Chapter 159: Wendy's little plan

After completing the Gnosis' "trade" in an almost free-of-charge manner, Wendy's smile became even more radiant than before.

It's visible.

He was truly very happy.

As for what Luo De was thinking, his reaction was to raise his cup high, laughing heartily as if they were true drinking buddies: "Happy cooperation!"

Although he really wanted to scold someone, Luo De still weakly raised his cup and echoed: "Cooperation, pleasant."

"Hey, don't put on that expression."

"Look, you're satisfied, I'm satisfied too, this is a win-win, win-win~~~"

Although it was Wendy who lost the Gnosis, she instead comforted the frown-faced Luo De, while firmly patting his shoulder and saying: "Well, considering I've lost my symbol as a deity, I now have no self-defense ability left, so from now on I'll have to rely on you to protect me."

"."

Luo De speechlessly gazed at Wendy trying to extort him, gritting his teeth and saying: "Are you the Wind God? Am I the Wind God?"

"Nobody is!"

"Now there's only a pair of good friends, Wendy and Luo De, haha~~~"

Wendy continued to speak boastfully, completely unaware that she was a deity.

"You're ruthless."

Having said all that, Luo De could not possibly refuse Wendy's extortion; he could only silently accept becoming the Wind God's bodyguard.

As for who protects whom, that's hard to say.

The wine in the cup was drunk again.

This gathering of drinking buddies, not too joyful for Luo De, also ended.

Walked out of Angel's Gift.

Thinking that in the coming time someone would buy drinks, someone would cover meals, someone would cover lodging, Wendy's steps grew lighter as she followed Luo De back to his rented two-story building.

Just as she entered the door.

Wendy glanced around, her eyes instantly lit up, with a "wow" she rushed to the first-floor wine cabinet in two-three steps, reciting the vintages and types of liquor inside like a treasure.

This is the decoration left by the landlord.

When signing the rental contract.

The landlord said.

If these wines are drunk, extra payment is required.

"This wine needs extra charge."

Luo De tried to stop Wendy from pulling the cork.

But he ended up speaking too late.

Wendy had already started showing off, a one-catty bottle of dandelion wine, and in just a few minutes it all went into his stomach.

And he, who had already drunk quite a bit at Angel's Gift, after this bottle went down, immediately had glazed eyes and unsteady steps.

"Any apples?"

Obviously drunk, he didn't fall but instead started asking Luo De for his favorite apples.

"Only apple wine."

Luo De replied unhappily.

That's the truth.

He hadn't expected Wendy to follow him back, so he hadn't prepared anything; in this temporary rented place, there was only half a bottle of non-alcoholic drink he bought this afternoon to quench thirst.

"It's fine, I, I have."

In front of Luo De, Wendy directly pulled out a bright red apple from her pocket, wiped it twice, then started biting into it with a "crack crack".

This maneuver truly made Luo De's mouth twitch, giving him an urge to beat someone up.

Considering Wendy is a Wind God, his odds of winning, roughly zero after rounding, he could only grit his teeth and say.

"You have it yourself and still ask me for it."

"I just forgot."

"Your memory is really good."

"Hehe, thanks for the praise."

"Am I praising you?"

Regarding Wendy's thick-skinnedness, Luo De deflated, weakly pointing at the stairs: "There's a bed in the upstairs study, you can sleep there tonight."

Having arranged the room allocation for both.

Luo De then stopped caring about Wendy, got up and went upstairs.

But before going up, he didn't forget to remind: "Drink less, tomorrow there's still important business to attend to."

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Wendy casually waved her hand, while the other hand had already reached for another bottle of wine.

"Sigh—"

Unable to manage him, Luo De had no choice but to go upstairs himself; after closing the door, without taking off his clothes, he lay down directly.

That sleep.

Luo De slept very soundly.

Until the next day, the Void Terminal's timed alarm woke him, then he slowly opened his eyes.

He was dazed for a little while.

He suddenly sat up straight, with a look of surprise: "How could I have slept so deeply!?"

Luo De's sleep has always been light; any slight disturbance can wake him.

This habit was formed from the experience of wind-eating and dew-sleeping during that desert period.

Even after he later lived in the safe A Ru Cun, he still couldn't break this habit of restless sleep.

Only in Nadixa's dream world could he truly relax.

But last night he actually slept so soundly he was unconscious?

Just then.

Luo De heard a murmur coming from beneath his feet.

"Mm, mm, what a crisp apple, so delicious."

It was Venti's voice.

