The mountain wind of Jueyun Karst swept past, ruffling the stray hairs on Lu Li's forehead.
He watched as the stubborn Qiqi, standing on her tiptoes, clung to the rock face with her small hands, attempting to climb upwards.
But her short legs couldn't reach the protruding rocks, causing her to slide down repeatedly, only to stubbornly try again and again.
Lu Li's mouth twitched, recalling that sweet poem.
Ding-ding-dong-dong, dong-dong-ding-ding, Qiqi is climbing ~
Lu Li had originally planned to go straight to Liyue Harbor for a meal.
But seeing Qiqi stuck there, he felt that if he didn't intervene, she might climb until the end of time… "Forget it, I'll give her a hand."
Lu Li decided to help Qiqi.
Conveniently, Qiqi moves very quickly, so after rescuing him, he could ride on Qiqi's head to Liyue Harbor.
Lu Li was still a child and not very heavy, so Qiqi could easily carry him.
Lu Li walked to Qiqi's side with his short legs and cleared his throat.
"Qiqi, stop climbing, I'll pick them for you."
Qiqi slowly turned her head, her amethyst-colored eyes staring blankly at Lu Li, her expression wooden.
It was as if she was trying to figure out who this child calling out to her was, but her body continued to climb upwards.
Qiqi's memory wasn't very good; she often forgot things.
So, Qiqi always carried a notebook with her, an essential item to ensure her daily life could proceed smoothly.
Qiqi needed to give herself decrees, and to avoid any difficulties in action, these decrees were written with particular care.
The things she needed to do each day were also diligently written down.
Lu Li was not in Qiqi's notebook at all.
"You… you… know me? …Who are you?"
Lu Li spoke nonsense with a straight face.
"I am the helper Mister Baizhu sent for you."
Qiqi blinked, then slowly said, "Mister Baizhu… didn't say so."
"You were asleep when he said it, so you didn't hear."
Qiqi was silent for a moment, seemingly searching her limited memories.
Finally, he nodded: "Oh… then, I'll trouble you."
Lu Li looked up at the nearly forty-meter-high cliff.
He used his Sky-stepping skill.
Whoosh—
Lu Li's small body leaped two and a half meters high, then he jumped again, treading on air!
After a few leaps.
Lu Li successfully jumped to the cliff edge and plucked all five Qingxin flowers.
Then he lightly landed and handed them to Qiqi.
"Here, I picked them."
Qiqi took the Qingxin, slowly placed them into her basket, then looked up at Lu Li.
"Thank you… you…"
Qiqi then quickly took out her notebook and wrote.
[Jueyun Karst, met a little brother who helped pick five Qingxin]
"By the way, what… is your name?"
"Lu Li."
Qiqi crossed out "little brother" and wrote "Lu Li".
And he opened a new page in his notebook, writing down Lu Li's name and appearance. This was the highest level of treatment Qiqi offered, comparable to a new page in a family tree.
"Qiqi, as a reward for helping you pick herbs, take me back to Liyue Harbor."
Qiqi nodded and gave himself a decree.
[Take Lu Li to Liyue Harbor]
...Lu Li sat on Qiqi's head, like riding a zombie express train, the zombie train swaying along the mountain roads of Jueyun Karst.
He sped towards Liyue Harbor.
Lu Li sat on Qiqi's head, carefully admiring the scenery along the way.
Lu Li touched Qiqi's head; Qiqi's head was cool, with a faint scent of herbs.
Lu Li's hand, however, was warm.
Soon, Lu Li, riding Qiqi, arrived at Dihua Marsh.
"Qiqi, do you usually take this path to gather herbs?"
"Mm…"
Qiqi answered slowly.
"Mister Baizhu said… there are many marsh ticks (insects with medicinal value) on this road… but… when I walk this road, there are only many cockroaches… and few marsh ticks."
Lu Li looked at Qiqi's small notebook; the handwriting was neat.
"Your memory isn't good, but you write quite diligently."
Qiqi's steps did not falter, and he continued to answer in his characteristic, halting tone.
"Because… I forget things, so… I have to… write down important things."
Lu Li suddenly felt a little emotional—this was probably the way of survival for a zombie, fighting against oblivion with the tip of a pen.
"Then if you recorded me in your notebook, am I also very important?"
Qiqi said without hesitation, "Yes."
Lu Li felt Qiqi was quite kind; as long as he was good to him, even with his poor memory, he would try to remember.
Lu Li thought.
