Chapter 227: A Bountiful Harvest

They controlled their Wind Gliders, descending slowly from the sky. Lumine's white, over-the-knee boots touched down lightly on an uneven stone. The breeze caused her skirt to flutter momentarily before it settled, covering the snow-white skin of her thighs.

Nolan, Xingqiu, and Chongyun landed to her right.

Paimon, using her magic-powered flight with phantom wings(?), was much more agile and free than the Wind Gliders. She had already been waiting for them.

"Hehe, Paimon have already scouted the area. There aren't any monsters around—maybe they're hiding inside the cave. You guys should go ahead; Paimon is not brave enough."

As expected of Paimon, she naturally admitted to being scared.

Lumine placed her hands on her hips, pressing her fingers into the soft fabric covering her stomach. She looked at Paimon with a helpless expression.

"Aren't you supposed to be the guide? Not leading the way isn't very guide-like," Lumine said with a teasing smile.

"Hey, it should be the other way around! A proper tourist should protect the guide, or else if Paimon get eaten by a monster, who's going to guide you?" Paimon retorted, making a valid point.

"You're right. I still haven't tasted Paimon, the emergency food, so we can't let the monsters have her. You'd better hide behind us," Lumine agreed, nodding seriously before heading toward the cave nestled in the mountain crevice.

"Hey! Paimon told you, Paimon is not emergency food!" Paimon stomped her foot in midair, annoyed, and followed after Lumine.

"Haha, Paimon really is adorable when she's mad. Let's go," Xingqiu said with a smile, before he and Chongyun also headed for the cave.

Nolan glanced around, ensuring there were no other monsters nearby, then followed behind them.

As they reached the entrance of the cave, they could feel the intense heat radiating from within, waves of hot air crashing against them like the sea.

"So hot, so hot!" Chongyun exclaimed, as if he had touched something unbearable. He quickly backed away from the cave entrance, running outside to the crevice and conjuring ice to cool himself down.

"Huh? What's up with him? It's just warm here, not that hot. Isn't he overreacting?" Paimon asked, scratching her head in confusion.

Lumine extended her hand into the cave. The heat hit her hand, but it only felt warm, not scorching. It was especially odd considering Chongyun was a wielder of the Cryo Vision.

"It's because Chongyun has a special 'Pure Yang Constitution.' While it grants him great power against evil spirits, it also makes him like a pot of oil—touch him with heat, and he starts to boil.

"In other words, he's very sensitive to heat. Even eating spicy food can cause a drastic change in his temperament," Xingqiu explained, pulling out a paper fan.

With a "whoosh," he opened it, revealing the words "Stealing a Moment of Leisure," and began fanning himself.

His Vision held many fans, each with different phrases written on them.

"Really? How exactly does his temperament change?" Paimon asked, curious.

"Hehe, he becomes the type to drink with his arm around your shoulder," Xingqiu chuckled.

"Uh, that's hard to imagine," Lumine remarked, finding it hard to picture such a change in Chongyun's personality.

"Looks like Chongyun won't be able to enter this cave. Let's have him stay out here and keep watch while we go inside," Nolan suggested, remembering that Chongyun's Pure Yang Constitution indeed had this issue.

To avoid any unexpected changes in Chongyun's behavior due to the heat, which could cause problems during the cave exploration, it was best to keep him outside.

"I agree," Xingqiu nodded, then walked over to explain the situation to Chongyun.

Chongyun, not wanting to embarrass himself, quickly agreed to take on the task of keeping watch, ensuring that no monsters or treasure-hunting thieves would disrupt their exploration.

Nolan, Lumine, Paimon, and Xingqiu pressed forward, braving the hot air as they entered the cave.

The cave was quite spacious, about three meters wide. The ground and walls appeared extremely dry, and as they walked, the earth beneath their feet crumbled like sand, likely due to the lack of moisture.

The passage was dimly lit, and the temperature of the heat waves coming from inside was much higher for some unknown reason.

