The rough iron rings of the chains sank deep into her wrists, chafing her skin red and bloody.
The piercing pain should have been excruciating, yet Yunqin, as if she had lost her sense of pain, allowed the Millelith to drag her forward.
Her numb feet trod across the bluestone path, each step feeling as if she were stepping on broken glass, yet she lacked even the strength to flinch.
Liyue Harbor's lights grew more distant, and the light she once found warm now became a phantasm she could no longer reach.
Why... why does even the Millelith treat me like this?
Aren't the people of Liyue my comrades?
But now, they drag me toward the wilderness, not even looking at the blood on my wrists.
Was all that warmth fake?
Do I really not belong here?
Master said I was her good disciple, yet I was controlled by the Abyss and showed disrespect to Rex Lapis.
Xiao said, "You can still return to the past," but I can't even stay in Liyue Harbor anymore; what "past" could there be?
Why is everyone afraid of me?
Did they always know I was a monster, which is why they had to drag me to a place with no one around?
What was I fighting all my strength to expel the Abyss from my body for in the end?
Was it just to be shunned by everyone like a plague?
Was it to be chained by my former comrades?
Was it to watch Liyue Harbor's lights fade into the distance, without even the right to look back?
From the very beginning, should I never have dared to hope to fit into Liyue?
The blood of a god flows within me; no matter how hard I try to fit into Liyue, I'll never truly be "one of them," right?
Master's careful guidance, Hu Tao's quirkiness, Xiangling's warm hospitality...
Were those things that once made me feel happy only mine temporarily because I was "useful"?
Now I am useless, even a "threat," so everyone is going to abandon me, right?
Even Xiao's promise that I can make him appear just by calling his name... was that just a lie to comfort me?
Will I soon be swallowed by this black mist and completely become the monster everyone is afraid of?
Would that actually make them feel completely relieved? So they never have to be on guard against me again, and never have to pretend to remember the warmth of the past?
Was I... really in the wrong?
If I had never resisted the Abyss back then and simply let it swallow me whole, would I have avoided this state where I can neither become a monster nor return to being myself? Where I can only be dragged into the darkness, unable even to cry out loud?
Yunqin's hollow eyes remained fixed on the cold gleam of the chains on her hands. A heavy black mist gradually veiled her vision, until she could barely see her own hands anymore.
The sunlight was devoured, and even the distant mountains became blurred black silhouettes, as if the entire world was being eaten away.
The only sound in her ears was the violent thumping of her heart, beating so hard against her chest that it made her eardrums ache, completely drowning out the harsh rattling of the chains.
In her fading consciousness, fragments of Liyue Harbor kept replaying over and over. These thoughts were like sharp shards of glass, stabbing her chest with a dense, aching pain.
But her tears had long since run dry, and she couldn't even muster the strength to cry.
She didn't know how long she had walked before the outline of Liyue Harbor completely vanished from her sight. All that remained around her were the withered grasses of the wilderness rustling in the wind, as if whispering in mockery of her wretched state.
Suddenly, an arrow with a frozen blue gleam shot out from the distant forest, piercing the air with a "shwoosh" and striking a Millelith soldier on the left squarely in the shoulder.
That Millelith, however, seemed devoid of pain as he raised his hand and pulled the arrow out by the shaft with a deadpan expression.
Strangely, not a single drop of blood flowed from the wound. Instead, a dense black mist seeped from it.
The black mist writhed like a living creature, instantly sealing the wound without a trace. Even the hole in the armor was completely filled in by the dark energy.
"I knew something was off," a cold voice rang out from behind a tree as Tartaglia emerged, clutching the Polar Star.
His heart jolted when he saw Yunqin's blank, hollow eyes.
The girl who had sparred with him, who had smiled and complained about the trouble yet never dampened his spirits, now looked as if her very soul had been ripped away. The light in her eyes had completely extinguished, leaving only a dead silence.
He quickly composed himself, the Electro element crackling slightly at his fingertips. His sharp gaze swept across the surrounding Millelith, and his voice carried an unquestionable chill: "You wear the skin of the Millelith, yet you reek like beasts. If I'm not mistaken, you aren't human at all, are you?"
Several Millelith soldiers wasted no words, immediately charging Tartaglia with spears wreathed in dark energy.
The spearheads sliced through the air with speed far exceeding that of ordinary soldiers, and the ground cracked under their heavy footfalls.
Tartaglia's gaze swept over the blood-streaked chains on Yunqin's wrists, and a sudden fury ignited in his heart, threatening to shatter his reason.
The mask he wore on his head vanished instantly, now covering his face and concealing the murderous rage in his eyes.
The violet lightning of the Electro element and the blue glow of the Hydro element swiftly condensed in his hands, forming two elemental blades that glinted with a chilling light, their elemental fluctuations making the surrounding withered grass bend.
"I don't care what despicable creatures you are!" he roared as he charged forward, his elemental blades hissing as they cut through the air. "Nor do I care what tricks you used to deceive the people of Liyue and shield yourselves from the senses of those two!"
"Daring to lay a hand on her comes with a price!"
The techniques he had used when sparring with Yunqin had now become his deadliest killing moves.
Combining the swiftness of the Electro element with the sharpness of the Hydro element, every strike precisely cleaved into the areas where the Millelith soldiers' dark energy was most concentrated.
The glow of the Vision and the dark red of the Delusion intertwined. Even though these Millelith soldiers were strong beyond human limits, Tartaglia did not lose any ground.
The moment the Electro element paralyzed the enemies' movements, the Hydro elemental blade had already pierced the core of their dark energy.
Within moments, the Millelith soldiers collapsed one by one. The instant their bodies touched the ground, they dissolved into black mist, their armor vanishing with them as if they had never existed.
Tartaglia, still wielding his glowing elemental blades, walked step by step toward the sole remaining Millelith, Captain Li. His gaze was cold enough to freeze, and each footfall crushed the gravel on the ground.
"Now, tell me clearly: what was your purpose in capturing her? Who sent you?"
"If you answer the first question, I might grant you a quick death."
Captain Li did not reply. Instead, he drew the sword from his waist with a movement as fast as a dark shadow, instantly pressing the blade against Yunqin's neck.
The cold metal pressing against her skin brought a brief moment of clarity to Yunqin's chaotic consciousness.
She shivered instinctively, the muscles in her neck tightening.
Yunqin slowly raised her head, her blurred gaze falling upon Captain Li's face. That face was clearly familiar...
But now... but at this moment...
His eyes held none of their usual gentleness. The sword pressed ruthlessly against her skin, its chill seeping from her neck down into her spine.
"Why... are you doing this to me..." Yunqin's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, carrying a broken tremble.