"I was wondering why the murderous aura was getting closer and closer. Shenhe, did you bring back a calamity star—eh? That face?"
It was the same boy who had shown himself once upon the Jade Chamber, a friend of the Archon. Though unfamiliar, this was already the third meeting.
"Master."
Shenhe briefly described how Victor Wang had been persecuted by the Abyss Order, his mind clouded by murderous energy, and in order not to harm innocents he sealed himself in the mountains, nearly exhausting himself to death.
"You believe what it said just like that? What if it's lying to you? Even a reason like persecution by the Abyss Order could be fabricated." Cloud Retainer cast a sidelong glance at the Wentian Sword.
["My master is a good man! Everything I said is true!"]
"At the very least, this person does look as if he hasn't eaten, drunk, or rested for days. If I hadn't found him, it wouldn't have been long before he perished by his own collapse… and besides, neither of them were my match."
"What a foolish child. Fine, fine, set him down and let me have a proper look."
Even if he was a friend of the Archon, that could not outweigh her own precious child. Seeing the bloody bite mark still lingering on Shenhe's shoulder, Cloud Retainer felt a twinge of heartache.
She extended one wing over Victor Wang's face, carefully examining him. After a moment she gave a slight nod and said:
"He does seem to have had his killing intent forcibly stirred, his spirit violently assaulted. To put it crudely, it is like a balloon forced to contain excess air, nearly ready to burst apart. That he retains even a shred of consciousness… not becoming a mindless husk is already a blessing."
Little Wen asked anxiously, ["How could this happen! Then can he still be saved?!"]
"His spirit is fractured, but the threads are not wholly severed, and his tenacity is remarkable. When he wakes again, if consciousness remains, then there is hope. If he falls into complete silence, even the Archon's hand would avail nothing."
["So, it means everything depends on him getting through this on his own…"]
"Exactly. What mortals call faith, willpower—these are all forms of spiritual strength, mysterious and ineffable. A stronger spirit can influence or shatter another spirit with ease. But to repair one? Unless they are bound by utmost intimacy, or unless one side is pure to the extreme, otherwise—how could any patch hold? Spirit admits not the slightest impurity."
["Pure to the extreme? Master, you once told me the story of the Hydro Mimic."]
"In his state now, he would only serve as a fine meal for a Hydro Mimic." Cloud Retainer rolled her eyes in a very human manner at Shenhe. "You're letting worry cloud your judgment. In truth, fretting is useless. Instead, help me remove his cloak."
["You! What do you intend? So long as I'm here, don't think of taking advantage of my master!"]
"Ahem… be at ease. Though I am curious about the principles that let this cloak obscure my probing, for now I only want to check the boy's injuries. Saving him first, then seeking his consent for further study—is that not better?"
"Cloak?! So, so that's what it was, I thought…"
"Hm?"
["No! Nothing… please, examine him properly."] Little Wen hurriedly shook his hilt.
Shenhe had already deftly removed Victor Wang's cloak.
"Hm… mm… tch…"
Withdrawing her wing, Cloud Retainer sighed, shook her head, her expression growing heavy. Little Wen and Shenhe both dared not speak, fearing she might declare a death sentence.
"This body is most peculiar! Beyond his own oddity, it bears the taint of the Abyss Order's baleful power, as though elemental energy once rampaged through him without pattern. It is pitiful to behold… yet precisely because of his peculiarity, his vitality is extraordinarily strong, else he would not have survived."
Looking at Victor Wang's face—other than its gauntness, no different from an ordinary human—Cloud Retainer was baffled. By her probing, he should have been… a Hilichurl?
"Shenhe, strip off all his clothes."
["No, no! You can't!"]
"…Master?" Shenhe looked at Cloud Retainer with some confusion.
"I need a more accurate grasp of his injuries. Strip him."
["You mustn't!"]
"Why not? This is for your master's safety."
["No means no! If you… if you take off my master's clothes, and when he wakes he finds his innocence gone, he… he might not be able to take it and choose suicide!"]
The air fell silent.
Shenhe tugged nervously at her sleeve and asked uncertainly, "It shouldn't come to that, right?"
["It will! Definitely! My master has guarded his purity for eighteen years!"]
"My fault—I hadn't considered that. Very well, we won't remove them. Shenhe, quickly descend to the nearby peaks and gather one hundred fresh Qingxin flowers, twenty Flaming Flower Stamen, ten Violetgrass. Then go to your Uncle Moon Carver and fetch some shed fur, say it's needed for making red cord."
"Understood."
