"Hoo…" How long had it been? Tina looked up at the Sky.
Fire, endless fire.
Tina raised her hand and looked at it. Was that a hand? No, it was a Burning stick.
It seemed like a long time ago she had wailed, but now she was quiet.
The suffering brought by the scorching flames had not diminished in the slightest; only her body had changed. Now, she could barely maintain a human form.
Within her frail, withered body, a faint, milky-white glow pulsed, signifying her former humanity.
"I cannot die yet."
"I think I have a younger sister waiting for me."
"Someone told me to just hold on a little longer."
"Yes, just a little longer, just a little longer. I cannot die, I cannot die…"
The Burning withered figure seemed to recall something and began to sway and move. She had no destination; she simply felt that stillness was closer to death, and she feared death.
Tina was merely a microcosm within Yu Jin's body; there were things she could do and things she could not.
Doing what she should not naturally came with a price.
But Yu Jin did not pay her much mind, because at this moment, his body had become lively again after a long time, and he needed to check to ensure nothing went wrong.
Yu Jin calmed himself, and his gaze extended inward, where he saw a desert.
Large swathes of weapon debris were haphazardly stuck in the ground. The crimson on the ground was either bloodstains or banners, or perhaps both.
In the center of the desert, a small bonfire burned quietly. The Sky was dark, and the sun was also dark.
Pure blackness had covered the sun. Only the periphery of the sun was still surrounded by a faint red halo.
The light, as if fearing the darkness, escaped from the sun, forming a pale red light band connecting the Sky and the earth.
That was the Initial Fire Pit, and also the place he remembered most vividly.
In his battles with the Incarnations of the Lords of Cinder, Yu Jin saw the Soul of Cinder, saw the ancient Gods, and also saw himself.
However, at that time, he already possessed power beyond fire. Later, he abandoned that power, in exchange for the rebirth of the Dark Souls world.
Of course, all of that was in the past.
Now, Yu Jin looked at the Initial Fire Pit, and this time it was his turn to twitch his lips.
"Pair of threes, do you want them?" Around the bonfire of the Initial Fire Pit, four strange blobs were gathered.
They were a blob of thick black mud, a cluster of flickering red fire, a mass of Frenzied Flame, and a pile of wriggling flesh.
"It's your turn, First Flame, pair of threes, do you want them?" You Sui's body was covered with a pile of poker cards he'd gotten from who knows where. He flipped over two cards, and they were indeed two small threes!
"Ah ba? Ah ba!" The First Flame, hearing You Sui's words, mumbled a few sentences but showed no reaction.
"Damn it! Brainless thing! It's your turn, Frenzied Flame!" You Sui cursed under his breath when he saw the First Flame's appearance.
"Cards? Can Burn! Burn them! Burn them!" The Frenzied Flame, hearing You Sui's words, immediately began to go mad.
"Bloom! Bloom!" The rot, seeing the cards in the Frenzied Flame's hand suddenly Burn, immediately joined in the commotion.
The cards in front of it instantly began to sprout fleshy buds, and scarlet flower buds grew from the fleshy buds.
The debris from the Burning playing cards fell on You Sui, and the scarlet flowers Bloomed in front of it. You Sui felt like he was about to die of anger.
Every time, every single time! No matter what fun thing it found in Yu Jin's heart, it always ended this way.
"Get out!!!"
"One idiot, two lunatics, I must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to be stuck with you guys!" You Sui roared, but it was useless.
To some extent, You Sui was the craziest one, but it just hadn't realized it.
Just as You Sui was in a fit of impotent rage, a wide spatial rift suddenly appeared above the Initial Fire Pit.
Then a huge Glass Dragon and a green ox fell from the rift.
The air suddenly grew quiet. Then the bonfire quartet, oh no, it should be the four Gods, suddenly became enthusiastic.
"The time for great feasting has arrived!"
"Woah oh oh oh oh oh!"
"Burn! Burn! Burn!"
"Bloom! Bloom! Bloom!"
...Watching the four screaming Gods, Yu Jin felt a headache. He would have to separate the First Flame from them in the future, otherwise, hanging around with those three rotten guys, who knows what it would become.
