Genshin Impact: Awakening in the Darkness

Chapter 105 Misunderstanding

In the early morning in Liyue Harbor, an anxious figure was quickly darting through the alleys, running towards—"Hall of Rebirth".

Hu Tao had just stepped out and yawned when she saw an anxious figure running towards her: "Hey, Jin Xuan. What's wrong so early..."

Before Hu Tao could finish speaking, Xuan Yue rushed into the "Hall of Rebirth," grabbed Zhong Li who was drinking tea, and ran outside.

"Master! I urgently need to borrow your guest elder. Here is the deposit!" Xuan Yue said quickly, then tossed a bag of Mora into Hu Tao's hands.

Hu Tao immediately beamed with joy: "What a big customer! So generous! Your old friend is quite something. But the more the merrier. Time to get back to handing out flyers!" Hu Tao wasn't worried about his guest's situation at all; Jin Xuan wouldn't eat him.

Over here, after pulling Zhongli away from Liyue Harbor, Xuan Yue prepared to spread her wings and fly back to Jueyun with Zhongli.

“Old friend, there’s no need to be in such a hurry.” But Xuan Yue didn’t listen at all. Zhong Li wasn’t surprised by this, after all, he had experienced this kind of thing hundreds or thousands of times before.

After arriving at Jueyun Pass, Xuan Yue finally put Zhong Li down: "Morax! Xuan Qing has been out of contact for over a month!"

Xuan Yue stopped calling him "Zhong Li" and started calling him "Morax," which showed that he was on the verge of collapse, forcing Zhong Li to take him seriously.

Zhongli: "Tell me in detail."

Xuan Yue was so anxious that she didn't know where to begin. Zhong Li sighed and reminded her, "Don't panic, speak slowly."

Xuan Yue took a deep breath to calm herself down before speaking, "A month ago, Xuan Qing was going to repair the earth veins. I made an appointment with him to return in half a month, but now it's almost been a month overdue, and there's still no news. And I'm afraid that repairing the earth veins will..." Before she could finish speaking, tears welled up in Xuan Yue's eyes.

These past few days, the transparent crystal butterflies from back then have been constantly on his mind, and he has been feeling uneasy... He has been telling himself that Xuanqing will be alright and not to overthink things, but there has been no news of Xuanqing until now, so he came to find Zhongli.

"Let me help you look for it." Zhongli took out a jade pendant from his chest pocket. It was the same jade pendant that had helped Xuanqing escape his inner demons, and it was also the yin-yang hollowed-out jade pendant that Xuanyue had given him 500 years ago.

Divine power fluctuations appeared on Zhongli's body. He was using this jade pendant to resonate with the one on Xuanqing's body, and judging Xuanqing's location based on the location of the resonance.

"His presence was in the Abyss of Layered Rocks, but I couldn't sense anything after that; his aura was very weak... However, based on my judgment, Xuan Qing was merely asleep and not in any life-threatening danger..."

Hearing Zhongli's words, Xuan Yue finally calmed down: "Phew... thank you Morax."

Zhongli shook his head: "We don't need to be like this, but judging from Xuanqing's condition, he probably won't be able to wake up for a while. What do you plan to do?"

"I'll go get him. He's probably asleep because his divine power is exhausted. He's at his weakest right now. I'll set off immediately." Xuan Yue finished speaking and prepared to fly towards the Layered Rock Abyss, but Zhong Li stopped her.

"Take this with you." Zhongli handed the jade pendant to Xuan Yue: "It originally belonged to you. I'm just keeping it safe for you. If you're going to find Xuan Qing, it will make things much easier with this."

The openwork jade pendant still emitted a faint glow, as if guiding him to pick it up.

Xuan Yue shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Xuan Qing's condition was dire, and he feared things might change if he delayed. After accepting the jade pendant, he left Jueyun Pavilion.

Zhongli watched the crescent moon disappear into the distance, then glanced at the scenery between the clouds: (Hmm... perhaps I could take this opportunity to chat with some old friends...)

Xuan Yue gripped the jade pendant tightly and arrived at the Layered Rock Abyss. It was pitch black all around, nothing but rocks, but many of the Noctilucous Stones glowed, barely enough to make out the path.

