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

Chapter 149 Unspoken Emotions

That disaster happened a long time ago.

Today is Inazuma's New Year.

Inazuma was bustling with activity, as if the pain from that disaster had gradually faded away.

Lanterns were hung on the streets of Inazuma Castle. The dazzling lanterns and the blooming early cherry blossoms blended together in a dim light. The light diffused in the ambiguous and warm fragrance of the flowers. People had changed into bathrobes and walked in twos and threes on wooden clogs.

Most of the filth emanating from Kanria was purified by the Divine Cherry Tree.

Under the protection of General Zhuguo, the remnants of the underground palace who had occupied Bayun Island have also submitted. The world is now peaceful and prosperous, and people have every reason to hold celebrations.

But even if the pain subsides, the scar will not heal.

He's really dead.

For Barzeb, that was all.

The people will never know that their god has died on the battlefield of Kanria.

She succeeded her sister in power and truly became the ruler of Inazuma.

Kage lived alone in the castle tower. The tower seemed no different from usual. Fallen cherry blossoms covered the steps, and pale sunlight leaked in through the cracks in the window lattice, shining on the ancient and gray hall and also enveloping Kage's pure white kimono.

The branches of the sycamore trees outside the courtyard densely filled the sky, and the yellowing leaves filtered the sunlight, washing away most of the warmth and brightness, leaving only a gloomy yellow. At this moment, Ying Tou felt that gloomy yellow for the first time.

He is truly dead.

She missed her sister's death; she couldn't make it in time; and it seemed there was nothing she could do.

There's nothing we can do.

Even now, she can feel the emptiness in her chest. All her emotions have been extinguished, leaving only emptiness, as if she has not stepped on solid ground.

It was as if death was just a fleeting dream, and after waking up, she would return to Inazuma, back to his side, and they would meet again under the cherry blossom tree.

But that was ultimately just a dream.

But if someone is truly dead, they should be forgotten... Shadow told himself.

Kage became Inazuma's ruler, but she didn't know how to guide the people. She was a warrior, a warrior who pursued the ideal of no thought, and she would walk on the path she believed to be right.

That is 'eternity'.

To promise one's subjects an eternal paradise, one must first become eternal.

Therefore, the creation of that doll became a matter of course.

Lei looked towards another corner of the castle tower, a dark corner that the sunlight could not reach.

It was a child.

He lowered his cobalt blue eyes, those clear eyes as clean as a lake, his face as exquisite as a doll in a shop window. In fact, he was indeed a doll, a doll created by Raiden Shin to avoid the wear and tear of the mortal world.

Lei Yingdian stared at him indifferently and calmly, then gently shook his head.

But in the end... it was just a defective product.

Because on the doll's cheek, on that delicate profile, a clear tear streak ran—the child was crying.

But an eternal vessel should not shed tears.

"Why are you crying?" Shadow asked.

"No..." The child paused, his thin lips moving as he spoke somewhat incoherently, "I...I don't know...I feel very strange..."

“Just looking at you,” a faint light flickered in the doll’s eyes, “I felt…you were very sad, and I shed tears for you.”

sad...?

Am I sad...?

Lei Yingdian's eyes flickered slightly. She felt a strange emptiness in her heart. Was that feeling... because of sadness and grief?

But these are mortal emotions, worn-out and flawed products; gods should not be saddened, nor will they shed tears.

Raiden is really dead, and she won't be sad... never.

The shadow must move forward, it must relinquish all worldly emotions, discard wear and tear, discard imperfections, and close off its own heart. The more it relinquishes, the emptier its heart becomes, and only in emptiness can it pursue the eternal pure land.

She's going to make new dolls.

“Absurd,” she said to the doll.

The doll was locked up and discarded as a failed experiment.

This house has no windows. Only when the setting sun dips below the horizon and the afterglow bathes the mountains will a few spots of light peek through the gaps in the eaves. Guo Beng would gaze at that light for the entire evening, until night fell and those spots of light faded and disappeared.

And so another day has passed.

Then comes a new day, a new dusk, and the puppet watches the new light shining through the eaves, the cycle repeating itself.

The child didn't know why he was sealed here. Maybe he hadn't done enough, or maybe he had disappointed others.

He knew he was a defective product, that 'Mother' was making new dolls, dolls more perfect than his, and that he had already been discarded.

