The Adventures of a Mushroom | Genshin x Child!Reader

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟭: 𝗗𝗮𝗱𝗮𝘂𝗽𝗮 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲

Blossom: Sorry there was no new chapter for a while! I know lots of you have been waiting patiently (or impatiently). I went abroad for a week and lost my login information, so I had to deal with that. Thank you for your patience.

P.S. If you're confused because you already read Chapters 21-23, I deleted those. I'm rewriting them (completely) because I wasn't satisfied with them, so these are new chapters. The woes of being a writer! D:

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

Despite being inhabited by hilichurls, Dadaupa Gorge was usually a lovely place. Dense fir trees made the ground soft with needles, and nestled among them were the hilichurl camps, totems sprawling to the sky and fruit trees scattering their juicy harvest onto the grass.

Other than the occasional squabble over the biggest Sunsettia, the hilichurls lived in peace on ordinary days. Certainly no mere adventurer dared to venture there and disturb them. But then again, the Traveler was no mere adventurer, and this was no ordinary day for the hilichurls, either.

The proud wooden totems lay decapitated, hacked to pieces seemingly for fun. Furred bodies littered the ground and lay piled inside huts, staining the grass red. It looked as if a demonic creature had torn through the valley.

That "demonic creature" stood surveying her work. A hot wind stirred up the rancid smell of decay, fluttering the feathers in her blonde hair. She stared across the gorge, emotionless. Had it been the real Lumine, she might have sunk to her knees in horror. But it was another entity peering through her eyes, an entity from a faraway world where all of this was merely a game.

Did the real Lumine linger inside that puppet's body? Was there a flicker of consciousness in her golden eyes—a sign that she was still there, somewhere deep down? Her fingers twitched, as if to drop her sword.

But the entity commanded her forward with an inescapable power, and rigidly, she began running again, towards the next cluster of huts. Soon, the sound of shrieks echoed through the gorge.

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

"Big Sis?" you whispered, peering around a tree trunk to see the figure slumped there. But it was only another hilichurl corpse, lying in a pool of its own blood. Why didn't they disappear like they usually did?

Big Sis, please... I'm scared. This hide-and-seek game isn't fun anymore... please come out.

For you, the day had turned from a hazy dream into an unending nightmare. With every step, your blood pounded in your ears, and the slightest noises made you flinch. Only your conviction to find Lumine kept you going.

It's... it's a dream. It's just a bad dream... and it'll go away in the morning.

You turned to leave, but heard a rustle behind you. The hilichurl was stirring feebly, its ruined limbs twitching.

Wait... is Mister Hilichurl still alive? Is that why... he didn't disappear?

Your breath caught in your throat.

Did Big Sis do this... on purpose? Why? The hilichurls didn't do anything to her! Why would she make them hurt for so long, all alone, dying, with no one... no one around?

Tears filled your eyes and trickled down your cheeks as you rushed to the hilichurl's side and knelt down. "Wait, Mister Hilichurl. D-don't die... (Y/N) will heal you."