As Lumine listened to Rukkhadevata's analysis, she found it all made perfect sense. At least, none of it contradicted the information she already knew.
Paimon stroked her chin thoughtfully, listening intently.
Fidelle stood with her arms crossed, while Chu Xi clasped her hands over her chest. In the Crypt, only Rukkhadevata's voice echoed.
"She arrived five hundred years ago. If she wanted to save me, that was the only time possible. Only then was I truly alive, and only then had Deshret just fallen, his residual energy not yet fully dissipated."
"Five hundred years ago, she regained a Vision—one that belonged solely to her, a Vision from that era. Her complete deletion would only occur five hundred years later. Therefore, the Vision she held from five hundred years ago remained caught within a time paradox caused by Irminsul's deletion process. When combined with the power of Forbidden Knowledge cleansed of its Malice and calamities, it became impossible to completely erase. Thus, she used that Vision as an anchor for herself in Teyvat..."
"Originally, according to her plan, after being deleted, her consciousness would be stored in that Vision as a teleport anchor. Once the deletion process was complete and Teyvat's original order was restored, she would return by merging the consciousness stored in the Vision with the physical body she had prepared beforehand... But..."
Lumine: "Was it because the physical body developed its own consciousness?"
Rukkhadevata nodded. "Yes, that was the only factor she overlooked. Just before she was about to be deleted—during your final encounter with 'her'—she saw the physical body she had created to help her return standing before her as a friend. Thus, she abandoned her plan to return."
"The physical body was crafted by her own hand. From the moment it took form, she had clearly memorized its unique aura."
Suddenly, Lumine recalled their last meeting with Silaya. Upon seeing Chu Xi, Silaya had said, "So, you're here too..."
At the time, Lumine had simply assumed Silaya was expressing surprise at Chu Xi's presence. She hadn't given it much thought. But now, armed with this new information, a wild, almost unthinkable possibility surged through her mind—one she scarcely dared to consider.
Chu Xi was the physical body Silaya had created to help herself return!
This explained why Chu Xi remembered Silaya just as Lumine did—why she hadn't forgotten!
Because Chu Xi wasn't from Teyvat at all. She was a physical body sculpted by the power of Forbidden Knowledge, purged of malice and calamity. Her very essence originated beyond this world!
Lumine's heart suddenly skipped a beat. She recalled Silaya's desperate plea for her to stop Chu Xi from uncovering the truth behind the extinguished Vision. At that time, Silaya must have already known that Chu Xi was the physical body she had created, and that the answer Chu Xi sought was the anchor point Silaya had used to house her consciousness.
But in the end, Silaya had given up, unwilling to compete with her best friend for a body.
The anchor point, left without a consciousness to anchor it, dimmed and eventually became an extinguished, masterless Vision.
Perhaps due to some mysterious connection between the anchor point and the physical body, or perhaps by some cruel twist of fate, the Vision Silaya had abandoned—the Vision originally meant to serve as her anchor—had circulated through various hands, only to ultimately return to its rightful owner: Chu Xi.
-
Lumine sensed Chu Xi's distress even before turning around. She quickly spun around, wanting to comfort her:
"Chu Xi, it's not necessarily you. You're from Liyue, right? There must be other clues we're missing."
Chu Xi stood with her head bowed, tears streaming from her human eye. Her voice trembled with sobs: "No, it's me. It's all my fault!"
"Actually... I wasn't Mom and Dad's biological child. They adopted me. What I never realized was that I'm not from Liyue, nor Sumeru... I'm not even human!"
Silaya's plan...
She could have survived, but it was me. I stole her body and forced her to delete herself. It's all my fault!
Chu Xi's metallic fingers tightened unconsciously, the alloy joints emitting a faint creak.
Her Energy Core pulsed violently, yet the dark brown liquid pumping through her veins felt icy cold.
Paimon wanted to comfort her but didn't know what to say. Fidelle also lowered her head.
When they came to Sumeru, Lumine had told her that Chu Xi and "her" from Sumeru were very close. In a situation like this, if Fidelle were in Chu Xi's place, she would probably break down too...
-
In the long silence, only the suppressed, ragged breaths echoed.
Chu Xi stood frozen, like a mechanical puppet suddenly cut off from its power source.
She had not only obstructed Silaya's return but had even reduced Silaya's body to this...
Her pupil—that warm, brown, human pupil—contracted sharply, then dilated wildly, terrifyingly vacant.
The other mechanical eye, its internal precision lenses and sensors frantically adjusted focus, attempting to analyze the blurred chaos before her. Data streams surged across her visual interface, a chaotic flood of error codes and overload warnings.
[Error: Emotional module overload!]
[Error: Abnormal physiological parameters! Forced stabilization failed!]
[Warning: Hydraulic system pressure spiking!]
[Warning: Biological brainwave pattern: extreme pain—collapse—]
"No..."
A breathy whisper escaped her trembling lips, so faint it was barely audible.
The next moment—
"No!!!"
It wasn't a sob, but a roar—the final, desperate howl of a dying beast tearing from its throat! A piercing screech mixed with metallic resonance and the despair of ruptured human vocal cords!
She slammed her arm down, shattering the ground beneath her feet.
"Aaaaaaah—!"
Chu Xi clutched her head, her mechanical hand digging deep into her scalp as she desperately tried to suppress the excruciating pain and deafening roar in her skull.
The mechanical joints of her arm emitted a piercing grinding sound as they trembled violently.
"Chu Xi, stop it!" Lumine exclaimed, startled. She rushed forward and grabbed Chu Xi's self-harming right hand, while Fidelle, with lightning-fast reflexes, moved in from the other side and seized Chu Xi's left hand.
The eye that still belonged to Chu Xi was bloodshot, the crimson veins rapidly turning black. A faint wisp of dark energy began to emanate from her body... from her head.
"No! She's drawing in the surrounding negative energy!" Rukkhadevata exclaimed, immediately entangling Chu Xi with vines and attempting to infuse her body with divine power, but the effect was minimal.
"Traveler, find a way to stop her! Remove the Energy Core from her chest!"
Lumine stepped forward, reaching out with her right hand toward Chu Xi's chest.
BANG!
A tremendous force sent Lumine flying backward, crashing violently against the wall.
"Damn it! How could this happen?!" Lumine cursed.
"Her origin lies in Forbidden Knowledge," Rukkhadevata explained. "This power is immense. Even though only her head remains organic, the force she generates is still formidable."
Lumine narrowed her eyes. Could this be why Silaya forbade Chu Xi from delving into the secrets of the Vision?
If just this fragment of energy could leave her so battered, what would happen if Chu Xi were whole again...?
-
Chu Xi's mental state was precarious as she remained bound by Rukkhadevata.
Silaya... is dead...
Not by accident, but to protect her—this useless, half-human, half-mechanical burden.
She had personally extinguished her only light.
The world around her crumbled completely, leaving behind only an endless, frigid, bloodstained darkness.