Time: Lantern Rite
Location: Boundary of Life and Death
"It seems... this is the end."
As the butterfly flames died out and the Homa Altar successfully burned, Hu Tao's body finally succumbed to the erosion of death energy and slowly collapsed.
"To die like this, I suppose I've lived up to the name of Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor and everyone in Liyue."
"But, I'm still so unwilling."
"I wish I could hear Lumine and Paimon's adventures again, I wish I could eat Xiangling's cooking one more time, I wish I could hear Sister Yun Jin's opera again, I wish I could discuss history and culture with Zhongli again, I wish I could compare doggerel with Xingqiu again, I wish I could..."
The regret of parting filled Hu Tao's heart, and two streams of hot tears slowly flowed down her cheeks.
Just then, a deep purple sphere suddenly appeared beside Hu Tao!
This sphere was strikingly out of place with the surrounding black death energy, and it seemed to possess vitality.
Since its appearance, it had been slowly absorbing the surrounding dust, gradually expanding, and for some reason, a faint light was subtly emanating from its core.
This light, in Hu Tao's eyes, was like her last hope.
She first tentatively extended the staff of homa into it, and seeing it merge into the light unharmed, she struggled to crawl towards the light herself.
When Hu Tao's fingertips touched the spherical surface, a suction force pulled her into the sphere.
And after she fully entered the sphere, she was surprised to find that the death energy on her body had completely receded!
At this moment, the sphere also transformed into a channel leading to light, and the staff of homa was floating in front of Hu Tao.
To cope with any potential unknown dangers, Hu Tao desperately moved her hands, approaching her weapon, and finally grasped it!
What she didn't notice was that a purple light shot into her vision at this very moment.
Looking at the gradually expanding light, Hu Tao suddenly felt a dizzy spell and instantly lost consciousness... Time: ?
Location: A Hollow somewhere in New Eridu
"...Wake up, wake up..." Hu Tao, in a coma, suddenly felt someone shaking her shoulder, and from the voice, this person seemed to be a young girl.
"Amber, you've been shaking her for a minute, why don't we just carry her?" A male voice suddenly sounded nearby, his voice sounding as mechanical as a Fontaine mechanical police officer.
As Hu Tao slowly opened her eyes, the girl in front of her also stopped shaking her: "That's great, you're finally awake."
Hu Tao widened her eyes, carefully observing the two people in front of her:
The white-haired girl who had just shaken her was wearing a green long-sleeved shirt and a black skirt, with a strange machine on her back;
The white-haired man standing guard with two guns wore a slightly strange mask, and his red jacket revealed an angular mechanical shell—Hu Tao then belatedly realized that he seemed to be a robot.
Hu Tao then looked around and found herself in a completely unfamiliar environment, with no recognizable building remnants or iron boxes made of constituent materials anywhere.
She rubbed her eyes, confirmed she wasn't dreaming, and then asked in confusion: "Huh? Where is this? What are those things?"
The white-haired girl paused slightly and asked, "You don't remember how you got here?"
Although they had just met, Hu Tao felt that they were trustworthy. So, she told them about her accidental teleportation while on the verge of death.
The white-haired girl thought for a moment and said, "It seems you really did travel through time and space."
"Well then, welcome to New Eridu."