After a fierce fight, the traveler successfully eliminated all the Qiuqiu people, quickly came to the wooden escalator of the Qiuqiu leader's hall, and happily opened the exquisite treasure box placed in the clay pot. It turns out that Yingmei had just opened her elemental vision, and all she saw was a treasure chest with water elements.
Although this exquisite treasure chest contained only thousands of Mora and the experience books left by the adventurers' ancestors, a satisfied smile still appeared on the corner of Zui Ying's mouth.
As the old saying goes in Liyue, only by accumulating a little can you make a lot.
Seeing that the girl was so easily satisfied, Zhongli couldn't help but strengthen his mind again.
Sure enough, it was a great idea to work with the traveler. Legend has it that as long as she is given a few shiny indigo-colored stones as a reward, the girl will be very active in completing any commission.
After Yingmei put away all the objects in the treasure box, everyone walked along the river beach for some distance, and once again encountered a group of changeling beasts condensed from pure water.
"Why...are they gathered here?"
Paimon blinked his starry eyes and looked curiously at the changeling beast that mimicked giant crabs and frogs.
"Maybe the thing in the middle retains the power of the devil, so it's very attractive to them."
Zhongli frowned in response to Paimon's question and raised his hand to direct everyone's attention to the object in the center surrounded by the changeling beasts.
"It's just that it's an aquatic changeling beast..."
Zhongli looked at the morphing frog that kept jumping. His originally calm movements suddenly stiffened, and then he took half a step back unnoticeably.
"Well... in short, we have a contract, so we have to put aside our personal likes and dislikes. Traveler, I leave it to you."
"Defeat them first and collect the relics."
He said that the contract was the most important thing, but Zhongli didn't hesitate at all. He confidently asked Yingmei to deal with the sudden appearance of the changeling beast, while he stayed far away, as if he didn't like these sea beasts condensed from pure water.<
/p>
Paimon hid behind Famas to cheer for the travelers, and Ying Ying had to deal with dozens of water elemental changelings alone with a bladeless sword.
Of course, despite being disgusted, Zhongli still raised his hands and clasped his palms, gathering the rock elements in the earth veins to put a solid jade shield on the travelers to prevent them from accidentally being harmed when fighting the changeling beast.
Paimon, who was hiding behind Famas, seemed to see the disgust in Zhongli's eyes, and curiously leaned into the young man's ear and asked, "Famas, doesn't Zhongli like aquatic changelings?"
"Speaking of which, when Zhongli invited us to dinner last time, he didn't seem to order any seafood dishes, right?"
Famas, who heard Paimon's question, just nodded slightly, as if he was too lazy to explain the reason to the little mascot. He looked at the traveler entangled with the changeling beast and took an extremely slow step forward.
Yingmei now only masters the two elemental powers of wind and rock. Although she is protected by Zhongli's jade shield, it still takes a lot of effort to deal with monsters condensed by pure water.
And Famas doesn't intend to waste too much time on fighting.
As the young man stepped forward, the fire element, which was almost condensed into substance, continued to surge. The explosive flames pressed down from the top of the changeling beast out of thin air, crushing several water beasts in an instant, and then rose into a vast white cloud.
Water mist.
Yingmei walked out of the evaporating mist in a daze, still holding a broken stone slab in her hand.
"It turns out to be just a stone slab... but the pattern is really unique. This is enough to analyze some information. Let's go back."
When Zhongli saw the stone slab, he just sighed and did not make any comment on Famas's show of force.
It is not difficult for the devil's power to do this. As recorded in history, the flat terrain of Mondstadt was flattened by the wind god, and Inazuma's thunder and lightning generals can fill Inazuma with thunder and lightning with their power.
It is not difficult for gods to mediate nature and push mountains and seas, let alone a few monsters.
It was getting late, and the tide began to rise near Guyunge Beach. Zhongli and the others arrived at the agreed gathering place, but they heard the sound of Wan Yan and Clement quarreling.
"You are also called an archaeologist? I can't tell this, and I don't know that either. Are you good at it?"
Clement was crossing his arms, questioning Wanyan's professionalism as an archaeologist.
"Isn't it normal to have specializations in the arts? I've tried my best to explain it to you!"
Wan Yan was even more angry and blushed, trying hard to defend her mistake.
"Don't quarrel... don't quarrel. What happened?"
Paimon, who was confused after hearing this, hurriedly flew over to break up the fight. Famas and the Traveler stood between the two and separated them.
"This guy keeps saying that he is an archaeologist, but he knows nothing about the surrounding ruins! He doesn't know much more than I do! I can only rely on intuition...I mean, experience, and I came back with something that seems valuable. Alas,
What a waste of time!"
