Mochen hurried away from that place without daring to look back. His footsteps pounded the street stones with a chaotic rhythm, in sync with his wildly racing heartbeat.
For some reason, he couldn't shake the shivering feeling creeping up his spine when he saw that face. The face that was utterly ruined last night, now smooth without a flaw!
Clearly he's not human... Mochen muttered, quickening his pace, bumping into the shoulders of several pedestrians who grumbled angrily.
But... if he's not human, then what is he?
His brows furrowed tightly, pressing his lips until they turned white. His simple brain was forced to work overtime, piecing together the wrong puzzle pieces.
At that moment, he suddenly swallowed saliva that tasted bitter. A premise emerged in his head, rooted in prejudice and ignorance.
Humans don't accept differences, that's what I believe... therefore, humans will choose to approach a human rather than a different race...
At that moment, his breath suddenly hitched. His eyes widened, staring blankly ahead.
He's approaching Miss Ganyu, who is half-Adeptus...
He stopped in the middle of the busy road. Frozen like an ice statue in midsummer. His eyes blank, unblinking, staring at the horror he had just created himself.
People passing by looked at him while narrowing their eyes, whispering about the crazy young man who suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. But their voices were just mosquito buzzes in Mochen's ears.
Not long after, he blinked several times in quick succession, trying to dispel the hallucination, but the conclusion gripped even stronger. His trembling fingers slowly lifted and covered his face, leaving gaps between the fingers for eyes filled with fear looking at the world.
At that moment, his eyes and gaze trembled. His breath seemed stuck in his choked throat.
Humans indeed can't heal in one day, but what about an Adeptus???
He bowed stiffly, silent for quite a while. His palms covering his face felt increasingly cold and wet with sweat. Then, he continued... So this makes sense.... he said in his heart.
He immediately looked ahead again. His face pale ashen.
Feeling people's stares, he looked around and found that he was considered a weirdo. He then immediately wanted to walk again, wanting to quickly reach a safe place, to his boss's place.
However, just as he was about to take a step forward, he suddenly froze again. His eyes jerked instantly, seeing fragments of memory flashing in his head like lightning in a night storm. Memories of his boss's fist slamming into that man's face.
He remembers that the boss has beaten an Adeptus!
At that moment, his gaze seemed blank for an instant, then he blinked hard, trying to digest the magnitude of the sin they had committed!
I understand that the boss hates people who try to approach Miss Ganyu, but the premise is if that person is an ordinary human... a foreigner who doesn't know his place.
Who would have thought that he is an Adeptus in disguise???
Maybe he's an Adeptus from a distant land. Or perhaps he's one of the Yaksha disguised to test humans. And they... they have failed that test in the most brutal way.
How should I explain this to the boss???
Mochen was in a dilemma. His boss was a tough person, but he wasn't a fool who wanted to seek trouble with immortal beings.
Should I be straightforward? Tell him to immediately apologize to that person before he changes his mind and annihilates us?
He thought hard while walking sluggishly.
Don't tell me... in the stall, he pretended not to recognize me because he doesn't care about being beaten before?
Mochen imagined the calm face of that man in the stall earlier. A face without grudge, without anger. A face that looked at Mochen like looking at an ant.
For him, it's just a trivial matter. It's just passing wind. Human punches mean nothing to a god's skin.
Then why did he stay silent? Why didn't he just kill me there with a snap of his fingers?
At that moment, he suddenly widened his eyes. A revelation suddenly crossed his mind. He imagined that man's voice whispering in his ear, a majestic and terrifying voice.
"Why should I ask you to apologize to me, an Adeptus?"
"What I need is self-awareness!"
This....
He's giving me a hint?!
His legs trembled on their own and he swallowed. That man is waiting for us to come ourselves, prostrate, and beg for forgiveness!
If not... heavenly punishment will descend...
Not long after, he decided to continue walking slowly. He walked towards where the boss was.
...
The muscular man with the dragon tattoo lounged back in the rickety chair. His booted, dirty feet stretched out in front, blocking the path. His large, rough hands held a glass of beer, lifting it in the air, about to drink. His face was quite red, not from embarrassment, but from the alcohol that had burned his common sense since afternoon.
At that moment, footsteps suddenly sounded.
The man, called boss by Mochen and feared by small traders around, perked up his ears and caught the sound. He narrowed his eyes, turning towards where the footsteps came from.
There, at the threshold of the dimly lit warehouse, his gaze caught a figure running towards him in a hurry. It was Mochen.
