Clatter!
Just as Fengluo and Ayi were about to leave, three standard-issue spears—one long and two short—were suddenly thrown out from the doorway, landing straight down right in front of them.
"Where are you guys going?"
Accompanied by a crisp, bright voice, Xiaoliu strode out of the house. As she spoke, she nimbly turned around and bolted the door shut.
"Count me in! Let's get this straight, I want a share of the boar meat we catch!"
In such a short span of time, she had changed into traditional attire, with her limbs wrapped in bandages and her hair tied up into a neat, petite ponytail. From her appearance alone, she looked like a miniature professional hunter!
"That outfit of yours looks pretty professional. Are the adults in your family hunters?"
Fengluo asked, quite surprised.
Looking at Xiaoliu's appearance, she was worlds apart from Ayi. Anyone could tell she actually had some real skills.
"Yes, Big Brother Fengluo! The last time we chased down a wild boar, Xiaoliu was the main attacker. She's super fierce! She drove her spear right through that tough-skinned boar..."
Ayi whispered quietly beside Fengluo.
"Hey! Ayi!"
Xiaoliu glared at him. "Looking for a beating, are you?"
Clearly, she wasn't very fond of being portrayed as some Amazonian warrior—especially in front of a stranger.
"Ah, no, no, no!"
Ayi hurriedly raised both hands in surrender.
"Hmph, aren't you going to pick up your weapons?"
"Right away, right away..."
Ayi, who had just been full of spirit, instantly turned into a submissive little follower under Xiaoliu's stern rebukes, obediently picking up the spears that had been tossed onto the ground.
Fengluo watched this scene from the side, a quiet chuckle welling up inside him.
"As for you—judging by that outfit, are you an adventurer?"
Seeing the corner of Fengluo's mouth turned up, Xiaoliu raised her little chin and asked.
"Yes, as you can see, I am a formally registered adventurer of the Adventurers' Guild."
Fengluo straightened his collar and smiled faintly. In front of children, he still had to maintain a certain level of poise and set a good example for them!
"Do you have a Vision?"
Xiaoliu asked bluntly.
"Uh..."
Fengluo instantly felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly.
"So that means no?"
Seeing his expression, Xiaoliu understood.
"Jeez, you don't even have a Vision, why even bother being an adventurer?"
There was no contempt in her tone, only a sentiment resembling pity and helplessness.
"How could an adventurer without a Vision ever be remembered by anyone?"
"You seem to care a lot about Visions?"
Fengluo asked.
"Of course! Only by having a Vision can you use elemental power, punish evil and promote good, and stand a cut above the rest!"
"Anyway, there are so many benefits. That's what the books say, anyway—every famous adventurer has a Vision. If you don't even have a Vision, you still expect to make a name for yourself among adventurers?"
"Fat chance."
Xiaoliu put on a huffing expression.
Fengluo watched her for a long time before suddenly bursting into laughter.
"Pfft—hahaha!"
"Hey! What's so funny?!"
Xiaoliu's face instantly turned as red as a beet, a mix of anger and confusion.
"Hahaha, nothing, nothing. You seem to have an obsession with Visions. Why is that?"
"Because—I want to have a Vision too..."
"Oh, so you can punish evil and promote good, right?"
"Yeah! And that way I can earn money and status, so my mom and dad won't have to go all the way to Liyue Harbor; they can come back and stay with me in Qingce Village forever."
When Xiaoliu said those words, Fengluo couldn't laugh anymore.
Kids her age had very simple thoughts—so simple that they couldn't begin to understand what they were really up against. They simply thought that having wealth and status was enough to overcome every hardship they faced.
"So that's how it is..."
He reached out and gently patted Xiaoliu on the head. "They'll come back."
"You're lying. You don't even have a Vision."
"A Vision isn't everything. Just off the top of my head, there are several great adventurers without Visions!"
"No way! How can you become a famous great adventurer without a Vision?"
"Stanley, Leonard, Rolt, and a few others whose names I don't know, but who are currently on their way to becoming great adventurers."
Fengluo rattled off three names without hesitation. These were things a certain distant green traveler from Mondstadt had muttered while swaying drunkly. Fengluo still remembered that the traveler played an unprecedentedly unique harp, and its music sounded truly wonderful. Back then, even Fengluo, who usually avoided heavy drinking, had a few extra cups at the tavern. But unfortunately, after sobering up, he never saw that young traveler again—or, as the traveler himself put it, the bard.
"Why do they all sound like foreign names?"
Xiaoliu's eyes were filled with suspicion.
"You couldn't be making this up just to fool me, could you?"
"It's because a lot of people share your mindset that most people in Liyue just settle for being ordinary!"
Fengluo sighed helplessly. "Alright, we can discuss the answer to this question another time. Right now, we need to go deal with those wild boars, and I'll use this chance to show you what I'm made of!"
"Fine!"
Xiaoliu didn't dwell on it further.
The three of them picked up their respective spears, puffed out their chests with high spirits, and headed down the mountain path toward the terraced fields below.
"Hey—! Xiaoliu! Ayi!"
Just as the three of them were midway down, a shout suddenly came from behind.
"That's Dongdong's voice."
Xiaoliu said.
Fengluo looked back and saw a child around Ayi's age, wearing coarse linen clothes, running over out of breath with a small dagger in hand.
"I heard you're going after wild boars!"
"I'm coming too!"
Dongdong yelled, speeding up until he reached the three of them, resting one hand on his knee as he panted heavily.
"T-take me with you! I heard all about it from Granny Ruoxin!"
"My dear... little Dongdong, we aren't going out to play; we're going hunting wild boars."
Seeing him out of breath and exhausted just from running a few steps, Fengluo felt quite worried. This Qingce Village kid named Dongdong looked full of enthusiasm, but—he seemed rather lacking in stamina. And since there were already two kids, Ayi and Xiaoliu, if one more joined in...