After Amber got off the RV, she told everyone to wait a moment while she went to report to the Knights of Favonius at the city gate.
Himeko glanced at the time and said, "Lumine, you all go ahead. We need to head back. We've been out for quite a while already."
Welt nodded in agreement. "That's right, we'll head back for now. We can come again when we have time."
Ye Yun looked up at the sky—Teyvat was already approaching dusk. Yet when they arrived, it had clearly been midday.
He looked at the two little ones, Hook and Clara. They looked tired, yawning from time to time.
No surprise there—those two had been playing all day, running around even inside the RV.
At this hour, being tired and sleepy was only natural.
Ye Yun patted their little heads gently. "Lumine, we won't go in. We'll head back to rest. We'll come visit again another time."
Paimon looked a little disappointed. "Eh? Why? We're already at the city gate…"
Ye Yun said, "It's alright. As long as you're in Teyvat, we can come over anytime—it's just a teleportation portal away."
Paimon still wanted to persuade Ye Yun to stay and explore the city with them.
But Lumine quickly spoke up, "No problem! Once I'm settled here, I'll invite everyone over for a meal!"
Himeko smiled. "Alright, I'll look forward to your big feast, Lumine~"
Lumine patted her chest confidently. "You got it!"
Then Ye Yun, Himeko, Welt, Hook, and Clara walked through the portal and returned to the train.
Paimon looked a bit puzzled. "Lumine, why didn't you ask them to stay? I was hoping we could all have dinner together tonight~"
Lumine replied, "They were tired from playing all day and wanted to rest. Didn't you see Hook and Clara were about to fall asleep?"
Paimon finally realized, "Ah, makes sense~"
At that moment, Amber came over and asked, "Lumine, Paimon, I've arranged a place to park your 'RV.'
Eh? Where's Ye Yun and the others?"
Paimon answered, "They went back to rest!"
Amber was baffled. Back? Back where? Weren't they travelers just like Lumine?
"Aren't they with you guys?"
Lumine shook her head, then nodded. "Well, sort of… But they're not from this world. They're from another world—they just returned to their own to rest."
Amber was stunned, staring at Lumine. "What?! They're from another world?"
Lumine nodded. "Yep. It's a long story—I'll explain on the way. It's getting late, let's head into the city."
Hearing that, Amber agreed it made sense and led Lumine and Paimon into Mondstadt.
Along the way, Lumine told Amber all about Ye Yun and the others. Amber listened intently, ears perked up, afraid to miss a single word.
As they walked, they soon arrived at a plaza.
There, Amber gave Lumine the gift she had promised—the Wind Glider.
Just as Lumine was about to try them out—
Suddenly, the sky changed. Fierce winds roared, thunder cracked.
"Run! It's the Stormterror Dragon!"
Someone shouted, and the crowd scattered in panic.
A dragon's roar echoed through the skies. Lumine stared in shock at the giant form of Dvalin soaring overhead.
"Lumine! This way!" Amber called out, leading her toward a nearby building.
A tornado suddenly formed behind Lumine and swept her into the sky.
Just as Venti was about to rush out and help her—
Lumine's mind clicked into action, and she immediately opened a portal and jumped through.
Venti, watching the scene unfold, was left dumbfounded.
Wait, what?! Where'd the Traveler go?
Paimon let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Lumine vanish into the portal. "Amber, let's go. Lumine's fine now."
Amber still didn't quite understand. "Huh? What do you mean she's fine? Didn't she just get swept up by a tornado?"
Paimon explained, "She just opened a portal to Ye Yun's world and jumped through."
Amber finally remembered—Lumine had mentioned earlier that she could open a portal to where Ye Yun was. But only she and Paimon could use it; others couldn't enter.
***
Inside Ye Yun's shop—
Ye Yun, Himeko, Welt, Hook, Clara, and Pom were sitting around the long table, enjoying a dinner prepared by Pom.
Each had a steak, and several vegetable dishes sat in the middle.
Suddenly, a portal opened before them, and Lumine came flying out.
"Ouch!"
Seeing her land face-first, Ye Yun couldn't help but tease, "Lumine, why do you always show up like this? Does your face hurt?"
Lumine got up, rubbing her cheeks. "What do you think?!"
