Chenyu Vale, the area surrounding the sacred mountain Mt Yaojun where the gentle breeze carries the fragrance of tea all across the mountains of Liyue. "Tea grows upon the rocks, where jade springs endlessly flow" is a common description of Chenyu Vale to outsiders who had not heard of or visited the place before.

The fertile soil and gentle weather of Chenyu Vale made it a paradise for agriculture. Tea wasn't the only herbal product that grew in abundance here at Chenyu Vale. The untamed wilderness of the area is also home to many rare and potent herbal medicines if you are skilled and brave enough to venture out of the safety of the brick walls to seek them.

Hence, it wasn't out of place to spot a lone man carrying a straw basket on his back halfway up one of Chenyu Vale's many mountains, kneeling on one knee to inspect and carefully harvest a rare herb. However, doing what the man did has its own set of risks because countless monsters roam these lands too. They would not hesitate to target anyone who appeared to be easy prey.

Like the hilichurls who were hiding nearby and waiting to spring an ambush.

The man who seemingly knows not of the danger that found its way to him took his own sweet time to inspect the herb which he just collected in a stroke of good luck, took down the straw basket which he carried on his back, before carefully placing the herb inside the basket. The hilichurls were strangely patient all this while, as if they were agreeable to wait for the man to finish with his task before they emerge to take his life.

The man eventually stood back up to his full height, stretched his neck from side to side as if loosening the kinks in his muscles and bones, before turning to face the direction where the hilichurls were lying in wait.

"Do you wish to turn and go, or do you need me to invite you out?"

There was a pregnant pause and silence permeated the air for a few seconds. Nobody knew which hilichurl started it, but a loud "YA!" could be heard and that warcry heralded the charge that the hilichurl group led, weapons raised as they lunged at him in a frenzy.

The man did not look visibly surprised, flustered, or even afraid. The look in his eyes were peaceful and calm and his eyes narrowed only slightly upon seeing just how many hilichurls have gathered around him in that short span of time. He subtly placed himself in front of his precious straw basket as the power of anemo secretly swirled around his right palm.

Now, just what would be the least messy method of dealing with these hilichurls in the shortest time possible while not destroying his precious basket in the meantime?

He was about to make a move but he suddenly sensed another presence quickly homing onto his location. It was a strange feeling, because he clearly felt the mystical presence of the adepti arts but the individual coming here did not feel like a true adeptus.

"Duck!"

He swiftly did as he was told and crouched low, and it was just in time because a spear pierced through where his head would have been if he was any slower. However, the fact was that he did manage to duck, so the spear had instead pierced through a hilichurl holding onto a flaming club. The spear twisted in an agonising squelch and the skewered hilichurl was unceremoniously flung to the side. The man stood up and finally got a good look at whoever had decided to lend him a helping hand.

His saviour was a young woman who looked to be on the brink of reaching adulthood. Her most prominent trait would be her long silvery white hair which was styled in a low loose thick braid fastened at the top below her shoulders with a red cord tied in a bow where a cryo vision was mounted. She has a very distant and aloof appearance, as if she had cut all ties with earthly life and he would have assumed that she was a young budding adeptus that was born after the Cataclysm if it wasn't for the strange feeling that the woman gave off.

There were traces of the adepti arts clinging onto the woman, no doubt, but she still felt "human". A half-blood like Yanfei, perhaps? But even Yanfei did not give off such a presence in the few times he had met her when he was still the Yuheng Secretary. The presence that the woman gave off was weirdly familiar, especially the brand of adepti arts she seemed to wield, almost like he had connections to her that he could not quite place a finger on.

The woman only spared him an impassive glance to check if he's alright before directing her attention to the mob of monsters that had surrounded them. He saw how her brows furrowed slightly in irritation and how her grip over her weapon tightened and subtly changed. His eyes widened further in surprise when he identified the weapon she wielded.

"Calamity Queller?"

He was so surprised at the unexpected sight of the weapon that its name flowed out from his mouth without a filter and his words were naturally caught by the woman's ears. This time, it was her turn to be surprised, but this was not the time nor place to clarify any questions.

The hilichurls have renewed their assault.

"Back away."

The woman left him with only those two words before she stepped up to stand in front of him, with one hand holding onto Calamity Queller and her other holding onto a talisman made of ice. Mystical symbols materialised and bloomed under her command as she flung her talisman into the crowd of monsters.

"Manifest!"

A frosty talisman spirit materialised as it charged into combat with its owner. He recognised that particular brand of adepti arts and he now understood why her presence felt so strangely familiar. The way she wielded herself in battle, the way her adepti arts were manifested, it all screamed of Cloud Retainer's tutelage.

Did Cloud Retainer take in a new student after Ganyu since the Archon War? He didn't know everything about Cloud Retainer before he became General Pingtian in his thirteenth cycle, and after the thirteenth cycle he didn't have a chance to check on his old adepti friends. He didn't recall hearing any news of Cloud Retainer taking in a student in his fifth cycle when he was the Yuheng Secretary and Ganyu never mentioned such an event either, but it could also be because he didn't hear of it due to Cloud Retainer's tendency to avoid human settlements, preferring the solitude of the mountains than indulging in the earthly life of mortals.

He silently watched as the young woman expertly held herself against the mob of monsters and assessed her skills. Her talent in the adepti arts was immense even at a glance, he could understand why Cloud Retainer would take her in as a student. However, it was obvious that she's still a little wet behind the ears when it comes to real combat, she probably did not have much experience and judging from her age, he made the educated guess that she must have just left the protection of Cloud Retainer's abode to go on her own journey.

There was a ferocious bellow and a humongous lawachurl leapt high up into the sky before crash landing in front of them with a violent quake. A more powerful enemy had joined the battle and this time, he had no plans to sit out. He was originally the reason why the girl was dragged into this mess and on account of his friendship with the adepti in his thirteenth cycle, he also had no reasons to not lend a helping hand.

He heard the woman clicking her tongue in annoyance and how tense she held herself. He spotted hesitance in her stance as if she was contemplating if she should continue to fight or to take him and run. He calmly walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder where she looked at him in silent askance of what he wanted.

"Stand back, leave this to me."

He did not wait for her to reply nor did they have the time to converse. The lawachurl had already made its charge and even several abyss mages had teleported in. In response, he simply held out his right palm in the direction of the monsters and the anemo which had been quietly swirling in his right palm as a silent breeze instantly turned into a raging vortex.

"Wind's Grand Ode."

The condensed anemo energy shot forward from his palm as a fleeting arrow, piercing through the lawachurl with ease and the kinetic force of the attack dragged the monster with it along its path, causing the behemoth to helplessly flail its arms until it was sucked into the violent cyclone that was created when the arrow exploded. Every single monster was indiscriminately sucked into the stormeye where they were mercilessly grinded by countless sharp anemo blades. Soon, not even a speck of dust remained, and the only signs that the monsters were once here was the huge crater that was gouged by the cyclone he fired.

Silence returned once more and was only broken when he dusted his hands, turning around just in time to catch the look on the woman's face as if she did not comprehend what she had just witnessed. He left her to her own devices and walked back to where he had left his precious straw basket, lifted it up and slung it over his shoulders, before turning back to face her.

"If you have nowhere to go, why not follow me?"

The young woman looked hesitant and she did not make a verbal reply. He could not help but mentally remark why a chatty individual like Cloud Retainer would have disciples who were soft spoken and shy. Ganyu's far from an assertive individual unless matters of life and death were concerned and this girl looked as if she had no experience even on the very basics of human social interaction.

"Are you hungry?"

"No," the woman finally replied and her response was swift and free of hesitance. However, a loud growl could be heard from her stomach as if it was choosing to voice its disagreement at this opportune moment.

"... Are you sure?"

Another loud growl could be heard. This time, it could be heard even more clearly than the last. He simply took out a small packaging wrapped in oil paper and handed it over to the woman, who took it with a blank yet curious expression on her face. She unwrapped the packaging and found two brown cooked eggs with a peculiar fragrance.

"That's jadevein tea eggs, one of Chenyu Vale's specialties. Eat as you go along," he told her and started his long trek down the mountain. The woman hesitated for a brief moment but she eventually chose to follow after him, taking small and slow bites of the food he just offered her. He couldn't tell whether she enjoyed the meal or not seeing as how her face barely had any changes in facial expressions.

"What's your name?" He finally asked after they had travelled for quite a while and she had finished with her meal.

"Shenhe," she replied and elaborated nothing more. He tried searching for this name from the recesses of his memories but came up with none. He's certain that he had not met or heard of Shenhe in any of his previous cycles.

"My name is Xun," he replied out of basic courtesy and he's starting to wonder about the daily interactions that Cloud Retainer had with Shenhe because the disciple is nothing like her chatty master. "How is Cloud Retainer doing?"

He knew that he found the right topic when the woman visibly perked up.

"You are acquainted with master?"

"I learnt a few tricks from her, although I don't think she remembers who I am. To her, I was just another faceless member among the crowd," he replied with a half-truth. "I wasn't aware she took in another disciple aside from Ganyu."

"Master took me in when I was six. It's been… more than a decade since," Shenhe answered with her head held a little lower. "I would not have been who I am today if it was not for my master."

"She is an individual worthy of respect," Xun agreed, recalling fond memories from his thirteenth cycle where he shared drinks with his adepti friends where they were seated around the same table. He's glad that at least one of his old friends seems to be doing well even long after the Archon War and the Cataclysm and that's all he asks for.

"You recognise this weapon," Shenhe recalled a particular detail before the monsters disrupted their conversation. She held up the weapon that her master bestowed upon her as a graduation gift on the day she told her that she had finally learnt enough to be able to leave Mt Aocang.

"Yes, I do. It was the personal weapon of a respectable yaksha," he replied as the face of a certain four-arm purple yaksha with a thundering boisterous laugh briefly flashed across his mind. "It's a temperamental weapon but if Cloud Retainer has deemed you capable of wielding it, I will place my trust in her judgement."

"You are not an adeptus," Shenhe stated after a long while. She could not associate this unknown man to anyone she knew or heard of. It was strange how he was not only acquainted with her master and her senior, but also had knowledge of Calamity Queller's previous wielder and recognised it on sight. To her knowledge, the spear's previous wielder was indeed a yaksha but that yaksha was believed to have perished approximately five hundred years ago in that calamitic battle.

"I'm not."

"But you know of Marshal Vritras."

"I do."

"How?"

"He attacked me, I cut him, we became friends," Xun gave Shenhe the heavily summarised version of how he and Fushe first met.

"You lived for over five hundred years?"

"I… guess so?" Xun shrugged. He had lost count on the exact number of years he had lived a very long time ago but it did feel like an impossibly long time ever since he first met Junjou and started his samsaric journey in Teyvat.

Shenhe's confusion deepened. Even if Xun truly was not an adeptus, surely a figure like him who lived long enough to have been acquainted with Marshal Vritras would have been recorded in history or have an epithet that people would know him by? Yet, there was no historical figure that she could recall who would align with what she observed from the man who was clearly human.

She would have to check with her master when she returns to Mt Aocang. Surely her master would know of this man given how vast her knowledge is.

She followed his lead and they eventually returned to Qiaoying Village. She silently watched as he entered a particular wooden hut where a critically sick man lay asleep on the bed while being tended to by a bespectacled young man around her age with green hair.

"Senior," the young man respectfully greeted Xun and shifted himself to make way for him. Xun returned his greeting with a nod before placing his index and middle finger on the man's wrist to take a reading of the man's pulse.

"How is it?"

"Your skills are not in any way inferior to mine, Baizhu. You already know the answer," Xun answered with a defeated sigh. "We… We should prepare to perform our master's last rites as per his will. I will get in touch with the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour."

"But…" Baizhu wanted to mention how their master had cut all ties with the Hu family when he chose to walk down the path of a healer rather than inherit his family's legacy, but ultimately swallowed everything back down his throat.

"One should leave the mortal realm without regrets upon their death. You don't want our master to linger around here as a homeless wandering spirit and eventually turn into an evil ghost that harms others, don't you? That would be a mocking irony to us healers," Xun asked in return before handing over his straw basket to Baizhu. "Everything you will need is in here, it should last you and master long enough until someone from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour makes their way here."

"Understood," the young Baizhu answered with a mournful look on his face and Xun gave him a squeeze on his shoulders in a show of support.

"I will look for Jiangli in the meantime. Take care of yourself too, okay?"

"I will, senior. Please don't worry about me."

"Hey, what about me?" The small white snake that Shenhe had barely given a passing glance suddenly spoke, surprising her for a brief second that she quickly recovered from. The snake's far from the weirdest thing she had ever seen. Her master is a talking crane.

"Of course I hadn't forgotten about you, Changsheng," Xun chuckled and took out another tea egg. "This is for you."

