Genshin Impact, I, a mere mortal, cannot accompany you to the very end.

But why... but why?

Gan Yu looked somewhat dazed.

...This soldier was clearly guarding the person who had fallen.

But...she felt her heart pounding, but...wasn't the truth that this person had slaughtered all the guards of the Layered Rock Abyss...?

Why is this soldier protecting the floating house?

She doesn't understand.

Gan Yu didn't know, but another voice inside her answered for her: 'This is just that person's disguise.'

Yes, perhaps it was an act, perhaps that person deliberately feigned weakness... just to use them.

But... is that really the case?

For some reason, her heart wavered slightly.

That person wouldn't be like that. He would never show a vulnerable side. He's a very proud guy, he was like that when he was young, he's like that when he's old, he's always been like that... Even if he betrayed, even if he was killed, he died with his head held high.

Gan Yu still remembers when she was little, before she had taken human form. On a sweltering summer afternoon, they encountered a beast-like hunting dog in Mount Aozang. The dog pounced on them, its menacing teeth almost touching her skin.

The boy held the little Qilin in his arms. The hunting dogs tore at the man's back, biting and biting, blood splattering everywhere. The Qilin cried out in fear, but the boy smiled. He gently patted the Qilin's little horns and whispered in her ear again and again:

"Don't be afraid... Senior brother is here... Don't be afraid."

His embrace was as reassuring as a rock.

It's all fake.

"It was all a disguise by that person."

...Gan Yu bit her lip lightly, shook her head to drive away those inexplicable distracting thoughts, and when she raised her head again, a deep mist was brewing in the depths of her bright golden eyes.

Chaos reigned, and deep within her ears echoed a series of low murmurs. These sounds came from the depths of her heart, as a delusional inner demon tore at her soul, ripping it in two.

Gan Yu had never experienced such chaos.

My name is Boyang.

'Tell me, am I a qualified member of the Chiiwa Army?'

"The cliffs are sturdy," the soldier said.

The abyssal monsters swarmed over, their filthy aura threatening to devour them. Even across two thousand four hundred years, Gan Yu could see the claws of the evil creatures. Everything felt so real, so close at hand.

In a moment of utter confusion and disorientation, she could not distinguish between reality and the past, between illusion and truth. She seemed to have become the little Qilin under Mount Aozang again. The monster roared and howled, while all the little Qilin could do was cry out, cry out again and again.

She could see the monster's gaping maw and its menacing fangs, and in the next instant, they would touch her body.

In the very next instant.

"The mountains stand firm and unyielding."

The evil spirits could no longer advance.

Across two thousand four hundred years—

The man blocked Gan Yu's way again.

Fu She raised his head and laughed heartily. His laughter seemed to pierce the clouds and echoed in the world for a long time. His long silver hair was scattered in the cold night sky. Two giant arms burst open from his back. Lightning flashed across the sky. Everything was dark and then cleared up. There was only this back view in the world!

Gan Yu subconsciously took a step back, slowly exhaled, and lowered her eyes. The gloomy color receded like the tide, and she slowly regained her clarity.

This is really... inexplicable.

It's clearly just a projection of the past, so why is she so confused? Why is she thinking about things from so far back?

Even a real monster wouldn't be a match for her now.

She didn't know what was wrong with her.

Gan Yu stared blankly at the floating house in front of her... the floating house that laughed heartily amidst the wind, rain, and sea of ​​blood.

The cliffs are firm and the peaks are unmoving.

This is the oath of the Chiyan Army.

Gan Yu was naturally aware of this vow.

"I will use my body to protect the formation and ward off evil spirits."

He said this.

She saw that person pick up the young soldier's standard longsword in the pouring rain and amidst the billowing smoke. It was a very old and tattered weapon, with blood-red rust on the blade, as old as the man himself.

Fu She wiped away the rust from the old knife, which now gleamed. The man dragged the knife, head bowed, and walked forward. As dusk fell, he walked alone towards the sea of ​​blood and the mountain of corpses.

"—Yaksha clan, Grand Marshal Tengshe, enter the formation."

His voice echoed throughout the world and lingered in Gan Yu's ears for a long time.

Gan Yu instinctively... just instinctively, wanted to chase after him, wanted to keep up with his pace. She reached out her hand, but the instant she did—

The projection disappeared.

The abyss of towering rocks has returned to calm.

The smoky sunset painted the silvery drizzle, dusk had fallen, and the rain lines slanted across the blank space between day and night, growing heavier and heavier.

The monsters had all vanished, the soldiers had vanished, the floating houses had vanished, and the vast, layered abyss was empty, leaving only Gan Yu alone.

The person had already left; she couldn't catch up.

Fushe is already dead; she could never catch up with him again.

...Hey.

what?

She instinctively took a step back, and slowly lowered her outstretched hand.

what.

My mind is still blank.

"why?"

Nuo bless the demon.

What kind of exorcism is he performing? What kind of demon-exorcising?

He is the greatest calamity, the greatest calamity.

To use my own body to protect the formation?

What formation is it protecting?

Where did those monsters come from? And why did the Thousand Rock Army die?

No.

That can't be the case.

That can't be the case.

That could only be the ending, it could only be... it could only be!

Gan Yu was unaware that she was feeling the darkness again. She subconsciously lowered her eyes, and the drizzle gathered into shallow puddles at her feet, reflecting her face and her calm eyes.

He's a sinful immortal, he's a sinful immortal, he's a sinful immortal... You didn't do anything wrong, you didn't do anything wrong, you didn't do anything wrong!

She heard those voices again, and she chose to listen to them. She willingly accepted them. It wasn't the voices that chose her, but she who chose them. Rather than karmic obstacles, it was more like a demon born from those obstacles.

Yes.

It's all fake.

It's all fake. This isn't a projection of history, but just an illusion, a false fantasy. Gan Yu firmly believed this fact. Yes, this must be a fabricated illusion!

Perhaps it was made using the Taiwei Instrument Plate. Yes, yes, Master gave him the Taiwei Instrument Plate. Yes, yes.

It's that person... that traitor... a fabricated illusion!

His purpose is simply to use this fabricated illusion to distort historical facts and disrupt their moral compass... that must be it.

She kept telling herself that it was all fake.

All of this... can only be fake.

Almost stubborn.

Gan Yu exhaled softly, the cold rain pouring down on her. She looked away from the puddle, and when she raised her eyes again, there was no longer any confusion or extraneous chaotic emotions in them, only a deep and clear look.

It was as if veiled by a layer of mist.

A clear and bright mind.

No matter what kind of fantasy it was, it could no longer cloud her Daoist mind.

She continued walking in the direction the person was heading, and along the way she saw more illusions. She explored deeper into the abyss of layered rocks... She stopped. Was that person a demon?

The Great Sage Who Subdues Demons, Xiao.

Xiao has also arrived at the Layered Rock Abyss...

Beside him were two young boys and girls... Gan Yu remembered them clearly; they were the two who had come to 'offer sacrifices' in front of their master's cave last time.

Her gaze lingered briefly on the face of the boy with light-colored long hair before she looked away.

They did not find Gan Yu.

"Live for the ones you love... because your death is the most terrifying thing in the world for the ones you love... but I am different."

Those illusions reappeared.

Fu She was talking about the death of a loved one. Gan Yu stared at him for a long time before lowering her eyes.

The one you love... You said it was for the one you love, so why did you betray them...?

Why...why!

These illusions spout grand but hypocritical words!

She stared intently at Fushe's profile, her cold and mocking voice resonating deeply:

No one will mourn your death anymore.