Raiden Ei vaguely remembered that her Inazuma had closed its borders, hadn't it?
And she had issued the order herself.
Could everything happening now actually mean her meditation had gone wrong, sending her into another worldline where Inazuma hadn't closed its borders... how could that possibly be?!
Something must have gone wrong over in Ritou after all. Raiden Ei decided to send someone to investigate, but for now...
Well, for now, even someone as stubborn as Raiden Ei ultimately kept silent in this situation.
Her eternity had already been thrown into utter chaos by this damned screen today anyway. One smuggler popping up now hardly counted as a major issue. There was no need to deal with it so urgently. She would consider it doing Morax a favor.
While Raiden Ei considered the loopholes in her Sakoku Decree, the scene on the screen changed again.
-Honestly, Fontaine's photographers very much wanted to discuss this rather novel narrative technique, but after taking a look at the current atmosphere...
Forget it. Better to quietly make a fortune.
Discussing the video's filming techniques so thoughtlessly at a time like this would only be asking for a beating.
Seeing the shadows on the wall in the background-a little girl smiling and reaching out for a hug, and a smiling woman on the other side-many people froze.
Hadn't they said only Boyang and Bosacius were left here?
Then who were this child and woman? Illusions? Or...?
"...Today, I saw my family down here underground."
Boyang's voice rang out.
"Tell me, have I gone mad too?"
[Keqing: That confirms it. This is also one of the things currently happening in the Chasm.]
[Ganyu: Precisely because miners reported similar experiences, along with black mud suddenly gushing out, an order was issued to seal off The Chasm.]
[Yelan: But lately, quite a few Treasure Hoarders seem to have been using routes even the authorities haven't discovered to illegally mine The Chasm. They're really making trouble for me.]
[Ganyu: Ladies and gentlemen of the Treasure Hoarders, as you have seen, there truly is tremendous danger beneath The Chasm. Please stop all related activities immediately and turn yourselves in to the nearest Millelith. We will provide free medical treatment.]
Along with free, clean, tidy clothes, a pair of silver bracelets, three meals a day, and a private room, right?
Watching these important figures of Liyue exchange a few words in the screen's discussion area and try to send them off to eat prison food, the Treasure Hoarders illegally mining The Chasm were utterly speechless.
Still, amid their annoyance, they looked at the human and yaksha on the screen, supposedly from five hundred years ago, and saw their miserable state...
Yes, it really would be better not to venture too deep into The Chasm. They would just earn some hard-earned money in the shallow areas.
Leaving aside those Treasure Hoarders building fortunes with their own hands in the Chasm region, the information Ganyu and the others revealed enlightened many Liyue residents who had questions about the mining area's sudden closure.
Liyue had two major pillars in the past: the minerals of the Chasm mining area and the commerce of Liyue Harbor. Closing the mining area was equivalent to cutting off one leg of Liyue's economy, yet to prevent unrest and rumors, the Liyue Qixing had also suppressed the news.
Now that Ganyu and the others had suddenly revealed this information, everyone was surprised, but they finally understood why the mining area had closed.
Good grief, the seal on the tide of monsters that had inflicted devastating casualties on Liyue five hundred years ago had actually loosened. That certainly needed sealing off.
Strictly speaking, information about the Chasm should have remained restricted.
But the Liyue Qixing were not rigid people incapable of adapting.
Clearly, the sudden appearance of this enormous screen had rendered many information restrictions meaningless. Rather than passively waiting for things to be exposed, the authorities might as well reveal the information naturally themselves ahead of time.
Hadn't the people who previously harbored all sorts of suspicions, complaints, and doubts about the mining area's closure now become its strongest supporters? They were also afraid those seals would suddenly fail, sending the sealed monsters flooding toward Liyue Harbor.
Zhongli glanced toward Yuehai Pavilion in satisfaction. This generation of the Liyue Qixing was quite capable.
Keqing in particular had left a very deep impression on him.
They had timed this disclosure perfectly, directly resolving a public-opinion crisis. One could say they had turned a crisis into an opportunity.
The scene changed again. Boyang and Bosacius sat facing each other.
Bosacius asked with concern, "Boyang, do you want to go home?"
