Music knows no borders.
Folk songs from Mondstadt still sound lovely to people in Liyue.
And music knows no worlds.
Even melodies from the original world can enchant and win applause from the people of Teyvat.
Xia Zhi smiled and thanked everyone as he set down his guitar.
Xiangling looked at him, her eyes sparkling. "Master, your playing is amazing!"
Sitting nearby, Madame Ping's expression flickered slightly when she heard that.
For a moment, she thought Xiangling was talking to her.
After all, she was Xiangling's master too—and she could play music as well.
"Xinyan has a uniquely shaped instrument too. It looks quite similar to yours, Master. She made it herself, said it was modeled after a rock instrument from Fontaine, but she modified it based on her own ideas."
"Really?"
"..."
Seeing that it was getting late, Mountain Shaper and Moon Carver stood up to bid farewell, preparing to go patrol Guili Plains.
Everyone had played all day and was feeling a bit tired, so they got up to return to their rooms to rest.
But before that, they all went back to the Serenitea Pot together for a relaxing soak in the hot springs.
Mona and Charlotte were very much in favor of that.
--
It was early spring, and the night still held a lingering chill.
Inside the room, Xia Zhi sat alone at the edge of his bed, pulling a [Scarlet Quartz] from his inventory.
Under the light, the crystal in his hand gleamed with a blood-red glow.
"Durin…"
He thought for a while, then clenched his fingers and crushed the crystal.
A blood-colored aura burst forth, wrapping itself around him.
Xia Zhi immediately felt a strange warmth enveloping his entire body.
The chill in the air completely disappeared—just as the item's description had said, it resisted cold.
At the same time, he could sense a very pure will emanating from the blood-red aura.
Was that… a blessing?
As a god of light, Xia Zhi was very familiar with blessing-type magic. The moment he felt it, he recognized the sensation.
He opened his system panel to check.
A new buff had appeared:
[Blessing of Warmth]: A blessing granted by a powerful being. Temporarily resists extreme cold. (Remaining duration: 9 minutes 52 seconds.)
It really was a blessing…
Xia Zhi was a bit surprised.
That "powerful being" must refer to Durin.
But according to what Madame Ping told him earlier, Durin was an dragon that brought great disaster to Mondstadt five hundred years ago.
Such a savage and evil creature—its blood-formed crystal should've been filled with malice and resentment.
Why would it contain a blessing?
And such a pure one at that—unconditional, universally effective.
Could it be that what Madame Ping told him wasn't the true history?
Xia Zhi didn't believe she would deliberately lie to him.
Sure, she had pulled off plenty of things like that in her more scandalous past—but that was long ago. Madame Ping was a good woman now.
Besides, she had no reason to deceive him.
"How interesting…"
Xia Zhi looked at the [Blessing of Warmth] on his panel and chuckled softly.
He had never been one to blindly believe in legends. As he once told Ganyu, sometimes even what people see with their own eyes isn't the truth—let alone what they hear secondhand.
A few minutes passed.
The buff's timer ran out and disappeared from the panel.
At the same time, the warmth around his body began to fade. He could feel the early spring chill in the air again.
Xia Zhi walked over, turned off the light, and lay down in bed.
Then he pulled out his [Dream Pillow], hugging the oversized plush tightly. It felt very comfortable.
A dreamy, soothing fragrance emanated from the pillow's surface, and sleepiness slowly crept over him.
He yawned, closed his eyes, still hugging the pillow.
I wonder if I'll dream of Furina again tonight…
Last time, I didn't get a good look at her situation…
With that thought, Xia Zhi slowly drifted into sleep.
--
A moment later.
Xia Zhi opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by darkness.
An endless darkness.
But he knew this was a dream.
The [Dream Pillow] must've triggered its hidden effect again, bringing him into someone else's dream world.
Maybe Furina's… or maybe not.
He considered it for a moment, then activated the stealth mode of his [Hat of Secrecy].
In an instant, his presence vanished—like he had never existed.
Then, a strange woman's voice echoed in the dark.
"Life denied birth… wishes unfulfilled…"
"Wandering in the black cosmos… sorrowful, unfinished dreams…"
"Come forth into the [real world] through my body…"
"And now, my precious children,"
"Like rain flowing to rivers, like grass stretching toward sunlight,"
"Go to beautiful places, and proudly show your beauty to the world."
As the woman finished her invocation, a strange storm suddenly rose within the darkness.
At its center, a rift was torn open.
Xia Zhi saw light seeping through the crack, and let the storm carry him through it—into the "real world" the woman spoke of.
What met his eyes was a red sky, as if set aflame. Beneath it roamed monstrous beasts as massive as vortex god…
"These are…"
Xia Zhi frowned at the scene before him.
"They're soaked in Abyssal energy…"
Beside him stood a dragon-like Abyss creature, exuding a venomous aura of the Abyss.