After he returned to the Abyss this time, if he saw Qiqi again in the future, Qiqi would very likely forget him.
"By the way, Qiqi."
"I think your handwriting still has a lot of room for improvement. As a good friend, I'll introduce you to a calligraphy master in Liyue Harbor. His name is Xingqiu…"
Along the way.
Lu Li and Qiqi chatted.
It's just that Qiqi seemed unable to remember, forgetting things as they talked.
When Qiqi appeared at Feiyun Slope pier with Lu Li on his head.
It instantly attracted a lot of attention.
The fish seller uncle's mouth dropped open, and the live fish he had just scooped up plopped back into the bucket with a splash.
He stared blankly at the scene.
After a while, he said to the person next to him,
"How did the little girl from Bubu Pharmacy bring back a child?!"
"What's going on?!"
"The child's clothes look a bit like someone from another country. Could he be lost?"
A patrolling Millelith stumbled, almost poking his spear into his companion's backside, and even the usually composed WangSheng Funeral Parlor undertaker's hand trembled, scattering paper money like a shower of flowers.
"Hahaha!"
"Grandpa, look quickly, that little zombie has a child growing on his head!"
Hu Tao, who was playing in front of WangSheng Funeral Parlor, saw Lu Li sitting on Qiqi's head.
She laughed and shouted to the old man next to him, who was wearing a Tai Chi trigram hat.
The old man was Hu Tao's grandfather, and also the Old Director of WangSheng Funeral Parlor.
Grandpa smiled at Hu Tao and said, "Oh dear! A zombie is kidnapping children!!! Soon he'll kidnap my little Hu Tao too!"
Lu Li jumped down from Qiqi's head.
He walked in front of the Old Director.
"Old man, don't panic, this is DiDi Zombie."
The Old Director listened to Lu Li's words, falling into thought, wondering what "DiDi Zombie" was.
Hu Tao sized up Lu Li; he was a new face Hu Tao had never seen before.
Hu Tao ran around everywhere every day, knowing many people, but had never seen this child, Lu Li.
"I'm here to travel in Liyue, not lost or kidnapped."
"I just met Qiqi in Jueyun Karst, helped him pick some herbs, and Qiqi brought me back."
Listening to Lu Li's explanation, the people around also relaxed.
After all… a child only a few years old couldn't possibly be a bad guy, could he?
Even if he wanted to cause trouble, he couldn't make much of a fuss.
After Qiqi put Lu Li down, he bid farewell to Lu Li and returned to Bubu Pharmacy.
"Welcome to Liyue, I'm Hu Tao."
Lu Li nodded, "My name is Lu Li, nice to meet you."
"Hahaha, your name does sound like a Liyue person."
"Then let me, Hu Tao, show you around Liyue!"
Lu Li nodded, "Okay, I want to eat something delicious right now."
Hu Tao at this time.
Looked to be about twelve years old, much taller than Lu Li.
Moreover, girls develop faster than boys at this age, and Hu Tao now had quite the air of an older sister.
However.
Lu Li's actual age was six or seven years older than Hu Tao.
Hu Tao smiled at the Old Director.
"Grandpa, I'm taking this little brother to play, no need to wait for me for lunch!"
The Old Director grinned, "Go ahead, little Hu Tao, remember to come home for dinner tonight."
"Alrighty ~ Grandpa!"
Hu Tao skipped and hopped, humming a cheerful tune as she walked towards Lu Li.
Lu Li listened to the lyrics… it seemed to be from "three hundred liyue sweet poems"!?
"Is that 'Sweet Hilichurl' from 'three hundred liyue sweet poems'?"
Hu Tao nodded and laughed, "An expert!"
Throughout the rest of their journey, Hu Tao exchanged sweet poems with Lu Li.
Hu Tao took Lu Li for a stroll around Liyue Harbor.
The prosperity of Liyue Harbor far exceeded Lu Li's imagination. In the game allogene, perhaps to save costs,
The explorable map was limited, but now that he had come to this real Liyue, the number of vendors was far more than Lu Li had imagined.
The shouts of vendors, the laughter of sailors, and the playful noises of children intertwined, far more vibrant than the silence of the Abyss.
"Tanghulu! Fresh tanghulu!"
"Mora meat fresh out of the pot, smells so good!"
The cries of the vendors made Lu Li's stomach rumble with hunger.
At this moment.
In a corner not far behind Lu Li, Skirk was silently observing Lu Li.
It's just that Skirk used a secret art to lower his presence, so no one noticed that someone was actually there.