Chapter 40

"Did you pack everything? Water, tents, dried food, and talismans..."

Early in the morning, Ganyu was helping her junior disciples pack their bags with everything needed for wilderness survival.

She was acting like a mother hen, constantly fussing over details.

Finally, Jiang Ning couldn't hold back anymore and said, "Senior Sister, Shenhe and I are very experienced in outdoor survival. Don't worry!"

Ganyu replied, "No, this time it's different - it's a Demon God's ruins. You have no idea what might happen there. If the Yuehai Pavilion didn't need me right now, I would've gone with you."

"If worst comes to worst, we could ask Master," Ganyu suggested after a moment's hesitation.

Jiang Ning quickly responded, "That won't be necessary, really. We'll be careful."

Ganyu finally relented: "Alright then. If anything seems wrong, just retreat immediately. It doesn't matter if the commission goes unfulfilled - I can explain it to the Yuehai Pavilion."

"Understood, Senior Sister. We're heading out now. Don't forget to approve our leave for these few days," said Jiang Ning.

...

Demon God ruins were typically burial grounds of fallen gods, mostly located within Liyue's borders. The vast majority of these ruins contained Rex Lapis's stone spears.

Why else do you think there were so many original Demon Gods in Liyue, but now only one remains?

They were all struck down one by one by the Geo Archon's spears.

"Senior Sister, do we know anything about this particular Demon God's background?" Jiang Ning asked curiously.

"It's unclear. Lord Rex Lapis subdued many Demon Gods in those days, and most cases are too ancient to research properly..." Shenhe replied.

"Though, we must be getting close. The number of monsters is increasing."

Jiang Ning casually impaled a hilichurl that had jumped out from the bushes, pinning it to a tree trunk as he spoke.

"Yes, it should be nearby... Brother, we're counting on you," said Shenhe.

Jiang Ning nodded. Thanks to his "Absorption" skill and the System's existence, his sensing abilities far surpassed normal people. As a result, he often served as a living radar during their wilderness expeditions.

Jiang Ning thought to himself: "Stop playing dead, get to work. I've exceeded your monthly performance metrics, so you need to do your part too."

[Coming, coming! Wait a sec... hmm, go forward about 500 meters, then enter the cave,] the System replied.

Jiang Ning said, "No need to trigger a quest - you don't have anything good to offer anyway. Better save it for next month's performance..."

After spending so much time together, Jiang Ning increasingly felt that the System was just there to chat with him.

The quest rewards were getting stingier each time. Apart from the beginner's package items being somewhat useful, everything else - both items and skills - was worthless.

Can you imagine working yourself to death, plowing through all the monsters in Guili Plains, then following the System's quest to extort a hostile merchant guild...

Only to be rewarded with mastery in needlework skills? How frustrating is that?

"Senior Sister, this way. Follow me," Jiang Ning said.

Shenhe followed silently, her body tense and alert.

Arriving at a cave entrance, Jiang Ning frowned. His instincts told him that the aura emanating from the cave was bone-chilling.

And deeply repulsive.

"So many Demon God remnants..." Shenhe frowned.

Jiang Ning examined the cave entrance, noting what appeared to be fresh marks.

"Did this collapse naturally a few days ago?"

"It doesn't look like it," Shenhe observed. "More like intentional damage. Be careful."

Jiang Ning nodded: "Mm, let's go in."

The cave was very dark. Jiang Ning took out the illumination tool his master had given him. Though it didn't make things bright as day, it allowed them to see clearly within a radius of about ten meters.

"This was definitely man-made... Did someone get scammed by a feng shui master into building a house here?"

Jiang Ning joked as he noticed the steel materials and water pipes scattered around.

Shenhe remained silent.

Walking a few steps further, Jiang Ning saw several tables inside, with a blueprint spread across one of them.

"Is this... meant to be a research laboratory?"

Looking at the contents of the blueprint, Jiang Ning furrowed his brow.

"Seems like someone's very interested in Demon God remnants."

Jiang Ning laughed.

Though he had never handled such things himself, it wasn't hard to tell from his master's words that these materials were extremely dangerous.

"In Liyue, surely no one would dare to mess with such things right under Rex Lapis's nose..." said Shenhe.

Jiang Ning gripped his spear tighter: "You never know. We might catch some big fish today."

He had already heard movement from outside the cave.

Shenhe's cryo energy fluctuated around her as she prepared for battle.

At the cave entrance stood two tall, muscular men with rough features, wearing what appeared to be foreign clothing.

One wore purple, the other green.

The one in purple carried an enormous hammer, while the other had what looked like two bracers.

One of them noticed the footprints at the entrance and his expression changed:

"Not good. Someone's discovered this place."

The other spoke in a deep voice: "What should we do? This can't get out."

"Simple. Looking at the footprints, they haven't left yet. And judging by the sizes - one small, one larger - probably just a child and a woman. They won't be spreading any news."

"Aren't you two a bit too confident?" 

Jiang Ning slowly walked out from the cave, looking at the two tall men with disgust.

"So it's the Fatui rats..."

The Fatui - Jiang Ning had dealt with them before. They had previously tried to study some adeptal artifacts his master had left at the foot of the mountain, but Jiang Ning had driven them away.

At first, he had thought they were just another treasure-hunting group.

But after arriving at Liyue Harbor, he gained a deeper understanding of the Fatui.

Like the Millelith, the Fatui were Snezhnaya's military force. Unlike the Millelith, however, the Fatui were infamous in every nation.

They were said to be involved in every kind of scam and evil deed imaginable, throwing their weight around everywhere they went.

There were even rumors they were trying to interfere with other nations' governments.

Jiang Ning had heard all this from people at the Yuehai Pavilion, though he wasn't sure how much was true.

But their attitudes in the wilderness were indeed extremely overbearing. He had even caught them in the act of kidnapping children during one of his monster-clearing expeditions.

So he deeply despised them.

Child traffickers deserved to be cut into a thousand pieces in any world.

Judging by what they just said, they were clearly up to no good within Liyue's borders, which was why Jiang Ning had revealed himself.

He had many questions to ask them.

But first, it was time for a beating.