Xiao brings a little of his almond tofu to his mouth while he thinks about the seemingly young and weak god of winds, Barbatos. He frowns involuntarily and shoves a larger amount of almond tofu in his mouth to prevent too many negative emotions at once. To think, he once considered that man his friend…

He hears a knock at the door, and is about to get up before Aether opens the door of his own volition. "Hey Xiao!" he says cheerfully. There's a wide goofy smile on his face that only gets bigger when he sees the adeptus.

Xiao remains stoic. "Take a seat young man," he commands. Aether does so, but not without the snarky comment that Xiao looks younger than he does and is almost as short. If Xiao was affected by either of those comments, he didn't show it. Instead, he takes a long bite of almond tofu, taking his time to savor it. In reality, he was thinking of where to start, and how to tell the story in such a way that his own feelings wouldn't get caught up in his telling, so Aether would get a nice unbiased view of the history of Teyvat. There were a few things he wanted to include from his perspective, he thought, such as focusing largely on Rex Lapis so the traveler would be well aware of his magnanimity and grace. He also wished to warn the traveler subtly about Barbatos, but in such a way that it would be mixed in with the rest of the story and Aether wouldn't be able to step in to defend who he considered his friend without making it seem as if he was going against basic objective fact. The catch was that all of this was very emotionally powerful for Xiao, and it would be hard to disguise his true feelings to the boy, who seemed surprisingly perceptive. This was to say nothing of the karmic debt it would procure. He might have to cut this session short as well if hatred started affecting his surroundings too. This all flashes through Xiao's mind in less than a minute. He takes his time to swallow the almond tofu, and then takes a sip of water to clear his throat. "Well…" he starts.

My master didn't interact with me often. He was able to sense my presence at all times so he had no need to fear that I would try to kill him. He also knew I couldn't run away, as my human form was unable to go any faster than a normal human. His reign of terror that I carried out had another purpose as well as causing the human population to fear him: it caused them to hate me. No matter who I went to, I knew I couldn't trust them. They had respect in their eyes and words, but I could feel the hostility radiate off of them. When I went to a human household in search of food to eat, the family living there were likely as not to attempt to poison me. Instead, I feasted on their hopes and dreams. It was the only pleasure in my life.

Xiao takes a hearty bite out of his almond tofu. He notices Aether looks confused. "What do you mean by eating their hopes and dreams?" he asks.

While a human was sleeping, I'd creep outside their house. They'd emit dreams of pleasant ideas or memories, a girl they liked, a certain machine they wanted to make, a pleasant vacation with their family. Those tasted amazing. Of course, humans also have nightmares. A family member who committed suicide, a friend dead of mysterious illnesses, a local god destroyed. I tried eating one of those dreams. Once. The texture was the same but the sensation was entirely different. It made me feel…sad, is how I can best put it. Sad and angry.

I didn't carry out that diet for very long. After a year of terrorizing the region, I noticed one of the humans, a carpenter who I frequently ate the dreams of. He seemed empty. Like a shell of their former self. He went through the motions of being human, but had nothing to live for. No wife, no friends, no aspirations. He seemed completely emotionless as well. His routine consisted of working at his job, working enough at home to sustain himself for the day, and then lying in bed for the rest of the day until he fell asleep. I went through the records for this man and noticed he had a mother who was dying in a sickhouse. That sickhouse was only a mile from where he lived. Despite this, he never visited. I thought he was mentally ill and I planned on taking his life in the next random execution.

I had a craving for dreams the night before I planned to kill him. I went outside his window and waited for him to fall asleep. He did. Sure enough, he dreamed of a beautiful wooden structure, one that would be impenetrable to rain, snow, or hail. I saw him standing on the roof of this structure, surveying it proudly. It's obvious he wanted to build it. I ate the dream. It tasted delicious.

The next day, I sharpened my spear, waiting for the man to leave his house. He never did. He stayed inside all day, laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling.

I had killed this man. Not physically, but functionally. He was no better than a walking pile of straw. I'd eliminated any chance of him being a productive member of society, one who felt things the same as any of us.

From that point on, I swore to never eat the dreams of anyone again. I noticed a few other humans in "Liyue" who similarly seemed drained, although not to the extent of this man. They ignored their family, or their job, or even their dietary needs. What I had done to them was unforgivable, and it was done in the pursuit of my base urges.

Of course, my master had already noticed the effect eating dreams had caused. He used this to prevent the thoughts of anyone against him. If he noticed anyone who particularly hated him, he would grind them down and make them an obedient subject. I'd be forced to eat their dreams of worshipping other gods or of escaping "Liyue" and travelling to the domain of a nicer spirit. He would instruct me to leave the nightmares of him killing them or their family however.

One other activity my master forced me to do was fight random monsters outside the confines of "Liyue". This was done for two purposes. He wanted me to drag in the corpses of the animals to "Liyue" so the inhabitants could see how much safer they were inside the borders. This would also serve the purpose of providing the people with food, since there was a large famine at the time. Crops refused to grow, which I blame my master for. In this way he was able to coerce the people to stay, both by showing what would happen if they left, and by showing how much more well fed they were inside the borders.

I wasn't nearly as strong as I was now so fighting nearly every day had its toll on me. Fighting wave upon wave of slimes, whopperflowers, treasure hoarders, vishaps, and eyes of the storm would physically exhaust me. I'd often nearly collapse during a battle. Killing so many of these monsters, day in and day out, slowly accumulated my karmic debt, little by little…

There was no relief from the pain. If I could find a medicinal herb to nibble on, it would dull the symptoms, but they would inevitably worsen with time.

I remember I broke my tendon during a battle once and asked my master if I could rest for a week to mend it. He snapped my arm in two.

One day, I just fell over after a battle. I couldn't take it anymore. Everything that had happened to me over the past fifty years…it had all accumulated. I knew that I'd be tortured for all the suffering I'd inflicted onto others in this life, for all the karma I'd attained. I wanted to die at that point. If the physical punishment or the karma didn't take me, I'd do it myself.

Just as I was about to spear myself through the chest, I felt a gust blow through my hair. My pain lifted almost instantaneously. It felt…sweet.

I looked around for what had caused my pain to subside. It was the new anemo god, the king of winds, Barbatos, slowly strumming a lyre.

At this point, Xiao reached for another bite of his almond tofu before realizing he had none left. "That's enough for today." he grunts. Aether frowns a little. "You just seem to be willing to tell your story as long as you have almond tofu remaining!"

"If you bring me more, I might be willing to tell the history of Teyvat longer." Xiao looks despondent and uses his chopsticks to attack the bottom of his plate. It offers no more almond tofu.

Aether scowls. "Alright, fine, I'll bring you your almond tofu. Just as long as you continue talking to me!" Xiao nods reluctantly. "Bye Xiao."

Xiao doesn't take the time to respond as he did last time, but he acknowledges Aether's leaving with a nod. When he shuts the door, he allows himself to feel angry. At his master, at the bard, but most importantly, at himself. He freely lets hatred flow around him, which wilts what remains of Ganyu's flowers. He admits to himself, talking about his past with the young boy seems to have caused him unnecessary emotional grief. He thought he could control himself better. Xiao curses at his own anger and tries not to think of the only friend he had at that time.