"Qiqi?"
I stood in front of the infirmary's reception desk, but she was nowhere to be found. Professor Baizhu told me the herb collecting was to be done before the day's end, so I went to see her immediately after meeting with him. Standing on my toes, I even peeked over the desk in case her short frame was obscured. There was nothing but a step stool.
Leaning against the desk, I tapped a finger on the wood and thought of how long it may take for her to show up. Foraging for herbs in a massive forest with a child-sized guide would take some time, I'm sure. I would go off and get them on my own, but Qiqi was the one who knew which herbs to gather in the first place.
"I'm here," a soft voice said.
I spun around to find Qiqi standing behind me. I didn't notice her entrance at all—the door didn't make a sound. How long had she been standing there?
"Hi Qiqi," I smiled. "Professor Baizhu sent me to you for some herb collection."
"Oh," she stared at the floor. "I will…bring my notebook."
She walked around the reception desk and hopped up on the stepstool. Reaching her arms into the drawers behind the desk, Qiqi rummaged around before pulling out a tiny notebook. It was labeled Things for Qiqi to Remember in fine script, and she flipped through the pages. After a moment of reading, she suddenly gasped and acknowledged me once more.
"I just remembered something. I forgot to help Dr. Baizhu collect herbs."
"That's what I'm here for," I reminded her. Qiqi's memory was worse than I thought. "Are you ready to go into the forest?"
She said nothing and only hummed a light tune, going back to the reception desk and reaching under to grab what looked like an empty knapsack. That must be for the herbs.
"I will go with you," she nodded. "Follow me."
I let Qiqi guide us past the edge of the forest bordering campus. Despite her poor memory, it was clear she knew the right way to go judging from the precise turns she made at seemingly random locations. Qiqi stayed silent as we walked, and she would occasionally stop to stretch her limbs. Sometimes, she gasped whenever small wildlife crossed our path. Finches got her the most distracted, and I often had to remind her of why we were here after she was finished marveling at them.
Because the Academy was at the top of the mountain, there was quite a bit of scaling down steep slopes. For myself, I had no trouble finding the right footing or hopping down to strong ledges, even if they were far apart. I was more worried about how Qiqi fared in these conditions. So far, her small size proved to be of no issue as she slid down the rockface.
At last, we made it to an area where there were more trees than rocks. Qiqi reached into her knapsack and pulled out the notebook. She stared at the cover. Then, she put the notebook back inside without even opening it. Instead, she reached in once more and pulled out a glass bottle of…is that milk?
Popping the lid, she guzzled nearly half the bottle before letting out a satisfied exhale. "I like coconut milk."
I've never tried coconut milk before. "What does it taste like?"
Qiqi looked to me and then to the bottle. "I don't know." She shrugged and switched her drink for the notebook. "We need…Violetgrass."
If I remembered correctly, Violetgrass was a plant originating from Liyue. Not only were they sparsely located, but they only grew on cliffsides. I looked back up to the stone cliffs we just descended. It probably would have been better for us to pick the Violetgrass before we got this far down. Did Qiqi forget?
She was already beginning to climb back up.
I watched for a moment as she made very, very slow progress. Her arms and legs were far shorter than mine, and I can't imagine how long it took her to collect herbs for Professor Baizhu on a normal basis.
"Qiqi, let me handle things from here. Just point to where the Violetgrass is, and I'll pick them. You can wait at the bottom."
She stopped climbing and tilted her head to the side. "But…I need to stay busy or else I may forget what I'm doing. And, uh, my joints might lock up if I don't move enough."
"How about you look for other plants we need that are close by?" I suggested. "You can even take a break and drink more coconut milk."
"Oh, okay. Violetgrass is over there." She pointed to a far spot on the cliffs where a small shadow shaded some of the rock.
Wait, that wasn't a shadow. Squinting my eyes, I made out the faint shape and deep purple of the Violetgrass. Finding it all on my own would have been near impossible. How Qiqi was able to spot it, I'll never know.
After making sure Qiqi made it safely to the forest floor, I steeled myself for the upward climb. The sun was shining on this side of the mountain, and a bead of sweat began to trickle down my back just as I made it to the bundle of Violetgrass. Soon, I realized I had nowhere to put them. Qiqi had the knapsack with her, so I decided to delicately tuck the stems in my waistband, careful not to crush any petals.
On my way back down, I somehow managed to spot another shadow—Violetgrass—further along the cliff. It was at the same altitude, so I didn't have to worry about pulling myself up any higher. I did, however, need to keep my stamina in check. A small ledge jutted from the cliffside, and I took a moment to rest there while the burning in my muscles subsided from the constant effort.
Waiting for my energy to recharge, I spied Qiqi sitting on a fallen log with her too-short legs dangling in the air. Her feet swung back and forth as she sipped on some coconut milk, and I smiled. For as old as Baizhu made her out to be, Qiqi acted like a kid. She did mention something about being a zombie, though. I wanted to learn more about that particular story.