When Mochen's eyes looked at him, he stopped instantly, bowing with hands resting on his thighs, his chest heaving roughly like a broken water pump. Cold sweat dripped from the tip of his chin, falling to the dusty warehouse floor. He looked exhausted.
The boss, staring at him in silence, tapped the table rhythmically with his index finger.
He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the pleasant dizziness, then opened them again. He looked at Mochen who seemed to let out a long sigh, regulating his breath, then straightening his back slowly. He seemed calm now.
After that, he approached the boss's table. "BOSS!" he shouted. His voice cracked.
The boss looked startled, surprised to hear his name called loudly and without the usual respect. Then he looked at his trembling eyes. He saw something there. Pure fear. The kind of fear you see in cornered animals.
But then, Mochen who seemed unable to look into the boss's eyes, turned his face away. He was confused about how to say what he had just concluded.
Should I be honest?
Ask the boss to apologize to that Adeptus?
That's crazy!
The boss will kill me right here for being considered a coward!
The boss waiting for him to speak narrowed his eyes. His body that had leaned forward in surprise suddenly leaned back casually. His head tilted, looking at Mochen like looking at an annoying fly.
"WHAT?!" he shouted back, his voice thundering in the narrow room.
The shout made Mochen instantly startled, his shoulders jumping. He didn't expect his boss to shout back!
"Why did you come here with a face like that? Your face is like you've seen your ancestor's ghost. That's very annoying. Don't you see what I'm doing?"
His brows furrowed looking at him, then he clicked his tongue softly, Tsk, without continuing a word. The boss felt his drinking mood ruined.
Instead of waiting for Mochen to speak, he waved his hand briefly, a dismissing gesture, and shifted his gaze to the glass containing beer. Then the glass was lifted, he sipped a little, then gulped in long swallows until his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
Glug. Glug. Glug.
Mochen bowed his head, swallowing saliva that tasted bitter. He knew he had to say it now, or they would all die!
Then he lifted his face, looking at the boss who had just finished drinking and slammed the empty glass on the table.
"He... he's healed," Mochen said softly, almost whispering.
Silence for a moment. Only Mochen's breathing could be heard.
Hearing that, the boss slowly narrowed his eyes. The alcohol in his head seemed to evaporate a bit. Slowly he dropped the glass containing the remaining beer with a loud sound. Brak! And wiped his beer-stained lips with the back of his hairy hand.
"Who?" he asked, his voice sharp like a freshly sharpened folding knife.
"That man!" Mochen shouted, frustrated because his boss didn't understand the urgency.
The boss widened his eyes again, then instantly narrowed them again, this time full of disbelief and a bit of anger.
"Are you joking?" he hissed.
"Your sense of humor is really bad. Your joke isn't funny," he continued. "I just ruined his face last night."
Mochen still stood, not stepping back at all. His gaze traced the boss's face that looked a bit drunk but dangerous, then locked on both his eyes. Quite a while until he decided to answer the question seriously.
He shook his head vigorously.
"Serious."
The boss froze instantly. His breath caught in his throat.
He was shocked to hear the news. For him, it was the last thing he wanted to hear when death came for him, especially when he was enjoying his afternoon drink.
Healed overnight? That's impossible. Unless... unless the victim wasn't an ordinary human!
But instantly, he narrowed his eyes, thinner, trying to find signs of lies on his subordinate's face. That gaze fixed on Mochen's face, pressuring the young man's mental state.
"I don't believe something I haven't seen with my own eyes," he said coldly.
He pushed the chair back a bit. The chair legs scraped against the wooden floor, producing a creeek sound that hurt the ears. His body rose, standing up. His shadow loomed tall, covering Mochen.
"Take me to where he is," he said sharply, like an absolute command.
Mochen blinked quickly. Don't tell me... he wants to meet him?!
Instantly his lips opened, but didn't say a word. His brain screamed: DON'T! THAT'S SUICIDE!
At that moment, Mochen diverted his gaze, looking at the stack of rice sacks in the distance, pretending to think. Then he examined his dirty fingernails, trying to stall for time.
"I think... he's already left there," he answered stammeringly.
He was afraid to make them meet!
What if the boss came and hit that man again?! Trying to prove that he could still be hurt?
Then that Adeptus would surely awaken his true power. He might summon lightning, or freeze them into eternal ice statues in the middle of the market!
He would seek revenge!
That would be the worst end he could imagine before the apocalypse!
The boss still narrowed his eyes, observing his subordinate's strange behavior.
"It's okay. Take me. The world sides with the lucky ones," he said arrogantly.
"And I am one of them. Or...."
