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

"Hey," Ying called softly, "Little Zongzi?"

"A little rice dumpling?"

Her voice grew louder, echoing in the desolate autumn night, "Little Zongzi—Qingnuoyan Flower Girl? Come out! Come out—"

"Stop playing hide-and-seek." Ying paused. "If you keep doing this, I'm going to get angry."

But no one responded to her, and Ying got angry.

Ying noticed a shrine maiden in the distance, a very beautiful girl wearing a fox mask. As the sun set, the pure white shrine maiden's robe was covered with the silhouettes of cherry blossoms. The shrine maiden stared blankly at the sacred cherry tree, remaining silent.

"Are you Hanashiri?"

Qing Nuoyan had told Ying the story of Hua Sanli before, so Ying recognized it quickly.

"You know that flower..." Ying's tone was somewhat urgent, "Do you know where Qingnuoyan is hiding?"

Hana Sanri turned around, her voice low and helpless, "I don't know."

"I can't sense where he is. There's filth on him; he should be easy to find..."

Hana Sanri paused, her eyes trembling beneath the mask. "But I can't feel it... it's like it doesn't make sense."

Not here.

Ying's gaze shifted from Hana Sanri to the dishes on the tatami mat. The smoked mackerel was still steaming, its aroma filling the air, and it was still piping hot—meaning it had only recently been prepared.

Qingnuoyan was just here a moment ago.

Is this some kind of prank...? Don't play such weird jokes.

It was a really boring joke.

"Hey!" she gritted her teeth, "Qingnuoyan?"

Many guests have arrived.

Ikuzou, holding little Paimon's hand, watched the two gluttonous little ones longingly at the food on the tatami mat; Kunibaku, who said, "I just happened to be passing by," happened to be carrying a brew of barley wine made hundreds of years ago; Yae no Miko, who was also "just passing by," and Rai, who had just left the Pure Land of One Heart...

All the guests have arrived, but the host is nowhere to be found.

This feeling was familiar; it was the same back in Mondstadt. We had agreed to eat together, but he was nowhere to be found. Ying had prepared grilled fish, but it had gone cold, and he still hadn't returned.

The twilight was almost completely gone.

Why...why...

Are you going to deceive her again?

Why do they consistently refuse to keep their promises?

This time, last time, and it will always be the same.

I've waited so long, but it will never come.

Ying bit her lip, her nails digging into her flesh.

“Qingnuo Rock.” Liya looked at Ying. “Haven’t we found Qingnuo Rock yet?”

"I do not know."

"That bastard... I don't know where that bastard is."

Ying shook her head, her eyes flickered as if she had thought of something, "Kiyono Sara said... he left with Ootengu Tsubaki Yuri, but where is Tsubaki Yuri...?"

"Let's split up and search," Lia said.

It was settled immediately.

Ying found the lily in a desolate cave.

This cave is very secluded because it is covered with talismans from the immortals, the same talismans found on Mount Aozang, all meant to ward off idlers.

But now, that talisman has been removed.

Old Tengu sat in a folding chair, his gray-white eyes slightly lowered. A thick layer of decaying autumn leaves covered his knees as he gazed at the cave, lost in thought.

“Qing Nuoyan isn’t here.” Ti Baihe pondered for a moment, as if she had made up her mind, and said, “He won’t be coming back.”

"..." Ying stared intently at Ti Baihe, "What exactly is he hiding?"

“A long time ago… hundreds of years ago,” Lily said softly. “Hundreds of years ago, he asked me to bring you something—I don’t know what it is.”

“He said, ‘If I fail to return on time, I will give this to you five hundred years from now. He said that once you see it, you will understand.’”

Old Tengu, holding onto the armrest of the chair, struggled to his feet. He bent down slightly, his fingernails digging into the soil as he scraped away the surface dirt.

Ying watched as something gradually emerged from the soil mound—an iron box, its outer layer completely corroded, the iron sheet peeled off, and covered with thick rust.

