The Lost People of Teyvat

Chapter 1 Brother, I have no choice
"Every year at this time, my mother-in-law would ask me to go to the market to buy some fresh mushrooms, and then cook a big pot of noodles and make more than a dozen servings of mountain delicacies hot braised noodles. The neighbors all like the noodles made by my mother-in-law..."

"My mother-in-law is old and always coughs. Mr. Baishu from Bubulu knows that I can't afford much Mora, so he gave me a strange but cheap prescription. He said that the most difficult ingredient to obtain can be commissioned by the Adventurer's Association..."

"But if I can't come up with it... the Adventurer's Guild will become very slow..."

"My grandmother looks much older..."

"···"

"My mother-in-law is waiting for me to come back, I don't want to die..."

"No one wants to die." Chen Tianfeng glanced expressionlessly at the guy who was huddled in the corner of a rough wooden cage. If he were on Earth, he should be of the age to prepare for the college entrance examination, but now he was locked in a cage, covered in dust and injured.

His fate was as uncertain as that of a high school student waiting for his college entrance exam results, but he was beaten even earlier than a college student.

After going through the whole process, the young man who should have been enjoying his youth has turned into a tragic character like Xianglin Sao who can only repeat a few sentences.

Although he was not much luckier than him... Chen Tianfeng twitched the corner of his mouth and looked through the palm-sized gap in the cage at the bandits sitting around the fire, preparing a barely edible dinner with extremely unsophisticated methods.

Apparently, he and the mentally ill teenager were both "trophies" of these gangsters.

I traveled through time inexplicably, encountered bandits inexplicably, was caught inexplicably... Oh, this is not inexplicable, it's that I couldn't run away.

Chen Tianfeng's eyes swept towards the bandit with a scar on his face and an unnatural sitting posture. He hesitantly looked at the burnt but still not fully cooked barbecue in his hand, while rubbing his waist with an unpleasant expression.

Suddenly I was in an unfamiliar environment. Before I had time to figure out what was happening, a guy with a knife in hand and a grim smile who didn't look like a good guy suddenly jumped out from four or five meters away. The first reaction of a normal person would naturally be to turn around and run - except for those who are scared silly.

Chen Tianfeng naturally did the same, but after running into the woods, he suddenly had the idea that "I can fight back." In fact, he was half successful if the other party did not have help.

This gang of bandits was not large, with a total of five people including the one knocked down by his two sticks.

The leader was a burly man with a fierce look on his face, with a thick knife hanging from his waist, which was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, somewhat similar to the broadswords used during the Anti-Japanese War. The other four were either normal or thin, some holding knives, some using hammers, and some only carrying one or two daggers.

——This is also the reason why Chen Tianfeng recognized the thief leader at a glance.

At first, Chen Tianfeng thought that this was a period of some ancient dynasty, but then these people's Mandarin, either standard or with regional influences, shattered his speculation.

I have never heard of any ancient dynasty where Mandarin was the commonly used language.

Bubulu Baishu···Mora···

After patiently listening to the looped version of his unlucky cellmate's story for several times, and seeing the bandits' special way of making fire, Chen Tianfeng finally determined with a grim expression where he had come to - the world of a game called "Genshin Impact".

This game is very popular, and Chen Tianfeng was once one of the many players. As for why it was once, it was naturally because Chen Tianfeng's [Life] reality game had reached a certain critical period.

After finally graduating from college and preparing to face the beatings of society, Chen Tianfeng was forced to accept another beating.

This is really playing the original god game...
Chen Tianfeng had a gloomy expression. In this situation, it might as well be some ancient dynasty. At least there was no magical thing like elemental power. The only thing to be thankful for was that these bandits - or members of the treasure-stealing group - did not wear the Eye of God.

Of course, it is also possible that they are hiding.

"My dear fellows, can you tell me why you arrested me?"

Chen Tianfeng moved closer to the fire: "Maybe there is some misunderstanding here."

"What a misunderstanding!"

Scarface heard the noise and immediately put down the half-cooked barbecue in his hand. He turned around and cursed: "Look at this bump on my head! Even if there was a misunderstanding before, it's not the same now!"

“Maybe this is what it means to be acquainted without fighting.”

"Hehe, even if I beat you to death, we still won't know each other." Scarface sneered.

"Kid, don't think about enemies hiring murderers or anything like that."

The thief leader threw the equally horrible barbecue in his hand into the fire, and then tried to taste the food in the pot. His face twitched immediately, and finally he took out a dry biscuit and took a bite viciously: "We, the Silver Wing Treasure Stealing Group, have always only done robbery and kidnapping, so you can only blame yourself for your bad luck."

Do treasure-stealing groups have professional ethics... Chen Tianfeng pondered: "Do heroes only rob people of their wealth?"

"No, sometimes it kills people."

The thief leader laughed, as if reminiscing, "What I like most are you rash new adventurers, or those who travel and explore alone. You have a lot of money, are easy to deal with, and your family is also well-off. If you succeed, you can feed my brothers for half a year."

Chen Tianfeng glanced at the barbecue that was gradually carbonizing in the fire and asked, "What are you going to do with us, hero?"

"I originally wanted to ask that guy to say hello to my family in exchange for some Mora flowers, but I didn't expect to run into the Qianyan Army to suppress bandits, and I almost ran away." The bandit leader was probably interested in Chen Tianfeng, who first knocked down his men, and then gave up resistance after he led his men to surround him, so he talked more. He pointed at the boy curled up in the corner of the cage and said, "I was scared and lost a lot of things, but who would have thought that this idiot would run with me!"

