Chapter Seventeen: Aftermath
The Dead Zone vanished—in theory, it should have been broken by the Grass element core, but under the purest force, along with that forbidden knowledge, it was completely shattered by Little White.
Gazing down at the spherical pit hundreds of meters deep beneath him, Lin Feng chose to temporarily forget the consequences this would bring.
Feeling the still limp Lan Nalu in his arms, Lin Feng reached out casually to touch her twice more—he had wanted to try it for a while, and indeed, the sensation was quite pleasant. He found some bitter amusement in this.
Fixating on the still unconscious girl, Lin Feng, with a rigorous attitude, pinched her limbs—checking if any arms or legs were missing.
Looking at the pack horse beside him that had lost a leg, Lin Feng reckoned the girl would understand.
After confirming the girl was unharmed, Lin Feng let out a slight breath of relief.
He then looked at Little White, whose status had reverted to “extreme hunger” and who was in the midst of a biological extinction event, and Lin Feng admitted he was exhausted—let destruction commence.
...
From the very beginning, Lin Feng had vaguely known it would end this way.
Except for himself, all other living and non-living beings around him were wiped out.
Although this was the minimal output he had instructed Little White to exert, the devastating consequences still exceeded his expectations.
The elements within Little White were far too complex—seven in total, seven different elemental ultimate abilities—some even derived from formidable beings no less than gods.
The excessive interference and fusion among these elements meant that using just one element alone was extremely difficult for Little White.
It was either using them all together or not at all.
At first, Lin Feng thought Little White lacked the intelligence to control its power.
That assumption was only partially correct, as even a slime could freely wield its abilities.
So when Lin Feng finally realized this, his attitude toward Little White became: just behave as a mascot obediently, or else one day even Teyvat might disappear.
Though Lin Feng understood there was a mysterious bond between him and Little White that prevented its power from harming him, he still avoided using it unnecessarily since energy is conserved. After using power, even Little White needed to replenish energy, manifesting as extreme hunger.
Putting his worries aside, Lin Feng used elemental power to build a vine bridge, moving from the rock pillar beneath his feet to the edge of the pit.
He pulled out the still trembling Lan Nalu from his arms.
Looking at her dark green hat and blue butterfly bow, along with the distinctive green aura shield, Lin Feng recognized the little creature before him.
“Lan Lana?”
Lin Feng tentatively called out her name.
“Wah!”
Lan Lana let out a sharp scream and continued trembling.
“Um... little cabbage?” Lin Feng recalled the traits of these little beings and tentatively uttered a term they disliked.
“That’s not cabbage! I’m Lan Lana. Lan Lana is a friend, and Lan Nalu’s too.”
Although she had been frightened moments before, hearing herself called cabbage stiffened Lan Lana’s posture as she began to object.
Lin Feng: “......”
“As you can see, I came into the Dead Zone to save the child in your arms. I won’t harm you.”
“So, there’s no need for you to be so scared of me.”
Lin Feng knew that as one of the ancient Lan Nalu, Lan Lana was not truly afraid of humans. Even human communication methods were fully adaptable for her.
“Lan La Lin Feng is a good Lan La. He defeated the big iron block and Wuliutuo. He is a hero.”
Lan Lana replied frankly.
“Then why are you afraid of me?” Lin Feng was curious.
“Lan La Lin Feng is rough. He held Lan Lana without permission. Lan Lana felt bad.” Lan Lana shook her body as she answered.
Lin Feng: “......”
He hadn’t expected that reason. A misstep, but he’d dare to try it again next time.
“That was to protect you... Otherwise, even if you are a Lan Nalu, if you had been swept by that white light just now, you probably would have vanished instantly without even a chance to become a seed.”
“And where did you learn such a messy word? ‘Stain’ isn’t used like that. Forget that word quickly, or you’ll corrupt the children!”
Lin Feng changed the topic while explaining.
“Ah, Lan Lana understands. Thank you, Lan La Lin Feng, for protecting Lan Lana. ‘Stain’ bad—forget!” Lan Lana nodded, clearly convinced.
“I have a request. Can you keep everything that happened here a secret? Don’t tell the other Lan Nalu or humans this ‘story’,” Lin Feng said to Lan Lana.
“Lan La Lin Feng, who defeated the big iron block and Wuliutuo, is a hero. Agreed to keep secret.”
Pure Lan Lana easily consented.
“Sigh... it’s ‘keep secret,’ not ‘hold secret’... never mind, as long as you get the meaning,” Lin Feng sighed, slightly helpless.
“Can you explain the situation? Why are you here?”
Returning to the main topic, Lin Feng was curious why Lan Lana knew the girl from Liyue.
“Lan La Yunlu is a kind Lan La. She sings various songs to Lan Lana. They are friends,” Lan Lana replied.
During the conversation with Lan Lana, Lin Feng gradually learned everything:
It turned out that the man outside had come to Ormos Harbor to find a friend. This black-haired girl named Yunlu had never left Liyue and begged the man to bring her to Sumeru. Perhaps because she had been studying in school all this time, she retained a childlike innocence. While passing by the Vimmo Manor, she met Lan Lana, who lingered nearby.
The girl loved music and was interested in Lan Lana’s songs, so they became friends.
From Vimmo Manor to Huacheng Guo, Lan Lana accompanied the girl. When the adults were absent, she quietly played with friendless Yunlu. Who would have known that en route to Huacheng Guo, the Dead Zone suddenly appeared? Startled by a pack horse, Yunlu was dragged deep into the Dead Zone. Although Lan Lana helped avoid the monsters along the way, they were eventually blocked by a flying dragon beast at the Dead Zone’s core.
After that, Lin Feng knew the rest—the man, desperate after losing his daughter, couldn’t find anyone in the forest to help. Seeing Lin Feng approach, he was naturally overwhelmed with emotion. Being a father with only one daughter, he offered all the caravan’s wealth and even kneeled to persuade Lin Feng.
Having clarified everything, Lin Feng entrusted Lan Lana to help conceal the traces here as much as possible, then set off with the girl in his arms to find the man still in the forest.
Because this rescue had been too intense.
Exhausted in both body and mind, Lin Feng clearly did not notice that the girl in his arms had been breathing erratically since moments ago.
On the way back, Lin Feng calculated the gains and losses of this mission. The losses were obvious—Little White’s renewed hunger, the near-total destruction of a small rainforest patch, his ruined clothes, and most crucially, the aftereffects this event would bring.
However, the gains exceeded Lin Feng’s expectations. Besides successfully rescuing the man’s daughter and eradicating such a high-level Dead Zone, though no splendid treasure chest appeared, Lin Feng still received a gift from the ley lines—a massive surge of energy sufficient to level up seven times.
Walking along, Lin Feng looked at the small girl with closed eyes in his arms, gazing at her gentle features and the Liyue face so distinct from most Sumeru natives.
Feeling a long-lost familiarity in his heart, Lin Feng exhaled deeply, feeling no regret—if it had to happen again, he believed he would make the same choice.