Meanwhile, outside the small earthen hut by the Statue of The Seven in Guili Plains.
The thick dark clouds completely blocked the faint yellow moonlight, leaving only the dark energy swirling around the Abyss Knight, which emitted an eerie glow and dyed the surrounding withered grass inky black.
Yunqin was bound to the wall of the earthen hut by the invisible power of the Abyss. Black energy entwined around her, making her look like a butterfly trapped in a spiderweb.
The girl's face was as pale as a thin sheet of paper, yet she still gritted her teeth hard, her lower lip bitten by her teeth until a mark of blood appeared.
"Stop struggling." The Abyss Knight's voice held not a hint of warmth.
He slowly raised his hand, his black talons gleaming with a cold light as they reached for Yunqin's chest.
"You belong to the Abyss. Once you return to its embrace, you will obtain true power. You will no longer have to worry about your identity, nor will you have to live at the mercy of others!"
The dark energy spread from his fingertips like a viper's tongue, about to touch Yunqin's clothes.
Behind a massive rock in the distance, a dark figure suddenly tightened his grip on the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear. Xiao's golden pupils burned with fierce rage beneath his Yaksha mask.
The Guardian Yaksha's aura had already silently spread, making even the surrounding air grow stagnant.
Guili Plains was close to Wangshu Inn, so the moment the Abyss Knight and Yunqin appeared, Xiao sensed them, even though the Abyss Knight had used some unknown method to isolate the area from outside detection.
He had tracked their auras here, intending to launch a surprise attack while the Abyss Knight was caught off guard.
But just as his toes touched the ground and he was about to leap out, a terrifying god's pressure suddenly erupted from Yunqin!
"Boom!" An invisible shockwave violently expanded outward from Yunqin.
The ground cracked with a dense web of fine lines. The Abyss Knight was struck as if by a heavy hammer, his body instantly sent flying dozens of meters away, crashing heavily into a withered tree.
With a "crack," the tree's branches snapped.
The Abyss Knight clutched his chest, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Xiao's movements abruptly stopped, his figure retreating behind the massive rock like a ghost.
That pressure contained not only the Abyss's chilling cold, but also a hint of familiar power belonging to the ancient God of Water.
This was absolutely not Yunqin's original power!
It was more like potential forced awake by the Abyss, like a spark forced to explode, carrying a destructive resoluteness.
Yunqin stumbled and slid down the wall, her hands clutching her head so tightly that her nails almost dug into her scalp, her body trembling uncontrollably.
The Abyssal aura within her body raged like madness, battering her consciousness, trying to completely devour the last shred of her clarity.
But another powerful Hydro Element was stubbornly resisting, pale blue light patterns emanating from her body, forming a gentle barrier that pushed the dark energy out bit by bit.
With each inch it was expelled, her face grew paler.
"You could have possessed even greater power! Don't you like Morax's clay figurines? Liyue is nothing but a shackle that binds you. As long as you are willing to submit to the Abyss, you could even replicate the true power of the Geo Archon, making all of Liyue marvel at your sculptures!"
The Abyss Knight walked toward Yunqin, his tone laced with temptation, even deliberately softening his voice.
Yunqin suddenly raised her head, a flash of crimson crossing her hollow eyes, which was quickly covered by the blue light of the Hydro Element.
She glared at the Abyss Knight, her voice a raspy roar filled with rending pain: "I don't care about some Adeptus clan or the descendants of gods! What I want to do has never depended on some kind of power!"
As her voice trailed off, the Hydro Element around her body erupted.
A dazzling blue barrier violently expelled the remaining Abyssal aura from within her!
Black mist continuously poured from her fingertips and the tips of her hair, twisting into various hideous shapes in the air: some resembled the claws and fangs of monsters, others looked like the eyes of the Abyss...
All these eerie black mists were ruthlessly suppressed by the Hydro Element, unable to even draw near her body.
The Abyssal aura reluctantly charged toward Yunqin's body, like a pack of hungry wolves pouncing on their prey, seeking to reinvade her consciousness.
"Get out!" Yunqin suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with grim resolve, a furious roar shaking the very air.
The invisible barrier instantly unfolded, and the Abyssal aura struck against it, shattering like glass and dissipating into specks of dark energy in the air.
Yunqin could no longer hold on, her legs giving way as she collapsed heavily onto the ground, her chest heaving violently, yet she still gritted her teeth, refusing to let her eyes close.
She feared that if she closed her eyes, she would never wake again.
And never again see the lights of Liyue.
The Abyss Knight stared at Yunqin, who collapsed on the ground yet still gripped the last sliver of her consciousness. Beneath his dragon-head helmet, his eyes churned with complex emotions.
He glanced at a massive boulder nearby and clenched his fist.
Ever since stepping into the Guili Plains, that faint, omnipresent sense of pressure had never vanished. It was the aura of a Guardian Yaksha!
Hiding behind the boulder, like a crouching hunter.
He had originally thought that if he controlled Yunqin quickly, the Yaksha would not arrive in time even if they intervened.
But now it seemed he had underestimated two people.
First, Yunqin, this "gentle and kind" adeptal sect disciple, who could erupt with such terrifying god's pressure.
That power was not granted by the Abyss but awakened from her very bones, which repeatedly rejected the Abyss's intrusion.
His previous temptations and threats had become utterly laughable before her words, "What I want to do has never depended on some kind of power."
He could even feel the remaining Abyssal aura within Yunqin's body trembling. It was not from fear, but from the agony of being suppressed by her will.
This seemingly fragile girl was as hard as rock to her core. Even as her consciousness was nearly torn apart, she still clung fiercely to her bottom line: "Never betray Liyue."
Thinking again about the Yaksha, Xiao's aura had remained still, clearly observing the situation.
When Yunqin erupted just now, he could clearly feel the Yaksha's aura fluctuate for a moment. It was shock, the surprise that Yunqin possessed such power.
If the Yaksha had taken advantage of the chaos to strike, he might not have escaped unscathed.
"A miscalculation indeed," the Abyss Knight sneered.
He had to admit, the plan had been completely disrupted.
Yunqin's will was firmer than he had imagined, and the Yaksha's ambush posed a constant threat.
Continuing the stalemate would only attract Liyue's reinforcements.
"It seems today is not the day." The Abyss Knight slowly retreated, the dark energy around him thickening until it almost completely engulfed his figure. "But remember, the gates of the Abyss will always be open for you."
Before his words even faded, his body dissolved into a black mist and vanished into the night, leaving only a lingering chill in the air, like an indelible shadow.
Xiao leapt from behind the giant rock and quickly approached Yunqin, but stopped three steps away from her.
He could see the faint god's pressure still lingering around her body, and the clarity in her eyes was gradually returning. Yet, her pale face and trembling form told a story of pain.
"Are you okay?" He deliberately suppressed his aura, afraid of scaring her.
Yunqin slowly raised her head. The moment she saw Xiao, a flash of confusion crossed her eyes, as if she didn't recognize him, before being quickly covered by pain.
"Don't... don't come close to me." She struggled to shrink back, her back pressed against the cold earth wall, her voice trembling with a sob. "What if... what if I lose control and hurt you?"