Shenhe activated her Vision, summoning a Talisman Spirit. Commanding the spirit to release its power, she destroyed all surrounding mechanical devices.
Cloud Retainer, observing this, nodded slightly. "Enough for now."
Shenhe turned to face Cloud Retainer.
"Your cultivation has improved since last we met," Cloud Retainer remarked. "Very good. Continue to refine your skills."
"I understand. Then, Master..."
"Very well, I will tell you the truth of what she endured. But know this: I do not know the full story. Only the girl from the past and... that purple-haired, pink-eyed girl know the complete truth."
Purple-haired, pink-eyed? Could she mean Keqing, the current Yuheng Star of Liyue? Shenhe mused. Now that I think of it, Keqing once quietly asked her to take good care of Qin Yu...
Cloud Retainer tilted her head back, her voice slow with recollection:
"Given how she's grown, this must have occurred many years ago. The exact date eludes me—let us say 'one day.'"
"One day, the Conqueror of Demons and Ganyu arrived at my Adeptus Abode. Ganyu cradled a young, near-lifeless girl in her arms, while another girl followed behind them, face smeared with dirt and grim resolve."
"The Conqueror of Demons and Ganyu? And these two mortal children—what of them?"
Ganyu pleaded urgently, "Cloud Retainer, we need your power!"
At that moment, Cloud Retainer noticed the girl in Ganyu's arms. Her body emanated a malevolent aura—clear evidence of corruption by a Remnant of a god.
Surprisingly, the girl's consciousness seemed to retain a degree of clarity.
Her eyes were tightly shut, and she clutched a wooden toy ring in her hand, showing no reaction to the commotion around her.
Remnants of a god—the corrupted essence formed from the grudges and power of a defeated god—possessed such potent hatred and resentment that mortals corrupted by it should at best lose their sense of self, or at worst perish outright. This was especially true for a child.
Yet there were always exceptions. Perhaps her constitution was unique, or her willpower extraordinary... or perhaps both.
Regardless, she was alive, and retained a degree of awareness.
Cloud Retainer narrowed her eyes. "What has transpired?"
Xiao, who had remained silent until now, spoke.
"To protect others, she was trapped in an Abode tainted by monsters. Her exceptional willpower, combined with her unique constitution, means that with the aid of Adeptus power, we should be able to transfer the majority of the demonic corruption."
Ganyu added earnestly, "Yes... therefore, we implore Cloud Retainer to lend us her strength. Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper have already agreed."
So that's the situation.
Cloud Retainer understood immediately. She glanced at the purple-haired girl, whose expression showed pain, then turned to the girl in Ganyu's arms.
The girl had opened her eyes, but due to the demonic influence, she seemed unable to see, like a blind person. She huddled in on herself from the prolonged darkness.
Amber eyes.
Cloud Retainer sighed. "I never imagined such a thing could occur. Very well, I accept. But—even with her unique constitution, she will still pay a significant price."
Xiao crossed his arms. "That's still better than losing her life."
Hearing this, Shenhe remained silent for a long time.
"The Conqueror of Demons warned me to stay away from monsters, saying a 'mark' remains within her," she said.
Cloud Retainer understood immediately: it was the Conqueror of Demons who had told Shenhe.
"Indeed. Even if the demonic energy was forcibly removed from her body, a trace still lingered. This mark is invisible and intangible, yet it exists within her. Whenever she approaches demonic energy, it reacts."
Removed? Shenhe seized on this keyword.
"Removed... what does that mean?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Forcibly eliminating the demonic energy within her would have caused her unbearable harm, and its remnants would have continued to corrupt her mind. Since that wasn't possible, the only option was to transfer the energy's target... the Conqueror of Demons took the burden upon himself."
"Yet even so, she still paid the price," Cloud Retainer sighed.
So the Conqueror of Demons had done such a thing for her.
As Shenhe pondered this, her attention was drawn back to Cloud Retainer's last words.
"That is her memory," Cloud Retainer stated.
"Memory..."
