Chapter 59: Trapping Travelers with Tricks

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Seeing it was Venti, Paimon quickly wiped away her tears and exclaimed angrily, "Hey, green Hilichurl! Why did you scare me?"

"Green Hilichurl?" The corner of Venti's mouth twitched slightly at this ridiculous nickname.

"Oh right, were you able to borrow their Holy Lyre der Himmel?" Venti asked with a beaming smile on his face.

"No..." Paimon shook her head dejectedly.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Lumine placed her hands on her hips, looking expectantly at Venti.

"Of course! You need to go at night. Here's a map of their basement!" Venti grinned, producing a map for them.

"Uh... Isn't that stealing?" Paimon looked at Venti, feeling uncertain.

"Hmm? How can it be considered stealing? It's borrowing, for the sake of saving Dvalin!" Venti chuckled, defending his plan.

Paimon pulled Lumine aside and whispered, "Traveler, I think that green Hilichurl is trying to trick us. Should we really do this?"

Lumine hesitated briefly, remembering Jean's mounting pressure, and then nodded firmly, "Yes, let's!"

"All right, let's discuss it further with him!" Paimon agreed, turning back towards Venti.

"So, how did it go? Any luck?" Venti looked at them with a grin.

"If you get the Holy Lyre der Himmel, can you truly calm Dvalin down?" Paimon asked hesitantly.

"Ahem!" Instead of answering, Venti smiled mischievously at Paimon.

"What does 'ahem' mean?! Explain yourself!" Paimon angrily stomped her feet and shouted at Venti.

She was taking a massive risk to steal...or borrow the Holy Lyre der Himmel. What if she got caught and ended up locked in a cage? And Venti's non-answer only fueled her frustration - hmph!

"I know a lost melody that should do the trick, hehe!" Venti scratched his head, grinning.

"Fine, we'll trust you this once. But if we get caught, you better testify on our behalf!" Paimon warned, still feeling uneasy.

"Sure thing!" Vendi nodded, smiling reassuringly.

"How unreliable does this feel..." Paimon muttered under her breath but followed Lumine to complete their commissions anyway, knowing they could only "borrow" the lyre at night.

As Venti watched the duo depart, a bottle of wine appeared in his hand, which he promptly gulped down.

***

Lin Feng stood at the Knights' entrance, watching Dvalin circling overhead with a sense of helplessness. As long as that dragon lingered, he dared not attempt to repair the signal.

Shaking his head, Lin Feng left the Knights and headed towards the snow-capped mountains to find Eula. This presented a golden opportunity; if Eula could resolve the dragon menace, well then... heh heh...

On his way, Lin Feng coincidentally encountered Paimon and Lumine, who were chasing away orange Warming Seelies for a shivering Adventurer.

"Travelers, weren't you supposed to be dealing with the dragon crisis? What brings you here?" Lin Feng approached them, perplexed.

"I'm fine now, thanks Traveler! Could you please help me find some Chilled Meat? That's what I came for..." The Adventurer looked at Lumine and continued, "Don't worry, I'll pay you for your assistance!"

The corner of Lin Feng's mouth twitched, thinking how utterly entitled this individual was. If it were up to him, he'd give the man two hard slaps to teach him self-reliance.

Lumine placed her hands on her hips, staring back at him. She had risked life and limb to save him from freezing, nearly dying herself, only for him to demand more favors. Normally, she wouldn't tolerate such requests, but those 10 Primogems were too tempting.

"Travelers, I know where you can find wild boars. How about I lead you there?" Lin Feng smiled, offering his help.

"Sure!" Paimon quickly agreed. If they didn't complete today's commission, the Adventurers' Guild wouldn't reward them with Mora, leaving her hungry.

Feeling somewhat helpless, Lumine reluctantly followed Lin Feng.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" The Adventurer clasped his hands together, expressing gratitude to both of them.

As they walked, Lin Feng turned to inquire, "Go-Anywhere Luggage, can you handle that boar? It's truly massive!"

Lin Feng planned to lead them directly to the Giant Boar King.

"Of course! The Traveler is incredibly powerful; even Big Hilichurls are no match for her!" Paimon boasted proudly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Mm..." Lumine nodded in agreement. Regardless of other challenges, taking down a wild boar posed no issue for her.

Slyly, Lin Feng sent Eula a message, asking her to rescue Lumine shortly. This way, he could legitimately team up with her to tackle the dragon menace later.

In no time, they arrived at the location where the Great Wild Boar resided. Paimon grinned, noticing several frozen boars nearby, confident she could easily defeat them.

"Unfreeze these boars and bring them back. You can sell the rest in Mondstadt; Chilled Meat is quite popular among the locals." Lin Feng smiled, assuring them that even if Lumine couldn't overpower the Great Boar, she'd be fine nonetheless.

"Really? There are so many here! Let's take them all back!" Paimon swallowed eagerly, turning to Lumine.

Lumine retrieved a torch and began thawing the frozen boars.

Swiftly, as one of them defrosted with a loud "clang," it charged and sent Paimon flying.

Seeing this, Lumine hastily thrust her Dull Blade, finishing off the boar. She then rushed over to check on Paimon, concern evident in her voice: "Paimon, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Ouch!" Paimon clutched her sore bottom, wincing in pain.

Lumine sighed in relief; she often playfully smacked Paimon's backside, so it wasn't a serious issue.

"Hmph, Traveler, let's turn these into grilled chops for dinner later!" Paimon, hands on hips, glared at the fallen boar indignantly.

"Sounds great!" Lumine nodded with a smile and proceeded to thaw the remaining boars similarly.

This time, Paimon learned her lesson and stayed back, hiding safely behind Lumine.

After a while, several more boar carcasses lay scattered across the ground.

"Wow, Traveler, you're amazing! Hehe!" Paimon eyed the boars, swallowing hungrily.

Suddenly, a furious roar echoed nearby.

"Traveler, watch out! The Great Boar is coming!" Lin Feng promptly warned, sending the alert message immediately.

Lumine gripped her sword tightly, her expression grave as she stared in the direction of the sound.

***

Eula was in the midst of clearing out Hilichurls when she received Lin Feng's message. With a cold command, "Frozen, severing deep grudges," her Cryo Vision shimmered brilliantly, swiftly bringing an end to the battle.

She then took out her phone and read the message from Lin Feng:

"Help! I'm about to die..."

Upon seeing this, Eula's eyebrows furrowed immediately. Without hesitation, she rushed towards their location, feeling as if something precious might be lost.

***

The Great Boar, witnessing its fallen comrades, charged towards the trio with bloodshot eyes.