But thankfully, Yu Jin had just checked, and these four guys were all doing well; none had died, nor had they become uncontrollably powerful.
That was good. Keeping these guys contained within his body was the safest approach.
"How do you feel?" Yu Jin squatted down, pulled up Collei's sleeve, and looked at her fair arm.
"It's…it's better!" Collei, seeing the purple scales on her arm disappear and feeling the abundant energy within her body, could hardly believe it.
Although she had been in the Doctor's laboratory since she could remember, it did not stop her from understanding how troublesome Eleazar was.
Because as the Doctor's best experimental material, the Fatui did not want her to die prematurely, so they experimented on Collei while also treating her.
But even so, the Doctor could not cure her Eleazar; all he did was suppress it.
Yet now, Yu Jin had cured her Eleazar in less than half a day. How could Collei believe this dream-like experience?
"Pop!" Collei kissed Yu Jin's helmet, feeling the warmth of his helmet and the unique rusty smell of steel. Collei knew this was not a dream.
"Sister Collei is cheating, I want one too!" Garura, seeing Collei kiss Yu Jin, felt a little jealous.
"Mwah—" Before Yu Jin could react, Garura climbed onto him and began her brain-sucking.
"Ptooey, ptooey! It's so fishy!" Garura kissed for a while, then couldn't stand the metallic smell of the helmet and jumped off Yu Jin.
"Haha!" Collei couldn't help but laugh at Garura's reaction.
Yu Jin touched the spot where he had been kissed and scratched his head. This was the first time he had been kissed.
It felt… not bad?
"Let's go, it's time to head back." Yu Jin only sighed for a moment before calming down. It was just a kiss from two Damselettes, he had seen plenty of women!
With that, Yu Jin took Collei and Garura and walked out of the tall tower.
Unlike when they arrived, even though the strong winds of Stormterror's Lair had returned, they seemed to have reached some kind of unspoken agreement, actively bypassing Yu Jin's location.
They walked peacefully all the way to the Wind Barrier, where Yu Jin stopped, merely looking calmly at the fierce winds within.
Then, to the astonished gazes of Collei and Garura, the Wind Barrier actively opened a gap before them.
Yu Jin looked back at the scene, thinking that the God's resentment inside was quite perceptive.
He nodded in satisfaction, then walked out.
After leaving Stormterror's Lair, Yu Jin resumed his posture of carrying one in front and one on his back.
Under Yu Jin's frantic pace, the three of them finally returned to Mondstadt before sunset.
Nearing his home, Yu Jin noticed a slender figure at the doorway. He looked closely and saw it was Lisa, whom he had met last night.
"Phew! You little silly, you're finally back!" Lisa let out a silent sigh of relief when she saw Yu Jin finally return.
Then she walked up to Yu Jin and said with a fragrant breath, "Making a lady wait so long, how about it? Have you thought about compensation, you little silly~?"
Watching this scene, Garura's eyes lit up with the flames of gossip!
But Collei was different. She pulled Yu Jin back, a little annoyed, saying, "What are you doing? The sun hasn't set yet, be mindful."
"Oh?" Lisa smiled, looked at Collei, then walked over to Collei, stretching her body, revealing her full figure without reservation.
"Little sister, you still need to eat more, otherwise you won't be able to compete with me, big sister." Lisa ruffled Collei's hair, disregarding her protest.
Yu Jin was utterly confused. He couldn't quite understand Lisa and Collei's actions. He only had this feeling when Melina, Ranni, and Malenia, two of the three, met.
"Alright, alright, Lisa, what's up?" Yu Jin shook his head, deciding not to dwell on what he couldn't understand.
He was more concerned now about why Lisa was waiting for him. Did she have a question to ask?
"Don't these two little ones have some physical issues? I have some connections, and I found someone for you who should be able to help." Lisa looked at Garura and Collei, then spoke to Yu Jin.
"Thank you, but it's already resolved." Yu Jin pulled Lisa's hand, expressing his gratitude.
For Yu Jin, her willingness to help was already much appreciated.
"What did you say?!"
"It's resolved?"
"It's resolved!!!"
Lisa clutched her forehead. The shock she had experienced in these two days was more than she had in the past few decades.