Mr. Zhongli, we can't slack off anymore!

"Don't be such a perfectionist. You've seen me make a fool of myself so many times." The traveler tightened his grip, as if the person in front of him would disappear if he loosened his grip even slightly.

He didn't reply, as if he were asleep.

"The most urgent task is to get the rescued civilians to a safe zone." Ye Lan walked to the traveler's side: "Could Miss Lü Ren please take them there?"

"And what about you?" the traveler asked, looking at Yelan, Xingqiu, and Hutao.

They seemed to have discussed something and already knew the next steps.

"Lu Ren, you take the guest elders to the safe zone to rest for a while. We'll take care of things here!" Hu Tao said smugly, hands on her hips, exaggerating her exhaustion.

"Aren't you leaving?"

"Of the people present, only the deputy hall master's elemental power is suitable for leading the people to evacuate," Xingqiu told the traveler, explaining the reason for this arrangement.

“There are five demons attacking Liyue, and the battle is not over yet. Some people haven’t had time to evacuate,” Yelan said.

"Don't worry, we just sent one away, the remaining four are no problem." After saying that, Hu Tao leaned close to the traveler's ear and whispered, "I heard that the safe zone is in Qunyu Pavilion. When you see Tianquan Star later, don't forget to ask how to compensate our Hall of Rebirth for its losses, and try to take back the best location in Liyue Harbor."

“Okay…” the traveler nodded.

Zhongli helped the traveler to his feet, saying, "I'll stay too."

“But your body…” The traveler was unwilling; she gripped Zhongli’s sleeve tightly, unwilling to let go.

"I play a very important role in your plans."

"Who cares about what's important or not..." The traveler realized something.

For travelers, Zhongli is more important than the world.

For Zhongli, is Liyue a priority over Traveler?

"Then what am I going to do all by myself?"

"Traveler, I acknowledge your abilities."

"Are you still unable to let go of... the people of Liyue?"

He kept saying that he would only be Zhongli from now on, and that he would handle all matters, big and small.

"I'll be fine." His voice softened.

"you're lying."

He could barely stand, yet he kept saying he would be fine.

“Traveler, look back at them.” Zhongli looked at the fearful Liyue people.

"I won't look. I won't leave if you don't leave."

I always had a feeling that he would disappear the moment he left my sight.

A small hand tugged at the hem of the traveler's clothes.

The traveler looked down and saw a little girl looking at her with teary eyes: "Sister, I want to live... I want to live..."

"..." The traveler turned his head away.

"I'm begging you, traveler."

The traveler still softened his heart.

I couldn't refuse his request.

"Ha... alright. You have to come back... you absolutely must come back... right, the contract... we made a deal, you have to survive." Desperate, the traveler came up with a solution—the contract.

"I promise you."

*

The safe zone is located directly north of Liyue Harbor. After crossing a large bridge, someone will be waiting for you under the archway on the other side of the bridge.

By the time the travelers arrived, the bridge had been destroyed and the archway had collapsed.

Travelers use the Geo element to raise rocks from the bottom of the water to create passageways for the residents of Liyue.

A person emerged from behind the collapsed archway—Bu Yun, the guide of Qunyu Pavilion.

"I am the guide to Qunyu Pavilion. The Tianquan Star Sect is here to receive survivors. Please follow me to Qunyu Pavilion for refuge." After Bu Yun finished speaking, he distributed a kind of talisman.

Everyone present received a talisman—the secret technique of Ningguang, a special spell to teleport to the Qunyu Pavilion.

"I don't need it. I am the holder of the Eye of God, and I have to go back to save people." The traveler refused the talisman that Bu Yun handed to her.

"You're very righteous, young lady. Please be careful on your journey." Bu Yun didn't try to stop him. He left these words, activated the spell, and took away the survivors who had been evacuated.

The traveler knew perfectly well that she hadn't gone back solely to save people.

*

A traveler walked alone on the ruins, with no one in sight.

The road beneath my feet is the crushed remains of the surrounding buildings.

With each step, I could hear a cracking sound under my feet, as if the building was about to collapse at any moment.

It's good that we don't see anyone, as long as we don't find a corpse.

I simply cannot believe that no civilians perished in the commotion caused by the demon god.

"Amitabha."

Just as I was thinking of this, I saw the victims buried under the wooden beams.

The traveler clasped his hands together and observed three seconds of silence in his memory.

Suddenly, I understood why they wanted to stay on the battlefield.

The traveler from the higher world was deeply moved by this scene.

"Hoo... Ah!" The person under the broken wood made a sound, and the fingers half-buried in the soil twitched.

"Don't move!" The traveler used rock element to lift the fragments of wooden beams and planks, then pulled out the dying man.

Isn't he... Tian Tiezui? The storyteller of Liyue.

"Huff huff..." His chest bones were broken, and he couldn't breathe.

"Don't worry, I know some healing techniques." The traveler infused his body with elemental power, piecing the broken bones back together and stopping the bleeding from the ruptured internal organs.

"Eh? Eh? It's healed!" Tian Tiezui, who had just been treated, stood up and jumped a few times. "You're a miracle doctor, young lady. I thought my life was over, but luckily I met you."

"When I have time, I will definitely write a masterpiece for you, and after Liyue is rebuilt, I will set up a table and chairs and tell you about your deeds for seven days and seven nights."

"Alright, alright, I appreciate your kindness. I still need to rescue people. Do you want to come with me to rescue them, or do you want to leave alone?" the traveler asked.

"Oh dear, I just recognized you! You're the girl who came to listen to stories with Brother Zhongli, aren't you?" Tian Tiezui slapped his forehead, remembering that the traveler had also come to his stall to listen to stories.

"Yes, he is a distant relative of mine." The traveler was so sick of telling this lie that he almost vomited.

"Oh, so that's what you mean by 'relationship'!"

"Yes, yes, that's the kind of relationship." The traveler didn't know what he was trying to say, but he just kept talking.

“I’ll go with you! Girl, you don’t know, on the second day of the Lantern Festival, I set up my stall as usual, and a huge thing just crawled out from underground! I couldn’t escape in time and was crushed. It blotted out the sky, and dust and smoke rose everywhere... Liyue Harbor was gone just like that.” Even his words sounded like a storyteller.

"It's alright. I am, after all, the holder of the Eye of God. I will take you to a safe place."

"I trust you, girl! Let's go."

The gravel bounced up on the ravaged ground, vibrating and striking the earth.

Something is about to emerge from underground.

The traveler summoned the traces of the starry river and deployed a shield.

not one.

But...

Is it...

They're all coming for me?

Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath their feet, sinking into an abyss where a black hole swallowed the creatures on the ruins.

Oh no, the traveler doesn't know any levitation or flying techniques; he usually relies on someone else to fly around him.

"Miss Lü, be careful." A gentle and reassuring female voice appeared out of nowhere.

A floating plate composed of rock element particles appears beneath the traveler's feet.

Ningguang, clad in magnificent robes, landed on the floating platform.

“Miss Lü, I am Ningguang from Tianquan Star. We met once during the Lantern Festival.” Ningguang introduced herself to the traveler with a gentle and graceful demeanor.

"I once invited Miss to Qunyu Pavilion for a chat, but unfortunately she was not available."

Before the traveler could figure out how to respond, four giant insects burst out of the ground beneath the rock, forming four directions and surrounding the three of them.