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

Kill him, kill him, kill him.

Resentment, blame, and even hatred.

Hatred born of unfulfilled expectations, hatred born of unfulfilled desires, hatred born of a morbid obsession.

No!

She finally realized, finally understood through her own experience, what kind of suffering Fushe had faced that day, and what kind of willpower he possessed.

No...no...Gan Yu tried to escape those voices, but no matter how much she struggled, she felt like she was caught in a spider's web, slowly sinking deeper and deeper. She wanted to kill Qing Nuoyan, she wanted to kill this imposter...no.

It was only her own karma that made her unable to control her killing intent, while the karma that Fushe was enduring was more than a hundred times greater than hers!

But Fushe managed to control herself... and didn't kill her.

twice.

That's not your senior brother, that's not your senior brother, kill him, kill him, kill him!

"Kill me..." Gan Yu lowered her head, her nails digging deep into her palms, blood spreading along the lines of her pale hands. She repeated, "Kill me."

She didn't deserve to be saved, so she awaited death. Her eyes were slightly lowered, waiting for that moment to arrive, but she never did. After a long while, she suddenly felt a slightly rough yet warm touch, gently stroking her hair.

—The slightly rough skin and the smooth long hair touched lightly, like the gentle sunlight of a midsummer afternoon rubbing against each other with grains of sand, warm and long-lost, as if it had happened countless times before, as if I had felt this touch many times before, so beautiful that it made me feel sad.

She raised her eyes, and Qing Nuoyan was staring at her.

The boy placed his hand on Gan Yu's head, and a brilliant wildfire rose up behind Qing Nuoyan, its dazzling flames coating him. This scene was both brief and eternal, like a flowing painting.

"Master..." Gan Yu murmured softly, "Senior Brother."

“I have taken all your karmic burdens with me,” Qing Nuoyan said calmly. “From now on, your senior brother is dead. Do not run away any longer.”

"We won't dwell on this anymore."

He didn't know... if this could truly save them.

Perhaps this is just a temporary solution.

He can certainly take away the karmic burdens accumulated by Gan Yu over two thousand years, but if the latter still cannot face the facts and continues to evade them as before, new karmic burdens will still be generated two thousand years later.

However, none of this has anything to do with Qingnuoyan anymore.

Whether she can overcome her inner demons depends on herself—she may experience sadness and pain, but she will eventually move on.

Because Qingnuoyan was very tired, very, very tired.

The only thing he could do for Gan Yu, the only thing he could do for everyone, was to struggle to live on, not to become her new constraint, and not to hurt anyone who loved him.

He had to survive—that was the limit of what he could do.

He can't control what happens two thousand years from now. He has fulfilled his duty as Qingnuoyan, and he has a clear conscience towards everyone.

Fu She may have felt guilty, Gan Yu may have made mistakes, but the one who was Qing Nuoyan, that carefree and thoughtless man... was not wrong.

This is not Qingnuoyan's fault.

What...

What does it mean to 'take away all your karmic burdens'?

Gan Yu did not yet understand the meaning of Qing Nuoyan's words. She was tainted by karmic obstacles, her emotions were blank, her mind was dull and chaotic, and she was isolated from everything happening in the outside world, so naturally she did not know what had happened.

She only saw that Qingnuoyan had arrived here, but she never thought about how Qingnuoyan got here. This place is the deepest part of the Layered Rock Abyss, and it is full of karmic obstacles!

And what about those karmic obstacles? Where did those overwhelming karmic obstacles go?

She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly, and finally realized what had happened.

Nuo You.

Is it Nuoyou...? But why is it Nuoyou?

She wanted to say something, but before she could speak, she froze. She sensed that the dark and obscure emotions deep within her were rapidly fading away, like the tide being dragged back into the sea. The golden luster in her eyes also began to fade, slowly returning to clarity.

It only lasted a moment.

The sounds disappeared.

The karmic obstacles also disappeared.

This world has never been so quiet and peaceful.

It was eerily quiet... almost frightening.

She finally found peace and liberation.

She could feel the karmic obstacles spreading from Qing Nuoyan's palm to his chest. His entire arm was so pale it was almost transparent, and dark black blood flowed through his veins, carrying endless filth and resentment into the boy's heart.

It turns out that when he reached out his hand, he wasn't trying to comfort her; it was just to make things easier for Nuoyou... The warm sand and sunlight were just an illusion.

I have never felt so peaceful in my heart. It is as beautiful as a still and tranquil sea. But the calmer the sea, the colder it is. The deathly low temperature slowly seeps into my bones.

