Ch. 83: An invitation

The lightning that once thundered in Wangshuu Inn still echoes in the minds of the residents.

It's not hard to find people still praying for forgiveness for their sins to the Archon they worship.

That was why after her tantrum, Keqing left the place immediately, leaving a bag of mora on the table.

Keqing tightened her hood as the sounds of people began to be heard more clearly around the market.

"Fontaine has been struck by a disaster! And this calamity is not from nature, but the work of someone evil and cruel!" One of the adventurers shouted in front of a group of eager-looking people. They are all dressed in adventurous clothing, armed with weapons and Vision hanging from their waist or chest.

"She turned the residents of Fontaine into mindless monsters who only followed her orders. What inhumanity! Making those people who were formerly humans to attack humans. As brothers, we need to rescue them from this terrible fate!"

The adventurer raised his hand with a shout and was followed by the other adventurers in excitement.

Keqing watched from a distance. She leaned against a wooden post, her face hidden in the shadows of the hood.

The adventurer's words stopped her train of thought.

"Fontaine," she murmured softly. Her purple eyes narrowed, remembering the newspaper she had read that morning.

The name of the man she was looking for was on Fontaine.

The target of her revenge!

The aura around Keqing became more terrifying by the second, lightning snakes briefly appeared in the vicinity, and even her robes were blown up until they slowly rose upwards.

However, when the people began to divide into groups, Keqing instantly calmed down. The cloak that hid his identity was lowered again.

If the anger is not stopped, it might cause unnecessary chaos.

Keqing felt tired and had listened enough. She turned around, leaving the crowd behind.

"Hey, wait a moment!" A man's voice from the crowd stopped her in her tracks.

Keqing stopped for a moment, then slowly turned his head. Two figures approached—a stocky man with short hair, carrying a sword and shield as well as a Vision Geo on his belt, and a woman with a slender build, wearing simpler clothing. Although it was not obvious, Keqing thought the woman was an archer, given the position of her body which seemed to be used to long-range weapons.

The man smiled a stiff smile. "I'm sorry to bother you. I Louis and this is my friend Isabelle, we just finished splitting up the group. We need more members for the journey to Fontaine. Want to join us?"

Keqing just stared without speaking. The surrounding air suddenly felt colder, even though the sunlight still shone weakly in Liyue's sky.

After a moment, she shook her head slowly.

Louis looked a little disappointed, but remained polite. "Ah, alright. If you change your mind, we will be here in a moment."

Keqing turned around and walked away. Louis and Isabelle exchanged looks.

"Pendiam sekali," gumam pria itu.

"I guess he doesn't like to talk," Isabelle said next to him. "Well, now what? Since our invitation was rejected, our team is short of members."

"The solution is to find other members, because we can't participate if there are only two members of our team, we invite one person or if we want to be safer, we look for two more people.

"My advice is to find someone who has Pyro Vision. Our destination is Fontaine, which is a snowy place right now, so it's a good idea to have a Pyro Vision user."

"It's easy to talk." Isabelle exhaled.

"Alright, let's look for it."

Keqing no longer cared about what they were talking about. Her steps were quiet but sure, heading for the market down the road. There, she bought provisions for the long journey: food, thick clothing, and wilderness survival gear. The vendor who served her was about to open his mouth, but only nodded after seeing the cold stare under Keqing's hood.

In a corner of the market, in the shadow of a looming building, three silhouettes watched Keqing.

They hid behind the wall, as if they had become part of the shadow itself. Their eyes were keen, following every little movement made by Keqing.

As Keqing walked away, the silhouettes disappeared, swallowed by the darkness.

---

Night was falling, and the market streets were quiet. Keqing walked down the dark dead-end street, the atmosphere growing more tense as his feet touched the end of the street. The shadows from the surrounding high walls made the place feel like a world disconnected from reality.

Footsteps approached from behind, making Keqing stop. The sound of shoes scraping against the ground became clearer by the second, until it finally stopped right behind her.

"Stay there, zombie!" The voice was harsh, full of fury mixed with sinister laughter. One of the three people who had been tailing her pointed a gun at Keqing's neck.

They are muscular men in full gear; weapons and armour that look heavy, but they move them with ease.

The man's lips curved upwards. "So these are the so-called zombies, huh? The hooded woman who hides in the shadows."

But it didn't look like a zombie... it looked like he was trying to trick us.

I'll kill him when I get back!

Well, judging from her body it looks like she is a woman. Female zombies...not my taste. But since when did I believe that she's a zombie? That's just nonsense! Anyway she's a good target to entertain me tonight. It's been so long since I've played with a woman in bed, I can't wait to see how her mouth feels!

Keqing didn't move, didn't say a word. He remained where he was, only his eyes watching from under his hood.

Suddenly, in a blink of an eye, Keqing disappeared.

The men panicked, looking round. The shadow that had only wrapped around Keqing's body was now moving quickly, removing him from view.

"Where is she!?" One of the men yelled.

Then, the sound of something splashing quietly.

They, with trembling eyes, slowly turned their heads towards the wall, where there was suddenly a spreading red stain.

The body of one of them collapsed rapidly, blood flowing from his neck!

Keqing emerged from behind the darkness, without saying a word. The sword that had just flashed in an instant was now tucked back into the waistband, as if it had never been taken out.

He didn't turn his head, didn't speak, just left the place with quiet steps.

...

In another corner, a drunk man and woman were shuffling along. They were giggling, the man teasing the woman beside him with obscene words, trying to lead her to a deserted alley.

However, their steps came to a halt as their eyes met with a horrifying sight—three human figures lying on the ground, blood flowing beneath them.

They screamed, terrified, and ran away, leaving the corpse now lying in silence.

...

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