These images pierced Ganyu's heart like needles, making it impossible for her to believe that the person before her was Yunqin.
Could it be... just as the Adeptus had said...
Yunqin... is a fake?
Just then, three streaks of light sped toward them from the direction of Jueyun Karst.
Moon Carver's antlers crackled with arcs of electricity, sending ripples across the sea's surface as he came to a halt.
"This aura... How did Yunqin get entangled with the Abyss?" he murmured, his brow furrowed into a deep frown as he gazed at the figure on the moon.
Mountain Shaper beat his wings against the sea, shattering the water curtain into countless fragments and temporarily holding back the surging waves.
He sighed, his voice heavy. "The child's aura is too chaotic—the Abyss's dark energy is intertwined with a god's aura. I fear she's on the verge of losing her consciousness."
Cloud Retainer beat her wings, and wind blades carved crisscrossing trenches into the sea, forcing the raging tide to recede slightly.
Her heart twisted in pain as she looked at Yunqin on the crescent moon.
The memory of Yunqin's first Rite of Descension flashed before her eyes: the girl had held a rough piece of Rock Jade, timidly running up to her and asking, "Master, how do I carve Rex Lapis to make him look majestic?"
Back then, her eyes shone with light, her hands were strong, and she would laugh happily even when rock dust settled on her collar.
But now...
"Yunqin... how could she have become like this... like a soulless puppet?" Cloud Retainer's voice was filled with heartache, laced with a barely perceptible tremor.
Atop the cresting waves, a dark figure strode across the water.
Xiao wore his Yaksha Mask, his pupils burning violet-gold beneath it. The oppressive aura of a Guardian Yaksha radiated from him, forcing back the tides that surged toward the shore.
"...Please... strike me down..."
He gripped the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear, its tip pointed toward the moon, yet he couldn't bring himself to thrust it forward. The words echoed relentlessly in his mind.
Beneath the mask, his lips pressed into a thin, hard line. Even his breath tasted bitter.
He had guarded Liyue for a millennium, slaying countless monsters, yet for the first time, he was trapped between what must be slain and what he could not bear to harm.
At the harbor, the Millelith had already received their orders. They stood in disciplined formations, their spear tips forming a trembling silver line.
Rain soaked their armor, seeping through the joints and numbing their fingertips, yet they held their backs ramrod straight.
Behind them were the citizens who had not yet fully evacuated, the myriad lights of Liyue Harbor, the home they had sworn to protect with their lives...
A young soldier gripped his spear, unable to resist glancing back at the city lights behind him. He still remembered last month, when Yunqin had come to the wharf to help move supplies, smiling as she handed them waterskins.
"You Millelith brothers work so hard," she'd said. "Take a break and have some water."
The waterskin had still been warm from her touch, and the water had tasted sweet.
But now... now he had to raise his spear against her.
A sharp pain, like a needle piercing their hearts, spread through the soldiers. Tears mingled with the rain, streaming down their cheeks and splashing against their armor.
On a corner of Yujing Terrace, Yanfei's legal scrolls whipped violently in the gale, their edges soaked by the downpour. She clutched the Liyue Codex, her fingers tracing the same clause over and over: "Those who endanger the safety of Liyue shall be dealt with according to the law."
Beside her, Madame Ping's usual gentle expression was gone, replaced by solemn gravity. She looked at the moon over the sea, then at Yanfei's reddened eyes, and sighed softly. "Child, don't torment yourself."
Yanfei looked at Madame Ping, her voice choked with sobs, tears welling in her eyes. "But Grandma... the Codex doesn't say... it doesn't say what to do when the 'criminal' is your friend."
"We were just eating fried fish at a food stall together... She even said she'd teach me how to grill fish to make it more flavorful..."
"We were so close... How could she...?"
Before Yanfei could finish, tears splashed onto her codex, blurring the characters for "Justice" and dissolving her composure into helplessness.
Madame Ping patted her shoulder, her gaze returning to the moon.
"In this world, how many things truly have a 'what should we do' answer?"
"All we can do is wait. Wait for that child to come to her senses... wait for the truth to surface." She sighed deeply.
Not far away, at the entrance of Wanmin Restaurant, Xiangling froze, stunned by the scene before her.
She stared at the eerie blue moon hanging over the sea, then at the figure silhouetted against it. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
"How can that be Yunqin? Why would she attack Liyue?"
She wanted to believe the moon was too dim, that her eyes were playing tricks on her.
But the figure was unmistakably Yunqin.
The moment Hu Tao saw the silhouette on the moon, she rushed out of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, her oil-paper umbrella still in hand.
Rain soaked her clothes, but she didn't notice. Her usual playful grin was gone, replaced by pure shock.
"Yun...qin?"
She rubbed her eyes, then squinted, staring intently for a long time.
The figure remained, manipulating the moonlight, summoning the raging tides.
The corners of Hu Tao's mouth slowly drooped, her voice tinged with a barely perceptible disappointment. "This joke... isn't funny at all."
Jade Chamber.
KeQing finally lost her restraint, slamming her Lightning Stiletto into the void. A flash of violet lightning tore through the darkness like a sharp sword, illuminating Yunqin's face hidden deep within the moon's halo.
Her eyes held no trace of clarity, none of their usual vibrant spirit—only a hollow, icy coldness like stagnant water, so deep that even the lightning couldn't penetrate it.
KeQing's heart felt as if it had been brutally crushed. Her voice trembled with anguish. "Yunqin! Wake up! Look! This is Liyue! The place you swore to protect!"
"Look at the people you helped! They're still waiting for you to celebrate the Lantern Rite with them! You promised to carve a Rex Lapis statue for everyone as a gift! Our bet isn't even settled yet—how could you forget?"
Yunqin didn't respond, merely continuing to mechanically pluck the strings woven from moonlight.
A new wave, even taller than the last, surged toward the harbor with world-shattering force, causing even the Jade Chamber to tremble.
Ganyu finally released her Frostflake Arrow. The arrowhead gleamed with cold light, but instead of aiming at Yunqin, it struck precisely in front of the wave, freezing a half-zhang-high ice wall.
Under the relentless assault of the tide, cracks quickly spiderwebbed across the ice wall, threatening to shatter at any moment.
But she was still gambling.
Gambling that Yunqin didn't truly want to betray Liyue...
Gambling that Yunqin was merely being controlled, forced to act as an executioner for some malicious schemer...
Gambling that the girl who had stayed up all night carving a statue of Rex Lapis, who hadn't even flinched when rock shards cut her fingers, would stop at the very last moment...
The cracks in the ice wall widened. Ganyu stared fixedly at Yunqin on the moon, screaming her name over and over in her mind.
Ultimately, the ice wall couldn't withstand the tsunami's relentless assault. With a sharp crack that tore through the rain, it shattered like broken glaze, scattering in all directions.
Icy shards landed on the Millelith's armor, melting instantly into water that seeped through the gaps, freezing their fingertips numb.