In Liyue, at Wangshu Inn, the storyteller Li Mo spoke slowly on stage while the audience listened intently below. When they heard that Bosacius and the others had found the source of the monsters, they were happy for the yaksha and the Millelith and grateful that these warriors had saved Liyue. But when they learned that Boyang had failed to repair the rift and had been forced to seal the entire space—that the Millelith, the yaksha, and Boyang himself would all be trapped beneath the Chasm—every citizen of Liyue felt a pang of sorrow.
These Millelith soldiers, this yaksha, and these shamans had sacrificed themselves to save Liyue. Knowing the full story now, the audience began to murmur:
"So many people, yet only the shaman Rongzhao had a chance to return to the surface. The price was too high."
"If not for their sacrifice, all of Liyue might have been overrun by monsters."
"I once visited the Chasm. I saw the statues the miners built there. Now it all makes sense."
"But Rongzhao did return to the surface, didn't he? Why is the truth only being revealed now?"
"I don't know. I only heard that when the miners found Rongzhao, he had already gone mad."
"I have a question. Even if Bosacius, Boyang, and the Millelith were sealed underground, is there no chance they survived?"
"Is it possible they aren't dead?"
The audience murmured, unwilling to believe that Bosacius, Boyang, and the Millelith had truly died. They wished these people could break through the seal and return to the surface. But if the seal were broken, Liyue would again face a monster disaster.
Meanwhile, in a corner of the inn, Yae Miko was listening to the story while frantically scribbling notes, turning everything into light novel manuscripts. But at this point, a question occurred to her.
"Alatus—Xiao—"
"Let me interview you. When the monster outbreak happened at the Chasm, you were at Dihua Marsh, fighting monsters too, weren't you?"
In the story just told, Li Mo had mentioned where Rex Lapis, the adepti, and Alatus had been, so Yae Miko knew.
Xiao was absorbed in the tale. Hearing Yae Miko's voice, he turned to look at her and said flatly, "That is correct."
A sly smile appeared on Yae Miko's lips. "Can you tell me about the situation at Dihua Marsh? For example, how many monsters did you fight alone? How many did you kill? How did you defeat them?"
As she spoke, she prepared to write down his answers, planning to publish the story of Alatus's battle at Dihua Marsh alongside Bosacius's story of the Chasm. It would surely capture everyone's attention.
But Xiao said indifferently, "Compared to the dangers they faced at the Chasm, what I faced was trivial."
Even so, what he had faced at Dihua Marsh had been a death trap. He had nearly been consumed by karmic debt. Fortunately, just as he was about to fall into the demonic path, the sound of a harp had awakened him. Only recently had he learned that the music had been played by Barbatos, the Anemo Archon.
He did not want to recall those memories. But Yae Miko was very interested.
"What a pity. I had planned to put your story next to Bosacius's so you could be reunited again. Such a missed opportunity."
Xiao: "…"
Yae Miko: "Are you sure you won't tell me?"
Xiao: "If you are truly interested, after the storyteller finishes this reincarnation, I will tell you."
A triumphant, mischievous smile spread across Yae Miko's face. "It's a deal, then."
...
Meanwhile, on stage, Li Mo heard the audience's murmurs. He spoke slowly.
"As to whether Boyang, Bosacius, and the Millelith soldiers lived or died—let me tell you."
He took a sip of tea and continued.
As he spoke, the Electro energy above the inn quickly coalesced into a shifting tapestry of images.
In the images, Boyang and Rongzhao had a thousand things they wanted to say, but they dared not waste the time the Millelith had bought with their lives. They completed the final seal as quickly as possible.
When it was done, Rongzhao lifted his weary face, hoping to see his brother one more time, to see the Millelith soldiers who had guarded them. But before him there was no brother—only a stone wall suffused with a reddish glow, sealing him off forever from his companions.
In that moment, an overwhelming loneliness washed over him. He wanted to fight alongside Boyang, to stay with those comrades forever. Even if it meant death, he was not afraid.
But now everyone else was going to die, and only he had the chance to live.
Why? Why was he the only one left to live on, alone?
His tired face twisted—lost, bewildered, full of remorse.
No one knew how long passed. Rongzhao picked up the Spear of Comradeship and slowly rose to his feet. Alone, like a lost puppet, he made his way back to the surface.
...
Inside the seal, after the sealing was complete, the Millelith soldiers who had been guarding Boyang finished off the last of the monsters around them. But the moment they realized the seal was finished and they could never return to the surface, each soldier's expression grew complicated.
Not regret. Not fear. But confusion—a loss of all hope.
Seeing this, the Millelith commander raised his spear high and shouted, "Fight our way back! Help Brother Yaksha and the others! If we must die, we'll take the monsters with us!"
At his cry, the hundred soldiers found their purpose again. Their fighting spirit rekindled, they raised their spears and charged back into the fray.
Not only the soldiers—Boyang, though exhausted from the sealing, also picked up a fallen spear and followed them.
Minutes later, when Boyang and the hundred soldiers fought their way back, they witnessed a sight that shook them to the core.
Mountains of monster corpses. Millelith soldiers lying dead in pools of blood, scattered everywhere. Only the nameless yaksha remained.
Fighting like a man possessed. Fighting alone.