Boyang fell silent for a moment before saying heavily, "I'd already decided to let Rong Zhao stay aboveground. Of course I..."
Boyang sighed. He might have struggled through some very difficult deliberations, but ultimately, his voice lost its earlier, deliberate composure, exposing the weakness and tenderness within. "Of course I want to go home."
[Yelan: My ancestors were two brothers. Under the military rules of that time, suicidal missions like this...]
[Yelan: Sigh. For suicidal missions like this, two brothers could not both be assigned to carry them out.]
Bosacius straightened, his tone puzzled. "I should have family too, shouldn't I?"
"Brothers and sisters?" Boyang asked uncertainly. "You must have some, right?"
"Brothers and sisters... yes, who am I, and where is my family?"
Bosacius's body finally gave out, and he toppled forward.
"I'll go..." Boyang sounded caught off guard too. "Brother! What's wrong?!"
"Hold on... we're the only ones left here. You-you mustn't die before me..."
If the atmosphere in Liyue Harbor had merely been solemn earlier, now Zhongli, Tartaglia, and the others could even hear stifled sobbing outside.
Never mind the ordinary people watching outside-even Tartaglia couldn't remain carefree at a time like this.
He deeply respected people brave enough to sacrifice themselves.
Ningguang gazed down at the heavy atmosphere hanging over Liyue Harbor and instructed her secretaries.
"Once the video ends, notify the other members of the Liyue Qixing still in Liyue Harbor. We need to discuss how to commemorate the yaksha Bosacius and the other heroes who sacrificed themselves to protect Liyue in the past."
"Yes."
The three sister secretaries behind her obediently bowed in acknowledgment.
Ningguang sighed and looked up at the screen that had disrupted the fates of so many people in Teyvat.
The screen had only appeared today, yet it had already changed the fates of so many living beings in Teyvat and brought many buried deeds back into the light. She truly didn't know how Teyvat's situation would change after today.
While Ningguang considered the screen's influence on Teyvat, the scene shifted to Boyang and Bosacius sitting on a large rock. Boyang held a fire striker, while Bosacius was clearly so weak he could barely remain seated.
"...Alatus... is that you?"
In reality, Xiao's heart gave a violent twinge.
Even with his memories in disarray, had Bosacius instinctively called out his name upon seeing firelight so similar to his eyes?
At the same time, Xiao knew that Bosacius, already mistaking firelight for Xiao's eyes, had now entered a delirious state.
For a moment, even Xiao felt the urge to close his eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.
"What Alatus? That memory of yours... you..."
For the first time, Bosacius interrupted Boyang.
"Cough, cough. I'm in such a sorry state. I'd be embarrassed to face you all."
"Brother... brother!"
Boyang was somewhat panicked. He could also see that this yaksha brother who had shared life and death with him was probably nearing the end.
Bosacius ignored him-or rather, he could no longer respond to Boyang's words. He struggled to look ahead.
"Look... there are people over there..."
On the screen, the firelight cast four standing figures onto the wall in front of Bosacius.
In reality, Xiao's grip on the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear tightened. Even as mere shadows, he recognized those four figures.
He absolutely had to visit this strange underground place.
He couldn't let Bosacius die in silence in that eerie place underground.
"These people... are..."
"...Are... my... my..."
Clearly, Bosacius was now extremely weak.
At that moment, the video's music, which had remained mournful and gentle, suddenly rose.
A blue figure drove a blade through a yellow figure.
A fiery-red woman broke down amid raging flames.
A slender figure streaming bloody tears roared within the fire.
[Yanfei: Conqueror of Demons...]
[Xiao: This is the fate of us yakshas. I, too, once fell into peril. Fortunately, someone helped me.]
"I remember now. You are..."
Watching those ordinary yet beautiful, happy moments from the five yakshas' past, contrasted with their earlier miserable states as karmic debt drove them to breakdowns and even left them unable to distinguish friend from foe...
No one could speak.
"These brothers and sisters have come to take me, Boyang."
"You're lucid again?" Boyang's voice was urgent. "At least... at least tell me your name!"
On the screen, the other four yakshas appeared again, only now they looked as they had before karmic debt completely consumed them.
"Big Brother!"
"Brother Bosacius!"
