"Bosacius?!"
Mu Yang stared at the four-armed yaksha on the battlefield.
That appearance, that fighting style—it was unmistakably Bosacius.
Mu Yang swiftly dove down, joining the battle and fighting side by side with Bosacius.
"Xiao, where have you been all this time?"
Mu Yang thought to himself, So it really is like this...
He knew Bosacius' condition had already been deteriorating before this war.
With a single slash, Mu Yang cut down a Riftwolf in front of him. "Bosacius, I'm not Xiao. I'm Mu Yang."
Bosacius didn't stop moving, punching through another Riftwolf's skull.
"Mu Yang? Mu Yang..."
He dispatched several more Riftwolves in quick succession, all while observing Mu Yang's fighting style. Finally, recognition dawned on him.
"Mu Yang... I remember now. You're Mu Yang! But... didn't you already...?"
So, in the eyes of the adepti, I really was as good as dead.
No wonder Ganyu said those things back at Dihua Marsh.
After all, it's been over a thousand years since the Archon War...
Mu Yang quickened his pace, swiftly ending the battle. The two fought in perfect sync—these Riftwolves were no match for them.
Thanks to his newly acquired Cryo Vision and Bosacius' aid, they managed to hold the line without major incident.
Bosacius approached him. "You're... really not a hallucination?"
"I keep seeing Indarias, Menogias, and Bonanus... I..."
Mu Yang knew Bosacius was already on the brink of collapse from karmic debt.
The yakshas were born for slaughter—this was the price they paid.
Yet, even with his mind clouded and his body ravaged by corruption...
When Liyue needed him, he still answered the call.
"It's really me, Bosacius. Not a hallucination."
Mu Yang never expected he'd get to see Bosacius one last time.
He knew what would happen next—Bosacius would go to The Chasm... and meet his end.
For now, the demonic presence in Chenyu Vale had temporarily faded.
After the battle, Bosacius seemed to regain some clarity.
The two took a jug of wine and sat in a pavilion in Qiaoying Village, reminiscing.
Bosacius spoke at length about what happened after the "Chenyu Vale Incident."
Everyone had been devastated—Cloud Retainer and Ganyu most of all.
After all, Cloud Retainer had treated him like family.
And little Ganyu had never been good at hiding her emotions—her grief was plain to see.
"Indarias hid away and cried for two whole days."
"Xiao disappeared for a long time... and when he came back, he was covered in wounds..."
"And Bonanus and Menogias..."
Bosacius' voice trailed off, so quiet that Mu Yang couldn't make out the rest.
Then, he raised the wine jug and downed it in one go.
"But now... none of them are left..."
Mu Yang understood that feeling all too well.
So he simply sat there, drinking alongside Bosacius in heavy, unbroken silence.
Neither of them could truly get drunk, yet they spoke the kind of nonsense and madness that only drunkenness brings.
In moments like these, having an immense alcohol tolerance didn't seem like such a blessing.
The next day, the two finally recovered from their "hangovers."
Mu Yang asked Bosacius why he had appeared in Qiaoying Village.
Unsurprisingly, Bosacius himself wasn't sure.
Most of the time, he wandered in a daze.
Sometimes, he'd see Menogias and the others guiding him forward.
Only after defeating demons and monsters would he regain brief moments of clarity.
His sensitivity to demonic presence was likely why he had wandered here.
Finally, he said he had a strong premonition—that Rex Lapis needed his help.
He wanted to set out while his mind was still clear.
Mu Yang nodded, pouring several bowls of wine as a farewell toast.
The two drank together, bidding each other goodbye.
Only Mu Yang knew this parting would be their last.
Watching the yaksha's retreating figure, Mu Yang whispered softly,
"Goodbye, Bosacius..."
From this day on, he had one fewer friend.
Mu Yang didn't follow him—Chenyu Vale only had two high-tier combatants.
Lingyuan patrolled the wilderness, while Mu Yang alone guarded the populated areas. He had his own responsibilities.
After all, no one knew when the beast tide would truly end.
But Mu Yang wouldn't have to endure that uncertainty for long.
Shortly after parting with Bosacius, he entered the next node.
The memories of that time naturally flooded his mind.
The two spatial rifts had been the largest assault Chenyu Vale faced.
After that, only scattered, disorganized skirmishes remained.
Still, Mu Yang maintained the enchantments on the fighters' weapons, just in case.
Only after the Cataclysm of Khaenri'ah finally ended did he withdraw his power.
Once the fighting was over, he tried to find Lingyuan.
Unsurprisingly, he failed.
That tsundere...
Missing me to death, yet refusing to show herself.
The "Mu Yang" in this setting was a result of the world's correction.
He had no knowledge of Genshin Impact as a game, so he naturally assumed Yaojun was dead.
Thus, in these memories, Mu Yang never sought her out.
After some time recuperating, he visited his old friends.
However, with his strength still unrecovered, he couldn't stray far from Sunken Sword Pool for long.
This was why, when Mu Yang first met Xiao at Wangshu Inn, Xiao had remarked,
"You rarely come this far."
So, did Mu Yang spend the next five hundred years confined to Chenyu Vale?
Of course not.
The farthest he traveled was to the current node—Inazuma.
To regain his strength, Mu Yang trained relentlessly, day and night.
Finally, to test his limits and pursue the pinnacle of swordsmanship...
He decided to cross the ocean and challenge the Raiden Shogun.
Maintaining his human form over such a distance was already a tremendous strain.
Challenging the Shogun under such a debuff...
Was like being isekai'd, barely getting your bearings, and then having someone elbow you and say, "Go fight Sukuna."
But Mu Yang did it anyway.
Back then, Inazuma hadn't yet closed its borders.
Arriving as a nameless swordsman, he challenged every master swordsman in the land.
And then came the encounter with Yae Miko.
Having lived through it firsthand, Mu Yang could only think—
"The Ruthless Sword" wasn't fiction. It was a documentary!
It was hard to imagine how Yae Miko could tolerate Mu Yang's cold demeanor.
Yae Miko: "Have you looked at your own character settings? You're the weird one here!"
Mu Yang wasn't unwilling to talk—he just wanted to conserve energy.
Narukami Island was too far from Chenyu Vale.
Chatting? Doesn't chatting expend energy?
In the end, just as "The Ruthless Sword" described...
With Yae Miko's company, Mu Yang defeated most of Inazuma's master swordsmen.
And Yae Miko brought him before the Raiden Shogun.
For someone like him, Ei was more than willing to meet him.
Such was the mutual respect between warriors.
In that battle, Mu Yang fought with increasing ferocity, and Ei, too, grew heated.
Finally—
Musou no Hitotachi, in its full divine glory, clashed against Sword Traverses Mountains and Rivers.
The outcome was predictable.
Mu Yang's painstakingly maintained form was shattered in a single slash, his consciousness forcibly returned to Sunken Sword Pool.
The damage was so severe that it took years before he could manifest again...
"Damn it, Raiden Ei... You really didn't hold back at all..."