Looking at the old grandma's appearance, Shu felt he might have found the correct answer.
Then, Shu suddenly started pulling excitedly on the rope in his hand, yanking it several times in quick succession.
Back in the fog, he had already tested its composition.
Pure water... very pure, even potable.
Besides that, there was Honkai energy permeating the air, at a concentration similar to Shanghai City and ARC City.
There was no danger in the fog itself, just excessive humidity, likely causing choking during normal breathing.
And Shu's current action of pulling the rope was to signal Kiana and the others that he wasn't in danger, but needed backup.
If there were danger, Shu would have simply cut the rope, giving Kiana and the others no chance to follow it to him.
While Shu was pulling the rope, the old grandma, oblivious to any abnormality, had already opened her arms and tremblingly embraced him.
Shu's body instantly stiffened.
"My child..." Shu could clearly feel the old woman's body trembling. Her arms circled Shu's waist, her white-haired head resting against his chest.
Being this close, Shu could even clearly see the dry, withered state of each strand of the old woman's white hair.
Shu kept his hands slightly raised, not daring to move. He neither dared activate his defensive measures nor dared deactivate them.
Why this situation again? Do I just have this kind of fate with elderly people?
But this time was much better than encountering Little Tian in ARC City... This old grandma had nothing strange about her except being dressed entirely in white.
Except for the fact that she seemed to have mistaken him for someone else...
"Shu! We're here!" Three soaking wet figures suddenly appeared behind Shu. Kiana, wearing her armor, pushed back her drenched hair, water droplets still clinging to her face, and shouted loudly.
Shu sent a help signal, so it must be a tricky problem!
"Hm?" Kiana focused her gaze, seeing Shu awkwardly turning his head back and a pair of arms wrapped around him.
Kiana: "?"
What happened?!
"Shu, are you okay?" Behind Kiana, Mei shook the water off herself, then looked worriedly at Shu, freezing as well.
"Shu, you..." Perhaps due to the haste of coming out, Bronya wasn't wearing many attachments and looked mostly normal.
The three looked at Shu's current state. All four fell silent.
Shu: What are you looking at? Hurry up and help me figure something out!
Kiana: Really can't help with this one.
Bronya: This type of problem is outside Bronya's area of expertise.
Mei: Shu, do you really not know that old grandma?
Shu: How could I possibly know her!
The four exchanged glances at a strange frequency, swapping opinions, but ultimately arrived at no solution.
"Cough..." Helplessly, Shu could only raise his hand and cough, prompting the old grandma to look up.
"I..." Just as Shu was about to say something, the old grandma's wrinkled face broke into a brilliant smile.
Smiling like a splendid chrysanthemum—Shu, the recipient of this smile, truly felt the meaning of this phrase.
"Hungry? Come, come home. Grandma saved your favorite canned food for you..." the old grandma said, finally releasing her hold. Taking tiny steps, she turned back and picked up the bundle of branches, which looked quite heavy.
Taking this opportunity, Shu quickly retreated two steps, rejoining Kiana and the others. The four began a rapid exchange.
"Shu, what's going on?" Kiana asked first.
Shu shook his head, untying the rope from his wrist while saying, "I'm clueless too..."
Glancing at the trio's soaked hair, Shu, the only dry one, paused for a moment and rephrased, "I'm also a bit confused. I just got here and saw this old woman, and then she hugged me."
"Shu really doesn't know this old grandma?" Bronya confirmed again. "The old grandma seems to know Shu."
"I really don't know her... I have no impression of this old grandma whatsoever," Shu answered definitively.
He was genuinely baffled. He wouldn't be this nervous even if a Honkai Beast had pounced on him, but what pounced was a tottering old grandma with a face full of grievance and relief...
What was he supposed to do?
There were no White Bone Spirits [demon from Journey to the West known for shapeshifting] here, changing into an old grandma to deceive him.
Besides, Shu had checked the old grandma thoroughly, up and down. She was just a completely normal old woman, nearly ninety years old!
This left Shu completely stuck. He had to maintain basic vigilance while also guarding against his subconscious reactions harming the old grandma.
"Then what should we do now? The old grandma seems to have invited you to her house. What about us? Should we wait here for you?" Mei asked.
Having Mei and the others wait here wasn't impossible, but in this unfamiliar and strange place, Shu was reluctant to let the three leave his sight.
"You follow behind me. Try to minimize your presence," Shu replied. "We still don't know if the old grandma welcomes others following."
"Are the girls all with the child?" Behind Shu, the old grandma had already picked up the bundle of branches again and shuffled back with small steps.
Seeing the four huddled together, the old grandma grinned, revealing incomplete teeth, spoke with a thick accent, and nodded at them.
"Girls are good, brought girls back... Come on, come on," the old grandma said, reaching out and taking Shu's hand.
Shu couldn't dodge, letting the old grandma lead him away.
"At least now we don't have to worry about not being welcome..." Kiana said blankly, watching Shu being dragged away. The three exchanged glances and followed somewhat helplessly.
Just as the photograph showed, underfoot was a muddy cement road. Likely built long ago, the road had numerous cracks and gaps.
On both sides were houses made of either mud walls or piled stones. Some low mud walls had low wooden doors.
Kiana curiously peeked over one as they passed, coming face-to-face with a large pink pig inside the mud wall enclosure.
"Waah!" Both Kiana and the pig were startled. The pig's trotters slipped on the wet ground, and squealing, it fell with a splat.
Kiana quickly scrambled back to Mei's side.
"A pig! Mei!" Kiana seemed quite shaken. She never imagined before coming here that she'd actually be scared by a pig!
Mei: "?"
Kiana pointed at the low mud wall, emphasizing again.
"There's a pig in there!"