The sea breeze, swirling with poisonous mist, swept past the highest mast of the Jade Chamber. The rock patterns on Zhongli's black robe swayed gently in the wind, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the small statue of Rex Lapis that Yunqin had ruined years ago.
The fine cracks on the statue's edges were caused by her trembling hands back then, rough yet vivid. They evoked memories more poignantly than the later, more exquisite finished products.
His hands were folded behind his back, his pupils as deep as the foundations of The Chasm shrouded in a thousand years of darkness. Those were the eyes that had witnessed Liyue's rise and fall for a thousand years, now gazing at the faint blue crescent moon in the high sky. The aura of the Geo element radiating from his body even made the surging waves consciously slow down, as if the very air had condensed into a heavy, solid texture.
This child, back then at Mt. Aocang, was still clutching a rough piece of Rock Jade, her fingertips sweaty, timidly asking, "Lord Rex Lapis's statue, shouldn't it have more rock patterns to look more dignified?"
But now, the Abyssal Black Miasma entwined around her body was denser than the mineral dust in The Chasm. The trembling of the Moonlight Strings at her fingertips had lost the gentleness it once held when she was carving the statue.
The frost condensing on the sea's surface reflected the faint blue of the crescent moon, and also reflected her crimson eyes.
Those eyes that used to shine as brightly as the lanterns of Liyue Harbor that never went out at night, the eyes that would even carry a hint of joy in their tails when she spoke about "protecting Liyue."
At this moment, her light was obscured by the Abyss, and her gaze upon Liyue Harbor was as if she were looking at a ruin that deserved to be completely destroyed.
The Geo element flowed quietly in Zhongli's palm, condensing into fine particles of light.
"This is Liyue's calamity, and also her calamity." Zhongli's voice was not loud, yet it rolled over the sea like deep thunder, steadily suppressing the roar of the tsunami. "If she still retains a breath of humanity, I will personally pull her back; if she is no longer herself... I will personally send her away."
As the last word fell, Yunqin's whole body shuddered, and the Moonlight Strings at her fingertips snapped with a twang.
The broken string struck her fingertips, leaving a small red mark, like an unhealed old wound.
The silvery-white moonlight was like a severed blood vessel, splashing out large patches of light particles that turned into ice shards upon touching the sea, kicking up a fine cold mist on the water's surface.
Immediately after, the sea tide suddenly rose a hundred feet.
The wall of water spanning heaven and earth reflected the flying eaves and lanterns of Liyue Harbor, yet it shimmered with a cold, faint blue, as if it were about to swallow all the warmth and vitality of this port.
That familiar Geo element aura pierced through the black miasma, like a heavy hammer striking the depths of Yunqin's consciousness.
Her crimson eyes snapped toward the mast, where the silhouette of the black robe overlapped with the figure in her memory who taught her to carve rock and crouched on Mt. Aocang using rock powder to draw patterns while telling Liyue's history... it was Mr. Zhongli!
Yunqin's crimson pupils constricted sharply, as if pierced by a needle, her gaze locked onto the black-robed figure on the mast, her breath instantly halting.
The next moment, her heart felt as if it had been gripped by a hand dipped in ice.
A sharp pain spread through her veins to her every bone and joint, and the suppressed image from deep within her memory began to replay uncontrollably in her mind.
In the vision, the Stone Spear in Zhongli's hand had pierced her chest without warning...
She could even clearly remember the sound of the blood droplets from the spearhead splashing onto the ground, and the sticky sensation of warm blood sliding down her robes and soaking her skirt.
What suffocated her more was his eyes at the time, which were as calm as a still pool, looking down at her as if she were a mere stone.
Without a hint of hesitation, without a hint of reluctance, as if he were merely pruning a useless branch.
"It's you..." she murmured, her voice trembling almost imperceptibly, her fingertips uncontrollably brushing her chest.
The wound there had long since healed under the Abyss's power, yet beneath the skin her fingertips touched, she seemed to still feel the crack carved into her soul, making her shudder with pain at a mere touch.
Fear flooded over her like a tide, her body trembling uncontrollably as extreme panic and terror churned in her crimson eyes.
She feared not the scorn of the world, nor the siege of the Adepti, nor even falling into the eternal night of the Abyss...
Yet she feared Mr. Zhongli's gaze alone.
She feared he would once more slowly raise the Stone Spear and, with the eyes that had witnessed Liyue's rise and fall for millennia, calmly erase her completely, leaving not a single trace.
But this bone-deep terror was instantly replaced by an even more intense fury, spreading through her limbs like a wildfire.
She clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging deep into her palms, as blood seeped from her fingertips and the metallic scent of blood filled her mouth.
"Why?!" The roar in her heart almost burst from her throat, making her consciousness tremble. "What right do you have?!"
He was the one who had brought her back to Mt. Aocang when she had no one to rely on!
He was the one who taught her to control rock, to carve, to know every blade of grass and every tree in Liyue, telling her "The steadfastness of rock lies in what the heart protects"!
He was the one who, when she had ruined her first statue of Rex Lapis and hung her head in utter disappointment, had picked up the stone statue with a smile, pointed at the rough carvings, and said, "The sincerity hidden in these coarse marks is more precious than an exquisite finished product"!
He was the one who had made her believe she had finally found a home, that "protecting Liyue" was her lifelong purpose, and that she was no longer a homeless, lost soul!
Yet he was also the one... as she was entangled by the Abyss and her consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse, just when she needed a pair of hands to pull her back, who had without hesitation raised the Stone Spear, pierced her heart, and completely shattered her last shred of hope for a "home"!
"What exactly am I?" she asked herself frantically over and over, her consciousness struggling violently in the darkness like a caged beast. "A pawn you meticulously cultivated? A tool for you to use to protect Liyue? Or... a 'monster' to be discarded at will once tainted by darkness?"
The Abyss's whispers took the opportunity to amplify in her ear, carrying a malicious temptation, coiling around her consciousness like a poisonous snake: "You see, he never truly considered you one of his own."
"He raised you, merely to make you Liyue's shield; he killed you, merely because you lost your utility and became a liability in his eyes."
"He never loved you, only his Liyue, his so-called contracts and order!"
"No... no..." Yunqin shook her head violently, trying to shake off the cruel thought, but the old wound on her chest seemed to still ache faintly, each breath reminding her of that bone-piercing betrayal.
She stared intently at Zhongli's still-composed figure on the mast.
He stood with his hands behind his back, like an emotionless mountain, as if all the turmoil in the world had nothing to do with him.
Anger and grievance intertwined and welled up in her heart, tears churning uncontrollably in her eyes, burning so hot they threatened to scald her eyeballs.
But she bit her lower lip hard, forcing the tears back, only letting them turn into a deeper crimson in her eyes, like blood-soaked gems, seething with despair and malice.
"If you were going to raise me to adulthood and give me the illusion of a home, why did you have to kill me with your own hands?" she asked over and over in her heart, her voice breaking with sobs like an abandoned child. "What did I do wrong? Was I not obedient enough? Was I unable to become the perfect 'guardian' in your heart? Or... from the beginning, should I never have existed?"
Dark energy surged wildly around her, several times denser than before, like boiling ink, almost swallowing her whole.