The tin box was filled with stacks of letters.

[To Ying, 1500 years from now]

This is the beginning of the first letter.

What's the meaning...

Ying didn't understand.

She couldn't understand, so she put down the letter and looked at the lilies in the drawer.

What does 'If I fail to return on time...' mean?

What does it mean?

She couldn't understand.

asshole...

asshole.

We had already agreed on that.

Lily gazed at Ying, remaining silent for a long, long time. For a moment, the air fell silent. As the sun completely dyed the ocean red, twilight began to descend.

half an hour.

"He will come back," Ying suddenly said. "I will wait."

"Wait all this time?" Lily's eyes widened slightly.

“Whether it’s one sunset, one year, one hundred, or one thousand years.” Ying paused, raised her eyes, and stared straight at the lily, her golden eyes reflecting the splendid sunset.

"I will wait here."

Ying pursed her lips and took out the pendant hanging from her smooth neck; a translucent fragment was attached to the silver chain.

The fragment radiates a warm light—this fragment comes from the 'Heart of the Contract,' born from a promise. After returning from Liyue Harbor, Ying tied this fragment around her neck.

There are a total of eight fragments. The first seven were made by Fushe, representing his past life. Only the one in Ying's hand is the one he made in this life as Qingnuoyan, representing his present life.

She gently clutched the fragment, feeling its warm touch, and gazed at the translucent words that appeared on its surface:

'Eighth agreement: Before sunset, we must go home for dinner together with Ying.'

She turned her gaze away, looking at the sunset slowly melting into the sea, and watching the twilight gradually fade from the sky.

"He will come back," Ying said. "Because we made a promise."

She did not hesitate for a moment.

"And I believe him."

-

Go read those letters, and then write the 801st one, continuing your dreams and longings.

If you fail, you will truly die this time, and you will never be able to reincarnate.

Because this time it is your soul that is dying.

Qing Nuoyan's gray-white eyes twitched slightly.

His temples were slightly graying, but his face still looked very young.

Her pure white long hair still hung down to her ankles, just like it had been eight hundred years ago. The only change was that her originally dark blue eyes had slowly faded, like the clear blue sky being stained with lead.

Do you believe it...?

He couldn't remember anymore.

Qingnuoyan slowly stood up, looked up at the sky, and seemed lost in thought.

Looking north from the mountain, one can see the azure sea that surrounds the entire Narukami Island.

As the sun gradually descended, its crimson glow painted half the sky before falling into the azure sea.

The colors became blurred and indistinct; blue and red blended together—Qing Nuoyan felt her heart falling as well, all sorts of emotions swallowed up in the abyss of the ocean, and she could no longer distinguish her own feelings.

Is he joyful, or is he sorrowful?

All his thoughts had been worn away by eight hundred years of wear and tear. The wear and tear had swallowed Qingnuo Rock, and he had forgotten the meaning of survival. This body was nothing more than a living corpse.

His life was like a candle flickering in the wind, coming to an end.

Qingnuoyan is going to die of old age.

Perhaps in the next instant, he will die from wear and tear, freed from eight hundred years of struggle, and gain eternal peace and tranquility.

The only thing Qingnuoyan could be sure of was that, 1,500 years later, someone was gazing at the same sky and the same sunset as him.

It's dusk...

It's dusk.

What should one do at dusk?

Qingnuoyan vaguely felt that he should do something.

Smoke rose from the foot of the mountain, red clouds enveloping the myriad plumes of smoke. Amidst the rising smoke and cooking fumes, Qing Nuoyan's shoulders trembled.

His eyes trembled slightly, as if he had been touched.

'Go and continue writing the 801st letter.'

Qing Nuoyan took out the iron box buried in the soil. The outer skin of the iron box had been completely corroded. Years ago, he had put talismans on the box to ensure that the box and the letter inside would not fade or rot, but he had not replaced the talismans for a long time.

The talismans also stopped working several times.