"Taken…?" Gu echoed, frowning. "What did it look like exactly?"
Xiao Lu bit her finger, eyes wide with fear."It was huge, all blue, its claws as big as a barrel."
Time was precious."Can you take me to where it happened?" he asked gently.
She nodded, nervous but determined.Gu turned to the mother."You tried the Wangshu Inn for help?"
"Of course," the woman said bleakly. "But they're all ordinary folk. No Visions. They refused."
"How crowded was the inn? Same as usual these past days?"His sudden questions puzzled her, but she answered: "Always busy—nothing unusual."
Gu's frown deepened."By common logic, danger nearby should reduce residents, not leave numbers unchanged."
He explained his reasoning: days ago, blue monsters had appeared even far inland.If they sought food or simple destruction, a coastal village should be unsafe.
"Likely the inn pays mercenaries to clear monsters," he mused, thinking of the ice-wielding greatsword exorcist he'd once glimpsed."Someone must have seen a creature that size. Ask them."
She hesitated, but with her husband away she had no one else."…All right."
"This is the place," Xiao Lu soon called, pointing to black reefs along a quiet beach."I hid there and saw the blue monster take him."
Gu studied the sand: broad overlapping footprints, but no blood or scraps of clothing.
"If it was truly a sea beast," he told the mother, "the boy likely wouldn't survive."His tone sharpened:"Go to the inn now and ask if anyone saw a two-meter blue creature.If no one did, this may be man-made."
Without waiting for reply he sprinted off, following the more hopeful trail of human foul play rather than certain death.
Perhaps the "monster" was only a tall man in a blue cloak and mask, easily mistaken by a frightened child.
If kidnappers were involved, they would hide the boy until nightfall to move him.The best hideout? The abandoned villages guarded by that colossal Hilichurl king.
Thanks to his Comprehensive Physique Lv 4, Gu devoured the distance in minutes.
The first village was empty.In the next, he pushed open a rough wooden door—and froze.A wide swath of dust had been freshly wiped away.
They moved him.
Wiping sweat from his brow, he sprinted toward the Hilichurl settlement he'd seen earlier.
Gripping the sand-bearing relic, he climbed the steps to stand before the towering Stonehelm King, a being two or three stories tall.
"Hello," Gu greeted, forcing calm.
"Greetings, friend of humans," the mighty ruler rumbled, golden eyes blinking once.
"These diligent Hilichurls, under your guidance, scout diligently," Gu said, then asked,"Have you seen any humans pass through recently?"
The king looked to the watchtower."Yes," said a red-haired archer Hilichurl.
"Where?" the king asked, eyes both stern and warm.
"They are moving—elemental men," the archer replied, pointing toward a distant hill.
Inside a shadowed cave, a group of kidnappers huddled.Two children were there—one unconscious, the other struggling.
"To serve the Doctor is your honor," said a tall figure in crimson velvet and a formal hat, sliding a needle into the boy's hand.
Clatter…A pebble rolled across stone.
"Go check," ordered a reclining Fatui Skirmisher, opening cold eyes.
"Why me?" grumbled the bulky Cryo guard, but he rose and trudged out.
The cave wasn't long.Soon he saw a black-clad youth waiting nervously.
"You… did you… kidnap—"
The young man gasped, turned as if terrified, and fled.
"Stop!"The guard lunged after him into the sunlight.
"Come out!" the Cryo guard shouted back into the cave.The others—Electro, Pyro, Hydro gunners—grabbed their gleaming weapons and rushed out.
As daylight struck their eyes they halted in shock.
Before them loomed a giant plated in pale-gold rock, dark-gold eyes glinting with a chill light—a living mountain barring their path.