He stopped speaking, instead he walked around the table. His steps heavy, the floor vibrated every time his feet landed. He stopped right in front of Mochen, their faces only inches apart. The strong smell of alcohol and sweat wafted.
Their gazes met for quite a long time. Mochen felt like a rabbit stared at by a python.
And at that moment, Mochen's eyes instantly trembled, looking at him with horror. He couldn't hide his fear.
The boss then clenched his fist slowly. The veins in his arm bulged around the faded dragon tattoo.
"Are you trying to lie to me?"
...
You left the stall right after paying.
Outside, you observed around, from corner to corner. Liyue, usually bustling, now seemed like a dead city tonight. Lanterns began to extinguish one by one, leaving long shadows writhing on the walls.
You let out a long sigh, white vapor escaping your mouth. And along with that breath, a crack opened in your amnesia wall.
The memory you sold for your perfect face began to seep back, leaking like a roof in the rainy season. You then remembered the previous scene, where you were chased by three people with blurred faces. You remembered that fear. You remembered the pain of cracked bones.
At that moment, as your head returned to that horrifying flashback scene, your body immediately curled up a bit. You crossed your arms tightly in front of your chest.
Not long after, you stepped forward, walking the way home with quick steps. Your hands gently rubbed your cold arms, your fingers red and stiff.
Why does today feel so cold? your mind asked. Or is this cold coming from inside me?
You pulled your cardigan tighter, hoping the thin fabric could protect you from the cruel world.
After a few steps and sighs of white vapor escaping your trembling lips, you suddenly stopped.
Your ears, now more alert because of the returning trauma, suddenly caught the sound of someone's footsteps seemingly approaching from the front.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
At that moment, the footsteps grew closer and clearer, echoing in the narrow silent alley. Until then you caught another sound besides the footsteps. A low baritone voice, full of disgusting self-satisfaction.
"What a coincidence," he said calmly.
Although you couldn't see his face because it was covered by the roof's shadow, somehow you knew this person was smiling. A wide smile showing yellow teeth.
You, who were looking down, slowly lifted your head a bit.
You saw two muscular men now standing in front of you, blocking the path like two towers of flesh.
And sure enough, the muscular man with the faded dragon tattoo grinned. "We meet again."
He stared at your face in silence. His sharp eyes scanned every inch of your smooth skin. And his eyes instantly widened. Pure shock flashed there.
But in an instant, that expression vanished, replaced by a wider and crazier grin.
"So your face really is healed, huh," he said.
"I thought he was lying to me," he continued. He pointed to the side, at the smaller muscular man standing trembling beside him. It was Mochen!
That muscular man, Mochen, seemed startled when his boss pointed at him like that. He looked at his boss with his mouth open, but didn't say a word. Before then turning back to you with the corner of his lips lifted slightly, awkward and full of fear.
"Aha-ha." Mochen's laugh sounded like a hiccup.
Not long after, Mochen immediately bowed to you. Bowing deeply, almost ninety degrees.
Eh, why? You stared at this scene and were confused about what to say. Why is this person bowing to me?
The man who seemed to be the boss looked at Mochen with raised eyebrows high. Clearly, he was puzzled by his subordinate's strange behavior.
"Looks like today you're lucky because I didn't end up hitting you for trying to lie to me," the Boss said to Mochen.
Hiii!!! Mochen immediately stood straight like a spring, his face pale ashen. He looked at the boss with horror, then looked at you again with a pleading gaze.
Please don't kill us, Lord Adeptus!
Then the boss looked back at you. He stepped forward one step.
"So it turns out you can heal yourself," he said softly.
He paused, letting the sentence hang in the cold air. Before bursting into laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
"HAHAHAHA!"
His laughter echoed in the alley, bouncing off the brick walls, sounding like the howl of a mad wolf.
You and Mochen blinked several times, puzzled by the laughter that suddenly erupted from this person.
"Boss?" Mochen asked puzzled, his voice small.
At that moment, the boss slowly returned to normal. He wiped the tears of laughter from the corner of his eye. Then he turned to Mochen and asked, "What?"
Mochen opened his mouth instantly, but he closed it again, hesitant. However, he bit his lip until it bled and released what was in his head desperately.
"Maybe... we should leave here...." he squeaked.
This Adeptus might still be generous now, but what happens if he gets really angry?
The world will be destroyed!
The boss narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp like a knife. "Why did you suddenly become a coward? We just found a toy that can't break."
"I mean, look boss," Mochen glanced at you secretly, several times his gaze went up and down from toe to head. "He can heal himself... he must not be a human!!"
At that moment, the boss instantly froze for a long time. His eyes widened. His mouth slightly open.
