"I conversed with many children who believed in me in their dreams, becoming their childhood friends."
"Some forgot, some still remember."
"They are the sorrows I caused, one after another, due to my negligence."
"Finch is... perhaps a special one to me."
The Spring Sprite's tears rippled in the dream.
Old Finch was indeed one of the protagonists of the story, Ryan sighed softly.
Who wrote "heart of the spring"? They understood this story so deeply.
But the barrier between life and thought indeed led to the current tragedy.
Was the Spring Sprite unwilling to face it? Or was she destined to be alone? To prevent a greater tragedy?
Ryan's heart was complex.
"Yes!" The Spring Sprite seemed to hear Ryan's thoughts. She felt a pang of reluctance but still feigned the indifference of spring water.
"Pure Hydro Spirits are destined to be alone!"
"Just as Endora's study notes recorded in your memory, our love is to become one, thereafter without any barrier of thought."
"Pure Hydro Spirits cannot love others; other lives would only drown in my embrace."
"I disguised myself as a child's dream, withdrawing from other people's lives!"
"I will not respond to Finch's expectations or speak with him again."
"A child's task is to grow up, and Finch should grow up too! No longer indulge in childhood fantasies."
The Spring Sprite's voice became cold and heartless, just as she had rejected countless children throughout history. But was she truly heartless?
Ryan felt the coldness of the water, like falling into a river in winter.
"Are you escaping?"
"You were like this in my memory too, using Endora's words to reject Old Finch."
"You said: When all the stars in the night Sky extinguish, all streams and all dreams can converge into the same great sea. At that time, we will finally meet."
"This is a deception! Teyvat's starry Sky is false, you..."
Ryan suddenly stopped speaking, throwing the chilling conjecture and terrifying words to the back of his mind.
When all stars extinguish, the constellations are the God-Favored's fate.
When stars fall and life dissipates, naturally there is no more brilliance.
One limited-time game event after another, knowing the news and plot, made him shiver all over.
Unreturned Starlight, Pure Wish, the inverted ancient city in the Cengyan Giant Abyss, a spring that can preserve some consciousness of the Dark Hollow and Black Serpent Knight.
Are these things connected?
Meeting again, is it the Soul or the will preserved after the stars are destroyed?
Heavenly Principles, Celestia?
Water Country, descendants of the faceless angels?
"The flow of life is still moving forward; please also take your steps and do not stop."
"Do you think I'm... right?" Water waves surged around the Spring Sprite.
As he approached, it felt like the sea was pouring down.
Ryan's mouth was a little dry, and he dared not speak carelessly again.
"Emotion tells me there's a better way! Reason tells me it's correct."
The Spring Sprite's hand touched him, like water flowing over him.
"Borrowing Endora's words again."
"Our lives are very different from yours, so we may not be able to understand each other while we are alive."
"But our lives are also the same, always rushing to the sea in the process of embracing new things and new Opportunities."
Ryan nodded: "You are right!"
"However..." the Spring Sprite suddenly said, "You are special!"
"I fear the chasm between my long life and the short life of Mortals, the irreversible aging of humans, the fading of memories, the shattering of beauty!"
"A Mortal's life is a small stream, growing stronger as it rushes, and drying up as it rushes. We, the spirits of water, dwell in an inexhaustible pool."
"You, I see your life's flow like a mighty river, endlessly growing, never drying up."
"We love everyone! We love becoming friends with everyone!"
"It's been a long time since I've chatted with anyone."
"Thank you for your company. Do you have any wishes?"
The Spring Sprite's gaze became pure and joyful, showing the inconstancy of water and the change of emotions. Or perhaps it was a disguise made after recalling something.
Ryan's heart leaped.
I want ten more wishes!
Swallowing this outrageous answer, he whispered, "Like Diona's blessing?"
The Spring Sprite fell into memory after hearing him.
"That hunter's daughter! Her father loves wine!"
The child named Diona would come to the spring every night her father slept, talking to the moon's reflection in the water.
The Spring Sprite looked at this child who firmly believed in her and responded to her sincere, innocent, and beautiful feelings.
The two confided in each other in their dreams, alleviating their loneliness and forming a wonderful friendship.
"On her seventh birthday, I blessed her: 'May your cup always be filled with celebratory wine, as sweet as the clear spring of a thousand years of melted snow.'"
"But now... this gift of growth and farewell seems to have brought her trouble, misunderstood as a mocking curse!" The Spring Sprite sadly lowered her face.