"Hmph, I'll forgive you this time," Changsheng snatched the egg from his hand in the blink of an eye and when Shenhe's eyes managed to track the snake's location it was already coiled near the sick man on the bed and in the process of swallowing the egg whole. Xun said his farewells to the occupants before making his leave and Shenhe wordlessly followed after him without a word. It wasn't until they were walking past the walls of Qiaoying Village in the direction of Liyue Harbour that he finally spoke.

"Don't you have questions to ask?"

"You don't seem to want to talk about it, so I won't pry."

"It's not like there's anything that you cannot be told about," he shook his head. "That man on the bed, he's the person who took me in when I found myself in Qiaoying Village and I became his second disciple. He's a doctor and was once a member of the Hu family of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour. He had travelled to Chenyu Vale in his youth and his experience there made him decide to leave the family business to practise medicine, which sparked an argument with his older brother."

"Wangsheng Funeral Parlour?"

"It's an organisation that was originally founded during the Archon War in order to help Rex Lapis deal with the problems that relate to the accumulated massive amounts of negative karma that manifested from the lingering grudges of fallen gods. They have been in existence for over 70 generations although in present day, they are known as a parlour that provides funeral services. Almost everyone in Liyue would one day have their last rites performed by them no matter their background." Xun explained before turning to Shenhe. "Did Cloud Retainer not teach you anything about Liyue Harbour back at her abode?"

"She might have at one point, but I may not have been listening. Master is a very chatty individual and there are times where I will have trouble absorbing everything she says in one sitting," Shenhe admitted. "So… we are going to Liyue Harbour?"

"If you wish to tag along, that will be where we will be heading," Xun affirmed. "Do you wish to follow or do you have elsewhere to be?"

"Master wanted me to travel and see the world for myself, but I do not have a specific destination in mind," Shenhe confessed. "She wanted me to understand and blend into human society but I find it difficult to do so. I prefer the solitude of the mountains. Mortal life is just too… overwhelming."

"Understandable," Xun agreed. "Then let's make haste. If possible, I wish that my master would be able to see a member of his family for one last time before he breathes his last."

The pair swiftly travelled from Qiaoying Village towards Liyue Harbour. He could opt for a faster means of travel but Shenhe had been detached from human society for so long that he decided to slow down just a little in order for him to teach her some basics of human interaction. However, he also understood that Shenhe was not accustomed to human interaction and thus he decided to take things slow and gradual, purposely travelling along the routes lesser taken by travellers but also not entirely devoid of human presence. These routes were not often used due to the presence of monsters and the geography of these areas made it hard even for the millelith to clear them out, but these were not a problem for Xun and Shenhe.

"So that's how mora is used?" Shenhe asked curiously when they stopped by a small tea shop located at a crossroad at Guili Plains that most travellers would use to take a short break when travelling to Liyue Harbour. Several passersby who happened to overhear Shenhe's remark turned their heads to look at her as though she had grown a second head.

How would anyone not know how to use mora and what's it for? Especially in Liyue, where it was their archon who created the currency that the whole of Teyvat uses today?

"Yes, mora is the currency accepted worldwide in Teyvat. The first form of business comes from bartering and trade, and overtime people found it necessary to tag a "price" to various objects for easier categorising and to ensure fairness. That was how the concept of "a common currency" first came about and how mora came into existence," Xun patiently explained the basics of how human society works to a clueless Shenhe as he bought drinks for themselves over the counter where the assistant was looking at them speechlessly, which Xun ignored. The girl had lived in seclusion in the mountains for so long that everything here was new to her. Someone needs to guide Shenhe. Without a guide, he wouldn't be surprised if she assumed that everything here was free and took what she needed without even paying, or if some scrupulous merchant scammed her of all her mora simply because she had no idea of what would be expensive or what is not.

"Master gave me mora and she told me of its uses, but this is the first time I've seen an exchange happen using mora," Shenhe told Xun as he led them to an empty table with a teapot full of tea where they took a brief moment of rest before continuing with their journey. She took out a huge heavy pouch from somewhere and opened it up. The golden dazzling glow that reflected out of it nearly blinded Xun's eyes.

Goddammit Cloud Retainer, just how much mora did you give Shenhe?

"Shenhe, there's a saying that one should not carelessly reveal their wealth while outside," Xun released a tired sigh and he knew that Shenhe's actions had unknowingly caught the attention of everyone in the teahouse. Shenhe's beauty had been turning heads everywhere they went and the teahouse was no different. Many people had already noticed the large bag of mora that she innocently took out and showed to Xun and he's already certain that they would have caught the attention of treasure hoarders by now.

"Why?"

"Because doing so will attract trouble. You will see."

True enough, they were intercepted by treasure hoarders not even half an hour after they left the teahouse, but that's another story for another day. Thankfully, Shenhe had learnt a valuable lesson to not reveal her wealth while outside, while the treasure hoarders had also learnt their lessons because Shenhe was not being gentle when she knocked the living daylights out of them, so it was killing two birds with a single stone.

He also taught her how to turn in apprehended criminals to the milleliths stationed at the various outposts that stretched along the routes used by travellers in Liyue. He taught her how to navigate and find her direction by basing her estimations from the position of the sun and the moon. He taught her what would be considered normal or not in basic human social interactions and soon, they found themselves near the foot of Mt Tianheng.

"Do you mind if we take a short detour?" Shenhe asked. Xun did not refuse because they had arrived far earlier than he had anticipated and this was the first time Shenhe had requested something from him, which he found it hard to refuse.

He knew that this area must have held a special place in Shenhe's heart for she led the way as if recalling it from her memories. She was soon led to a small village that was already largely deserted except for a few small wooden huts who still had occupants. Shenhe's presence quickly drew attention from those present but she paid them no mind. Her feet simply brought her forward and Xun followed after her, who similarly ignored the stares and murmurs of the villagers just like she did.

She eventually stopped in front of a rundown wooden hut, staring at it in silence. It wasn't until a villager who lived in a hut opposite of the one that she's staring at asking them who they were looking for that Shenhe's attention was brought back to the present.

"The original occupant? Ah, he passed away several years ago. That poor fellow, he hadn't been the same ever since he lost his wife and then his daughter within the short span of a year. Are you his family?... Lass? Where are you going, girl?"

No matter how the villager asked or called out to her, Shenhe did not look back. Xun followed after her in silence but he knew that Shenhe's heart wasn't as peaceful as she looked on the surface. He started to piece out the truth based on the passing gossip he had heard and also from what he learnt from the neighbour. This was Shenhe's home before she was taken in by Cloud Retainer.

"Don't you have questions to ask?" Shenhe asked him the question that he asked her back at Qiaoying Village once they were far away from her childhood home.

"You don't seem to want to talk about it, so I won't pry." He returned the answer she used back at her. "But if my guess was right, that was your home."

"My mother passed away when I was five. My father loved her dearly and was unable to accept her departure. In his moment of grief, he left me alone in a cave where I was to be used as a sacrifice in a ritual where he hoped he could revive my mother. I possess a unique constitution. The adeptus Moon Carver once read my fortune. I am marked by both the "solitary star" and "disastrous evil", both of which were ill omens of the greatest kind. The first omen dictates that I will be separated from friends and family, living alone all in all of my days. The other means that one will face many hardships and perils. I am a person of supremely ominous destiny, doomed to harm both myself and others, which was why my father used me as a sacrifice for his ritual."

"He blamed you for your mother's death?"

"He did," Shenhe nodded. "He was not wrong – I am plagued by intense homicidal urges and these red ropes bound me so that I would not harm myself or others, but it also shackled many emotions that would make me "human". That ritual my father subjected me to summoned a monster where we were both trapped in that cave. I wanted to live and my homicidal urges were awakened that day. I fought with everything I had and killed it before I blacked out. When I woke up, master had already taken me in. If it wasn't for those urges, I would have died a long time ago."

She took out a comb of white jade and showed it to him.

"Master gave me this comb shortly after she took me in. My hair wasn't always white in colour, it used to be black. Master said that if I wish to sever ties with the mortal world and enter adeptal tutelage I would need to brush my hair thrice with this comb. It was the rite of apprenticeship."

"Did you hesitate?"

"I did not," Shenhe shook her head as she finally came to a stop, standing upon an elevated point which offered a grand view of Liyue Harbour which was their intended destination all along. "Each time I brushed my hair with the comb it would turn a shade whiter until it turned into the colour that it is now with the third brush. I did not understand the meaning and significance of that act then, but I do now. The first to uproot useless anxiety, the second to forsake joy and sorrow, and the third to walk this path into old age without regret. I… do not regret my choice. I want to live. I do not wish for my fate to be dictated by my father's selfish desire. Even as I stood there in front of my home earlier, even when I learnt that he had already passed, I… I feel nothing. There was hatred, there was mania, relief, but it was only for a fleeting moment and they did not linger for even an instant. At the end, I felt nothing. I had no regrets. I… I'm a monster, am I? A human should not feel relief that their father is dead, yet that is what I felt."

"A human in monster skin and human in monster skin; there are times where it's hard to tell apart one from the other. Your father… Maybe he was a good husband, but he was not a good father. You do not need to feel conflicted over what you should feel upon learning the news of his death, what you should do is try to make peace with yourself."

"You don't fear me?" Shenhe asked in confusion. "I am an ill omen. I bring disaster and misfortune to everyone everywhere I go."

"You are not the only one saddled with misfortune. If you are fated to live a lonely life, I am fated to die a horrific death. We make quite a pair, don't we?" Xun replied with a boisterous laugh. "I do not know when fate would take me away from this world but you do not need to worry about afflicting me with whatever you believe to be an ill omen because I was afflicted with misfortune a long time ago. I had already experienced my fair share of calamities and tribulations long before you were born."

"Have you tried fighting back?" She could not help but ask. She did not know for whom or why she's asking this question. Was it for herself, or was it for him?

"I had searched, I had failed, I had given up, I had picked myself back up, and I tried fighting back once," he replied after a long while. "The thing is, I do not know who or what saddled me with this misfortune. If I did, I would have fought my way there, consequences be damned, and asked them for what reason and why they put me in such a situation."

"Was it worth it? Fighting back?"

"It was," a soft smile graced his face as the corners of his lips turned upwards ever so slightly at the memory of how he defied fate in his previous cycle as he shattered the nail of frost with a single arrow. "I had proved that even the fate written in the stars can be defied and to me, that was enough assurance that what I did was right. It was proof that I might one day be able to find the reason why I am a bearer of misfortune and who saddled me with this fate."

"Do you think… that I…"

"I cannot answer that question for you. I might not even live long enough to know," he confessed. "What I do know is that if you don't fight back and accept your fate, then a solitary fate is what awaits you. If you fight back, there's no guarantee that you might succeed, but at least you have tried and if you are lucky, maybe you might one day really sever your predetermined fate and head for a brighter future."

"I see," this time, it was her who had a small smile on her face. "Then… I shall fight back too. For a brighter future free of misfortune."

"And I wish you all the best."

The pair allowed a brief moment of peace and silence to envelop them before they resumed their journey to Liyue Harbour. Night had already fallen when they stepped foot into the city so they could only visit the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour early the next morning. Everything at Liyue Harbour was so foreign to Shenhe, which made her a little unwilling to explore the bustling city because it's too chaotic for her liking, and so she adamantly stuck to Xun's side the entire time because he's the only constant that she's familiar with.

"Don't you want to find Ganyu?" He asked when he was about to visit the parlour early next morning and found Shenhe already awake and waiting for him.

"That can wait," Shenhe shook her head. "Your master's affair is more urgent."

Xun did not persuade Shenhe any further because he knew her well enough to know that it's hard to change her mind once she comes to a decision and also because it's true that his master did not have long left to live. They hurriedly arrived at the parlour and a quirky young girl answered the door when they knocked.

"Morning~ We are not open yet but are you here to do business with us? We have a special discount! Buy one get one free– ack!"

The young girl's shockingly audacious words were cut short when a wrinkled hand chopped on her head. A stern old man stood behind the girl with an exasperated look on his face.

"Forgive my granddaughter, she does not know any better," the elder sighed and invited them in. "Not many like to visit the parlour and even fewer do so so early in the morning. I take it that you have urgent matters to discuss?"

Shenhe was not aware of what was discussed when Xun followed the elder into a room. She was instead stuck with the quirky and overly talkative young girl and for once, Shenhe believed that she had found someone who could match her master in terms of how much one can talk in a specific span of time.

Are you an adeptus? The girl asked. Are you and that guy, you know~ She would insinuate, much to Shenhe's confusion. Why is your hair white? Why do you tie yourself with red ropes? Woah, you have a cryo vision?! Can I play with it? You sure you don't want to get a reservation? It's a fifty percent discount!

