The first sensation was a profound, weighted softness. It was the feeling of sinking into a cloud, a deep, dreamless comfort that had no beginning and no end. The second was a scent, a strange but not unpleasant mixture of sweet Glaze Lilies and the clean, sharp, herbal smell of a medicine shop. The third was a sound, a low, constant, worried murmur just beyond the edge of his hearing.
Slowly, like a deep-sea creature rising towards the light, Ren surfaced from the depths of unconsciousness. His eyelids felt heavy, sealed with a gentle but persistent glue. With a monumental effort, he managed to peel them open.
The world was a blurry, dim painting of soft colors. He blinked, and the image swam into focus. He was in his bed, in the house on Feiyun Slope. The light in the room was a gentle morning glow, filtered through the paper screens. And sitting by his bedside, two figures were watching him with an intensity that felt like a physical weight.
On one side was Ganyu. She was a ghost of her usual self. Her vibrant, dark blue hair was slightly dishevelled, her face was pale, and there were dark, exhausted circles under her red-rimmed eyes. She looked as if she hadn't slept or eaten in a century, and her entire being was focused on him with a look of raw, desperate hope.
On the other side was Xianyun. She was in her human form, her red glasses perched on her nose. Her usual calm, scholarly composure was replaced by a stern, tightly coiled tension. Her lips were pressed into a thin, severe line, and her golden eyes were sharp with a mixture of profound relief and simmering anger.
Ren's throat was dry. He tried to speak, and the sound that came out was a weak, scratchy croak. "Big… sister?"
The effect was instantaneous and explosive.
Ganyu let out a choked sob, a sound that was a mixture of a gasp and a cry of pure, unadulterated relief. "Ren!" She lunged forward, not with her usual bone-crushing force, but with a desperate, trembling gentleness, her arms wrapping around his shoulders as she buried her face in his pillow beside his head. Her body shook with silent, wracking sobs. "You're awake… you're finally awake…"
It was Xianyun's sharp, clear voice that cut through the emotional storm, her tone as brittle as thin ice. "You have been unconscious for three days."
Ren's mind, still sluggish and foggy, struggled to process the words. Three days? He remembered the ice lotus, the feeling of cold, the blinding light… and then nothing.
Xianyun stood up, her tall frame casting a long, intimidating shadow in the morning light. She began to pace, a rare sign of her agitation. "This one received Ganyu's first message, the one regarding your commendable discussion with the Tianquan. This one was… impressed, and decided to finish some preliminary work on the refrigeration prototype before journeying to the Harbor. A delay of a day or two seemed logical."
Her voice grew colder, sharper. "Imagine this one's surprise upon arriving two days ago, expecting to discuss blueprints and manufacturing logistics, only to be greeted at the door by a mortal physician from Bubu Pharmacy. Imagine this one's dismay upon entering to find Ganyu in a state of near hysterics, and you, Ren, lying in this very bed, as still and cold as a statue."
She stopped pacing and turned to face him, her golden eyes flashing with a rare, undisguised anger that was born of pure, undiluted fear. "Ganyu had called for Doctor Baizhu on the night it happened. He reported that your body was unnaturally cold for several hours, but your temperature returned to normal by the next morning. Your pulse was steady, your breathing even. From a medical standpoint, you were simply… sleeping. But you would not wake up. For a full day and a half, no one knew what was wrong!"
Her voice rose slightly, losing its perfect, measured control. "To so recklessly interact with raw, unrefined elemental energy! You, who possess a body with no natural affinity, no Vision to act as a buffer! It was an act of profound, unmitigated foolishness!"
At the sharp, accusatory tone, Ganyu flinched, pulling back from Ren, her face pale with guilt. Tears welled in her eyes again. "Master, it was my fault. I was the one who…"
Ren, seeing his sister's distress, found his voice, a little stronger this time. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, his body feeling weak and strangely light. "No," he said, his gaze firm as he met Xianyun's angry stare. "It wasn't her fault. I asked her to show me. I was the one who touched it. I was just… curious."
He took responsibility without hesitation. The simple, honest admission seemed to drain some of the anger out of Xianyun. Her shoulders slumped slightly, the rigid, furious posture softening into one of deep, weary concern. She let out a long, slow breath and pushed her glasses up her nose.
"Nevertheless," she said, her voice returning to its more familiar, analytical tone. "What happened, happened. Now that you are awake, the priority shifts from worry to understanding. Your body's reaction to the Cryo energy was not normal, Ren. A mortal without a Vision should have suffered from severe frostbite at the very least. Your body did not resist the energy; it… welcomed it. It absorbed it. This is an anomaly of the highest order."
She looked at him, her gaze no longer just that of a worried guardian, but of a scholar who has just stumbled upon a completely new, unexplained phenomenon.
"We must investigate this with the utmost care," she continued. "Something within you reacted to that power. Something… dormant. We need to understand what it is, not just to satisfy curiosity, but to ensure your own safety."
The scolding was over, but in its place was a new, heavy uncertainty. The frightening event had passed, but it had left behind a question mark, one that hung directly over Ren's own nature. He wasn't just a boy from another world anymore. He was a boy from another world who had a strange, inexplicable, and potentially dangerous secret locked away inside his own body.