"Shenhe, these past two days the foot of the mountain has been restless. I thought it was related to that night's hilichurl riot, so I didn't look deeper.
"But now the hilichurls have already dispersed, and yet a murderous aura still lingers. What's more, many people have been coming and going, disturbing the peace.
"Take this, go down the mountain and investigate. Eliminate the source of the aura."
A strange-looking device flew into Shenhe's hands.
"This is that…"
"Yes. This is the 'Evil Qi Gauge' I crafted specifically for you when you first came.
"At that time, you had just escaped a life-and-death struggle with a demonic beast. You were barely alive when I saved you, but you refused to trust anyone. Always guarded, always fierce toward others.
"So, I used this instrument to measure you. When the reading was high, I'd leave you be. When the reading was low, I'd approach you. Only after you bound yourself with the red cord, and the tests showed it effective, did I finally retire this instrument.
"For me, it felt like only a few moments passed. But for you, more than ten years of life. I didn't expect you would still remember it."
"…Because back then I mistook it for some kind of weapon." Shenhe tightened her grip on the metal object shaped like a spike. "So, the moment I saw it, I was on guard."
"Is that so? Then it seems my design was counterproductive."
"It is so," Shenhe replied with certainty.
"…I see. Looks like next time I design a device for certain people, I'll have to pay more attention to appearances. Alright, go on then, down the mountain." Cloud Retainer tilted her head and waved a wing to shoo Shenhe away, easing the awkwardness.
But Shenhe held her gaze firmly, asking, "Master, when I was little… I didn't do anything embarrassing, did I? And you didn't tell the other adepti about it, right?"
She had heard stories of Master teasing Ganyu—like a demon god nearly dying from choking, or tumbling down mountains; of Xiangling—getting food poisoning, her lips swelling like sausages, or hallucinating tiny people; of Xiao—mistaking Jueyun Chili paste for tomato paste in front of everyone at a banquet, Emperor included, his face burning red with spice while pretending to be calm.
Those stories were amusing enough.
But now, hearing Master suddenly bring up her own childhood, Shenhe's dulled nerves sensed danger.
"There's no such thing as embarrassing moments. In my eyes, they are all endearing. And besides, I am most skilled at conversation. I know exactly what to say, and what not to say."
"Forgive me for being blunt, Master… but perhaps you are not… very skilled at conversation," Shenhe reminded her as politely as possible.
Yet it was still too direct.
"Impossible. Those who speak with me always smile. That proves I am excellent at conversation."
"…I will head down the mountain now, Master."
As Shenhe's figure disappeared beneath the peak, Cloud Retainer shook her head. "Sigh… I wonder who she learned from. Her emotional sense is not even a tenth of mine. She has no understanding of the art of conversation."
…
"Did I hold it backwards?"
The spike-shaped Evil Qi Gauge had one end long and sharp with thorns, and the other a rounded oval grip. Injecting elemental power into the grip activated it.
By common sense, anyone using it for the first time would assume the sharp end pointed upward. But Master was unpredictable—upon sensing evil qi, it was the sharp tip that lit up first…
Thankfully, Shenhe was already accustomed to such counterintuitive design.
Carrying the Evil Qi Gauge through the forests around Mt. Aozang, she detected traces of evil qi beyond her own, and on a wide scale.
Adjusting direction, she tested repeatedly. The readings climbed steadily northward, the green glow turning yellow, then orange. When even the grip end of the "spike" began to glow, Shenhe found herself in a forest of stone spikes.
This place had never existed before—thousands of jagged rock spears, uneven in height and size. Even the smallest towered over a person, their tips sharp as jade.
"According to the gauge, this should be the place."
She traversed the spires for a hundred meters in every direction, but found nothing.
The gauge readings also stayed unchanged, indicating the aura here was evenly distributed—not radiating from a person, but from the area itself.
"Could this have been a battlefield that night? What a nuisance."
