In that instant, Sidney's pupils dilated. His vision expanded and sharpened—the Pyro Mitachurl's axe seemed poised to cleave the entire world in half.
No time to dodge. Am I going to die?
Clang—!
"Young man, don't lose focus in the middle of a fight."
The bearded uncle batted the screaming axe away with his claymore. It just so happened to land near Victor Wang.
Thump! Thump! Victor Wang held his breath. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest.
"——Yes, sir. Thank you for the lesson."
After rebooting from a mental crash, Sidney glared at the kneeling Mitachurl with a flare of rage.
Even with both legs crippled, it can still attack? Why won't you just stay down? Damn monster!
And that uncle… Just because he has more battle experience, he's acting all superior? I have a Vision, do you?
One day I'll wipe the floor with you.
But his expression was well-managed—no one could see the storm in his thoughts.
Sidney marched toward the Mitachurl and raised his sword. "Die, monster!"
So huge—even kneeling, it's still taller than me.
The blade plunged into its heart. He gave it a twist, and dark blood gushed out.
"Yika! Biatye!"
The humiliation continued.
The Mitachurl didn't die immediately. With a mighty swing, its massive hand lashed out toward Sidney's head—but this time, Sidney was fully alert. He leapt backward and dodged cleanly.
"I thought Hilichurls had the same weakness as humans—stab the heart and they die?" Sidney turned to his fellow adventurers.
"Well, with Mitachurls of this size, the risk's much higher. We've never killed one before… but look—" One adventurer pointed at the other fallen Hilichurls. "They're all dead."
"So, what do we do with this thing?" Sidney looked at the staggering Mitachurl still waving its arms. His sword was still stuck in its chest—that was supposed to be his future family heirloom, Cool Steel.
His gaze drifted toward the claymore uncle. He wanted him to step in—but not at the cost of someone else taking credit for the kill.
That little flicker of hesitation didn't go unnoticed. As an experienced adventurer, the uncle understood immediately. He spoke:
"Mitachurls, Hilichurl Chieftains—they're far tougher than the usual kind. That's plain as day."
He paused, then added, "Most direct method is destroying the brain. But heart damage is still fatal. Give it a couple minutes—it'll die."
Sidney finally relaxed.
When the Mitachurl stopped moving, he pulled out his sword and casually yanked off the Mitachurl's mask—his trophy.
"Ugh, what an ugly face."
"Good thing they wear masks. If they turned those faces toward us mid-fight, we'd all surrender on the spot."
"Hahaha!" The adventurers burst out laughing.
"Sidney defeated a Mitachurl on his first monster hunt—what a promising future!"
"I just got lucky, and everyone helped. If that had been a Wooden Shield Mitachurl, I wouldn't have stood a chance." Sidney smiled modestly.
"The Knights are useless. Letting monsters run all the way into Whispering Woods."
Sidney waved his hand. "Don't say that. With Stormterror acting up lately, the Knights have been stretched thin, trying to prevent dragon attacks. These Hilichurls took the opportunity to sneak closer to Mondstadt. That's why we adventurers have to act."
"Heh, us adventurers—well, next time the Knights hold selections, we won't just be adventurers anymore!"
The group bantered cheerfully as they continued down the road.
Watching from the shadows of the forest, Victor Wang arrived at an unsurprising conclusion:
Humans aren't friendly toward Hilichurls.
In any other world, Hilichurls were about the same as goblins—low status, disposable.
Still, he hadn't expected everyone in this world to speak perfect Mandarin.
The whole world speaking Mandarin? Not bad—at least there's no language barrier.
Thinking with his toes for a second, he figured traveling along the main road would only lead to more humans. So, Victor Wang decided to take the wilderness route.
He began climbing the cliffs on the southern edge of Whispering Woods, heading straight through Windrise and down into Dadaupa Gorge.
Though the witches' tea party island floated above Falcon Coast, the closest land access point was the mountain north of Dadaupa Gorge.
With no mountaineering experience, Victor Wang seemed to instinctively unlock some kind of passive skill. Mountains, trees—anything steeper than a 90-degree angle, he scrambled up with no hesitation.
After a bit of climbing, he unexpectedly stumbled upon a Hilichurl camp.
Six Hilichurls in total. Four sat around a bonfire. One stood guard with a crossbow. The closest one to Victor Wang held a wooden club. All of them looked his way at once.
The closest Hilichurl said, "Olah. (Hello.)"
"Olah, Olah." (Hello, hello.) Victor Wang tensed. He couldn't understand Hilichurlian, but after searching his memory, he realized it was a greeting—and tried copying it back.
No response.
He scratched his head awkwardly and slowly circled the camp, staying along the edge of the cliff, keeping the Hilichurls at the center. Their eyes followed him the whole way.
