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

Gan Yu realized something else, and the truth was so cruel and cold, like steel bars covered in cotton wool, which, with the slightest breeze, revealed their rugged iron bones.

Her heart, like porcelain, was riddled with fine cracks and was slowly crumbling, and the truth was the final crack that would shatter the porcelain.

Her heart nearly stopped—

If I hadn't appeared, if I hadn't come to the Abyss of Lapis Lazuli, if I hadn't killed Fushe...

With the last remnant of his life, Fushe was able to reach the end of the deep abyss and successfully seal away his karmic obstacles.

How did she manage to pierce through the floating shrine? Given the immense power of her karmic obstacles at that time, she not only couldn't do it, but was even about to be killed by them. That fleeting flaw was truly a 'flaw'.

Gan Yu began to ponder the question that had once flashed through her mind, but now, she had the answer.

Fushe exhausted his last breath, suppressed his karmic burdens, and protected her one last time... But the price for doing so was that in his next life, he would have to carry those karmic burdens and walk the last three minutes and twenty-one seconds of his journey.

The price of doing so is that Fushe will spend all his life entangled in karmic obstacles.

To protect her, Fushe gave up his last breath, and in order to save more people, in his next life he took on the responsibility that was not his and went on the unfinished road.

Because of her, whether in this life or the next, Fushe will never be free from suffering, and will never be able to find happiness.

...Could we also say, 'She didn't do anything wrong?'

Can she still be considered innocent?

Now that she knows the whole truth, can she still run away? Can she still deceive herself?

"...Because of me?"

"Because of me."

The suffering caused by karma is so intense! Can that young man, in his newly born life, bear it?

He lived only twenty years, perhaps even less. His remaining days, his last moments, were surely spent in endless suffering brought on by karmic obstacles, ending his life. In fact, his entire life was spent in misery.

What exactly did I do? What exactly did I do?

This feeling, like a needle piercing my heart, will never go away.

Gan Yu murmured, "Because...me?"

Because of her, just because of her, she killed Fushe, she interrupted Fushe's final plan, only her, only her!

"Nonsense. Nonsense... Don't think too highly of yourself."

Qing Nuoyan gently scolded her from beside her:

"That's his own choice, what's it to you? No matter how many times he comes, he'll still choose the same thing. Whether it's Fushe or him, they're essentially the same, both incredibly stupid."

They continued to comfort her, and Gan Yu felt somewhat dazed. But could she really accept this comfort?

It was through self-deception that she chose to escape; it was by indulging in falsehood that she kept running away, and thus kept missing out.

"This was his own choice." Qing Nuoyan paused, gazing intently at Gan Yu. "That's the life of a short-lived person..."

"Don't say it anymore," Gan Yu whispered. "Don't say it anymore."

Qing Nuoyan quietly watched Gan Yu.

Gan Yu lowered her head, biting her thin lips tightly. Her shoulders trembled, and a faint crystalline luster shimmered within them. Her nails were already deeply embedded in her skin. Did she regret it...? Perhaps, this feeling in her heart should be called regret.

"Shut up," she said through gritted teeth.

It's all her fault.

Qing Nuoyan clearly understood nothing. His words of comfort were so repulsive and so unsettling.

It's all her fault.

"This wasn't his own choice. He wouldn't have chosen this way... It's all my fault."

"Whether it's distrust, killing him, running away all along, deceiving myself, or deliberately ignoring all the contradictions, it's always been me..."

Gan Yu stared intently into Qing Nuoyan's eyes, her own eyes shimmering with a crystalline light. "You are not him, you wouldn't understand... I couldn't even... go and pray for him anymore."

She lowered her eyes and murmured softly, "You wouldn't understand..."

"...This was his own choice."

Qing Nuoyan looked at her with a hint of sadness in his eyes, his expression serious. "This is the only thing I can be sure of, and if he were here, he wouldn't want you to be sad."

-

P.S.: Don't be too impatient, everyone... This is just the beginning, just an appetizer. The real big thing is yet to come.

Also, let me reiterate, just in case any readers ask again or any strange rumors spread, that a book club has not yet been established for this book. This is because establishing and managing a book club is very troublesome and it is also easy to cause trouble and conflicts. I'm also rather lazy... so I haven't established one.

Chapter 104 "Senior Brother, I've Come to See You" (Chapter 2.5)

This is the end.

The place closest to the heart of Liyue.

They finally reached the deepest part of the Abyss of Layered Rocks, a strange space where the concepts of time and space become blurred.

Then, amplify this space with the Taiwei Instrument and seal it permanently, so that all the filth of Liyue will be buried forever in the deepest layer of rock.

The boy, clutching the mangled body of Fushe, looked down into the abyss that stretched for thousands of miles. Darkness seemed to surge within it, and the pale blue cliffs were piled high with eerie shadows. There was nothing else there.

The overflowing karmic burdens entangled the boy, who gritted his teeth, sweat beaded on his cheeks, and coughed up blood.

