"Thank you."
Lumine said thankfully, then quickly ran outside and towards the Jade Chamber, which was flying above the Golden House.
"Sigh... honestly, after being beaten up by someone, I still have to help protect their little sister. Am I not too humble..." Childe shook his head and ran towards the hospital along the remembered route.
After a while...
"Mmmph... why are Liyue citizens running towards the Archon? Are they going to join the battle too? Or is there an air-raid shelter nearby?"
Childe continued to run forward while guessing. Before long, he found several more groups of citizens, and the monsters behind them caught Childe's attention.
"Strange... what kind of air-raid shelter can hold so many people? Wait... if I'm not mistaken, aren't those creatures behind them Hilichurls?"
Seeing this, Childe immediately accelerated. In just a few breaths, he arrived in front of the Hilichurls, summoned hydro blades, and annihilated them all, saving the citizens who were about to be caught.
"Thank... thank you, big brother, for saving my life..." The citizens, still shaken, bowed to Childe to express their gratitude.
"You're welcome. Where are you all heading?"
"Big brother, don't you know? So many monsters suddenly appeared in the city, and the Millelith are now escorting us to evacuate."
"Monsters?"
It must be that brat Scaramouche's doing...
"That's right, Hilichurls, Geovishaps, so many of them. There aren't many Millelith in Liyue Harbor now, so we can only flee further away."
"Mmm... I understand. Did you see any Millelith when you were evacuating just now?"
"Millelith... Oh! Yes! Yes, near Wangsheng Funeral Parlor!"
"Alright, thank you for the information. You should hurry and run now."
"Okay, you be careful too, hero."
"Hahaha~ I'm no hero. True heroes are those warriors who face death unflinchingly," Childe said with a laugh, then immediately rushed towards Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. He soon arrived at its entrance...
"Quick, quick! Those inside, evacuate quickly! You few, go check the street on the right for any citizens left behind. You, go to the top floor to observe the monsters' advance route. Report immediately if you find them moving this way!"
"Yes!"
"Yo~ Mr. Zhongli," Childe found a familiar face in the crowd after observing for a while and hurried over.
"Hmm? It's you. What? You didn't evacuate with the Fatui?"
"Hahaha... it might be a bit embarrassing to say, but I was just dealt with by the Traveler, and then she asked me to come back and protect her little sister."
"Oh?! You know Ying?! Where is she?!" Hu Tao, overhearing Childe, ran over excitedly and asked.
"Ah, we're friends, I suppose. I don't know where she is now, but the last place I saw her was at the hospital, so I was planning to go there to find her..."
"Mmmph... Zhongli, Zhongli! I'm going to the hospital. You guys go ahead. This director will be back soon!" After hearing Childe's words, Hu Tao quickly ran towards the hospital, shouting back as she ran.
"Director! This child..."
"Hahaha, I'll be going now too. Goodbye, Mr. Zhongli~"
"Mmm, take care."
After bidding farewell to the two, Zhongli looked at the Millelith around him, a hint of relief appearing on his face.
Facing this calamity, can they overcome it without the Geo Archon...
Another period of time passed...
Hu Tao arrived at the hospital first, searching and shouting loudly, "Ying, Ying, Ying, Ying! Are you there, Ying? This director is here to find you! Reply 'one' if you're here, and 'two' if you're not~"
Klee, inside the house, heard Hu Tao's voice and asked Paimon curiously, "Huh? Someone outside is looking for Sister Ying. How should we reply?"
"This voice sounds a bit familiar... If I remember correctly, it should be Hu Tao," Paimon thought for a while and finally identified the person outside.
"Hu Tao? How should we reply to her then?"
"Simple, just reply as she said~" Paimon proudly raised her little head. She had already reverted to her mascot form, as using it when there was no danger was a waste and might as well be turned off early to speed up the cooldown.
"Oh, Klee understands. Mmm... Sister Ying isn't here right now, so we should say... Two!" Klee nodded vigorously, thought for a moment, and then shouted with a serious expression.
Paimon: "Erm... Paimon, are you doing this on purpose..."
"Hehe~"
Hu Tao quickly found the room where the three were by following the sound and poked her head out, saying, "Who was the little cutie who said 'two' just now?"
"It was me, it was me! Klee didn't answer wrong, did she?" Klee happily raised her hand and waved, asking.
"Mmmph~ Well, it seems you didn't answer wrong."
"Yay~"
"So... Paimon, Paimon, hurry up and say it! Where did Ying go? Why isn't she evacuating? (￣へ￣)"
"Evacuate? This place is quite far from that Archon, so there's no need to evacuate, right?" Paimon said doubtfully.
"Archon? We're telling you to evacuate because there are a lot of monsters in Liyue Harbor. If it were just the Archon, it wouldn't be such a big fuss."
"What did you just say? There are monsters in Liyue Harbor?" Hearing Hu Tao's words, Paimon quickly asked.
"Yes, I encountered many on my way here. If we hadn't quickly changed our route and gone across the rooftops, I would probably still be on the way," Hu Tao said, blinking her plum-shaped eyes.
"This... then let's hurry and go meet up with the host."
"Mmm-hmm, but if Ying isn't here with you, where else could she be?"
"She must have gone to help Lumine fight the Archon. We should just go directly to the Jade Chamber," Paimon said after recalling what Ying had said before leaving.
Just as they were about to head to the Jade Chamber, they suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"She's not in the Jade Chamber," Childe said, walking in slowly from outside.
"Childe?! Why are you here, you bad guy?!"
Hearing Paimon's words almost made Childe stumble. He smiled helplessly.
"Hahaha~ To be called that really makes me feel sad. After all, I did save your life before."
"Hmph~ Who told you to annoy me before (*￣з￣)"
"You're quite resentful, but to be precise, I was annoyed by the slightly taller you, so according to common sense, you can only say I annoyed you when you're in that form (^_^)"
"Ah, this... Although your words are full of loopholes, I don't know how to refute them... Σ(|||▽|||)"
"Stop, stop, stop! Can you two idiots be serious? Isn't the problem now where Ying is?!" Paimon quickly interrupted the two idiots' argument and said.