"Hey, Bosacius."
"Bosacius."
[Xiangling: The mirror panes for the other three yakshas shattered. Only the image of the Conqueror of Demons, Xiao, remained unbroken.]
[Chongyun: But the Conqueror of Demons' image also...]
[Yae Miko: Old friends...]
[Yun Jin: I've decided. I cannot let the stories of these yakshas be lost in Liyue. I will create an opera worthy of being passed down for generations to tell their story.]
"I..."
Bosacius's weak voice gradually steadied. Countless streams of Electro gathered into a purple lightning orb that settled into his hand.
"My name is Bosacius."
The lower half of Bosacius's mask shattered.
Xiao knew this was Bosacius's final rally before death.
"-It means: life is but an instant, and all things may be relinquished!"
Bosacius's final figure straightened.
For the first time, the once-dim scene brightened, as though Bosacius's final strength had dispersed the darkness. Both Bosacius and Boyang could be seen clearly.
Above them, beyond the thick layers of earth, lay Liyue's mountains and waters, restored to peace and tranquility-the beautiful land protected by countless nameless heroes.
There, the video ended.
[Xiangling: It's over. Why do I feel so empty inside, like I made steamed cornbread buns with cured meat but forgot to add Jueyun Chili?]
Although Xiangling's comparison was rather baffling, everyone actually understood that feeling now.
[Ningguang: The departed are gone. Those of us still living have things we ought to do as well.]
[Keqing: Exactly. The heroes who protected Liyue should not be forgotten. We should systematically delve into the stories of the past, so that future generations of Liyue can remember these heroes forever.]
[Ganyu: As for that, Yuehai Pavilion already has a rough plan. This year's Lantern Rite... well, I won't reveal anything just yet, but I guarantee it will be wonderful.]
Watching Liyue's people enthusiastically discuss how to ensure these nameless heroes who had protected Liyue could be better remembered and commemorated, people from the other nations refrained from interrupting for once.
After all, that video had practically been Liyue's home game. Even the Fatui weren't so oblivious as to make themselves unwelcome now.
But not interrupting Liyue's discussion didn't mean they wouldn't compete over the question the screen would ask shortly.
Friendship was friendship; interests were interests.
With the rewards from the previous four questions setting such a fine precedent, no one wanted to give up the reward for today's final video quiz.
[Question: Like the stories of countless Liyue heroes, the story of Boyang and Bosacius lay buried in history. But five hundred years later, a team brought together by chance unearthed this long-buried past. Who were the members of this team brought together by chance?] [A. People from Liyue, people from Inazuma, the Traveler, Paimon] [B. People from Sumeru, people from Liyue, the Traveler, Paimon] [C. People from Mondstadt, people from Liyue, the Traveler, Paimon] [D. People from Fontaine, people from Liyue, the Traveler, Paimon] [E. People from Snezhnaya, people from Liyue, the Traveler, Paimon] [System: This question is high difficulty. Answers will be accepted on a first-to-buzz-in basis. Only users rated three stars or above may answer. The countdown begins now: 5, 4...]
[Xingqiu: Wait, is it just me, or is this question's connection to the video not merely nonexistent, but utterly nonexistent?]
[Chongyun: No, there is still a little connection. After all, these were the people who unearthed this part of the past.]
[Xiangling: But these people didn't appear in the video at all.]
[Chongyun: That's why it asked this question. Yes, that's very reasonable-no, very screen-like.]
[Tighnari: I thought the previous question was already far enough removed from the video. I didn't expect an even more audacious question.]
[Lisa: My dear junior, have today's videos driven you to a breakdown?]
[Tighnari: Actually, I was already getting a little frantic by the second video.]
[Arataki Itto: All you people do is chatter. Isn't anyone brave enough to buzz in? We all have at least one exemption anyway, right?!]
[Kuki Shinobu: Boss (helpless), although we don't have to fear punishment for now, the problem is that answering incorrectly once will also lower the reward tier. Naturally, everyone wants the highest-tier reward if possible.]
[Tartaglia: No, this brother Itto is right. Dithering like this all the time will only get us nowhere. Since you're all afraid, I'll go first.]
[Tartaglia: I choose E!]