The heavy rain kept falling.
Inside the cave, Ellin was still watching Xiao beside the campfire.
Karmic debt was truly difficult to explain.
Archon Remnants, the negative emotions born from the lingering resentment of fallen gods.
The guilt of killing innocent people against one's conscience, of trampling other people's dreams.
And during the Archon War, he had killed tens of thousands of people. Their dying resentment had also become curses that haunted him every moment.
But as he had said, taking on the duty of protecting Liyue and fighting archon residue had been his own choice.
The karmic debt upon him was retribution for the innocent people he had killed all those years ago.
He knew he had done wrong back then, so he had chosen to atone for those killings by protecting Liyue for thousands of years.
Wrong was wrong. He had never made excuses for himself, whether faced with the resentment of those he had killed or that of the Archon.
I killed you with my own hands back then and cut short your dreams. Of course you have every right to hate me.
I took on the responsibility of protecting Liyue. It is only natural that archon residue should affect me.
These are all burdens I ought to bear, without complaint or regret.
That was precisely what made Xiao such a compelling character.
Flames rose from the campfire, crackling as they burned.
"Here, it's ready. Eat up!"
Ellin handed Xiao a grilled fish.
It was grilled Chi Tiger Fish, a dish Ellin had recently learned to make.
Looking at the grilled fish she offered him, Xiao frowned slightly. "No need. I have no interest in human food."
"Cooking is tedious, and the wait is long. I don't understand why humans spend their time on such meaningless