No wonder she couldn't remember. No wonder Master said it was best she never did. Because that was the cost of survival.
Should I tell Qin Yu the truth?
Cloud Retainer continued, "Naturally, she hasn't lost all her memories."
"Most of her memories with her adoptive mother remain intact. Unfortunately, her bond with the purple-haired girl has vanished along with her lost memories. Other trivial memories have suffered the same fate."
Yet Keqing still remembers.
Shenhe finally understood why Keqing had such a strange attitude toward Qin Yu.
"But amidst this misfortune lies a sliver of hope: the painful memories of her being corrupted by monsters have also been erased."
"For mortals, forgetting pain might actually be a blessing."
"As for why they entered that Abode, this Adeptus does not know. However, piecing together Ganyu and the Conqueror of Demons' accounts, along with fragments from the purple-haired girl's words..."
"That Abode has fallen under the control of monsters. The entire Abode itself has become monstrous, devouring any living being that enters, and its mechanisms are also under the monsters' control."
"When they realized something was wrong, they tried to escape. But children's legs move slowly. Just as the mechanisms activated and the door began to close, Qin Yu pushed the purple-haired girl out of the Abode, choosing to remain behind herself."
Shenhe murmured, "Her past... it bears a resemblance to my own."
Cloud Retainer recalled her first encounter with Shenhe. Back then, Shenhe was still a young girl, trapped in a mountain cave and forced to confront malevolent spirits.
But the differences were stark.
The most significant difference was that Qin Yu had not chosen to fight.
"She's similar to you, yet different. She chose not to fight. Firstly, the Abode was overrun with demonic creatures corrupted by fiendish energy. Secondly, because she... was very timid."
Timid? Shenhe was puzzled.
If she was so timid, how could she have pushed Keqing out of the Abode and left herself behind?
No, I understand now. Courage comes from many sources.
Back then, I fought to survive.
Back then, Qin Yu fought to let her friend survive.
Cloud Retainer continued slowly, "She hid inside a wooden chest."
"The fiendish energy of the Abode permeated every crevice. While hiding might have spared her from being discovered and attacked by monsters, it also meant she was enduring the corrosive influence of the fiendish energy within the dark, cramped space..."
"When Ganyu finally found her, she was curled up in the chest, barely clinging to life."
"If not for Ganyu sustaining her life with Adeptus Power and the Conqueror of Demons performing the 'Bane of All Evil' ritual to cleanse the Abode and sever her connection to the demonic source, you would likely never have met her."
Cloud Retainer sighed again. "Of course, the most crucial factor was her extraordinary willpower, which sustained her through it all. The source of this strength must have been her friend."
"That purple-haired girl must have been incredibly important to her. Alas... life is fickle."
By this point, Shenhe had pieced together Qin Yu's past.
Though some details remained unclear—like why they ended up in that Abode—she now understood enough.
Shenhe had long suspected Qin Yu's history wouldn't be easy, but she hadn't anticipated the similarities to her own past.
The question now pressed on her:
Having learned Qin Yu's past, understanding why her Master and Keqing had kept silent about it—to spare her painful memories—and now knowing the reason behind her fear of the dark...
What should she do now?
Should she tell Qin Yu the truth, or follow her Master's example and conceal it?
"Shenhe, what do you intend to do?" Cloud Retainer asked, as if seeing through her thoughts.
Shenhe questioned herself: would revealing the truth truly be the best course for Qin Yu?
Having grown numb to her own past, she felt utterly lost when faced with Qin Yu's history. This was a first for her...
The only thing she knew for certain was this: she wanted to stay by Qin Yu's side.
"I want to continue being with her."
"...This is fine."
But with my unique fate, can I truly achieve this?
A Lone Star Fate destined me to be separated from family and friends, to live a solitary life. A Calamity Star Fate destined me to face endless disasters and perils, my path fraught with danger. And I bear both—afflicted by the Lone Star Fate and clashed with the Calamity Star Fate...
Shenhe gazed at the sea of clouds swirling between the mountain peaks, lost in quiet contemplation.