Liyue.
Chaiqiao Valley.
At this moment, Makoto was accompanying Ganyu on a patrol around The Chasm.
Along the way, the two did not discover anything out of the ordinary.
The mountain path was exceptionally quiet, with only Little Sparrows perched on the treetops, chirping occasionally.
The weather today was pleasant.
The sun was bright and the sky was clear.
The mountains were covered in blooming flowers.
A cool breeze blew, scattering the petals everywhere and filling the mountain forest with their fragrance.
Even during the patrol, Ganyu couldn't help but glance at the flowers multiple times.
She couldn't help but think to herself, if she could lie down in such an environment for a nap, she would surely have a beautiful dream, right?
In the game's lore, Ganyu is extremely fond of flowers.
Sometimes, just to protect a patch of sweet flowers, she would drive away a group of encamped Hilichurls.
It can be said that Ganyu's love for flowers is extremely strong.
As Ganyu was deep in thought,
Makoto reached out and gently waved his hand in front of Ganyu.
"Miss Ganyu? Miss Ganyu? Are you listening?"
Ganyu realized she had zoned out and quickly refocused her attention.
She looked up, her clear, water-like eyes gazing at Makoto.
"Mr. Fang Xun, is there a problem?"
Makoto then voiced his confusion: "I wanted to ask, are we almost at The Chasm?"
He paused, then continued: "What were you thinking about just now, Miss Ganyu? I called your name several times, but you didn't seem to hear me."
For a moment, Ganyu's pretty face flushed.
She also realized she had been a bit out of sorts.
How could she zone out during work?
This was truly inexcusable.
Ganyu apologized to Mr. Fang Xun, feeling embarrassed: "Mr. Fang Xun, I'm sorry, I was distracted just now."
"As for your question... The outskirts of The Chasm are not far ahead."
"Currently, The Chasm is still under lockdown, so we just need to investigate near the entrance."
Makoto nodded lightly.
After a brief silence,
he looked up at Ganyu again, smiling as he said, "Miss Ganyu, you must really like white roses, right?"
Makoto had also noticed.
When Ganyu had been distracted earlier, her beautiful eyes had been fixed on the white roses not far away.
Perhaps Ganyu had a special fondness for white roses?
Far more than for Qingxin or sweet flowers.
Ganyu clearly hadn't expected Makoto to ask such a question.
She was initially surprised, then nodded gently, not denying it.
"Yes, Mr. Fang Xun, I think white roses are very beautiful."
"I always feel that these wild white roses are different from the ones grown in flower shops in Liyue."
"White roses that grow in the mountains have a richer fragrance."
Ganyu also shared her insights with Makoto.
After all, she has a half-human, half-Adeptus constitution,
and her perception of flowers is far superior to that of ordinary people.
Originally, Ganyu wanted to share more of her insights,
however, the next second,
her expression changed from relaxed to serious.
"Mr. Fang Xun, there's something amiss ahead."
"It's... Treasure Hoarders!"
Makoto followed Ganyu's gaze.
He saw a group of Treasure Hoarders mining in a cave not far ahead.
The Treasure Hoarders seemed to be digging very hard.
Their pickaxes were almost smoking, and they didn't seem to stop for a moment's rest.
Ganyu noticed that this group of Treasure Hoarders was digging towards The Chasm.
Although she didn't know their purpose for doing so,
Ganyu naturally would not allow anyone to step into the forbidden zone of The Chasm.
"You have already violated Liyue's relevant regulations. Stop all your actions immediately and come with me."
The Treasure Hoarders were startled by Ganyu's sudden appearance.
"Boss, an Adeptus, an Adeptus is here!"
"Why is Ganyu here? Didn't they say this excavation was very secretive and no one would find out?"
"What do we do now? Ganyu is an Adeptus of Liyue, and she's very powerful. Should we run away quickly??"
The Treasure Hoarder members also knew Ganyu was powerful.
Ganyu was an Adeptus of Liyue, definitely not someone they, ordinary people, could deal with.
So many of them panicked the moment they saw Ganyu.
Only one burly man holding a shovel looked a little calmer.
He was the one the Treasure Hoarder members called 'Boss'.
Looking at his unaccomplished subordinates, the Treasure Hoarder Boss looked disappointed.
"Look at how useless you all are, what have you become after seeing an Adeptus?"
"What do you mean 'run away quickly'? Don't you think it's ridiculous when you say that?"
"It's just an Adeptus, isn't it? Is there any need to run away when you see her? I choose to surrender on the spot!"
The Treasure Hoarder Boss threw down his weapon and, with a thud, directly knelt before Ganyu.
"Lady Ganyu, I have already done as you commanded, please don't make a move."
The reason he was so decisive was for no other reason than that he clearly knew the vast difference in strength between humans and Adepti.
As an Adeptus, if Ganyu wanted to deal with them, it would be effortless.
The difference between eating once and eating every day, the Treasure Hoarder Boss still understood clearly.
With their boss leading the way, all the subordinates also knelt down and surrendered.
Ganyu seemed to be accustomed to the Treasure Hoarders' bullying and cowardly style of doing things.
She continued to inquire: "Do you know that The Chasm has been sealed, and no one is allowed to approach it?"
"And yet you still tried to dig a tunnel privately, which is an aggravated offense."
"Now I can clearly tell you that you will face imprisonment for ten years or more."
Upon hearing this, the Treasure Hoarder Boss said in fear and unease: "Ten years or more? Lady Ganyu, we don't want to be imprisoned!"
"Actually, there's nothing we can do, someone behind us is forcing us to do this..."
The Treasure Hoarder Boss wanted to continue speaking,
when the ground suddenly trembled violently.
Two Ancient Geovishaps burst out of the ground and landed heavily, causing the earth to shake.
The two Ancient Geovishaps were enormous, as if they could blot out the sky.
Most importantly, their eyes were bloodshot and they were extremely violent.
The two Ancient Geovishaps let out deafening roars, their massive tails forcefully striking the ground.
Mud splattered, and dust billowed.
They were even more frenzied than the Ancient Geovishap Makoto had seen before.
He noticed that behind both of these Ancient Geovishaps was a mass of black substance.
It was not difficult to see that it was the black mud, a substance unique to The Chasm.
When a character approaches black mud, they continuously lose HP and their movement speed decreases.
When monsters are tainted by black mud, they become even more violent.
At this moment, these two Ancient Geovishaps had lost control.
They were frantically destroying everything.
The Treasure Hoarder Boss immediately realized something and said to Ganyu: "Adeptus, Adeptus, you'd better hurry and take us to be imprisoned!"
"Those Fatui want to kill us to silence us!"