"Why... Why were we so slow to react?" Osial's voice was as deep as the roar of the deep sea, carrying an irrepressible tremble. "If only we had broken free from the Abyss's control sooner, if only we had stood before her when she was sneak-attacked..."
He recalled the sight of Yunqin when she first appeared in the deep-sea vortex, her eyes then filled with curiosity about the world.
He recalled the image of himself, bewitched by the Abyss, swinging his tentacles at her.
Now, seeing her lying in someone else's arms, her breathing almost stopped, an immense self-reproach wrapped around his heart like seaweed, strangling him until he could barely breathe.
"What use am I as a father? I can't even protect my own daughter, yet I dare speak of the dignity of a god..."
Beisht's serpentine tail churned the seawater frantically, her scales bristling with fury, even cutting into her own skin.
Her pupils were as crimson as blood, her forked tongue flickering wildly, each breath carrying scorching anger yet also mixed with guilt that seeped into her very bones.
"Abyssal scum! I will tear you into ten thousand pieces!"
Her voice was hoarse with extreme anger, but only she knew the self-condemnation that lay behind it.
She remembered how Yunqin had once reached out to her in a dream and said, "Mother, I want to go home with you."
Now, seeing her daughter's hand feebly raised, trying to grasp something, Beisht's serpentine eyes brimmed with tears, yet she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
"I harmed her..." Beisht's voice broke with sobs, her serpentine tail gradually slowing its movements. "If we hadn't been bewitched by the Abyss, if we hadn't forced her to shoulder the burden of being the 'Scion of the Gods,' she might have lived happily in Liyue..."
The Hydro Element and god power surrounding the two intertwined and coiled, and a massive, sky-blotting waterspout suddenly formed with them as its center.
Seawater was sucked hundreds of feet into the sky, creating a dark blue wall of water.
The roar of the waves was deafening. Even the people in the distant Liyue Harbor could feel this destructive fury and looked up at the sea, their eyes full of terror.
The waterspout contained not only rage, but also their ventless self-reproach, as if it would overturn the entire ocean and drag the vanished Abyss Knight out of the darkness to seek justice for their daughter.
Seeing this, Venti also restrained some of his self-reproach, and the Anemo element merged into the waterspout like a tide, making this furious power even more violent.
Emerald-green wind blades coiled around the outer edge of the waterspout, multiplying its power and causing even space to ripple with slight distortions.
His movements carried a hint of numbness, and his eyes were still full of pain, as if he were using this violent power to mask the helplessness and guilt within his heart.
But just then, Zhongli slowly raised his hand.
He did not channel the Geo element, but only a faint golden light emanated from his palm as he gently pressed down toward the waterspout.
Without any earth-shattering roar, the originally violent waterspout seemed to have its pause button pressed and instantly lost all its power.
The hundreds-of-feet-high wall of water collapsed with a crash, turning into a sky full of splashing water. The sea surface returned to relative calm, leaving only concentric ripples, as if that furious outburst had never occurred.
Everyone's gazes were focused on Zhongli.
He knelt half-sitting on the water's surface, his white robe soaked by the seawater and clinging tightly to his body, yet he still carefully held Yunqin in his arms.
The young girl's eyes had lost all color. The pupils, which had once reflected the lights of Liyue and the lingering shadows of a god, were now as empty as two pools of stagnant water. Even her faint breath had completely stopped; her chest no longer rose and fell, and her heartbeat had vanished without a trace.
Just as Zhongli felt his heart being torn apart and even his millennium-old composure was about to crumble, a small, cold hand slowly rose.
The hand was so weak it could hardly even support itself, its fingertips trembling slightly, yet it persistently reached out toward him. It carried the last trace of warmth that belonged to "Yunqin," as if searching for some kind of support.
Zhongli's pupils constricted sharply, a flicker of disbelief passing through his gaze.
He hurriedly extended his hand, his broad and warm palm carefully enveloping this small hand that still held a lingering warmth, as if holding the most precious treasure in the world, even drawing his breath a bit lighter.
Though he had lived for a thousand years and witnessed Liyue's rise and fall and the departures of old friends, Zhongli's throat choked up at this moment. A thousand words blocked his chest, yet he could not say a single word.
Complex emotions surged in his golden eyes: there was heartache for Yunqin, regret for what was lost, rage against the Abyss, and even a hint of panic that he himself had not noticed.
That Geo Heart, which had not moved in a thousand years, cracked once again.
"Keqing... it seems I won." Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum, almost inaudible, yet it fell as lightly as a feather into Zhongli's ear, crystal clear.
Zhongli froze, then immediately understood.
The girl who had made that bet had still possessed a hint of childish competitiveness; now, she had used her life to fulfill her vow to protect Liyue.
He let out a soft sigh, his voice so gentle it could drip with tenderness, yet tinged with a hoarseness he had not felt in a thousand years, as if afraid to disturb the person in his arms: "Silly child."
Yunqin felt the familiar warmth from his palm: the hand of Lord Rex Lapis, who had taught her the art of carving and watched over her as she grew up.
A faint, satisfied smile slowly curved her lips.
The smile was as shallow as ripples in the morning mist, vanishing in an instant, yet it held the relief of a burden finally laid down.
But the next second, a watery shimmer suddenly filled her empty eyes, and her weak voice trembled slightly: "But as this 'winner,' I don't even have the right to apologize to Liyue..."
Her fingertips curled slightly, clutching Zhongli's hand like a lifeline, yet they kept slipping away due to her weakness.
"Lord Rex Lapis... do you still remember? The day I was entangled by the Abyss in the Golden House... I actually used a weapon against you..."
Her breathing grew more labored, and a sickly flush spread across her pale cheeks as the suffocating memories, long suppressed by the Abyss, now surged to the surface.
She suddenly choked up, tears falling from her empty sockets and dripping onto the back of Zhongli's hand, bone-chillingly cold. "I even... even spoke disrespectfully of you to all of Liyue... I even tried to control the Seaborn to attack the very people I was supposed to protect, yet from beginning to end... you never even touched a single hair on my head..."
"But what about me?" She let out a self-deprecating soft scoff, her voice as weak as a kite with a broken string. "I caused so many deaths in Liyue, destroyed so many homes, disappointed you, and made everyone hide when they heard the name 'Yunqin'..."
"If it weren't for me, my father and mother wouldn't have been entangled by the Abyss, and Liyue wouldn't have suffered this disaster... Those dead Millelith, the homeless civilians, it's all my fault!"
The strength in her fingertips gradually faded, her clutching hand slipping away, and only a dense, impenetrable self-loathing remained in her eyes.