Kael and Yanfei arrived aboard the Alcor.
All the crew were already lined up on deck, waiting.
In Liyue, Beidou had asked the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to cremate the bodies of the fallen crew members.
The dead weren't all from Liyue.
They came from every corner of Teyvat, most of them poor, homeless souls.
The Alcor was their home, and the crew their family.
Beidou had made her decision: she would carry their ashes with her, letting them forever remain with the Alcor on its voyages.
After everyone bid farewell to the deceased, Beidou ordered the crew to carry the urns into the cabin.
Then she spotted Kael and Yanfei sitting not far away and walked over.
"Kael, how are you feeling today?"
Now, this was the first question everyone asked him the moment they saw him.
Because he looked absolutely terrible.
He'd wasted away until he was nothing but skin and bone, his body shrunken and gaunt.
His complexion was a sickly bluish-white, like every trace of life had been drained from him.
Kael lifted his head. Seeing the worry etched on Beidou's face, he forced a reassuring smile.
"I'm fine."
Beidou didn't call out his lie. She only gave him a strained smile. "Is that so? Then good."
"The Alcor will be leaving Liyue tonight. We've got a trade deal with Inazuma that's already been delayed far too long. We have to set sail today if we want to make it in time."
She looked at him. "Stay in Liyue and rest. When we return, you can come back aboard and sail with us again."
"Mm. All right."
Kael gazed at Beidou, thinking to himself that this might be the last time they ever saw each other.
There were some things he had to say, or he'd regret it forever.
"Big Sis, getting picked up by you back then was the best thing that ever happened to me. These years... I've been truly happy."
"You and everyone on the Alcor must hold on to that courage. Keep sailing forward without fear."
Hearing this, Beidou felt a surge of unease in her chest.
"Kael, why are you saying this? You're supposed to stay with us always, aren't you?"
Kael smiled faintly. "It's nothing. I just... attending the funeral today, it got me sentimental. Big Sis, the others are looking for you—go to them."
Watching the worried expression on Beidou's face as she left, Yanfei, standing behind Kael, whispered, "Kael... you're not going to tell her?"
Kael shook his head. "No. Let the Alcor go. I don't want them to stop sailing just because of me.
And honestly... just facing this parting with you already feels almost unbearable.
I don't want the Alcor watching me die too."
He turned his head, his eyes dulled by illness as he weakly looked at Yanfei. "Yanfei, let's go out. You and I... we've never actually been on a real date, have we?"
Yanfei forced back the pain stabbing at her heart, making herself smile brightly. "All right! Let's go!"
Kael had her push his wheelchair toward Chihu Rock.
From his past experiences, dating was all about eating, drinking, and shopping.
Yanfei was a well-known legal consultant in Liyue, and she had helped countless residents resolve disputes.
So as she and Kael went down the bustling streets, many people stopped to greet her.
And every time, Yanfei proudly introduced the man in the wheelchair.
"This is my lover."
Almost everyone who heard her say that froze in shock.
The man in the wheelchair was ugly, skeletal, practically a walking corpse.
He looked like he was already at death's door.
And that was the lover of the beautiful, famous lawyer?
They were far too mismatched.
But when they saw the pride on Yanfei's face, no one dared say anything. They simply offered polite greetings and moved on.
Only one person spoke her mind.
"Huh? Yanfei, your lover's face looks really strange... and honestly, he doesn't seem like he has long left..."
Hu Tao tilted her head, looking him up and down. "Say, would you like to hear about the packages we offer at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?"
Kael recognized her instantly.
In his previous life simulation, he had spent quite some time with Hu Tao.
She had even been the one to see him off.
"I heard from Big Sis that the Alcor's fallen crew were handled by the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Thank you for your help."
"No need for thanks, business is business. Oh, so you're one of the Alcor's crew too?"
Hu Tao had her assistant hand him a brochure.
"All of your crewmates went with the cheapest package—just simple cremation. But maybe you'd like something a little higher-end? Judging from your looks, I'd say you're from Liyue, right? I'd recommend a burial."
"We Liyue folk should return to our roots, after all."
"This burial package is only 190,000 Mora—an incredible deal."
Kael took the brochure and carefully studied its contents.
"Hmm... personally, I think cremation might be better. That way, the ashes could be—"
"Stop it!!"
Yanfei suddenly shouted, her voice cracking.
Her hands gripped the wheelchair so tightly the veins stood out across her knuckles.
She turned her head, staring at Kael in shock.
The emotions she had been suppressing all day finally broke through at that moment.
Huge tears streamed down her face, dropping one after another.
She looked at Kael, her voice trembling in a desperate plea. "Stop... please stop..."
Yanfei knew her tears could affect Kael's mood, could weigh down his fragile body.
She had tried so hard to hide her pain.
She had tried so hard to keep smiling for him.
But all that effort crumbled the moment she heard him calmly discuss his own funeral arrangements.
She couldn't accept it. She couldn't accept that her lover was about to die.
And she had no way to stop it.
She could only watch as Kael, by her side, took step after step closer to death.
What could she do? What could she possibly do to keep him here? Was there anyone who could tell her...
Yanfei collapsed to her knees, pressing her head against the back of the wheelchair, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her cries broke through the busy streets, raw and helpless.
"Stop... don't say it... Kael... don't say it..."
As if by refusing to speak of death, she could somehow hold on to his life.