"Coming through!"
The markets of Liyue never quieted, only slowed as the afternoon sun began its descent in the sky. Despite the passing of the lunch rush, Wanmin Restaurant was filled to the brim. Xiangling skillfully wove through patrons and waiters alike, careful not to drop her meticulously crafted meal.
With a beaming smile, she placed her signature dish in front of an elegantly dressed man. Mr. Zhongli had been coming to visit Wanmin Restaurant more often after the Moonchase Festival. At his third following visit, Xiangling had asked him why––because although she had won the title of Masterful Chef, she wanted people to come for her food, her passion, not her accolades!
Mr. Zhongli had looked at her, his typical stern eyes softened, and mentioned something about repaying debts of gratitude. He sometimes reminded Xiangling of Xingqiu, with his descriptive and proper words.
(Xiangling had flapped around, telling him he didn't need to be grateful for her food––it was her pleasure! But Mr. Zhongli had only smiled, and Guoba said " ", and, well, anyone who Guoba liked was more than welcome to come as often as they like).
Mr. Zhongli picked up his chopsticks, and Xiangling tried to calm down her excitement. "This is my special––Wanmin Restaurant's Boiled Fish! It's a twist on our usual Black-Back Perch Stew." At her heels, Guoba bounced, saddling up to get a front row seat (discreetly, Xiangling kept an eye at him, lest the Golden Shrimp Balls Incident ™ be repeated.)
After a few bites, Mr. Zhongli paused. "While sea salt from the shallow seas of Guyun Stone Forest brings a fresh sense of depth to tofu, it clashes with the sharp spice of the Jueyun Chili. It would be better to try Violetgrass from the ruins of Sal Terrae." And with that brief statement, he picked up his chopsticks again and resumed eating.
"Really?" Xiangling exclaimed. "Then I'll get some––and then come and try it again! I won't disappoint!" Reaching down, she lifted Guoba into her arms and gave him an affectionate squeeze. "It'll be just like the first time we met!"
" " said Guoba, eyes crinkling in a smile.
That's how Xiangling found herself standing in the west of Bishui Plain, home to ruins long weathered by the waters lapping at its shores. Somehow, she had found herself accompanied by Xingqiu and Chongyun, the former of which had bounded forward to examine the crumbling stone structures.
The invitation had gone like this––Xingqiu had seen the look of jittery anticipation on Xiangling's face as she had cornered him at Wanwen Bookstore, Guoba on her heels. Before Xiangling got the chance to speak (and probably have him try some 'innovative' concoction of unholy materials), he stepped to the side of his companion, unintentionally (intentionally) pushing him forward. Chongyun, distracted by the sudden nudge and the unexpected appearance of a friend, let out a fatal "Xiangling?". Not even a minute later, he was roped into accompanying her on another long winded search for esoteric ingredients. Xingqiu had hid his smile at Chongyun's look of surprised helplessness behind his sleeve.
But it wouldn't be chivalrous to let two friends investigate a remnant of long forgotten history, occupied only by Hilichurls, with unknown posed danger––and Xingqiu was faithful in his aspirations to represent the noble heroes of long past. And so, he too found himself on the patchwork of islands known as Sal Terrae.
Soft waves lapped at the beaches circling the island they were on. Across them, and faintly in the distance of the others, strange statues stood, with ruined, desolate buildings littering the sand.
Ignoring Chongyun's muttering of starting a "Victims of Xingqiu Alliance", he lightly ran his fingers against rain-weathered stone. "Fascinating," he said. "According to scrolls stored within the Feiyun Commerce Guild, Sal Terrae used to be the residence of a kind god, who was murdered by Morax out of jealousy."
Chongyun perked up at the possibility of malingering karma in the area. "The desolation in this area would be consistent with betrayal…" His rumination was cut off by Xiangling waving and yelling in the distance.
"Mr. Zhongli said to the north, by a waterfall surrounded by stone amidst water, I could find the violetgrass I need!"
"Zhongli? Like Hu Tao's employee Zhongli?" Chongyun asked, incredulously. "No wonder we're at a grave site. Please tell me she didn't give you any coupons to hand out to the descendants of survivors."
"Um...no," Xiangling replied.
"I have some from the last time we saw her," Xingqiu helpfully supplied, unaffected by Chongyun's unamused stare.