After walking several dozen meters, they spotted, from a distance, several crimson Flame Flowers emitting a glow of Pyro energy in the darkness, identical to the ones at the cave entrance.

"Hold on. Given the earlier experience of the Aurora Adventurers, we should probably check if these Flame Flowers are disguised monsters," Xingqiu suggested, raising his hand slightly. Wisps of Hydro energy gathered in his palm, forming a water orb.

"Mhm, from our many adventures together, Paimon agree that we should be cautious," Paimon nodded, wearing her crown.

Xingqiu flung his hand forward, sending the blue water orb flying through the air with considerable speed.

In less than two seconds, the orb hovered above the Flame Flowers. Then, it burst like a balloon, showering the flowers with water. Two of the flowers on the left and right sides immediately withered.

However, the one in the center remained unaffected, continuing to emit a fiery red glow.

"Flame Flowers usually wither temporarily when hit by Hydro Elements, so this one must be…" Paimon's eyes widened.

"Exactly, it must be a monster. But the fact that it didn't react even now suggests it's a rather slow one," Nolan said with a smile.

"I'll leave it to you then," Lumine remarked, folding her long-sleeved arms across her abdomen and glancing at him.

Since Nolan specialized in long-range attacks with his bow, it made sense for him to handle the monster.

Nolan readily accepted. His eyes gradually took on a golden hue, matching the hair color of both Fischl and Lumine.

In his enhanced vision, the "Flame Flower" revealed several bright spots of light on its body—two in the bud and two on the stem.

After a brief consideration, Nolan decided to target the stem of the "Flame Flower."

Wind energy gathered around a normal arrow, and then, like a roaring storm, it surged toward the "Flame Flower," causing dust and debris to rise.

Perhaps due to the loud commotion, the disguised Whopperflower finally reacted, quickly retreating underground.

The arrow sliced through the air, striking the cave wall with such force that the swirling wind energy blew a large hole in it.

The Whopperflower reappeared deeper inside the cave.

It glanced at Nolan, seeming to sense that this human was too strong for it to handle. Without hesitation, it burrowed underground again, fleeing further inside.

"Ah, it got away! Why didn't you use your space-warping arrow?" Paimon asked, hands on her hips, looking puzzled at Nolan.

If he had used the space-warping arrow, it would have hit the target in an instant, leaving no chance for it to escape.

"I made more noise on purpose to see if there were any other hidden monsters around. Besides, it's still in this cave; it won't get away. Let's catch up to it," Nolan said as he put away his adventurer's hunting bow and cautiously led the way, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Lumine, Paimon, and Xingqiu followed closely behind, also staying vigilant.

Nolan had another reason for letting the Pyro Whopperflower escape—he wanted it to scout ahead. This cave seemed a bit unusual, and he figured the monster might reveal any dangers up ahead. Of course, if it had tried to fight back earlier, he would have had no choice but to defeat it.

"Wait, what's that?!" Lumine's pale face showed a hint of surprise.

As they ventured deeper into the cave, the temperature rose steadily, and they hadn't yet found any trace of the escaped Whopperflower. But after turning a corner, they were suddenly met with a sight that startled them—a multitude of crimson eyes staring down at them from above.

"Yikes… those eyes are so creepy," Paimon gasped, covering her mouth and quickly hiding behind Lumine.

"They seem to be Fire Bats?!" Xingqiu said uncertainly, scratching his chin as he examined the small creatures with red eyes and bodies hanging from the cave ceiling.

He vaguely remembered reading about these creatures in a book called The Liyue Exorcism Chronicles, but he'd never encountered them in person. If Chongyun were here, he would definitely know.

"Squeak! Squeak!"

The Fire Bats, likely disturbed by the group's presence, began screeching angrily, sounding much like agitated mice.

"Ah, they're about to attack! We should run!" Paimon, usually fearless even in the face of stars and abysses while traveling with Lumine, was unusually skittish in front of these swarming bats.

Nolan found her reaction somewhat amusing.

"It's too late to run, and even if we tried, we couldn't outrun their flight speed," Xingqiu warned as the Fire Bats swooped down toward them. He quickly manipulated Hydro energy, creating a thin membrane of water that enveloped everyone.

