When Xilonen returned to the workshop, she realized that quite a few visitors had come during the time she was away.
However, the one with an appointment should only be Kachina.
Xilonen recognized Citlali in the crowd.
Citlali would sometimes come to her workshop to buy ores.
According to her, some ores could be ground into powder and made into consumable medicines to help her with divination and rituals.
Although Xilonen had interacted with her many times.
It was limited to normal social interactions, and she had never asked the other party to perform divination for her.
She was not interested in things that had not yet happened, and she already had enough things in the present to worry about.
Rather than worrying about the future, it was better to find a big tree and sleep.
Speaking of sleeping, falling asleep during divination rituals was also one of the reasons Xilonen refused such matters.
If she really fell asleep and nodded like pounding garlic, that would be too disrespectful.
The rest were people from the tribe, probably here to ask Xilonen to inspect and repair equipment for the [Return of the Sacred Flame Night Pilgrimage].
The only one Xilonen did not recognize was the white-haired young man dressed in Liyue-style clothing.
This person was, of course, Mu Yang.
As for how Mu Yang accurately found Xilonen's workshop, the timeline had to be rewound a little.
After sending Jeht back to Aaru Village, Mu Yang once again sprinted through the desert.
After a period of trekking, he finally saw the strangely shaped mountains.
There were all kinds of graffiti on them.
"I suppose this is Natlan."
Mu Yang walked along the path and discovered that Natlan's flora and fauna seemed unexpectedly rich.
It did not look much like a "nation of war."
Instead, it matched other people's evaluations: Natlan was suitable for tourism.
This contrast made Mu Yang even more interested. However, he still seemed quite far from any city.
Mu Yang jumped onto the highest peak in the surroundings.
The mountains here were also very strange, square and blocky.
But that did not stop Mu Yang from climbing high to look far.
He overlooked the entire ground and discovered another small path that led deep into the canyon.
Moreover, as the path got closer to the canyon, the graffiti on the stone walls became increasingly rich.
It seemed that following that path was the correct choice.
Mu Yang came down from the mountain and advanced along the path.
Natlan seemed a bit different from what he had imagined.
The graffiti on these stone walls was also too trendy.
He only had one impression of Natlan — Iansan from Footprints.
That little girl was clearly wearing tribal clothing.
Why was Natlan's culture so trendy?
Before he could figure it out, Mu Yang sensed an unknown creature rushing toward him at high speed.
And it seemed… to be coming from inside the mountain?
"Is something moving inside the stone wall?"
Mu Yang vigilantly retreated, preparing to draw his sword to respond, but then he heard a weak girl's voice.
"Ayu, stop~"
However, the one called "Ayu" showed no intention of stopping at all.
Its presence got closer and closer to Mu Yang, then burst out of the ground and charged toward him.
Not sensing any malice from the other party, Mu Yang did not draw his sword. Instead, he grabbed this strange creature with one hand.
This "Ayu" gave Mu Yang his first impression as something that had jumped out of the anime he watched as a child.
Apart from the color, it really looked a bit like Gabumon from Digimon.
Mu Yang held it with one hand. From its appearance, it did not seem to want to attack him.
Instead, it was expressing goodwill.
"Sorry, sorry. Ayu caused you trouble, right…" The little girl ran over panting.
She kept apologizing to Mu Yang.
Mu Yang returned Ayu to her and said he was fine.
He had just been suddenly startled.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened either. Although Ayu usually likes to make trouble, it wouldn't be rude to people outside the tribe…"
After she finished speaking, she glanced at Mu Yang's outfit.
This was no longer just someone from outside the tribe.
He looked like a traveling merchant from another nation.
What should she do? Could she have caused a bad impression on others?
Could she have damaged the reputation of the Children of Echoes, or even Natlan?
Mu Yang saw that the other party's expression was starting to look bad and took the initiative to introduce himself.
He also said he was fine. As a newcomer, he was curious about many things in Natlan.
He hoped the girl in front of him could introduce them to him, starting with Ayu, for example.
Seeing that Mu Yang did not intend to pursue the matter, the girl also calmed down.
"Whew— Hello, Mr. Mu Yang. I am Kachina, Kachina of [Uthabiti] (the strong)."
"Uthabiti?"
"Ah, this is an [Ancient Name]. It's a very unique culture here. It's a bit complicated to explain, so you can just think of it as a kind of inherited title."
Kachina said somewhat shyly, "You also came here because of its fame to watch the [Return of the Sacred Flame Night Pilgrimage], right? Then you will soon understand the meaning of [Ancient Names]."
More and more unfamiliar terms kept appearing. Mu Yang pretended to nod.
"In that case, let's talk about Ayu first. What is it?"
From Kachina's answer, Mu Yang finally understood.
It turned out this was Natlan's unique dragon culture.
Natlan was also known as the Nation of Dragons.
Every tribe had its own dragon-like companions.
And the honest and cute Saurian (specifically the Peak Saurian) was the partner of the Children of Echoes, where Kachina belonged.
The history of the Children of Echoes coexisting with Saurians could be traced back hundreds of years.
Nowadays, people had already gotten used to working and living alongside Saurians, forming partnerships.
This meant that for the Children of Echoes, dragons were not livestock whose life and death were controlled by humans, nor were they pets whose emotions were restrained by humans. They held equal status with humans.
Most Saurians formed bonds with people voluntarily, just like Ayu and Kachina.
The nests of the Saurians were not far from the settlements of the Children of Echoes. Because they lived close by, humans and Saurians met frequently, and everyone treated them as friendly neighbors. Occasionally encountering them would not feel strange.
While leading Mu Yang toward the Children of Echoes tribe, Kachina told the story of how she and Ayu met.
During this time, Ayu kept circling around Mu Yang.
This actually surprised Kachina.
Ayu rarely showed such enthusiasm toward people she met for the first time.
Even with Kachina herself, it had taken a long time for Ayu to remember her.
During that period, the young Kachina would often encounter a sturdy little Saurian at the fork in the road leading to the mining area.
To Kachina, these honest neighbors were beings worth greeting, so every time she would say "hello" to it.
Over time, the little Saurian seemed to remember her, and gradually she began to encounter it in more and more places.
When practicing dance in the open field, when picking grainfruit, when fishing in the river — the more times it happened, the two of them, one human and one Saurian, not only greeted each other but sometimes even exchanged gifts.
Kachina did not need to prove her value to it, nor did she need to provide unique rewards. They simply got along comfortably and often stayed together.
Until one day, the little Saurian naturally followed Kachina to her home and from then on became a partner of Kachina's family, receiving the name "Ayu" given by Kachina.
Everything happened naturally, just as naturally as fish are destined to live in water and birds are destined to fly in the sky.
"Was this story too boring?" Kachina asked.
Compared to those dramatic hero legends, this story was as plain as water.
Kachina was worried that Mu Yang would find it dull.
Mu Yang smiled faintly. "It's very heartwarming. It reminds me of how I met and got to know my friends — it was also this natural."
"That's good." Kachina also smiled.
Mu Yang once again used a well-intentioned lie to protect the child's smile.
Back then, if Fujin had not stood in the middle, he would have already started fighting with Lingyuan...