After Shenhe left the mountain, Cloud Retainer and Little Wen looked at each other. Somehow, Little Wen felt this crane harbored ill intent.
"Alright, alright. Now it's just you and me… two left. If I undress your master now, it doesn't count as sullying his innocence, does it?"
["Ha! You're still thinking of undressing him?"]
"I am not human."
["You think I don't know that? I was born of spirit-stone, and have lived a hundred thousand years since my creation. Do you think I wouldn't know that Liyue's adepti can assume human form? From your voice, you're female too!"]
"Hmph. I have truly lived for millennia. What sights have I not seen? Undressing this boy is only for his sake."
["Can you swear before the Geo Archon that what you say is true?!"]
"I… even if I harbor some selfishness, you couldn't stop me if I truly wished to undress him, could you?" Cloud Retainer suddenly stiffened her neck, lofty and unyielding, disregarding Little Wen.
["You! How unreasonable can you be?"]
Balancing on one leg, Cloud Retainer hooked one claw at Victor Wang's coat buttons, assisting with her beak, but after much effort failed to undo them.
"Tch, why is this garment so hard to remove?"
["No! Don't…"] Little Wen could only watch, helpless.
"After all, it was my disciple and I who saved your master. Must you be so petty? Let me see—it won't kill him."
Cloud Retainer shook her form, transforming into a tall, mature woman with waist-length black hair, a red half-rimmed pair of glasses, and a turquoise feather hairpin. Her expression was cold and proud.
Then, impatiently, she bent over, unfastened Victor Wang's coat buttons, and stripped off the shirt beneath with unyielding hands.
A body of mingled black and white flesh was laid bare.
"What is this?!"
["Master! I failed to protect your secret!"]
"Fear not. I am not one to gossip. I know what to speak of and what not."
Yet as she said this, Cloud Retainer pressed her hand upon Victor Wang's chest, probing about.
"It really is the body of a Hilichurl, but his head and left arm have reverted to human… how could this be?"
["Hey! Not only did you undress him, you're touching him too! And not just touching—you're trying to take off his trousers?! Enough already! If you go further my master's purity will truly be lost!"]
After a moment's hesitation, Cloud Retainer withdrew her hand. Any further and indeed it would cross a line. "Alright, alright, put his clothes back on. Let's pretend none of this happened."
["You've already seen everything! You must take responsibility!"]
"…I truly have no means to mend his spiritual damage, but for his physical injuries, I do have a way. I'll give all the strength I can muster. Let me first return to my abode for some materials…"
A few minutes later, Cloud Retainer—back in her crane form—hauled out a massive cauldron with inner and outer layers.
Muttering about "adjust this side," "patch that side," she worked with taps and strikes, modifying it. By her adeptal power she placed Victor Wang inside the inner chamber, filled it with mountain spring water, then in the seven compartments of the cauldron placed Mist Flower Corollas, Flaming Flower Stamens, and other elementally charged herbs. Finally she set the lid—with its central hole—over Victor Wang's head.
Adeptal fire rose beneath, seven-colored smoke curling upward. Within, only Victor Wang's head showed above as his body slowly began to spin.
["What… what is this thing! Don't tell me you're cooking my master alive?"]
"This is the 'Device for Healing Elemental Inner Injuries.' It moistens with pure water, nourishes with adeptal fire, and with the array inscribed within, the body is healed by seven elements. For your master's injuries, it could not be more fitting."
["You just said 'boil' and 'cauldron!'"]
"Names are but designations, words only for communication. So long as you understand, that suffices."
["Then why must he spin? And spin faster and faster?"]
"…That is the sole flaw of the 'Device for Healing Elemental Inner Injuries.' It must rotate to achieve even distribution within… ahem, I must now exert my full power, and can spare no more idle chatter."
The inner chamber spun faster and faster, Victor Wang's face becoming a blurred afterimage, mist billowing upward like fog.
Half an hour later, the device chimed with a clear ding—the water inside had fully evaporated.
["Master!"]
Victor Wang remained unconscious, but his complexion was much rosier, as though during the steaming even his body's water needs had been replenished.
After probing again, Cloud Retainer lifted her head proudly. "See? This is the power of the 'Device for Healing Elemental Inner Injuries.' As for the baleful aura, I have a way to deal with that too—if he can endure the damage to his spirit. That part will depend entirely on his own fate."
["That doesn't worry me! My master will surely prevail!"]
Little Wen did not know much else, but he did know that his master had once subdued the very Hydro Mimic Cloud Retainer had mentioned… Even if that power had faded long ago, the suffering his master had endured on his journey was never false—and had he not endured them all?