Genshin x Minecraft: Building the Temple of Virtue

”Over a dozen wolves?!”

Everyone shot to their feet, and Zhongli’s expression darkened.

”Explain while we move!”

There was no time for the Qianyan soldier to elaborate. Zhongli took the lead, striding swiftly in the direction of the disturbance.

”Wait a moment! I need to grab something!”

With that, Ryen dashed back into his room. No one knew what he was looking for, but when he reemerged, he seemed... excited.

However, the urgency of the situation left no room for questions. Everyone armed themselves and hurried forward. Ningguang furrowed her brows.

”What’s the situation? Any injuries?”

The Qianyan soldier quickly responded, ”No injuries so far. The wooden fences are holding the wolves outside, but everyone inside is trapped.”

”Trapped?” Keqing frowned, glancing at him.

”Then how did you escape?”

”Uh…” The soldier scratched his head awkwardly before replying, ”Well… Mr. Zhongli and the Conqueror of Demons taught us how to dig through the ground.”

”The others made me some stone shovels and pickaxes, so I just… dug my way out to get help.”

”Actually, no one’s really afraid. There’s plenty of wood in the base, so everyone can just stack it and jump higher—the wolves can’t reach them.”

”It’s just that being stuck in there has delayed a lot of construction work, and everyone’s getting anxious.”

Hearing this, Keqing and Ningguang’s tense expressions eased somewhat.

Ningguang cast a glance at Ryen, a proud smile playing at her lips.

”As I said, they’re all elites.”

Ryen grinned and nodded in agreement.

”That much is clear. They’ve only been in this world for half a day, and they’re already adapting and using its mechanics to their advantage. That’s impressive.”

The Qianyan soldier, slightly embarrassed by the praise, rubbed the back of his head.

”It’s nothing, really… It’s just that Mr. Zhongli and the Conqueror of Demons are excellent teachers.”

Before the words had fully left his lips, they arrived at the entrance of a large dug-out tunnel.

The soldier gestured to it.

”Lords, this is the passage I excavated. The wolves have surrounded the base, making entry difficult. You can go in through here.”

However, Ryen shook his head.

”No need. It’s just a few wolves. Nothing we can’t handle.”

The soldier hesitated for a moment but, seeing the strength of the group—including two adepti—he wisely chose to say nothing.

”I’ll deal with them.”

Xiao wordlessly drew his trident and nodded at Ryen.

Keqing stepped forward as well. ”I’ll go with you, Conqueror of Demons. These wolves might be different from Teyvat’s, possibly more dangerous.”

”I was also hoping to test out my enchanted Lion’s Roar sword with Fire Aspect.”

Ganyu readied her bow and mused, ”I’ll provide cover and make sure none of them ambush us.”

Hu Tao stretched lazily. ”Oh? Finally, some action! But honestly, why are we even worrying about a bunch of wolves?”

Her words made everyone pause.

Ningguang narrowed her eyes and turned back to the Qianyan soldier.

”You have sixty men. Why are you afraid of a dozen wolves?”

The soldier’s face turned red with embarrassment as he looked down.

”Well… When we first spotted them, we figured a small team of our brothers could handle it.”

”But the moment we stepped outside… the wolves shredded our armor and weapons like paper.”

”One of our brothers even had his arm bitten clean off… I apologize, Lady Ningguang. Those wolves were far stronger than we expected. We had no choice but to retreat and request reinforcements…”

Ningguang’s expression turned cold, her voice sharp.

”There were injuries?! Why didn’t you report that earlier?!”

The sheer pressure of the Tianquan’s words made the soldier flinch and bow his head lower.

”Lady Ningguang… The wounded recovered completely after returning. Even the brother who lost an arm—his limb grew back within minutes…”

”I wasn’t trying to hide anything, truly! It’s just… since everything healed so quickly, we thought it wasn’t worth troubling you over…”

The soldier was clearly miserable.

When the wolves first attacked, they had trusted their Liyue-crafted weapons and armor. But in the blink of an eye, they were torn apart.

If not for the miners—who came rushing in with wooden swords to save them—it would’ve been much worse.

It was only after that that they realized…

Their prized weapons? Useless.

The wooden swords of this world? Far superior.

At first, the situation had seemed dire. The ten injured soldiers were in bad shape—one had even lost an arm.

But then, before anyone could process the severity of their wounds…

They all healed.

Instantly.

Because their hunger bars were full.

They had been splattered with blood, left gasping on the ground, thinking they were finished.

Then, barely a few minutes later, they were perfectly fine, as if nothing had happened.

The Qianyan soldiers were stunned.

The miners were stunned.

They had expected this world to be bizarre, but this?

This was absurd.

But the moment the shock wore off, excitement took over.

If injuries didn’t matter… if they could heal instantly…

What was there to fear?

So, sixty men, now filled with newfound confidence, crafted wooden swords and charged back at the wolves.

And then…

They got chased right back.

After a desperate retreat, they regrouped, caught their breath… and charged again.

Only to get chased back.

This repeated four or five times, with neither side able to claim victory.

The wolves were injured, but they simply ate the nearby pigs and chickens to heal.

The Qianyan soldiers were injured, but they just ate bread and fully recovered.

And thus… they reached a stalemate.

Man and beast stared at each other from opposite sides of the wooden fence, both sides covered in fresh wounds—yet neither truly worse for wear.

The Qianyan soldiers swore—never in their lives had they fought such an intense yet completely inconsequential battle.

Eventually, realizing that their work was getting delayed because of this bizarre stand-off, they decided to send for reinforcements.

By the time the soldier finished recounting the ridiculous chain of events, the entire group was struggling to keep straight faces.

What kind of farcical battle was this?

Ryen chuckled and shook his head.

