Ganyu's Belated Regret

"???"

At the mention of the bet Ningguang had suddenly brought up, enormous waves immediately surged through Keqing's smooth brain.

She had just been immersed in the moving story of Asura Yaksha, but now she abruptly remembered that she still had a bet to honor.

The problem was, wasn't that bet a little too extreme?

Did she really have to wear a cat-eared maid outfit to the Rite of Descension?

"Um, Ningguang, weren't we joking? Hahaha..."

Seeing Keqing try to laugh it off and muddle through, Ningguang said no more to her.

She simply called to the secretaries beside her, "Go, take our Yuheng to the nearest tailor to have her measurements taken, then have the most standard Mondstadt- or Fontaine-style maid outfit made for her... Oh, and if the Yuheng is willing, a Liyue qipao will do too."

"Ningguang! How could you be so cruel?!"

Keqing cried out, utterly shocked by Ningguang's coldhearted ruthlessness.

Seeing this, Ningguang smiled calmly. "A bet is a bet. That's only natural. If you had won just now, Keqing, I'm sure you wouldn't have shown the slightest mercy either. You would have been even more ruthless than me."

"Well..."

Keqing's expression froze at Ningguang's words.

She thought it over carefully and realized that seemed to be true.

"Um, can we come to a settlement... I can trade you something else!" Keqing gritted her teeth. "How about I give you my treasured Rex Lapis figurines? Even the limited editions!"

"Hehe, do you think that, as the Tianquan, I lack things money can buy?" A smile curled Ningguang's lips. "In this world, only things money can't buy can make me happy."

"Ningguang, have a heart!"

"Hehe, as the Tianquan, one must have inhuman composure and resolve!" Ningguang smiled. "All right, Baiwen, Baixiao, take Lady Yuheng away. Make sure she tries on the maid outfit, and don't let her suffer any physical discomfort."

"Yes, Lady Ningguang."

The two secretaries immediately nodded. Taking one side each, they led Keqing away like a prisoner under escort, leaving her wanting to cry but without tears.

Ningguang was left alone.

Her gaze kept returning to the story of "Asura Yaksha" playing on a loop in the video, her eyes full of emotion.

Just as she had told Keqing, as the Tianquan, she cared nothing for anything money could buy.

For that very reason, she cared deeply about anything money couldn't buy.

Among those things was Asura Yaksha's sincere heart, willing to sacrifice everything for Liyue and bear infamy for all ages to save its people. It was something she wanted to obtain no matter what.

If such a person were still alive in this world, Ningguang would probably want to bring him under her command and make him a member of present-day Liyue, no matter what it took.

Unfortunately, no one now knew where Asura Yaksha was or where he could be found.

On the plains north of Mt. Tianheng.

The qilin girl stumbled onward.

Her eyes were clouded, her pupils vacant, and the images she had just seen in the video echoed through her mind.

She was like a walking corpse now, utterly devoid of life, a moving carcass.

I was wrong.

I was completely wrong!

Asura never intended to do evil, nor did he ever do any...

All of it was just my own wishful thinking.

That so-called redemption was nothing but an elaborate lie.

I killed the person who mattered most to me with my own hands, and I deceived myself for two whole thousand years...

Yes, Ganyu had long harbored doubts about that battle two thousand years ago.

Asura Yaksha had clearly gained strength on the level of a great archon, yet he had barely hurt her at all during the battle.

She and the Five Yaksha were clearly not the only ones in Liyue Harbor, yet neither Rex Lapis nor any of the adepti happened to be there.

There were clearly many Guizhong Ballistae on Mt. Tianheng, information that Asura, who had fought in the Archon War himself, could not possibly have been unaware of.

At the very end, Bosacius of the Five Yaksha had clearly seemed to understand something, and that was why he had resolved to help her...

There were clearly so many things that were clear, coincidence after coincidence...

But why didn't I notice any of them?

Did I fail to notice any of it, or did I pretend I knew nothing and simply choose the path I could most readily accept?

She had simply enjoyed the illusory dream he had woven for her, allowing the illusion to consume her body until her mind and flesh alike fully believed that false facade.

And so two thousand whole years had passed...

In those two thousand years, had she spent even a single day thinking about the truth of those events?

No, not a single day.

Not only that, she had deliberately erased the evidence of Asura Yaksha's existence from Liyue's history, wiping out every trace of him completely.

Her stated reason was that she would not allow even the slightest trace of such a villain to remain in Liyue, and did not want Liyue's people to be deceived by a deceitful evildoer.

But all she had truly wanted was to avoid having anything connected to him stir up memories and make her notice anything unreasonable about the events of those days...

That was all.

It all stemmed from her evasion.

It all stemmed from her cowardice!

"I'm sorry..."

Ganyu's heart was filled with unprecedented regret and pain. Her body trembled, and grief seemed to wrap itself around her entire being.

At that moment, she had only one thought.

She had to apologize...

Even if it was two thousand years too late, she had to apologize to him and beg for the forgiveness that was destined never to come.

"Patter..."

Ganyu slowly walked into the ruins of the Guili Plains.

Although she had not asked about Asura Yaksha's deeds since his death, she had once heard him mention that the Yaksha had shared a home at the Guili Assembly.

Later, after the remnants of the archons' resentment had vanished, the Yaksha had gone into seclusion together, returning to that original home.

Of course, some Yaksha had chosen to settle in places like Wangshu Inn and continue fighting to protect Liyue.

"Pat."

As Ganyu arrived at the Yaksha's old home, a Yaksha girl with long blue hair was silently crouching in front of a thatched cottage, picking Glaze Lilies that had just bloomed.

The girl noticed Ganyu's arrival, and unmistakable disgust and resistance flashed in her eyes. But out of respect for the Liyue Qixing's secretary, she still walked slowly over and spoke quietly:

"What brings our Secretary Ganyu out for a stroll here?"

"Miss Bonanus, I..."

Ganyu had countless things she wanted to say, but when the words reached her throat, she could not get any of them out.

She seemed stunned, falling completely still and silent.

Meanwhile, the water Yaksha Bonanus looked at Ganyu and noticed that something was wrong. She could not help murmuring, "Could it be you're here because of big brother Asura?"

"I... Yes."

Ganyu hesitated briefly, but in the end she did not choose to run away again. She admitted that she had come because of Asura.

Seeing this, Bonanus's gaze grew even more detached, even icy.

"I have never made peace with big brother Asura's death. No matter how much second brother Bosacius explained to me, I simply couldn't believe that someone as kind and gentle as big brother could be a villain who attacked the people and destroyed Liyue!"

Bonanus's voice was cold and clear, each word expressing a conviction that had not wavered for thousands of years.

Hearing Bonanus's words, Ganyu felt even more pain and guilt.

After all, Bonanus was like a pure, flawless mirror, revealing Ganyu's own baseness and ugliness in full.