Like ripples across water, a false source here misled the search and obscured the true one.
Shenhe calmed her heart, mapping out the battlefield's boundary and noting the edge readings.
Strange events had begun after that battle. This discovery wasn't useless—by comparing aura levels from outside the battlefield, perhaps she could pinpoint the true source.
Eventually, she found one anomaly.
Following a corrected path, the readings dipped as she moved away—then spiked suddenly higher. The gauge glowed crimson, its light crawling past the grip, prickling her hand with pain.
"So, it has a warning function… this was Master's intention."
Before her loomed a mountain.
Shenhe knew this mountain had not existed in the years she lived around Mt. Aozang.
She scaled it, circling its slopes. The readings stayed the same. Only when she stepped away did they drop. Driving the "spike" into its side, the glow flared blood-red, the grip stabbing her hand with pain.
"..."
Inside this sudden mountain.
Her spear appeared in hand. Though her arms looked slender, each thrust struck with great force, carving craters into the rock.
Little by little, a tunnel opened. When it broke into a hollow within, a pair of scarlet eyes awakened in the darkness, emanating an aura so suffocating that even approaching was unbearable. This was surely what Master had sent her to find.
Prepared, Shenhe hurled her spear at the figure within.
A crisp clash rang out—her spear was barely parried by a sword, sparks flying. Oddly, the strength behind that sword didn't match the suffocating aura.
She recalled the spear, preparing a second strike. This one would not be a probe—it would be her full strength, a decisive blow.
["Don't kill my master! He's a good person!"]
"A sword spirit?"
Ice blossomed in a burst. In its cold glow, Shenhe saw the hollow chamber.
It was small, just enough for one person—and indeed, a lone youth lay there.
His teeth bared, expression vicious, yet his body hunched, frail against the stone. His lips were dry and cracked with blood, his frame gaunt. Only his eyes and the sword in hand retained a trace of will.
["Don't hurt my master! Even in this state, he locked himself in this mountain—afraid of harming others! But it's been three days and nights without food or sleep. He's dying…"]
This killing intent, this aura—it was stronger than even her own past self.
And that face, that frail yet fierce expression… When she met Master, had she looked the same?
Something stirred within Shenhe. She alone had endured such suffering. Seeing it mirrored now, she felt a strange resonance.
But unlike her, who fought for survival against demons—this boy chose death to avoid harming others?
Even bound by the red cord that suppressed all emotion, Shenhe's frozen heart was touched.
"Why has he become like this?"
["The Abyss Order! It's their doing! Can you save my master? He's too weak now, he can't hurt anyone. Please… he's about to die!"]
"…I can only try. Do not resist."
That earlier parry had consumed much of the sword spirit's power from its "portable elemental particle generator." To show sincerity, it sheathed itself.
["Please!"]
Shenhe approached carefully. The boy's ragged breath grew clearer.
"Get… away…"
His voice rasped like sandpaper. In this state, he still forced himself to warn her not to come closer.
"You don't need to fear anymore… I will save you."
Shenhe slipped off her red cord and moved to bind his neck. The boy resisted with what little strength he had left, but it wasn't enough. She closed the distance with ease.
"Hss!"
He suddenly bit into her pale shoulder. Shenhe flinched but endured, wrapping her arms around his head, tying the cord tight behind his neck.
At once, the suffocating aura lessened. Some clarity returned to the boy's eyes. His teeth released. He clutched his head, groaning in agony.
His spirit shattered by the aura, his body tormented by pain—he wanted to smash his head into the wall, to end it, but a soft, fragrant body held him still.
"His spirit's been shattered by the aura… rest now."
With a sharp strike of her hand, Shenhe knocked him unconscious—avoiding the risk of ordinary fainting, where pain might wake him.
["Master! Has big sister cured my master?"]
"To cure him fully, my Master must intervene. Come with me up the mountain."
Lifting the boy into her arms, Shenhe sped back toward Mt. Aozang.