"Mr. Mu Yang, are you hungry after walking for so long on the road?"
Kachina asked. While speaking, she took out various things and introduced them.
"I still have candy, bread, drinks, fried rice, baked apples..."
Mu Yang could still understand the candy and bread. After all, it made sense to bring food when going out for a long trip.
But weren't the things after that a bit over the top?
This was basically a mobile cafeteria.
Most importantly, it reminded Mu Yang of a similarly thoughtful little girl from Liyue — Yaoyao...
Although Mu Yang did not really need it, he still cooperated very well and took a small bread.
Kachina also found a place to sit down and slowly started eating.
"Hehe, I like carrying a lot of things with me, because Mom always tells me that being prepared means no worries."
"Even though there aren't many opportunities to use them… but if I can help others, I'm very happy."
Mu Yang thanked her.
Kachina smiled even more sweetly.
At this moment, Mu Yang suddenly felt a massive creature approaching from behind.
He quickly stood up and became alert.
Mu Yang's gaze passed through the bushes and saw the giant beast hidden behind them.
It was called hidden, but it actually could not hide at all.
Its neck was too long.
It was just like a giraffe.
"Ah, it's Toto!"
Mu Yang withdrew the hand that had been on his sword.
"Toto?"
"Wuuu—"
The dragon called Toto lowered its head, seemingly wanting Mu Yang to pet its head.
Mu Yang did so.
This time, Kachina was not as shocked as when she had seen Ayu getting close to Mu Yang earlier.
One reason was that she had gotten somewhat used to it.
The second was that Toto was originally a very gentle dragon.
"You're full of energy today too." Kachina smiled.
"Wuu—"
Then, Kachina introduced her animal friend to Mu Yang.
Cheese Toto...
There were many dragons like this in the vicinity. Toto was the kindest and most enthusiastic one among them.
"He circles around here every day, as if he specifically wants to leave a deep impression on outsiders. He also takes the chance to show off his strong, big body!"
"Wuuu—" Toto responded.
Then it lowered its entire body.
Mu Yang asked, "Does this mean he wants us to get on?"
Kachina nodded. "It seems he plans to give us a ride for a while."
"Then thank you for your kindness." After Mu Yang finished speaking, he flipped onto the top of its head in one smooth motion.
Kachina also jumped up.
Just like that, the two of them set off toward the Sacred Flame Arena under the dragon's guidance.
It could be considered a top-tier sightseeing experience.
Mu Yang asked Kachina how she had gotten to know Toto.
Kachina recalled, "When I was little, I went to the Sacred Flame Arena with my mom and dad and bought a lot of fruit. On the way back, the cart carrying the fruit flipped over."
At that time, Toto was not even half as big as he was now.
When she saw him walking over, Kachina thought he was going to eat her favorite raspberries and sunset fruits, and she was so scared that she burst into tears.
In the end, not only did he not eat a single fruit, he even drove away the other dragons that wanted to snatch the fruit.
"Finally, he used his big head and with a bang, pushed the cart back upright."
"From then on, I often brought fruit here to feed him. The name Toto was also given by me."
As Kachina spoke, she gently stroked Toto beneath her.
"Wuu— wuu—"
It seemed Toto was very smart and knew what they were talking about.
"Actually, he eats a lot and grows very fast. In the blink of an eye, he has already become such a big guy."
"Wuu—" Toto let out another happy cry.
He probably thought Kachina was praising him.
"Look, the Sacred Flame Arena is over there!" Soon, the two of them saw the magnificent and spectacular building.
"We'll stop here. Thank you for the ride, Toto."
The road ahead was not easy for large creatures, so Kachina let Toto go back first.
After crossing a wooden bridge, the two finally arrived at their destination — the Sacred Flame Arena.
"We're finally here. I arranged to meet my friends…" Kachina looked around.
"They haven't arrived yet?"
"We've been here for ages! We arrived so early we don't even know when anymore. You're the one who's too slow!"
A sharp criticism came from the side.
Mu Yang looked toward the source of the voice and could not help but feel shocked by the novelty of Natlan characters.
The planners must have been drunk.
What was this?
This thing was clearly not on the same layer as the world they were in, okay?
Did you travel over from Minecraft, complete with pixel blocks?
As it turned out, this strange creature could also change size freely.
After throwing its tantrum, it returned to its normal state, just like in a cartoon.
It continued scolding Kachina, "Do you know? Your lateness didn't just waste those two people's time, it also wasted mine!"
"Most importantly, you wasted my time!"
At this sentence, it completely overheated...
"This is…"
Before Kachina could introduce him, a young man walked out from the side.
"Try to restrain your temper in front of people who don't know you, so you don't get beaten up."
The young man had his hands in his pockets. "Even if you know Kachina won't get angry at you, you still can't climb all over her face."
It seemed this young man was the owner of the strange creature.
"Tch, who do you think you are? This great lord is the magnificent—"
Before he could finish the sentence, the young man waved his hand and sent it flying to the distant horizon.
Just like Team Rocket and Big Bad Wolf...
This way of handling things was really too outdated and abstract.
Mu Yang had only seen it on television before.
He had not expected it to be done like this in reality.
"Sorry, he was too noisy. I sent him to solitary confinement."
"There's no need to do that. Ajaw is just straightforward by nature. I don't mind."
Kachina really was a good child. Even at a time like this, she was still pleading on behalf of the strange dragon called Ajaw.
"Ajaw deserves it. Who told him not to learn his lesson every single time?"
Another one of Kachina's friends.
This time it was a girl dressed in light, cool clothing.
"Hehe, I knew you guys, Mualani, wouldn't be late…"
Mualani smiled brightly. "I thought you ran into some danger on the way here. Turns out you made a new friend."
Mu Yang extended his hand. "I am Mu Yang, a traveling merchant from Liyue. I came to watch the [Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame]."
"Hello, I'm Mualani."
"Kinich." After the young man introduced himself, he glanced behind the two of them.
"Why is only Mr. Mu Yang here? Where are your teammates?"
Kinich was a veteran player of the [Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame].
He naturally knew that as a person from Liyue, Mu Yang could not participate.
Kachina looked a little embarrassed. "I'll look for some when registering later…"
Kinich knew that little Kachina had been disliked again.
Although he did not say it outright, he still subtly named those people.
The team competition allowed for some tricks, but when it came to the individual battles, one still had to rely on their own true ability.
Unfortunately, the current Kachina still lacked confidence. Even now she could not guarantee 100% that she could enter the individual battles.
"No one can guarantee something like this. You don't need to put so much psychological pressure on yourself."
Mualani comforted her.
During training these past few days, most of what Kachina had talked about were things about Mualani.
It seemed this person was indeed her best friend.