Plop!
"Feng... gurgle... Feng Yi... gurgle gurgle gurgle... Save me..."
Barbara was unceremoniously shoved into the small river by Feng Yi. She flailed her limbs, panicking and forgetting that she could swim.
Even more unfortunate, she choked on river water while calling for help.
The misfortunes today truly came one after another, making Barbara wonder if she had been abandoned by the Anemo God.
Upon hearing the cries, Feng Yi immediately put down the Snapdragon he was holding and leaped into the river, rescuing Barbara.
"Cough cough... I'm finally saved!"
Barbara knelt by the bank, coughing out the river water that had filled her mouth.
This series of events had drained all of Barbara's energy, leaving her utterly exhausted as she lay on the ground. Gazing at the lazy white clouds drifting in the sky, Barbara felt more tired than if she had spent three consecutive days completing prayer homework.
All she wanted now was to rest, finding even moving a finger too much effort.
"Barbara, get up quickly. Grab the Snapdragons, we need to go back!"
Feng Yi gathered the Snapdragons scattered on the ground and urged the motionless Barbara lying on the ground.
Barbara's clothes were completely soaked. If they didn't return quickly to change into dry clothes, she could easily catch a cold.
Once her white stockings were soaked, they took on a translucent, white appearance.
Through the wet fabric, Feng Yi could clearly see Barbara's fair and delicate skin beneath the white stockings.
Her small, eagerly awaiting mouth also appeared even more distinct and tenderly pink.
"Feng Yi, I have no strength left. Please, let me rest a little longer!"
Barbara stared blankly at the sky, truly unwilling to move another inch.
Feng Yi: "..."
He was at a loss for how to deal with this listless girl. He couldn't just abandon her, could he?
Feng Yi casually started a fire beside Barbara to help dry her clothes.
He also took off his own shirt and hung it on a makeshift rack made of branches, placing it near the fire to dry.
Then, he himself lay down on the ground.
With a cute girl for company, he wasn't in such a hurry to return.
Meanwhile, on another mountaintop in Wolvendom, a large-scale battle was underway. Two wolf packs were locked in a fierce struggle.
One wolf pack's fur was smooth and lustrous, their bodies robust and well-fed, giving them a clear advantage in the fight.
The other wolf pack was dusty and disheveled, their fur matted with mud clumps and Snapdragon grass. Their waists were slender, making them look like refugees who hadn't eaten a proper meal in a long time.
Despite being at a disadvantage, this wolf pack fought with high spirits, their pair of emerald green eyes filled with ferocity and savagery.
Fueled by this desperate fighting spirit, this wolf pack, though on the losing end, fought far more ferociously than their opponents. The battle was at a standstill for a time, with casualties on both sides gradually increasing.
Surprisingly, amidst the chaotic wolf battle, a white-haired youth moved with swift grace, wielding a broad-bladed greatsword and maneuvering nimbly through the fray.
Every strike the youth delivered was swift and powerful, like a crack of thunder, delivering a fatal blow to his opponents.
The youth belonged to the group with the lustrous fur and fought alongside them. He witnessed the enemy wolf pack's rabid fighting style inflict heavy casualties on his own packmates.
The youth was enraged!
He plunged his greatsword into the ground, let out a loud howl to the sky, and then, a flash of red light flickered in his eyes. His limbs were instantly engulfed in crackling lightning.
The youth transformed into destructive lightning and charged into the enemy wolf pack, delivering devastating strikes with his lightning claws.
Wooo...
Wooo...
Wooo...
...
The wolves struck by the youth's purple lightning howled in pain and collapsed, losing their combat ability.
As the enemy wolves continued to cry out in agony, the outcome of the battle became clear.
Awooooo~~
The wolf pack's alpha howled to the sky, issuing a command to retreat.
The youth's sharp gaze remained fixed on them until they disappeared into Wolvendom territory. Only then did he avert his eyes.
The youth retrieved his greatsword from the battlefield and returned to his pack's gathering place. Like his fellow wolves, he licked his wounds from the fight.
The youth's name was Razor, a child raised by wolves, who had mastered the hunting techniques of the wolf tribe.
Razor's wolf tribe was the ruling tribe in Wolvendom and the one that had made an agreement with humans (not to attack humans proactively)!
Not long ago, a wandering pack of wild wolves suddenly appeared in Wolvendom. These wild wolves did not adhere to their hunting rules, engaging in retaliatory hunting of Wolvendom's animals, wasting food, and also breaking their agreement with humans by proactively attacking passing humans.
This enraged Razor. Led by their alpha, they launched an attack against this pack of wild wolves, vowing to drive these troublemakers out of Wolvendom!
Although they had also suffered some casualties, they had ultimately emerged victorious!
"Razor... will protect... Lupica (family)!"
Razor looked at the wolves licking each other's wounds beside him and uttered his conviction in a stilted, clumsy tone, just as the wolves had once protected him selflessly.
The name "Razor" was given to him not long ago by a tall man, and it was one of the few words Razor could remember.
That day, a stranger, a tall man, came into the mountains and disrupted Razor's previously peaceful life.
Razor didn't know him, only that the person standing before him was a "human."
His confusion was met with a friendly smile from the stranger.
"Child, how about you come back to Mondstadt with me?" the man said, extending his hand to Razor.
Razor and the wolves didn't understand what he meant.
The wolf pack shielded Razor, preventing the man from approaching him.
Razor huddled within the pile of wolf tails, looking at his own body and arms, then at the "human's" body and arms through the gaps in the fur.
He knew he wasn't particularly smart, but there was a question that had bothered him ever since that day.
"Do I belong to the wolves, or do I belong to humans...?"
The name "Razor" was given to him by that man.
The simple wolf boy couldn't yet comprehend human language, but he vaguely understood the meaning from the man's face. This was the name the man bestowed upon him.
The man taught Razor how to wield a sword.
The heavy "iron claws" were sharp enough to even cleave through trees.
Although Razor still didn't understand where he belonged, he was willing to use his weapon and lightning to protect every Lupica!
....................
Meanwhile, Feng Yi had dozed off while lying there. He didn't know how long he slept. The azure sky was now filled with the brilliant colors of the sunset, and the fire beside him had long since died down, leaving only charred embers.
As the evening breeze swept across his bare upper body, Feng Yi felt a chill.
Just as Feng Yi was about to get up and put on his clothes, he suddenly discovered that his arm was being held tightly by the sleeping Barbara.