The magic that could turn any outrageous concoction in her cup into fine wine hindered Diona's ideal of destroying the Mondstadt Wine Industry.
"A fleeting dream, she doesn't know the reason, and even now hasn't discovered that the culprit is her childhood companion."
The Spring Sprite sighed, and in the dream, it began to rain.
Ryan looked at the gloomy weather in the dream and comforted her: "Diona doesn't hate wine. Her aversion to wine isn't 'hatred,' but rather a hope that her father will always be the person she Yearned for."
"Wine 'shares' and 'destroys' this happiness."
"When she grows up, she will naturally change her mind and accept this gift from her companion."
The Spring Sprite broke into a smile, "Yes! Everything will change! Everything will grow!"
"So, what is your wish?"
"Wine is useless to you and won't be of much help."
"I won't give my friends the exact same gift!"
Ryan pondered.
Actually, wine is quite useful! It can earn a lot of Mora.
"What can you give me? To let me live longer in this world?"
Ryan found the pursuit of Mortals: to live! To live with freedom! To live long! To live happily!
No suffering, no birth, aging, sickness, and death!
"Live longer?" The Spring Sprite made up her mind.
"This is my blessing to you, given against the nature of water, containing my years of power."
"I have seen the death of Mortals, drowned in water, born of illness, wounded by swords!"
"I bless you..."
"You are a companion of water!"
"You can run on water, breathe underwater, and in water, you can rival swimming fish."
"Water takes away your illness, water takes away your injuries, water takes away your pain and troubles!"
A long, clear voice pulled at the breaking dream.
"Wake up! Jump into the water and try this power!"
Unconcealed weakness, with a final admonition, with the trepidation of uncertain success or failure.
The starlight of the bright moon shone on the sleeping youth.
Two horses guarded nearby, chewing on roadside weeds.
A coolness, like night dew, lingered on his forehead, causing Ryan to open his eyes.
Blue light Swirled over his entire body, merging into his skin, flesh, bones, and Soul.
Water... was cheering.
From his perspective, he saw faint blue traces.
That was the Hydro element! That was the Hydro Spirit!
He looked around, seeing the distant torches.
Other elements were not in his line of sight.
"Incomplete elemental vision!"
Ryan felt countless turbid, dirty tears stream from the corners of his eyes. His gaze became bright, and his pupils were like black lakes, holding the moonlight.
The Spring Sprite's voice was gone!
He carefully walked towards the lake surface. Blue light appeared beneath his feet, like a flat road.
That was water; every drop of water was a Spirit, holding him above the surface.
He felt the water communicating with him, so he accepted the water's invitation and entered the water.
The water submerged his legs, chest, and head.
He descended into a three-meter-deep pool.
The water embraced him, carefully surrounding him, caring for him, leaving him a gap to breathe.
Water-repelling pearl, water-repelling spell.
He dismissed these unreliable thoughts.
This scene now indeed resembled Adepti magic.
Under the blue light, he exhaled bubbles, and the spirits carried him, pushed him, and pulled him, swimming freely in the water.
All things have spirits.
Another unreliable, but most fitting thought to describe this scene.
The Spring Sprite's admonition echoed.
"Water is the source of life. Those who turn their back on water or harm water will be abandoned by it."
"While in water, your illnesses and wounds will be perfectly healed as time passes."
"Beware of the power of the deep sea, the power of Gods, the malice of equally Pure Hydro Spirits, and the corrupted water infected by other elements..."
"They will suppress the spring's blessing, stir up the water's hostility, and make you drown in water."
"Please remember to escape and live well!"
"I look forward to our next meeting, thousands of years from now!"
Ryan was sent to the shore by the water. All the water droplets left his clothes, leaving him dry and refreshed.
"Thank you, the gentlest, most generous, and most beautiful Spirit."
"Your gift and blessing, Ryan will remember for a lifetime!"
If there's a conspiracy, I'll accept it calmly!
He added in his heart.
Such an Opportunity, with a little risk, is completely worth it!
Two hours of delay, even if the delivery failed, it's nothing.
After thanking her again, Ryan drove the carriage away.
The Spring Sprite in the pool watched Ryan leave, whispering softly.
"Blessing from another world, power from beyond the world, gift of the planet, the ultimate of humanity."
"Endless surging, requiring a hundred streams to return to the river. Without external support, there will eventually be a day of demise."
"Let me see where your life's flow will reach, can it touch the Sky? Touch the Abyss?"