Coming back to his senses, Xiu Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
He looked at his hands, then at his body, and pinched his cheek.
Still uneasy, he reached toward a tree with a trace of fear.
When he saw that his hand did not pass through the tree, Xiu Yuan froze for a moment, then let out a deep sigh of relief, a smile spreading across his face.
"I'm back. I'm finally back."
Xiu Yuan's feelings were complicated. In just seven hours, he had lived through seven different lives, and adjusting would take some time.
"I can't bring the emotions from those other lives into this one. Let me think..."
Xiu Yuan did not intend to go looking for Shenhe right away. He had been through too much, and he feared bringing something harmful from those experiences to her.
He needed to get himself back into the right frame of mind. He wanted to appear before Shenhe as the person he had been when they were together.
Though that was not entirely realistic, Xiu Yuan did not want to change too much and leave Shenhe feeling that he was a stranger.
Elsewhere.
A tall, white-haired woman sat lost in thought on the edge of a cliff outside a cave.
"Thinking about him again?" Jean approached along a rather steep path.
"Mm..." Shenhe answered listlessly, as though all her spirit had been drained away.
"I brought you something tasty. Want to try some?"
Jean took out a box filled with roast meat that was still steaming.
"Mm." Shenhe picked up a piece and put it in her mouth, chewing silently before offering a rather perfunctory reply. "It's good."
Seeing her like this, Jean lost her own energy and grew downcast.
Shenhe stared blankly at the setting sun. "Jean, go back. Mondstadt