Genshin Impact: Back From Teyvat - The Archon Follows Me Home!

Suddenly, Lu Chen didn't think sneaking into someone's tomb in the middle of the night was all that scary.

Especially after hearing that phrase—"Great Lottie"—the eerie, bone-chilling atmosphere inside the tomb instantly vanished...

In fact, he was trying hard not to laugh.

After the two tomb raiders fled the passage, Lu Chen followed the direction they had come from, continuing deeper in.

Before long, he found the path ahead blocked, with two forks splitting off to the left and right.

He paused for a moment, then chose the right-hand path.

The corridor was long and winding, seemingly endless. Lu Chen activated his Anemo power, instinctively picking up speed.

Boosted by the wind, he moved like a blur, each stride covering several meters.

As he ran, he couldn't help wondering, Old Master Zhong said he'd be protecting me in the shadows… but where the heck did he go?

Just as that thought crossed his mind, yet another fork appeared.

Lu Chen raised his flashlight, frowning at the three-way intersection ahead.

Are you serious?

General, whom I've never even met—did you seriously build a maze into your own tomb?

This time, Lu Chen hesitated briefly, then once again chose the path furthest to the right.

If it turned out to be a dead end, he'd just loop back. With his speed, detours were no big deal.

He moved even faster this time, nearly sprinting through the pitch-black corridor.

In the silence of the tomb, only his heartbeat and breathing echoed back at him. When he reached the end of the corridor again, his face twitched.

His flashlight revealed two identical forked paths.

Had he circled back to the earlier split, or arrived at yet another?

Is this one of those ghost wall tricks?

He stood in place, skeptical, and this time didn't rush ahead.

Drawing the Lion's Roar, he carved a large, clear "X" into the wall on the left-hand path.

Then he pushed forward once again.

We'll skip over the repetition—Lu Chen moved deeper, marking his path at every turn. But when he passed the same carved "X" several times, he finally gave up trying to think it through.

"So it's a ghost wall, huh?!"

A bit fired up now, Lu Chen stopped in the middle of a corridor and smashed his fist into the wall.

The underground silence shattered with a deafening boom as bricks crumbled into dust and debris scattered everywhere.

He looked ahead—there was now a person-sized hole.

Then he punched again.

The ground trembled.

After a few more strikes, Lu Chen surveyed the crumbling wall with satisfaction.

Sure, he was terrible with directions. But a maze like this? Still not a challenge. As long as he locked onto one forward path, brute force would break through just fine.

Ghost wall? Anti-theft design? Either way, it might trip up regular people.

But he wasn't regular.

Amid the heavy impacts and flying dust, Lu Chen forged ahead through the ruins, one step at a time.

Gradually, he sensed the faint presence of Geo energy.

Thanks to his Geo Vision, he was especially attuned to it. He was definitely getting closer to the source of the Ley Line anomaly.

The downside? Lu Chen was now completely out of breath.

And his pace had slowed to a crawl.

After punching through who-knew-how-many walls and corridors, even someone with 8 stamina points like Lu Chen was starting to feel the strain.

Fortunately, the destination was near. He was now starting to sense the very same underground disturbance Zhongli had described earlier.

He also heard terrified human voices.

Probably the remaining two tomb raiders—the ones who seemed to be brothers.

Didn't expect to find them first.

Lu Chen paused, then stopped his bulldozer routine and headed deeper in.

Having them lead the way would be faster anyway—that had been his plan from the start.

After a while, a faint beam of flashlight flickered at the end of the tunnel. Lu Chen spotted two dust-covered men with stunned expressions.

"It's—"

"Old Zhang?! What are you doing here?"

Lu Chen put on a panicked face and rushed over.

"Boss Wu! I finally found you!"

As he approached, the men's faces came into focus.

Bronzed skin, heavily lined with deep creases—far rougher than their voices would suggest.

Lu Chen's superb memory kicked in. He'd seen these two before.

They were the same "diggers" he and Zhongli had met by the sea a while back.

Though surprised, Lu Chen kept his expression convincingly terrified.

The two stared at the familiar face, studying "Old Zhang" closely before finally relaxing.

"What are you doing here? Where are Third and Fourth? What about your guys?"

"They ran—scared off as soon as they heard ghosts were involved!" Lu Chen put on a miserable look. "Everyone bailed. Just left me behind..."

"You?"

The older one—clearly Wulfric—narrowed his eyes and looked him over suspiciously, then frowned.

"Then why didn't you run? Why come chasing after us?"

"I..." Lu Chen scratched his head awkwardly. "I just… wanted to see what it's like down here. Uh, did you make it to the main tomb chamber yet? Could I maybe...?"

"You trying to grab a cut?" Second Brother immediately waved his hand. "Get lost! Just do your job—don't come in here making a mess!"

He grumbled that Third and Fourth were cowardly fools, running off before they even saw anything.

So the two of them had decided not to leave empty-handed. Even after hearing a female ghost singing, they still didn't flinch. They'd left the main chamber but were now planning to ransack a side tomb on their way out.

Lu Chen had to admit—these guys had nerves of steel. No wonder they were called "professionals."

He glanced at their levels. One was Lv5, the other—Wulfric—was Lv7.

No wonder they were so bold. Their levels were far beyond average. Just like real-world "adventurers," they probably had some kind of artifact or divine relic.

"All right, Second." Wulfric turned to Lu Chen. "Since you're here, an extra pair of hands is better than none."

Second Brother looked him over again, then reluctantly nodded.

"By the way, did you see what caused those tremors just now?" Wulfric asked.

The actual culprit, Lu Chen, shook his head repeatedly, looking totally clueless.

"Maybe a subterranean creature turned over?" Second Brother guessed.

"No way it was an earthquake," Wulfric muttered, still clearly puzzled.

"This general's tomb is full of weirdness..."

"Who knows," Lu Chen sighed.

...

Following the two tomb raiders, Lu Chen continued down the musty corridor.

The two of them wasted no time showing off their "professional" skills—Wulfric pulled out a tattered sheepskin scroll with a hand-drawn map of the maze. With his guidance, Lu Chen could tell they were drawing closer to the Ley Line anomaly.

With them leading, he didn't have to waste energy smashing through walls anymore. It gave him a chance to catch his breath.

If there were no surprises, this would likely be another time-space overlap, just like when the Oceanid appeared. And deep in the tomb, the cause of the Ley Line disturbance was probably waiting.

Before long, the three of them left the winding maze behind. Up ahead, a blasted-open gate to an underground hall came into view.

Lu Chen aimed his flashlight inside—it revealed a vast, majestic underground palace. One by one, flames burst to life as if to welcome their uninvited arrival.

"What the hell?" Wulfric rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"It wasn't like this before! Don't tell me it's haunted again!" Second Brother froze where he stood.