This… seeing Kai's eyes, which didn't look like he was joking at all,
The Traveler couldn't help but be slightly stunned, her face almost immediately turning red, and she quickly waved her hand, saying, "No, I didn't mean that… I was just a little conflicted…"
"After all, it's heated by Pyro Slime, it's a little…"
Although she had indeed thought just now that he would carry her back.
The Traveler silently added to her heart.
Based on the biographies and novels she read during her travels, and the stories her brother used to tell when he was still around,
In that situation just now, when a companion was unable to walk easily, it was perfectly normal for the other person to help carry her back.
But now, she actually heard Kai give such a reason.
Thinking of Jean in Mondstadt,
The Traveler couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"I really envy Jean."
"Uh… so that's what you were worried about?"
Hearing the Traveler's reply, Kai nodded understandingly.
He could probably understand her dilemma.
After all, water heated by Pyro Slime, in a sense, was equivalent to their bathwater. It was obviously not that easy to accept such a thing.
"But it doesn't matter, does it?"
Kai scratched his head, comforting her from the side.
"Slimes are the purest Elemental Creatures. The heated water is very clean, and it's only for soaking your feet."
"Kai is right!"
Little Paimon nodded in agreement from the side.
"Slimes are the purest Elemental Creatures; their bodies are basically made of elements. The water they heat is actually no different from water heated by ordinary flames."
"In short, Traveler, just use it without worry."
"Is that so…"
Staring at the steaming water in front of her.
Although that's what was said, thinking of soaking her feet in Slime bathwater…
No matter how you put it, it was really a bit too strange.
However, thinking about the journey back to Mondstadt if this matter wasn't dealt with quickly,
It would probably be delayed to a great extent.
The Traveler took a deep breath and finally nodded.
"Understood. Thank you, Kai, for your help."
"No need to be so polite."
Kai waved his hand, then turned around.
"Then you can soak your feet here first, I'm going to Falcon Coast."
"See you later."
After speaking, he unfurled his Wind Glider.
Kai's figure quickly disappeared from the Temple of the Thousand Winds.
"Hmm, Kai is really thorough in the details."
As the other party completely left,
Little Paimon muttered to herself, propping her chin.
Her face showed the expression of someone with experience.
"Details?"
At this moment, the Traveler had already taken off her shoes.
She was slowly taking off the white thigh-high socks she was wearing underneath.
Hearing Paimon suddenly say that, she couldn't help but look puzzled.
She didn't understand what the other party meant.
"Yes, because if Kai didn't choose to leave at this time,"
"The Traveler would definitely be shy taking off her thigh-high socks in front of him."
Little Paimon nodded her small head, her clear little eyes extremely serious.
Staring at the fair calves revealed as the Traveler's thigh-high socks were half-off.
"Although it's a bit lacking compared to Jean and Lisa,"
"But the Traveler's legs are actually quite pretty."
"Ugh…"
The Traveler's pretty face flushed with embarrassment, noticing Paimon's gaze.
She immediately stopped her movements.
Then, with a raised hand, she directly pulled Paimon over.
"Little Paimon, what are you staring at?!"
"Oh, it's fine, I'm not Kai."
Paimon scratched her head and chuckled innocently.
"That's still not allowed! I just feel like your gaze isn't well-intentioned."
"If you keep looking, there won't be any Fisherman's Toast for today!"
The Traveler rubbed Little Paimon's head, her face flushed as she spoke.
Meanwhile… Falcon Coast.
Kai stepped on the soft sand.
Looking at the crabs scurrying across the beach in the distance.
His eyes sparkled with anticipation.
"As expected of Falcon Coast, the crabs are as numerous as ever."
"Alright, then next…"
Taking a deep breath, Kai clapped his hands.
Staring at the crabs in front of him, which seemed to be unaware of any danger.
His figure suddenly leaped, like an uncatchable afterimage.
He suddenly rushed forward.
As his figure frantically advanced, the crabs along the way were also thrown into the fish basket he carried with him.