"Bye!" Victor Wang wanted to say "Valo" but didn't know the pronunciation. Awkward…
"Dala? (What?)" The four Hilichurls exchanged puzzled glances.
By nightfall, Victor Wang reached the great tree at Windrise.
He had spent the entire day traveling—aside from spying on the fight in the morning and a short break for lunch, he hadn't rested.
Along the way, he encountered many Hilichurl camps. But due to the language barrier, he didn't dare approach any of them.
He also saw adventurers driving Hilichurls away—this was on the road connecting Mondstadt to the Temple of the Thousand Winds.
Because he had to cross a wide, exposed road, he scouted carefully for spots with no signs of human activity.
Once, a squad of nearly twenty people nearly spotted him.
"Those monsters are a pain. No matter how many we kill, there are always more."
"Yeah, my neighbor's kid carted a load of fruit last time—half of it got stolen by Hilichurls!"
"Don't even get me started. My son went hiking with his classmates and almost ended up permanently disabled! Thank the Church for their healing arts."
"Shh—someone in those bushes?"
"Why aren't they coming out? Don't tell me it's a Hilichurl?"
"Hilichurls don't hide. They don't have the brains for it."
Victor Wang didn't wait for them to check—he bolted.
Recalling that entire day left him conflicted. From a human perspective, it was true—Hilichurls had done a lot of bad things, no matter who or what they were.
And now I'm one of them.
With a long sigh, he turned his attention to the giant tree ahead.
Windrise was Mondstadt's only area that barely qualified as a plain. A colossal tree grew here—much larger in person than in the game, creating one of the rarest landscapes in all of Teyvat.
It was said that Vennessa ascended to Celestia from here, and so the site became a symbol of Mondstadt's heroism. Victor Wang knew Vennessa had been aided by the Anemo Archon—her ascent wasn't just a legend.
Too bad the tree didn't bear fruit. No matter how majestic, it couldn't be eaten.
Having had three meals of Sunsettias and Sweet Flowers, Victor Wang eyed the river fish and a small nearby Hilichurl outpost.
Without hesitation, he waded into the river and caught two fish, then approached the six-Hilichurl camp.
A patrolling Hilichurl holding a crossbow spotted him and greeted: "Olah. (Hello.)"
This time, Victor Wang didn't reply. Though he understood, he could only mimic a few words. Instead, he chose to play dumb—he'd use gestures instead.
He raised one fish in his left hand and offered it forward.
"AbaTodoMi? (Food for me?)"
Consulting the mental dictionary, Victor Wang repeated the gesture. This time, the Hilichurl accepted it.
Then he pointed to the campfire behind the Hilichurl, and then to the fish in his other hand.
"Celi? (Fire?)"
Seeing that the Hilichurl understood, Victor Wang was pleased. He repeated the gesture and cautiously walked toward the bonfire.
The other Hilichurls noticed him but didn't react.
As he prepared to grill his fish, he realized he had no skewers—both hands had been holding fish earlier.
The patrolling Hilichurl joined him by the fire, stuck an arrow through his fish's mouth, and seeing Victor Wang without a skewer, offered him one.
Victor Wang shook his head.
You didn't poison that, right? Didn't exactly trust Hilichurl hygiene.
Spotting a shrub nearby, he picked a suitably thick branch, stripped the leaves, and skewered his fish to start roasting.
No seasonings. Victor Wang really wished the Hilichurl would magically whip out a pinch of salt. Even if it wasn't sanitary, he'd have taken it.
After days of sweet-and-sour fruit, he finally understood why Hilichurls didn't like eating plants. He wasn't quite there yet, but he could imagine it.
No culinary skills, only sincerity. Soon, the fish skin began to sizzle with fragrant oil. The scent made other Hilichurls glance over.
Victor Wang flipped the fish. Just as he did, he smelled something burnt.
He quickly pulled his fish away—but it was fine.
Turning his head, he saw it was the Hilichurl's fish that was burnt.
"..."
Victor Wang lightly bumped his own grilled fish against the Hilichurl's skewer, gesturing for him to turn it over.
The Hilichurl finally caught on.
Reasonably speaking, life in the wilds of Teyvat was manageable—if you had survival skills.
Thirsty? Drink from the river—clean, fresh, even a little sweet. Hungry? Pick fruit, catch fish, shoot birds. Tired? Earth is your bed, sky your blanket. Just lie down and sleep.
This was Victor Wang's first time eating meat in Teyvat. No seasoning, but it was already delicious to him.
More importantly, the Hilichurls weren't hostile to unfamiliar kin. They didn't throw him a welcome party—but they didn't drive him out either.
Compared to the brutal skirmishes he'd witnessed that morning, these Hilichurls were quiet.
Victor Wang imagined how they usually lived when humans weren't around. One kept patrolling. Others just stared into space.
Do they never get bored?
He didn't dwell on it. He made his decision—
Tonight, I'll sleep here.