Genshin Impact: Dionysus reigns supreme, all demons retreat!

Chapter 676 If Only They Disappeared

Xu Ning watched Ed, who was still unwilling to give up, leave, knowing in his heart that he would definitely come back empty-handed this time.

From the words of that stone, it's clear that He doesn't particularly value Ed or even Luminous, and it's unclear what His purpose was in appearing to tempt those Hilichurls.

Or... it's not that He didn't care, but rather that He had already done everything He wanted in that brief contact.

If my guess is correct, then...

"Clang!"

A crisp sound of glass shattering came from the direction of the hut.

Xu Ning practically took off running towards the hut, and Ying was also taken aback, quickly following after him.

“I don’t seem to remember having any breakable utensils in Ed’s house…”

Ying shook her head. "I haven't even seen a drinking cup."

Xu Ning's face darkened, and he sensed that something was amiss.

The distance wasn't far, and Xu Ning arrived at the door almost instantly.

Pushing the wooden door open, the first thing I saw was a shattered dressing mirror on the floor.

Meanwhile, Ed's Hilichurl son, Calibel, slowly covered his face with a mask and then slowly looked up in their direction.

"This...all of this...is just...too cruel!"

With just a simple movement of looking up, Xu Ning felt as if the hairs on his entire body stood on end.

It felt like being suddenly thrown from the sweltering summer into a freezing winter, making one tremble uncontrollably, or like being stared at by an extremely dangerous beast.

Xu Ning had never had such an experience with a Hilichurl before. After all, with Xu Ning's current strength, he didn't feel any threat even when facing a Grand Gold Hilichurl King.

However, despite the subtle feeling, Xu Ning still asked the question that concerned him the most.

"Where did you get the mirror?"

Xu Ning had carefully observed this room the first time he entered.

Just as Ying said, Ed cleaned the house so well that there wasn't even a single water glass or jar that could reflect a person's image, let alone a mirror.

The windows and doors of the room were tightly closed, and it didn't seem like someone had come in specifically to bring the little guy a mirror.

Calibel wasn't completely unresponsive to Xu Ning's question; he simply looked down at the cracked mirror on the ground, shook his head slightly, and then turned and walked towards the window.

"Didn't you listen to your father and put on the mask...?"

Xu Ning originally wanted to ask about the mirror, but then he noticed that the wall that Calibel was facing seemed to distort slightly.

Then Calibel's figure appeared outside the window.

This is clearly the method used by the purple crystal in that ruin!

Xu Ning waved his hand, "Ying, quickly find Ed and bring him back. I'll follow him."

With a wave of his hand, a strong gust of wind suddenly smashed open the window, and Xu Ning quickly rushed out of the house along with the gust of wind.

He didn't look back at Ying, but instead relied entirely on the wind element to keep up with Calibel.

Once Ying finds Ed, she can naturally find herself by following the trajectory of the wind element she releases.

The biggest challenge I'm facing now is actually Calibel, who's "walking slowly" ahead of me.

"But isn't this 'slow pace' a bit too fast?"

Xu Ning was rather annoyed.

Riding the wind, its speed can be described as lightning fast.

But that little hillock, Kalibel, just casually took a step, swaying back and forth, and it seemed like he had instantly covered a distance of nearly a hundred meters.

Even with her own speed, she could only barely keep up with him and avoid being left behind?

"Isn't this the magic I've always wanted—shrinking the earth to an inch? Even immortals don't know how to use this spell, yet a mere Qiuqiu (a lowly character) has managed to do it. It's so frustrating!"

Xu Ning followed behind, her face filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment. She shook her head, clearing her mind of her chaotic thoughts, and called out, "Calibel, don't go any further. Otherwise, your father will be so worried when he comes back and can't find you. Think about everything he's done for you..."

Perhaps it was these words that touched Kalibel, for the little guy finally stopped and stood motionless on a high cliff by the lake.

Xu Ning shook his hands, and the surrounding wind scattered. He landed lightly not far from Kalibel.

"Shouldn't the world of fairy tales be full of beauty?"

Hearing Calibel's question, Xu Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as we can communicate, that's fine. The worst thing is someone who's like a gourd with its mouth sawed off, never saying a word, that would be troublesome.

Xu Ning picked up the gourd and took two sips, then sighed and said, "That's because you haven't read enough books. I did read a fairy tale about a little wild boar in the Mondstadt library. How should I put it, it was strangely tragic..."

“…Uh, okay, that’s not what I was actually going to talk about,” Xu Ning quickly changed the subject when he saw Calibel staring at him silently. “The way this world looks isn’t fixed. Its true form depends on your eyes and your heart.”

"Just like the same landscape, it will appear in completely different forms in the eyes of happy people, sad people, indifferent people, and angry people."

Calibel tilted his head. "And what about the face behind my mask? What kind of eyes and heart made it look like that?"

Xu Ning was speechless.

The key thing is, I have absolutely no idea what you look like behind that mask! How the hell am I supposed to explain this?

Hilichurls always seem fragile and easily blown away, exploding into black smoke with a single hit. Their fallen masks are always filthy, and no one has ever really investigated what's underneath them.

I also blame myself. Why didn't I have any curiosity and tie up a few Hilichurls or Hilichurl thugs to study them?

“Perhaps…perhaps it was a very ugly guy who did it, out of jealousy,” Xu Ning coughed lightly and continued, “But even so, didn’t your father never abandon you? In his eyes, even though Calibel has become a little monster in a fairy tale, he is still his most beloved child, isn’t he?”

Calibel shook his head.

"No. I can feel the resentment and bitterness in my father's heart."

"The source of all this is my body."

"He resented that I had become like this, leaving his love nowhere to rest, and the fate he was powerless to change left his hatred nowhere to go either."

"My very existence is torture for him. I wish I were gone..."