Ji An surveyed the chaotic scene. The outer perimeter of The Chasm was secured by the Millelith, and figures of Geovishaps could be seen moving within.
However, it seemed no battle was actually taking place between the two sides.
He couldn't help but ask, "Lady Keqing, what's the current situation?"
Keqing rested her right hand against her chin. "I originally planned to lead a team in myself. With the help of the Vision holders, we could breach a weakly defended point, enter The Chasm, and wait for an opportunity to rescue the trapped miners and Millelith soldiers. But..."
She glanced toward the Adepti. "Several Adepti, including Cloud Retainer, suddenly arrived and stopped us, telling us to wait and see how things develop first."
Yanfei added, "Lady Keqing, the Conqueror of Demons just entered The Chasm. We should have news soon, I imagine."
"Hopefully. I hope this matter can be resolved without further incident."
A look of frustration crossed Keqing's face, but she had to admit that in a situation like this, that Yaksha was worth a thousand troops on his own.
Since Ji An and the others weren't needed for the time being, they went to rest.
Ji An said he wanted some time alone. Separating from Xiangling, Hu Tao, and the others, he walked to the outskirts of the camp.
As he was mentally contacting Herloxia, letting her know she could stand by a bit further away for now, someone suddenly stepped into his path.
"You are...?"
He looked at the young man before him, puzzled.
This gentle-mannered young man looked back at him with a strange expression — one tinged with faint sorrow, yet also nostalgia.
Being looked at like that by a stranger, especially another man, made Ji An somewhat uncomfortable.
"Oh, apologies."
The gentle young man seemed to snap out of a daze. He offered a light smile and said, "My name is Kun Jun. I'm an artisan summoned by the Liyue Qixing to help out here."
"Oh, I see."
Ji An nodded, then changed direction, trying to walk around him.
Unexpectedly, the man stepped forward and blocked his path again.
Ji An: ??
"Brother, is something the matter?" he said, at a loss.
"Care to chat for a while?"
Kun Jun smiled. "You remind me quite a bit of an old friend of mine."
Ji An: "..."
What kind of excuse is this?
The line reminded him of some cheesy jokes from his past life.
A guy stops a beautiful girl on the street and says, "Excuse me, miss, do I know you from somewhere?"
The girl blankly shakes her head.
Then the guy flashes a sly grin. "Funny — I think you look a lot like my next girlfriend!"
Damn.
But I'm a guy. Why are you hitting on me?
"Sorry, I—"
Ji An was about to firmly decline, making it clear he wasn't that kind of person.
But Kun Jun's next words made him stop.
"Want to hear a story?"
Kun Jun gazed into the distance toward The Chasm, as if lost in thought. "Inside right now, leading the Geovishaps and occupying The Chasm, is a dragon king who was once the Geo Archon's close friend and comrade-in-arms — a former guardian of Liyue."
"Don't you want to know why it turned against the Geo Archon and humanity, attacking The Chasm twice — once a thousand years ago, and again today?"
Ji An's expression turned serious. He grabbed Kun Jun by the arm. "...I want to hear everything."
He thought to himself: this guy speaks with such certainty — maybe he really does know something.
"Hahaha... Although I've forgotten many things because of her, the feeling you give me is still as interesting as it ever was."
After a moment of surprise, Kun Jun laughed heartily.
"Come, let's sit over there for a while."
He pointed to a rock by the river. Ji An followed him over. Kun Jun sat down and patted the spot beside him.
After Ji An sat, Kun Jun gazed into the distance and slowly began to speak.
"That rock dragon king, a very, very long time ago, was nothing more than a stubborn rock in the mountains. Perhaps it was special — its texture harder than ordinary stone."
"As countless millennia passed, it caught the attention of the mountain spirits, which slowly nurtured a faint consciousness within it."
"After that, it transcended ordinary stone and became what is called an elemental being of Geo."
"But in truth, this was not a good thing for it. Without sentience, it would have felt nothing — enduring millennia of darkness and solitude as time flowed on. But after gaining consciousness, every day from then on became an endless torment."
Ji An nodded slowly and sighed. "If I had never known the sun, I could have endured the darkness..."
Kun Jun started. He softly repeated the words to himself, then gave a quiet nod.
"Well said."
"That was precisely the state of its heart back then."
Ji An blinked. "Brother, the way you tell it, it sounds like you experienced it yourself."
Kun Jun smiled. "Heh, just putting myself in its shoes."
"Right. There's no way you could actually be the rock dragon king from the story."
Ji An felt he'd been a bit too sensitive lately, prone to letting his thoughts wander.
Like that persistent feeling of a vague gaze fixed on him.
And just now, for an instant, he had almost mistaken Kun Jun for the protagonist of the story.