Clement was carrying a large bag of collected objects and covering his head with a headache.
"I, I have been studying the Demon God of Salt. It is normal that I don't understand things in the sea."
Wanyan explained to Zhongli and Famas anxiously, while the traveler looked at the panicked girl thoughtfully.
Even if you specialize in one field, you shouldn’t lack general knowledge, right?
Moreover, it is obvious that something is wrong with Clement. I wonder if all archaeologists from the Zhidong Kingdom have such a personality. If this is the case, then Liyue will cooperate with the archaeologists from the Zhidong Kingdom.
, I’m afraid I have to think about it carefully.
Before Zhongli and others could speak, Wan Yan pointed her finger at Clement again.
"You, on the other hand, have been asking me how much this is worth, how much that is worth... Is the value of cultural relics just the mola?"
Clement did not expect that Wan Yan would suddenly counterattack, and was a little flustered for a moment: "This, this...the value of cultural relics is measured by mola. Isn't it the simplest and most consistent with Liyue's tradition?"<
/p>
Zhongli looked at Clement, who was obviously having problems, shook his head, and comforted the two of them in a calm tone.
"Your Excellency Clement, the value of a cultural relic lies in itself and the history it carries..."
"Don't be impatient, you two. We have brought back some nice things that you can take a look at together."
Hearing Zhongli's words, Clement and Wanyan snorted at the same time, temporarily stopped arguing, and took out the things they found for Zhongli to identify.
After casually looking at the items they brought back, Zhongli crossed his arms and shook his head.
"Unfortunately, although these things you brought back are indeed antiquities brought ashore by the Demon God of the Whirlpool, it is a pity that they have nothing to do with the Demon God and just come from the nearby sea area."
"In contrast, the stone slab we found has mysterious patterns on the surface and a slight trace of the power of the devil. It may be helpful for research."
Zhongli turned his attention to the traveler next to him, and Yingmei also took the slate out of her backpack sensibly.
Before Wanyan could identify the lines on the stone slab clearly, Clement immediately reached out to grab the stone slab and hugged it tightly in his arms.
"Quick, give it to me! Hey, with this, it's not nothing."
"The power of the devil, hum, this is a good thing... The other antiques should be worth a few dollars, and they can recoup the cost of hiring consultants... They all belong to me!"
Clement's greedy look made everyone roll their eyes.
Zhongli seemed to have a very tolerant attitude toward his employer, and even kindly reminded Clement that among the cultural relics he collected, there was a set of teacups from Ningguang's collection. If he didn't want to offend Qixing, it was best not to sell them.<
/p>
"Okay, okay, I get it... I think it looks pretty good."
Clement looked at the slate over and over and nodded perfunctorily, not taking Zhongli's reminder to heart at all.
"Hey, Zhongli, why did you remind this bad guy?"
While Clement was feeling complacent, Paimon, who had long noticed that he was unhappy, approached Zhongli and asked quietly.
"Based on common sense, Mr. Clement hired me as an archaeological consultant, so I have to abide by the contract and have the obligation to remind this gentleman that it is Miss Ningguang's collection, not ancient cultural relics."
Zhongli responded in a low voice, not caring whether Clement heard it.
"Okay, since we have to respect the contract..."
Knowing that Zhongli, as the God of Contract, would never break the contract he made, Paimon could only turn his head angrily, pouting and returning to the traveler.
"Okay! There's no need to stay here anymore."
"By the way, I'm also very interested in the Demon God of Salt. Let's go to the Salt of the Earth as our next stop!"
Clement packed up the cultural relics he found, and as if recalling the content of his argument with Wan Yan just now, he hurriedly urged Zhongli and others to set off for the Salt of the Earth.
But this time, Zhongli, who responded to Clement all the time, shook his head and pointed to the sky above his head.
The sea of clouds is misty and the twilight is faint. The sunset has completely set, and a few stars can be vaguely seen in the sky. There is only the sound of the surging sea tide around Guyun Pavilion, and even the rock can only wait for the wear and tear of time.
"It's getting late, and the wilderness at night is not safe."
"Let's rest here and set off again tomorrow."
Zhongli looked at Wan Yan, who was helpless, and put forward his own suggestions very considerately.
Clement looked at a few people in the archaeological team, but he didn't object. He found a relatively dry rock wall, picked up some firewood and built a bonfire, took out flint and lit it, and then sat in front of the fire alone to study.
Antiquities found.
The travelers also took out their portable tents and pots with ease, and prepared to sleep in the wilderness.