Chapter 225: Encountering the Abyss Prince?

On the way to the ruins.

Luo De finally understood why those Black Snake Knights showed him such hostility.

Just when he violently demolished the black mist area.

Those stray rocks accidentally crushed a few Hilichurl camps.

「. 」

Seeing this, Luo De suddenly understood, and could only let out a heavy sigh.

Not all Hilichurl in Teyvat are monsters born from ley lines.

Luo De had once read some popular science knowledge about Hilichurl in a book.

Good Sleep Clan, Good Meat Clan, Blacksun Clan.

This is a classification made by Mondstadt ecologist Yagebu Masike, acclaimed as the poet laureate of Hilichurl language, after years of research based on the habits and lifestyles of different Hilichurl.

Among them, the Good Sleep Clan and Good Meat Clan have had clear historical records since over a thousand years ago, sharing many similarities in behavior and social structure.

However, the Blacksun Clan only became widespread across the continent after the Black Disaster erupted five hundred years ago.

Unlike the Hilichurl tribes that admire strength and wit and faith in natural elements, the more mysterious and special Blacksun Clan Hilichurl place great importance on the mystical power of faith and also possess a totem marked with a black sun symbol.

In social structure, they also differ from the Good Sleep Clan and Good Meat Clan, possessing many habits similar to human society.

For example, Blacksun Clan elders are exempt from hunting, unlike the other two clans where they would be abandoned in the wild or eaten as rations by their kin; even young newborns need not hunt, they can simply wait in the tribe for adult Hilichurl to bring back food.

Shamans also hold the highest leadership position among the Blacksun Clan.

This is consistent with the other two clans.

However, the Blacksun Clan's shamans are stronger than those of the other two clans and possess wisdom comparable to that of humans.

Therefore,

The Blacksun Clan, with a social structure not inferior to that of humans and formidable martial prowess, has always been a troublesome Hilichurl subrace for all nations on the Teyvat continent.

Such distinctive traits have kept research on the Blacksun Clan ongoing without cease.

Scholars are all curious.

How this special tribe evolved from the relatively ignorant Hilichurl race remains unknown.

This is the matter that has left scholars baffled.

Luo De, however, is very clear about the truth behind it.

The so-called Blacksun Clan Hilichurl,

In essence, they are the survivors of the ancient nation of Khaenri'ah, which was destroyed by the Heavenly Principles five hundred years ago.

Luo De also knows little about the Khaenri'ah War, which affected the entire continent.

But he is still clear about the fate of those Khaenri'ah survivors.

After that war,

As the victorious side, the Heavenly Principles placed a curse on everyone with Khaenri'ah blood.

Among them, pureblood Khaenri'ah suffer the Immortality Curse, which manifests as halted growth and aging, preventing natural death; yet during this so-called immortality process, their bodies gradually suffer irreversible wear, and the curse slowly erodes and replaces their original tissue, causing them to lose precise control of their bodies and ultimately destroying even their self-consciousness.

Mixed-blood Khaenri'ah are afflicted with the Curse of the Wilderness, which drastically alters their appearance and greatly reduces their intellect, yet significantly boosts their elemental affinity, and before old age sets in, their bodily control does not noticeably deteriorate.

These Khaenri'ah people transformed into Hilichurl, becoming the Blacksun Clan Hilichurl that widely appeared across the Teyvat continent after the Black Disaster five hundred years ago.

To be honest,

Luo De has always felt that those Khaenri'ah citizens who turned into Hilichurl are pitiful.

The use of Abyss power is not something those innocent civilians could decide.

Yet they still received the cruelest punishment, becoming neither human nor ghost, and are constantly shouted at and attacked by Teyvat's people.

As for people like Hafdan, the Black Snake Knight, and the many Abyss Cult members Luo De has slain before,

they are actually pureblood Khaenri'ah who also suffer the Immortality Curse.

Unlike other pureblood Khaenri'ah who can still maintain a human appearance,

they, while immortal, have also been corrupted by Abyss power, ultimately becoming the inhuman forms they now possess.

The difference between them lies in

Abyss Cult members actively embraced the Abyss, their bodies assimilated to the same nature as Abyss monsters, yet their minds remain unchanged as those of Khaenri'ah people.

Black Snake Knights, however, did not intentionally embrace the Abyss; but Abyss power intensified their Immortality Curse, and over the long passage of time, their will and the flesh beneath their armor gradually faded, leaving only the armor itself and some deep-seated will in their memories.

Different Black Snake Knights uphold different wills.

The Black Snake Knights stationed beneath the Chasm guard the Khaenri'ah citizens who have become Hilichurl, and there is also a Black Snake Knight named Ingelshida discovered by the Academy in the Scarlet Sands Sea; his position is within the colossus at Tuha Falls, and as long as one does not approach the cockpit, he will not attack proactively, still firmly carrying out the order he received as a Swan Knight to guard the colossus.

Thus, Luo De's accidental harm to Hilichurl naturally provoked the fury of those Black Snake Knights who guard their people unto death.

If it weren't for Hafdan's timely appearance,

a conflict would surely be unavoidable.

Moreover, given the Black Snake Knights' manner of action, if they are not all slain, they will absolutely not relent.

Having realized the cause and effect,

Luo De deliberately made a detour to those few Hilichurl camps, placed down a flower, and then entered the ruins together with Hafdan.

Teyvat's Blossom.

This is Khaenri'ah's national flower.

In shaping plants, grass elemental energy is all-powerful.

Luo De has seen this flower before.

That was when he was in Mondstadt.

Ying wears a Teyvat's Blossom on her head.

Therefore, recreating it is not too troublesome; only the details might differ slightly, for Teyvat's Blossom has been defined as an extinct plant on the Teyvat continent, lacking detailed references, so relying solely on memory, Luo De can only achieve this much.

When Luo De was replicating Teyvat.

Ha Fu Dan also stopped before the ruins.

Although he, in a suit of armor, could not speak, the kindness he emitted was even more obvious than before.

This ruin is much larger than it appears from outside.

Similar to the outside situation, inside the ruin large numbers of Hilichurls in a death‑awaiting state can be seen everywhere, along with the Black Snake Knights who never leave their side.

And just upon entering the ruin,

Luo De then smelled a strong residual abyssal power in the air here.

It cannot compare to the Black Mist Area, but it is far higher than the average level of the Underground Mining Area.

"Has anyone from the Abyss been here?"

With this doubt, Luo De raised his guard, and he quickly saw what help Ha Fu Dan wanted from him.

That was a group of Abyss Apostles busy constructing instruments.

That's right.

A group!

The number is at least twenty.

The leader of this group of Abyss Apostles was currently locking eyes with Luo De.

A blond youth whose appearance somewhat resembled Ying's.

(End of chapter)