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It was hard to tell whether it was the sickness making him soft-hearted or something else entirely, but Shao Yun found himself nodding before he could stop it.
"So… you really think you can pull this off?" he asked quietly.
The moment he yielded even that little bit, Lumine's face bloomed like spring sunlight breaking through the clouds.
She grasped his hand tightly, her eyes sparkling with absolute conviction.
"Don't worry. I'm sure of it!"
Shao Yun studied her—this girl brimming with confidence, calm and ready for anything. Despite the lingering unease in his chest, he chose, in the end, to trust her.
"If it doesn't go as planned," he said, his tone grave, "remember—our main task in Sumeru is already complete. If things spiral out of control, take Paimon and get out. Come back for me, and we'll head for Fontaine together.
And if I… can't make it that far—just bury me somewhere I can still see the sunset."
Lumine frowned, her brows knitting in protest. She gave his chest a light punch and said gently,
"Don't talk like that, Shao Yun. We will succeed."
"Sometimes you have to believe in your experienced, battle-tested adventurer here."
Her mock-scolding expression was tinged with genuine concern.
Shao Yun managed a bitter smile.
"Maybe illness just makes people gloomy and dull… and with everything else that's happened…"
He never finished the thought—because Lumine suddenly rose on tiptoe and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.
Meeting his startled gaze, she said with quiet firmness,
"Don't belittle yourself. You're going to be fine, Shao Yun. Remember—we still have Fontaine ahead of us."
She went on, her voice bright with hope.
"Once you're healed, we'll go to Fontaine, then Natlan. As for Snezhnaya… I don't know what's waiting for us there yet, but believe me—we'll make it.
When it's all over, we'll finally be free."
Her words painted such a vivid picture of the future that Shao Yun could only nod, a storm of emotions twisting inside him.
"Yeah," he murmured at last, drawing a slow breath. "I hope it all goes the way you say."
…
A week passed after the new plan began.
And still—no word.
Even when Shao Yun tried to reach Lumine through the Akasha Terminal, the silence was complete, heavy as a stone dropped into the sea.
He waited in Aaru Village, day after day, trapped between dread and hope.
…
The seventh day, morning.
He sat quietly on the front steps, sunlight warm on his face—until a shadow fell across it.
Blinking up, he saw Candace, poised and graceful, holding a bowl he'd come to know all too well.
There was concern in her mismatched eyes as she spoke softly:
"Here. Drink this."
She offered the bowl toward him.
Shao Yun sighed. For seven days straight—whether by Nahida's order or Lumine's—Candace had delivered his medicine at the exact same hour.
"You should save this for your wounded Blazing Beasts," he said with a wry smile. "It's wasted on me."
Candace smiled faintly.
"I know it won't cure you. The Dendro Archon told me your illness is linked to Irminsul somehow. I don't understand the details—but this should at least make you a little more comfortable."
"A bit of comfort is better than needless pain."
Shao Yun shook his head helplessly, but took the bowl. The bitter scent stung his nose.
He inhaled deeply, shut his eyes, and drained it in one go.
The taste spread like ash on his tongue—less harsh than industrial-grade stimulant, but still painfully bitter.
When he'd finished, he handed the empty bowl back, wiping the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.
"I don't know why, but I've had a bad feeling lately… like something's about to go terribly wrong."
Candace didn't leave this time. She leaned against the wall beside him, her gaze gentle.
"It's natural to worry," she said softly. "But you should trust your friends, too."
After a moment, she smiled again.
"How about we talk for a while? It'll help pass the time—and maybe ease your mind a bit."
Shao Yun exhaled and nodded.
"Alright then. You started this, so you choose the topic."
Candace tilted her head thoughtfully, then asked with a teasing smile:
"Lumine and Paimon told me you're an adventurer. Have you ever had any interesting—or unforgettable—commissions?"
Shao Yun chuckled.
"To be honest, only when I first started. After that, not really."
"The jobs in Mondstadt, though—ha! Those transport balloons? Not half as fast as a horse. If I'd had a proper mount, I'd have borrowed one from Master Diluc himself."
He laughed quietly, then countered with a question of his own.
"What about you? What's your daily life like?"
Candace didn't hesitate even a second.
"Protecting the village."
Those four simple words carried the weight of her whole existence.
"And besides that?" Shao Yun pressed. "You never do anything else?"
Candace gave him a sidelong look, half-amused, half-exasperated.
"You sound just like Dehya."
Still, there was no real irritation behind it.
Shao Yun laughed.
"Can you blame me? Doing the same thing every day sounds boring. Don't you have any hobbies?"
"Hobbies?" she echoed, then shook her head slowly. "Those were for childhood."
He opened his mouth to joke again—but a fit of coughing cut him off.
"Kh—! cough… damn it…"
Candace's expression tightened. His face had gone pale, his body trembling.
"Looks like the medicine's helping less and less," she murmured.
She stepped forward, slipping an arm carefully under his.
"Come on. Let me help you back to bed."
Supporting him gently, she guided him inside and eased him down onto the mattress.
"The Dendro Archon's wisdom is vast," she said softly. "I'm sure she'll find a way to heal Irminsul—and you along with it."
"So, rest easy. Maybe when you wake up, your illness will be gone."
Shao Yun lay there weak and trembling, speech a labor in itself.
He tried to speak—but before a word left his lips, dizziness surged through him like a wave, and darkness swallowed his thoughts once more.