Gan Yu stared blankly at Fu She—the person seemed to be asleep, a smile still lingering on his lips, his long, pale blue hair falling to the ground. It wasn't until her senior brother had passed away that Gan Yu suddenly realized that the person had truly aged.

Whether it's the fine lines around his eyes, the thick calluses on his knuckles, or the slightly graying hair at his temples, everything indicates that this man is very old.

That person has worked hard all his life, and now he can finally retire peacefully.

"Sweet rain".

Qing Nuoyan wasn't good at comforting people, so he tentatively asked, "...Are you alright?"

"I am fine."

Gan Yu said calmly, "I'm really fine."

"Besides, my affairs are none of your business."

She seemed to have calmed down and accepted the fact. Her shoulders stopped trembling slightly, and her eyes returned to their usual calm. She glanced at Qing Nuoyan and said, "I'm fine."

"Mortal, this matter is none of your concern."

From the moment she saw Fushe killed, Gan Yu's emotions went blank. Her heart felt empty, and she felt lightheaded, as if she were walking on soft, empty cotton, without any sense of reality.

It doesn't feel real.

Now the floating house is right in front of her.

She subconsciously looked away, as if she didn't want to look at him again.

But the moment she turned to the side, the boy released his grip, and her body fell to the ground.

Gan Yu could feel her heart sinking and falling along with that body. The darkness in the abyss covered Fu She's face and slowly swallowed him up. At the same time, Gan Yu felt her heart sinking into that endless darkness.

"I'm really... fine."

The next step is to start the Taiwei Disk.

The way to do it, Renli has already taught the relevant skills to the boy.

This celestial artifact is quite peculiar, requiring both a celestial being and a mortal to activate it. After cultivating for six hundred years and being corrupted by the karmic obstacles of the Yakshas, ​​his body can be considered a 'celestial transformation,' making him an immortal.

He returned to the mortal world as an ordinary person, and that is what it means to be an ordinary person.

The Taiwei Instrument Plate trembled gently, emitting a faint glow that resonated with the layered rocks.

As the floating abode continued to sink, the karmic obstacles dormant within its body grew increasingly restless, surging and churning within, a monstrous struggle for the abode's restraints. This terrifying sight was reflected in Gan Yu's eyes—

The floating house was burning, burning as it fell.

Karmic obstacles tore at Fushe's skin, and chaotic darkness spread from his seven orifices. Blood trailed long streaks on the rock wall, and Fushe's face became blurred.

Gan Yu's heart seemed to be burning as well. She finally felt real. She suddenly wanted to see Fu She one last time, even if it was just to see him one last time. But she could no longer do it. Fu She's body turned into ashes and melted into the air, like melting snowflakes, merging into the soil of Liyue.

不 ...

Only now did she finally feel immense sorrow.

Hundreds of thousands of karmic obstacles broke free of their shackles, and a torrent of filth surged forth, ferocious and frenzied. The seal on the Taiwei Instrument Plate was not yet complete, and the karmic obstacles were about to break free.

'Town'. The boy calmly watched the karmic barrier about to break free.

The rocks, carrying an overwhelming force, pressed down upon the endless karmic obstacles. Thousands of tons, tens of thousands of tons, hundreds of millions of tons, one after another, the boulders were piled up together, forming the grandest and most imposing mountain range—that mountain range was the transformation of Fushe's immortal body.

He came from the mountains, and he will return to the mountains. He loves this land, and he will eventually become this land.

When a person dies, they are buried in a grave, in the earth. Over the long course of time, their entire body decomposes and eventually merges with the earth, a phenomenon Liyue calls "fallen leaves returning to their roots." This is a person's life, and also the life of Fushe.

This is both a ritual to seal away karmic obstacles and a funeral for the deceased.

My name is Fushe.

—It means that life is fleeting, and all things should be relinquished.

The karmic obstacles roared, roared madly, and layer upon layer of mountain rocks shattered. They could crush the great mountain of the floating dwelling, but they could no longer resist the abyss beyond. Time and space were amplified and blurred and distorted continuously. Space was infinite and time was infinite. In the infinite, they could never reach that seal.

Karmic obstacles fell from above, and the corpses of the mountains crashed onto them, piling up into new mountains. Gan Yu stared blankly at that giant mountain.

The mountain was right in front of her.

She lowered her eyes, and the golden hue deep within them grew even more intense.

So thick and large.

So...beautiful.

Fushe died and was buried in the soil; the mountains are his tombstone for this life.

Towering majestically, the mountain is rooted deep within the earth of Liyue, suppressing Liyue's deepest suffering. For hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of years to come, it will forever protect Liyue, and it will forever fulfill its vow.

Facing that mountain, she could no longer speak, and everyone else fell silent as well.

Perhaps it should be called... a moment of silence at a funeral.

Mr. Zhongli lowered his eyes and mourned for his friend. A deathly silence spread, and the towering rocks made no sound; even the air seemed to stand still.

half an hour.