Xuan Yue simply lit a fire to illuminate the area ahead. The golden flames were also extremely hot, which made many demons afraid to approach even a little bit.

Xuan Yue had only one thought in her mind: (Find Xuan Qing and bring him back.)

The deeper they went, the more stifling the air became. Xuan Yue also saw the silt and unidentified black crystals. He tried burning them with flames, but to no avail, so he had to find a detour…

(Another dead end...) Xuan Yue looked at the ominous black barrier in front of him. He had already walked through every road in the vicinity, but he was back in the same place.

It seemed that breaking through this barrier was the only way to get past it, but his flames were ineffective against these things, and there was no other way to get around it…

"Buzz!" The jade pendant tightly clutched in Xuan Yue's hand emitted a white light, instantly purifying the mud wherever the light shone, and the barriers that had been blocking his path vanished...

"...Thank you very much."

The jade pendant flashed as if in response to Xuan Yue's words.

"Can you sense the jade pendant on A-Qing's body now?" Xuan Yue probed. He always felt that the jade pendant was sentient and could understand his words. Don't ask him how he knew; he guessed.

The jade pendant seemed to know what he was saying, and strands of fluorescent light formed a path, guiding his direction.

Xuan Yue was startled, but quickly regained her composure and quickened her pace: (A Qing, wait for me...)

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Ah, so tired. Sora... We've been underground for days, it feels like a year..." Paimon and Sora were also walking through the Abyss of Layered Rocks, using Lumenite to light their way.

Kong: "Paimon, cheer up! We'll go back and rest after we've explored this area."

Paimon: "Okay..."

They had agreed to help Zhiqiong first, and they were also curious about the structure of this giant rock abyss. Moreover, drawing a map of the underground world was something no one before them had done, so how could it not be a very fulfilling and meaningful thing?

Of course, that girl named Zhiqiong addressed them as "senior" repeatedly, her eyes brimming with a thirst for exploration. How could they possibly disappoint such a girl?

"Senior, senior, come quickly! Look what I found!" Zhiqiong's voice came from afar, but you could only hear her voice and not see her.

Paimon (oaochuan): "She's so motivated?! I'm so tired!"

Empty ╮(︶﹏︶)╭: "Hurry up and catch up..."

One more thing, this little girl is incredibly energetic; she was practically always on the go throughout the entire adventure.

"Oh no, it's running away!... Senior, it's heading your way!" Zhiqiong's voice came over, accompanied by obvious panting. It seemed she was trying to catch something but hadn't succeeded.

"Wh...what is that?!" Paimon was jolted awake by Zhiqiong's shout.

Zhiqiong: "A huge black flower!"

Sora: "Huh?!!"

Paimon: "Flowers? How could flowers grow in this pile of rocks?"

As Kong and Paimon were wondering what was going on, a huge black shadow appeared before them. It really was a huge, black flower, and it could run!

Kong immediately tried to trap it with a Geo Cage, but the flower was really agile and escaped Kong's capture with an S-shaped movement.

Paimon rushed forward to intercept, but the flower lashed out with a vine that sent Paimon flying. Kong leaped into the air and caught Paimon, then unleashed wind elemental power to pursue the fleeing flower.

The flower saw the attack coming at it and immediately dodged, but it did not retaliate. Instead, it flew away quickly, showing no intention of fighting.

But just as the flower was escaping, a cage of rock elements suddenly rose up from beneath it, truly trapping it.

Paimon: "That was close, it almost got away..."

Kong remained vigilant, fearing that the strange flower might suddenly retaliate.

Just then, Zhiqiong's voice came from afar: "Senior, did you catch them?"

Kong: "Gotcha."

Zhiqiong: "Great! This is a fantastic source of material! You truly deserve to be called a senior!"

Paimon was a little embarrassed by Zhiqiong's words.

"What have you done!" A sharp voice came from this direction. Before Kong and Paimon could see who it was, an attack carrying terrifying heat shattered the cage.

"Ah!" Paimon was startled and hid behind Sora, who also drew his sword, ready to fight at any moment.

However, both sides were stunned when they saw the person who came.

"Empty, Paimon?"

"Jin Xuan?"

The flower seemed quite happy, nuzzling against Xuan Yue and circling around her, even wrapping its vines around her hand in a show of intimacy…