He was very shocked!
He just realized the implications of that instant regeneration.
However, instead of fear, his smile quickly returned. Wider. More sadistic. Crazier.
"Then that's great," he whispered.
"That means I just need to hit you continuously until your face can no longer be healed! I can hit you forever without fear of you dying!"
He stepped slowly towards you, clenching his large right fist.
Boss?! Do you really understand what I mean??? Mochen jerked back, his eyes darting everywhere, panicking looking for a way out before lightning struck them.
On the other hand, you backed up step by step. Your back wet with cold sweat. You knew what was going to happen. The pain you forgot last night was now ready to be rewritten on your body.
But then he quickly closed the distance even more. His steps long and fast.
Just as you were about to turn to run, he had positioned himself close enough to hit you. No way out this time!
THWACK!
You were hit right in the face. In the same spot as last night. Your nose bone that had just healed felt cracked again.
You were thrown back several steps, your feet tripped on a stone, then fell hard on the cold ground.
Thump.
He immediately jumped on you, pressing your chest with his knee, pinning you to the ground like a wrestler locking his opponent. He raised his fist high, ready for the second round of torture.
He smiled madly. "Let's see how fast you heal this time!"
At that moment, your body suddenly shivered violently. Your teeth chattered silently. Clack. Clack. Your breath released thick short bursts of vapor like cigarette smoke. The entire air in the place seemed to become cold, freezing the sweat on your forehead into ice crystals.
But your eyes didn't stop trembling looking at the madman above you who was about to hit you for the second time. He didn't care about the cold. He was controlled by the heat of his anger.
As he was about to release his punch, launching that deadly fist towards your face...
You closed your eyes tightly.
God... System... Anyone... please...
You hoped the punch wasn't as hard as before. You hoped you could just faint.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
However, after waiting what felt like forever, you didn't feel any touch on your face. No pain. No sound of breaking bones.
Only silence.
And bone-piercing cold.
Out of curiosity, and fear of uncertainty, you opened your eyes slowly. And you saw something amazing. Something beyond logic.
You blinked several times, wondering how it was possible. Were your eyes damaged from the punch earlier?
In front of you, on top of your body, the figure of the Dragon Tattoo Boss was perfectly frozen.
Not figuratively. He was truly an ice statue.
His raised fist stopped in the air, wrapped in a layer of crystalline ice that sparkled. His madly grinning face now trapped in an eternal ice mask. His sturdy body became a frozen monument that was cold and hard.
Even his breath vapor froze into snowflakes in front of his mouth.
You didn't understand. Your brain refused to process what happened.
You pushed the frozen body. Heavy and cold. The ice statue rolled to the side with a loud thud, cracking a bit at the shoulder, but remaining intact in its horrifying position.
You sat up, panting, staring at the statue several times, blinking rapidly.
Then you turned towards Mochen.
Mochen was no longer there. Or more precisely, he was there, but in another form. He stood stiff near the wall, frozen in a running position, his face turned back with an eternal terror expression. He too had become an ice statue!
You immediately looked around in that sitting position, trying to find out what caused this to happen!
At that moment, your eyes caught something. At the end of the alley, on the roof of a low building, you saw a vague figure. A slender silhouette standing against the moonlight.
The figure stared at you for a moment. You couldn't see their face clearly, but you felt that gaze. A cold but not hostile gaze. The gaze of a protector.
Then, the figure turned and stepped away, disappearing into the night darkness as if they had never been there.
But, before they completely disappeared, the night wind brought a sound to you.
A soft tinkling sound.
Kling... kling...
It was the sound of a bell.
...
A/N: Euh... sorry for updating only today.... This morning I was in trouble so I didn't have time to upload it. Even though I promised to upload it on Friday, I am truly sorry.... For this week, one more chapter left that I'll upload on Patreon. Maybe tonight I'll upload it again or maybe next Sunday... who knows. You can see the next chapter sooner on my patreon whose link is below:
https://www.pâtreon.com/Junxt
Replace "â" with "a" and search for it in your browser.
Hmm... as you know, I intentionally inserted misunderstanding elements into this chapter because it seems interesting and makes sense xD. I don't know how fast human body healing using vision... but in the lore it seems there's nothing like that... vision is just an element. Therefore, I assume that abilities other than elements are characteristic or characteristics possessed by certain people, factions, and races. Let's take a recent example... like the character Lauma who is Frostmoon Scions. In her lore, she uses her own blood to heal a little child (I forget the name). Then I thought, why didn't she use vision to heal that wound? Can't she? Because she's not a doctor? So I think that's not how elements work...