”Well, as long as no one actually got hurt, that’s what matters.”

Then, looking toward the base, he smirked.

”These wolves are stronger than the monsters from your world. Get used to it.”

”They’ve only partially inherited my physique. They don’t have armor, and their weapons are just hastily made wooden swords. So, despite outnumbering the wolves, those dozen or so beasts can still dominate them in battle.”

”As long as there are no casualties, injuries are just a minor issue.”

Since Ryen had already stepped in as a mediator, Ningguang and Keqing didn’t press the matter further. However, necessary discipline was still required.

”When we return, each of you will write a self-reflection report and submit it to the Ministry of General Affairs!”

”Yes, Lady Ningguang!”

With the conversation concluded, the group had no intention of taking the underground tunnel back.

Unlike the newly arrived Millelith soldiers, they were far more familiar with this world. Not to mention, their equipment was significantly better.

To be frank, even if Ganyu stood on a high vantage point with her bow, she could single-handedly eliminate all the wolves.

Moreover, Ningguang and the others saw this as a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how to handle such dangers.

In their minds, these wolves had already become mere teaching material.

However, Ryen had a different plan.

As a survivalist MC player, being accompanied by a pack of loyal hounds was just standard procedure!

Now that he had finally come across a group of wolves, wouldn’t it be a waste to just kill them?

With proper taming, these wolves could become perfect guard dogs.

Some could be stationed at the manor to watch the gates, while others could guard his residence in Teyvat.

The remaining ones could patrol the miners’ base, ensuring security.

Wouldn’t that make them the perfect patrol dog cavalry?

Since this whole encounter had turned into a ridiculous standoff with no real casualties, there was no need to exterminate the wolves.

Otherwise, Ryen wouldn’t have specifically brought bones with him.

He gestured for a Millelith soldier to come over and whispered a few instructions.

The soldier immediately straightened up, nodding with determination.

”Rest assured, Lord Ryen! I will relay your orders and ensure the task is completed!”

With that, he dashed back into the tunnel to deliver the message.

This left Ningguang and the others a bit puzzled. They turned to Ryen.

”Ryen, what exactly did you tell him?” Ganyu asked curiously.

Ryen had no intention of hiding anything and grinned.

”Nothing much. Just told him to arrange some help—I’m going to tame all of these wolves.”

”…”

Silence fell over the group.

Zhongli, with his six thousand years of experience, instinctively wanted to explain that domesticating wolves into dogs was a process that took generations.

But then he remembered what world they were in.

Suddenly, it all made perfect sense.

”That’s actually a good idea,” Keqing nodded approvingly.

”A dozen wolves are a decent combat force. Since we need to explore and expand into the unknown, having these wolves stationed here will help protect the miners.”

Ryen smirked but said nothing. He carefully led the group towards the base.

Since the goal was to capture rather than kill, they had to avoid startling the wolves.

If the wolves became agitated, Ryen might have no choice but to slaughter them all.

It had taken him so long to find a pack—he wasn’t about to waste this opportunity.

The group moved stealthily towards the miners’ encampment.

As they emerged from the forest, the newly established settlement of the Liyue miners came into view.

It was a fenced-off area. Despite having arrived less than half a day ago—much of which had been spent brawling with wolves—the camp was already taking shape.

That said, if one were to ask what these houses actually looked like…

Well.

Cloud Retainer, who had been fuming over having accidentally built herself a coffin, suddenly regained an immense sense of confidence.

A coffin? So what?

At least coffins had ornate eaves!

The houses these miners had built? They looked like oversized matchboxes—at best, they resembled large urns.

At least Cloud Retainer had put some artistic effort into the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor’s coffins!

Even if they did end up looking like coffins, they had design.

Now, she strutted proudly, chest puffed out like a victorious rooster.

Clearly, despite being some of Liyue’s finest workers, these miners had no talent for architecture.

That was her opinion, at least.

To Ryen, though? It didn’t matter.

Matchbox houses?

Every MC player’s first home looked like this!

Honestly, this was already impressive. Back in the day, Ryen had spent half a year digging into hillsides, filling up holes, and generally making a mess.

Houses? Those were distractions from mining!

”Ryen, how exactly do we tame the wolves?”

Hiding behind a large tree, the group peeked at the absurd standoff between the miners and the wolf pack on opposite sides of the fence.

It was honestly hilarious.

Still, Keqing didn’t forget the main objective and whispered to Ryen.

”Taming wolves is actually simple. All you need is this.”

With that, Ryen pulled out a stack of bones.

Earlier that day, he’d checked in on his automated mob farm, and as expected, the trident mechanism had already activated.

Judging by the loot in the chest, it had been running for quite a while.

The stack of bones he was holding now was last night’s spoils.

As expected, the moment he revealed them, the group collectively froze.

Hu Tao, however, seemed entirely unfazed. She grinned and chirped:

”Looks like your world respects some rules after all! The big dogs in Liyue Harbor love bones too!”

She casually took a few from Ryen’s hand.

”Heh! This Hall Master is gonna tame a few of these big doggies to guard Wangsheng Funeral Parlor!”

Watching Hu Tao handle the bones so nonchalantly, Ganyu hesitated.

After a long moment, she muttered under her breath:

”Hall Master Hu… do you know what kind of bones those are?”

”Hmm? Not really!”

Hu Tao scratched her cheek.

”Even though I’m a top-tier chef and the proud master of Liyue’s Ghostly Grand Banquet, I’m still not as experienced with ingredients as Xiangling.”

”I see… That explains a lot…”

Ningguang nodded thoughtfully before speaking in a soft, measured tone:

”These are human bones.”

”…?!?!”

~~----------------------

Get 30 additional chapters on patreon:

patreon.com/dreamer20