Shenhe is accustomed to playing the role of a quiet listener in a one-sided conversation because that was how her interactions with her master usually play out, but that girl really was too much for even someone like her to handle. Her gaze was affixed to the door of the room where Xun was discussing matters with the elder, inwardly pining for him to hurry and walk out of the door. She never felt a greater sense of relief when she finally saw Xun emerging from the room with the elder and immediately moved to reunite with him at a speed that startled the young girl, confusing Xun when he noticed how she was standing behind him as though using him as a shield from the little talking menace whose height had not even reached her waist.

"I knew it! You two are~ ehe," the girl proclaimed with a mischievous glint in her eyes as though she had finally arrived at the truth of the greatest mystery of the world. She was rewarded with another head chop from her grandfather for her inappropriate remark.

"Hu Tao," the elder reprimanded sternly but the girl playfully stuck her tongue out at him in reply before trying to make her getaway. Her attempt did not succeed because her grandfather easily picked her by the back of her shirt.

"You are not going anywhere. Pack for a trip, we have to head out."

Hu Tao perked up instantly.

"Oh oh oh! We have new business?! Where are we going this time? Who's the client?"

"Your great-uncle. If we are fast enough, we might be able to meet him one last time before he breathes his last."

The return trip to Qiaoying Village was not off to a smooth start because the elder was too old to be travelling in his old and frail body, but he was adamant on making the trip in hopes of seeing his younger brother one last time. They had their disagreements, they had their fallouts, they had even cut ties with each other but at the end of the day, blood is thicker than water and everything seemed so insignificant in the face of death and eternal separation.

However, the journey was not kind to the elder and even the bubbly Hu Tao looked worried for her grandfather. They had not even travelled past Mt Tianheng and already, elder Hu looked worse for wear. Ultimately, Xun decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Shenhe, please hold onto elder Hu and Hu Tao."

Shenhe knew nothing of what Xun planned to do but she did it anyway, having absolute trust in him. Xun made a seal with his fingers and wind began to howl and swirl around them, the sight of it making Shenhe's eyes widen. There's no way she would not recognise this adepti art, this is master's –

"Skyward."

A gentle force lifted them upwards as Cloud Retainer's famed Skyladder technique transported them as a swift breeze of gentle wind. The scenes around them changed and passed by them in a blur, punctuated by Hu Tao's occasional gasps of wonder while holding onto her grandfather's arm.

They eventually landed at the front gate of Qiaoying Village before the sun had set.

"W-W-W-Woah! Are you an adeptus, big brother?!" Hu Tao exclaimed before quickly covering her mouth with her hands and looked left and right to check if anybody else had heard her, and when it looked like it wasn't the case, felt bold enough to make further inquiries in a soft whisper.

"... Are you an adeptus? You can tell me, I can keep secrets."

"No, I'm not, but that was an adeptus technique," Xun placed his hand on Hu Tao's head and ruffled her hair before walking past her to lead the group in. They returned back to the hut that Shenhe had visited once before and the two brothers who had quarrelled due to their disagreements they had in their youths reunited with each other once again.

Both men stared at each other in silence. Xun's master was visibly shocked but that shock eventually mellowed out as he met his older brother's silent gaze with his own peaceful one.

"I told you a long time ago back then, that this path would ruin you. Just… Just look at you now, you are lucky you lived for as long as you did. The Way of the Dragon-Dragging Jade Snake, it… it's a curse!" Elder Hu finally broke the silence. His words were harsh but his voice was quivering slightly just as his hands were.

"Hello, brother," Xun's master greeted with a faint smile as Baizhu assisted him in sitting upright. "It's been awhile, I'm glad to see that you are well. Is that…"

"Hu Tao, come and greet your great-uncle," elder Hu beckoned for the girl to come over, which she did obediently. Everyone else silently left the room to give the Hu family some privacy to sort out their family matters but judging from how both elder Hu and Xun's master looked as though a huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders, their reunion was a joyous one despite the fact that Xun's master did not have long left to live.

Elder Hu and Hu Tao stayed at Qiaoying Village and would visit Xun's master everyday and spend a long time with him. Xun's master passed on peacefully in his sleep eleven days later and his last rites were conducted personally by elder Hu and his granddaughter. Xun's master was exiled from the family when he stubbornly chose to abandon his family trade to pursue the art of medicine but elder Hu had decided to write his name back onto their family tree and bury his remains in the family's graveyard where he should rightfully rest. Xun's master was cremated and his ashes sealed in an urn which Hu Tao solemnly carried. She would lay her great-uncle to rest in their ancestral home once they returned to Liyue Harbour.

It's time for them to return to Liyue Harbour but this time, they had new guests.

"Are you certain?"

"I am, this contract will end with me," Baizhu nodded with a smile. Changsheng now coils herself around his neck like how it once did for their master. The snake-like iris that Baizhu now possesses spoke of the unspeakable contract that he entered to which once plagued their master and all of their predecessors. Baizhu had made his resolve.

"You… sigh. Fine, do as you wish," everything that elder Hu wanted to say was conveyed in his sigh. He had failed to stop his younger brother and now, it would seem that he failed to stop his brother's disciple as well.

"Woah~ a talking white snake!"

"Don't call me white snake! I have a name, I am Changsheng!"

"Changsheng? As in immortality? What a boring name, how about I call you Changchang instead? Hi Changchang!"

"Changsheng! Changsheng! My name is Changsheng!"

Changsheng snapped at Hu Tao as the snake and child began to bicker, much to Shenhe's headache. Xun simply laughed at her plight when he finally understood that she cannot deal with the noise as he brought everyone back to Liyue Harbour with Cloud Retainer's technique.

In the short period where Shenhe first got to know Xun she had gotten to experience many things: meeting, reunion, departure, life and death. It was a fruitful journey. Master was right, she ought to travel the world and see for herself the many things that the world has to offer, both good and bad.

Baizhu and Xun chose to move to Liyue Harbour and settle down there. They both eventually decided to open a pharmacy. They found and rented a place, set up shop, picked an auspicious date for their grand opening as per the traditions of Liyue and patiently waited for the day of their grand opening. Seeing that Shenhe had nowhere to go, Baizhu and Xun offered her a place at their pharmacy where she would work as an assistant. She took up on their offer.

They did not wait until the day of good fortune, however. One night, a mother brought her fever-stricken daughter to the door of the pharmacy, frantically pounding on the door. To the people of Liyue and especially so for merchants and businessmen, it's taboo for business to open earlier than the auspicious time without any fanfare or celebration. The auspicious hour was usually derived from a form of divination often used to predict fortune and peril or ask the gods for guidance, an art that the people of Liyue call "Zhanbu."

Hence, it came as a shock to the neighbours of the pharmacy when they learnt what the pharmacy did when the next morning came.

"Aren't you afraid of going bankrupt and losing everything?" Changsheng lamented. "All you did was treat an emergency case last night, why would you need to open up shop early?"

"Every day delayed is another day the patients must wait for their consultation. Besides, what pharmacy wants business to boom? We aren't hoping for more people to get sick, are we?" Baizhu replied as he wrote a prescription.

"That doesn't mean you should just throw open the doors without even thinking of a name for our shop! And what about a celebratory message for the grand opening?"

"A name and a message... Then let us send the message that no matter the fortunes of this shop, or the diseases afflicting our patients..." Baizhu picked up the prescription note and faced the rising sun framed through the door. "...Or our fates, we don't need to ask the gods or use divination any longer."

Baizhu turned to Xun, who was restocking the medicinal herbs on the large shelf behind them.

"What do you think of this name, senior?"

Xun took a look at the name of the pharmacy and smiled.

"I think it's a good omen."

"Not you too! Shenhe, say something!"

"If Xun thinks it's okay, then it's okay."

"You… You… Argh! You are hopeless!"

In the language of Liyue, "Zhanbu" is divination, but "bu" can also be the word for a refusal or negation. Thus, Baizhu chose a name that enshrined their beliefs as practitioners of the healing arts that they both learned from their master. The rays of sunlight were shining through the door and the thin paper in his hand, with the words written by his hand clear and confident—

Bubu Pharmacy, Xun and Baizhu

A small figure barrelled noisily into the Bubu Pharmacy. She had grown since they first met three years ago, but she's still as quirky and chaotic as ever.

If you were to ask Shenhe, she would respectfully choose to disagree with the previous statement. If anything, the girl who goes by the name of Hu Tao has grown to be more quirky and chaotic than when they first got to know each other three years ago.

"Hello Xun! Hello Baizhu! Hello Shenhe! I'm here to play with Changchang! Changchang~ Changchang~ Where are you~ I'm here to play~"

"My name is Changsheng! Changsheng!" Changsheng hissed and quickly slithered out of Hu Tao's reach when the girl reached out to grab it. This had grown to be a normal sight for Bubu Pharmacy and Shenhe simply returned to whatever she was doing before Hu Tao came. She sorted out the herbs and packed them neatly.

A lot had happened in three years. Xun and Baizhu had found their senior, Jiangli, and assisted her with treating her husband's illness and Jiangli eventually joined Bubu Pharmacy, working with her two juniors to tend to the sick and wounded as doctors. Shenhe herself had found and introduced herself to her own senior, Ganyu, and they would occasionally spend time together or head back to visit their master back at Mt Aocang. She even learnt that she actually had living relatives who were still around and Chongyun would come over to visit from time to time where she would help him with his training. She had slowly learnt how to integrate back into human society under Xun's help and from the assistance of those from the Bubu Pharmacy and she's grateful for their assistance.

She also learnt from experience that whenever Hu Tao was making a ruckus about how Changsheng had given her the slip, like what's happening right now, it wouldn't be long before the girl started to pester her and that she should make her escape before the girl sunk her claws into her.

She took the straw basket and slung it across her shoulders while walking out of the pharmacy.

"I'm off to collect herbs," she informed Baizhu who saw her off with a smile and a wave. Xun apparently had the same line of thinking as she did, seeing as how he was one step ahead of her and had already walked out of the door.

"Shenhe~ Xun~ Remember how you guys promised to take me to watch the latest performance by the Yun-Han Opera Troupe next week? Where are you~ eh? Where did they go? Baizhu, did you see them?"

Both Xun and Shenhe disappeared in a small burst of wind powered by the blessings of the mystical adepti arts. They spent the better part of their day at the Lisha area collecting herbs because neither of them were too keen on heading back early just in case Hu Tao was there awaiting their return. Baizhu and Gui can deal with the girl in their stead.

Venturing out into the wilderness to collect herbs was one of the tasks that Shenhe enjoys. While she understood the importance of integrating back into human society just as her master had wished for her to do, she also enjoys and yearns for some solitude and peace far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Xun's company was a bonus and she enjoyed sharing the silence with him as they both worked together without needing to converse. She liked the comfortable silence.

That peace was broken when her nose picked on the faint scent of blood. Her senses were more keen than most, something which she attributed to as a side effect of being immersed with learning the adepti arts since she was a young child. She could see further, hear better and pick up on smells that would otherwise elude most others.

"Shenhe?"

"I smelt blood," Shenhe pointed at a specific direction and they both immediately headed over in the direction which Shenhe picked up on the scent. They found an injured women who wore the uniform of the adventurer's guild.

"Thank you," the adventurer thanked them for their assistance and introduced herself. Her name is Zhiqiong, a member of the adventurer's guild who's also assigned to the Chasm Exploration Team due to her talent in cartography.

"The Chasm? Wasn't it sealed off by the Qixing not too long ago?" Shenhe inquired as she helped bandage Zhiqiong's wounds. Xun had vague recollections about the sealing back when he was the Yuheng secretary in the fifth cycle. The Chasm was closed due to a series of mysterious accidents that occurred there that nobody could explain, and considering that it used to be an ancient battlefield during the Cataclysm, the Qixing decided to err on the safe side and seal off the mine until they could investigate and figure out what really was the cause behind those accidents.

Xun was not directly involved in this matter in his fifth cycle so he did not know who was ultimately selected to be part of that investigation team but he presumed Zhiqiong to be one its selected members in this cycle. All he knew was that the investigation did not bear much fruit in his fifth cycle and the Qixing eventually reopened the area one section at a time. The cause of the mysterious accidents was never explained or discovered.

He did recall that there was a single casualty in that investigation team that was listed in his reports when he was helping Keqing to organise her documents. The body of that casualty was never found. Her status was listed as MIA and eventually presumed dead. He couldn't remember the name, but he remembered that it was a female adventurer from the adventurer's guild.

He couldn't help but pay closer attention to Zhiqiong. If she's the adventurer who lost her life during the investigation in his fifth cycle, is there something he could do to avert the fate awaiting her in this cycle?

"Is there something on your mind?" Shenhe asked after they saw Zhiqiong off and the cartographer waved them goodbye as she headed back towards the direction of the Chasm. She could tell that something was wrong. She didn't know how or why exactly, she just knew that there's something on his mind.

"That Zhiqiong, don't you think she's a little… odd?" He asked.

