Countless devastating thoughts instantly flooded Yunqin's mind:
Was she truly a monster?
Had she never belonged in Liyue from the very beginning?
She even started to doubt if Guili Plains' persistence in fighting the Abyss and her own anticipation of "returning to the past" were just jokes used to deceive herself.
"Dare to touch her and see what happens!" Tartaglia snarled with clenched teeth, but he didn't dare rush forward recklessly.
The blade was too close to Yunqin's neck, and he feared his movements would accidentally hurt her. He could only glare intently at "Captain Li," the fury in his eyes nearly overflowing.
"Captain Li's" sword pressed forward another half-inch. The skin on Yunqin's neck immediately indented, and a thin red line of blood slowly seeps out, sliding down her neck into her collar like a desperate red plum blossom.
At this critical moment, Tartaglia suddenly narrowed his eyes and flicked his wrist. The Hydro Element sword in his hand shot out, cutting through the air with a sharp whoosh and accurately slashing toward the opponent's neck!
With a squelch, blood splattered on Yunqin's lapel.
"Captain Li's" head fell to the ground, rolling a few times before dissolving into black mist.
His corpse was also quickly devoured by the dark energy, leaving only an empty sword that dropped to the ground with a clatter.
Tartaglia could no longer care about anything else; he rushed forward, knelt on one knee, and reached out to unbind the chains on Yunqin's wrists.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here, you're safe now... I'll help you break these off right away..." His voice trembled with barely concealed heartache.
Before his hand could even touch the chains, a golden light suddenly shot in from the distance, and the pressure of the Geo element instantly surged, causing the surrounding air to grow heavy and still.
A steady figure landed between the two of them, his black robes fluttering fiercely in the wind.
The familiar aura brought a sliver of clarity to Yunqin's chaotic consciousness.
She slowly raised her head, and in her blurred vision, she saw that forever steady face: it was Mr. Zhongli.
"Mr. Zhongli..." she murmured, forcing a few words from her parched throat. The grievance and fear pent up in her heart finally found an exit, and tears fell without warning.
Yunqin's empty eyes finally struggled to glimmer with a faint light. It was Mr. Zhongli, the benefactor who had found her years ago; he was the person closest to her other than her Master, Cloud Retainer; more so, he was the Rex Lapis in whom she had held a deep faith since childhood.
She stumbled forward as if numb to pain, the chains on her wrists clanking. The iron rings ground into her bloody skin, tearing open new wounds. Her eyes reflected only that familiar, steady face.
"Lord Rex Lapis..." Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, trembling and broken. Every word seemed to be squeezed from her parched throat, draining her of all strength.
Countless warm memories flashed through her mind, making her nose sting.
Even if she were rejected by all of Liyue... in moments of utter despair, she would still instinctively draw closer to this "Bedrock of Liyue."
"Wait! Something's wrong!" Tartaglia suddenly shouted harshly.
Although the "Zhongli" before them looked and felt exactly like the true God, his golden eyes held none of their usual gentleness. Instead, they concealed a faint, imperceptible coldness.
It was the same chill as the one on the Millelith, completely different from the aura of the real Zhongli he had met in Liyue Harbor.
He reached out to pull Yunqin back, but she had already moved right in front of "Zhongli," too close for even Elemental Power to intercept.
At that moment, the Vortex Vanquisher suddenly materialized in "Zhongli's" hand.
The golden spearhead gleamed with a cold, hard light, then without any hesitation, it struck straight through Yunqin's chest like a thunderbolt!
Psh—
Blood instantly erupted, staining the world before Yunqin red and splattering across "Zhongli's" black robes.
Yunqin froze in place, her pupils shrinking to pinpoints as she looked down in disbelief at the spearhead piercing her chest.
Warm blood flowed down the shaft of the spear, each drop hitting the ground with a sound that echoed against her heart.
"Useless thing."
"Zhongli" slowly turned his head, his golden eyes showing no trace of pity, his voice as cold as eternal ice.
He violently yanked the Vortex Vanquisher back, and Yunqin's body collapsed heavily to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
The gaping wound in her chest continuously gushed blood, soon staining the dry grass beneath her, so that even the passing breeze carried a heavy scent of blood.
"As a remnant of the Overlord of the Vortex, Yunqin should have been executed on the spot or imprisoned for life."
"Zhongli's" voice was so steady it lacked a single ripple, yet every word was like a poison-dipped knife, viciously stabbing into Yunqin's heart.
"I only raised her to see if I could eradicate the bestial nature in her bones and make her submit to Liyue."
He glanced at Yunqin lying collapsed on the ground, his gaze as if inspecting a discarded tool, then turned to the shocked face of Tartaglia.
"But now, she colluded with the Fatui and murdered so many of the 'Millelith', long ago violating the contract to 'protect Liyue'. She is no longer worthy of remaining on this land."
Yunqin lay on the ground, the excruciating pain in her chest making her almost suffocate. Every breath felt as if countless needles were stabbing her lungs.
Yet this physical pain was far less than the tearing sensation in her heart.
So... was this really it?
The warmth and closeness she had believed in... was it all just because she was "useful"?
Her reverence for Rex Lapis, her yearning as she listened to the thousand-year history of Liyue, even her obsession with becoming a "part of Liyue's protectors", were all just a one-sided joke?
"Just because... I was useful..." she murmured to herself, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes, and she could no longer tell which was blood and which were tears. "Now that I'm not useful... I should be abandoned?"
The Rex Lapis she once worshipped would actually treat her as a "utilizable tool"?
Mr. Zhongli, whom she had been grateful to for so many years, had actually been driven by the goal of "eradicating her beastly nature" from the very beginning and had never truly regarded her as a "Liyue local"?
The figure before her gradually grew blurred.
Yunqin suddenly felt that she had never truly known this person.
The image of the Geo Archon she had carved countless times, the "gentleness" she had traced in her heart ten million times, had all just been a fantasy she had woven herself.
Tartaglia, standing in the distance, was already furious, his eyes almost bursting. The Electro and Hydro elements surged wildly around him, nearly breaking through his reason: "You are not Zhongli at all! The real Geo Archon would never treat lives as tools!"
He brandished the cold-glinting elemental sword and charged forward, the blade cutting through the air with a sharp whistle.
But "Zhongli" merely swung the Vortex Vanquisher casually. The raging Geo element on the spear shaft acted like a wall, directly blasting Tartaglia back several steps, making his chest feel suffocated.
"A Fatui thinks they are worthy of questioning the Geo Archon?"
"Zhongli" sneered, a mocking curve forming at the corner of his lips.