But this voice wasn't coming from the bed.

Luo De turned his head to look.

Just saw Venti, who should have been sleeping in the study, now lying spread-eagle on the floor, with saliva traces at the corner of his mouth, two empty wine bottles rolling beside his hand, and with his sleep-talking, the rich aroma of wine came towards him.

"Who exactly is whose bodyguard?"

Luo De's mouth twitched slightly, and he immediately let out a sigh.

He roughly knew why he could sleep so soundly.

Just as in Sumeru, only Nadixa's dream world could let him truly relax, having Venti nearby seemed to have the same effect.

He didn't know whether it was because the Wind God's power could let people sleep deeply, or because having a deity nearby filled his heart with a sense of security.

Anyway, his ability to sleep so soundly was definitely related to Venti.

"Forget it."

"Let's take care of business first."

Venti is not a bad person, and that is beyond doubt.

Although he had to get involved in the dragon calamity through the deal, Luo De was clear that Venti meant him no harm, and even if he encountered danger, Venti would try his best to protect him.

This was also part of the deal.

After all, Luo De was to bring the Gnosis back to Sumeru.

As the other party to the contract, Venti had to ensure Luo De's safety in Mondstadt.

Thinking that way,

Yesterday's feeling of having suffered a great loss instantly eased considerably.

After washing up,

Seeing Venti still snoring loudly, Luo De gently shook his head, got up, went out, and bought two breakfasts from Hunter's Stall to bring back.

When he returned to his residence,

Venti happened to get up as well.

He no longer tied his hair into two small braids as yesterday, but let his long hair hang loose over his shoulders; at a glance, Luo De almost mistook him for a delicate young lady who had come to the house.

"Ha—ah~~"

"Yo, there's breakfast."

Venti, who was tousling his flowing hair like a bird's nest, yawned; upon seeing Luo De holding the breakfast, he immediately got excited, ran over, and without minding the hot freshly grilled fisherman's toast, grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth.

While eating, he mumbled: "Is there salad? Preferably apple salad."

"No."

Luo De, who had rare good sleep, responded in kind and sat at the table to eat his own breakfast.

Actually, the portion Venti held was the one he had prepared for himself.

However, Luo De wasn't picky, so it didn't matter what he ate.

Both Luo De and Venti ate quickly.

But when the two had just finished eating and were about to head out,

Venti's usually carefree expression instantly turned serious.

Seeing that, Luo De, realizing something might have happened, was about to ask when a sudden inexplicable palpitation surged in his chest.

The Void Terminal gave no warning.

It didn't seem to be an attack by Special Tile Forest.

But this intense palpitation made Luo De's mood extremely irritable, and as time passed, this irritable feeling grew increasingly unpleasant.

This wasn't the end of it.

Breathing also became somewhat difficult.

What's worse,

Luo De could clearly feel that his connection with elemental energy had become unstable, fluctuating between strong and weak, giving him a sensation as if he wanted to vomit.

He had never encountered this situation before.

Before, the only time this had happened was when he signed a contract with He He Duo Li, during which he once lost contact with his Vision; after that, nothing similar occurred.

"The ley lines are chaotic."

Venti timely gave an explanation.

"Ley lines?"

Luo De's complexion wasn't good.

He was a top student of the Elementary Faction, so he naturally knew what chaotic ley lines meant,

but he had never before experienced this situation where disrupted ley lines caused elemental turbulence, which was genuinely uncomfortable.

"Hmm."

Venti stared fixedly in one direction, his face solemn, and said: "Special Tile Forest is activating the Four Wind God Shrines one by one."

"Temple of the Four Winds?"

Luo De knows that name.

Mondstadt has a total of four temples, respectively representing the East Wind Dragon, West Wind Eagle, South Wind Lion, and North Wind Wolf. Although these temples have long been abandoned, they still retain the power of the wind god's retinue that the Four Winds Guardians once possessed.

Dvalin himself is the East Wind Dragon.

Therefore, it does not need to rely on the temples; it only needs to burn itself to release the power of the East Wind Dragon.

And what it is currently doing is.

That is to activate the other three temples, thereby disturbing Mondstadt's ley lines and element flow, stirring up a hurricane capable of engulfing all of Mondstadt.

If one were to say that Dvalin's previous attacks on Mondstadt were only minor skirmishes.

Then once the power of the Four Winds is fully activated, it will cause irreparable damage to the lives of Mondstadt's people.

"Should we go stop it?"

Luo De frowned and asked.

