"Alas, so be it."
"Shenhe, though you are exceptionally gifted, you are ultimately human, not meant for these solitary mountains. I long foresaw that you would descend."
"However, with your personality, it will not be easy to reintegrate into Sanka's life."
"Remember this: only when you have the desire to use your strength for others,"
"Only then will you truly be able to blend into human society."
Upon learning of Shenhe's wish to descend, Cloud Retainer did not refuse, but instead offered these words of caution.
"This disciple will remember," Shenhe replied.
"The mountains are lonely; even an adeptus feels a touch of solitude, let alone these youngsters…"
Watching Shenhe walk down the mountain, Cloud Retainer couldn't help but sigh.
For thousands of years, although Aozang Mountain was desolate, there was always a little fox accompanying her. Now, there isn't even anyone to talk to… "It seems I need to advance my skills in talking to myself…"
Cloud Retainer mumbled, propping her bird beak with her wing.
"Perhaps a conversational companion mechanism has some potential…"
…Just as Shenhe bid farewell to Cloud Retainer and descended the mountain, Ryan led Hu Tao all the way to Huaguang Stone Forest.
The terrain here is unique, looking like countless giant stone pillars soaring from the ground, each pillar's summit nearly as high as the surrounding peaks, forming a stone forest.
Within the stone forest, man-made wooden suspended walkways can be seen, though human effort is limited, allowing them to be built only at the mountainside, still a considerable distance from the pillar tops, and not connecting every single pillar.
Each stone pillar is also quite far apart. To gather herbs here, each pillar must be climbed individually, and both the pillars and the ground are vertical cliffs, making it both time-consuming and laborious.
However, large quantities of medicinal herbs often grow on their tops—Violetgrass, Pure Heart, or even rarer special herbs—which is why it has become a frequent haunt for Qiqi.
After all, a zombie's athletic ability is extraordinary, and falling accidentally is not an issue.
"Wow, Qiqi usually gathers herbs here? These pillars are so tall, it must be exhausting to climb them, right?"
Standing before a stone pillar and looking up, Hu Tao couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, covering her mouth with one hand.
Although she had ambushed Qiqi in the wild many times before, it was always near Liyue Harbor; she had never followed Qiqi this far into Jueyun Karst.
"It's not too bad. Qiqi is a zombie, after all. Anyway, Director Hu, let's split up and search. I'll go up there and look, and you search down here."
Ryan looked up at the heights, then suggested to Hu Tao.
"Alright! Let's work together to bring little Qiqi home and hide him~" Hu Tao immediately nodded.
"Then you need to be careful; there might be monsters nearby. If you encounter danger or find Qiqi, just shout loudly, and I'll be able to hear you in this vicinity."
Ryan gave one last instruction, then used adeptal arts, leveraging Anemo element power to fly to the heights, searching above the stone forest for Qiqi or any traces he might have left.
"Qiqi, come out and drink your coconut milk!"
Ryan called out as he searched, but without any success.
"Ryan, Ryan! Come quick! This Master found him!"
Just as Ryan continued searching for a while longer without success, Hu Tao's shout echoed through the mountains.
His ears twitched, and he quickly identified the source of the sound, immediately rushing towards it.
Soon, Ryan saw Hu Tao's figure and noticed a circle of monsters lying around her, even including a young Geovishap.
Seeing Ryan return, Hu Tao immediately raised her hand and pointed to the side.
Ryan followed her gaze and indeed saw Qiqi.
However, Qiqi at this moment paid no attention to Ryan and Hu Tao. Instead, he woodenly approached the stone pillar, extending his scarred hands to grasp the smooth stone wall, attempting to climb upwards. But whether due to his injuries or the steepness of the wall, he couldn't climb successfully and soon fell back down.
Qiqi, having fallen, patted his bottom, then mechanically repeated the previous actions, trying to climb up again, like a pre-programmed automaton.
"What's wrong with him?"
Seeing Qiqi's strange reaction, Ryan approached and couldn't help but ask Hu Tao.
"Hmm… based on This Master's understanding of zombies, Qiqi should have been given a command."
Hu Tao pondered for a moment, feeling that this situation perfectly matched that possibility.
After all, Wangsheng Funeral Parlor could be said to be the entity in all of Liyue with the most experience dealing with zombies.
"A command? Who would have given it?"
Ryan understood the meaning of a command, but he was puzzled as to who might have issued it.
"Zombies usually act according to commands, but Qiqi can normally act on his own. I suspect Qiqi might be in a state where he gave himself a command."
"If a command isn't completed, a zombie cannot stop moving. So I speculate Qiqi might have given himself a command to climb a mountain, but due to an accident, he fell into this unclimable spot, and so he's been stuck here."
Hu Tao carefully observed Qiqi, who was still repeating his actions, and quickly came to this conclusion.
A zombie's actions are like those pre-programmed automatons in Fontaine; they will act entirely according to the "command" program.
"When I first saw Qiqi, he was fighting a group of monsters. Perhaps the monster attack injured him, preventing him from completing the command, so he retaliated."
"He's probably been stuck here for several days. No wonder he hasn't returned…"
Hu Tao felt a little heartache for Qiqi as she explained this.
"What do we do now? Is there a way to stop the command? For example… Qiqi, come drink your coconut milk!"
Ryan looked at Qiqi, who was still repeating his actions, and couldn't help but call out to him.
Qiqi's movements suddenly paused, then he continued to repeat the command.
"There's usually an incantation to lift a command, but each zombie's is different…"
"Oh! Qiqi has a notebook where he records many things. We can check if it's written there. Even if there's no incantation, we can at least find out what Qiqi's command objective is."
Hu Tao thought back and quickly came up with this idea.
Qiqi usually uses that notebook to record things he mustn't forget, such as important people or tasks that need to be done.
Qiqi doesn't write a diary in it, so having someone look through it wouldn't be a big problem.
"Alright, then let's get him to stop first."
Ryan nodded, deciding to first stop Qiqi and find that notebook.
Then Ryan and Hu Tao charged forward together, trying to restrain Qiqi from continuing to try and climb upwards.
Their intervention prevented Qiqi from continuing to act according to the command, so he immediately began to instinctively retaliate.
His small body suddenly exerted force, and a huge power instantly shook off Ryan and Hu Tao, who were trying to restrain him. Then Qiqi pulled out a Sword, and with fierce Swordsmanship, instantly suppressed the closest Hu Tao, forcing her to retreat step by step.
"Qiqi… is he that strong…?"
Hu Tao, without a weapon, could only dodge frantically. She had never seen Qiqi resist before, so this was her first time realizing how astonishingly powerful this cute little zombie was.
"I'll help you! Qiqi, come drink your coconut milk!"
Seeing Hu Tao in danger, Ryan immediately moved closer and called out to Qiqi.
Qiqi's body instinctively paused, and Ryan quickly took the opportunity to slip a pill into Qiqi's mouth.
Dream-Inducing Pill (1 Star): After consumption, one can immediately fall asleep and have an ordinary pleasant dream.
'Will it work…?'
This was Ryan's first time giving this kind of pill to a zombie, and after administering it, he waited for the result with some uncertainty.
Qiqi quickly recovered from his pause, but his eyelids gradually grew heavy, and his body felt drowsy.
Zombies are immortal and do not need rest, but now… "coconut milk… hasn't been drunk yet…"
Qiqi said unwillingly as he closed his eyes and fell forward…