"She kept asking me how good it must be to have a vision when she saw mine, and asked how someone like me bestowed with elemental powers would regard her mere mortals. I don't understand what she meant by that, I'm mortal just like her," Shenhe said the first thought that came to her mind. "She sounds very jealous of vision bearers. If I could give my vision to her I would. I don't hate my vision, but if I had the choice, I… I don't wish to receive it in the manner I did. I would rather give up my vision than to have my own father sacrifice me to evil monsters to revive my dead mother."

"She's stubborn, the kind that would die an early death," Xun spoke of the opinion that he formed of Zhiqiong in the short while they had gotten to know the woman. She's determined, which was fine, but the way her determination borderlines stubborn obsession was what made him worry. From the conversation Zhiqiong held with Shenhe earlier it's not hard to see that Zhiqiong is envious of those who had visions, people whom she viewed as being "blessed by the gods". It could be seen from the way she questioned the gods' logic of bestowing power to people, claiming that the diligent and hard-working are dismissed while the "chosen ones" are blessed. The tone of her voice in which she asked Shenhe how good it must be to have a vision earlier and how she viewed them "mere mortals" rubbed him the wrong way as well, but Shenhe did not pick up on the mild sarcasm and Xun saw no point in provoking an argument despite his dislike of the cartographer.

What Zhiqiong did was a very dismissive and rude remark to be said in front of Shenhe because of the circumstances that led her to receiving a vision, but he would let it pass because Zhiqiong was ignorant of Shenhe's past. It's true that he knew of individuals who received their visions for seemingly no reason like Zhiqiong had claimed, but he also knew many people who received their visions who were incredibly diligent and hard-working. The Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius is a fine example of that, the young lady of the Kamisato clan was another, the twins of the Hearth earned their visions when they nearly died trying to complete their missions that nearly claimed their lives.

The power that a vision grants is powerful and it definitely would feel great to earn a god's recognition, he's sure, but did the twins or Shenhe ask for such a power? What did it cost them? Shenhe was betrayed by her kin and had to fight for days and nights as a six year old child in a desperate gambit for survival. The twins were orphaned and were raised as assassins and would have died if it wasn't for the sudden unexpected arrival of their visions saving their lives in a stroke of extremely good luck. He's sure that if they had the option to choose, Shenhe would not want to be betrayed and neither would the twins want to be orphans and be secret operatives who risk their lives day in and out for a nation that does not value their lives.

Additionally, are Jean and Ayaka not hardworking and diligent enough? Are they not deserving of a vision? These two wonderful women are some of the most hardworking and diligent individuals that he ever got to know and he doubts Zhiqiong knew them, but it irked him that Zhiqiong made such an irresponsible sweeping statement. To him, it felt that her statements had invalidated all the hard work that they had put in by claiming all of their contributions were only made possible because "they had a vision".

"You don't like her," Shenhe stated.

"I could relate and understand her desire to be recognised, but her logic about earning recognition has some serious flaws. She's like a child who saw that another child had something good that she didn't have and felt bitter about it, and then started to rant and throw a tantrum about why it's not fair that she does not have the same thing the other has. That's not a good mindset to have."

"If she's making you unhappy, then don't think about her," Shenhe advised as she raised a hand and picked off a stray dried leaf that had caught onto Xun's hair, which made him tense for a moment because he wasn't expecting for Shenhe to get so physically close and did something that might give people the wrong idea. She didn't seem to understand why what she did was inappropriate judging from the way she looked at him in mild confusion, so he decided to forget about it. He will leave Shenhe's education of such matters to Cloud Retainer.

"Shenhe, the thing is, she's a cartographer of an expedition team."

"Okay. So?"

"She's the guide of the team. Suicidal tendencies isn't exactly the type of behavior you want in your guide on such a dangerous expedition. Have you noticed how she kept insisting that she's fine and that she needs to return to continue with the expedition even after we kept advising her that her health does not permit her to continue doing so? The Chasm is a dangerous place. It's filled with poisonous miasma and the evil that lingers there after the Cataclysm still exists, and it's likely the culprit behind the mysterious accidents that led to its recent sealing by the Qixing. Just because such dangers are out of sight doesn't mean that it has disappeared after five hundred years. That woman couldn't even take care of herself and as the guide of the team, can we expect her to even be able to take care of others and notice if they were doing fine as they progressed deeper into the Chasm? Will she take their well-being into account and make the right judgement call to rest and take a break or if needed, return back to the surface, or will she decide to press on regardless of her colleagues' state of health? Based on what you observed about her, which do you think is the more likely outcome?"

"... Oh." Shenhe finally comprehended his reasoning. "Do you need me to contact Ganyu to help out? I think only someone like her is able to interfere with the investigation."

"It would be too late by then. Zhiqiong mentioned that their expedition was supposed to start this evening, didn't she? They would be in the bowels of the Chasm by the time Ganyu received word and made the necessary arrangements and frankly, I don't think the Qixing would give too much attention to what a mere cartographer does simply because we think she's hazardous to an expedition team. It's more likely that they would ignore us," Xun said as a cryo talisman appeared between his fingers and he flung it into the air. The talisman quickly flew off in the direction of Liyue Harbour carrying his message. This was one of the many techniques that he learnt from Cloud Retainer back in his thirteenth cycle and it was one of the most common methods that the millelith used to convey important military reports over large distances.

"I told Baizhu that I would return after a few days, you should return –" his words stopped when Shenhe had similarly sent off a talisman of her own, also in the direction of Liyue Harbour.

"Yes?"

"Who did you send a message to?"

"To Ganyu. Shall we go?" Shenhe picked up her own basket and walked ahead of him and he knew that he's not going to be able to persuade her to head back to Bubu Pharmacy and await his return. She's going to go with him and trying to deny her wish would result in some very painful consequences.

The girl had no idea how to pull her punches, he could say that for certain.

The Chasm was closed off to the public so the only way for them to go in would be to sneak past the guards. Xun had been here before in his second cycle when he stopped the monster wave in the Defence of the Chasm but this was Shenhe's first time here. She was amazed at the view and he would agree with her sentiment. The Chasm has a very scenic view and it would be nice if it wasn't teeming with bloodthirsty monsters.

"Trace," Shenhe whispered while holding up a talisman with her fingers as she invoked her adepti arts. A small cryo talisman left her fingers and folded itself into a small crane as it flew ahead and led the way forward for them. The talisman would track and lead them to Zhiqiong so all they had to do was to follow after it.

"I think they had already entered the underground mines. We are too late," Shenhe told him when the crane flew deep down into the dark crater. Horrid memories of the battle he waged in his second cycle briefly flashed through Xun's mind before he forcibly squashed it back down. The Cataclysm ended over five hundred years ago. Things will be different now.

Things will be different now. He's no longer the same man as he was before.

They both shared a look but they both knew what their decision would be even when not a single word was exchanged. They discreetly descended into the underground mines while staying out of sight of the patrolling millelith.

While Xun had been to the Chasm once in his second cycle and caught a faint glimpse of what lay beneath, this was his first time descending into the underground mines. The mines looked everything like he imagined it to be: dark, damp and dreary. They could occasionally spot some monsters wandering about. What was new to him was the dark mud that filled certain sections of the Chasm and upon closer inspection, he believed that the dark mud was a form of abyssal corruption that was condensed into a physical state. It's not something that anyone should be exposed to for too long or worse, come into contact with.

Shenhe and him would be fine since they possessed natural resistance to such corruption due to their ability to wield the elements. Shenhe could also cleanse the effects of the filth with the adepti arts to a certain extent, so they would be fine, but that also highlighted the dangers that the expedition team would have already faced since it's unlikely that all of them possess a vision. Zhiqiong most definitely did not have one.

Even Shenhe is of the opinion that the Qixing should reevaluate the candidates they gathered to form up the expedition team after seeing the situation at the underground mines for herself and Xun was not planning to disagree. Knowing Shenhe, she would most likely talk to Ganyu about this once they got out of here.

"That is a very rare kind of ore."

Xun paused in his steps when he spotted and identified a type of ore that he believed to be extinct in this era and Shenhe patiently waited for him. Back in the thirteenth cycle Morax and Azhdaha had told him that this ore was a product of their powers coming into contact with each other that would end up creating a specific type of elemental crystals which people dubbed Dragonfall.

"What is that?" Shenhe asked when Xun mined the ore using his mastery over the geo element.

"This ore is called Dragonfall. Many people today believed that it first appeared in a great battle between Azhdaha and Morax in the Chasm millennia ago where Morax was forced to seal Azhdaha away, but the truth was that Azhdaha had always taken a liking to blacksmiths and sought ways to create unique and suitable ores capable of being used to forge legendary weapons. Dragonfall was the product of such an experiment and the ore already existed dating as far back as the Archon War when Morax and Azhdaha once combined their power to purposely create such ores to forge powerful weapons," Xun patiently explained as he tucked the ore away. The history of this cycle shouldn't differ too much from his experience in the thirteenth cycle. In fact, the spear that Azhdaha gifted him in the thirteenth cycle, the Heavenly Judgement, was a spear that Azhdaha forged using Dragonfall. It's been ten cycles since he last wielded that weapon.

"Are you going to use it to forge something?" Shenhe asked and Xun nodded. He had knowledge of how Dragonfall was forged and it would be nice to wield Dragonfall again even if it's unlikely that he would need to wield a weapon in this cycle since he's now an ordinary healer. The ore that he mined was huge enough for him to forge the most important parts of the spear and he could substitute the remainder with other types of ores to complete the Heavenly Judgement.

They followed the small crane that Shenhe conjured and ventured deeper and deeper into the underground mines. They eventually caught up with the expedition team, who were resting at a relatively safe corner but none of them looked too well.

Both Xun and Shenhe immediately went to check on them and it was as they suspected, they were suffering from the side effects of being exposed too long to the toxic miasma and the corruption of the dark mud that covered the underground mines. Their bodies could not withstand the harmful effects of being in close proximity to such corrosive objects for too long and it was taking a toll on them. Only one single person in the team was relatively unaffected and that was because he's a vision wielder.

Thankfully, the medicine that he and Shenhe had on hand was able to alleviate their symptoms for the time being. The unexpected presence of the dark mud had halted the progress of the expedition team but now that they had knowledge of what to expect in the underground, they could revise their plans to factor in this variable. However, it's clear that the expedition team was currently not in a state to continue their expedition any further. They should return back to the surface and come up with a more comprehensive plan before attempting their expedition again.

There's just one single problem. Zhiqiong was nowhere to be seen.

"She… She insisted on going deeper on her own! I know it's not right for us to ask this of you, but please, if you could, please save her and bring her back! She's in a worse state than us, she… she will be in danger if she presses on any further!"

Both Shenhe and Xun shared a look. It's true that they were originally here for Zhiqiong but it would seem that they had both severely underestimated the girl's obsession to make a name for herself. Is earning people's and god's recognition really that important to her? Admittedly, it's not a sentiment that either Xun or Shenhe could relate to or share, although they would respect it all the same. However, her recklessness had now not only endangered herself, it would also endanger whoever had to be sent to retrieve her.

Namely, themselves, and they were not too pleased about it. It's true that they were not obliged to do what Jinwu asked of them, they had already went above and beyond what they were obliged to do, but it also didn't seem right to come this far and abandon Zhiqiong when she had very likely already placed herself in mortal danger and might already be dying as they speak.

Ultimately, they both decided to accept Jinwu's request to search for Zhiqiong after ensuring that the expedition were fully capable of making the way back to the surface on their own power after they received sufficient rest. It seemed that Zhiqiong's obstination was something that her colleagues noticed as well when the cartographer became the topic of their conversation.

"I don't understand, why did she want to go that far just to obtain the recognition and approval of others? Is being recognised by gods that important? Her willfulness would one day bring harm to others, like how we are now risking our lives to search for her," Shenhe voiced her question to Xun once they had ventured deeper into the Chasm and were out of earshot of the expedition team.

"She's a complicated character, that's for sure," Xun agreed and carefully chose his next words. "From what we observed and what her team had to say about her, I think there's no denying that she's an excellent cartographer and adventurer on all accounts. Her goals and determination to achieve said goals are admirable. We both were able to wield the elements for most of our lives so it might be hard for us to relate and understand. To us, it was easy to do the things we could easily achieve because we had visions and received favour from the gods but the fact is that the majority of people in this world are just ordinary human beings who might struggle their entire lifetime to do what we could finish in a single day. Have you heard of the hypothetical question? Would it be better to live longer or to live happily? I think for Zhiqiong, she believes that living a happy and fulfilling life is worth dying for and there's nothing wrong with that. For that end, she pursues her dreams despite the setbacks she faces. She displayed courage to brave the unknown to do what she loves even when she had the option to live a safe and monotonous life. She isn't afraid to dream and to do what is needed to achieve her dream, unlike most people in the world, and that's admirable. So, to brush her decisions off as the actions of an obstinate idiot destined for failure would be too unfair to her because we do not know what made her turn out that way, nor the number of failures that she might have experienced for her to yearn for recognition to such an extent."

