Chapter Text
“Your constitution is quite unique.” Zhongli's voice echoed, low and composed. As he spoke, he gently raised his teacup to his lips.
“But everything in this world has two sides.”
Lumine heard his words with a hint of confusion. Was he trying to convey something in particular?
“Exactly! That’s why Lumine always passes out in front of Paimon, which makes me so worried all the time.” Paimon couldn’t hold back her complaint, her face drooping with exaggerated frustration.
Lumine blinked at her in brief surprise, but quickly smiled at the little floating girl. “I’ve caused you too much worry. I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful.”
“It’s not really your fault though. You’re just a special one, you can sense strange phenomena wherever you go.” Though Paimon’s words sounded like a grumble, her eyes sparkled with unmistakable pride. She stood with her hands on her hips and her tiny chin raised, beaming brightly at Lumine.
Lumine couldn’t help but laugh warmly at the sight. Opposite them, Zhongli also curved his lips into a subtle smile.
“What Paimon said isn’t entirely wrong. But those effects are merely limited to your own body. Traveler, have you ever considered that your unique constitution might affect others too, both for better and worse?” Zhongli’s calm words caught both of them off guard.
“You mean... my purification ability?”
“If that’s the case, then it must be a good effect! Lumine once purified Dvalin’s tears, remember?” Paimon eagerly chimed in, her tone boasting as if bragging about her own feat.
“I’ve heard that the Traveler has the power to purify the darkness of the Abyss. That is indeed a rare and precious strength. However, all things in this world follow their own unspoken rules. Extremes will reverse their course*.”
“Hey, what does that even mean?” Paimon asked, while Lumine also turned to Zhongli with curious eyes.
“It means that whenever something reaches a state of perfection, it may start to produce the opposite effect.” Zhongli explained gently, his gaze steady and calm as it met Lumine’s.
For a moment, she felt like she was being presented with an unsolvable riddle. Zhongli no longer seemed like the funeral consultant of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, but rather, a god, standing from a divine vantage point, gazing at the Traveler who had wandered from afar and disturbed the balance of his land.
Lumine’s mind slowed. She felt like she was dreaming, recalling the moment when she and Paimon met Zhongli at Liyue Harbor, sharing drinks with him at the Third-Round Knockout after their journey from Inazuma. The memory surged vividly, each of Zhongli’s words still echoing in her ears. It was as if he had been trying to warn her about something tied to her purification powers.
She tried to calm herself and process his meaning, but before she could think clearly, a chilling gleam of light slashed through the air behind her.
Lumine sensed a blade whistling coldly through the wind. She twisted her body to prevent Xiao from the blow, but her movements had grown stiff after hours of relentless ambushes and pursuit by resentful spirits.
She barely managed to protect Xiao, but she wasn’t so lucky herself, the blade struck her right shoulder without mercy, leaving behind an icy burn so deep she couldn’t help but cry out in pain. Warm blood dripped down, splattering onto the ground.
“So fragrant...! So sweet...!!!”
The voice came from within the swarm of resentful spirits, an eerie wail that sent chills down the spine. The spirits seemed to react to Lumine’s blood, growing more frenzied as they hurled even more waves of power at them. Lumine struggled to dodge, trying to keep her breathing steady so she wouldn’t stumble.
The two were relentlessly hunted. The prolonged exposure to the resentful energy radiating from the spirits amplified the karmic debt on Xiao’s body. Layer upon layer of accumulated pain drew soft groans from him in a semi-conscious state.
Hearing Xiao’s groans so close to her ear, Lumine instinctively tightened her grip. He had exhausted himself during that last blow in the mist. Now, overwhelmed by karmic debt, Xiao was unable to fight, unable even to stand.
Though Lumine still had some strength left, she wasn’t faring much better. Her body was covered in wounds, large and small, and blood had been flowing non-stop. She carried Xiao through the dark forest, branches clawing at her body. Her once-white dress was torn and stained red, making her look utterly disheveled.
Even so, she never once stopped. She was terrified that if she so much as paused for a second, the twisted faces behind them would catch up, and their fate would be sealed.
Voices swirled around her ears like a venomous wind, cold whispers of grief and mocking laughter. Some voices urged her to give up, claiming Xiao had succumbed to corruption, and that soon he’d lose all reason and tear her apart. They told her to surrender unless she wanted to die a horrific death.
The whispers turned more furious when she ignored them. They began to scream, conjuring illusions to disrupt her mind. Lumine struggled to dispel the phantoms in her vision. She could feel the karmic debt on Xiao affecting her too, her heart pounded wildly, and her reason began to blur beneath a foggy haze.
Surrounded by karmic debt and resentful energy, it was as if she’d been laid bare. They knew her every fear, used the voices of those she once trusted to lure her soul away.
As a seasoned traveler who had weathered countless brutal battles, Lumine now knew her body was approaching its limit.
Dark blood had started to trickle from her nose, dripping steadily. A metallic taste filled her mouth, she spat a mouthful of blood, her throat growing hoarse.
Her nose was filled with the scent of blood. Her vision blurred, her body chilled from blood loss, and the voices still buzzed in her ears. For a moment, she found herself blindly following their whispered directions, but she quickly snapped back, gritted her teeth, and staggered in the opposite direction.
She couldn’t fall here. Her thoughts might be foggy, her mind fading, but she dared not surrender. The weight on her back reminded her, she had to stay conscious and escape. She remembered clearly: You Feng and Su Yun were targeting Xiao, and she was the bait to lure him out.
At the thought, pain flared from a stab wound on her left arm, the blood trickling down as if mocking her, mocking her foolishness for walking into the trap set by Su Yun and her husband.
Then, suddenly, her foot stepped into empty air. In that instant, the cacophony of noise around them seemed to pause, leaving only the thunderous pounding in her ears. Lumine felt herself stumbling forward, her body lurching.
“Lumi...ne.” Xiao’s broken voice called out by her ear, but it was too late. Together, they plunged into darkness.
Just before being swallowed by the abyss, Xiao summoned the last of his strength, pulled her into his arms, and spread his wings, those blue-black feathers enveloping them both.
Lumine froze momentarily at the soft, slightly itchy sensation against her skin. Beneath the flickering moonlight, she saw her blood slowly staining Xiao’s clean feathers a glaring shade of red.
Their bodies fell in free descent. Held tightly in Xiao’s arms, Lumine didn’t feel much change, only the cold wind rushing past and the furious drumming of his heartbeat against her chest.
She stirred slightly, but Xiao immediately held her still. Her senses tensed, and then the impact hit. His body took the full brunt of the fall, the sound of it deep and painful.
The last things she remembered before losing consciousness were the scent of blood and the lingering warmth in her palm, then her body went limp, and the abyss claimed her.