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

Her voice was very low.

"Let me hug you."

It was as low as the chirping of insects.

The cool moonlight enveloped them, scattering a frosty, pure white light. Qing Nuoyan heard Ying whisper, "Does it still hurt?"

She was referring to the injuries on Qing Nuoyan's body.

In order to deplete the lady's strength, Qing Nuoyan killed most of the Fire Butterflies. In return, the Fire Butterflies left burn marks on Qing Nuoyan's body.

"It doesn't hurt," Qing Nuoyan said stubbornly, though it actually hurt quite a bit.

“I’m very angry,” Ying said. “Not at anyone else, but at you, Qing Nuoyan. I’m very angry at you. What you did made me very angry.”

"I'm also very angry with you."

Qing Nuoyan did not turn around. "Why... did you secretly challenge the lady to a duel before the emperor, and then hide it from me? For the past ten days or so, I have been looking for you, but you have kept quiet about it. We clearly agreed to have dinner together before dusk, but you did not keep your promise."

They finally had a chance to talk about it.

Ying paused, then buried her head in Qing Nuoyan's back and said in a muffled voice, "I don't want you to see her."

Ying lowered her voice.

I don't want you to get hurt again. I want to protect you.

“Then I have the same reason.” Qing Nuoyan turned to look at her. “I also want to protect you.”

They all had the same reason.

Ying raised her eyes and looked at Qingnuo Rock. The warm firelight illuminated Ying's fair face, then she looked away. "...I told you, don't turn around."

“Bastard,” she cursed. “Bastard.”

It was only then that Qing Nuoyan noticed... a crystalline light shimmering in Ying's eyes.

He was stunned.

Since returning from the castle tower, Ying's heart had been on edge, and only now did those emotions finally settle down.

The last time I saw Ying like this was in Liyue, when Qingnuoyan returned from the Abyss of the Rocks, and tears were also glistening in Ying's eyes.

Stop looking at me.

Ying turned Qing Nuoyan's head back, "Say some comforting words to me."

What words can best comfort you?

Qingnuoyan asked.

Ying remained silent for a long time, and Qing Nuoyan waited patiently until the moon rose above the top of the paulownia tree.

Sweet words.

Ying tiptoed closer to Qing Nuoyan's ear and whispered.

Say some sweet nothings to me.

The voice was very low, falling beside my ear, yet it stirred my heart.

Qing Nuoyan could feel Ying's soft hand clenching tightly. Without turning around, he knew that the latter's cheeks had already turned red.

"I'm not good at sweet talk."

"—'You are my Miss Ying too,' Miss Ying said in a tone that was both teasing and shy, 'You were quite the smooth talker when I was asleep, weren't you?'"

"...Please don't mention that matter."

"Say something."

Qing Nuoyan turned his head to look at Miss Ying, at her face glowing with a faint moonlight, at her beautiful amber eyes, at her smooth, golden hair, and at the unhealed scars on her snow-white skin.

—She was also badly injured.

Qing Nuoyan stared into Ying's eyes, and suddenly, he saw the illusion of the original timeline again, saw the country turned into scorched earth, saw the chains made of reason, and saw the girl pierced by the chains.

Her gaze grew weaker and weaker, and gradually, the breath of life dissipated, and she closed her eyes forever.

Qing Nuoyan felt a jolt in his heart. When he came to his senses, Ying was still in his arms, still so vivid, still so real.

But that's the original timeline, that's the real past.

"What's wrong?" Ying asked.

"It's nothing," Qing Nuoyan said.

"Say something to me."

He lowered his head, hugged Ying tightly, and never let go again.

Their cheeks pressed together, and the boy felt an emptiness in his chest, yet his heart pounded wildly. His heart beat without his own, and his words were the deepest. He didn't speak, but when he held the girl in his arms, it was the most touching love confession in the world.

half an hour.

Qing Nuoyan gently embraced Ying, their breaths mingling, their lips touching. He whispered:

"I will make the best dish for you, and when I miss you, I will taste it."

A crimson hue, like the afterglow of sunset, quickly spread across Miss Ying's skin. She grumbled indignantly, "You're quite the smooth talker, aren't you..."

