The statement was utterly cryptic.
As Yunqin felt the other's gaze land on her, she was about to ask, "Who is this girl?" when her heart suddenly began to pound wildly, as if it would burst from her chest.
The Hydro Element and adeptal energy within her clashed violently, bringing a tearing pain, as if something was about to break free from a seal that had held for years and erupt from her body.
"What... what do you mean?" Yunqin fought the urge to crouch and curl into a ball. Fine beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead, trickling down her cheeks and dripping onto her collar.
Her voice trembled uncontrollably, and even standing became unsteady. She had to lean against the rock wall just to support herself.
But the other figure began to turn transparent in the black mist, fading away bit by bit like smoke scattered by the wind.
"You haven't broken the seal directly yet, not because it's strong, but because you still cling to your identity as 'Yunqin' and still have feelings for those people in Liyue."
The voice grew more distant, yet it remained clear in Yunqin's ears, carrying a tone of confident prediction.
"When you can achieve 'one heart, one body' and truly accept your god bloodline, come find me."
Yunqin subconsciously took two steps forward, reaching out to grab the other person and demand an explanation, but just then, her eyes suddenly glowed with an intense blue light.
Yunqin's pupils... had turned a deep, abyssal blue, like the depths of the sea!
The Hydro Element within her grew violent, forming small vortexes around her that radiated a chilling aura.
She opened her mouth uncontrollably, her voice laced with a cold, majestic tone that wasn't her own, completely devoid of her usual liveliness: "Where... should I find you?"
The moment the words left her lips, Yunqin's right eye abruptly cleared.
Feeling the blue eye that was completely alien to her, her heart was instantly filled with panic.
She hadn't meant to say that at all!
It was the unfamiliar, "godly" power within her, controlling her body!
The other figure seemed to notice her struggle. A disdainful sneer echoed from the black mist, tinged with a hint of triumph: "As long as you truly wish to escape all this and no longer be bound by the identity of 'Yunqin,' I will appear at any time."
As the voice faded, the black mist in the cave receded like a tide, once again revealing the faint light filtering through the rock crevices.
Yunqin stood frozen in place, her hands trembling uncontrollably.
Although the blue light in her left eye gradually faded, a cold sensation lingered, as if that "Eye of the God" had never disappeared.
The blue light flickered in the darkness as she lowered her head, gazing at the now-calm Hydro Element in her palm, feeling a profound fear of her own body and existence for the first time.
After the black mist completely dissipated, faint light once again filtered into the cave.
Tiny specks of light scattered across the ground, like a handful of crushed diamonds.
Yunqin remained frozen for a long time. Only after the lingering chill of the Hydro Element on her fingertips faded into the air did she lean against the rough rock wall and shakily pull herself to her feet.
The cold sensation in her left eye felt like an indelible brand, a constant reminder of the terror she'd felt while being controlled by the god's power.
That unfamiliar majesty, that uncontrollable voice, deepened the confusion she felt about her own body.
When she walked out of the cave, the sunlight overhead was so blinding that Yunqin instinctively narrowed her eyes.
The sunlight, which should have been warm, felt only chillingly cold against her skin.
Memories still churned wildly in her mind. The "alien" power within her, which had once terrified her, now seemed to have found its home, flowing slowly through her meridians and gradually merging with her own aura.
The Hydro Element, which previously required intense focus to condense, now swirled into delicate water patterns in her palm with a mere thought.
It even trembled gently with her emotions, feeling more natural than the Geo element and adeptal arts she had practiced for years.
"Is this... my original power?" Yunqin murmured, her expression complex as she raised her hand to watch the Hydro Element flow across her palm.
Just then, she keenly sensed a familiar aura nearby: Lumine and Paimon.
Lumine was swinging her sword, clearing monsters from the roadside.
With a flash of sword light, the monsters instantly dissipated.
Paimon bounced around nearby, counting the spoils of battle, occasionally shouting into the distance, "Yunqin, where are you?"
Yunqin instinctively took a step, wanting to run toward them.
But after just one step, she froze in place.
She remembered Lumine's subconscious retreat, her own identity as a "descendant of the Overlord of the Vortex," and Huoqin's words: "They're all wary of you."
"I'm sorry..." Yunqin bit her lip and apologized silently, her voice so soft only she could hear.
Then, Yunqin formed a hand seal, and a faint shimmer of adeptal energy flickered at her fingertips.
Harnessing the surging Hydro Element within her, her body dissolved into a pool of transparent liquid, silently merging into the ground.
She wasn't ready to face Lumine yet, and she certainly wasn't ready to face the "true self" that even she found terrifyingly unfamiliar.
-
Meanwhile, Lumine and Paimon were using Elemental Sight to search for Yunqin's trail.
Lumine tracked every lingering trace of elements in the air.
When they reached the cave where Yunqin had been, Lumine stopped, her brow furrowed tightly. "The trail's gone cold."
"How could it go cold?" Paimon exclaimed, her eyes wide as she hovered in mid-air. "We could sense it clearly from the foot of the mountain. Did Yunqin use some kind of adeptal art?"
"I don't know, but there's a very strange aura lingering here," Lumine replied, shaking her head, her voice filled with confusion.
They both turned to look into the dark cave.
Lumine condensed a stone glowing with warm golden light in her hand, then threw it deep into the cave with a slight exertion of her arm.
By the stone's light, they could see the interior clearly.
The cave wasn't deep and was completely empty, except for a few drops of blue water on the ground. There was no sign of Yunqin.
"Strange, where did she go?" Paimon circled the cave twice, her little head full of confusion. "Can she teleport?"
Lumine crouched down, her fingertips gently brushing over the water stains on the ground.
No elemental residue, no signs of a struggle, and even the footprints had been erased by something.
It was as if Yunqin had vanished into thin air.
The two exchanged a helpless glance, finally sighing before continuing their search toward Liyue Harbor.
-
Meanwhile, Yunqin had followed the underground currents and arrived at the docks of Liyue Harbor.
She slowly materialized on the stone steps of the docks.
The young woman sat on the stone steps, gazing out at the boundless sea.
The water's surface shimmered like scattered gold dust, yet her eyes gradually grew vacant, as if half her soul had been drained away.
The sea breeze, carrying its familiar salty scent, blew past, lifting the stray strands of hair by her ear. It subconsciously reminded her of memories of playing at the docks, and the tense discomfort in her body eased slightly.