Phi-Fic Chapter 161 Is it okay to throw them all away at once?
Chapter 161 Is it okay to throw them all away at once?
"Do you need help?"
A voice appeared out of nowhere and caught their attention.
Unlike the wary Dain, Kong and Paimon's reaction was one of surprise.
It was Xuanqing's voice.
And indeed, Xuan Qing appeared in mid-air without asking or saying anything. Transparent crystal butterflies materialized in his hands.
They burrowed into those abyssal gates, and before long, the beams of light that were restraining the mechanisms disappeared one by one.
The purification device immediately stopped operating.
“The burning sensation has disappeared… but who are you?” Dain did not lower her guard; instead, she became even more confused.
“This isn’t our first meeting. I’ve been looking for an opportunity to talk to you, Daines Reeb.” Xuan Qing retracted the crystal butterflies and landed in front of them.
"But unfortunately, you've come at the wrong time. You must still have something to say to him."
"—!" Dain immediately looked at the motionless figure. The device had stopped, the battle was over, but it seemed... he wouldn't be coming back.
“Hafdan…” Kong said softly to Xuan Qing. Although he had guessed the answer, he couldn’t help but feel sad.
"Let's step aside for a bit. Now... it's their turn." Xuan Qing said, making room for them.
Dain reached out her trembling hand to test his presence, but all she found was emptiness.
"..." Dain stared blankly, not knowing how to retract his hand, nor what to say. This was even more painful and unbearable than being "purified"...
Paimon also became sad: "Dain... he's actually very heartbroken, isn't he?"
"Former comrades-in-arms reunite in this way..."
"...What should I call you now?" Kong turned to look at Xuan Qing beside him.
"...Just call out Xuanqing."
After a brief exchange, they fell silent.
Dain took one last deep look at them, then turned and walked towards them: "...Let's go."
"Aren't you going to turn around and take another look?" Xuan Qing's gaze shifted to what was behind him: "He still has something to say."
"?" Dain didn't understand what he meant, but suddenly his body stiffened. He seemed to sense something and turned around to look.
Hafdan's soul, enveloped in a gentle blue light, appeared before him. Not in his "cursed" form, but in his true form.
He was wearing the uniform of the old Kanria Palace Guard, his handsome face just as it had been back then…
He gave him a solemn Kanria military salute, but his first words were an apology: "I'm sorry, Lord Dainesreb, the 'Sword of the End,' back then... I failed you and couldn't protect my people."
Dain tightened his grip on his hands by his sides, but in the end, he solemnly returned the salute.
"No, you have fulfilled your responsibilities over the past five hundred years."
"To this day, you remain my glory."
Hafdan's face flushed slightly, and he scratched his head, clearly embarrassed by the compliment.
"Kanria has not fallen, has it? After all, you are still standing here."
His words startled Dain slightly, but he still smiled and nodded gently.
Hafdan saw his response, and as if a wish had been fulfilled, he slowly closed his eyes…
The soul dissipated, turning into specks of light along with the body.
"Therefore... there is no need to restore the country."
Dain looked up at the fluorescent lights, as if murmuring to himself, or perhaps speaking his last words to Hafdan.
Paimon: "That was...Hafdan's soul..."
“More than one kind of strange power gathers here. It wouldn’t be surprising to see souls. However, this gentleman…” Dain looked at Xuan Qing. There was a familiar feeling about him, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
But that doesn't mean he'll let his guard down.
“You can consider me a fellow traveler. But now, as I’ve said, it’s not time for us to have a proper conversation.”
“The commotion you’ve made deep underground is so great that it’s even affecting the surface, so I came down here to take a look.”
Xuanqing summarized everything in a few words.
Empty: "Were the Hilichurls on the ground also affected?"
"Yes, but it's not as deeply affected as this place."
Xuanqing gave a brief description: the Hilichurls who were staying in the shallow layers of the Rock Abyss suddenly began to act like madmen, and even injured some miners.
