No male moms!

"Looks like I'm in luck; I've only been here a short time and I've already run into you."

"Mr. Xingsu, didn't you go to Fontaine? Why are you suddenly...?"

Xingsu slowly crouched down, looking directly at Collei, and gently patted her head. "I'm sorry, Collei, I have an extremely urgent matter to attend to. A child about your age is seriously injured and on the verge of death, and I urgently need Tighnari's help. Would you please return to the Forest Rangers first?"

Collei pursed her lips, her eyes filled with stubbornness, and whispered, "I... I can help too..."

She wanted to go with them, but when she saw the rare urgency and pleading in Xingsu's eyes, she swallowed back the little stubbornness in her heart.

"Well, then I'll head back now... Mr. Xingsu, you must come over after you're done with your work!"

"Yes, definitely."

"Collei, let's end today's patrol here," Tighnari said at the opportune moment, his tone gentle. "Go back and review the books you were assigned."

"... Okay!" Collei nodded, reluctantly turning around and quickly leaving.

Watching Collei turn and run away, Tighnari immediately composed himself, his previously gentle expression vanishing. He gently pressed his earlobe back and asked, "What exactly happened? Why did you have to send Collei away on purpose?"

"Tighnari, I know you have many questions." Xingsu didn't waste time with pleasantries, his expression grave. "But now is not the time for reminiscing; saving lives is the priority."

Tighnari immediately became serious and asked, "Where are the wounded?"

"Deep within the Chasm."

"The Chasm? Wasn't that place sealed off long ago? How could you—"

I'll explain later!

Before he could finish speaking, Xingsu had already grabbed his wrist, suddenly accelerated, and sped towards the Chasm.

Tighnari was caught off guard and dragged along at breakneck speed, giving him no time to react.

"Star, Xingsu... wait... I'm a little dizzy... oohhhhh!"

Upon reaching the crevice, Xingsu simply bent down, picked him up, and leaped into the dark, deep abyss of the Chasm.

The series of operations were swift and efficient.

Land, find your way, and arrive at the temporary camp.

Tighnari followed passively the whole way. When they arrived at the camp, she squatted down in a daze and cleaned the wounds of the unconscious and feverish Nikolay, applying the herbal medicine she had with her.

After finally treating his injuries, he looked around and froze on the spot.

In the dim and cold mine tunnel, the Fatui' soldiers, all dressed in military uniforms, stood silently all around. Not far away, the Traveler Ying stood quietly, while Yelan leaned against the rock wall beside him, her eyes calmly surveying the entire scene.

A group of people silently surrounded him, creating a very delicate scene.

"Um... could you explain to me what's going on right now? And what happened during all these years you were away from Sumeru?"

Xingsu bent down and gently touched Nikolay's forehead. Confirming that his burning temperature had subsided slightly, his tense nerves eased a little before he slowly spoke:

"Let me think... where should I begin... it was 20 years ago, when I was just a child..."

"Stop! The topic has suddenly jumped way off course!" Tighnari's ears perked up. "Could you briefly summarize what happened after you left Sumeru?"

"Um... okay, to sum it up... I'm now a member of the Fatui, or more precisely, a member of the Fatui's Harbinger."

Tighnari was stunned. He was shocked and couldn't believe it. His ears almost turned into airplane ears.

"You must have been forced into this, right?" Tighnari's voice was low, her fox ears were taut, and a glimmer of hope lingered in her eyes.

In his memory, Xingsu Su should have been that scholar with youthful spirit in the library of the Akademiya. He found it hard to imagine that such a person would willingly devote himself to the Fatui.

"... No, I did it voluntarily." Xingsu spoke slowly, his mind flashing back to Arlecchino in Fontaine, recalling their past together, a smile involuntarily tugging at the corners of his lips.

"..."

Broken!

This smile took on a different meaning in Tighnari's eyes!

Xingsu must have been brainwashed by the Fatui!

He thought of Zandik, the outstanding out-of-training student at the Akademiya— "The Doctor".

The "The Doctor's " actions in Sumeru were not only well-known, but also infamous; they could not be fully described in a single chapter of a novel.

And then there's his subordinate, Scott, who can be so shameless as to verbally abuse the sages of the Akademiya that they're on the verge of a heart attack, and also kick a dog lying on the street.

A true human being exemplifies what it means to be shameless and invincible.

When Xingsu saw Xing Su say he was Fatui, his eerie smile sent chills down Tighnari spine.

He instinctively took a half step back, as if trying to pick up his weapon, his tail taut, his emerald eyes filled with wariness and disappointment.

The air in the mine tunnel seemed to freeze suddenly. The Fatui soldiers around them also sensed that something was wrong and picked up their weapons, going on alert and keeping their eyes fixed on the two of them.

"Um..." Xingsu knew a little about the reputation of the Fatui outside of Fontaine, but judging from Tighnari's reaction, it seemed that Dottore's reputation was particularly bad in Sumeru.

Xingsu immediately turned around and ordered the Ninth Company behind him in a deep voice, "Put down your weapons."

Upon hearing this, the group of Fatui soldiers immediately sheathed their weapons and stood respectfully in place.

Xingsu looked at the wary Tighnari again and slowly explained:

"Tighnari, what I want to say is that we will never be enemies, neither in the past nor in the future. Although I now belong to the Fatui, the Fatui are not a monolithic entity. I am now on the side of Harbinger Arlecchino, and as for ' The Doctor ' Dottore, she and I are both disgusted by what he has done. We stand on the same side."

"You... you really haven't been brainwashed?" Tighnari asked, still somewhat doubtful.

A hint of helplessness surfaced in Xingsu's eyes. "If I had truly been brainwashed, I wouldn't have gone to such lengths to protect these children, much less traveled thousands of miles to Avidya Forest to beg you to save them."

"My staying with the Fatui does not mean I condone their evil deeds; it is simply because my lover and I have taken in many homeless orphans."

For example, the child Nikolay you just rescued, and the Raiying sorceress Katarina standing nearby, are both children who have no control over their own lives.

I did this to protect them, to prevent them from becoming pawns, from becoming victims of power.

"... Is that so? Of course I'm willing to believe you, but the things the Fatui committed in Sumeru, and the harm they inflicted on Collei, these things can't be easily erased..."

"If I have the chance, I will explain it to her in person. There's still an agreement between me and Collei."

"So, are you going to stand me up this time?"

"... Just tell her... when we meet again, I will definitely have completely cured the Eleazar!"

"Really? I see..."

Collei murmured softly, a pang of sadness welling up inside her. But as she looked up into the distance, she pursed her lips tightly, and a glimmer of light returned to her eyes.

"It's alright, I believe in Mr. Xingsu! I'll wait for that day."

A gentle breeze rustled through the leaves in the forest, gently stirring the Damselette's loose hair.

She gently closed the book that was lying on her lap, quietly putting away all her expectations and worries, appearing obedient and sensible.

But in the quiet moments, a soft corner of my heart still feels empty.

She gazed at the empty forest path, her voice as soft as a whisper carried on the wind, tinged with a hint of grievance and longing, as she quietly murmured to herself:

"... But I still miss him a lot."