Genshin: Ningguang Was Still a Pitiful Little Thing, Invested In by Me

She had remained in that darkness all along, with no light, no sound, just... loneliness.

Qiqi was afraid of loneliness.

She hated being alone.

So now that she saw a human, Qiqi felt a sense of closeness.

Her beautiful eyes flickered, moved by Fang Xun's words. "Liyue... Guili Plains... I think I've heard of them."

"Qiqi... is that my name?"

Though the information was brief, the little zombie took a long, long time to process it.

After a while, Qiqi raised her head and looked at Fang Xun. "What... is your name?"

Fang Xun knew Qiqi's memory was poor, so he spoke slowly and simply. "My name is Fang Xun."

Right after that, Fang Xun heard Qiqi muttering to herself, as though trying to sort out her thoughts.

"Fang Xun... Qiqi..."

Qiqi tilted her head and said seriously, "My name is Fang Xun... your name is Qiqi..."

"No... my name is Xunqi... my name is Qixun..."

"Ah... I forgot."

Qiqi... Wants... Friends...

Fang Xun knew Qiqi's memory was bad, but he had not expected it to be this bad.

She forgot what had just been said in the blink of an eye.

To help Qiqi remember, Fang Xun casually picked up a piece of amber and wrote their names on the ground.

"Your name is Qiqi, and mine is Fang Xun."

"If you can't remember, just look at the names I wrote on the ground."

Fang Xun had no idea what script Liyue had used hundreds of years ago, nor did he know whether Qiqi could understand it, but this was the only method available for now.

Fortunately, Qiqi could understand their names.

She stared unblinkingly at the writing on the ground, repeating the two names over and over many times.

It was obvious that the little zombie was trying very hard to remember them.

In the end, Qiqi looked up at Fang Xun and said seriously, "I remembered..."

"Your name is Fang Xun... my name is Qiqi..."

"Qiqi... didn't forget this time..."

Joy shone in little Qiqi's beautiful eyes.

She had finally remembered the names!

As she spoke, little Qiqi reached out, wanting to write their names too, only to discover that her body was stiff.

Not only could her limbs not bend, even her fingers could not move normally.

It felt as if her entire body had been packed in ice, frozen until she had lost all sensation.

"Why..."

"Qiqi... can't move..."

"My hands... have no feeling..."

Qiqi tilted her head, confusion filling her clear, bright eyes.

She probably did not understand what had happened to her.

Why could her body no longer move after waking up?

Seeing this, Fang Xun patiently explained, "Because Qiqi is a zombie, her limbs can't move normally."

Little Qiqi did not understand what a zombie meant.

She only vaguely realized that she was no longer human.

"Zombie..."

"Qiqi... isn't human anymore...?"

Qiqi was a zombie, incapable of making any expression.

Yet Fang Xun could clearly sense how sad she was.

Little Qiqi lowered her head, her beautiful eyes dim and lifeless.

Although Qiqi had lived for over a thousand years, her mind had forever remained at the stage of a child.

For a child, all of this was far too cruel.

Fang Xun couldn't bear it and immediately comforted her. "Even though Qiqi is a zombie, you can still eat and sleep normally every day."

"As long as Qiqi does radio calisthenics every day, your body will slowly return to normal. By then, you won't be any different from humans."

In the game, Qiqi needed to do flexibility exercises every day to improve her flexibility.

Fang Xun didn't know how to do flexibility exercises, though. He only knew radio calisthenics.

The two should have something in common.

Qiqi looked up at Fang Xun and softly repeated, "Do radio calisthenics..."

"Then Qiqi can be... no different from humans..."

"Really?"

Seeing Qiqi's mood improve somewhat, Fang Xun continued, "That's right. Qiqi, come do radio calisthenics with me."

As he spoke, Fang Xun began demonstrating for Qiqi.

Stretching exercises, chest-expanding exercises—

The sixth set of middle school radio calisthenics.

As the exercises continued, Qiqi's beautiful eyes gradually regained their brightness.

Her limbs were no longer as stiff as before, and she could now move them slightly.

Qiqi could already raise her hands a little and spread her five fingers.

Her little feet could also wiggle faintly.

Her condition was much better than before.

"Thank you... Fang Xun..."

"Flexibility exercises... Qiqi... likes them..."

After a while, Qiqi raised her head to look at Fang Xun and asked earnestly.

"Can zombies... be friends with humans?"

"Qiqi... wants... friends..."

"Qiqi wants to be friends... with Fang Xun..."

Qiqi had been sealed inside amber for far, far too long, so she was afraid of being alone again.

And Fang Xun was the first person she saw after waking from the amber.

On top of that, Fang Xun had taught her flexibility exercises.

That was why she wanted to be friends with Fang Xun.

Looking at the innocent Qiqi, Fang Xun nodded seriously. "Mm, I'm willing to be friends with Qiqi."

"From now on, Fang Xun and Qiqi are friends—friends for life."

Faced with such an adorable yet pitiful little zombie, Fang Xun truly had no reason to refuse.

Joy colored Qiqi's voice. "Qiqi... has a friend now..."

"From now on... someone can keep Qiqi company and talk to Qiqi..."

"That's wonderful..."

For a moment, Fang Xun felt moved.

All he had done was teach Qiqi some exercises to loosen up her limbs and agree to be her friend.

He hadn't expected little Qiqi to be so happy.

Just then, the system's voice sounded in Fang Xun's mind.

"Detected that Qiqi's favorability toward the host has increased from 0 to Level 1."

"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained one Intertwined Fate. At the same time, you have received an additional reward: a five-star artifact, Sand of Time, Gladiator's Hope."

Fang Xun wasn't surprised by the increase in Qiqi's favorability.

Little Qiqi had been too lonely while sealed inside the amber.

Now, simply having a friend was enough to make her happy for a long time.