Despite being abandoned, he didn't feel much sadness.

His empty chest held no emotion. He could see the pain of others, feel their hearts, and weep for them, but he could not weep for himself, because he lacked emotion.

Because he has no heart.

He wanted to have a heart, and he wanted to try to cry for himself—this was the first desire that arose in him during the long years of isolation.

But how can a doll possess a heart? It remains sealed in the deepest part of the castle tower, shrouded in darkness and obscurity, with the only color being the light of a falling sunset, endlessly repeating, thus becoming eternal.

The change also occurred at dusk.

The door, which had always been tightly closed, was suddenly opened, and the light from outside the window shone in overwhelmingly.

The tiny spots of light through the crack in the door rapidly expanded, growing larger and larger—two meters, three meters, four meters… Eventually, the radiance covered the entire room and even grazed the face of the doll.

Those cobalt blue eyes shone brightly, and right in front of the doll, a magnificent sun crown hung over the towering mountains, and fiery clouds covered the entire sky—and this was the first time the doll had ever seen such a beautiful sunset.

"...Little brat. It's you."

The person who pushed open the door had no discernible age.

His eyes were a deep blue-green, shimmering with a bright light, like an old well reflecting half a ray of the setting sun. The setting sun should have been lifeless, but the reflection in the water made it seem like sunrise. The murky well should have been dark and murky, but the sunlight made it clear and transparent.

He was both young and old; both times existed within him.

The doll had never seen such a strange person before—though, in fact, he had never seen a human before.

"...Do you know where the other doll is?" he asked the child.

The door was pushed open, but it wasn't for someone looking for him.

The doll took a half step back, retreating into the shadows of the room. He calmly shook his head. "I don't know."

"I see."

Qing Nuoyan nodded. "Goodbye then."

The collapse of the kingdom did not answer him.

Qing Nuoyan pushed the door open and closed it. The twilight gradually receded and disappeared, and the light that filled half the room faded away, replaced by a darker atmosphere.

creak-

The iron gate was pulled open again, and Qing Nuoyan poked half his head in. He said to the doll, "Hey, aren't you bored staying here?"

The doll was stunned.

"Let's slip away." Qing Nuoyan opened the door, revealing a calm smile. "Kid, escape from here."

“I can’t leave,” the doll replied. “It’s not allowed…”

"I can pretend I didn't see you run away."

Qing Nuoyan said earnestly, his dark blue eyes reflecting the doll's face, "Leave this room, go outside, step into the sunlight, child, life has just begun."

Outside...?

"You will encounter many interesting things and meet many interesting people."

Qing Nuoyan paused, then said softly, "One day, you will realize your dream—that's the only thing I can be sure of."

“By then, we will finally meet again,” Qing Nuoyan said with a smile. “We’ll have a good drink together.”

Leave this room and step into the sunlight.

For some reason, at this moment, a strange emotion was surging within that empty chest.

The puppet tentatively took a step forward. The warm sunlight slowly covered the puppet's joints and seeped into the cold gears. It felt this unfamiliar touch and the emotions surging in its chest.

He continued walking forward.

"You are..." Guo Beng's lips moved as he asked, "What is your name?"

But when he came to his senses, the person was gone, including his face, voice, and words... All memories of him vanished in his mind, as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion.

Like snow melting in the sunlight, by the time the doll noticed, there was no one in front of him, only the magnificent sunlight, warm and bright, gently enveloping him.

So beautiful.

-

"Are you leaving?"

"Lightning Truth" whispered in Qingnuoyan's heart.

“...I don’t belong to this era.” Qing Nuoyan coughed. “I can’t create any more karma, so of course I have to leave.”

His face was somewhat pale.

The wounds left by Tianli could not be healed, and the filth of most of Kanria was corroding Qingnuoyan's soul. His divine body kept him from dying, but the pain did not lessen.

"Then we must say goodbye," she said calmly.

"Um..."

Qing Nuoyan nodded slightly as he gazed at the doll in front of him—dark purple hair cascading down to her waist, the color fading towards the ends, a beauty mark at the corner of her eye, a purple-brown kimono embroidered with gentian flowers, a cool and refined face, and no emotion in the depths of her eyes.

Her appearance is exactly the same as that of the Raiden sisters.