A night passed.
The next morning, in Liyue Harbor, a variety of commission papers had been posted on the notice board. Little Li Mo was quick. Moving swiftly, he snatched two commission papers from the adults.
Both commissions were from the teahouse—simple tasks like serving tea, easy enough for children to complete and earn Mora. They would probably see that strange Mr. Zhongli at the teahouse again, too.
He sat on the wall, watching the road leading out of Liyue, waiting for little Shenhe to appear. She hadn't come yesterday. Surely she would come today.
But the morning wore on, and there was no sign of her. Li Mo grew uneasy.
"Nothing bad happened to her, did it?"
"Little Shenhe, I'm coming to find you."
He tucked the two commission papers into his clothes and dashed down the path Shenhe usually took, murmuring to himself:
"Shenhe, whatever happened, wait for me. I'm coming."
His small figure darted away, surprisingly fast for a child his age.
...
Meanwhile, in Shenhe's home on the hillside, her father had not slept at all. His eyes were bloodshot. His whole body radiated an ominous aura, a terrifying sight.
The exorcist had been consumed by the demons in his heart. He had fallen into the abyss.
Little Shenhe, obedient as ever, had prepared some food for him. She had already lost her mother. She did not want to lose her father.
Her father looked at her. A flicker of madness appeared in his eyes—barely noticeable.
"Crane, I brought back many gifts for you this time. They're in the cave behind the hill. Can you go get them?"
His voice was flat, numbed, but beneath that numbness lurked darkness and madness. He had already lost himself.
Though still grieving her mother, Shenhe managed a small smile. "Thank you, Father. I'll go get them now."
Stubborn and strong-willed as she was, Shenhe was also obedient. She would not refuse her father's request.
Taking the bamboo basket he gave her, she left the house and headed toward the cave behind the hill.
That cave held happy memories from her childhood. When she was very young, her father would gather herbs on the hillside while she played in the cave. She used to play hide-and-seek there with her mother. She always won.
Thinking of those days, Shenhe murmured her mother's name as she entered the cave, using the sunlight streaming in to look for her father's gifts.
But before she could find them, a rumbling sound echoed from outside. The light in the cave grew dimmer and dimmer.
Shenhe spun around. Her father was pushing a massive boulder, sealing the cave's entrance. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression cold.
He was muttering to himself:
"Crane, don't blame Father. Don't blame Father. This is the only way to bring your mother back."
As the light faded, little Shenhe was terrified. She screamed with all her might:
"Father, Father! Don't leave Crane! Why? Crane has been so good. Why are you abandoning Crane?"
"Mother! Father is leaving Crane!"
She had just lost her mother. Now her father, who had always loved her, was throwing her away. Even the strongest child could not endure this.
Little Shenhe broke down, sobbing.
"Father, Father! Let Crane out! Crane is afraid of the dark! Crane misses Father! Crane misses Mother!"
She pressed herself against the boulder, wailing, calling for her father.
In that moment, little Shenhe wished for a hero to move the boulder for her. But there was none. Only her father outside, pressing his full weight against the stone, holding it fast.
Not that he needed to. Little Shenhe was far too weak to move it herself.
Outside, Shenhe's father heard his daughter's cries. And in his ears, he seemed to hear his wife's voice: Take care of Crane. Protect her.
But he could not listen. Only one thought consumed him: bring his wife back.
Tears streaming down his face, he pressed his body against the boulder, banging his head against it again and again—as if to drown his guilt in physical pain.
He muttered incessantly:
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Crane, you killed your mother. Please die. Use your life to bring your mother back. Forgive your father."
He had gone mad.
He took out the ancient tome from his clothes and performed the ritual again, summoning the "god." He offered his daughter as a sacrifice.
But he could no longer tell that this "god" was nothing but a man-eating demon.
Hearing the father's promise, the demon laughed. It grew larger, feeding on the book's power.
"What a fool."
It looked at the maddened, broken man before it. Then it opened its terrible maw.
Before Shenhe's father could react, the demon swallowed him whole.