Just then, guesses in the bullet chat that "Osial is about to be released" suddenly flooded the screen. The expression on Lu Nanqing's face froze instantly, and even the fingertips tapping the table stopped.
She paused, then seemed to suddenly remember something as she slapped her thigh hard. The water bottle on the table shook from the impact. "Wait! Everyone, look at the seabed beneath Hydro Qin!"
"It's still glowing! Could she suddenly wake up? If three Yunqins end up fighting together, would they help the original fight the other two, or just watch them all kill each other?"
-
The "Yunqin" formed from the Abyss: Xiao Qin!
She floated beneath the night sky as the crimson faded, the dark energy swirling around her like a living creature, each surge bringing a suffocating chill.
"It seems you've found the 'original product.'" She slowly lifted her eyes, her pure black gaze sweeping over Zhongli, Venti, and Lumine. Her voice held no warmth, sounding as sharp and cold as shattering glass.
Her gaze fell precisely on Yunqin in Lumine's arms, a flash of intense jealousy crossing her pitch-black eyes. It was a longing for the "protected" status, a warmth she had never known.
"What a pity," Xiao Qin chuckled softly, the dark energy rippling with her movement as if mocking this fragile purity. "No matter how clean one's heart is, it's nothing more than a bubble that shatters with a single squeeze."
The Geo element around Zhongli suddenly surged, the ancient runes on his divine attire glowing with a brilliant gold light that dispelled some of the surrounding darkness.
He took a step forward, his heavy pressure causing the sea surface to sink slightly. The hem of his long robe swept across the waves, leaving behind a series of solemn ripples.
"A puppet of the Abyss, daring to impersonate Yunqin?" His voice rolled across the sea like thunder, each word carrying the majesty that could suppress the heavens and the earth.
Xiao Qin's laughter suddenly turned sharp and eerie, the dark energy churning more violently around her: "Who am I? I am Yunqin!"
She abruptly raised her hand, pointing at the Yunqin in Lumine's arms, her tone dripping with undisguised mockery: "I am the rage she felt when 'Zhongli' pierced her chest, the despair when the people of Liyue pelted her with stones, the obsession to destroy everything as she watched everyone abandon her!"
She paused, her pitch-black eyes churning with a venomous spite, like ink laced with poison: "And her? She's nothing more than a fool dreaming while clutching a clay doll! Did she think carving a few statues of Rex Lapis and guarding Liyue Harbor a few times would make her accepted? How laughably naive!"
Venti's emerald eyes had long lost their usual lightness, leaving only a frozen chill.
The Anemo element surged wildly around him, forming small tornadoes that whipped up the sea's spray: "You are not Yunqin at all! You are merely a tool used by the Abyss to manipulate her, a derivative of her suffering!"
With a sharp flick of his fingers, Venti sent a wind blade slicing through the air, aimed straight for Xiao Qin's chest: "Today, we will destroy you completely, and Yunqin will be made whole again!"
Xiao Qin dodged the wind blade with a side step, and the dark energy instantly coalesced into a thick barrier before her. The wind blade struck it, only kicking up a few specks of black foam.
She looked at Venti, her eyes filled with contempt as if she were watching an overconfident child: "Destroy me? With just the two of you, gods who are about to be forgotten by Teyvat?"
With a wave of her hand, countless nearly transparent black silver threads shot out from the dark energy, coiling toward the three of them like venomous snakes. "Yunqin's consciousness was torn in two by me long ago. She can never go back to how she was before! She will always live in the agony of her missing memories!"
Lumine held Yunqin and stepped back, dodging several approaching silver threads.
Looking at the madness in Xiao Qin's eyes, her heart felt as if it were being squeezed tight.
"Yunqin won't be defeated by you! She loves Liyue so much, and she cherishes our promise so dearly. Even if she becomes two different versions of herself, they are still our friends! They are Liyue's companions!" Lumine's voice trembled slightly, yet it remained exceptionally clear.
"Shut up!" Xiao Qin's face instantly contorted into a viciously distorted expression, and the dark energy surged violently, nearly swallowing her whole. "What do you know!"
Her voice carried the hysterical roar of someone whose sore spot had been struck: "You've never known the feeling of being pointed at by everyone and called a 'monster'! You don't know the feeling of the very thing you fought so hard to protect eventually pushing you into the Abyss!"
She suddenly increased her power, and the silver threads moved so fast they left only afterimages as they coiled straight toward Lumine.
She wanted to destroy this "friend" who Yunqin cared about so much!
To destroy this last shred of warmth that could awaken the "original"!
"Not a chance!" Zhongli's low voice carried an unquestionable majesty.
He raised his hand and summoned several stone spires that rose from the sea, blocking the silver threads' attack like sharp swords.
The moment the stone spires collided with the silver threads, they made a sizzling, corrosive sound, and black smoke slowly seeped out from the crevices in the rock.
Venti seized the opportunity to condense Last Chord at his fingertips. Several wind blades merged into a hurricane wrapped in a thunderstorm. The hurricane glowed with an emerald light, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the darkness, sweeping toward Xiao Qin.
This time, he held nothing back!
The wind blades' power was hundreds of times stronger than before, instantly tearing through the dark energy barrier in front of Xiao Qin. The sharp blades grazed the hem of her clothes, leaving a black scratch.
Xiao Qin's expression changed drastically, a flicker of panic crossing her pitch-black eyes.
She had never expected these two "outdated gods" to possess such formidable power when they joined forces.
Xiao Qin instinctively retreated, her gaze sweeping over the dying Hydra nearby. A ruthless light instantly ignited in her eyes.
Just as the hurricane was about to strike her, Xiao Qin suddenly raised her hand. The dark energy coiled like vines around Hydra's body, forcibly dragging the dying monster in front of her!
"Boom!"
The hurricane struck Hydra's body with a devastating impact, and the massive monster let out a shrill, agonized roar.
Hydra was instantly shredded by the wind blades. Dark green blood sprayed out, falling on the sea like a torrential rain, creating countless ripples covered in poisonous bubbles.
Hydra's massive body completely vanished.
Taking advantage of this opening, Xiao Qin quickly retreated several yards, widening the distance between herself and the three of them.
Looking at the rain of Hydra's blood that covered the sky, there was no trace of regret in her eyes, only the coldness of having succeeded.
Zhongli and Venti exchanged a glance, their expressions both darkening.
Not only was Xiao Qin powerful, but she was also so cunning that she could use her own monster as a shield without hesitation.
Seeing the two of them grow solemn, Xiao Qin slowly formed a distorted face from the dark energy in front of her. "It seems that relying on myself alone, I really can't defeat the two of you old guys."
She raised her hand and pointed toward the deep sea. The dark energy rapidly spread across the surface of the water, forming a jet-black trail. "However, I never said that I only have one helper."