Xun took a pause before continuing.

"That said, desiring the recognition of others can become an unhealthy obsession and I think that is what is happening to her. Her mindset is too fixated on her goals to the point that she had ignored clear warnings or even simple common sense and I don't think that is something we should encourage. I think what she needs to realise is the acceptance of the fact that the accomplishment of a goal is very often decided and defined by many factors that are outside of our control. There are countless people in this world who put in so much work to achieve their dream but how many had realised their dream? Very few, and it's frankly nobody's fault, it's just how the world works. Things just don't work out sometimes and we need to learn how to take things in stride. I know of a knight in training at Mondstadt who's more than capable of throwing hands with even the captains, but she wasn't yet allowed to be a knight due to certain concerns and flaws in her character that she had not yet recognised in herself. But at least, she's willing to listen to others' opinions and learn while Zhiqiong…"

"She just dismissed the warnings and ran off."

"Yeah, that," Xun shrugged.

"Master always told me that it's more respectable to live for oneself than to live to earn people's favour. I think…"

"You can voice your thoughts out. It's just us here," Xun gave Shenhe his encouragement to be more vocal with her opinions when she sounded hesitant, something which he had been trying to do for her ever since they first met three years ago. Shenhe is improving in this regard and is getting better at social interactions, something that everyone at Bubu Pharmacy is happy for.

"I think… I think Zhiqiong made a mistake. She acted like she doesn't care what others say about her and does what she thinks is right. I don't think that is wrong, nobody has a right to stop anybody else from trying to find their meaning in life, but her ambition was to make a name for herself and if we were to interpret the crux of the desire of making your name known even further, wasn't what she really wanted was earning people's recognition despite how she acted like she doesn't care? She shouldn't be trying to gain anyone's recognition or the god's favour."

"And why would you think so?"

"I think, ironically, her desire of gaining recognition is what stands in her way of obtaining recognition. I did not want recognition when I received my vision, all I wanted was to live, I wanted to kill the monster that was trying to kill me, and so I received a vision. I did not desire for anybody's favour. I just wanted to live, plain and simple. Chongyun just wanted to be the greatest exorcist in Liyue and solve the problem of overabundance of yang energy in his body, and he received a vision. Again, he did not desire for anybody's recognition. Baizhu resolved to end the contract with him after your master passed away and he received a vision. Again, there was no desire to receive anybody's recognition. There was never a need to gain anybody's recognition to live for your own ambition and for your own dreams. Zhiqiong… I think she had her priorities backwards. She ought to live for herself rather than for others' opinions of her. I think she might have already been granted a vision if she possessed and had stuck by her own set of beliefs irrespective of what other people think of her because that's what all of us vision holders have in common when we receive our vision. These are my honest thoughts."

"Well said," Xun voiced his support. "I think you should tell Cloud Retainer what you told me today, I think she would be proud of you and it would make her happy."

"Really? Why would master be happy if she heard what I just said?"

"Trust me, she will," Xun assured her as they continued to follow the little crane deeper into the Chasm. They eventually came across an ancient upside down city, which was puzzling as to why an entire civilisation ended up being buried here without anyone the wiser.

"She had ventured really deep for someone who's adversely affected by the abyssal corruption," Shenhe commented as they observed the area which they were now at from high ground. The tracing spell that Shenhe had been relying on to track Zhiqiong was unable to proceed with tracking Zhiqiong's location and they believed that the much more pronounced presence of the abyssal corruption at this section of the Chasm was the cause.

"Do you think she can hear us if we shout her name?"

"If we do so, I think it's more likely that we would attract the attention of monsters than attracting Zhiqiong's attention," Xun subtly dissuaded Shenhe from going through with her plan. "Well, if you were in Zhiqiong's shoes, a mortal with no power over the elements, sick from prolonged exposure to the corruption, and barely had strength to even swing a sword, which path would you take to venture deeper?"

"I think… there?" Shenhe pointed to a path that's noticeably easier to traverse and also untouched by the dark mud. They also spotted fresh footprints on that path that looked highly likely to belong to a female, giving them confidence that they were on the right track. They continued to attempt to track Zhiqiong and they were certain that they were getting close, although how the cartographer managed to traverse this deep into the Chasm in such a short time was a total mystery to them both.

"She's not alone," Shenhe deduced when they got even deeper and definitely a lot closer to Zhiqiong. They could already hear the sounds of combat and the presence of elemental energy restlessly swirling about at this distance and they knew for a fact that Zhiqiong is not a vision holder. There's someone here with her and very likely, had been protecting her ever since they met. It would explain how she managed to venture so deep into the Chasm and so quickly too.

Explosive bursts of violent wind were tearing through the area when they finally arrived. Both he and Shenhe were a little dumbstruck when they finally recognised who that unknown third party was.

"... Conqueror of Demons?" Shenhe stated in surprise. "What is he doing here?"

Xun also recognised the person who was once his comrade in the Archon War. In his fifth cycle Alatus, who also goes by the mortal name of Xiao, was already the last of his kind. It would seem that this would also be the case in this cycle and judging from how he's trying to protect Zhiqiong out there, he must have either somehow known that she was in grave trouble and had arrived to save her as per his duty as a yaksha, or he happened to be wandering here for other reasons and bumped into Zhiqiong out of sheer coincidence.

"We need to help him. I think even the Conqueror of Demons would find it difficult to protect Zhiqiong against such numbers," Shenhe pointed out just as a huge horde of monsters threw themselves at Xiao and Zhiqiong. The corrosive abyssal energy permeating the place seemed to empower the monsters in a frenzied rage, making them much harder to put down. Xiao had swiped his hand over his face and the signature Nuo mask of the yakshas manifested across his face. The last yaksha disappeared in another violent breeze, cutting down monsters by the dozens as he did so.

Shenhe and Xun immediately leapt down to assist. Cryo clones manifested upon Shenhe's will as they charged into battle with her. Numerous hydro blades fell upon the monsters as Xun similarly joined the fray as he conjured weapons made out of hydro energy to repel the monsters using the ancient Guhua arts. The monsters were eventually driven off and the group quickly found a temporary place to hide and rest before they could exchange information.

"Xun, Shenhe, why are you…"

"We came to search for you when it became apparent to us that you will be joining the expedition in spite of Xun's advice as a healer," Shenhe replied to Zhiqiong and it was obvious that she's not too happy at being here. "We met Jinwu and the rest along the way and they asked us to search for you and here we are."

"I… I'm so sorry to have troubled you!" Zhiqiong put her palms together in an apologetic gesture and lowered her head. "But I'm really fine! I made sure to take frequent breaks when I'm not feeling well and made sure to stay out of the way of monsters when I sight them and–"

"And ended up needing the Conqueror of Demons to save you?"

"Conqueror of Demons?" Zhiqiong was visibly confused but she's far from dumb. She looked at Xiao and connected the dots quickly enough.

"You mean… He is…"

"It's been awhile," Xiao greeted Shenhe and plainly ignored Zhiqiong who's reeling from the shocking revelation. Shenhe similarly greeted Xiao respectfully in return.

"You are here for the girl?"

"We were asked by her colleagues to search for her," Shenhe respectfully replied to Xiao's query. "If I may ask, why are you here?"

"It's none of your concern," Xiao shook his head from where he was seated on the ground with his back resting against a partially demolished wall of the ancient city. "Once you and your companion had sufficient rest, take the girl and go. This is not a place where she should be wandering about."

"Understood."

"W-Wait!" Zhiqiong immediately interjected. "I-I'm this close to mapping out the place! Please, let me continue! I-I won't be a burden, I promise! I–"

Whatever Zhiqiong wanted to say was interrupted by her sudden coughing fit. Xun immediately pressed on a few pressure points on her body to relieve her symptoms and force fed her a medicinal pill that he happened to have on hand. Judging from the way that Xiao was frowning, he's also of the opinion that Zhiqiong shouldn't be here.

"This entire place here is thick with lingering evil and is hazardous to the human body. Leave, you shouldn't be here. None of you should be here. Mapping out this place is not important because even if you did map out the place, nobody should be stepping foot in here due to the inherent dangers of the abyssal corruption permeating the area."

"Y-You don't understand!" Zhiqiong fought through her coughing fit to plead with the Conqueror of Demons. "I… I… This is my only dream! I want to map this place! I… I want to leave my mark! I want to prove that even someone like me, someone not blessed and chosen by gods, can leave stories behind that can inspire others!"

"Are you referring to the act of receiving a vision? There are so many people in this world that do not have a vision and have left marks of their own. There are many ways to leave your name in the annals of history to be remembered, but trying to map this place at the cost of your health is just foolish. You would have perished here several times over if I hadn't chance upon you when I did. Leave with Shenhe once you have recovered enough to walk. I won't repeat myself twice."

"You… You… Argh! You don't understand!" Zhiqiong was in hysterics when she realised that her point could not be driven across and understood. "But of course you won't! Why would someone like you understand us?! When you could carve mountains at a whim and travel from north to south in the blink of an eye?! Why would our ambitions be important to you– mere mortals whom gods had neither noticed nor recognised?! Our mundane love and hatred, our mundane happiness and tragedies, achievements and accomplishments, bonds and relationships… Are they of any consequence in the eyes of people like you and of the gods?! We have dreams too! We pursue them too just like any vision bearer! We keep pursuing them in our busy mundane lives and we don't want to be forgotten! We strive so hard to make even the slightest difference but do they have any meaning at all?! To people like you?! People blessed by gods?! The herb gatherers who dangle from the top of the cliffs, miners who toil day in and out despite the threat of earthquakes, workers who drive every nail into giant ships multiple floors in height… To you these might be insignificant and mundane activities but all of these are dangerous hard work to mortals like us who are not blessed by the gods! If our hard work is that mundane, if it is so unworthy of remembrance, then just what is the logic that gods used to favour some of our wishes and dignities over others?! I… I just want to leave my mark! To prove to others that whatever I did, they were not insignificant! Even if it costs me my life! I just want to map out the Chasm, it's my only chance to prove that even a mere mortal like me could do the same things that people favoured by gods can do and I could do it even better than they could! All I ask is to be able to follow you deeper into the Chasm so that I can complete my work! That's all I ask for so… please… please…"

Zhiqiong dissolved into a sobbing mess towards the end. Nobody said a word for a long while.

"Zhiqiong, come with me, we need to talk," Shenhe said after Zhiqiong had calmed down slightly. When it didn't look like Zhiqiong wanted to budge, she forcibly dragged her along.

"You are not going to stop her?" Xiao asked the only stranger whom he had not yet gotten to know, only knowing that he is Shenhe's companion. It's rare for Shenhe to place her trust in others, which was why Xiao believed that he's trustworthy too.

"I think she's going to tell Zhiqiong everything that she told me when we were making our way down, I think Zhiqiong needs to hear that for herself. Her self-destructive tendencies are worrying," Xun shook his head. "Name's Xun, by the way, I have heard of many of your good deeds, General Alatus. It's an honour to meet you."

"Just call me Xiao," the last yaksha shook his head, "and I'm just performing my duty, there's no need to thank me. So that girl, her name is Zhiqiong?"

"You don't know her name after everything that has happened?"

"She was about to be killed by monsters when I found her. I couldn't shake her off and I also couldn't in good conscience just leave her alone, so I was stuck with her for a short while until the both of you came along. I didn't have the time to get to know her and when we finally did, she was suddenly screaming at me for no reason at all," Xiao released a light scoff at the reminder of how he met the cartographer.

"She's the cartographer of an expedition team that the Qixing put together to map out the Chasm to better investigate the causes behind the unexplainable incidents that recently occurred that led to the closing of the Chasm. As for her motivations and reasons for joining, I believe you already understood a little from what she screamed at us earlier."

"Reckless," Xiao disagreed with a hmph. "She believes she's making a name for herself, all I see is a child with a toxic belief on what leaving a legacy really meant, constantly troubling those around her and attributing the blame for everything that didn't go her way to her lack of a vision. People like her are exactly the sort that would never get a vision."

"I think Shenhe will sort that out for us," Xun neither agreed nor disagreed with Xiao's opinion of Zhiqiong. "She had no idea what any of us had to experience to obtain the power we have but neither do we know what she had been through to form the beliefs that drove her to where she is today."

"The outfit that she's wearing, she's an adventurer, isn't she? I know an adventurer would not stop simply because it's too dangerous, but she's already coughing her lungs out when it's so blatantly obvious that the evil miasma here was too much for her body to handle. That sounded more suicidal than brave to me. My duty is to protect Liyue and her citizens but it takes two hands to clap. I can save her once, twice, thrice, five times, ten times; but even I cannot always save someone who's hell bent on throwing her life away because she cannot differentiate foolish recklessness from bravery."

