The one who threw the stone was a woman in a blue cloth shirt. She rushed over as if possessed, snatched the three children into a tight embrace, and turned to run away, cursing as she went: "Have you lost your mind? Being so close to her! What will we do if she hurts you!"
The children burst into terrified wails. When the youngest one looked back at her, his eyes were filled with fear, and all the friendliness from a moment ago was gone.
Yunqin stood frozen on the spot. The blood from her forehead flowed faster, blurring her vision.
She raised a hand to wipe the blood and tears from her face, and a familiar voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
"Those who get close to you are either trying to exploit the god power within you, or are on guard against you losing control. They have never truly considered you one of their own, never!"
"Could it be... that it was all fake?" Yunqin murmured to herself, her legs giving way as she sank onto the blue flagstones.
She recalled last year's Lantern Rite, when she stayed up all night carving a statuette of Rex Lapis. Her fingers had been cut by stone chips, and Master had tenderly helped her stop the bleeding.
She remembered when the Millelith were guarding the wharf, she had handed water skins to the soldiers, and they had smiled and said, "Thank you, Miss Yunqin."
She recalled Xiangling taking her hand, saying they would try a new spicy noodle dish together...
All those moments she thought were warm, were they all just because she was "Cloud Retainer's disciple," a "useful person"?
"Why... I've tried so hard..."
She hugged her knees, burying her face in the crook of her arms, her sobs echoing through the empty street, heartbreakingly desolate.
The sunlight was still bright, but as it shone upon her, it offered no warmth. She felt as if she had been dragged back to the darkness of the Guili Plains, wrapped in a boundless void.
Only this time, what trapped her was the hearts of Liyue Harbor's people.
"Make way! Everyone make way! The Millelith are on a mission!"
A sudden shout burst from the end of the street, the clatter of metal armor shattering the previous silence.
Yunqin shot her head up, the wound on her forehead already scabbing over.
She recognized the man leading the way at a glance: it was Captain Li.
During the last Lantern Rite, she had helped him move the red lanterns piled on the wharf. The lantern tassels had gotten tangled in his armor, and she had stood on tiptoe to untangle them.
Back then, he had laughed heartily, patting her shoulder and saying, "Miss Yunqin, if you ever need anything in Liyue, just go to the Millelith."
But now, that familiar face looked as if it were covered in ice.
Captain Li's hand rested on the sword at his waist, his gaze so cold it could freeze the air.
With a wave of his hand, the Millelith behind him immediately fanned out, their spears all pointed at Yunqin, who was trapped in the center of their circle.
The cold glint on the spearheads reflected her pale face, weaving an airtight net of iron.
"Miss Yunqin," Captain Li's voice held no warmth. He even deliberately avoided her gaze, staring only at the broken stones by her feet. "We have received reports from the citizens that you have been possessed by a god's lingering resentment, threatening the safety of Liyue Harbor. We are ordered to take you back to headquarters to cooperate with the investigation."
"Cooperate with the investigation?" Yunqin stumbled as she tried to push herself up from the ground, but her knees felt as weak as cotton soaked in water.
She looked at Captain Li, her voice still carrying a last shred of hope. "Captain Li, you remember me! I helped you unload cargo at the South Wharf! I'm not possessed, look!"
In her desperation, a faint blue light glimmered at her fingertips as she tried to summon a small cluster of gentle Hydro Element to prove her innocence.
But the moment the blue light appeared, the surrounding Millelith all took a synchronized step forward. The spearheads were only six inches from her chest, and the cold scent of metal wafted toward her.
"Don't move!" a young Millelith soldier shouted harshly, his voice filled with terrified vigilance, "If you dare use Elemental Power again, we will not hold back!"
Yunqin's fingertips trembled violently, and the blue light extinguished instantly.
It felt as if a spearhead had brutally pierced her heart, the pain making even her breath shake.
She scanned the familiar faces. There were guards who had once accepted the hot soup she passed them, smiling and saying, "Thank you, miss." There were soldiers she had fought monsters with in Jueyun Karst, sharing dry rations.
But now, their eyes held only fear and indifference, as if they were looking at a monster that could go berserk at any moment, without any of their former friendliness.
"How could you do this?" Her voice was choked with sobs, and tears flowed into the corner of her mouth, tasting both salty and bitter.
"Miss, say no more." Captain Li's voice sank, carrying a hint of barely concealed stiffness.
He abruptly turned his face away, not even daring to let his peripheral vision fall upon her. "This is an order from above. We are just carrying out a mission. We have no choice."
"An order from above?" Yunqin repeated the words blankly. Suddenly she burst out laughing, the sound filled with shattered despair.
She had fought the Abyss with all her might, walking back to Liyue step by step, clinging to the hope that she could return to the past.
But what awaited her was the point of spears.
The Hydro Element within her body seemed to sense her breakdown, beginning to fluctuate uncontrollably.
Pale blue elemental patterns swirled around her, forming a trembling barrier that caused the surrounding spears to shudder slightly.
"She's losing control! Get ready!" Someone shouted, and the Millelith instantly tensed up.
Some soldiers manifested elemental shields in front of them, while others infused their weapons with the Pyro Element, orange-red flames dancing in the morning light.
The power they had once used to protect the people of Liyue was now all aimed at her, this "threat."
"No! I'm not!" Yunqin stiffened, desperately suppressing the surging Hydro Element. "I won't hurt you! I just... I just want you to believe me! I'm really fine!"
But her explanations were like rain falling on cotton, without the slightest echo.
Captain Li raised his hand, and two Millelith soldiers stepped forward with specially made chains.
"Forgive us, Miss Yunqin." There was no hint of apology in Captain Li's voice, only cold decisiveness.
The moment the chains wrapped around Yunqin's wrists, a bone-chilling cold spread from her arms throughout her entire body.
Yunqin looked up at the spears pointed at her, at the cold gazes of the Millelith, and suddenly felt that all her efforts had become a joke.
She had defeated the dark energy of the Abyss, yet she failed to overcome the divide in human hearts.
"Why..." she murmured to herself, tears falling like broken beads on a string, making faint sounds as they hit the chains, "I've tried so hard..."
The Millelith did not respond, merely tightening the chains in silence, the rough iron rings chafing her wrists painfully.
Yunqin did not resist, letting them drag her forward as her vacant gaze swept over the familiar streets.
The places she had once thought would always be bustling now looked like cold tombstones, each one stinging her chest with every glance.
She remembered Xiao's words in Guili Plains, "Just call my name, and I will appear immediately," and the warmth Mr. Zhongli had once shown her...
Could it be that everything was a lie?
Was a god... ultimately unable to fit into Liyue?