"Hey bro, there's a treasure chest here, but we need to work together to open it. Interested?" Joel called out to Diluc. It has to be said that the built-in translator of the national fortune is amazing. Even though Joel was speaking in English, it could be translated into a language that Diluc could understand.
"A treasure chest?" Diluc remained skeptical. After all, being with someone whose background he didn't know was bound to attract the other party's attention, and besides, he had previously killed a contestant from the Gentlemen's Country. It would be unreasonable for the Gentlemen's Country not to be hostile towards him, let alone be so enthusiastic towards him.
Diluc pondered many things, but the man's expression seemed genuine, not fake. Diluc decided to go and see what the other party's plan was. He would react accordingly, or the other party might try to betray him. He would have to put his words to the test.
"Yes, a treasure chest, bro, why don't you join me? I'll protect you!" Joel patted his chest, speaking with great seriousness. Diluc walked towards Joel, the greatsword on his back gleaming coldly, making Joel's heart flutter. However, thinking of his plan, he held back, trying his best to maintain an enthusiastic demeanor so that the other party wouldn't realize that he had ulterior motives towards him.
“Look, there’s a treasure chest over there, but it’s locked. I’ve looked all around but haven’t found any mechanisms or anything. Could you help me look for it?” Joel pointed to the treasure chest behind the secret chamber, in front of which was a row of iron bars. Joel’s tone was a little aggrieved: “If you can help me open the treasure chest, I’ll repay you.”
Diluc wasn't entirely convinced by what the man said. With his elemental vision, Diluc easily spotted the mechanism hidden in the bushes, which also showed signs of being disturbed. Joel was lying; he might have already opened the mechanism but simply left the treasure chest behind.
Furthermore, these treasure chests, when locked, are surrounded by a layer of blue runes, very similar to those on the Teyvat continent. Clearly, the runes on these chests disappeared after the mechanism was activated. Diluc walked to the iron fence, and with his elemental vision, he discovered a hidden passage, but it was blocked by rubble and would be completely missed without careful observation.
Clearly, Joel wants to trap himself here, making the Dragon Kingdom behind him a vassal state of the Gentlemen's Kingdom. Since the Gentlemen's Kingdom and the Beautiful Kingdom have a good relationship, it's practically a vassal state of the Beautiful Kingdom.
"Tell Wendy that if I don't return by tomorrow, he should come to this place and take me away," Diluc muttered to himself. The wind was Wendy's ear, and Diluc felt that Wendy would come.
The premise is that he doesn't get completely drunk.
"Alright, so how are we going to divide this treasure chest?" Diluc turned to face Joel, arms crossed, a hint of disdain in his tone. Joel pretended not to hear, simply scratching his head sheepishly and saying, "Maybe the mechanism is nearby? I haven't found it. How about I look over here, and you look over there?" Joel pointed in the direction of the mechanism. Diluc nodded slightly in agreement. Seeing Diluc turn and walk in that direction, Joel was overjoyed. As long as he trapped this summoned creature from the Dragon Kingdom, he could threaten the Dragon Kingdom's contestants.
Even gods need to take care of their own families!
"Is this it?" After pretending to search for a while, Diluc pointed to a mechanism and asked Joel, but Joel couldn't help but think it was a statement, not a question. "I guess so? I'm not sure." Joel scratched his head, looking like he was saying, "I don't know, don't ask me, you'll find out once you open it."
Diluc ignored Joel's self-directed act, pressed the mechanism, and the iron door opened. Joel's ecstatic expression caught Diluc's eye. Diluc got up and went inside. As soon as Diluc stepped into the secret room, Joel scrambled to the mechanism and pressed it again. The iron door rose, and Diluc was trapped inside!
"Holy crap! That gentlemanly traitor is still a traitor!"
"Oh no! How are we going to get out of here, Lord Diluc?!"
"The summoned creatures of the Dragon Kingdom are stupid!"
"Who are you calling stupid!"
Joel laughed heartily, pleased that his plan had succeeded. Although he had lost a treasure chest, it was no big deal; the Dragon Kingdom would eventually bow down to him and the United States. "Just be prepared to be stuck here for the rest of your life!" Joel laughed as he left. The comments in the Dragon Kingdom's live stream were also stirred up by some online trolls, making it seem like everyone thought it was a dead end.
"A self-righteous fool," Diluc commented, opening the treasure chest and stuffing the water and national fortune coins into his pocket. He then drew his sacrificial greatsword and slashed at the rubble. The rubble shattered, revealing a secret passage. This sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard. Joel screamed and frantically rushed towards the mechanism, frantically pressing buttons, but the mechanism seemed to be malfunctioning and wouldn't work at all!
Diluc entered the secret passage. The underground was like a maze, and one could easily get lost if one was not careful. Diluc frowned and used his Sacred Greatsword to draw a mark as a marker. After walking for a while, Diluc came to a huge room with murals on the walls.
"What's this?" Diluc frowned, trying to decipher the mural's content, but he couldn't understand it. It was very abstract; he only knew it depicted the story of five people. "If Wendy were here, perhaps he would know," Diluc sighed, preparing to move on to the next location, when he suddenly heard Wendy's voice behind him: "Hey? Master Diluc, you were looking for me?"
The comments clearly showed how Venti arrived: first, he transformed into a gentle breeze and slipped through the border gate, then slipped through the iron fence, floated into the secret passage, appeared behind Diluc, and then transformed back into his youthful form. "The border gate is alright?" Diluc frowned slightly. Venti shook his head: "Don't worry, it's fine. I bought a lot of automatic defense items before coming, and there's a Hilichurl team guarding it." Then, he turned his gaze to the mural. Diluc noticed Venti's slightly widened pupils; clearly, he understood it!
"How...how did this happen here?" Wendy was astonished, repeatedly checking the story depicted on the mural, which annoyed Diluc, who grabbed Wendy's cloak and asked, "What story is this?"
"Do you know about the guardian deity Yaksha of Liyue?"
I've heard a little about it.
"This is the story of the Guardian Yaksha! But how did it end up here? No, the fact that this story is here means that someone came to this forbidden area during the Demon God War! No, no..." Wendy felt like his brain was about to shut down. Finally, he shook his head and said, "Never mind, let's go find Grandpa after the forbidden area is over."
"Old man?"
"Morax, the god of Liyue."
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