Here lies Sal Terrae.
The slightly drunken afternoon sunlight blanketed the pale azure plains; the color of the grass rolled in waves, stretching all the way to the end of the skyline. Amidst the gentle whistling of the ocean waves, one could see fine grains of salt twinkling with a light like radiant gold.
Those salt grains surged forth endlessly, gathering without cease.
Accumulating sand into towers, they outlined the palaces of ten thousand homes, forming tiled eaves, winding corridors, and window lattices that scattered fragmented golden light—the salt came from an exquisitely crafted earthen jar.
The jar held only half a measure of salt, yet no matter how much was poured out, half always remained within—this was one of the Salt God Havria's authorities, a vessel named the Salt Chalice, possessing an infinite supply of salt.
"Hmm~"
Silver-white long hair scattered in the sunlight like flowing mercury. With elegant grace, Lia's slender, exquisite fingers held the Salt Chalice by the rim, pouring it out. Dressed in a pure white summer hemline and white sandals, she hummed an unknown tune, seemingly in a very good mood.
Of course Lia was in a good mood; her project was about to be completed.
Before her stood the final structure of Sal Terrae.
A small cottage.
Lia still remembered this cottage. Two thousand four hundred years ago, when Bosacius came to Sal Terrae, he had built a small wooden hut right here. Over the long years, that house had long since rotted away into the soil, but fortunately, Lia still remembered its appearance.
Today, two thousand four hundred years later, she had rebuilt that cottage. Whether it was the eaves, the lattice of the windows, or the orientation of the room, everything was exactly as it had been.
The afternoon sunlight scattered in fragments through the pines and cypresses in the courtyard. As the cottage was bathed in the afterglow, looking at it gave Lia the illusion that time had never changed.
That cottage was still here, so that person was here too. That person always liked to move, but Lia could always find him, so in the end, he finally gave up moving. This cottage was the last place he lived.
No matter where he hid, Lia could always find him.
Thinking of this, Lia couldn't help but feel a bit proud. She smiled triumphantly, hands on her hips.
Finally, that person gave up on moving. She remembered that day it was raining heavily, so Lia went to visit his home as a guest.
She remembered every detail with incomparable clarity.
On a misty, rainy summer night, the small wooden hut was brightly lit with candles, puncturing a small hole in the dark night. Bosacius was at the stove, earnestly preparing ingredients—they weren't rich; there were only two small sardines. She sat by the desk, chin in hand, waiting quietly, humming a song to the sound of the pitter-pattering rain.
It was on that day they made that agreement: to have a good meal together next summer, with sardines and salt.
But countless summers were buried in the sands of Sal Terrae, countless summers were buried in the abyss of The Chasm. They never waited for the "next" summer.
Two thousand years later, they had finally met and eaten a meal of sardines, but Lia felt it wasn't perfect, because it wasn't eaten in summer.
Then it wasn't complete, because sardines in summer are the most delicious.
Speaking of summer, this year it's almost summer again.
Two months left? Or one?
The earth's energy was slowly entering the dog days, the temperature was rising, and the scent of summer grew thicker.
Lia sat on the threshold of the cottage, chin in her hands, looking into the distance, slightly lost in thought.
Looking out from the cottage, she could see the plains converging at the city's edge. Mountains embraced this city named Sal Terrae, embraced its alleys and long streets. Between the rows of cottages, mountain cherry blossoms bloomed passionately and brilliantly, cluster after cluster, as if to ignite this summer, and ignite the entire city of salt.
This was the city in Lia's memory—the Sal Terrae of her memories.
It was hard to believe that just over ten days ago, this place was a field of ruins, with only abandoned structures remaining.
Lia had patiently and carefully restored the city. Using grains of salt, she repaired the broken beams, the collapsed bridges... bit by bit. She meticulously rebuilt this city; even though it no longer had any residents, she did it with almost stubborn persistence.
Because she loved this city.
Lia wanted to "repair" everything, to pull everything twisted back to the right track. She wanted to return to the past, to that midsummer... She hadn't invited that guy to tour her city yet. She wanted to take him on a tour.
He said he was a traveler, destined to leave... but if he could stay a little longer, that would be great. If he could stay until summer, until the season of dancing trees and dappled shadows, Lia would be satisfied. Then she could show him the Salt City in summer.
The city is fixed; when will you return?
Salty fish in early summer; awaiting your slow return.
Whether Seino Yaku would become her believer, and whether she would become his god... Lia did not know.
She rested her chin in her hands, gazing at the cottage slightly entranced, quietly waiting for the sunset to fall into dusk, for the mountains to be gradually dyed with the afterglow.
She leaned half her weight against the pale blue doorframe, eyes closing slightly, seeming to fall asleep. In her dream, Lia suddenly saw the sky filled with the fire of karma. Monstrous Karma dimmed the sky curtain, and the dome of a massive abyss was plummeting endlessly...
Where is this...?
Where is this?
Lia had never seen such a massive cluster of Karma. Countless layers of filth seemed ready to swallow the world. She also saw that ten-thousand-foot abyss, and on the edge of the abyss, she saw a fleeting figure.
"Havria."
"Your believer prays to you."
