Driving the carriage, he arrived at the pool where the Spring Sprite resided.
Ryan watched a person stealthily filling bottles with water.
"Good fellow, better late than never!"
After he finished filling, Ryan whipped the horse, guiding it down the stairs.
Going uphill on the stairs was strenuous but not dangerous. Going downhill, if the carriage lost control, an accident could occur.
To prevent the other party from panicking and running around to cause trouble after his evil deeds were exposed, Ryan deliberately whistled, making a sound.
The Amazing Hopkins looked up and stuffed the bottle into his clothes.
He let out an awkward laugh.
"It's so late, are you still traveling?"
"What are you doing?" Ryan asked casually.
"Shh…" Looking at Ryan's unfamiliar face, the Amazing Hopkins' eyes lit up. This was an outsider who hadn't been tricked yet.
"Do you know the legend of the Spring Sprite?"
Such familiar words! Ryan looked at the other party speechlessly.
The Amazing Hopkins secretly took out a mysterious bottle.
"This is holy water I just received as a blessing from the God of the Spring!"
"Are you troubled by your lack of strength? Do you want to possess even greater power?"
The Amazing Hopkins, with a sincere expression, blocked the front of the carriage.
"For just 3000 Mora, I will sell you this holy water, allowing you to receive divine enlightenment and increase your chances of obtaining a Vision."
"At the very least, after drinking it, you'll feel refreshed and your strength will double… It will take only ten years, no! One year, to see results!"
Ryan clenched his fist.
Good heavens, you're not even bothering with a face when scamming, are you?
The price was actually one zero higher than in the game!
In the shadows of the lamplight, Ryan feigned surprise and delight: "Really?"
"Of course, it's real!" Ryan's question made the Amazing Hopkins' face light up with joy.
He's hooked! He's hooked!
Stay steady! Don't show any flaws. Once this deal is done, I'll go to Mondstadt for a drink!
"Have you drunk this holy water yourself?" Ryan suddenly asked in a low whisper that questioned his soul.
"Is your strength great? Where is your Vision?"
The Amazing Hopkins' smile froze, and he argued, "I haven't… No! I have drunk it!"
He had originally intended to say he hadn't drunk it, to explain his ordinary body.
But then he thought, the other party would surely ask how he knew the effects if he hadn't drunk it, so he immediately changed his words!
"Personal verification, my strength has become very great, so much so that I never get into fights with others, for fear of accidentally killing them." He flexed his muscles.
"As for the Vision, I have already heard the enlightenment of the Anemo God, and one day, he will send me a Wind Elemental Vision."
With a serious and convinced expression, he had even convinced himself of his lie!
Ryan let out a strange laugh.
"If your strength is great, let's have a little contest! If your strength beats mine, I'll buy it!"
"This…" The Amazing Hopkins hesitated, looking at his own physique, and then at Ryan, who appeared thin and lacked visible muscles.
He gritted his teeth, his confidence rising!
He lifted his head, a master's demeanor on his face.
"I'll use just one percent of my strength and arm wrestle you!"
"Let me show you the magic of the holy water!"
Ryan got out of the carriage and extended his hand: "Come on!"
…
One minute later.
"Ah—! It hurts, it hurts! Let go, let go!"
"I'm a swindler! I'm a swindler!" The Amazing Hopkins' face was twisted in pain, feeling as if his hand was about to be crushed by Ryan.
"You've scammed me three times before, 300 Mora each time. Pay it back!"
Ryan, with a fierce expression, said, "Disguising ordinary spring water as holy water, according to the law, is ten times the compensation for fakes! 9000 Mora, hand it over!"
"No! No! Not… This brother! This is our first meeting, when have I ever scammed you?!" The Amazing Hopkins truly looked confused.
He used to sell it for 300 Mora a bottle, but he had never seen this Liyue person before!
"Nonsense! We've met many times! Tell me, are you paying it back or not?" Ryan suppressed the smile at the corner of his mouth and squeezed hard.
"I… I'll pay! I'll pay! Brother, let go quickly!" The Amazing Hopkins cried out in pain.
Perhaps… he truly had scammed this brother before.
Looking at Ryan's confident demeanor, he began to doubt if his own memory was flawed.
"Scram! Next time you scam someone, I'll report you to the Knights of Favonius!"
Ryan looked at the 9000 Mora he had obtained and kicked the Amazing Hopkins away.
Evil people need evil people to deal with them!
How many people had he scammed for him to so readily hand over so much money?
"Today's extra income is pretty good!"
Remembering that he still had the reward for saving someone in his pocket, he felt pleased.
He found the surrounding scenery very pleasing to the eye.
The sky was bright with the moon, its light like water.
In the pool, the clear spring water continuously gushed from the rock crevices, shattering the bright moonlight.
Ryan looked at the reflection of the moon.
Many things came to mind.
Ever since he gained the ability to remember everything he saw, his previously vague memories had become clear.
All the mysteries of this world, following the game, were imprinted in his mind.
"Spring Sprite?" he called out.
With an attitude of trying!
Pure curiosity.
Unusual ripples appeared on the surface of the pool.
Cold water droplets seemed to fall on his forehead.
Ryan recalled the story of the heart of the spring and Diona, lay down on the ground, and fell into a dream.
Since it wasn't an illusion just now, then the cold sensation was the Spring Sprite's response.
He wanted to see her!
With this thought, the dreamscape became hazy.
Similar to his favorite game sprite, Endora, and also similar to Rhodeia of Qingce Water, a Hydro Spirit in an intermediate form appeared before him.
Her luminous azure body was graceful like a woman, beautiful like a lake.
"You truly have been here all along!"
The dream, akin to a lucid dream, made Ryan's thoughts active and his logic complete.
A beautiful voice, like the flowing of spring water, carried an endless sense of loneliness: "Yes, I have always been here!"
"Thank you for stopping that child from continuing to use my blessing to deceive others with ordinary spring water."
"The Amazing Hopkins?" Ryan smiled, "It was nothing!"
"You know so much, so much… so much…" The Spring Sprite flew around Ryan's consciousness.
This human was so certain of her existence.
The dream, which had flowed out slightly, carried scenes she had never witnessed.
Ryan realized that the game scenes and texts he associated with the Spring Sprite had become the dream.
He did not rein them in, but instead let his memories and consciousness expand freely.
The Spring Sprite fell silent.
"What is this?"
"Perhaps it is the past, perhaps it is the future!" Ryan said.
"Kin from the Water Country, children who admire Rhodeia, the strongest spies who betrayed Fontaine, only seeking the tranquility of still water…"
"And the secret of the Pure Hydro Spirit."
The Spring Sprite was in tears, seemingly weeping.
Yes! She had come by command and settled here.
She had healed a desperate mother and child by the dry well with her clear spring.
The child, who was on the verge of death, recovered, and people came in droves to see this blessed spring, building a settlement around it, which became "Springvale."
Through long years, after the death of the God of Water, she herself was affected, losing most of her wisdom and being forgotten by people.
She relearned and observed this world, once again creating a futile waiting.
The Spring Sprite responded to the doubts in Ryan's heart: "The story of the heart of the spring is indeed related to me."