But Inazuma was different. Even the locals were renowned for their martial prowess, deserved some respect.
The previous iteration of Malice had been a monster like character. This time, Jiang Mumu planned to design a female antagonist.
She already had the template in mind: the classic "white-lotus" type—someone outwardly delicate, pitiable, innocent, and pure, yet inwardly madly twisted—the epitome of the "white-lotus turning black" trope.
However, such a character wouldn't fit into the Abyss's ranks. Yet to use this persona against her "identities," Jiang Mumu needed to cloak it in Abyss's skin.
She envisioned a Liyue girl whose entire family had been consumed by the Abyss. Influenced by the Abyss's dark energies, the girl firmly believed that completing the Abyss's tasks would rescue her family.
These were just rough sketches for now; the finer details could be fleshed out later.
As for why Liyue...
Firstly, Jiang Mumu found Liyue's attire more visually appealing and better suited to the antagonist's persona.
Moreover, Liyue's vast mountainous terrain, sprawling territories, and large population meant that Zhongli, unlike Mondstadt's Barbatos, likely couldn't remember every individual.
The Geo Element Authority ultimately differed from the Anemo Element Authority.
After all, so many Treasure Hoarders originated from Liyue. If Zhongli truly knew every Liyue citizen, the Treasure Hoarders wouldn't be so brazenly rampant.
Therefore, Liyue was undoubtedly the best choice for Jiang Mumu's new villain persona!
With a little Emotional Feedback from Jiang Mumu, establishing this villain's origin point wouldn't be difficult at all.
Once she had made up her mind, Jiang Mumu immediately began shaping the character.
After a full half-day of work, a girl in a white robe appeared before Jiang Mumu.
Her features were strikingly animated, her skin as pale as snow, as smooth and delicate as jade, with a faint rosy blush.
The girl's hair was simply coiled up with a single hairpin, a few strands naturally cascading beside her porcelain neck, swaying gently like willow branches in a breeze.
Her eyes sparkled like stars, her figure was as light as a swallow, and her movements were elegant and natural, radiating an ethereal beauty.
Jiang Mumu clasped her hands behind her back, circling the girl to inspect her thoroughly, immensely satisfied.
She's so beautiful... As expected of me! I almost hate to make her a villain...
But for the sake of her Emotional Feedback, Jiang Mumu steeled her resolve and resolutely assigned the girl to the villainous faction.
After all, sometimes the starkest contrasts deliver the greatest impact.
She split a strand of her consciousness to enter the girl's body. The girl flexed her fingers lightly, then smiled at Jiang Mumu.
With the villain now created, it was time for her deployment.
Jiang Mumu pondered for a while, then gazed thoughtfully at the girl for what felt like ages, finally steeling her resolve.
Liyue, Chenyu Vale—at the border between Chenyu Vale and Liyue proper.
On this day, several crude dwellings suddenly appeared in a rarely visited forest.
Though newly constructed, the structures appeared dilapidated, with multiple corpses strewn inside and outside.
A young girl knelt amidst the bodies, her eyes devoid of light.
Suddenly, a massive fire erupted, engulfing the entire forest in flames. When the blaze finally died down, it left behind only scorched earth and devastation.
The girl stumbled out of the charred forest, her once-white robes now tattered and grimy, her fair face smeared with soot, and her hair disheveled, the ends singed by the flames.
She turned back to gaze at her "home," now reduced to charred remains. Two streams of bloody tears trickled from her eyes as she turned away and began walking toward Liyue Harbor.
With the aid of Jiang Mumu's Emotional Feedback, the girl's previous existence had been rationalized.
The rarely visited location might have indeed been visited by someone before, but from this moment forward, those who had come here would no longer perceive it as merely wilderness.
In their hazy memories, the existence of the girl's "home" had already entered the consciousness of those who might have visited the area.
Having orchestrated the debut of her latest villain, Jiang Mumu didn't pause her work.
She sculpted two more puppets in the likeness of Rola and Qingge.
Originally, she controlled seven aliases plus Malice, making a total of eight entities simultaneously. Having grown accustomed to managing so many, she felt disoriented by the sudden loss of several.
Since I can still control them, why not just create another wave? she thought.
Having absorbed Rola and Qingge's souls, I should show some results. Maybe this counts as adding to their backstories?
She loved nothing more than a good comeback.
And while she was at it, she might as well check on her "stabbed" friends and family to harvest some extra Emotional Feedback.
Perhaps due to her relentless efforts, her Emotional Feedback was now only slightly more than half the way to the System's original target.
At this rate, she might collect enough Emotional Feedback before even finishing off all seven aliases. When that happened, the System would appear, and she could finally ask the questions that had been burning in her heart.
She sent two strands of consciousness into the bodies of the Rola and Qingge puppets, instantly animating them.
To distinguish them from the original Rola and Qingge, these puppets had entirely black pupils.
In the cramped space, the two puppets turned to stare at Jiang Mumu.
Jiang Mumu felt a chill run down her spine under their intense gaze.
Who would have thought that simply changing the color of their pupils would make them so eerie?
She immediately deployed the puppets, choosing a completely random location along the border between Mondstadt and Liyue—anywhere would do.
Mondstadt, directly beneath the Celestial Nail.
An Abyss Gate materialized, and Rola (still called Rola) stepped out.
Her attire was identical to what the real Rola had worn on the day of her sacrifice, save for a black robe that completely concealed her from head to toe.
This black robe was no ordinary garment; Jiang Mumu had crafted it specifically to prevent Venti from detecting her presence upon arrival.
After all, it's perfectly normal for an Abyss Puppet to possess a treasure, right?
Rola sneezed. Though she was a puppet, she retained her flesh-and-blood form, not some mere mechanical construct.
Who would have thought that simply thinking about teleporting to Mondstadt and then wanting to be far from Mondstadt City would result in ending up right here!
Unfortunately, to avoid Venti discovering her too soon, this teleportation had been specially configured with Emotional Feedback.
Attempting another teleport would be more trouble than it's worth. Never mind. I'll just walk back slowly.
Think of it as revisiting old haunts.
The puppet Qingge (still calling herself Qingge) stared blankly at the familiar Fantastic Compass before her.
A curse word hovered on the tip of her tongue, unsure whether to utter it.
So many places, so many possibilities... why here of all places?
Now even walking back was impossible...
After a moment of silence, Qingge reluctantly spent more Emotional Feedback to teleport again.
This time, she arrived beneath the Celestial Nail in The Chasm.
Qingge: "..."
This is completely obsessing over the Celestial Nail, isn't it?!
Resigned, she could only begin the slow trek out.