"From this moment on, I shall never betray."
"You are with me, and I am with you..."
Lia woke up with a start. The Karma, the abyss, including that boy, all vanished together.
She straightened up, blinking her bright golden eyes. Before her was the gradually sinking setting sun. Blood-red radiance covered the entire plain, and the sky grew darker with the setting sun.
"Hah..."
She gazed at the setting sun. For some reason, a palpitation arose in her heart; she felt her spirit slowly sinking along with the sun.
She could clearly feel the drain of her Authority. Using the Salt Chalice and Salt Ruler as mediums, it was briefly... pouring into the body of someone far away.
Lia slowly realized... something had happened to Seino Yaku.
She didn't know exactly what Seino Yaku had encountered, or what had happened.
Seino Yaku was in danger, so he prayed to her, asking for the authority of salt, and Lia naturally granted this prayer.
If this power could lead him out of his predicament, then that would be good.
Yet... when Lia lent that Authority, she did not feel relieved. On the contrary, her palpitations grew worse... It seemed she had just done something wrong.
Perhaps this power would not lead Seino Yaku out of the predicament; instead, it might push that guy into it.
But he had promised. He had guaranteed in the covenant that he would not betray. He said death was also a form of betrayal, so he would keep this covenant; he would not abandon the covenant and die.
Lia believed him.
But this could not comfort Lia—or rather, this could not comfort Havria.
It could not comfort her.
Havria gazed in the direction of Liyue.
Her golden eyes held only icy coldness. A heavy, chilling demonic god aura slowly spilled out. The bamboo hut shattered slowly with her mood, turning into heavy, fine salt. She walked toward Liyue, her mercury-like long hair falling naturally to her ankles, swaying slightly in the cold wind.
Was it Ganyu?
Ah.
It was her again.
Ha.
It was Ganyu.
Havria still remembered the aura she felt in the dream. Amidst the sky-filling karmic air, she felt the most heavily polluted strand. Though she had never met Ganyu, she could identify it—that filth was neither adeptus nor human; it came from a half-qilin beast.
Sure enough, nothing good came of their reunion.
Sure enough... if he had just listened to her, everything would have been fine. If he had just stayed in Sal Terrae and not gone out, if he had just listened to her.
She was incomparably calm. In the waiting of two thousand four hundred years, she had not birthed so-called "Karma." Quite the opposite—in the grinding friction with time and sand, the salt grains had become ever more resilient.
You promised.
You made a promise. A believer cannot deceive their god.
Havria moved very fast. It seemed to be raining heavily in Liyue; heavy clouds rolled with alarming flashes, and the water vapor filling the air turned the surroundings into a vast whiteness.
Seeing this heavy rain, Havria involuntarily thought of the rainy night when Sal Terrae collapsed. Back then, she couldn't find that person. No matter how she searched, she could never find him.
The same thing... could not happen a second time.
She could still feel that "connection"—the link with her believer, like a ribbon. Relying on this connection, she could lend the vast majority of her Authority to Seino Yaku.
The connection had not yet severed.
The desolate lines of rain beat against Havria's profile. She could already see The Chasm, see the mouth of the abyss shrouded in smoke, and the four heaven-reaching stone pillars standing around The Chasm.
Almost there, almost there... almost there.
Like a suspended stone slowly falling, her heart relaxed slightly. But this feeling of relief lasted only an instant before Havria froze.
Because she could feel... the Authority and power she had sent out were returning endlessly.
From that thin ribbon, from Seino Yaku's body... returning to herself.
Returning endlessly.
Why...? Why?
The rain slowly stopped as well. Just a moment ago it was a sky full of white lines; now the heavy dark clouds were slowly dissipating. The afterglow of the setting sun leaked through the gaps in the clouds, brightly illuminating the land after the rain.
Havria realized something... She realized the worst was happening.
Everything was sliding toward the worst possible outcome.
She finally entered The Chasm. She stopped, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Because.
That ribbon, that "connection," the link with her believer—snapped.
She could no longer find Seino Yaku.
Hey.
Hey.
She lowered her eyes and walked forward unconsciously, walking to the place where the connection broke. She searched blindly and unconsciously, but she found nothing.
——"You are my God, and I shall be your believer."
This was the last sentence of Seino Yaku's prayer.
Havria finally discovered something. In the very center of The Chasm, she saw Xiao, saw Ganyu, saw Zhongli, and also saw... Lumine.
The blonde girl was half-kneeling on the ground, head bowed low, seemingly holding something in her hands. Glass-like fragments, reflecting layer upon layer of light in the brilliant sunshine. The fragmented light played between the girl's fingers—so beautiful, so dreamlike. Holding those fragments was like holding a bouquet of sunset.
The heart had shattered into exactly seven pieces.
Ah.
——Havria finally recognized what that was.
That was... that was.
Fragments of a heart.
The heart shattered, but it wasn't just one heart that broke.
Lumine did not speak. She simply bowed her head, bowed it forever, her shoulders trembling gently. "Liar..."
She spoke in a voice that was almost a murmur. "Liar."
She tightly clutched a shard, tightly. The sharp fragment pierced her pale palm, and blood flowed out.
