Everyone returned to their lodging, eating the food Collei prepared while chatting.
Collei: Why are you asking about the Grass God?
Lumine briefly explained the purpose of her journey to Collei...
Collei: I see... Thank you for telling me all this.
Paimon: You're welcome, we're friends after all.
Qixuan-jie: Paimon is right.
Then, everyone's conversation shifted to Lumine.
Qixuan-jie: Tighnari really gave Paimon a good scolding back then.
Lumine: Why?
Collei: Because Paimon kept shouting, 'What do we do? Is she going to die?' She wouldn't listen to anyone, which really annoyed Master.
Lumine suddenly felt like laughing.
Paimon: Hey! Damn it, don't laugh! I was only worried about you!
Qixuan-jie: Pffft... Haha.
Collei: (Holding it in, face beet red).
Paimon: What's going on? All of you! Argh! You're making me so mad! I'm going to get my revenge! Watch me mess up all your hair into bird's nests!
Paimon flew over everyone's heads, messing with their hair, but she reacted strongly when it came to Collei.
Collei: Don't touch me!!
Lumine: Collei, what's wrong?
Paimon: Collei, I'm sorry, uh, I didn't mean to...
Collei: Ah, I... just now... No, it's not like that. It's not...
Paimon: Collei, are you okay? Are you alright?
Collei: Ah... Mm, I'm fine, I'm fine now... Sorry, I must have startled you just now, haha...
Collei: It's... it's getting late. Let's all go rest. We still have things to do tomorrow.
Paimon: Okay.
Everyone then went back to rest, but this night... might be a bit restless.
Meanwhile... within Irminsul.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata (consciousness): The Forbidden Knowledge is becoming more and more violent. What on earth is happening?
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata then tried to investigate, but was forcefully repelled by a power from the Abyss, causing her already damaged consciousness to become increasingly weak.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata: It's... merged? This is going to be difficult...
At the same time... Dead Zones across Sumeru became frequently active, and Sumeru citizens afflicted with Eleazar began to have flare-ups.
Inside Collei's room...
Collei: Cough, cough, cough! Is this... blood?
Collei then noticed more and more black scales appearing on her body. Gradually, she began to have difficulty breathing, felt weak, and then fainted.
At this moment, Tighnari, who had just finished patrolling and returned to camp to rest, wanted to check on Collei. But thinking it was so late, he decided not to disturb her. Just then, a Forest Ranger reported that the Dead Zones in the rainforest had become unusually active, trapping many people, and numerous monsters were also appearing there.
Tighnari: What? How can this be? Damn it... No! Collei!
Tighnari immediately rushed into Collei's room and saw her lying on the ground, with black scales on her body.
The commotion outside also woke Paimon and the others.
Qixuan-jie: Something must have happened. Let's go quickly.
Paimon: Ugh... I'm still... Ha~~ So sleepy.
Lumine pulled Paimon and walked out.
Paimon: Eh?? Slow down, slow down.
As they stepped out of the tent, they saw Tighnari carrying Collei out. When Paimon saw Collei's condition, she shrieked.
Paimon: Ah! Collei... What happened to her?
At this moment, more than half of Collei's face was covered in black scales. Tighnari was extremely anxious and ignored Paimon. After preparing some medicinal soup, he asked Lumine to feed it to Collei, then left because he still needed to clear the Dead Zones. After these two days of interaction, he had gradually come to trust Paimon and the others, and he had also heard rumors about Mondstadt and Liyue.
Paimon: Wah, what do we do? Collei still isn't getting better.
Lumine had already fed all the medicine to Collei, but Collei's condition showed no improvement. Moreover... everyone saw a strange black mist emerging from Collei's body.
Paimon: This... It looks like the power of the Abyss.
Lumine: How about... I try to purify her?
Lumine then placed her hand on Collei's body. A flash of light appeared, and then the black scales on Collei's body disappeared.
Paimon: Hooray! It worked!
Qixuan-jie: No, look.
Everyone looked at Collei. The scales that had just disappeared reappeared on Collei's body, seemingly even more numerous.
Paimon: H-how could this be!
Qixuan-jie: Generally speaking, Lumine's purification ability can directly remove this kind of defiled power... It's possible that its source is still there, unless a higher level of power is used.
Lumine: What... what should we do?
