Upon hearing Cloud Retainer's question, Shenhe paused, then furrowed her brow as if trying to recall.
The adepti watched her nervously.
After a moment, Shenhe slowly shook her head. "Master, my head aches. I... I don't remember what happened before. Why am I here?"
Hearing this, the adepti breathed a collective sigh of relief. They had worried that her obsession might have been too deep, rendering Cloud Retainer's adeptal arts ineffective.
After all, because of that incident, she had loosened her red rope seal, unleashing her calamitous energy and wielding her adeptal weapon. That event had affected her too deeply, showing she had been pushed to an extreme state of irrationality. It seemed their worries had been unfounded. The adeptal art had worked perfectly.
"Disciple, during your travels down the mountain, you encountered the Abyss Order and temporarily lost control. You loosened your red rope seal and wielded the Calamity Quiller."
Cloud Retainer carefully chose her words, selectively reconstructing Shenhe's memory.
"Is that so? I... I actually behaved so recklessly... Did I... cause any irreparable consequences?"
Shenhe's usually cool voice trembled slightly.
The three adepti exchanged glances and remained silent for a moment.
"You did indeed cause significant damage," Cloud Retainer said gently, offering comfort. She knew telling Shenhe this harsh truth would cause her great distress. But she would have to learn of it sooner or later; a short, sharp pain was better than prolonged suffering.
Cloud Retainer continued, "After removing the red rope and releasing your calamitous energy, you lost your senses. You unsealed the Calamity Quiller, summoning it from the void, and annihilated the enemy with a single strike."
"At the time, although you tried your utmost to restrain yourself, the combination of your innate curse of calamity and the weapon's own aura proved difficult to control. Subsequently, you inflicted even greater damage on the area, even piercing through the earth and disturbing the Ley Lines below, causing heavy snowfall across Liyue."
"Master, I..."
Shenhe lowered her eyelids, her fingers clenching involuntarily, the veins on the back of her pale hands clearly visible.
"Disciple, I am telling you the full picture not to blame you, but to say that since it has already happened, dwelling on it further is of no use," Cloud Retainer sighed. "The damage done cannot be undone, but your master will stand with you to make amends."
"I'm sorry, Master," Shenhe said sorrowfully.
"Foolish child, why apologize? If a disciple errs, the master naturally bears some responsibility. Who am I, if not your master?"
Cloud Retainer raised a wing and gently stroked Shenhe's head.
"Later, I will take you to Liyue Harbor to find that young lady Ningguang at the Jade Chamber to explain and apologize."
Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper exchanged a look. "Since the matter is resolved, we shall take our leave. Should anything else arise, Cloud Retainer, you need only call for us."
After the two adepti departed,
Cloud Retainer flapped her wings, flying about as she gathered some adeptal herbs and mountain dew, carrying them over to Shenhe.
"Disciple, have something to eat. You'll need your strength to go and make amends."
"Yes," Shenhe replied softly, beginning to eat slowly.
Cloud Retainer watched from the side, nodding slightly.
After a moment of quiet, Shenhe looked up and spoke.
"Master, I remember you once mentioned that you possess an adeptal art that can use a person's personal belonging as a medium to divine fate and karma. Is that true?"
"Hm? Now that you mention it, I do seem to recall something like that. That was three years ago, wasn't it?"
Cloud Retainer nodded. "That art was something I obtained from another adeptus. The scroll recording it is kept in the library within this pocket realm."
She then asked, puzzled, "Disciple, why do you ask? When I asked if you wanted to learn it before, you showed no interest."
The world of adeptal arts is as vast as the ocean. Even for adepti, time and energy are limited; they cannot learn every art. This was even more true for Shenhe, a mortal disciple of an adeptus. Thus, she had only studied the arts of exorcising and that which interested her, not these divinatory side-path arts.
Shenhe lowered her gaze. "It's nothing special. I just feel a bit weary of arts focused solely on destruction. I wish to learn a different kind."
"Ah, I see. After what happened, it's no wonder you'd feel that way."
Cloud Retainer nodded in understanding, then added, "If you're interested in that art, you may study it. But don't become overly fixated on it. Attack-based arts, while capable of causing harm, can also protect and bring peace. It all depends on how you use them."
"Yes, Master. I will remember your teachings in my heart," Shenhe said softly, tucking a strand of white hair behind her ear.
After finishing the adeptal herbs and dew, a bit of color returned to Shenhe's pale face.
Leaning on the edge of the stone bed, she stood up and walked towards the library within the adeptal abode.
Arriving at the library, she followed Cloud Retainer's directions, climbed to a corner on the second level, and retrieved a scroll recording the adeptal art.
Shenhe unrolled the scroll and read it carefully. Her reading speed was incredibly fast; within moments, she had committed the scroll's contents to memory.
"…Requires a personal belonging of the person being divined as a medium. The more relevant the item, the more accurate the result… is that it?" Shenhe murmured quietly to herself.
…
Tianqiu Valley
Morning arrived.
The first rays of dawn broke.
Everyone stood before the stele, waiting for the crucial moment.
Finally, golden morning light fell upon the stele. The characters on it glowed brilliantly, and above the stele, an illusory, complex pattern of lines materialized.
"Young Ji, lend me a hand!"
Master Lu Ban walked to the left side of the pattern and placed his hand upon it. Ji An quickly followed, assisting him in activating the mechanism.
This type of intricate lock was a common mechanism in ruins, extremely complex and requiring two people to unlock simultaneously. But for Ji An, with his Ancient Machinery Mastery, it posed little difficulty. He even felt he could do it alone—wasn't it just like drawing a square with one hand and a circle with the other?
As Ji An's and Master Lu's fingers traced the final lines in unison, the intricate lock suddenly emitted a bright light.
Then, the ground shook violently, nearly throwing everyone off their feet.
"Whoa, it's opening, it's opening!"
"Inside the ruins, a large section of the ground has sunk, revealing a downward passage!"
Xiangling and Hu Tao exclaimed excitedly.
"Let's take a look."
With that, Ji An headed into the ruins. The others followed closely behind.
They arrived at the edge of the newly formed hole and peered inside, seeing only the darkness that greeted them.
Ji An thought for a moment, picked up a pebble, and tossed it in. He tilted his head, listening for the echo.
"It's quite deep. The situation below is unknown. We must proceed with caution. It would be best if... only a few of us go down to investigate," Ji An advised the group cautiously.
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