"As the long years passed, the negative emotions within the stubborn rock grew heavier. It began to make sounds, venting its sorrow over loneliness and its longing for light."
Kun Jun continued. "Decades, centuries passed. Its laments remained buried beneath thick layers of rock, unheard by anyone. It believed it would be like this forever — until he appeared. The one who possessed all the favor of the mountains. The one the stubborn rock envied so terribly..."
Ji An was listening intently when he realized the story had stopped.
"Go on — why did you stop?"
Kun Jun was quiet for a moment, then smiled with a trace of sadness. "What happened after that... I've forgotten."
Ji An: ???
Damn, are you serious? You tell half a story and leave it there?
"I really have forgotten."
Kun Jun said apologetically, "Regardless, it was because of meeting him that there later came to be a dragon king granted sight by the Geo Archon."
"Alright."
Ji An was speechless, but he still remembered why he'd sat down in the first place. "So what does any of this have to do with the Geovishaps attacking The Chasm?"
"Rocks have memories."
Kun Jun touched the stone beneath him. "But their memories don't last long. The rock dragon king, as a creature of the earth, is no different. As time passes, only the strongest emotions are preserved. The longer the time, the blurrier the memories become. 'Erosion' is what the world uses to wear them away."
"That man from before was a friend to both the Geo Archon and the dragon king. But thousands of years after he passed away, the rock dragon king — its capacity for clear thought stolen by erosion — began to blame his death on the Geo Archon, and on itself."
"The dragon king grew irritable and aggressive. At that time, humans were wantonly destroying the ley lines it depended on for survival in their pursuit of mining. That was what directly triggered its attack on The Chasm."
Kun Jun sighed. "In truth, it didn't cause many casualties. Its purpose in going to The Chasm was twofold: first, to express its dissatisfaction with the humans who had repaid its protection with destruction. And second, naturally, to draw out the Geo Archon."
"The rock dragon king at that time... believing that man would never return, used this as a way to punish the Geo Archon — and to punish itself."
Ji An listened, captivated.
Although he couldn't be sure how much of Kun Jun's story was true, it stirred something in him far more than any folk legend he'd heard before.
After all, it was a secret history from a very distant era, involving the Geo Archon himself and another being of immense power — not the sort of thing one could usually hear...
Ji An turned it over in his mind, then asked, "And what about this time? You said you know why the dragon king brought the Geovishaps here again?"
Kun Jun was silent for a moment. Then he said softly, "This time... she simply wants to fulfill one last sorrowful wish before she fades away."
"Speaking of which, someone should be coming for you soon."
He lifted his head and looked toward The Chasm.
"For me?"
Ji An followed his gaze.
At the exit of The Chasm, a youth with tattooed arms and a mask hanging at his waist had appeared. His features were sharp, his expression cold and stern. He was not very tall.
The tattooed youth walked this way. Upon spotting Ji An, his keen gaze settled on him.
"Brother Kun, you said someone was coming for me... Huh? Where did he go?"
Ji An turned around, but Kun Jun was nowhere to be seen.
Before he could wonder for long, a flash of dim light appeared before him, and the tattooed youth materialized.
"You're Ji An, right? I'm Xiao."
The tattooed youth crossed his arms. His sharp eyes studied Ji An for a brief moment, then he gave a slight nod. "Come with me."
??
Who are you? What do you mean, come with you?
Ji An was completely lost. He called out to the youth's retreating back, "Wait — I don't know where you want to take me, and I can't just leave right now."
He glanced around, brow furrowed. "A friend of mine was just here, but he's vanished. I'd like to wait a little longer."
That was only part of the reason, of course.
More importantly, that Kun Jun was a riddler. He'd told half a story and still hadn't given him anything useful for resolving the situation at hand.
Xiao turned around and looked at him quietly for a moment. "Mortal eyes, fleshly sight — what you see may not be real."
Ji An: ??
Another riddler?
"You came here from Liyue Harbor wanting to help the Qixing, didn't you?"
Xiao said nothing more. He turned to leave. "If you want to resolve the situation in The Chasm, follow me."
Ah. Well, when you put it like that, how could I not follow?
Ji An shook his head, got up, and fell into step behind him.
Xiao reached the temporary camp first and walked toward where the Adepti — Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper, and Moon Carver — had gathered.
Cloud Retainer asked, "How is it?"
Xiao gave a slight nod, then turned to look at Ji An and said:
"There is a technique called the Art of Dream Journeys, originally used during sleep to allow the soul to leave the body for cultivation. That technique, after being modified by another Adeptus... after being modified, became a new immortal art called Oneiric Shallows."
Xiao looked at him steadily. "Ji An, if you want to resolve this incident, you need to dream."
Ji An: ?
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