Himeko noticed how disheveled she looked, like she'd been through some disaster. "Lumine, what happened? Did you run into trouble?"
Lumine told everyone what had just happened.
Welt was intrigued. "A dragon?"
Lumine took a towel from Pom and wiped her face. "Yeah! A huge dragon! Super scary~"
Welt suddenly had the urge to go check it out. The Windwheel Asters Butterfly he'd brought back earlier was currently in his room.
Before he could say anything, Ye Yun spoke up first. "Sigh~ Alright, I'll come with you and help you take care of it. Otherwise, you probably won't be able to go back for a while."
With that, Ye Yun opened a portal, locked onto Lumine's location, grabbed her hand, and jumped through.
Seeing the portal close, Welt looked a bit regretful. "I wanted to go too…"
Himeko chuckled, covering her mouth. "Next time—just speak faster."
Welt sighed, then went back to eating.
***
Above Mondstadt, Venti was preparing to lead Dvalin away from the city.
Now that the main character was gone, there was no need to continue this performance.
At that moment, a portal opened in the sky, and Ye Yun and Lumine emerged.
Venti quickly dropped to the ground and hid.
From the safe zone, Paimon and Amber spotted them.
"Amber, look! Lumine's back—and Ye Yun's with her!"
In the sky—
Ye Yun looked at the soaring Dvalin. "That's one big fella."
Lumine rolled her eyes. "Well, it is a dragon. Dragons are big in every world, you know."
Ye Yun chuckled. "Doesn't matter how big."
Then he raised his hand toward Dvalin's direction.
In an instant, a terrifying aura erupted from Ye Yun.
It transformed into several dark-golden chains that shot toward Dvalin.
They were unbelievably fast. Before Dvalin could react, the chains had already bound him.
Dvalin let out a roar and struggled furiously to break free.
Ye Yun smirked, a hint of disdain in his voice. "Resistance is futile! Bind!"
With a bit more force, the chains tightened, and Dvalin was wrapped up like a dumpling, flying straight toward Ye Yun.
***
Lumine looked at Dvalin, who was tied up tightly with dark golden chains, and couldn't help but feel a strong sense of déjà vu.
This scene… felt like something she had seen before.
After trying hard to recall, Lumine's expression suddenly froze.
No wonder it felt so familiar! Wasn't this exactly how that woman had sealed her back then?
Back then, she had been just like Dvalin now—completely powerless to fight back and sealed without resistance.
Lumine suddenly didn't dare to look directly at the scene. The more she looked at Dvalin, the more he resembled her past self.
Ye Yun observed the dragon tied up like a rice dumpling.
This was his first time seeing a dragon. Even if it was a Western-style dragon, it was still a dragon, right?
Just then, a voice sounded in Ye Yun's ear.
"Friend, please spare Dvalin."
The next moment—
Venti appeared in front of them.
Venti was in a terrible mood.
Just moments ago, he had been relieved that Ye Yun and the others had left, thinking he could finally proceed with his script.
Who would've thought the Traveler would bring Ye Yun back? And not only that—they arrived just in time for Dvalin's attack on Mondstadt.
Now the script was ruined, and Dvalin had been captured.
Lumine looked at the newly arrived Venti.
"And who are you? Just because you said so, we should let him go?"
Venti knew well that if he didn't reveal his true identity, he might really not be able to take Dvalin back.
"My name is Barbatos, Mondstadt's Archon. You can also call me Venti."
Lumine sized him up.
"You say you're the Anemo Archon and expect us to just believe it?"
To Lumine, no god could possibly look like this. In her mind, gods were supposed to be sacred and dignified.
At that moment, Ye Yun spoke.
"Lumine, he really might be the Anemo Archon. I sensed a massive wind presence within him."
Hearing this, Lumine looked at Venti in disbelief.
Wait, seriously? You're actually the Anemo Archon? You're nothing like what I imagined!
Venti looked gratefully at Ye Yun.
"Friend, could you please spare Dvalin? He became like this because of the Abyss's corruption."
Ye Yun was about to agree—doing Venti a favor wasn't a big deal.
But then Lumine cut in.
"So just because you're the Anemo Archon, we should let him go? Only if you promise me two things!"