"Then maybe you would want to explain that to her when she's back? You had heard her side of the story but she hadn't heard yours, maybe she would be more willing to listen after Shenhe's done sorting out her problems for her," Xun suggested and Xiao clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked away, but turned back to look at Xun when he recalled an oddity he observed about the man.

"You can wield the hydro element, but I don't recall seeing you use any vision. Yet, you are also not an adeptus."

"It's complicated, but I'm an anomaly," Xun explained and he also finally noticed something odd about Xiao now that he could get a better look at the adeptus in this dimly lit place.

"Your skin looks very pale, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. You and Shenhe should take the girl and leave once you are done," Xiao insisted and looked away. Xun instantly knew that Xiao was not alright. He had fought alongside the yaksha countless times back in his thirteenth cycle to know his mannerisms, tics, and other habits to tell the signs.

"You are lying."

"For what reason do I need to lie to you?"

"For what you think is for our own good, if I were to hazard a guess," Xun hummed in thought. "You are not feeling well, but I never heard of adeptus getting sick before. Your skin is pale, you are breaking out into a cold sweat. You are trying to hide it but the look in your eyes is a little unfocused. Your hands are shaking."

Xiao immediately moved his hands out of sight in a manner he believed was discreet enough. It was not.

"You are afflicted with something and it's been getting worse since you ventured into the Chasm, am I right?" Xun deduced and seeing how Xiao had stiffened ever so slightly when he announced his deduction, Xun knew that he was right. There were too many things that he had forgotten from his foreknowledge and too much time had passed for him to remember just what Xiao might have been afflicted with. The thirteenth cycle was the first cycle where he had the chance to interact with him in person, now was the second time where he had such an opportunity to do so again. He also did not come across such information during his time as the secretary of Yuheng in his fifth cycle and he had many other things to handle than to poke his nose into the personal affairs of the adepti.

He's truly clueless right now.

"You are overthinking."

"Am I?" Xun questioned and Xiao did not answer. The symptoms that he observed from Xiao matched with nothing that he knew of or had learnt from his deceased master in this cycle. Whatever could affect a yaksha this badly would very likely be a rare and potent affliction that's rarely known to the world too.

He would have to diagnose Xiao's condition for himself.

"Can I make a diagnosis?"

"It's useless," Xiao immediately declined. "There's no way a mortal –"

"Complete that sentence and you would be proving that Zhiqiong was right."

"... You are irritating," Xiao sighed and Xun took it that Xiao gave his consent. He started taking his diagnosis and taking Xiao's pulse, he even ran checks on him using the power of elemental energy. His brows furrowed in confusion the more he tried to understand what was affecting Xiao.

"What's that inside your body? Abyssal corruption?"

"Evil takes on many forms, but always carries a karmic curse. It is the sworn duty of the yaksha to purge all evil but after millenia of bloodshed, the karma takes a toll. A moment of complacency and I too will succumb to the darkness. An instant of negligence and it will turn me into one of the monsters I swore to purge: that is karmic debt. That is what I'm afflicted with, which will eventually wear away at my soul and sanity, overwhelming me with madness and despair. Don't waste your time on me, I can see that you are a healer but this is not something that even Rex Lapis can deal with. There's no shame in admitting that this is beyond your ability to cure."

Comforting others had never been Xiao's forte but that was the best he could do for the kind mortal who extended and showed concern for his well being. Xun remained silent and Xiao saw no reason to break that silence.

"... Was this how they died? Is this the real reason why you are the last yaksha?"

"Huh?"

"Fushe, Fanan, Yingda, Minu. This karmic debt that you spoke of, is this the reason why you are the only yaksha left?"

"How do you know of their mortal names?" Xiao questioned in return and sat upright. The public at large only knew them by their titles or epithets. Conqueror of Demons General Alatus, Marshal Vritras Bosacius, General Musatas Indarius, General Chizapus Bonanus, General Kapisas Menogias; these are what modern Liyue knew and remembered the Five Yakshas by, if they were even aware of their existence at all. Only the adepti or their close friends would know of their mortal names.

Xun did not answer his query but instead pressed on with his original question.

"Is karmic debt the reason why you are the only one left?"

"... Yes," Xiao admitted. "Yingda went mad with fear and grief, perishing by immolating herself with her own power. Fanan and Minu lost their sanity and killed each other in battle. Fushe… I don't know what happened to him. He was also going mad from the karmic debt but he disappeared when it was only me and him left. He was already losing most of his sanity and memories when I last saw him."

Xiao heard Xun sucking in a breath after he learnt of everything he told him. Has this man met his siblings before? If so, why did he not recall ever meeting Xun in his memories? Did his own karmic debt finally get to him too?

"Fushe is actually the reason why I'm here," Xiao continued to speak. Maybe it was because it's been a long time since he could talk about his siblings and he wanted a listener, maybe it was because he knew the man could be trusted since Shenhe trusted him, even he's not too sure himself, but he ended up telling him things that he usually wouldn't be divulging to another.

"Five hundred years ago this was where a big battle occurred during the Cataclysm. I wasn't here as I was assigned to other battlefields to defend Liyue, but there was word that a nameless yaksha that nobody could identify arrived at the Chasm to fight alongside the millelith in defence of Liyue. I believe that is Fushe and while I know that he probably had perished in that battle five hundred years ago, I… I needed confirmation. I needed closure, so I'm here. And on the off chance that he's somehow still alive somewhere, then…"

"You will bring him out of here."

"Yes."

"In that case I'm coming too," the human gave a proclamation that had Xiao furrowing his brows in slight disagreement. "I'm indebted to Marshal Vritras. It's only right that I do what I can to assist him in his time of need," Xun easily spun a half-truth when it looked apparent that Xiao was contemplating on sending him back to the surface using one of his many mysterious adepti arts. He also knew for a fact that Xiao had such techniques at his disposal, just that he did not like to use it because it puts a huge drain on his power. The only reason why Xiao did not send Zhiqiong back to the surface with this technique and be done with her was only because he's not exactly in tiptop shape to be using that technique right now.

Besides, Xun wasn't lying. He had lost count of the number of times Fushe had saved him and the number of times he covered Fushe's back in the numerous wars they fought alongside each other in his thirteenth cycle. He's indeed "indebted" to Fushe.

"And I'm not sure if you had noticed, but Shenhe is now the wielder of Calamity Queller. Perhaps our meeting was fated," Xun continued to evoke sentimental feelings from Xiao in an attempt to avoid being sent out from the Chasm prematurely until he managed to investigate this place and determine what had befell Fushe during the Cataclysm five hundred years ago. He owed it that much to his old friend.

"... Fine. But if I tell you to run, don't hesitate, run," Xiao eventually relented as Xun had anticipated, but not before setting some ground rules. Shenhe and Zhiqiong also returned not long after and judging from the tear stains on the cartographer's face, she must have cried. However, she no longer put up a fuss and was oddly silent and subdued. Xun and Xiao did not probe any further.

"So what's the plan now?"

"General Alatus and I plan to head deeper and investigate," Xun took a brief pause and glanced at Zhiqiong. "You are welcome to join, but if we determine that you are at your limit and have to stop, or if we come across any dangerous elements and we tell you to run…"

"I… I will listen! I won't be a burden, I promise!" Zhiqiong's enthusiasm returned almost instantly when she realised that nobody would be sending her back to the surface, at least not right now. Shenhe looked a little doubtful of this decision, but ultimately did not voice any opinions and opted to place her trust in the Conqueror of Demons and also in Xun.

The group continued to venture into the depths of the Chasm once they had sufficient rest. Zhiqiong proved her worth as a cartographer with her ability to quickly identify relatively safer routes in unknown territory. Monsters were also unable to harm the group due to the collective power of Xiao, Xun and Shenhe. The only real threat that would impede their progress was, as expected, the lingering miasma that seemed to permeate every corner of the underground.

Eventually, the group reached an area within the uncharted depths of the chasm.

"This is…"

Xun had lived for twenty-two cycles but this was also the first time he had seen such a huge and complex seal covering what seemed to be an entrance to a deeper level of the Chasm. The complexity of the seal was none like he had seen before, the characters that the seal seemed to be written in was also of the archaic kind that only long lived species like the adepti could possibly have the knowledge to read and interpret.

"A seal. A very powerful seal," Xiao's whisper answered everyone's unasked query, his eyes wide and his disbelief and questions grew the more he inspected the seal. One could only wonder what kind of calamity had to have happened for such a powerful seal to be used, and what kind of horrors must exist for such a measure to be necessary.

No, there was one calamity that had happened right here, at the chasm.

"The Cataclysm," both Xiao and Xun shared a look and unanimously whispered their deductions at the same time. There were no doubts in their minds that this seal must be a legacy of the cruel battle that was waged against unimaginable horrors by brave men and women of ancient past.

This seal wasn't placed during Xun's second cycle where he was involved in the Defence of the Chasm, at least not while he's alive, so maybe it was placed after his death where reinforcements finally came after he bought the time needed for their arrival. Or maybe the history of Liyue in his second cycle was just different from this cycle.

"You mean this… this is a relic of the… the Cataclysm?" Even Zhiqiong seemed to have lost the courage which drove her forward at the mention of the historical calamity that once wrought the whole of Teyvat with peril and nearly consumed nations entirely. "Then… just what is inside…"

"Everyone, turn back," Xiao immediately made the decision once he understood the severity of the legacy which they stumbled upon. His purpose here was to investigate the nameless yaksha but if this seal was truly a legacy of the Cataclysm, if the nameless yaksha truly was Fushe then knowing him, this seal must serve a significant purpose that won them that bitter war. He wouldn't be surprised if Fushe had sacrificed himself just so that this seal could be placed.

It would be foolish to try and tamper this seal no matter how he looked at it.

"W-We would have to i-inform the Q-Qixing, right?" Zhiqiong stammered as Shenhe ushered her away from the seal. "Something this important– W-What about the a-adepti–"

"No need to worry, we will send word back immediately once we get out of here," Xun assured the cartographer. "Are you feeling okay? Do you need us to carry you back?"

"I-I'm fine. I really am!" Zhiqiong instantly replied and even jumped on her feet twice as if to prove that she really was alright. "Don't need to worry about me! Reporting the existence of this seal back to the Qixing takes precedence over everything else– ah!"

"Watch out!" Shenhe immediately went to grab hold and support Zhiqiong when she lost her balance due to the sudden quaking of the Chasm underground.

"An earthquake?!"

"This feels different! This is not an ordinary earthquake!"

"Something's coming!" Xiao warned, his weapon already manifested and his eyes gave their surroundings a quick sweeping glance.

Up, down, left– right!

"From the right! Scatter!"

Xiao's warning barely left his lips when the cavern wall to their right burst open. Shenhe had immediately carried Zhiqiong in her arms and leapt aside, Xun had flown upwards with a burst of anemo, while Xiao had instantly charged ahead in a blur with a mask over his face.

"Disappear!"

Xiao's attack crashed the hostile automaton into the nearest wall. However, this was not a place where they should do combat on such a destructive scale. At the rate this fight was going, this place would sooner cave in before they could destroy the hostile automaton.

"W-What is that automaton? It's clearly more powerful than the ruin guards!" Zhiqiong blurted. It was at moments like this that she hated herself for not possessing the power to create miracles with the blessings of gods.

"I don't know," Shenhe replied with a frown on her face, placing herself in front of Zhiqiong and taking a stance with a spear in her right hand and a talisman held by the fingers on her left. The Conqueror of Demons is more than capable of taking the serpentine automaton apart, but the battle ahead was too fast-paced and interfering thoughtlessly would do more harm than good. She would immediately join in if the opportunity presented itself but until then, she would stay alert and protect the cartographer behind her.

"A Ruin Serpent?" Xun muttered to himself from where he was observing the battle in the air. Memories of how he had torn apart this automaton during his second cycle at the cost of suffering grevious wounds which he eventually succumbed to in the Defence of the Chasm briefly resurfaced. Granted, Xiao would definitely be able to take it down, but their current location…

Xun glanced at the unknown seal that Xiao was trying his best to herd the Ruin Serpent away from. Everyone here had come to the same understanding the moment they were under attack, that they had to keep the Ruin Serpent away from this seal at all costs necessary.

"Its weak points are the joints in between each glowing segment!" Xun shouted as he joined in to assist Xiao when he caught that split second opportunity to do so. His experience in facing this adversity from his prior cycle came in handy as he provided Xiao knowledge of how to effectively stop this rampaging automaton, knowledge that he once acquired at the cost of his life.

Xiao erratically zipped about in the air, abruptly changing directions at speeds too fast for the Ruin Serpent to properly compute at a flash but it was evident that he had heard Xun's words when his next blow struck at where Xun said its weak points were. Errant sparks burst forth from the damaged section of its body as the automaton became momentarily paralyzed.

Or so it would seem.

"Take cover!"