He has already somewhat grown accustomed to the disrupted element flow; physically he feels much more comfortable than before, and his mood has also eased, no longer feeling as irritable as before.

"No."

Unexpectedly, Venti shook his head and said: "With my current power, I can only barely calm it down, but I cannot control the poisonous blood inside it."

"Huh?"

Luo De's brows slightly furrowed as he asked: "Then why didn't you go calm it before? You had to wait until Dvalin and the West Wind Knights' conflict blew up before intervening?"

"Because it's useless."

Upon mentioning this, Venti's mood instantly dropped a lot: "The poisonous blood behind Dvalin, I cannot cleanse it."

Then.

He then proceeded to narrate his worries.

Venti actually woke up a bit earlier than Dvalin.

Five hundred years ago.

Dvalin, in his battle against the evil dragon Durin, encountered contamination by Abyssal poisonous blood, his spirit near collapse; it was Venti who exhausted his divine power to forcibly calm him down and placed him in the ruins left by the Storm Archon.

To ensure that no one would disturb Dvalin's rest in future generations.

Before his slumber, Venti laid down two seals for it.

One is a wind barrier surrounding the ruins; the other is a threefold seal and wind field barrier placed around Dvalin's nest.

With these two protections.

Over the past five hundred years.

Even if someone could breach the wind barrier, they still could not disturb Dvalin's slumber.

After Venti woke up.

After confirming that Tewalin's condition remained grim, he set off for the City of Mondstadt, preparing to rest and recuperate; once he regained some divine power, he would try to see if he could dispel the Abyssal poison blood from it, and even if he couldn't completely dispel it, as long as it could alleviate some of Tewalin's pain, that would be okay.

But Venti did not expect that.

When he was resting in the City of Mondstadt, someone actually disturbed the slumbering Tewalin, sending the already tormented creature into a complete frenzy, to the point that even with his current power he could hardly calm it down.

This made the situation utterly terrible.

Moreover, while Tewalin rampaged through Mondstadt, venting its anger, Venti did try to go over and communicate with it.

But each time it ended in failure.

Because he could not clear away the poisonous blood.

Moreover, with the Abyssal Cult meddling from the side, Tewalin later simply refused to listen to his calls; in this situation, even if he could use his wind god's power to forcibly calm Tewalin, that would only be a temporary measure.

"If the poisonous blood is not removed for a day, Tewalin's problem will not be solved for a day."

Luo De was seeing for the first time Venti showing such an expression—a complex mix of heartache, helplessness, anguish, sorrow, and so on.

However, since he said he wasn't preparing to go look for Tewalin now.

Luo De then guessed, saying, "So you're preparing to wait for the Traveler who can cleanse the poisonous blood to arrive?"

Upon hearing that,

Venti glanced at him and said, "You can too."

"I can't."

"You can."

"I really can't!!"

Upon thinking of Tewalin's massive form that blotted out the sky, Luo De resolutely said, "I can help the West Wind Knights deal with the Foolish Ones' problem, and I can also help them search for traces of the Abyssal Cult, but the only thing—I will not—go deal with Tewalin!!"

"I didn't say to let you go fight Tewalin."

Venti pursed his lips, changed his phrasing, and said again, "Just let you help cleanse the poisonous blood; that would be good for you."

"Huh?"

Luo De raised his eyebrows, his face showing a thoughtful expression.

What Venti said actually made sense.

He could devour the power of the Abyss—this had been confirmed in Sumeru.

The poisonous blood on Tewalin also belonged to the power of the Abyss.

Looking at it this way,

He indeed could try to devour that power.

If he wanted to devour that Abyssal poisonous blood, it would be inevitable to go fight Tewalin, but now Venti again says he doesn't need to fight himself.

"You mean."

"Let others fight, and I only take care of cleansing the poisonous blood?"

Luo De narrowed his eyes slightly and asked again.

"Hmm."

"With the help of the Skyward Harp, I can temporarily suppress Tevalin's violent ferocity, call back its good nature, and then you can take this opportunity to cleanse its poisoned blood."

"Cleanse as much as you can; anyway, the benefits will be yours."

Unbeknownst to him, Venti's face returned to its previous appearance, and he tossed out a temptation that could be called a heavenly lure, grinning.

Such benefits.

It also caused Luo De to fall into deep consideration again.

After a long while.

He turned his head to look at the Void Terminal filled with the Dendro Archon's power that Nadixa had made especially for him, and solemnly nodded: "Let's give it a try."

(End of chapter)