This wasn't a powerful elemental shield; it offered minimal protection. However, Fire Bats, being small creatures that live in colonies, were highly averse to water. By simply wrapping the group in a veil of Hydro energy, they were safe from a direct attack.

Sure enough, the Fire Bats, despite being able to pass through the water membrane with little resistance, halted their advance, furious but powerless.

"Phew, they can't get in," Paimon sighed in relief, patting her chest. "But it looks like they're not leaving either. What do we do now?"

She turned to the girl with golden hair for an answer.

Lumine clenched her fist against her waist, her amber eyes focused on the ground as she thought for a moment. Then she lifted her head and looked at the young adventurer beside her.

"Do you have enough arrows? Can you shoot them all down?"

"My arrows?" Nolan checked the supply of arrows stored in the Pyro Delusion modified by Lisa.

First, he noted that he still had over thirty Hydro-element arrows forged by Wagner using Hydro-infused ores a long time ago. Since he mastered Anemo, these specialized arrows hadn't been used much unless the situation called for them.

Therefore, his stockpile was still well-preserved.

He still had over 120 regular arrows left, which should be sufficient to deal with the roughly equal number of red-eyed bats.

"It should be enough," Nolan nodded to Lumine.

"Good, then I'll leave the difficult task of shooting them down to you," Lumine said with a faint smile.

Nolan was ready for this. He took out his adventurer's hunting bow again, notched a regular arrow infused with Anemo, and aimed at the bats outside Xingqiu's water barrier. With a swift release, the arrow shot through space and struck one of the Fire Bats, which fell to the ground with a thud.

[Defeated A Powerful Enemy, Obtained 276 Adventure EXP.]

Seeing this notification pop up on his character panel, Nolan was slightly surprised. It seemed these Fire Bats were no weaker than some large Slimes.

With each bat worth a few hundred Adventure EXP and estimating there were over a hundred of them, he figured that defeating them all could earn him a substantial amount, potentially two or three thousand Adventure EXP.

Suddenly, these bats seemed like a treasure trove to him, and he began firing arrows in rapid succession.

As each Fire Bat fell, notifications of gained Adventure EXP continued to appear.

Adventure EXP +222

Adventure EXP +301

Adventure EXP +241

When Nolan had used up most of his regular arrows, the remaining bats finally realized something was wrong. Unable to breach the water barrier, they understood that they were just easy targets for the humans inside. Instinctively, they began retreating deeper into the cave.

Nolan hurriedly shot down a few more before they disappeared from view.

"As expected from our sharpshooter, that was amazing!" Paimon clapped her hands, praising how easily Nolan had driven away the terrifying creatures.

"Hmph, piece of cake." Nolan puffed out his chest with pride.

Lumine glanced at him, then casually brushed a lock of her golden hair behind her ear as she turned to Xingqiu and asked, "Is there any use for these Fire Bat corpses? Are they worth anything?"

Xingqiu crossed his arms and pondered for a moment, "According to The Liyue Exorcism Chronicles, Fire Bats love heat and fear water. They absorb Pyro energy but can't expel it, which builds up as fire poison inside them. They're not edible."

"However, alchemists or apothecaries can extract the fire poison as an ingredient for certain medicines. Ordinary people should avoid using it."

Paimon tilted her head in confusion, "Poison as medicine? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Hehe, not in the hands of a skilled apothecary. So, the Fire Bat corpses do have some value; they're worth collecting," Xingqiu said with a smile.

Nolan nodded thoughtfully. He figured that Sucrose might be interested in these strange bats, so he decided to bring them back for her in a few days.

There were around fifty or sixty Fire Bat corpses in total. The three of them each gathered a portion, managing to collect them all.

After defeating all those bats, Nolan had earned over 19,000 Adventure EXP.

Combined with what he had previously, his character panel now showed a healthy surplus of Adventure EXP.

[Adventure EXP: 23,675]

(End of Chapter)

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