord, just as you predicted. Beneath that dry well there is an underground space, and at the deepest point there truly is a shrine maiden."
The line fell silent for a moment.
Su Han continued, "How is her condition now?"
"I did not dare disturb her, so I did not enter, but from what I could observe, her situation does not look good."
Kaedehara Kazuha repeated the few lines the shrine maiden had spoken.
Su Han revealed a strange expression.
What was going on?
Who exactly was that 'he'?
When I remember doing the task, Hanachirusato did not have this line. Could it be that she remembers someone?
Su Han pondered again and again, yet could not come up with an answer.
The Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual had not yet been activated. Hanachirusato should not have been able to recover her memories, but now she could recall certain things. That was rather strange.
"My lord, what should I do next?"
After waiting a long time without receiving instructions,
Kaedehara Kazuha could only ask on his own initiative.
Su Han came back to his senses and instructed, "You no longer need to keep an eye on Konda Village. Go to Tatarasuna instead and help me gather some intelligence. The more detailed, the better. Your task during this period is to collect all kinds of information."
"Understood."
The call ended.
Kaedehara Kazuha set off on his journey.
Meanwhile, Hu Tao arrived in Inazuma City by carriage. Compared to the bustling Liyue and the free-spirited Mondstadt,
this place made her feel extremely stifled.
Whether it was the citizens on the streets or the patrolling soldiers, they all gave Hu Tao an uncomfortable feeling.
"It really is just like Su Han said. Inazuma is truly awful. It is not fun at all."
The streets should have been filled with joy, yet the people wore stiff expressions, as if smiling were a crime.
Such a waste of such beautiful scenery.
Hu Tao wandered around the city for a long time and eventually stopped in front of a shop. She was a bit thirsty, yet could not find a single beverage shop that was open.
At that moment, the tightly shut shop door suddenly opened.
"Come here quickly."
"What?"
Hu Tao looked at the face poking out from inside the shop, not understanding what the other person meant.
The shop was closed, yet they were still welcoming customers?
"Shh, keep your voice down. There are patrolling soldiers over there. Hurry and come in. Otherwise you will be caught in a moment."
This time Hu Tao understood. She turned her head and saw that several soldiers were indeed walking this way.
Without a second thought, Hu Tao quickly slipped inside.
Only after the door was shut did she realize that the one who had called her was a young girl.
"Hello, my name is Yoimiya. Judging by how you are dressed, you must be a foreigner, right? Good thing you ran fast. Otherwise, I would not have known how to warn you."
"Warn me about what? I did not break any laws."
Director Hu really disliked this kind of sneaking around.
Seeing that she did not understand, Yoimiya smiled and explained, "Having a Vision is already a violation of the law. That is how the Vision Hunt Decree came about. If I had not called out to you just now, those soldiers would have taken you away."
"What? Is it really that serious?"
Hu Tao was greatly alarmed. She had originally thought that the Vision Hunt Decree Su Han mentioned was just to scare her. She had not expected it to be this terrifying.
Yoimiya nodded gently and said helplessly, "Yes. It is not just foreigners. Even we locals can be taken away. But do not be afraid. If you need any help, just say so. I will help you."
"Then could you give me some water? I am really thirsty."
"No problem, but I only have plain water at home. There is no tea, because my father does not really like it."
"Mhm."
A moment later,
Yoimiya brought over a kettle of plain water. Hu Tao lifted it and gulped it down greedily.
Only after half the kettle was gone did she let out a long breath.
"That feels amazing. It is like I came back to life."
Seeing Hu Tao's completely unrefined manner, Yoimiya found it very amusing. She cupped her face with both hands and laughed. "Heehee, you are really interesting. Oh, right, Hu Tao, are you here in Inazuma to do business?"
"You could say that, but looking at the current situation, it really is not suitable to open a shop."
Although Su Han had already warned her before she came,
Hu Tao felt that practice was the true test, and she had to see it for herself.
In the end, with the state Inazuma was in now, not to mention doing business, even surviving required luck.
What a huge regret.
The two of them chatted for a while.
When the conversation turned to the situation on the streets, Yoimiya said mysteriously, "Do you want something lively?"
"Of course. I love lively places the most."
"Then come with me."
Yoimiya led Hu Tao to the backyard of her home and then slipped into a warehouse.
Looking at the pitch-black room, Hu Tao said warily, "Hey, you are not going to kidnap me, are you?"
"Of course not. If you want something lively, just follow me. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. This is a method we came up with recently."
As Yoimiya spoke, she lifted the covering on the ground.
A staircase appeared before the two of them.
"Come on. What is below is the real life of Inazuma."
"How interesting. There is actually an underground passage here."
Walking down the stairs, Hu Tao discovered that it went very deep. She walked downward for a long time before reaching an enormous corridor.
"Wait, what is going on here?"
On the streets above, there were few people and the atmosphere was solemn.
Yet underground, a hidden corridor stretched out, packed with countless citizens. Everyone was singing and dancing, and many people were even holding comics while chatting.
Hu Tao even saw Adventure King comics here.
"Hahaha, Luffy is really hilarious."
"If it were not for the closed borders, I would want to go out and have an adventure."
"Exactly. I even want to be a Three-Blade Style swordsman and show you my family sword techniques."
"I want to be a cook, but I do not know any martial arts."
Seeing such a flourishing scene, Hu Tao was too shocked to speak.
Beside her, Yoimiya smiled and said, "Pretty shocking, right? But there was no other way. Everyone wants to live, and they even want to keep their own lives. So during this period, we rested during the day and went crazy digging tunnels at night. After relentless effort, we finally have what you see now."
"You all are really persistent."
Such a massive tunnel must have taken an enormous amount of time and effort.
Just thinking about it was frightening.
Yet Yoimiya laughed and said, "Everyone was idle anyway. And here, we can do what we like freely without worrying about being caught. Look, over there is where people spar in martial arts, and over there is where people eat. It is really lively here."
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