They didn't even have a chance to escape.
"But speaking of which, that Abyss Mage was a little strange."
Taking advantage of the time spent catching crabs, he recalled what had happened not long ago.
Kai pondered with a slight hint of confusion.
Logically speaking… the timing of that Abyss Mage's appearance was just too coincidental.
After the Ruin Guard was dealt with, taking advantage of the Traveler's moment of relaxation,
It suddenly attacked.
It was as if it had been ambushed there early, waiting for him and the Traveler to pass by.
But the problem was… how could an Abyss Mage know their destination?
"Or is it the Fatui again?"
Kai couldn't help but murmur to himself.
Although the impact of those foot soldiers wasn't significant,
the Harbinger who escaped was clearly not a simple character.
In this situation,
if the Fatui deduced their true objective because of the Holy Lyre der Himmel,
and then found a way to lure an Abyss Mage to the Temple of the Thousand Winds,
it didn't seem impossible.
"The Abyss... and the Fatui..."
Such thoughts flashed through his mind.
Kai pondered slightly, beginning to consider the possible connection between the two.
Strictly speaking... Hilichurl, or rather, the Abyss faction,
could probably be considered the public enemy of the entire Teyvat continent.
Although the Fatui, with their arrogant and overbearing style, were not far from earning that title,
to say that the two would join forces because of this kind of thing...
Thinking about it carefully, the possibility wasn't too high.
Perhaps it was merely a simple relationship of mutual exploitation.
"However, judging from yesterday's events,"
"Perhaps the Fatui have already mastered a way to control... or rather, lure Hilichurl to gather at a certain target."
"This means we have to be a little more cautious."
Kai rarely worried about such matters.
After all, Mondstadt was relatively safe, so even if there were some schemes or tricks,
as long as they didn't involve him and his wife,
generally speaking, Kai preferred to deal with all changes by remaining unchanged.
But this time was clearly different.
The Stormterror incident not only involved Mondstadt,
but Jean was also implicated.
An inevitable direct conflict with the Fatui loomed.
In this situation... even if Kai was usually laid-back, he couldn't help but become vigilant.
"Anyway, I'll talk to Jean about this topic when I get back."
This thought popped into his head.
Kai murmured to himself, suddenly feeling a slight pain in his finger.
Then he glanced down.
Seeing the pliers clamped on his finger, he quickly shook his hand frantically.
"Oh my, oh my..."
"Too many, the crabs are crawling out!"
"Yo, looks like you've recovered your energy?"
Just as Kai returned to the Temple of the Thousand Winds,
Lumine had already put her shoes back on and was boredly looking at the surrounding scenery.
Hearing his voice suddenly ring out,
she quickly turned around and responded,
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Kai."
"After soaking my feet, the effects of the Abyss Mage are basically gone."
"I can walk normally now."
"I told you there's no need to be so polite."
Waving his hand casually, Kai said with a faint smile,
"Since you're fine, let's head back."
The duration of this mission had indeed exceeded expectations.
According to Kai's original plan,
after Diluc helped locate the possible whereabouts of the dragon tears,
he basically just needed to go there once,
and he would quickly be able to collect the dragon tears successfully and then return to Mondstadt.
But he hadn't expected to encounter an Abyss Mage attack midway,
which caused a great deal of delay.
In this situation... it was clearly time to hurry back to Mondstadt.
"I wonder how Jean is doing."
Walking to the teleportation waypoint not far from the Temple of the Thousand Winds,
thinking of Jean, who was still in Dadaupa Gorge, Kai couldn't help but murmur to himself.
He did want to go and check on her.
Although the distance was a bit far, if he set off from the Temple of the Thousand Winds,
he could still make it in time by running at full speed.
However, if he did that... if Jean found out, she would definitely be angry, right?
Trusting one's wife was one of a husband's duties.
Since Jean was so confident, stating that there wouldn't be any problems,
and she also had Lisa and a large number of Knights of Favonius accompanying her,
in this situation, if he still rushed over uninvited,
that would truly be a bit too distrustful of his wife's abilities.