Qixuan-jie indicated it was a small matter, then placed her hand on Collei's abdomen and closed her eyes. A flash of white light appeared, and all the scales on Collei's body vanished.
Paimon: Hooray! This... This should be fine now, right?
One second, two seconds, three seconds, Collei's body remained normal.
Qixuan-jie: Mm, Collei is fine now. We just need to wait for her to wake up.
Lumine: Phew...
Lumine and Paimon stayed to look after Collei, while Qixuan-jie walked out, found a corner, and held a crimson feather in her hand. She opened her palm, and the feather flew into the air and disappeared. After doing all this, Qixuan-jie returned to the room and looked after Collei with Paimon and the others.
On the other side... Tighnari led a group of Forest Rangers, clearing Dead Zones and monsters one after another.
Forest Ranger 1: Officer Tighnari, we can't hold on much longer!
Tighnari: Hold on! Reinforcements (Cyno) will be here soon. Damn it... What exactly is going on? We clear one area, and another erupts. Dead Zones have a growth period, how can they form so quickly?
Just then, a figure flashed through the air, and a powerful energy wave instantly pulverized the monsters and then purified the Dead Zone. Tighnari and the others didn't clearly see who it was. Tighnari thought Cyno had arrived so quickly, but a Forest Ranger beside him said that Officer Cyno had just arrived, which startled Tighnari.
Tighnari: It wasn't you who did it?
Cyno: What?
Tighnari then recounted what had happened.
Cyno: You know my strength. I don't have that ability.
Tighnari thought that was true, then quickly rushed back to camp to see how Collei was doing.
...
At this moment, Qixuan-jie (Feather of Dusk clone), who had already flown into Irminsul, saw the colossal tree, half of which had turned black, and said: "How did it turn so black? It seems the corrosion has accelerated. No, that's not right... Logically, the corrosion shouldn't be this fast."
Then Qixuan-jie was attacked, but it merely passed through her body. She stated that she was completely unharmed.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata: This... powerful one, I know this is only one of your clones. With your ability, you can easily enter Irminsul, and I presume I cannot stop you, but...
Qixuan-jie: Alright, alright, why does everyone treat me like a bad person? I am very concerned about your body (ahem), your physical condition.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata: ?
Qixuan-jie: You're already like this and still insisting on maintaining Irminsul?
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata: Irminsul is the brain of Teyvat, and nothing can happen to it. I am also trying to find a way... but... now there is only one way left.
You must be able to see that I am the incarnation of Irminsul. Now I have absorbed the polluted part into my own body, and I have already left the purest branch of myself. So... please...
Qixuan-jie: Erase your existence, right? Do you know the consequences of doing that?
Qixuan-jie's tone was indifferent. Why did they all want to sacrifice themselves like this? Truly... Sigh, but with her here, such things wouldn't happen, after all, she still wanted to abduct Lesser Lord Kusanali (ahem).
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata: I know... That's precisely why I made this request. When the polluted me is erased from Irminsul, then Irminsul will not...
Qixuan-jie: But you yourself will...
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata: I will be forgotten by everyone, right? (Greater Lord Rukkhadevata smiled gently) I am prepared, after all... I am the Grass God of Sumeru, how can I...
Qixuan-jie: Alright, I will not agree to your request. Sumeru still needs their Grass God, so you don't need to be forgotten.
Qixuan-jie's tone was much gentler when she said this, something she didn't even notice herself.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata: But...
Qixuan-jie said nothing, merely raised a hand, and a light shone from her palm, directly towards the tree. (Brothers, does anything come to mind? Evil grin)
Then, under Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's astonished gaze, the lower half of Irminsul, which had been charred black, gradually returned to its original appearance.
(Irminsul: This thing is so easy to clean? It's like taking a bath?)
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata: This...
Qixuan-jie: Alright, although my method is useful, it only treats the symptoms, not the root cause, because I only came to observe, so this clone doesn't have much power. (Lying)
Qixuan-jie looked at her dissipating body and said: "A Traveler will come with a flying emergency food to help your daughter. Of course, I will come too. You don't need to sacrifice yourself anymore. Alright, take care."
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was silent for a moment. What is emergency food? Daughter? Nahida? ...Heh... That's right... Then she disappeared from the spot.
The God of wisdom cast her gaze, those were the eyes of her beloved.