Ready to go, I gripped the rough edges of the cliff and climbed in a horizontal direction. Once I'd made it to this section of Violetgrass, I carefully extracted them from the rock crevices and tucked them with the others. Now all I had to do was descend—gravity was my friend.
"Here's the Violetgrass." I handed the flowers to Qiqi, who was staring at her now-empty bottle.
"Wasn't there something in here a second ago…?" Her usually dull voice held a hint of sadness in it.
"You drank it all. The coconut milk."
"I like coconut milk."
Qiqi's knapsack was leaning against a boulder, so I took it upon myself to store the Violegrass there. I spotted Qiqi's notebook in there as well, and I handed it over to her. "What's next on the list?"
"Qingxin," she said without looking at the notebook. "Up there."
She pointed to one of the lower peaks of the mountain, but it was still a peak. I fought to keep a pleasant expression on my face. I to climb again? If Qiqi brought up the location sooner, we could have glided down to that peak from the very top of the mountain and saved energy. Scaling that height…I was now beginning to understand why Professor Baizhu thought this to be a fair task in return for keeping my grade.
A family of finches chirped loudly from a nearby tree. "Ooh, pretty," Qiqi gasped and stared up at them in awe.
I couldn't be mad at her, but I could prepare myself for the future plants. If I know what to look for ahead of time, a more efficient route of collection could be set in place.
"Qiqi, may I see your notebook?"
She handed it to me. "Okay."
I flipped through the pages, seeing that quite a few of them held snippets of information on people. There were mostly notes on physical appearances, but memories and personalities were listed as well. I didn't want to invade Qiqi's privacy, but I couldn't help but pause on one particular page that stuck out to me.
Hu Tao
- Tried to bury me
- Warm
- Fake smile
- Death
- I despise Hu Tao
I…wow. I didn't realize someone as docile as Qiqi would bear so much hatred towards another person. I've never met this Hu Tao, but they sounded interesting—to say the least.
At last, I reached the list of plants for us to gather. Violetgrass and Qingxin were at the top, followed by Horsetail and Lotus Head. Alright then, we'll be halfway done once I muster up enough physical and mental energy to collect the Qingxin. Once we get this over with, I'll be in good standing with Professor Baizhu again. Once we get this over with, I could take a nice shower followed by a long nap.
"This should be the last of it." I shook the water from my hands.
The Lotus Heads were further into the pond than I thought. It was only with the help of Qiqi's Cryo skill that I didn't have to go knee-deep in the water. They were heavy in my hands, and I hoped Qiqi's knapsack had enough room left with all the other plants we'd gathered. The Horsetails were the easiest to find, being so close to the shallow end, and the Qingxin flowers were safely secured on top of everything else. It took me longer to grab those than the Violetgrass, including when I double-backed for more Violetgrass upon Qiqi's request. Apparently, this island's mountain had multiple peaks, but there were only a couple of Qingxin on each one—climbing was agony. This is another form of training, I guess.
I stashed the final plants into the knapsack and swung it onto my back—the weight would surely tip Qiqi over if she tried.
"Shall we head back?" I asked.
She nodded. "Go."
Qiqi navigated us back towards the Academy, one last upward climb. This time, we took a route with a more gradual slope. It would take us a bit longer to head back this way, but I didn't mind going easy.
"Hey," Qiqi stopped and turned around to face me. "Do you know what?"
"No, what is it?"
"Uhh…" she looked to the sky. "Neither do I. I…already forgot."
An odd one, she was.
Eventually, I could spot the roofs of the taller buildings on campus, signaling we were quite close. I readjusted the straps of the knapsack just when a strong gust of wind blew down from the top of the mountain. Qiqi stumbled backward a bit, and her hands immediately reached for the talisman flapping on her head. She tugged on it twice, making sure it remained secure.
That talisman…could it have something to do with Qiqi being a zombie?
"Qiqi, can I ask you a question?"
"Okay."
"How did you become a zombie?"
She hopped over a tree root and held both arms out to maintain balance. Another wind current whipped down the mountain, and it would have knocked her flat onto the ground if I didn't catch her in time. Strange, it hadn't been this windy earlier.
"The wind is picking up. There is conflict in the air."
The memory of Childe's comment came back to me, and I couldn't help but feel uneasy. Before, the wind had led us to a hilichurl camp. But this time, it was coming from the Academy.
"Did you ask me something?" Qiqi looked back at me. "Sorry…I forgot."
I smiled. "Nevermind. Let's just get back to campus, okay?"
Qiqi reached out to me. "Hold my hand, please. This wind could blow me away."
We walked together hand-in-hand up the rest of the way. I found that holding Qiqi's hand was effective, as she was less likely to be drawn away to the finches. Soon enough, the rough trail we walked on morphed into a more solid dirt path as we got closer. The wind picked up again, stronger than ever, and it whistled past my ears.
"What's happening?" Qiqi slowed.
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
She pointed to the Academy's gates peeking through the trees. "Oh no…monsters."