"She is the Dandelion Knight, after all, and while she's usually very obedient,"
"She still has a little bit of pride."
Thinking of the first time Jean showed off her Dandelion Knight identity in front of him,
Kai couldn't help but scratch his head and smile.
He felt that his wife at that time... "was truly adorably invincible."
"What's wrong, Mr. Kai?"
When they were about to teleport,
seeing Kai's sudden smile,
Lumine couldn't help but look at him in confusion, feeling a bit strange.
"Nothing, I just thought of something about Jean from the past."
Kai answered simply.
"You know, although the Jean you see is full of the dignity of a Grand Master,"
"In private, she's very cute, especially when participating in certain festivals, she's exactly like an ordinary young girl, you know."
In front of outsiders, Kai would always inadvertently show off his wife.
"Eh... Jean can be associated with the word 'cute'?"
Little Paimon blinked her eyes.
Her face was full of surprise, clearly unable to connect the elegant and dignified Jean
with the word 'cute girl'.
"Of course, Jean even kept a small turtle at home before."
"Although later, due to some accident, the little turtle unfortunately passed away."
Kai lightly coughed twice.
Realizing he had accidentally mentioned some embarrassing past, he quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, if you spend enough time with Jean, you'll also see another side of her."
"Don't feel too much pressure because of her Acting Grand Master status."
"After all, if we're being honest, Jean doesn't seem to be much older than Lumine, right?"
"So that's how it is..."
Kai talked about his wife with a happy expression.
For some reason, Lumine felt incredibly sour inside.
This dog food was truly a bit too much.
Then, she secretly took a breath.
Finally, she looked up.
She managed to reply with her usual composed expression,
"Jean is truly fortunate to be married to Mr. Kai."
"Right? Although I also feel that being able to marry Jean is indeed my luck."
Kai scratched his head and smiled a little shyly.
"After all, being able to meet and then get married successfully did involve a certain element of coincidence."
"Anyway... let's go back first!"
"Mm."
Dazzling light enveloped their bodies.
A strong sense of spatial distortion suddenly emerged.
Kai and Lumine's figures quickly disappeared beside the teleportation waypoint.
Meanwhile... in Dadaupa Gorge, under the leadership of Jean,
the Hilichurl gathered here could not resist.
They were completely scattered by the Knights of Favonius, falling into extreme chaos.
Seeing the tear crystal neatly placed in a Hilichurl tent not far away,
Jean breathed a slight sigh of relief, a hint of joy appearing on her stern face.
"It seems the mission is complete."
"Good luck, we actually collected the tear crystal in one go."
Lisa nodded in agreement.
Her elegant posture remained perfectly composed even on the chaotic battlefield.
"Then, I'll go have the Knights of Favonius who haven't obtained a Vision"
"Use this to collect the tear crystal."
Saying this, Lisa took out a specially made wooden box she carried with her.
This was a tool specifically crafted for collecting tear crystals.
After all, the power of the Abyss, for Vision wielders,
would cause a significant repulsive effect.
In this situation... to successfully collect tear crystals, they had no choice but to use some rather special methods.
for isolation and protection.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Lisa."
Jean nodded, clearly unable to get involved in this task.
Then she turned and charged into the Hilichurl crowd.
Violent gales suddenly tore out with the swing of her favonius sword,
instantly tearing the Hilichurl brutes blocking her path into a pile of ashes.
"I wonder... how Kai is doing."
Having successfully cleared all the Hilichurl in front of her,
Jean looked towards the Temple of the Thousand Winds, thinking of Kai, and couldn't help but murmur to herself.
"Everything should go smoothly, right?"
"If he can return safely, I'll reward him tonight."
Jean mumbled, blushing.
She took a deep breath, seeing a Hilichurl Shaman conjuring a strong wind not far away.
She charged forward again with her favonius sword.
"In any case, we need to hurry back."