........................
After the Feather of Dusk relayed information back to Qixuan-jie's mind, she knew it was successful. Looking at the sleeping Lumine and Paimon, hehe, even though I'm here, you can't just do nothing, right? I left a big guy for you. What Qixuan-jie didn't say was that she had already purified Irminsul and, by the way, left a Deep Black Dragon inside. Because of her power, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata couldn't discover it, considering it practice for Lumine.
The next morning... (The rooster still crowing)
When Collei woke up, she found that all the scales on her body had disappeared, yes, all of them! Which meant... She didn't dare to think, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Lumine seemed to hear the sound and woke up, then woke Paimon.
Lumine: Collei, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere again?
Paimon: Huh? No way? Didn't Qixuan-jie say after treating you yesterday that there were no problems?
Lumine: Paimon!
Paimon immediately covered her mouth.
Tighnari, who had just entered, also heard what Paimon said.
Collei: Paimon... What did you say? Did Qixuan-jie cure me?
Tighnari: How is that possible? Eleazar can only be controlled, to cure it...
It wasn't that Tighnari didn't believe it; he also hoped it was true. He had checked on Collei's condition last night and thought Collei had suddenly gotten better on her own, especially since the Dead Zones in the rainforest had all disappeared overnight.
Just then, Qixuan-jie walked in, holding breakfast.
Qixuan-jie: Paimon, Lumine, breakfast is ready. Hmm? Collei is awake too? Tighnari is here too? Come eat together.
Paimon: Hehe, Qixuan-jie is so thoughtful, she even prepared breakfast for us. I won't be polite then.
Lumine: Sigh... One day, I'll stew you.
Collei: Qixuan-jie... I.
Qixuan-jie: Alright, alright, let's talk about it while we eat.
Everyone then began to enjoy their breakfast.
Paimon: Wow! This is Liyue cuisine.
Tighnari: It's very delicious.
Lumine: Qixuan-jie, where did you get the ingredients from?
Qixuan-jie: I specifically went back to Liyue and asked Xiangling to cook it herself. Is it delicious?
Paimon: Mm-hmm! Delicious.
Collei: Eh? How is that possible in just one night?
Tighnari: Let's get back to the main topic. I want to know how you treated Eleazar.
Qixuan-jie: Actually, I used the 'I Think Immortal Art' from Liyue. At the time, I didn't know if it would work, but the situation was urgent, so I just used it. I didn't expect it to actually work.
Lumine: Pffft... Haha... (Holding it in)
Paimon: (Mouth full, unable to speak)
Tighnari: What is the 'I Think Immortal Art'? I've heard of the adeptal arts from Liyue, but I only heard that there are many people seeking immortals there, but few can actually see them. I overlooked this point. In any case, thank you very much.
Collei: I'm truly grateful to Qixuan-jie... I... If you ever need my help, I will definitely assist you.
Qixuan-jie: Hmm? R-e-a-l-l-y? Will you do a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g?
Collei: (Face slightly red) Mm... Yes... Yes.
Qixuan-jie: Pffft... Haha, alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore. I'm going out for some fresh air.
After Qixuan-jie finished speaking, she walked out. Tighnari also had many questions, so he also walked out. Only Paimon and Lumine were left in the room.
Lumine looked at Paimon, who was still eating, and felt annoyed. She quickly pulled her out.
Paimon: Eh?
As Paimon and Lumine walked out, they saw Qixuan-jie and Tighnari chatting. They didn't interrupt and just watched from the doorway.
Soon, Collei's crying could be heard from inside the house, somewhat heartbreaking, and also some happy laughter. Uh... it was hard to tell if it was laughter or crying.
Tighnari: Sigh... Collei has endured many hardships since she was little. Before I took her as my apprentice, she had been enduring everything by herself until now. Eleazar tormented her since childhood, but she always maintained a 'cheerful and lively' appearance to outsiders. Back then, I also heard she made friends in Mondstadt.
Lumine: Was it Amber? We are too.
Tighnari: This time, we owe you a big thank you. Oh, by the way, you said you're going to Sumeru City, right? I think you'll need this map of Sumeru City.
Paimon: Wow! We really need it.
Lumine: Thank you.
Tighnari: You deserve it. I'll tell you more about the situation in Sumeru City to help you navigate.
Lumine: Okay.