When Durlaf and the hunters arrived, they found their help was hardly needed.
Lord Feng Yi was out front, slaying monsters, while Lord Noelle was in the rear, sweeping up the battlefield with a sack.
Their arrival made them seem almost superfluous.
"Charge!"
A rash young man, acting on impulse, grabbed his iron sword and charged towards Feng Yi.
But the next moment, he was yanked back by Durlaf. Didn't he see that even a knight like Noelle was doing logistical work? Charging in so cluelessly, wouldn't that just be a hindrance?!
With the hunters' assistance, Feng Yi unleashed his full power, reducing the time it took to kill a slime to under two seconds.
For a time, Feng Yi was on a killing spree!
Even the Ice Slimes were so terrified they were nearly turning into Anemo Slimes, desperately wishing they could ride the wind and flee the area.
Just as Feng Yi finished clearing a section and turned his attention to other fleeing slimes, he suddenly heard anxious shouts and sobs from behind.
It turned out the hunter leader, Durlaf, had suddenly fainted and collapsed.
Feng Yi couldn't help but stop and rush back.
"Noelle, what happened?"
Feng Yi was puzzled. He had been clearing monsters along the way, and there shouldn't be any stragglers behind him!
But if Durlaf hadn't been attacked by monsters, why would he have fainted?
"I don't know either. I was just cleaning up the battlefield when I suddenly heard Diona crying and realized Mr. Durlaf had fainted..."
Noelle shrugged, also unsure of what had happened.
"Everyone, please let me examine Mr. Durlaf's condition..."
The hunters surrounded Durlaf, and Feng Yi, following Noelle, managed to squeeze through.
"Knight, please save my father. He'll be alright, right?"
Diona knelt beside Durlaf, tears welling up in her eyes, her voice choked with sobs. She looked hopefully at Feng Yi and Noelle.
She hoped to receive an affirmative answer from them.
Durlaf was Diona's sole pillar of faith, and she didn't want to lose him!
"Feng Yi, I'll leave this to you. I'm going to Mondstadt City right now to bring Priestess Barbara."
Noelle pushed her way through the crowd and saw Durlaf lying on the ground, his face pale. Realizing the urgency, she quickly left him with a parting instruction and ran towards Mondstadt City.
Noelle threw her broadsword aside, just to reduce her load and speed up her journey, aiming to save precious time for emergency treatment.
Feng Yi immediately knelt beside Durlaf and reached out to examine his condition.
Based on his breathing rate, pulse, and heart rate, Feng Yi deduced that Durlaf was suffering from a sudden attack of cold qi.
His heartbeat was slowing, his breathing rate was decreasing, and if he didn't do something, Durlaf might not even survive until Noelle brought Barbara back!
Feng Yi made a swift decision, gathering spiritual energy at his fingertips and sealing Durlaf's acupoints to prevent further invasion of the cold qi.
Then, using his finger as a brush, he conjured a talisman in the air to protect Durlaf's vital energy.
Finally, he channeled a bit of spiritual energy to help expel the cold qi from Durlaf's heart and lungs.
The onlookers watched these miraculous feats with bated breath, afraid to disturb Feng Yi.
It wasn't until Durlaf's complexion returned to normal, he coughed twice, and his eyes fluttered open and he spoke that they finally sighed in relief.
"Mr. Durlaf, the cold qi accumulated in your body has likely been building for more than a day or two, hasn't it?"
While administering treatment, Feng Yi noticed that although the area was cold, for ordinary people, it would at most cause a slight chill.
As the saying goes, it takes more than a day for the river to freeze three feet deep. The cold qi accumulated in Durlaf's body seemed as if he had been living in an ice cellar for years.
"Father, it was this knight just now..."
Diona was about to say something but was interrupted by Durlaf's wave.
Durlaf knew his own body best, and only this mysterious knight on the scene had the ability to snatch him back from the clutches of death.
"I am deeply indebted to you. From now on, if there's anything I, Durlaf, can help with, I will not refuse, even if it costs me my life!"
Durlaf looked at Feng Yi and solemnly promised.
"To tell you the truth, Sir Knight, this is an old ailment of mine... It was like this... and then like this..."
Durlaf recounted the whole story.
After listening to Durlaf's account, Feng Yi suddenly remembered that it was mentioned in Diona's background story, though he hadn't paid much attention at the time, as who would care about an insignificant passerby?
Speaking of which, this matter was deeply related to Diona's Elemental Power:
Diona's aversion to alcohol was not a form of "hatred," but rather stemmed from "greed."
She wanted her father to always be the person she admired, cherishing every moment of family companionship, and absolutely unwilling to "share" this happiness with alcohol.
There was a heavy rain that lasted for three days, and her father, who had gone hunting, had not returned for three days.
The bad weather rendered the Knights of Favonius's search parties ineffective, and a deep fear of "loss" enveloped Diona.
If "sharing" was unbearable, how could she possibly tolerate being "taken away entirely"?
Diona pushed open the door and stepped into the storm.
A strange power froze the torrents that blocked her path.
Relying on her exceptional tracking skills, Diona eventually found her father at the bottom of a cliff.
Although this incident granted Diona the power to control Cryo, Durlaf also suffered a lingering illness from the cold qi entering his body.
Every winter or during long periods of rain, Durlaf would cough and relapse, and even seeking help from Priestess Barbara of the Church of Favonius couldn't completely eradicate the root of the illness.
The cold qi that had been accumulating over the years was triggered by the cold qi of the Ice Slime today, rebounding sharply and erupting, which was the fundamental reason for Durlaf's fainting.
"Mr. Durlaf, if I may be so bold, if this condition of yours is not treated promptly, it will only worsen in the future. If the accumulated cold qi increases further, you could lose your life at any moment..."
Feng Yi was being very tactful. The cold qi in Durlaf's body had already reached a terrifying level, and if it continued, any slight accident could lead to his demise!
"No! I don't want Father to leave me! Knight, you are so powerful, you must have a way to save Father, right?"
Diona, whose tears had just dried, could no longer hold back when she heard that her father might leave her at any moment. She burst into tears.
"Diona, crying so much... won't make you a qualified hunter! I'm fine now, aren't I? Please don't worry..."
Durlaf smiled and comforted Diona, who was clinging to him. Even the Priestess of the Church of Favonius couldn't completely cure the cold qi in his body, let alone a knight who wasn't skilled in healing.
To avoid troubling Feng Yi, Durlaf deliberately changed the subject.