Turning back to the task at hand, Xiangling peered into the distance. "We'll have to cross the sea to get there," she mused. "Chongyun, would you be able to freeze the water for us to walk on."
"He definitely could," Xingqui said cheerily.
Chongyun gulped.
" # ##" Guoba grumbled, shaking water out of his fur. "Sorry Guoba," Xiangling said, running a Pyro infused hand over his fur, drying out seawater and leaving salt coated in his fur. Behind her, Xingqiu lifted water off himself and Chongyun, before evaporating the collected water droplets.
Chongyun ran a sheepish hand behind head. "Um...sorry about that. That huge chili distracted me…"
"No no, it's okay!" Xiangling waved her hands. "I forgot about your positive energy...I shouldn't have given Guoba any before coming!"
Guoba looked entirely unbothered, preening, even, under the warmth of Xiangling's hands.
In front of them lay a circular stone terrous, concaved inwards. From where they stood, they could hear the low grumbling of water falling in a steady, continuous fashion. As Xiangling climbed up, she gave a surprised shout.
"It's just as Mr. Zhongli said!" she exclaimed. "There's violetgrass growing from the stone! Oh man, my next dish is going to be just amazing! "
While Xiangling busied herself with treacherous climbing that would make even the most seasoned Adventure Guild member think twice, Xingqiu examined the stone structure in front of them. Ornate carvings are etched into the rock, in a language he did not recognize. He traced his fingers over the writing, memorizing the slants and curves of the language. Guoba peered over the edge, standing on his tip-toes. "I don't suppose you can read this, can you?" Xingqiu murmured, and Guoba only hummed in response.
"Hey," Chongyun called out from behind him. "There's a boat here!" Turning around, Xingqiu finds the young exorcist is standing next to an intact wooden boat, oars neatly laid inside. "I wonder what it's doing here...I can't sense any residual energy from it."
Xiangling appeared behind Xingqiu, several stems of violetgrass in her arms. He knew better than to ask 'already?' or 'are you secretly part adeptus, and if so, can I write my next book about you?'.
"Oh!" Xiangling said. "Mr. Zhongli said that would be here! He came here with the Traveler recently, and one of their companions left it behind. We can use that to leave the island instead of getting wet again…"
And so, the four of them unanimously, and somewhat silently (perhaps, from deliberate repressement of earlier happenings) found themselves rowing away from the circular ruins.
Xingqiu languidly stretched out, oars laying across his legs, completely dry. "Well, this was pretty straightforward." In front of him, Chongyun grumbled, rowing the boat forward rather aggressively.
Xiangling beamed, not catching his insinuation. "Yeah! That means I can get back and start cooking earlier. I wonder if I should decrease the salt in the dish to account for the natural acquired salt in the violet grass…"
Abruptly, an ear splitting roar cut across the peaceful landscape. Guoba jumped, startled, eyes wide, as the rest of them looked towards the sound of the noise.
"What is that?" Xiangling gasped. Pulling out from behind camouflaging trees, a gigantic creature, towering in height, stalked towards them. Brown spikes sharply protruded from his back, and from around his head, a makeshift stone mane. Two large horns sat atop a masked, stone face, golden eyes burning underneath.
"Oh no," Chongyun gasped. "That's…that's a Stonehide Lawachurl."
Xiangling and Xingqiu sharply turned towards him, and understanding dawned across Xingqiu's face. "I've read about them before," he said. "...I read that even the most seasoned adventurers avoid them, due to their ferocious and aggressive nature." He paused. "Although, between the three of us, we could probably prevail."
Chongyun shook his head. "Even so, between our skills and your proficiency in martial arts, we would be lucky to escape with our lives. Luckily we're out on the water––" He cut himself off, words choking in his throat as the Lawlachurl threw a Geo slime towards their boat. Summoning Cryo energy, he froze the water in front of them upwards, creating a barrier between the two of them. Xingqiu began to summon Hydro to propel them away when the Geo slime crashed through the Cryo wall and into the water in front of them.
The impact created a sharp wave that tilted their boat backwards. "I think you jinxed it!" Xiangling said tightly, holding onto the side of the boat with one hand, and attempting to vaporize as much of the wave in front of them as possible. Just as it seems they may have created distance between them and their enemy, a second Geo slime slams behind them. The upturned wave crashes against their boat, and in moments, they're overturned.