Inside that translucent heart fragment, there seemed to be a line of fine text.
[Covenant Eight: Before sunset, go home and eat with Lumine]
This was... the true appearance of the Heart of Covenants. Brilliant and dreamlike. Every cherished agreement in this life would naturally appear on the surface of the Heart of Covenants.
This was Seino Yaku's confession to this world.
Ganyu also stared blankly at that line of text, not even noticing Havria's arrival.
'Go home and eat with Lumine.'
That line of text was simple, unadorned, without any superfluous decoration or phrasing. Just a simple declarative sentence. But precisely because it was simple, it was sincere; such a simple thing was carved into the heart.
Just like the simplest smell of a cooking fire in the mortal world—warm and beautiful as the fire fades. Ganyu had once heard words like this: The person in this world waiting for you to come home for dinner is the person who cares for you the most.
Because that person is willing to wait for your return, and you are willing to return.
And Ganyu understood that person... used to be her.
There were more fragments. Each fragment recorded a covenant, recording the attachment of the boy and Bosacius across two lifetimes.
These fragments combined formed their heart—the final confession to all that was loved.
And now, their inner heart was nakedly exposed before everyone. Everyone understood his soul.
The first fragment, to the girl sealed away for a thousand years.
[Covenant One: In the caves of Mt. Tianheng, dig out the little zombie sealed by you, embrace her gently, and say 'Welcome home']
The second fragment, to the scattered and separated family.
[Covenant Two: Go to a desolate slope at Wuwang Hill, wait by a lonely grave, and drink a cup of clear wine with the mourner]
The third fragment, to the friend who bought flowers and carried wine.
[Covenant Three: Drink together with the first person met at Wanmin Restaurant]
Zhongli lowered his head. He whispered, "I wish to buy osmanthus wine to carry with me... but alas, where are those who share the memory?"
His voice was low, truly low.
I wish to buy osmanthus wine to carry with me, but it is no longer like the travels of youth.
I wish to break a flowering branch in vain again; lightly making promises, starting all over.
The fourth fragment, to the master who raised him with grace.
[Covenant Four: Go to Mt. Aocang in Jueyun Karst, offer three dishes—Pearl Jade Soup, Mora Meat, Matsutake Meat Rolls—and perform three kowtows and three bows]
Havria's body trembled. She saw those fragments too. Her eyes quivered gently; she lowered her gaze, nails digging deep into her skin.
The fifth fragment, to the god who loved her people.
[Covenant Five: Go to 'Sal Terrae', find the Salt Jar and Salt Ruler, and wake her]
The sixth fragment, to the midsummer of sardines and salt.
[Covenant Six: Use salt as seasoning to cook sardines, and dine with her]
Two pieces of heart, two covenants, both belonged to Lia. But Havria was not happy. She didn't want fragments. She didn't want these things.
She only wanted that person back. She had clearly rebuilt the city, they had clearly made the agreement, summer was clearly coming soon, clearly...
Her demands weren't high. She didn't ask for more things. She just wanted... just wanted...
"Bastard."
"Bastard."
She kept her head lowered. Cold raindrops dripped down her wet long hair, like a homeless kitten, like she had been abandoned and could never find home again. She pressed her thin lips together, her voice dropping low:
"You were my only subject. You were my only subject. But now I... have no subjects."
Head bowed, she spoke as if choking back sobs: "My city... no one can live there anymore."
My city, no one can live there anymore.
The seventh fragment, to his original heart, to Seino Yaku, to Yakusoku.
[Please proceed to The Chasm]
He had finally not retreated a single step. He had finally kept all the covenants. He was worthy of everyone. He had finally become himself. This was everything.
The first seven fragments all stemmed from covenants of the next life, coming from Bosacius. And the eighth fragment stemmed from the new life, born of the boy named Seino Yaku, symbolizing his [Present]. And at this moment, it was shining brightly in Lumine's palm.
Ganyu had not spoken the entire time.
Ganyu stared blankly at Havria, and at Lumine. She didn't know what the emotion surging in her heart at this moment was called... She took a step back, her heart aching gently. She lowered her head, staring dazedly at those fragments.
Mr. Zhongli had said it just now...
These fragments of the soul would be given to everyone related to them. The Yakshas, Cloud Retainer—they would all receive them. They had the right to know, and that history twisted for two thousand years would return to the right track today.
Finally, at this moment, seeing those hearts, looking at those fragments, emotions were slowly... becoming blank.
Because Ganyu had searched through all the fragments, yet she did not see her own name. Not a single covenant had been made with her. Everyone would receive Bosacius's heart.
But she would not. She was not carved into Bosacius's heart.
But she still remembered... when she killed Bosacius, before he fell to madness, Bosacius had carved her name into his heart.
Ha... ha... so she had ruined everything herself.
She couldn't blame anyone else. She had ruined it herself.
She couldn't blame anyone else.
Bosacius clearly once had her name in his heart... but it was she herself—
Who wiped it away with her own hands.
Seino Yaku's final confession bore no name of hers.
This was the end.
The sun plummeted completely, twilight spilling over the myriad ranges. This day had finally come to its end.