Chapter 90 – Unlucky Bennett

Qiu Bai and Lumine stood atop the cliff, gazing down at the familiar figure below.

Then Qiu Bai leaped directly down. From such a height, when he landed, there wasn’t even the slightest sound—he merely tapped the ground lightly with his toes and slowly steadied himself.

Lumine, meanwhile, glided down using her Wind Glider.

“Bennett, what are you doing here?”

Lumine looked at Bennett curiously as she asked.

Paimon, who had been on the cliff, also flew down.

“So you were here—I wondered where you suddenly disappeared to.”

“Huh? Isn’t this Bennett?”

Paimon floated down, looking somewhat surprised at the sight of Bennett. After all, it was late at night, and they were out in the wilderness.

“Hehe, as the leader of Benny’s Adventure Team, I never let the night stop me from moving forward.”

Bennett rubbed his head and grinned.

“Still, you should be careful walking alone at night. After all, Bennett’s luck… well, how should I put it?”

Paimon looked at the enthusiastic young man before her and sighed, covering her head.

“By the way, Honorary Knight, and Paimon… who’s that behind you?”

Bennett glanced at Qiu Bai not far away and asked softly.

“My name is Qiu Bai. I’m from Liyue and serve as a Consultant at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Qiu Bai walked over with a smile and extended a hand toward Bennett.

“Hehe, I’m Bennett, leader of Benny’s Adventure Team!”

Bennett shook Qiu Bai’s hand, still grinning.

“But Traveler, where are you all headed? I heard you went to Liyue—why are you back already?”

Bennett asked curiously.

“We returned because of some matters. Is everyone in the City of Mondstadt doing well?”

Lumine looked at Bennett with a smile.

“Yeah, everyone’s great. Fischl said something… let me think.”

Bennett scratched his head, trying hard to recall Fischl’s words.

“‘To the traveler in distant lands, this Prinzessin wishes to shelter her loyal friend.’”

Bennett looked at the group, imitating Fischl’s tone with a dramatic flair.

“Truly Klee’s style,” Qiu Bai chuckled upon hearing this.

“Seems like Fischl hasn’t changed a bit. If she went out without Oz, communicating with people would probably be a bit difficult.”

Paimon looked at Lumine beside her and laughed.

“Since Bennett’s here too, why don’t you come back to Mondstadt with us?”

Lumine smiled at Bennett.

“Hmm… I have been adventuring out here for a while now. It’s about time I headed back.”

Bennett nodded at the group, then patted his stomach.

“Bennett must be hungry too. We just happened to grill some fish—let’s head back and eat.”

Paimon stomped her feet happily.

Lumine nodded in agreement, and the group made their way back up the cliff.

“That Dainsleif… I wonder if he’s asleep or not.”

Looking at Dainsleif, who still had his eyes slightly closed and hadn’t moved, Paimon waved her hand dismissively.

“This is the wilderness. One must never let their guard down—it’s a matter of survival.”

Dainsleif slowly opened his eyes and spoke calmly to the group.

“However, your fish seems to have burned.”

Dainsleif turned his head toward the fish over the campfire and reminded them.

“What?!”

“I went to look for you and completely forgot about it!”

Paimon quickly flew over, but it was already too late—the fish were almost burnt to charcoal.

“It’s all my fault, I’m sorry.”

Bennett looked at the charred fish and spoke with some guilt.

“It’s alright, Bennett.”

Qiu Bai patted Bennett’s shoulder, then walked up to the campfire, snow-white energy swirling in his hand.

White light infused into the fish, and as he watched them slowly turn from black to a roasted brown, Qiu Bai nodded, glancing at the others nearby.

“Alright, come and eat.”

“I’ve fixed the fish.”

Qiu Bai said with a smile.

“Wow… Qiu Bai is amazing.”

“He actually managed to restore fish burnt to charcoal back to normal.”

Paimon looked at Qiu Bai in amazement, clapping her hands as she spoke.

“Let’s eat quickly, we still have to travel tomorrow.”

Lumine said with a smile, then sat down by the campfire, picked up a plump fish, and began eating it bite by bite.

Seeing this, Paimon and Bennett also walked over.

“Hehe, then I won’t hold back.”

Bennett rubbed his head, speaking a bit sheepishly.

“We don’t have to travel tomorrow morning.”

“Sleep well, I’m here.”

Hearing this, Qiu Bai chuckled. The reason he didn’t use teleportation was because he wanted to see the scenery of Mondstadt. He had visited once a thousand years ago, and after so much time had passed, he naturally wanted to walk around a bit.

“Hooray, that’s great!”

“My phantom limbs finally don’t have to walk anymore.”

Paimon stomped her feet happily upon hearing this.

Lumine also nodded with a smile.

“What do you mean, no walking?”

Bennett looked confusedly at the people in front of him. They were still so far from the City of Mondstadt—it would take a long time just to walk there.

“Bennett, you’ll see tomorrow.”

“Qiu Bai’s little Mystic Arts.”

Paimon gave Bennett a mysterious smile before continuing to eat the grilled fish.

“Oh, right, Dainsleif, do you want some?”

“There’s still some here.”

Paimon looked at Dainsleif, who was still sitting on the rock, and asked softly.

“Haha, I won’t eat.”

“You all go ahead.”

Dainsleif slowly opened his eyes, gave Paimon a light chuckle, then slowly closed them again.

“Alright.”

Paimon gave Dainsleif a strange look, then turned around and began eating the fish in big bites.

Qiu Bai sat on the grass, holding a skewer of fish in one hand, and took a bite.

“Hmm… Paimon’s cooking isn’t bad.”

“I quite like it.”

After tasting it, Qiu Bai praised Paimon, who wasn’t far away.

“Hehe, it’s not that amazing.”

“After all, if it weren’t for Qiu Bai, we probably wouldn’t be able to eat these fish.”

Paimon rubbed her head sheepishly and said with a smile.

Time passed bit by bit, and Bennett, Lumine, and Paimon had all fallen asleep.

Paimon nestled in Lumine’s arms, and Lumine held Paimon with both hands as they lay on the grass, fast asleep.

As for why they didn’t use the Serenitea Pot, it was because Ping’er had rushed the production of the two pots, which meant there were no buildings inside. Even if they entered, they could only lie on the grass.

Thinking of this, Qiu Bai couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

It seemed he still needed to gather wood and other materials so he could use his Divine Power to build a house inside the pot later.

Then, Qiu Bai used his Divine Power to sense Dainsleif.

“Is he asleep too?”

Qiu Bai murmured.

“Time to sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll go see the City of Mondstadt.”

“After all, it’s been a long time since I’ve been there.”

Qiu Bai clasped his hands behind his head, crossed his legs, and lay on the ground, gazing at the stars in the sky as he murmured softly.

Then he slowly closed his eyes.