Kicking her legs with frantic energy, Xianling surfaced, spitting out water. "Guoba!" she yelled. Had she ever seen Guoba swim? She can't remember. Fear began to overtake her, as Xingqiu and Chongyun surfaced. " Guoba!"
" ?!" Guoba shouted, musical tone alarmed, waving his short arms rapidly as he stood upon shore. Had he managed to swim there before the three humans had even surfaced? Xiangling couldn't dwell on that matter, her limbs going dead in the water as she heard the Lawachurl roar, on the same island Guoba was on.
" We have to confront it!" Xingqiu yelled. She'd already begun a frenzied swim towards the island. The Lawachurl reached underneath, pulling ruined stone slabs from the ground, and then gave an almighty roar, throwing the stone towards them. Xiangling panicked, automatically reaching her hand out to the sky to –– shoot a fireball at it? incinerate it mid air? –– and then felt an unnatural surge of water push against her, submerging her but carrying her away from the rock.
The stone slab slams with a thunderous noise where she had been swimming, the impact sending her farther back from the island. Surfacing again, she watched as Chongyun reached sand, summoning his claymore and striking cryo energy across the beach in an apparent attempt to shatter the Lawachurl's defensive rock. She'd been pushed farther from the island when she started, and a small, unsaid part of her, is glad that Chongyun had reached the Lawachurl when he did, despite the imminent danger. Guoba, thankfully, was still at the moment frantically gesturing towards Xiangling and Xingqiu, on the opposite side of the beach.
Crawling his way out of the water, having reached the Chongyun before Xiangling, Xingqiu summoned his rain swords. "Know my sword!" he snarled, uncharacteristic ferocity splashed across his face. With a downward slash of his sword, Hydro blades materialized in the air and then slammed into the Lawachurl, momentarily staggering it.
Having fought with Xingqiu before, Chongyun reacted without hesitation. "Submit for judgement!" the exorcist shouted, hammering the Lawachurl in place with Cryo spirit blades, which exploded on impact. The combination of Hydro and Cryo froze the Lawachurl in place, and Chongyun instinctively froze in return, waiting with a bated breath.
Moments later, with a thunderous clap, the frozen prison shattered, and the Lawachurl roared with murderous anger.
"Xingqiu," Chongyun said, falling back. Apprehension colored his voice. Despite his constant training, Chongyun had always focused on refining his Cryo-supported exorcism, and Hilichurls and Treasure Hunters he encountered usually fell quickly.
Xingqiu stepped forward in front of Chongyun, shielding him as he fell into the Raincutter's opening stance. Slashing once more, Xingqiu froze the Lawachurl in place, repeating the stabbing of his Hydro blades. Behind him, Xiangling staggered onto shore. "We can't run," he breathed out, painfully understanding.
Xiangling's shoulders sagged in relief as she spotted Guoba towards the left of them, unintentionally keeping the trio as a shield against the Lawachurl. "I don't think this is the time for chivalry," she said, voice quavering.
"We won't be able to escape before the Lawachurl catches up," Xingqiu replied. "We won't be able to slow it down either. We'll have to break the Geo shield and then defeat him." As if on cue, the Lawachurl shattered his ice cage once more, and turned towards them, with obvious intent.
Xiangling summoned her spear, willing her hands to stop trembling. Looking at Xingqiu and Chongyun, she saw only conviction. The Lawachurl bore down, readying a charge. "If this is our final stand," Xingqiu said. "May it be a monument to chivalry."
Without warning, the three of them are separated as something pushed through. " ," Guoba said.
" No, " Xiangling gasped. "Guoba, you have to run! Go back!" She reached for her companion, but he stepped out of her grasp. The ground began to shake as the Lawachurl barreled towards them.
Xiangling vaguely heard screaming. She felt frozen in place, unable to even summon a tornado of fire as mere seconds separate Guoba from the Lawachurl.
And then, inexplicably the Lawachurl stumbled, ground underneath him giving away. The mix of sand and soil turned gray, into weathered crumbs, loose and unstable under the Lawachurl's feet. The monster attempted to stand but the ground gave way, and he fell once more. Cracks opened along the rock armor, and beneath, mottled, gray skin peaked through.
"He's diseased," Chongyun said, with sudden understanding.
"He didn't seem very sick when he was trying to smash us to pieces." Xiangling said, finally grabbing Guoba with unfeeling fingers and pulling him close.