Thanks to his grasp over dream-related powers (courtesy of his cousin), Xia Zhi could immediately tell that this creature was the dreamer—the master of this dreamscape.
Its dream energy was the strongest and most distinct.
But who was it?
Why was I pulled into its dream?
He stared at the beast, a vague guess forming in his mind—just as it unfurled its wings, blotting out the sky, and let out an ecstatic roar.
It was saying something.
Xia Zhi thought for a moment and pulled out his [Temporary Certificate], writing: [A person fluent in monster languages].
Then he equipped the certificate in his character panel.
Immediately, he gained a temporary skill: [Fluency in Monster Languages].
The strange roars he couldn't understand now became a young girl's singing voice.
"Mama, thank you, Mama."
"For giving me wings to fly, and a strong body."
"I want to go where beautiful songs are sung, Mama."
"To tell them everyone's stories… and yours too."
"To tell them how beautiful the place I was born is."
The dragon flapped its wings and suddenly flew off at high speed in one direction.
Now that the dream's master was gone, Xia Zhi could feel the dream energy fading fast. It wouldn't be long before the dream dissolved completely.
There was no point staying.
He unfurled his [Radiant Wings] and followed the dragon.
Together, they flew across the sea, arriving at a beautiful city.
At the city gates were two large characters: Mondstadt.
Hovering in the sky, Xia Zhi watched the dragon land within the city.
Dark clouds of poison blanketed the sky. Toxic rain corroded the land. People fled in terror, crying out for the Anemo Archon's salvation…
Finally, Xia Zhi confirmed the dragon's identity.
Durin.
The Abyss dragon that brought calamity to Mondstadt five hundred years ago.
Most likely, because he'd used the [Scarlet Quartz] before sleeping, he carried Durin's aura. That allowed the [Dream Pillow] to use it as a medium and pull him into her dream.
But there was one problem.
Wasn't Durin killed by Dvalin?
Her corpse had turned to bones, now frozen atop Dragonspine.
Xia Zhi looked down at Durin frolicking inside Mondstadt.
Yes—frolicking. Like a child playing with building blocks, her voice rang with pure, joyful laughter.
To the people's ears, her roars were terrifying. But to Xia Zhi, fluent in monster tongue, she was clearly giggling.
"So happy, my friends are so enthusiastic… Why did you stop moving, my friend? Are you tired from playing?"
She didn't seem to understand that the people were afraid of her. She thought they were playing some kind of game.
Xia Zhi watched her, making no move to interfere.
This was a dream. The people here were illusions shaped from memory—saving them was meaningless.
If Durin could still dream, then there was only one conclusion—she wasn't dead.
Her state was probably similar to his cousin's from before: dead, but not completely.
Xia Zhi didn't see any progress bar on her, just like when he first dreamed of the Sacred Sakura Tree. It wasn't until he summoned his cousin's soul that a golden progress bar appeared.
Suddenly, the sound of a harp rang out—beautiful and divine.
Xia Zhi looked over, his interest piqued.
Here we go!
The legendary Anemo Archon—Barbatos!
And his companion—Dvalin!
Excellent!
Let's go!
Fight! Fight!
Durin, stop saying you want to play—they're not here to play!
Wait, what? Barbatos is this weak? Two-on-one and it's still evenly matched?
Because the fight was causing too much destruction in the city, Barbatos and Dvalin lured Durin toward the mountains.
Well, not so much lured—as from Xia Zhi's perspective, Durin just cheerfully followed them, thinking it was a game of tag.
Dvalin's claws tore into her flesh. Her blood splattered across the snow, influenced by some strange force unique to the mountain, and slowly crystallized into blood-red gems.
Xia Zhi picked up one and examined it.
So this was the [Scarlet Quartz].
He tossed it aside and kept following.
Barbatos seemed to be leading Durin toward a specific spot on the mountain.
There...
A massive Nail.
It radiated a chilling force that seemed to suppress the Abyss.
Once Durin reached it, she could no longer keep up with Dvalin.
She looked pained.
Her eyes flickered with inner turmoil.
At last, she seemed to awaken, realizing what she had done.
She stared at the bloodstained skies and scorched land of Mondstadt, stunned, unmoving.
She didn't resist.
Dvalin seized the chance, biting into her neck, driving his fangs deep.
Durin fell.
Blood spread across the snow beneath her, staining it crimson.
Even more beautiful crystals formed.
Perhaps these were the Crimson Agates Madame Ping had mentioned.
Xia Zhi landed beside Durin's head.
He heard her faint voice from her throat.
"So my breath… was poison that corroded the sky… My greetings were curses and malice… my waves, blades against friends… So this is the truth… Then I shall sleep here… May my blood bless this frozen mountain… Travelers… May you feel the warmth that once was… Mother…"
The dreamscape around Xia Zhi began to warp.
It was about to end.
He looked at Durin one last time.
So this… was the true story behind the Dragon Calamity five hundred years ago?
No wonder the [Scarlet Quartz] held such pure blessing power.