What he didn't mention was that he sensed the uneven distribution of power deep underground, so he deliberately released his divine sense and flew over as fast as he could to observe their battle.
"Cough cough..." Dain couldn't help coughing. He had just been fighting with great effort, but as soon as he relaxed, his injuries started to flare up.
Xuanqing: "Is it serious?"
Dain shook his head and said, "...That device also caused me considerable damage, and I need some time to recover."
"I see... No, I actually saw it a long time ago. You were just putting on a brave face the whole time!"
Paimon had actually wanted to say it a long time ago, but he just forgot.
"You should rest too, Dain... like, take a break or something!"
"Oh, right, that includes you, Xuan Qing!"
"?" Dai Yin and Xuan Qing both looked puzzled. They exchanged glances, realizing the other's confusion.
Dain: "Vacation? That's not a word that should be used to describe me."
Xuan Qing: "Isn't that what I am now? I've dumped all the work on A-Yue." (Subtext: Why are you dragging me into this?)
Seeing these two people in front of him who had no self-awareness, Paimon and Kong were speechless.
"I have important matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now. I even suspect that the amplification device here is also related to that plan." Dain's last sentence was clearly addressed to Kong. After all, it was best to be cautious in front of Xuan Qing, who had suddenly appeared, without knowing whether he was friend or foe.
Sora: "I'll keep an eye on it too."
Dain: "Thank you for your understanding, 'employer'."
I just hope that next time we meet, you won't be standing "on the other side."
After saying that, Dain left.
Once Dain had walked away, Paimon spoke up, "Hey, is Dain holding a grudge? That's why he said that at the end..."
“We’ll meet again eventually, but I still have a few questions.” Kong said seriously to Xuan Qing, “You’ve met my sister, haven’t you?”
"...It's less about having met her and more about her having designs on me."
Xuan Qing frowned slightly as he recalled that incident: "At that time, I was repairing the damaged ley lines here, and I was at my weakest. She happened to run into me, and it seemed like she decided on a whim to keep me here."
Paimon: "W-when did this happen?"
"Could it be when you were unconscious?"
Xuan Qing: "Hmm, as expected of you, you're quite perceptive."
"But why you, and not Wendy or Zhongli? And if you are a god, what exactly happened 500 years ago?"
"..." Faced with Kong's question, Xuan Qing remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "If you want to know, I will have Zhong Li take you to Jueyun in a few days. It will be faster to talk to him face to face."
“But now…” Xuan Qing sighed, “I need to go back to sleep.”
Paimon: "Are you tired from walking around outside?"
"No, no. Because my main body is sealed, I cannot use elemental power, so I can only rely on the power of the authority to achieve the effect of attack. The side effect is that my consciousness is very tired right now."
Sora: "So, the previous Crystal Butterfly..."
"I compressed the laws of [space] into those crystal butterflies, and then teleported all those abyssal monsters away at once, oh, along with the device." (Subtext: Thrown them all away at once.)
Paimon (′?w?)？ : (What did I just hear?)
Empty (?-_?)??: (Did I hear that right? They threw away the device?)
Sora and Paimon exchanged a glance, and finally Paimon asked, "Is it... what I understood? You put the Abyss Monster and the device together..."
"Yeah, I threw it away."
Xuanqing didn't think there was anything wrong with it; wasn't this the fastest way?
Sora: "Can I ask...where did you throw it?"
Xuan Qing: "Hmm... I don't know, but someone will take care of it anyway."
-----
Venti, who was shuttling between Liyue and Mondstadt at that moment, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looked at the last batch of fallen Abyss monsters, and let out a long sigh.
"Old Master Qing, it would be unreasonable to expect less than ten barrels of wine this time."
He raised his bow and arrow, casually unleashed a powerful attack that destroyed the device, and then left.
He wanted to go and properly accuse Xuanqing of his "crimes" to Zhongli.