Chongyun gave an uncertain shrug. "Perhaps the malingering energy has affected him...although it would be unusual to this degree, and to spare us…"
"Whatever the cause, we should press our advantage." Xingqiu's rain swords continue to dance around him. "Chongyun, let's try again."
WIth synchronized cries, Xingqiu and Chongyun attack once more, freezing and then purposefully shattering the ice from a distance. The Lawachurl stumbled again, before being frozen again and repeating the cycle. Suddenly, with a deafening crack, the Geo armor breaks apart in pieces, falling and disappearing into the shifting ground.
"It shattered ," Chongyun said in shock.
"Now's our chance!" Xingqiu said. "Xiangling, if you can burn him with Pyro while Chongyun and I attack, we can end this now."
Xiangling nodded, fury at her friends' safety channeling through her. She heard the shouts of Xingqiu and Chongyun using their visions. Channeling her own Pyro vision, a brilliant tornado of red and white fire enveloped the Lawachurl, and steam began to rise in great clouds as it reacted with water and ice alike. The Stonehide Lawachurl let out a pained roar, slamming the ground in an attempt to send a shockwave to stop the attack, but the loose soil shifted and fell to the ground weakly. Xiangling's fear and anger drove her Pyro vision to continue the assault on the Lawachurl until with one last growl, it fell to the ground in defeat.
Simultaneously, the three of them collapsed, leaving only Guoba standing. " " he said, walking up to Xiangling and burrowing into her side. She laughed wetly, burying her face in his fur, as her other companions caught their breath.
"..."
"I knew the three of us would be able to defeat the Lawachurl."
Chongyun throws ruined violetgrass at the second heir's head.
A week passed, uneventfully even by Xiangling's serving Mr. Zhongli his new dish (and noting the suggestions), and catching up at her Father's restaurant, she's been busy. She had been meaning to visit her Master, ask her about what had happened in the ruins of Sal Terrae, but simply hadn't found the time.
(At least, that's what she told herself. It's easier than getting an answer you don't want)
She found her at Yuehai Pavilion. It's always been Yuehai Pavilion, with the soft, cloying scent of glaze lilies and silk flowers in the air. Xiangling knew she could no longer avoid this conversation. As she approached, she wasn't surprised to see her Master had been waiting for her.
"How are you, Xiangling?" Madam Ping asked. It was a soft opening. Like she had learned when training with the spear, she has to strike first to have the fight be on her terms. At least today, right now, she's only sparring with a trusted friend.
Xiangling recounted what had occurred at Sal Terrae. "When I saw his skin...disease burrowed deep...and the ground gave way beneath him…" Xiangling stopped, looking up at Madam Ping with pleading eyes.
Her Master has mercy on her. "You remembered what I had told you about Marchosius," she finished gently.
Xiangling nodded. Her words feel lodged in her throat, like a calla lily has been stuffed in her. "I…" She looked down at her hands, before resolving herself. "You had told me that Guo––Marchosius had lost his power," she said in a rush. "But I know I saw it then, even if Guoba looked the same to me!" Her voice began to crack. "Does that mean Guoba is going to return to being a God?"
"What worries you about that?" Madam Ping asked.
Xiangling sighed, pent up worry escaping in one breath. Yet, she does not feel relieved. "If that happens...that would probably be better for everyone, wouldn't it? He could share the joy and passion of cooking with more people! It would be better…"
Silence followed. Xiangling couldn't bear to bring herself to look at her Master. After a few moments, she raised her eyes, only to be met with kindness. The dam broke.
"I'm worried he would forget me."
Madam Ping smiled, as if she has just seen her child take their first steps. "There's nothing wrong with admitting attachment, Xiangling. It is our bonds with our friends that our strength is derived from."
"But to answer your question...no, that is not what I think occurred. Rather, Guoba felt worried for your safety, and he inadvertently drew back the power he had once given the land, leaving disease and calamity in its place. Even if Marchosius has largely been eroded...the gods never die. A small piece, however small, is always present. But he is still your companion."
Xiangling hadn't realized her hands had been shaking until the first droplets of tears began to fall. She wiped her eyes, laughing a little embarrassed. "I know it was dumb...but thank you." But when she opened her eyes again, Madam Ping had disappeared––no doubt back to her teapot abode.
But Xiangling cannot find it in her to complain good-naturedly about her teacher's inopportune exits. She has a friend to keep cooking with.