Chapter 161: Venti Preparing to Use Herself as Bait

Venti and Lisa are helping.

This draft went very smoothly, and we also added many previously unknown details.

But whether these are true or false, no one knows.

But even such a half‑true, half‑false addition was enough to make Qin's gaze toward Venti burn hotter.

The West Wind Knights are now severely short‑handed.

Not only are they lacking in combat strength, but intelligence personnel are extremely scarce—even a guerrilla squad tasked with professional outdoor hunting has to be stationed at Jingfu Port.

To speak frankly.

Although the people of Mondstadt firmly believe that Qin will surely lead the West Wind Knights to resolve the disaster of the Wind Demon Dragon, Qin herself has no confidence at all.

In her words.

A detailed draft has been completed.

Qin read it carefully once.

Venti's words are absolutely authoritative.

The Abyss Order seized exactly on this psychology of theirs, and thus took the opportunity to keep stirring things up, hoping to completely shut down the path to reconciliation between the West Wind Knights and Stormterror.

This is Venti's answer.

'If Stormterror focuses, as before, only on harassing the wilderness and does not attack the city, then unless Falgus leads the elite of the West Wind Knights back, Mondstadt will be dragged to death by it.'

This is merely a reluctant statement.

But it's a pity.

But in reality.

They've been busy for a long time.

At first hearing, this sounds like she can go fight the Wind Demon Dragon.

Moreover, no flaw can be found.

Venti cannot speak for all Mondstadt residents, and those Mondstadt people who blindly trust the West Wind Knights simply don't see this point at all.

Putting it another way,

'If Stormterror focuses solely on attacking Mondstadt City and goes nowhere else, the eventual result will be mutual destruction.'

Earlier Luo De asked Venti whether, relying solely on the current West Wind Knights in Mondstadt City, they could possibly contend with a weakened Stormterror, even wound or kill it.

If it truly comes to the point where we must confront the Wind Demon Dragon, she will become the knight charging at the forefront.

He said the West Wind Knights can't win, and that really means they can't win.

As the individual most familiar with both the West Wind Knights and Stormterror...

This is precisely the state where the West Wind Knights are completely at a loss against Stormterror—even though Stormterror is currently tormented by poisoned blood, its strength has greatly diminished, and it is at its weakest.

It feels very immersive.

It feels as if this isn't a rumor at all, but something that has actually happened.

"Come up with a misleading title, add an attractive gimmick, and it's best to have a subtle connection between different pieces of information—something that seems unrelated at first glance but, upon closer look, reveals a tiny detail that makes one think dreadfully."

"Spreading rumors, shaping public opinion—Luo De may not be a professional, but even if he's never eaten pork, he's certainly seen pigs run."

Qin noted down everything he said.

Then, following Luo De's suggestion, she gave it some thought, broke down these drafts that make it hard to tell truth from fiction, and began planning to allocate the different information to different people.

After finishing these,

Luo De then said, "We need to get the Harp of the Sky quickly."

"Stormterror's condition is poor, and it's only getting worse; if we drag things out too long, even using the Harp of the Sky might not have any effect."

After urging Qin once more, Luo De and Venti left the West Wind Knights together.

But the two had just stepped out the door.

when they immediately sensed that the flow of elements around them had suddenly become chaotic again.

"So soon?"

Luo De, who had been in a decent mood, suddenly furrowed his brows.

Hardly any time had passed before Stormterror activated the second shrine.

At this rate,

by this afternoon it could activate the third shrine, thereby stirring up a hurricane strong enough to affect all of Mondstadt.

"It's an Abyss Mage."

Venti muttered from the side.

With Qianfeng's help, he understands Stormterror's situation far better than Luo De does.

"Another Abyss Mage."

Luo De stroked his chin, thinking of the Abyss Mage currently being interrogated by Kaeya.

At the same time he thought of another question.

"There's an Abyss Mage right beside Stormterror; if you don't deal with that Abyss Mage, even if you play the tune, it probably won't calm it down smoothly."

That's a major problem.

Since that Abyss Mage has been bewitching Stormterror all along, moving it requires confronting Stormterror head‑on, so getting rid of it is extremely difficult.

"That's why I said that."

"We need someone to help restrain Stormterror."

Venti said while walking, "First we need to lure out Stormterror, then have someone pin down its attention so it doesn't slip away quickly, and then you look for a chance to find that Abyss Mage and kill it."

"Without your strength, it won't be easy to hold Stormterror back."

Luo De frowned slightly.

Te Walin can fly.

This is a major problem lying before us.

And this guy isn't just able to fly; its flight speed is also extremely fast.

Being capable of supersonic flight that can create sonic booms, it is destined that without Venti's help, wanting to catch up to it is basically impossible.

Besides that.

There is another even more headache-inducing problem.

That is, even with Venti's help enabling one to catch up to Te Walin, probably no one can withstand Te Walin's attack head-on.

Let me say something unpleasant.

Even if Te Walin doesn't use elemental energy, just relying on its huge body, unless one can achieve absolute overwhelming strength, wanting to engage in close combat with it is utterly impossible.

Moreover, Te Walin is an elemental dragon, a dragon that has lived for at least a thousand years.

The characteristic of elemental beings is that the older they are, the more terrifying their internal elemental energy reserves become.

Therefore, Te Walin, which has lived for over a thousand years, whether in its reserves of wind elemental energy or its innate affinity for elemental energy, is something mortals cannot even attempt to challenge.

Just as Luo De was pondering how to kill that Abyssal Mage without provoking Te Walin, Venti gave his answer.

I.

Huh? You?

Luo De paused, his scrutinizing gaze fixed on Venti as he said: "You said your divine power is weak and you didn't want to act, didn't you?"

I really am weak right now." Venti smiled: "But think about it—Te Walin, under the Abyssal Mage's bewitching, is full of hatred toward me, so I'm practically the perfect bait."

Using oneself as bait.

Restraining Te Walin's attention.

This is the idea Venti came up with.

Very dangerous.

Luo De only said these three words.

Hmm, I know.

However.

I believe in Te Walin, and I also believe in you.

Venti was still laughing, as if carefree.

These words left Luo De silent.

Such sudden trust left him somewhat at a loss.

After a moment.

Only then did Luo De nod and say: "Then let's do as you said."

(End of chapter)