Nahida had just emerged when she received an urgent message from Alhaitham.
"Nahida, what's wrong?" Lumine asked, noticing her unusual expression.
"Alhaitham says Silaya inside the Sanctuary of Surasthana has stopped breathing," Nahida replied.
Paimon's face paled instantly. The very thing they had dreaded had come to pass.
"Ah! How could this be? Quick, we need to get there immediately!"
The trio rushed to the Sanctuary of Surasthana.
Alhaitham was waiting outside the entrance and quickly ushered them inside. "It happened about twenty minutes ago. Silaya suddenly stopped breathing, and her pulse is undetectable..."
The group gathered around Silaya's bedside. Chu Xi was already weeping, tears streaming down her face.
"Silaya, what's wrong? Wake up!" Paimon cried, shaking her gently, but Silaya remained unresponsive.
Nahida extended her hands, enveloping Silaya in a green luminous shield. Within the shield, Silaya floated suspended in mid-air, lying still as green energy continuously flowed into her body.
Nahida: "Traveler, I will enter the Akasha to search for clues left by Silaya. With them, we can understand her current situation more clearly."
As soon as she finished speaking, Nahida closed her eyes. She hadn't had time to explain everything, but she trusted Lumine to fill in the details.
Silaya's condition allowed for no further delay.
Alhaitham: "Traveler..."
Lumine gave Chu Xi a comforting hug, then composed herself and recounted everything that had transpired at Irminsul to Alhaitham.
Although Alhaitham was stunned by Rukkhadevata's choice, he couldn't afford to dwell on it at this critical moment.
"Her experiment... succeeded?!"
The experiment connected to the "Restoration of Irminsul" thesis—wasn't that about saving Irminsul? How could it possibly have succeeded?
Even Greater Lord Rukkhadevata could only choose self-sacrifice. How could Silaya have found another way?
That girl... she better not get hurt...
Alhaitham glanced back at Silaya, who was still encased in the glowing barrier. He realized he understood her less and less with each passing moment.
Nahida extracted the clues Silaya had left behind in the Akasha. She hadn't examined them yet, so it wouldn't take long.
"Nahida, what's the situation?!"
Nahida shook her head. "I couldn't find Silaya's consciousness within the Akasha. She only left this behind."
Nahida extended her hand, and a golden-yellow Canned Knowledge immediately materialized.
Just like the previous ones, the Canned Knowledge was merely an external manifestation. This was the clue Silaya had left behind, containing everything she wanted Lumine and the others to know.
"Are you ready? Just like before, we'll enter Silaya's consciousness and see everything she wants to show us. Perhaps we can find a way to save her."
Lumine nodded. "I'm ready. Let's go immediately!"
Alhaitham and Chu Xi stepped forward as well. Nahida glanced at the group, then, with a gesture, the golden light of the Canned Knowledge enveloped them all.
The screen went dark, then flickered back to life, displaying a title in the center: The Vine of Salvation (Start)
Chen Xiyao fell silent upon seeing the quest title.
Having long since grasped Mihoyo's penchant for mischief, the overly pointed name instantly brought back a flood of unpleasant memories.
"This damn quest title!" she muttered.
Her live stream chat exploded with activity.
[Where are those who said Silaya's thesis was a failure? Come out!]
So Silaya saved Rukkhadevata? But... how did she do it?]
[Not Rukkhadevata, Irminsul! Silaya's thesis saved Irminsul!]
[Does this mean Silaya has to sacrifice herself too? Do all People of Pure Soul have to sacrifice themselves?]
[Ugh... Chu Xi is already breaking down...]
[I knew Mihoyo would stab me in the heart! I thought it was Rukkhadevata, and I just cried for her. Now they're telling me it's Silaya...]
[Is it possible it's both of them?]
[She's just an ordinary human! How could she save Irminsul? Even the Akademiya and two generations of Gods of Wisdom couldn't do it! In the end, only Greater Lord Rukkhadevata sacrificed herself...]
-
In a certain realm,
Jiang Mumu had already mobilized the Abyss's forces, including three God-level combatants.
She planned to act only after Irminsul had completely erased Silaya.
After all, one of the seven Pure Souls had vanished into thin air. The Abyss, which was collecting these souls, had to react in some way.
The Abyss originated from beyond the world. Within its depths, some higher-dimensional beings remained unaffected by the Irminsul's purging power, aware of the existence of the missing soul.
These beings were similar to the Traveler—well, more specifically, Jiang Mumu herself. She was the Abyss's ultimate villain.
With her Emotional Feedback nearly maxed out, she needed to summon more powerful Abyss entities. Even if they were destroyed, the consequences would be minimal.
Lumine, Paimon, Nahida, Alhaitham, and Chu Xi—five consciousnesses in total—arrived at a very peculiar place: Sumeru City.
"To enter the Akasha and even leave traces within it... Silaya shouldn't be capable of this," Alhaitham remarked, voicing his confusion. Silaya was just an ordinary human; by all logic, she shouldn't possess such abilities.
"Silaya possesses a Pure Soul," Lumine replied.
"Pure Soul?"
This was the first time Alhaitham had heard the term.
"Yes," Lumine replied, scanning their surroundings as she spoke. "You know those two God-level clashes in Mondstadt and Liyue? The Abyss was gathering Pure Souls, and they succeeded."
"People with Pure Souls seem highly sensitive to things like dreams and the Akasha. When we got trapped in the Sabzeruz Festival's samsara, Silaya was the first to realize we were reliving the loop..."
As Lumine explained, Alhaitham's brow furrowed deeper.
"Moreover," Nahida added, "I detected the Aranara's power in the clues Silaya left behind."
"Aranara?" Alhaitham asked.
"They're little spirits of the forest, also considered... the Dendro Archon's... dependents..."
Lumine and Paimon hadn't yet completed the Aranyaka questline, but they had encountered the Aranara when they went to find Haypasia...
"But isn't this Sumeru City?" Paimon asked, having circled the area. "It looks exactly like the real Sumeru City, except it's night. What exactly is Silaya trying to tell us?"
Just as their confusion deepened, the sound of a burlap sack dragging across the ground drifted through the air.
Following the sound, the group turned to see a little girl approaching. Her tangled yellow hair framed a grimy face, but her eyes shone with an intense inner light as she dragged a cloth sack behind her.
The girl clutched a stick in her hand.
"Silaya?!" Paimon gasped in shock. The girl's resemblance to Silaya was unmistakable, only much younger.
Chu Xi immediately ran forward and crouched down in front of her. "Hello, little one. What's your name?"
The girl remained silent and walked straight through Chu Xi's body.