Nobody expected for the Ruin Serpent to be capable of firing a massive shockwave in that state. Shenhe threw her talisman forward and a cyro talisman spirit took flight to bodily block the Ruin Serpent's attack for Xiao and Xun.

"The seal–!" Zhiqiong's distressed reminder prompted them all to immediately turn their heads towards the seal. Shenhe's spirit had shielded Xiao and Xun from harm, but it was not large enough to block the entirety of the Ruin Serpent's attack. The resulting collateral damage to the environment which Shenhe could not intercept had damaged the seal.

The seal was also visibly breaking apart. It would not be long before whatever the seal had been keeping at bay for over five hundred years would break free from its imprisonment.

"Run! Get away from here as fast as you can! I will deal with this!" Xiao instantly made his choice and dashed forth in a violent gale, trying to shred the Ruin Serpent as fast as he could so that he could finally spare his attention to trying to repair the unknown seal that was most likely Fushe's legacy. Shenhe and Xun turned to look at each other and despite not saying a single word, they both understood what they should do.

"I will take her up and return with Ganyu as fast as I can."

No matter what this seal could be suppressing, it couldn't be anything good. Liyue cannot be taken unaware. Liyue must be warned. Someone needs to send a message to the Qixing pronto and someone needs to bring Zhiqiong, their only non-combatant, away from the danger too. As Shenhe's the youngest disciple of Cloud Retainer and also recognised by those at the Yunjin Terrace as Ganyu's junior sister, she would have ease of access to quickly get into contact with Ganyu that nobody else could have and thereby, warning Liyue of the potential crisis on their hands in the shortest possible time. She's the best person among them to play the role of the messenger.

But at the same time, they cannot and don't wish to leave Xiao here alone too, not when he's obviously not in his best shape and pushing himself far too hard. That's why Xun opted to stay behind.

"Stay safe and wait for my return. I won't take long."

"I will, be careful," Xun told her. Another violent tremor struck the Chasm at that instance. Rocks started to fall from above and the crack on the seal grew until a small part of it suddenly shattered.

"Not good," even trepidation could be heard in Shenhe's usually inexpressive voice as unknown shadow-like entities began to flood out of the seal from the shattered opening. Xun could sense lingering malignance from these entities not unlike the nature of the karmic debt that he could sense afflicted on Xiao. They probably were derived from the same roots if he had to take a blind guess.

"I will clear a path!" Xun instantly placed himself at the forefront and took a stance when he noticed that Shenhe could not take Zhiqiong and escape with those malign shadows in the way. Flames burned and took the form of a greatsword as he swung it towards the sea of evil with a warcry. A fiery phoenix burst forth and consumed all in its path.

"Go!"

"Wait for my return!"

Shenhe immediately took Zhiqiong and ran the moment the coast was clear. They barely made their escape before more of those shadow-like entities began to flood out of the hole in the seal in greater numbers than before as Xun tried his best to hold them back. Some managed to slip through to pursue Shenhe and Zhiqiong despite his best efforts.

"L-Leave me b-behind and go! They will get both of us at this rate! You need to get back up and warn someone!" Zhiqiong tried persuading Shenhe to leave her behind when it became apparent that she was the reason why Shenhe could not outrun their pursuers and they were steadily catching up. This is all her fault. If she didn't insist on venturing ahead alone, Xun and Shenhe will not be here and exposed to danger. If only she did not insist on tagging along, Shenhe could have already…

"I'm not leaving you behind," Shenhe replied without giving it a second thought, but she could also see that it's just a matter of time before they were caught by their pursuers. A fight is inevitable. Their best course of action right now would be to quickly exterminate these shadows before they could resume their journey back to the surface.

"Stay here," Shenhe quickly placed Zhiqiong down at a corner when she finally found an area which would be favourable for her. Calamity Queller pierced the air as she swung it and took a battle stance, concentrating on the power that she had learnt and grasped under her master's tutelage.

"The day you learn how to use your strength for the good of others is the day that you can truly become part of human society."

Is this… what her master talked about?

Shenhe did not know, but she knew that she had to fight for their survival. Blossoms of cold frost bloomed under her feet. A mighty blizzard was unleashed as Shenhe made her attack with an elegant twirl and swung her arm forward, displaying the power of the adeptal arts that once brought peace to the land of monoliths in the era of the Archon War under the hands of the adepti. The entire cavern turned bone-chillingly cold and the stone walls were covered in ice.

More importantly, these evil shadows that pursued them had been exorcised, and the only passage where the shadows that slipped through Xun's defence could use to pursue them had been temporarily sealed with ice. Nothing would be able to pursue them for now.

"We have to go," Shenhe did not have the luxury of time to be lost in her thoughts. She immediately picked Zhiqiong up and continued to make their journey upwards with a swift sprint.

Hang in there, Xun

I will be back to help you

"Haah… Haah…"

All exits of the cavern were finally sealed by stone steles, trapping all evil spirits in here until a better solution could be found. The sigils imprinted on them spoke of advanced adepti arts that its caster had to have learnt from an adeptus to be able to cast them on such a level of mastery.

The Conqueror of Demons was surprised that a mortal was able to use a watered down version of Rex Lapis' techniques, but he had no time to mull over the reason how it could have happened. He had been through many harsh battles but none were as difficult as the current one that he's stuck in. His power seemed to be suppressed in this area for reasons he could not yet understand and to make things worse, the curse of his karmic debt chose now of all times to act up.

The seal had broken. Only a small fragment had broken, but countless evil had escaped from that small fragment and that gaping hole had grown only even larger since then. He's quickly tiring out but he would not allow himself to fall.

It is the sworn duty of the yaksha to purge all evil and there is still a citizen with him that he had to protect.

"You should go, you have the capability to make your escape alone. Leave this to me, I will cover your retreat," Xiao told Xun for what seemed to be the umpteenth time in the span this battle had started. The Ruin Serpent had been reduced to shambles, but the evil entities that had escaped from the seal reminded too much of the horrors he had seen in the Archon War for Xiao to be comfortable with. This is not a good omen.

"We mortals are not weaklings, you know. Besides, it looked like I should be the one covering your retreat," Xun jokingly replied in spite of the seemingly impossible odds that they now face. Furthermore, Xiao was undeniably in a worse shape than Xun as it was. The unique suppression effects that this level of the Chasm placed on Xiao had a much heavier effect on the yaksha than they both anticipated it to be.

Xun placed a hand on Xiao's shoulder. Outwardly, it looked like the healer was showing him a gesture of encouragement, but Xun was actually doing one last crazy experimentation attempt to verify the hypothesis that he had been harbouring ever since he learnt the truth of the yakshas' fall into decline from Xiao. He furrowed his eyebrows when he received confirmation when that power flowed into his body.

He could absorb karmic debt from others? This was his first attempt at doing something like this so that's new to him too. What implications would this have going forward?

"I am a yaksha. I will stay and fight, but you have no such duty to do so," Xiao stubbornly insisted, unaware of how Xun was rapidly transferring karmic debt away from his body into the Descender's own. He felt a little strange for suddenly feeling a little better, like his body was suddenly cleansed and his mind now free from the influences of the darkness, but he had no time to dwell on why that happened. He's simply glad that he's recovering faster than anticipated and in a better fighting shape to repel the evil he swore to purge until Shenhe and the cartographer could send word out for reinforcements to arrive at their location.

"I have no such duty? Don't make light of me, Vigilant Yaksha. Solidify!" A powerful jade screen manifested and created a safe zone for them. Evil shadows clawed and threw themselves at the shield futilely, trying their best to break it to no avail. They would be able to take a brief respite for now and rest as much as they could until they had to throw themselves into battle once more.

However, Xun was aware that he and Xiao could only hold these unknown shadows back for so long. If his worst guess was right there should be a greater horror kept sealed together with these shadows. These shadows were merely the appetiser, the main course had yet to be served.

Xun had no weapon on him for he is a healer in this cycle and he was capable of protecting himself from most threats even without a weapon. Yet, the situation they found themselves in was no mere threat. He would need a proper weapon.

"You are…?" Xiao was confused when Xun took out a Dragonfall ore. Xun did not reply, briefly immersing himself in fond memories of times long past that he could no longer return to.

"Unforged?" Xun had no idea what to think of the name of the newest greatsword that the Lord of Vishaps had recently forged. The dragon had a love for forging and would often forge powerful weapons as a way to pass time whenever he walked about the Guili Assembly in his human form.

Truthfully, this greatsword looked very plain as compared to Azhdaha's previous works. It didn't look at all impressive although he could sense the tremendous power crafted into it.

"Unforged, where its name could also be interpreted as "sword of no skill". A heavy sword is edgeless, but the greatest technique is to be skilled in nothing."

"Skilled in nothing?"

"It's an ancient Liyue idiom. When I said "skilled in nothing" I didn't mean it in the literal sense; this idiom means that the greatest display of mastery lies in your ability to cultivate a simple and natural state of power and mind, where you could perform your art even without needing to rely on a physical form. Like how the greatest swordsman had no need of a sword because every grass, pebble, twig, or even a slip of paper could be a lethal sword in their hand, because their mastery had transcended to a level where they had no need to rely on any set of bladework or a physical blade. The basics, just the simplest basics, are enough for them to perform any and all techniques, where every move they use is their greatest technique. This is why there is no need for the sword to have an edge because every item in the world could be your sword, and why the greatest technique is to be skilled in nothing because your greatest technique is no technique at all. When you pursue the path of complete mastery, eventually, you will find yourself returning to the basics."

"Too philosophically profound."

"Ahaha, I thought you might think that way," Azhdaha gave a hearty laugh as he brought out a Dragonfall ore. "That's why I decided to give you a demonstration. I love the art of forging, but I have mastered my craft to an extent where I no longer need any tools to forge anything I desire. As long as my mind wills it, any and all ore will turn into the shape I want it to be."

"So what do you plan to forge with this Dragonfall?"

"My gift to you, the best spear in all of Liyue. It shall be known as Heavenly Judgement, forged for my dear friend, for our man of heralding peace, General Pingtian."

"That's…" Xiao's eyes widened in surprise and disbelief when the ore of Dragonfall began to change shape under Xun's manipulation of the Geo element. As a follower of the Geo Archon who followed and fought countless battles under his name, he's no stranger to Azhdaha's techniques when the dragon was once a staunch and reliable ally of Rex Lapis. He had seen several times how Azhdaha crafted powerful weapons for their faction. The manner in which the Lord of Vishaps forged weapons was unique in a way that nobody could replicate with the exception of Rex Lapis, for his Formless Forging technique requires a very high mastery of the Geo element to begin with, and that requirement was just one of the many prerequisites to learn the Formless Forging technique.

What Xun was doing could not be compared to what Azhdaha was said to have done, but it was still undoubtedly the Lord of Vishap's Formless Forging technique whose secrets had been sealed alongside its creator under the depths of Nantianmen.

"How?" Xiao whispered in awe as a simple yet undoubtedly powerful spear was born right before his eyes. The entire spear was not forged from Dragonfall alone; only the very core parts were crafted from Dragonfall because the ore wasn't large enough to craft a complete spear. Xun had taken some ordinary ores located just right around them to complete the entire spear, but that still did not cover up Xun's achievements that Xiao had believed would not be seen again with the sealing of the Lord of Vishaps.

To be able to masterfully use Rex Lapis' and Azhdaha techniques; this healer harbours so many secrets that cannot be explained. Yet, Xiao had never heard or seen of such a person from his memories.

"It's been a long time, Heavenly Judgement," Xun did not answer Xiao's question and instead, gave his reborn partner a few practice swings. It's too bad that he did not have Summit Shaper on hand to complete the set and this copy of Heavenly Judgement definitely pales in comparison to the one Azhadaha forged for him, but he's content with having Heavenly Judgement back, even if just for a short while.

"The shield would not hold for too long. Are you feeling better?" Xun turned to ask Xiao once he was done indulging himself with his reunion with Heavenly Judgement.

"I am," Xiao nodded and he finally started to notice how strange it was to feel as if he had been… cleansed, for a lack of a better description. The painful karmic affliction had not yet returned to haunt him and his body and mind felt lighter than before.

"If this was a remnant of what Fushe sealed, I cannot begin to imagine what kind of odds he was up against five hundred years ago. This cannot be everything," Xun remarked as both men turned their attention back to the horde of shadows pressing down on the shield Xun had erected. It was starting to crack under the pressure and the number of shadows out to tear them apart had filled the entire cavern to the point that all they could see around them was darkness.

"... Who really are you?" Xiao cannot help but ask before they head in for what would very possibly be their last battle. He held no regrets for upholding his sworn duty but he wished to know the name of the person who had definitely fought alongside them as an ally in the Archon War.

"Who really am I?" Xiao heard the enigmatic man repeating that same question as if asking himself who he is too, before laughing it off.

"I am Xun, first Commander of the Millelith Brigade."

