Lora stood with her back to the group, silent for a long while. At last, she wiped the tears from her face, let out a long breath, then turned and smiled.
"I'm fine. Really—I'm fine. I've already dealt with the mechanism in that room. We can keep moving."
Yelan immediately caught the inconsistency. "Lady Lora… were you crying?"
"No, I wasn't, I just…" Lora began, but her words trailed off into a sigh. "…Yes, I was. I'm sorry. I didn't keep my emotions in check."
Yelan didn't press further. Whatever Lora had seen in that room—it must have been something she didn't want to face.
And that sudden surge of water earlier… was likely her power.
After Lora admitted it, a heavy silence settled over the group. Yanfei and Shinobu said nothing. Even Ushi stood quietly off to the side.
Only Arataki Itto, ever blunt, spoke up.
"Hey, come on, Lady Deity! It's just crying—wipe your tears and you're good! Whatever sad stuff happened is already in the past. Just make sure it doesn't happen again! The most important thing in life is being happy! …Same goes for being a god!"
His utterly tone-deaf remark broke the oppressive silence.
Lora let out a small laugh and nodded. "You're right. No matter how painful something is, as long as we stop it from happening again, that's enough. I'm fine now. Let's keep going."
"Heh, that's more like it! Ushi, lead the way!"
Grinning, Itto waved Ushi forward.
The path revealed after the flood wound deeper ahead. Though they still encountered dangerous illusions—and even strange, corrupted energy forms—under Lora's guidance, they managed to reach a vast hall without incident.
There, they found traces of Xiao's power.
"This is the Conqueror of Demons' aura… Does that mean we're close to him?" Yanfei carefully examined the chaotic cluster of Anemo energy before turning to Lora.
Lora stepped forward, raising her hand and letting her own power envelop it.
"This isn't just ordinary Anemo energy…" she murmured, probing deeper. Soon, she sensed something within and said, "There's a distorted spatial rift inside. If I'm right, Xiao passed through it into another space."
"Huh? That guy's that strong?" Itto stared at the swirling energy in surprise. "You Liyue adepti are seriously impressive! I wonder how good he is at beetle fighting!"
"…Boss." Shinobu sighed, utterly helpless. At a time like this, only he would still be thinking about that.
Just then, the corrupted Anemo energy suddenly became unstable. At its center, a faint green silhouette of Xiao appeared.
"Huh? Is that… the Conqueror of Demons?" Yanfei stared in disbelief.
"Why are you all… here? And Lady Lora—you're here as well…" Xiao was clearly surprised, and even more so upon seeing her.
"I was asked to come. He wanted me to check on you," Lora replied.
"…Does Rex Lapis still worry about me?" Xiao let out a quiet breath, then said, "This place is dangerous. Lady Lora, you should take them and leave at once. With your strength, finding the Fantastic Compass and leaving this sealed space won't be difficult."
"You know as well as I do—this place isn't a threat to me," Lora said calmly. "I came here for you. At the very least, I'm not leaving without you."
The implications in their exchange stunned Yelan. Even her usual composure wavered slightly.
They had just mentioned… Rex Lapis?
"I'm sorry, but I can't leave yet. I'm still investigating another space…" Xiao said.
"It's fine. I can wait until you're done," Lora replied with a nod.
Xiao seemed to understand that she already grasped the situation here. After a moment of silence, he nodded.
"…Thank you, Lady Lora."
With that, his figure—and the Anemo energy—faded away.
Lora turned back to the others. "Let's go. We'll head back the way we came and wait for him at the clearing."
"We're just leaving like this?" Yelan frowned slightly. "The Conqueror of Demons—"
"He has something he must do. We just need to wait for him to return." Lora didn't elaborate further. She walked past them and headed back. "Let's go wait."
Though they had their doubts, they followed her. For now, staying with Lora was the safest option.
…
They returned to the place where they had first arrived.
There, they lit a fire, and Itto started roasting Violetgrass Melons.
Noticing the confusion lingering on their faces, Lora spoke.
"Do you want to know what happened here… and what Xiao is investigating?"
Yelan and Yanfei didn't answer, but their gazes made it obvious.
Itto even dragged Ushi closer, staring intently.
Lora shifted slightly, lowering her voice.
"This story… begins a very, very long time ago…"
"How long are we talking?" Itto asked.
Lora blinked at him. "Several hundred years."
"Back then, the Yakshas protected Liyue—but they were consumed by karmic debt. In the end, only Xiao remained. The others either died… or vanished."
"Five hundred years ago, a great battle took place in the Chasm. The Millelith, Liyue's exorcists, and a nameless Yaksha fought together against a powerful enemy—and all perished here."
"Xiao came here this time… to investigate that nameless Yaksha."
"That happened during that catastrophe?" Yanfei asked, clearly surprised.
Yelan added, "The Ministry of Civil Affairs does have records of a major incident five hundred years ago… but there's very little detail about what happened in the Chasm."