As the wild boars trapped in ice began to thaw, the entire cave filled with their distinct, guttural squeals.
The scene turned chaotic. If the lights hadn't been on, hearing those eerie roars in the darkness would've been unsettling enough to mistake them for ancient beasts.
Wang Qi and the others had learned from last time. They quickly regrouped.
"Stay sharp! Group up!" Wang Qi shouted.
The more agile fighters among them readied their weapons, bracing for the wild boars' charge.
Some raised crossbows—clearly banned gear—while others gripped 2-star bows scavenged from treasure chests. As the first boar barreled forward, they loosed a volley of arrows.
It was struck down, shrieking as it collapsed, but no one relaxed. More wild boars lunged from different directions.
Fast and numerous, they were hard to pin down. Missed shots meant close-quarters combat. The group had to maintain tight formation to fight effectively.
But when one boar charged directly at Captain Liu, he visibly panicked—stepping back, reacting just a moment too late.
Wang Qi shot a quick glance at the burly man, then stepped forward himself. With both hands gripping his Harbinger of Dawn, he brought it down in a clean arc and dropped the boar in a single blow.
Crisis averted, Captain Liu looked at him with a guilty, uneasy expression.
They'd taken out the first wave, but deep in the cave, more and more boar calls echoed forth. Everyone's face fell.
"I never should've come... I never should've come..." Captain Liu groaned in regret.
Wang Qi instinctively looked around for Lu Chen—his anchor in this mess—but couldn't spot him at all.
A closer look revealed that Lu Chen was hovering high up in the cave, darting so fast he was nothing more than a blur.
Wang Qi couldn't hide the awe in his eyes.
Lu Chen was using Song of the Heavens to suspend himself midair, completely out of reach of the boars. He swung his Blunt Sword, every slash landing precisely on a wild boar's neck.
Each shriek that followed marked a clean kill. The pile of boar corpses below him already outnumbered those felled by the entire team combined.
In the game, getting hit by these wild boars didn't even cost HP—they were just annoyances. Still, most players had probably been knocked off cliffs while picking Sweet Flowers at least once...
Even now, Lu Chen couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. So many boars and not a single drop of "Chilled Meat"? He had been planning to cook up a batch of Mondstadt-style grilled boar for Ei.
After clearing all the visible enemies, Lu Chen turned to the still-frozen blocks of ice. He paused the Pyro-Anemo combo skill that had been melting the Frozen Ice, and the temperature in the cave dropped sharply. The system warning reappeared:
[Cold Level Warning!]
This would stop more wild boars from thawing—but at a cost. The freezing conditions returned, making movement difficult once again.
He and Venti were fine, but the rest weren't. When he looked back, Wang Qi and the others were huddled together, shivering.
"Friendly advice," Lu Chen shrugged. "You guys should probably head back. You won't survive what comes next."
"I think I've had enough, man. We should retreat..." Captain Liu sniffled, his runny nose frozen into two solid icicles. The sight was almost comical.
This round had gone better than last time, but those two superhumans couldn't cover everyone. Sometimes it was wiser to admit defeat...
Forget the loot. If that big monster showed up, what then? Better to go back and farm Slimes!
Wang Qi frowned. Lu Chen saw the unwillingness in his eyes.
"Let's hang in a bit longer..."
Lu Chen stared at him, puzzled at his stubbornness.
Still, he didn't mock his persistence. For some reason, Wang Qi reminded him of Teyvat's true adventurers—those who dared chase the stars and dive into the abyss.
If you want to gain something, you must be willing to face danger. Real danger. The kind that comes at the cost of your life.
Lu Chen was curious to see what he'd do next.
"Alright. Let's keep going."
The team pushed forward. Lu Chen led the way, Venti trailing lazily behind him. The other seven clung to one another, visibly tense.
Wang Qi's expression remained firm. Captain Liu looked terrified, clearly ready to bolt at any moment.
As they advanced, the cave widened—until it was big enough for ten people to walk side by side.
The air grew heavier with danger. Lu Chen slowed his pace, then noticed a faint tremor in the ground beneath them.
"It's coming..." he said, gripping his Blunt Sword tightly. Both of his Visions flared to life, ready.
Then came the roar—a monstrous, primal bellow—and two enormous, glowing red eyes emerged from the darkness.
The ground trembled harder. The entire cave began to shake.
"It's here! We woke it up!" Captain Liu shouted, backing away in a panic.
"Spread out!" Wang Qi yelled. "Get behind them!"
He meant Lu Chen and Venti. Unlike the others, the two remained calm, floating in the air with eager, focused eyes fixed on the massive creature ahead.
These two were the real monsters.
Another roar echoed—and in the flickering light, the King of the Snowy Mountains finally revealed itself: the Great Snowboar King.
Its crimson eyes gleamed. Thick tusks jutted forward. Its hide was dense with coarse fur, and its short, powerful limbs thundered against the ground as it charged like a freight truck straight at Lu Chen and Venti.
Enhanced by Anemo, Lu Chen shifted midair with ease—like a matador dodging a bull's charge—just narrowly avoiding the beast's massive rush.
If Lu Chen could dodge it, Venti would be even more nimble. The two watched as the Snowboar King slammed into the cave wall, shaking the entire chamber.
Then they noticed something...
Its tusks were stuck.
...
Yeah—it was a little dumb.
Teyvat's boars were already pretty dopey, and this one was just a giant-sized version—so it was even dumber.
Sure, it had brute force. But it was big, slow, and clumsy. Lu Chen could easily fight it from the air. He was already forming a strategy in his mind.
That might've been how they saw it—but the others didn't agree. Lu Chen heard the noise behind him and turned to see Captain Liu frozen in terror. The beast's presence had rattled him so badly he fell, then scrambled to his feet and bolted back toward the entrance.
His entire crew followed. Only Wang Qi and two others remained, pale-faced and frozen in place.
"Not bad. One less nuisance," Venti said.
"Yeah." Lu Chen nodded. "Let's deal with the big guy first."
"I'll still cheer you on," Venti added, clearly unmotivated without his wine.
"I don't need you anyway!" Lu Chen grinned.
Suddenly, a massive Debate Club appeared in his hands. As the Snowboar King thrashed its head in frustration, Lu Chen dove from above and brought the weapon down hard.
[Passion Overload: Imbues a weapon with Pyro and the spirit of adventure. The stronger the passion, the greater the effect.]
When it came to raw desire—to challenge danger and seize the unknown—Lu Chen had no equal. From the moment he saw the Snowboar King, all he wanted was to take it down.
The human-shaped disaster sweeping across Teyvat—besides Lumine, Lu Chen was well on his way to earning that title.
Inside the dim cave, the anguished roars of the Great Snowboar King echoed again and again...