But with the chaos and confusion gone, Gan Yu regained her clarity and reason.

Gan Yu raised her eyes and stared at Qing Nuoyan again, stunned.

What did she see... what did she see?

He swayed, his breath growing stronger and stronger. He felt as if his back was about to split open, his bones were growing rapidly, his flesh was being torn apart, and two new arms... were about to burst out of his body from behind.

Madness, rampage.

pain.

"call..."

Qing Nuoyan recalled many painful memories: past pain, forgotten pain, a life filled with suffering and the loss of everything. His karmic burdens, which were his own, came back with the despair of the past, and he relived the scars of his past.

He saw the scorched earth, the crimson sky, and karmic obstacles pouring down along the leaden horizon like streaks of dark fire... He also saw his own death, his lonely demise in the abyss, and Gan Yu's once hateful gaze, all flashing by like a fleeting dream.

His eyes grew increasingly gloomy and lifeless.

"No, this shouldn't be happening. Why..."

Gan Yu's eyes trembled. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't say anything. She felt her heart was empty. She murmured softly, then stared blankly. She wasn't stupid. She realized Qing Nuoyan's... that was, Fu She's plan.

He wants to devour all his karmic burdens and then have the Emperor kill him... He wants to complete what he failed to do two thousand four hundred years ago.

You can't.

Gan Yu slowly regained her composure and returned to normal. She stared straight at Qing Nuoyan, "You can't do this... You know what that means..."

"I will not die," Qing Nuoyan said in a low voice. "Please believe me."

No, you can't do that.

This is just...too cruel.

I won't die... I won't die.

She won't believe it, she won't believe it.

No, this is still deception, still deception.

She had to stop Fushe, she absolutely had to stop Qingnuoyan, even if it meant using force. She instinctively reached for the latter's hand, but he dodged it.

...Huh?

Her slender hand froze in mid-air.

"Sweet rain."

Qingnuoyan's voice was very low, very low.

"Zhongli believed me, Ying believed me, and Heulia believed me, but you were the only one who didn't believe me."

The boy couldn't tell whether these words were spoken by Qing Nuoyan or Ye Zhang; the line between the two had become blurred.

Tormented by karmic obstacles, his patience and rationality had been completely worn away.

It was very low, almost inaudible, deep and calm.

"Whether it was in the past or now."

"You've never believed me."

He said softly.

there has never been.

Gan Yu was stunned. She subconsciously took half a step back. She wanted to say something, to deny it, to defend herself, to say that it wasn't like that, but she couldn't say anything.

She alone never trusted Fushe, she alone never trusted Qingnuoyan. The Yakshas all went to see him, but she didn't. The Yakshas all met and befriended Qingnuoyan, but she didn't either. And now... only she... believes that Fushe and Qingnuoyan's words are lies.

She grew up with her senior brother for a full six hundred years... she was the person he spent the most time with... but... but...

'Only You'

'Never believed me'

She alone never understood Fu She's heart.

Fushe... or rather Qingnuoyan, with his head bowed, never looked at her again. He turned around and slowly walked out of the abyss of layered rocks. His steps were slow, and his figure grew smaller and smaller.

Ahead of him, a crack appeared in the rock wall, and the crimson sunset cast dappled shadows. Logically, sunlight should not be able to penetrate such a deep abyss.

He stepped on those spots of light, walking further and further away, his back becoming more and more upright. Along his path, all his karmic obstacles melted into the blood-red sunset, merging into his body. Qingnuoyan's silhouette was slowly swallowed by the setting sun.

Gan Yu wanted to chase after him, but she could no longer catch up with Qing Nuoyan's pace, because she had long been on the wrong path. She had countless opportunities to correct herself, but she missed them all.

There's nothing she can do.

She could only watch it all unfold like a spectator, indifferent and helpless...

There's nothing we can do.

"Huff...huff."

Qing Nuoyan struggled forward; he was exhausted. He wanted to fall into a deep sleep, to not care about anything, to not think about anything. He wanted to give his body to someone else; he didn't want to suffer anymore.

His heart pounded heavily, like thunder.

Each throbbing is a roar of karmic obstacles.

He had to end everything as quickly as possible. If he continued to drag it out, and the karmic obstacles in his heart were completely tainted, then they would be like floating objects, impossible to remove. Even if he killed his body, those karmic obstacles would still linger within him.

Karmic obstacles have haunted him for three lifetimes and Liyue for thousands of years. Now, he is going to put a sentence on all his destinies.