The leader of the bandits laughed loudly, and the other bandits also laughed jokingly: "This is really fate. I couldn't bear to find a random place to bury him. Then I met you, brother. This is also fate!"

It doesn't matter if this fate comes to pass... Chen Tianfeng's eyes twitched.

As if frightened by the laughter of the bandits, the boy who looked like Xianglin Sao in the corner of the cage trembled.

"Young man, you look like a Liyue person. Although what you are wearing is a little strange, the material should not be cheap. I guess you are from a wealthy family."

The thief leader took a bite of the dry biscuit and squinted his eyes to look at Chen Tianfeng: "I am a kind person. You can write a letter to your family and ask for some Mora for the brothers, and then the brothers will let you go. How about that?"

I would like to, but it is not easy to send letters across the world... Chen Tianfeng thought with a smile on his face.

As for writing a letter for help to those familiar characters based on his understanding of the game, Chen Tianfeng had never considered it. Firstly, he didn't know what time it was, and secondly, the status of those "suitable for help" characters was too high. Why would they trust him to help him?
Even if those characters believed him after verification, his grave might be overgrown with grass by then.

Thirdly... do you really think these bandits won’t read your letters?
"This is what I mean by misunderstanding." Chen Tianfeng decided to take a gamble: "What a good man doesn't know is that I am a person who feeds the whole family, and I don't know who to write to. Now, the only thing I can show off is the clothes I am wearing."

He adjusted the black cashmere coat he was wearing, which the merchant said was made of top-quality cashmere. But Chen Tianfeng felt that based on the price offered by the merchant, it was at most a top-quality wool coat.

"Are you serious, little brother?"

“Nothing false.”

"That's a difficult problem." The thief leader grinned, "If I kill you, the thing on you will also be mine."

"I know a few more treasure troves..."

"Well, the Silver Wing Treasure Thieves only do robbery and kidnapping."

"Does the brave Silver Wing Treasure Stealing Group welcome new members?" Chen Tianfeng pointed at himself. "To be honest, I'm also a cook. I can't cook world-class delicacies, but at least I can cook some decent home-cooked dishes."

What to do if you encounter an enemy you can’t defeat?
Chen Tianfeng chose to join them first and survive before anything else. After all, if a person died, there would really be no chance at all.

"Brother is really an interesting person." The thief leader took another bite of the dry biscuit and frowned: "But, even if you are really a cook, we brothers dare not eat what you cook."

"I understand. You can give me a small portion of the food I cooked first. After I test the poison and make sure it's OK, you brothers can eat it." Chen Tianfeng waved his hand: "After a while, the brothers will know that I am sincere in joining the group."

The bandits looked at each other, some with surprise and some with amusement in their eyes.

"Boss, this guy's sudden appearance is very suspicious! I think we should..."

Scarface gritted his teeth, his eyes sinister, obviously holding a grudge against Chen Tianfeng for giving him two hits with the stick.

"I know my limits."

The thief leader interrupted him, glanced at Scarface, and instantly shut him up. Then he looked at Chen Tianfeng and said, "Boy, it's not so easy to join the Silver Wing Treasure Thieves Group. You have to think it through."

"Boss, why don't you first tell me the conditions for joining the group, and the rules after joining." Chen Tianfeng sat up straighter: "I can also prepare in advance."

"There's no rush for that." The thief leader put down the dry biscuit he had bitten several times, and smiled in the firelight, which was a little creepy: "Now you only need to know one thing: once you are a member of the Treasure Stealing Group, you will be a member of the Treasure Stealing Group for the rest of your life. Don't even think about the day when you can sever your ties with them, especially with my Silver Wing. It's easy to get in, but it's hard to get out... Hehe, even if you die, you'll still be a thief of Silver Wing!"

"I understand this little brother. It is not reasonable to abandon my brothers just because I am rich." Chen Tianfeng nodded and said solemnly: "Don't worry, big brother. As long as the brothers are still here, I will always be a thief of the Silver Wing Treasure Stealing Group!"

The thief leader stared at him for a long time, and then said with emotion: "Brother, you are really willing to sacrifice in order to survive."

Chen Tianfeng also sighed: "I can't help it, brother. I have no choice."

"The Silver Wing Treasure Stealing Group is indeed in need of someone to take care of logistics and food."

The thief leader ignored Scarface's expression and put his right hand on the hilt of the knife: "The last brother who did this suddenly went crazy and wanted to lure the Qianyan Army to die with the brothers... I really find it hard to believe that you guys are so smart."

He didn't say what the ending of his previous brother was, but everyone present knew that it was probably not a good ending.

"I also find it difficult." Chen Tianfeng exhaled lightly, feeling that the matter was about 70% done: "Why don't you give me a chance and let me try it out, and see how I perform and let the facts speak for themselves?"

"Let the facts speak for themselves... That's a really good idea. Only people like you who are smart can come up with such a clever sentence." The thief shook his head and took his hand off the hilt: "To be honest, I would rather choose a stupid cook."

"I...I can cook too!"

The boy who had been curled up in the corner of the cage suddenly came over, tears and snot on his face. "I can cook, too! Really! Please! Please! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

(End of this chapter)