Evening.
The dark cave was deathly silent.
Two small bodies, tied together with blood-soaked clothes, lay motionless on the cold stone floor like corpses. If one drew close, a long trail of blood could be seen behind them, still wet, still reeking of iron.
It was the trail left by a child missing an arm, dragging another child with all his might toward the cave entrance.
But now, both blood-soaked children had fallen unconscious. Even their faint breathing could stop at any moment.
Outside, the light was fading. The sun was about to set.
Then, the fingers of the boy lying beneath twitched.
The boy, missing an arm, his body broken, his face pale from blood loss, slowly opened his eyes. He lifted his head slightly and saw the dimming light outside.
Despair filled his heart.
Was this how it ended?
No. He didn't want to die. He didn't want little Shenhe to die either.
But he was too weak now. Even moving a finger was an effort.
After a long time, little Li Mo seemed to regain a bit of strength—or perhaps it was a final burst of lucidity before death. His arm lifted slightly, and he gently touched Shenhe's forehead and her cheek.
She was still breathing. Still alive.
A flicker of hope stirred in his heart. He would crawl forward. He would carry the dying Shenhe and crawl toward the light at the cave entrance.
So Li Mo dragged his broken, battered body, gritted his teeth, and reached out with his remaining thin arm, grabbing the ground ahead. Somehow, he found the strength to move, to drag himself toward the light.
Little by little, carrying the equally young Shenhe on his back, he inched forward. Again and again, his strength gave out. Again and again, he reached out with his wounded arm.
No one knew how much time passed. Outside, the sunlight dimmed and dimmed until darkness was about to fall. The sun vanished, and a sliver of moonlight appeared.
By that faint moonlight, Li Mo's arm finally reached out of the cave. With the last of his strength, he pulled the dying Shenhe out.
The scent of blood began to spread, sure to attract predators.
Looking at the pale moonlight, Li Mo wanted to save Shenhe, but he had no strength left. He wanted to carry her over the hill and find nearby villagers for help. He wanted to take her to Liyue Harbor and find the best doctor.
But he was out of strength, even the last burst of lucidity gone.
He was so tired. So sleepy.
But he couldn't give up. He tried to move his fingers, to shift his arm forward. No matter how hard he tried, he had no strength left. His arm was like a broken thing, refusing to obey.
It was over. Truly over.
Though he was unwilling, there was no hope left. Under such crushing despair, Li Mo, who had never shed a tear, felt his eyes grow wet. A single tear rolled down his cheek.
His blurry eyes slowly closed. In his heart, a thought appeared: finally, he could close his eyes. Finally, he could sleep.
But just as his eyes were about to close, in the thick night, under the pale moonlight, a white light appeared.
Then, an adeptus crane appeared in the sky. Sensing the blood below, it descended slowly, landing outside the cave.
Seeing the two children on the ground and the remnants of the monster's energy in the cave, Cloud Retainer understood everything.
What incredible willpower it must have taken to crawl this far with such severe injuries, carrying a girl on his back.
Truly, the blood of an adeptus.
Cloud Retainer sighed. "Ganyu told me there was a half-adeptus child here. I wanted to see which fallen adeptus's descendant it was. I didn't expect to be too late."
Two days ago, while chatting with Ganyu, Cloud Retainer had learned of a half-adeptus child, a boy born with extraordinary strength. She had wanted to take him as a disciple. But she had arrived too late.
She spread her wings to fly away when the fingers of the boy on the ground twitched. She stopped, curious.
She fluttered her wings gently, enveloping Li Mo's body with adeptal energy, stabilizing his soul. He slowly woke.
Li Mo opened his eyes and saw Cloud Retainer before him. Hope flickered in his despairing heart.
"Save…"
He wanted to say "save Shenhe," but could not form a complete sentence. He could only look at the adeptus with pleading eyes.
Cloud Retainer thought he was asking to be saved. She sighed. "You are the descendant of an adeptus, with a half-adeptus body, immune to evil. But you have never cultivated any adeptal arts and cannot resist corruption. Your entire body is now tainted by the monster's blood. Even if I tried to save you, you would become an evil creature. There is no hope for you."
She sighed again. Adepti were already few. She had hoped to add another to Liyue's ranks. She had not expected this.
Then, little Li Mo, understanding that he could not be saved, called out with all his strength: "Save… save… Shen… Shenhe…"
Broken, using every ounce of his power, he managed to say "Shenhe."
All along, he had not been asking the adeptus to save himself. He had been asking her to save Shenhe, tied to his back, the one he had carried out of the cave.
Cloud Retainer froze. She stood there, stunned, her eyes filled with disbelief.
When she had seen the trail of blood behind the boy, she had wondered what could have driven him to crawl this far. Now, she understood.