After the crisis of Xiangling riding his face, Orion learned from Xiangling her purpose for coming here.
And the plot from Genshin Impact gradually surfaced in Orion's mind.
This plot was probably about Xiangling wanting to come to Mondstadt to find some fresh ingredients, but because she killed boars in their habitat, she was caught red-handed by hunters.
The hunters have rules: you can't hunt near the animals' dens. This is akin to killing the goose that lays the golden egg. How could animals survive here if they can't even reproduce safely? They would surely migrate away.
Then, the Traveler and Xiangling were taken to Diona's father. The father, whose name Orion couldn't remember, wanted Xiangling to promote the local raw ingredients, but Xiangling, lacking experience, refused. In the end, it seemed she disagreed with a local chef, and the two gambled on a cooking competition, which Xiangling won.
Orion remembered this plot so clearly for two reasons.
One was that many new players thought this plot was unimportant and put it off, unaware that this plot was used at the start of the game to guide you to Liyue and open the map, with the main purpose of telling you which path to take to Liyue.
As a result, many new players went straight for Dragonspine.
The experience was like playing Kantai Collection and pushing to 2-4, commonly known as a 'newbie trap'.
As for the other reason, Xiangling's victory in this plot was due to her finding a piece of pork that had been frozen three hundred years ago, and this pork was incredibly delicious.
Incidentally, she also found Diona's ancestor from three hundred years ago, who was also frozen in ice and preserved until now.
As a result, when Genshin Impact first launched, it was still in 'that phase,' and many people criticized Xiangling's victory, saying it wasn't due to her cooking skills but rather a lucky find of a good ingredient.
However, now Xiangling was right in front of Orion, claiming to be a gourmet hunter dedicated to collecting all kinds of ingredients from across the world, which made Orion feel a moment of trance.
That's right, a gourmet hunter should be looking for ingredients!
There won't be a Gourmet Four Heavenly Kings or anything, right?
"May I interview you, Miss Xiangling? Are you a professional gourmet hunter?"
Xiangling chuckled and rubbed her head, "I think I am."
Cool, Xiangling, cool.
"Then why can't you hunt any prey?"
"Oh! Don't even get me started!" Xiangling suddenly pounded her chest in frustration, "You wouldn't believe it, I was ambushing here just now, and then two lunatics ran circles around Springvale! They scared all the boars away!"
Orion: "…"
"Then I tried to look around here, but I couldn't find any of those boars, sigh... Orion, where do you think those boars went?"
"Uh... you might still find some fur at the Good Hunter."
"Huh? What did you say?"
"No, nothing."
Out of guilt for what his disciple had done, Orion decided to help Xiangling catch some boars.
Xiangling happily agreed when she heard Orion was willing to accompany her to catch boars.
She happily led the way, secretly looking back at Orion.
—Upon closer inspection, Orion is so handsome, and, and he's so cool and aloof, so stylish! He's clearly so warm-hearted, yet he always maintains a poker face, expressionless, such a contrast!
Orion didn't know what Xiangling was thinking, but he knew what he was thinking.
For some reason, whenever he got close to Xiangling, his heart would be as still as water, his inner self as calm as a frozen lake. Yet, Xiangling is a Pyro character, and her attire isn't exactly modest, but she still makes one feel inexplicably calm inside, such a contrast.
Then, about twenty minutes later, Orion and Xiangling were caught. They had indeed found a lone boar and were about to kill it for meat when they were caught by a hunter named Alan.
Just like in the game, this hunter angrily scolded the two, believing that the boars had all been scared away by Orion, which was actually true in a sense.
Finally, he said that Mr. Draff of Springvale wanted to see them and told them to follow him.
Xiangling turned around and realized that Orion had, at some point, shielded her.
"Orion, why are you so far away?"
"I'm afraid he'll get angry, bite his hand, and transform."
"What strange things are you saying again?"
The subsequent process was also the same as in the game: the two went to Springvale and met Draff. Although a nearby hunting ground had suffered some losses, making them a bit angry, they still wanted Xiangling to promote their meat products.
However, unlike in the game, the hunting ground suffered significant losses this time, so they framed their request as compensation for damaging the hunting ground. Xiangling, not having damaged the hunting ground, naturally refused, and Orion didn't admit to being one of the two lunatics, but Orion offered to help find other hunting grounds.
Again, a dispute arose with someone named Brock. The two argued. Brock was a staunch pure-meat advocate, believing that barbecue should just be barbecue, and adding a bunch of things would only destroy the aroma of the meat.
Xiangling, on the other hand, was a rising star in the dark cuisine world. As long as the final product was delicious, she didn't care about the appearance of the dish, and her ingredient selection would be very casual.
So, the two agreed to a duel: they would go find ingredients themselves and then return to start a 'Food Wars'.
Xiangling, as expected, suggested going to Liyue to find ingredients, just as Orion remembered, since she herself was from Liyue and naturally knew where to find delicious ingredients there.
The two then arrived behind Wolvendom, also at the river beside Dawn Winery. This river was a cold spring flowing down from Dragonspine, and if one were to go upstream from the other end of the water, they would reach Dihua Marsh in Liyue.
Xiangling's idea was to explore the area in the direction of Dihua Marsh, specifically the region from Dawn Winery to Stone Gate, to search for ingredients.
"Then, Orion, I'll search around here, and you go check out the hillside over there!"
Xiangling didn't lead Orion to find ingredients like in the game. Perhaps she was a bit angry about being mistaken as the culprit who scared away the boars and wanted to make a big splash.
I'm sorry! Xiangling! I'm the culprit!
Helpless, Orion could only swing his tree branch, walking and looking for ingredients that looked delicious.
He saw sweet flowers here, picked one.
He saw a Treasure Hoarder Weasel there, killed one.
And groups of Slimes? Watch me kill them all! I am the Great Stellar Demon King!
Just as Orion suddenly went crazy, continuously striking Geo Slimes, he suddenly noticed something surrounded by the Geo Slimes. It was also dark, round, and he almost thought it was another Slime he was about to hit.
Now, looking closely, wasn't this clearly two buttocks soaking in the water?!
Orion walked closer and poked it with a branch. Gurgling bubbles suddenly appeared on the water's surface nearby.
Next to the bubbles, a huge blue witch's hat floated on the water.
Orion rubbed his chin, "Why does this hat look so familiar?"
After staring at the hat for a minute, Orion suddenly realized, "Holy crap! Mona!!!"
He quickly squatted down and pulled the person out of the water. Mona was already unconscious, rolling her eyes.
"I... I'm so hungry... People really can't... can't just rely on drinking water to solve hunger... Ugh... I'm never helping that old woman get anything again, and what... a son-in-law who rides a dragon, I don't believe a word of it... Ugh."
Wearing a wide witch's hat, with two long black Horsetails, and a skin-tight suit that exuded sexiness.
Mona Megistus, before her redesign, appeared before Orion.
"Mona Megistus" is a combination of her name and title.
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