"First commander?" Xiao tried recalling that name from his memories but it differed too greatly from what he remembered it to be, "but the first commander was…"

The loud crack of the shield jolted their attention back to the situation at hand.

"It was great to see you again, Xiao. May we meet under better circumstances next time," Xun said with a smile as a column of bright green light suddenly enveloped Xiao. Xiao was momentarily stunned. There's no way he wouldn't recognise this adeptus technique, it's his technique! A technique that could easily transport an ally away in an emergency but it would cost the caster a huge drain in power. He originally planned to use this same technique to get Xun out of here once he recovered enough of his power, but how on earth would Xun know how to use his technique–

"Wait–"

"Goodbye, Xiao."

The healer's voice and how he did the impossible by donning a nuo mask with a simple swipe of his hand over his face was the last thing that the last yaksha heard and saw before he was forcibly transported away from the depths of the Chasm. Xun let out a heavy sigh when he was finally alone, but the smile on his face never disappeared.

"Xun."

"Lady Guizhong?"

"We have some arrangements for you, but we want to seek your opinion on this matter before we roll it out."

"Me? A general? Of the newly reformed Millelith Brigade?"

"Yes, you would be the first commander of the Millelith Brigade. Morax and I had discussed this several times and we felt that it would be better for a human to lead a faction that's largely composed of humans. You are the most suitable candidate."

"Ahahaha! Look at you, a general now!" Fushe gave him a heavy slap on the back with one of his unique hearty laughs. "What title did Rex Lapis bestow upon you?"

"You would know during the inauguration ceremony."

"What? Come on, don't be so stingy and just tell me! You know I don't like to wait!"

"On account of the numerous battles that you participated, your heroic deeds and unparalleled martial skills, your leadership qualities and unrivalled valour, you will henceforth be conferred the title of General Pingtian, the man of heralding peace, and will lead the Millelith Brigade starting from today as its very first commander."

Rex Lapis' deep voice wasn't very loud, yet all who came to witness the public inauguration of General Pingtian and also the official founding of the Millelith Brigade at the Guili Assembly could hear the voice of their deity loud and clear. The legendary man who had fought evil gods knelt on one knee in front of his archon in reverence.

"Xun, do you accept this responsibility?"

"I do, milord."

A sword that Rex Lapis forged from the purest Cor Lapis as a symbol of legendary pact was passed on to the hands of a mortal for the very first time. Xun stood up and raised the sword into the air and the crowd cheered, an indication of how respected Xun was among the people of the Guili Assembly throughout the years he had fought and defended them.

"I, General Pingtian, hereby swear to uphold the oath that Liyue was built upon: Those who were scattered would be found, those who broke their contract would be punished, those robbed of their possessions, lost their loved ones and those deprived of justice would receive recompense! May you who gathered today and this sword witness my sworn oath! General Pingtian, falling in!"

A small smile graced the face of the future Geo Archon at Xun's proclamation, one that could only be seen by those in close proximity. The oath Xun swore was the same oath which Liyue was built upon when Rex Lapis first found this nation, the very first contract.

"How does it feel to be fighting your first battle as General Pingtian?" Cloud Retainer cannot help but tease as she walked up to the front of the army where Xun was leading their troops and patiently waiting for the signal to be given that will signal the start of their assault. Several other adepti who were assigned to assist with this task also joined them at the front.

"You tease," Xun replied with a fond exasperated smile. "Well, if there is a difference, it's that the weight on my shoulders feels heavier now."

"That's normal. Don't worry, you still have us," Fanan cheered him on with her own encouragement.

"No need to doubt yourself. If Rex Lapis and Lady Guizhong appointed you, then you are worthy of the title of General Pingtian," Moon Carver vocally showed his support. Sea Gazer's encouragement was less vocal, but the manner in which he placed his hand on Xun's shoulder and gave him a light squeeze spoke volumes.

"The first signal!" A soldier quickly exclaimed when he saw the flare that was shot into the sky from a far distance away. Three signals will be fired in total and the soldiers that Xun leads will only start their assault on the third signal that will be meant for them. The first two signals were for their other allies stationed elsewhere who were responsible for putting into action their respective parts of the overall plan.

"All stations, to arms! Yeran, take your troops and flank the enemies from the left, Bohu, your troop is to cut them off from the right. The rest of you are with me! Execute the plan as previously discussed!"

"Yes, general!"

"Hmm? That's all? One was expecting General Pingtian to give us an inspirational speech to raise our morale. You gave such an inspirational speech during your inauguration that it gave one such shivers that ruffled one's feathers whenever one recalled it."

"Fine," Xun playfully rolled his eyes at Cloud Retainer's banter and turned around to face his comrades and brothers-in-arms who were also eagerly awaiting the speech from their newly appointed general.

He had very little time left before the third signal was fired and he was unable to come up with a brand new inspirational speech in such a tight timeframe. Nobody would know if he were to plagiarise the speech he gave to the millelith in his fifth cycle, right?

"Soldiers of the millelith, what is our motto?!"

"Where the millelith stands guard, evil shall never prevail!"

"Right in front of us are the followers of Osial, monsters of the vortex who had the capabilities to tear us apart with their bare hands! Are you afraid?!"

"Never!"

"We are the only ones standing in between them and our home, will you yield?!"

"Never!"

The second signal was shot into the sky.

"Soldiers of the Millelith Brigade, are you ready to fight for our home?!"

As one, the soldiers stomped the end of their spears onto the ground in salute.

"Soldiers of the Millelith Brigade, falling in!"

Morale was running high with Xun's short but inspirational speech and even the adepti could not help but join in.

"Cloud Retainer, falling in!"

"General Chizapus, falling in!'

"Moon Carver, falling in!"

"Sea Gazer, falling in!"

"General Kapisas, falling in!"

"General Pingtian–"

The third signal was fired.

The shield that Xun erected finally reached its limit and shattered. An endless wave of evil shadow spirits collapsed on Xun like a flood, yet he stood unmoving and fearlessly raised Heavenly Judgement against the evil that tainted the land which he once called home and fought for.

The man of heralding peace drew his sword and raised it in the air. Soldiers of the millelith took their stances in preparation for a fearless charge. Rex Lapis had warred with Osial for centuries and while the brave soldiers of the millelith could not interfere in the battle between gods, they would do what they could as mortals and see to it that the followers of Osial will be vanquished today.

General Pingtian swung his arm forward and his soldiers roared with him as they made their advance.

"Charge! For Liyue!"

"For Liyue!"

Heavenly Judgement shone in a blue glow as Xun infused it with the power of hydro. Xun charged into the fray as memories from a distant past started to overlap with the present. The power of the yakshas which he newly acquired when secretly absorbing the karmic debt over from Xiao's body was now at his disposal. All evil that plague this land; they shall lament and disappear into nothing with the Nuo Dance of Evil Conquering.

He is the man of heralding peace, the man who once swore an oath to his archon to uphold the peace for their home. He retold the oath that he once took, right here, right now in the depths of the Chasm.

"Those who were scattered would be found,

those who broke their contract would be punished,

those robbed of their possessions, lost their loved ones and those deprived of justice would receive recompense;

General Pingtian–"

The spear of Heavenly Judgement pierced through the darkness. The sword which bore witness to the Descender's oath in his thirteenth cycle is no longer present, but the spear that was reborn would remember the promise that its wielder once swore as a defender of the land who fought for and believed in a brighter tomorrow.

" – Falling in!"

–Tales of a Hundred Cycles, Vol XXIII

.

.

.

Liyue's long period of relative peace was rudely shattered when the entirety of the Millelith Brigade was suddenly mobilised. The most elite forces were immediately sent to the Chasm while others were instructed to guard over Liyue Harbour and the other populated areas where the people live. Some who live closer to the wilderness also claimed to have seen the adepti making their appearances, exiting their abodes and flying straight to the Chasm in a hurry.

Those who were present at the Chasm that fateful day witnessed the arrival of Liyue's legendary adepti. It was an awe-inspiring yet concerning sight to behold because most would never catch a glimpse of the adepti in their entire lifetime, and for all of them to suddenly make their appearances would mean that danger had befell Liyue. Some had even gazed upon the divine presence of Rex Lapis who had similarly arrived to deal with the emergency after receiving word from the Vigilant Yaksha who had come to report on this urgent matter.

The public wasn't aware of what really happened at the Chasm. Publicly, it was announced that a great evil previously sealed within the Chasm had broken free and it was why the adepti were alerted and where the problem was subsequently resolved before things spiralled out of control. Many believed it to be the work of Rex Lapis and the adepti and they joyfully sang his praises. However, those who were at the Chasm that day knew that the situation had been mysteriously resolved even before Rex Lapis dove into the depths of the Chasm to investigate the emergency.

The Vigilant Yaksha came to Rex Lapis with a warning of a pending emergency after his sudden return from the Chasm, pleading for his assistance. He spoke of a mysterious seal that broke and of a healer who sent everyone away to hold the line alone, preventing the emergence of evil shadow-like entities and was attempting to contain them within the maws of the Chasm. The yaksha speculated that these shadow entities to be the lost souls of those who had perished during the Cataclysm and had lingered on this plane due to their unresolved grudges, which eventually turned them into karmic evil over time.

Nobody could predict what kind of consequences would scar Liyue if such huge numbers of lost souls tainted with karmic evil were to escape the Chasm. It was why Rex Lapis and the adepti had immediately made their way to the Chasm the moment they were made aware of the emergency.

When Rex Lapis and his adepti arrived at the cavern the Vigilant Yaksha spoke of it had already collapsed. After they cleared the debris all they found were signs of a devastating battle being fought here and a partially broken seal. There were no evil shadow-like entities to be spotted, only a fractured but shining spear forged from Dragonfall imbued with blessings of the adepti arts embedded into the seal. The spear served as a makeshift plug to temporarily cement the gap so that no evil could escape until reinforcements arrived.

What was done to fortify the seal was certainly not a permanent solution, but it had indeed bought time and prevented the worst outcome as it was originally intended.

"Heavenly Judgement…" Xiao whispered the name of the spear which he heard Xun referred to when he first forged it. That spear was eventually recovered and handed over to the Vigilant Yaksha after Rex Lapis had mended the seal.

"My condolences. If only I was fast enough…" Rex Lapis consoled his loyal follower as the yaksha took the weapon with shaking hands, trying yet failing to hide his grief and regret. He is the last yaksha, duty sworn to protect this land and the people that lived on it from evil. Yet, he wasn't able to protect the mortal who had instead sacrificed himself to save him and the nation.

He had failed in his task. He wasn't able to save his siblings and neither was he able to save Xun from karmic evil.

News of Xun's apparent demise was also eventually conveyed to Shenhe and Zhiqiong. Xiao passed Heavenly Judgement to Shenhe's hands, who was in Cloud Retainer's company when the adeptus had heard that her disciple was involved in the emergency and was close friends with that mysterious healer who valiantly perished. Shenhe's expression remained stoic when she took Xun's weapon with her hands from Xiao, but the lone tear that slid down her face and eventually landed on the spear spoke volumes of her inner emotional turmoil.

"Shenhe…" Cloud Retainer gently hugged her disciple and guided her to sit on a nearby chair where Shenhe remained staring blankly into space. The red ropes that bound her were supposedly capable of suppressing her emotions. For Shenhe to have shed a tear… Just how much sadness must she have felt?

"Master…"

"I'm here. I'm always here."

"My chest, this suffocating feeling that is gripping me… is this grief?"

"... Yes."

"I don't like it. I don't like it," Shenhe held tighter onto the spear, the only thing that he left behind that she could use to remember him by. "Why… Why couldn't he hang on a little longer and wait for me. He promised–! How… H-How am I going to tell Baizhu and Jiangli that he's… he's… gone? What about Hutao and Changsheng? We promised the girl that we will bring her to watch the Yun-Han Opera Troupe's latest performance next week. What am I going to tell them? We… We told them that we were… we were… just out to gather herbs…"

Cloud Retainer was alarmed when one of the red ropes that bound Shenhe snapped. T-This is… This is supposed to be impossible.

"And what about me…? I told him to wait for my return, so why didn't he… why didn't he… He promised… He promised he would wait for me… He promised…"

Cloud Retainer had always wished for her youngest student to be able to understand emotions and be capable of integrating herself with human society once more. Yet, as of that moment, she never felt more regretful and wished she could take all this pain and grief on her student's behalf.

Love and hate, joy and suffering; such mortal desires made humans strong, yet so fragile all the same.

Her student had finally learnt to become more "human", but seeing her youngest student overcome with grief made Cloud Retainer reflect on many things. Would it have been better if Shenhe remained at Mt Aocang and never made her way down the mountain? At least this way, she would be spared from this agony.

For the first time in Cloud Retainer's long life, she could not help but wonder if it was perhaps a mistake to encourage her student to return to the mortal realm.