"Boom!"
A wave of scorching air swept through, accompanied by a massive fireball rising, leaving a dark, charred crater in the earth.
It seemed Balladeer was truly infuriated. Upon realizing his mission had failed, he didn't hesitate, choosing to detonate the puppet he had hastily created.
He wouldn't give Yu Jin any chance to interrogate him.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
The roar faded, and from the bottom of the black pit, a dark arm suddenly emerged from the ground, looking as if it had risen from the dead.
"Bang!"
The hand fumbled around the bottom of the pit for a while, and after confirming there was no danger, a series of explosions echoed from the already ravaged ground.
Amidst the flying dirt, a blonde man in blue and black clothes, wearing an eye patch, leaped out from underground.
Dainsleif first brushed the dirt off his clothes, then picked up some sand from the ground and rubbed it between his fingers.
Despite wearing dark leather armguards, Dainsleif could clearly feel the lingering warmth on the sand.
He took a deep breath; it was the pungent smell of fire and lightning, mixed with gunpowder, all kneaded together.
"Is it just some kind of elemental bomb mixed with explosives?" Dainsleif discarded the sand in his hand, no longer paying attention to the earlier anomaly.
He had been tracking the Abyss Order's presence in the underground ruins earlier. He hadn't expected to find no news of the Abyss Order, but instead, almost get buried underground by the collapse caused by the roar from above.
Initially, he thought the Abyss Order had discovered him and set an ambush. Who knew, upon coming up, it was just some kind of bomb?
Since it was a bomb, then it was fine. Because only humans would use such things as bombs; the Abyss Order wouldn't, and those monsters only believed in the blades in their hands.
Dainsleif was uninterested in anything human; he only cared about the Abyss Order deep within the earth.
Of course, provided humans didn't touch the taboo of the Abyss.
He looked up. It was a very ordinary field within Mondstadt, nothing special, nothing worth noting.
"Is it already this late?" Dainsleif looked at the bright moon in the Sky and decided to go back to sleep.
The cursed body granted Dainsleif Changsheng, but also took away his ability to sleep with endless pain.
But if he wasn't busy, Dainsleif would still try to sleep. For no other reason than to remind himself that he was still human.
He was afraid he would wake up and become an inhuman monster.
"Perhaps... I could have a drink?" Thinking of Mondstadt's wine, even the Frost-faced Dainsleif couldn't help but show a slight smile.
After centuries, returning to Mondstadt, the wine here had not only not deteriorated but had become even more mellow and delicious than before.
"May I treat you?" A cold metallic hand rested on Dainsleif's shoulder, making him tremble.
Dain instinctively leaned forward, then quickly turned around, creating distance between himself and Yu Jin.
"Sorry, I don't have much Mora in my pocket. For treating, you should ask someone else." Dain subtly shook his shoulder, dislodging any potential dust or "tricks" that might have been on it.
After sizing up the knight, whose mysteriousness was on par with his own, Dain quickly turned and hurried away.
Although he appeared to be walking, Dain's speed was surprisingly fast. But unfortunately, this wasn't enough to shake off Yu Jin.
"If you're not treating, then fine. I just wanted to ask, how did you pop out of the ground? Are you the vampire from Mondstadt's legends?" Yu Jin walked alongside Dain.
He looked at Dainsleif's rather aristocratic dark blue cape and black suit, then recalled how he had emerged from the ground. Yu Jin thought Balladeer might have actually blasted out a vampire.
"..." Dain stopped, resuming a normal walk. He realized that no matter how much he sped up, this guy could catch up to him in an instant.
And so, faced with Yu Jin's strange question, Dain resorted to his usual tactic—silence is golden!
Based on Dain's past experiences, as long as he said nothing, a large empty space would open up around him, undisturbed.
But unfortunately, this tactic was still useless against Yu Jin.
"Shing—"
A dazzling white light Bloomed in Yu Jin's hand, illuminating the entire field as if it were day.
Dain closed his eyes. For someone of his strength, he could still discern direction in the dark.
"Swish!"
A whooshing sound echoed. Dain only felt something pry open his lips, and then an unbearable metallic, bloody taste surged forth.
The object that pried open his mouth left, and the metallic taste dissipated. But a pungent flavor then spread from Dain's mouth.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! What did you do to me?!" Dain couldn't keep his composure. He stopped, bent over, and coughed a few times on the ground.
"I fed you garlic. Looks like you really aren't a vampire." Yu Jin tossed a string of garlic around Dain's neck.
The latter merely picked it up, glanced at it, and then threw it away.
"Vampires? Such things are as impossible as the Abyss Order doing good deeds."
Dain straightened up, resuming his previous expressionless demeanor, as if he hadn't been the one who had just lost his composure.
"You're generalizing too much. I've seen the Abyss Order do good deeds," Yu Jin retorted immediately.
He felt that since Enjou wasn't here, he should at least defend him a bit.
"Then you must have been deceived by them." Dain's expression remained unchanged. He had contended with the Abyss Order for centuries and knew the modus operandi of those inhuman beings best.
"Well..., maybe I can introduce you two sometime?" Yu Jin saw Dain's demeanor and found him quite difficult to deal with.
Such people are the most troublesome to correct in terms of personality. But fortunately, Dain didn't seem like someone who needed personality correction.
"Is that so? Then I look forward to it." Dain looked at Yu Jin a few more times, seemingly surprised that Yu Jin would have connections with the Abyss Order.
"Is there anything else? I'm busy. If not, I'll be going." Dain finished speaking, walked around Yu Jin, and continued on his way.
"Uh..., really?" Yu Jin saw Dain's hurried appearance and felt he wasn't just talking, so he didn't want to pester him anymore.
The reason he was pestering Dain was partly because his emergence from the ground was unusual, and partly because his appearance was somewhat unique.
"Can you tell me where you live?" Yu Jin shouted to Dain, who had already walked quite a distance.
Dain, far away, paused. He turned around and said, "My residence? It's not good to ask someone's residence upon first meeting."
Saying this, Dain even shook his head. This guy truly was an absolute weirdo. If he weren't rootless, he would genuinely want to get to know Yu Jin.
"No, I just think you resemble someone very much." Yu Jin's voice carried over. This time, Dain's footsteps didn't just stop—he started backing up!
"Resemble me? Who?" In a moment, Dain had run back to Yu Jin's side. This time, he wasn't poker-faced; his voice was very eager.
Regardless of whether Yu Jin's "resemblance" was superficial or psychological, for Dain, it was an unignorable piece of information.
If he resembled him, then regarding the Abyss and the destruction of his homeland, that person should have also experienced it.
Having experienced it, there would naturally be information about these two points, and for Dain, this moved him more than anything else.
"Actually, not that much?" Yu Jin scratched his head. On closer inspection, there was still a big difference between Dain and Lumine.
"Let me ask, do you have a younger sister?" Yu Jin saw Dain about to turn and leave, so he immediately grabbed him and asked.
"No."
Dain struggled with greater force.
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