The child was extremely weak, looking as if he was about to pass away, already in the state of giving his last words:
[Arra: "Am I going to die soon? Waaah… Please tell Mom for me that I shouldn't have disobeyed her…"]
["Also, I broke Suna's toy, but I never dared to tell her because I was afraid she wouldn't play with me anymore. I want to say sorry to her…"]
["Big Brother Tighnari, I heard that when people die, they turn into birds in the sky. Is that true? I feel like my body is floating…"]
In the illustration, the child weakly gazed up at the ceiling, seemingly fantasizing about becoming a bird.
This made the readers' brows furrow tightly. What did this mean? In the past, the knives always came near the end, but now it was starting from frame zero?
Collei's heart skipped a beat. She knew Arra—nothing bad better happen to him!
[Tighnari: "What nonsense. You just have a slight fever."]
Readers: ...
No, that was a bit of an emotional waste! Give us back the empathy we just spent!
Fine. Now that we've handed over our empathy, no matter what happens later in the story, we won't be sad anymore. We don't trust you anymore, Shikikan!
Now it was Arra in the story who was dumbfounded. So it was just a fever? He wasn't going to die? Then he was definitely doomed!
[Arra: "Th-then… Big Brother Tighnari, can you keep the toy thing a secret for now?"]
[Tighnari refused: "No. You're already a big kid. Once you're better, go apologize. Keeping secrets buried in your heart won't solve the problem."]
With no other choice, Arra could only go to Suna and say, "Shh… can we make up?"
Collei let out a sigh of relief. As expected, prophecy books weren't that scary. Everyone had been overly worried.
She had been overly worried too. Arra was usually very healthy—how could he suddenly fall seriously ill? She'd believe it more if he'd eaten too many mushrooms.
In the story, Tighnari was also asking Arra the same thing: his body had always been healthy, so why did he suddenly get sick? Did he eat something?
Arra explained: his mom wouldn't let him play in the forest, which only made him want to go even more.
Once he went in, he couldn't find his way out, and afterward his head felt all fuzzy.
Upon seeing these symptoms, Sumeru readers' first reaction was: Did he eat mushrooms in there?
Readers from other regions thought: Case closed—it's obviously because he went into the "contaminated area" the Traveler is supposed to investigate.
Maybe it's a cultural difference; around here, people generally don't go into the woods to pick and eat mushrooms.
Arra's behavior really made readers with children laugh—this was exactly like their own kids! The more you forbid something, the more they want to do it.
Especially rebellious teens—after watching the island arc, they insisted on defying their parents. If there was no oppression, they'd create oppression just to rebel.
They wanted to be just like little Aymé and the others in the story, saying it was "because they liked it."
Damn it—what exactly did those characters like, and what do you like? You're not allowed to go out and mess around, and you tell me you like messing around?
Helpless parents could only bring out divine artifacts like the "Seven Wolves," the "feather duster," or the "slipper." After using them, the kids became obedient.
Rebel? What rebellion? I'm already a big kid—I won't follow trends anymore.
In fact, for children with normal interests, parents who watched the island arc were supportive. Even if they knew the road ahead would be hard, they wouldn't stop them.
Because they realized letting a child hit a wall was also good education. If the child still had the perseverance to continue after hitting the wall, they'd grown up—perseverance can achieve anything.
If they lacked perseverance, no parental persuasion was needed; the child would give up on their own.
Unfortunately, most kids only thought it looked cool and were just following the trend. They didn't truly love anything, so after one beating, they behaved.
Seriously—if you'd just beaten me earlier, we could've skipped the talking.
In the story, Arra's mother Asha was waiting outside the door. When Tighnari came out, she anxiously asked about Arra's condition.
She was extremely tense right now, only hoping her child would be okay. Before Tighnari emerged, she had been praying devoutly.
She didn't blame Arra for disobeying and running off; she blamed herself more for not watching him properly, for failing in her duty.
Tighnari gave Asha bad news: earlier, saying Arra just had a fever was to comfort the child. Arra's condition wasn't optimistic.
The main issue was that Tighnari couldn't diagnose what illness it was, nor determine the cause, making treatment difficult.
For now, all they could do was use calming herbs to stabilize Arra's condition, then start investigating.
The calming herb was called "Spring-Meeting Grass," mainly grown in the desert and needed to be bought from caravans.
Kind Lucian included a small illustration here, showing young Tighnari.
Tighnari had a bad premonition. In the illustration, little Tighnari was buried in a book, then suddenly looked up and said: "Oh no! So I'm a 'great desert dog'!"
Tighnari's mind buzzed. Stop it, Lucian! What does this have to do with the current story?!
Cyno's eyes widened. Well done, Lucian! We need more stories like this!
Collei was overflowing with maternal affection—Master was so cute when he was little! She wanted to hug him.
Human joys and sorrows are not shared. The few people had completely different moods, yet they were all reading the same story.
In the illustration, little Tighnari slung a bag over his shoulder and headed to the desert—the great desert dog was going home for a visit.
However, not long after reaching the desert, little Tighnari fainted and was urgently sent back to the rainforest.
Upon waking, little Tighnari was devastated, his eyes rippling with tears as he said, looking ready to cry: "Oh no. The 'great desert dog' has degenerated in my generation."
This little interlude made everyone laugh, especially Collei. Afraid of being noticed by her master, she covered her mouth while giggling, her little face turning red from holding it in.
Yes—this is exactly what I wanted to see!
Tighnari said helplessly, "If you want to laugh, just laugh. Don't hold it in and hurt yourself."
Tighnari was a bit embarrassed now—his childhood story was known across all of Teyvat—but more than embarrassment, he was worried about Collei's physical condition.
At this moment, Tighnari understood Ganyu, and Ganyu understood Tighnari. The two who had never met were so in sync.
Hearing Tighnari's permission, Collei couldn't hold back anymore and burst out laughing.
However, her laughter was completely drowned out by Kaveh's.
Kaveh: "Hahahahahaha, little Tighnari was really cute!"
Cyno: "No wonder he took in Collei—it's because of cuteness."
Lucian: "I see. 'Cute' sounds like 'Collei'—quite amusing."
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice · Tighnari: About Ganyu
"I could still chuckle when I saw her childhood story back then. Who would've thought the tables would turn…"