The crescent moon suspended in the sky above Liyue Harbor, and Yunqin remained seated as before, her black skirt trailing over the edge of the moon blade, swaying gently with the airflow.
The Moonlight Strings at her fingertips flowed with an eerie, ghostly light, each pluck sending up a spray of fine, dark blue particles.
The melody, both stirring and laced with destructive intent, never ceased, spreading like an invisible net that enveloped the entire harbor.
The gentle scene in the eyes of the people below, where "she walked slowly, her fingertips brushing her cheek," was merely a false illusion woven by the melody.
The real Liyue Harbor had long been shrouded in an endless slumber.
Ningguang froze in place, a Glazed Rock Projectile still condensed in her palm. Diluc's firebird paused mid-air, its flames solidified into an orange-red orb of light. Even the Seaborn that had been roaring just moments ago remained frozen in its pouncing posture, motionless.
Wisps of various elemental auras drifted out from the bodies of the sleepers: the Anemo and Geo elements around Lumine's body struggled weakly, the particles of light representing elemental power circling her palm twice before drifting away reluctantly.
Tartaglia's Hydro and Electro elements lingered with reluctance, purple lightning flickering by the silver hair at his temples for a moment before finally transforming into streaks of light and departing.
The adeptal energy of the adepti, like scattered stars, completely escaped their control.
Even the thin elemental power within the Millelith soldiers' bodies slowly drifted out from the gaps in their armor, as if pulled by invisible threads, converging toward the Abyssal Moon behind Yunqin.
These elemental auras seeped into the patterns along the edge of the moon wheel, causing the originally deep blue crescent moon to gradually swell and deform.
The Abyssal Moon's glow quietly transformed, shedding its former brightness to become increasingly profound, while its edges began to flush with a faint crimson.
It was like a drop of ink falling into clear water, or a drop of blood melting into the night.
The red slowly spread, and in less than half a ke, the entire crescent moon was dyed an eerie blood-red.
Soon after, a massive Blood Moon hung in the sky above Liyue, its dark red halo enveloping every inch of land.
From the nearby bluestone streets of Liyue Harbor to the distant Wangshu Inn, everything was stained with a layer of dark red.
As long as one was within Liyue's borders, no matter where they hid, looking up would reveal this alien moon that did not belong to Teyvat.
Faint patterns seemed to writhe on the moon's surface, like the veins of a living creature.
The moment the Blood Moon rose, all remaining living beings in motion suddenly froze: the trembling elderly hiding indoors and the crying children were completely solidified.
The Millelith soldiers at the harbor could no longer take a single step forward, and the footsteps of the Mondstadt reinforcements came to a complete halt. Even the wind ceased to flow.
Yunqin's melody spread along with the Blood Moon's red light, drilling into the ears of every living being like invisible shackles, instantly draining all consciousness.
Deathly silence completely enveloped Liyue!
Soldiers floating on the sea lost their support, their bodies falling softly into the water, kicking up small splashes before being quickly swallowed by the inky black sea, leaving not a single ripple behind, forever becoming nourishment for the ocean.
Even the bodies of the Seaborn began to rapidly weaken and melt.
Black mucus slid down their scales, and in less than ten seconds, they turned into puddles of foul-smelling rotten mud that exploded with a crash!
The foul black mist, carrying flying debris, blasted the nearby frozen Millelith and Favonius Knights into a bloody mess.
Corpses fell to the ground, blood flowing along the cracks in the earth, quickly stained dark red by the Blood Moon's light, merging into one with the ground.
Lumine's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, her vision began to blur, and the Blood Moon before her eyes gradually doubled.
She bit her lower lip hard, the sharp pain letting her taste a faint metallic tang of blood, trying to use this sliver of pain to dispel the surging drowsiness.
But in her mind, Yunqin's figure grew clearer and clearer.
Those crimson eyes softened, becoming as clear as when they first met. She gently stroked Lumine's cheek, her touch slightly cool.
A soft lullaby echoed in her ears, its melody a nursery rhyme heard upon first arriving at Liyue Harbor, like a mother's whisper, gradually breaking down her final resistance.
"No... I can't... sleep..." Lumine screamed in her heart, her fingertips gripping the hilt of the Festering Desire so hard her knuckles turned white.
But the drowsiness was like a tide, repeatedly washing away her will. The Festering Desire slipped from her palm, falling to the ground with a clatter.
Her body could no longer hold itself up; she collapsed softly and fell into a deep slumber.
When she opened her eyes again, Lumine found herself floating in a boundless, snow-white space. There was nothing around her, and even sound was swallowed by the pure white, leaving a silence that made her heart race with anxiety.
"Another illusion?" she murmured to herself, instinctively trying to summon the Festering Desire, only to find her limbs completely immobile, leaving her floating stiffly.
Lumine's brow furrowed deeply as a familiar sense of helplessness welled up in her heart. The last time she had been trapped in an illusion and seen her Brother, she had been just as powerless.
Ahead, a blurry figure slowly materialized.
Lumine instantly became alert, her heart tightening sharply: "Could it be... Aether again?"
But the figure's outline clearly resembled Yunqin more.
The moment that thought arose, the figure suddenly dissipated like mist.
Immediately after, a weightless voice drifted into her ears.
As the figure vanished, the voice did not disappear in a flash. Instead, it was like a water-soaked cotton thread, clinging to Lumine's ear with a damp heaviness and refusing to fade.
It was too light, light as wind brushing against withered leaves.
Yet it was also too heavy, every word wrapped in an irreducible grievance, like cotton soaked in tears, ready to seep out at the slightest touch: "Please... don't... don't abandon me..."
That was Yunqin's voice, stripped of the coldness she used when controlling monsters, and devoid of the impassioned madness when playing the Song of the Abyssal Moon. All that remained were fragmented sobs, like a lost child crying in the dark, searching for home.
Through the voice alone, Lumine could even envision Yunqin's present state. The young girl was curled up in a corner, her eyes faded to a pale, misty blue, clutching the broken Moonlight Strings, yet not daring to apply any force, afraid that even this last thing "belonging to her" would shatter.
"I clearly... I clearly only wanted to protect Liyue..."
New words mingled with the voice, drifting into Lumine's consciousness, blurred yet clear, carrying a justification that no one ever heard.
"They called me a monster, and they threw stones at me... It hurts so much. It was just a small stone, so why does it hurt so much? If I hadn't come out, would they not be afraid?"
"Mr. Zhongli said, 'The resilience of stone lies in having something to protect,' but what exactly was I protecting?"
"I protected the land of Liyue, yet everyone shunned me; I protected the principles he taught me, yet in the end, it was his Stone Spear that pierced my chest..."
"Was I wrong from the very beginning?"
The voice suddenly dropped, filled with the blankness of self-denial.
Yunqin's fragmented questions mixed with her sobs, blurred yet sharp.
"Should I not have thought about 'protecting'? Should I not have hoped to be accepted? Was I born a monster, born to be abandoned?" She seemed to be asking Lumine, but more so forcing herself to admit this cruel answer.
Before her words even faded, a sliver of a plea she didn't even believe herself followed: "But I really... I really just wanted a place to belong, just wanted someone not to treat me like a monster..."