Ye Yun looked at her.
"What kind of scheme are you cooking up now?"
Lumine whispered,
"Don't worry about it, I'm securing us some benefits."
Venti saw this and agreed.
"Alright, as long as it's within my power."
Lumine smiled slyly.
"Ahem, first—do you know my brother? He looks a lot like me, blond hair, same clothes."
Venti feigned ignorance.
"Your brother? I've been in slumber until recently. You could ask around Mondstadt—they haven't seen the Archon in ages."
Lumine sighed a few times.
Fine, seems like he really doesn't know.
Then she brought up the second condition.
"The second's simple—if you want us to release, ahem, the dragon, where's the ransom?
We don't want anything fancy. Just give us… say, ten thousand Primogems?"
Venti spread his hands.
"I just woke up. I don't have any Primogems."
Lumine instantly fumed.
Seriously? You're a god! Mondstadt's Archon! How can you not have Primogems?!
"Just ask the people of Mondstadt for some! Aren't you their god? They'll give them to you!"
Venti looked down toward Mondstadt.
"Mondstadt is the land of freedom. I won't interfere with the people's choices. Everyone is free."
Lumine was speechless. Venti had completely shattered her previous impression of what a god should be.
Ye Yun chuckled.
"No need, Venti. You can take him."
Saying that, Ye Yun released the chains binding Dvalin.
Venti quickly used his power to restrain Dvalin, preventing further chaos.
"Thank you, Ye Yun. If you ever need help, just call me."
Ye Yun thought for a moment.
"I don't really need help. But how about giving me all the wine you've hidden in Windrise?"
Venti's eyes widened.
"How do you know I've hidden wine there?!"
Ye Yun smiled.
"Don't worry about it. Just say if you'll give it or not."
After a moment of hesitation, Venti agreed and fetched the wine from Windrise for Ye Yun.
When handing over the wine, Venti looked utterly reluctant. Ye Yun had to work hard to pry it out of his hands.
Then Venti flew off with Dvalin.
Venti felt miserable—his script was ruined, and he had to give up all his wine.
My precious wine! How could you leave me like this?! Heartbreaking!
Back on Ye Yun's end—after dealing with Dvalin, he said goodbye to Lumine and returned to the Astral Express to rest.
He hadn't even finished his meal before rushing over, so now he was going back to eat.
Upon returning, Pom-Pom greeted him.
"Passenger Ye Yun, you're back, pom! I'll warm your food, just wait a bit, pom!"
Meanwhile, in Mondstadt City—
Lumine landed successfully in the plaza using her Wind Glider. Paimon and Amber immediately ran over.
"Lumine! Are you okay?!"
Lumine smiled.
"I'm fine, Paimon. What about you guys? Are you hurt?"
Paimon shook her head.
"Nope. Oh right, I think I saw Ye Yun earlier. Where is he now?"
Lumine said,
"He went back to finish his meal. Speaking of which, I'm getting hungry too. Let's find something to eat?"
Amber looked troubled.
"That might be hard. Dvalin just attacked Mondstadt. A lot of shops have closed."
As the three of them worried, a voice rang out.
"Friends, if you don't mind, you can join us at the Knights of Favonius for a staff meal. How about it?"
Amber looked at the speaker.
"Kaeya!"
Kaeya nodded at her, then looked at Lumine.
"Hello, I'm Kaeya, Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius."
Paimon waved.
"Hi, hi! I'm Paimon, and she's Lumine. We're Travelers. Can we really eat with you? Honestly, I'm starving."
Kaeya laughed heartily.
"Of course. You're both heroes of Mondstadt, helping us drive off the Stormterror. Come on, let's eat."
Paimon cheered.
"Yay! Finally some food—I'm starving!"
About ten minutes later—
The four of them were dining at the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
They chatted while eating, until footsteps echoed from the entrance.
Acting Grand Master Jean and Librarian Lisa entered the dining hall.
Once they approached, Jean formally introduced herself.
"Hello, Lumine. I'm Jean, Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. Thank you for helping us drive away Stormterror."
Lumine shook her head.
"It wasn't really me. It was all thanks to Ye Yun."
Lisa tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Oh? So that handsome man's name is Ye Yun? Sounds like a Liyue name."