"Did you comfort yourself?" Qing Nuoyan asked.

"Not enough. Say some more."

Ying grabbed Qing Nuoyan's collar, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him.

Tell me more.

.

The next day.

A light rain fell last night, and the shallow watermarks in front of the Zhuguo Mansion reflected the desolate autumn light. After the rain stopped, a gentle breeze blew, and the sky was as clear as if it had been washed.

Today is the final imperial examination.

The nation will collapse in the castle tower, before Narukami, where he will have his final duel with the lady.

"Do me a favor," Qing Nuoyan said privately to Guo Beng. "After the duel before the emperor, please give this to His Majesty Narukami."

Guo Beng hesitated for a moment before accepting the wooden box handed to him by Qing Nuoyan. He weighed it in his hand; it was very light.

“Snacks,” Qing Nuoyan explained.

"Oh, oh." Guo Beng instantly realized and nodded. "So you're planning to poison Balzeb... then leave it to me."

You don't seem to respect your own mother very much...

Qing Nuoyan stared at Guo Beng with a strange look in his eyes. "There's no poison."

“It’s just a normal snack!” Qing Nuoyan emphasized. “She’ll understand once she sees it.”

“What if she doesn’t understand?” Guo Beng said calmly. “What if she doesn’t even know how to look?”

It was as if I had never looked at a doll before.

"Then let's just throw it away." Qing Nuoyan waved his hand.

"Aren't you coming to the castle tower?" Ying asked. "I'm going,"

“My injuries haven’t fully healed yet,” Qing Nuoyan shook his head. “And… I can no longer see the lady.”

And so it was settled.

As Ying and Guo Beng left the Pillar State's Mansion together, Ying glanced back at Qing Nuoyan. The cool autumn light shone on the boy's profile. He was facing away from Ying, talking to the Great Tengu. The shadows cast by the swaying trees covered Qing Nuoyan's body.

-

The sky is bright.

The Evil Eye Factory was established on Bayun Island.

This island was once the place where the great serpent Obaros met its end, and countless filth and curses roam this land. Although the Pillar of the Kingdom eventually cleansed them all away, the place remains sparsely populated.

This is the perfect place to build the Evil Eye Factory.

According to the plan set forth by the Fools, they first manipulated the various officials and intensified the internal conflicts within Inazuma through methods such as the national seclusion edict and the eye-hunting edict.

When the contradictions reach their maximum, internal strife will break out, and war will break out. The battlefield is the best place to experiment with and research the Evil Eye. This Evil Eye factory was built for the purpose of war.

So far, the Fools' plan has been going smoothly, and the lockdown order has already caused widespread discontent among the people.

At most, we will see the results in another year.

The woman stared at the Evil Eye Factory, somewhat lost in thought.

She lowered her eyes, the cool autumn light seeping into her skin and bringing a slight stinging sensation.

When she lost her heart and hourglass, when she felt completely empty, when she lost the excuse or reason to support herself, and when she looked back at the road she had come from and the road she was about to go, looking at that evil eye that exuded a gloomy aura, the woman felt lost for the first time.

Rather than feeling lost, it's more accurate to say that I'm wavering.

She closed her eyes and could hear the pain and the murmurs coming from the depths of each evil eye. The woman suddenly had a hallucination that all eyes were watching her.

Silent, hateful, they watched her.

For the first time.

She began to ask herself: Is the path she is now embarking on and persisting in truly their dream?

Is the end of that road really a pure white world?

Is that the world Rustan longs for?

If you were to witness this scene—

Would he like those evil eyes, like the lockdown order and the eye-hunting order, like the people who are displaced and wandering, like the country in internal strife, like human experimentation?

the answer is negative.

The woman wavered.

She longed for a better world; her dreams were pure and innocent. But the path she embarked on was not pure; it was a twisted path, and her methods were unjust. The lady knew this all along, but she also firmly believed in another creed.

As long as she can realize her dream, as long as she can reach that pure white destination, she will not care how twisted the road is, how many people will be sacrificed, or what kind of guilt she will have to bear. She has made up her mind, and it is this belief that has brought her to where she is today.

As long as the result is good, the means don't matter.